TRADE-PREPARATORY AND TRADE-EXTENSION TRAINING FOR BOYS AND MEN AT
WORK
Several forms of trade-preparatory and trade-extension training for
apprentices and journeymen workmen are carried on in the city.
Probably the most effective work done in the teaching of boys after
they have entered employment is found in manufacturing establishments
which maintain apprentice schools in connection with their shops.
There are two excellent examples of this type of instruction in
Cleveland--the apprentice schools conducted by the New York Central
Railroad and by the Warner and Swasey Company, manufacturers of
astronomical instruments and machine tools.
The Warner and Swasey Company school was established in 1911. The
course covers a total of 560 hours, extending over a period of four
years. The apprentices attend the school four hours a week for 35
weeks each year. The time allotment for the various subjects included
in the course is shown in Table 11.
In 1915 there were 65 apprentices enrolled in the school, most of them
from the machinist's trade. The sessions are held during working
hours in a room in the factory fitted up with drawing tables and
blackboards. No shop equipment is used. The purpose of the course is
to develop a body of trained workmen competent to take positions in
the factory as foremen or heads of departments. Less than one-tenth of
the total time of the course is devoted to the study of shop practice.
Standard textbooks are used in the teaching of mathematics.
TABLE 11.--TIME ALLOTMENT IN THE APPRENTICE COURSE GIVEN BY THE WARNER
AND SWASEY COMPANY, CLEVELAND
Subject Hours
Arithmetic 35
English 65
Mechanical drawing 70
Shop practice 40
Algebra 70
Geometry 40
Trigonometry 30
Physics 70
Materials 35
Industrial history 35
Mechanics, strength of materials, and mechanical design 70
---
Total 560
The enrollment in the school conducted by the New York Central
Railroad is about 140 boys, nearly all of whom are machinists'
apprentices. They are divided into three classes, the members of each
class attending the school four hours a week. About two-thirds of the
time is devoted to mechanical drawing and one-third to mathematics and
shop practice. The instruction in these two latter subjects is based
on a series of graded mimeographed or blue print lesson sheets,
containing a wide variety of shop problems, with a condensed and
simplified explanation of the mathematical principles involved. In the
main the work is limited to the application of simple arithmetic to
problems of shop practice. No textbooks are used, but the booklets on
machine shop practice published by the International Correspondence
Schools are studied in connection with the course.
In addition to the required classroom work in mechanical drawing, each
apprentice serves four or five months of his term in the regular
drafting rooms of the company. The classroom is equipped with models
of railway appliances and machinery, together with laboratory
apparatus for teaching the laws of mechanics. No machine tools or
other shop equipment are used in the classes. The course covers about
700 hours of instruction exclusive of the time spent in regular
drafting room work. About 20 apprentices finished the course in 1915.
Several of the building and printing trades' labor unions take an
active interest in the training of apprentices, and in at least two
instances the unions maintain evening classes for teaching trade
theory. The Electrical Workers' Union, made up principally of inside
wiremen, conducts apprentice classes taught by journeymen. The
International Typographical Union course for compositors and
compositors' apprentices is undoubtedly the best yet devised for
giving supplementary training in hand composition. It is taught by
journeymen in evening classes, under the supervision of the central
office of the Typographical Union Commission, to which all the work
must be submitted. In February, 1916, about 100 students were
enrolled, of whom approximately one-third were apprentices and
two-thirds journeymen. The course consists of 46 lessons in English,
lettering, design, color harmony, job composition, and imposition for
machine and hand folding. The classes are held at the headquarters of
the union. As the students' daily practice in the shop provides plenty
of opportunity for the acquisition of manual skill, no apparatus or
shop equipment is used in connection with the course.
The apprentice school conducted by the Y.M.C.A. represents another
type of apprentice training. The instruction is given during the day.
The apprentices are sent to the school by various firms in the city
under an arrangement whereby the boys attend four and one-half hours
each week during regular shop time. In February, 1916, the enrollment
consisted of 46 apprentices, practically all from the metal trades.
The employers pay the tuition fee, which amounts to $20 a year. The
course requires four years' work of 40 weeks each, a total of 720
hours. It comprises instruction in shop mathematics, drawing, English,
physics, and industrial hygiene. No shop equipment is used. Fifteen
boys were graduated from the course this year.
The factory apprentice school of the Warner and Swasey Company and New
York Central Railroad type possesses many advantages over any kind of
continuation instruction carried on outside of the plants where the
boys are employed. A better correlation between the class and shop
work is possible together with a more personal relation between
teacher and pupils than is usually found when the pupils are drawn
from a number of different establishments. It must be admitted,
however, that this method of training apprentices is not feasible
except in very large plants, as in small classes the teaching cost
becomes prohibitive. There is little probability that it will ever be
adopted by enough employers to take care of more than an insignificant
proportion of the boys who enter the skilled trades.
The results obtained, here and in other cities, through coöperative
schemes, such as the Y.M.C.A. continuation school, are in the main
disappointing. Their failure to reach more than a few of the boys who
need trade-extension training is due partly to the fact that they
operate under a condition that is fundamentally unjust. One employer
interviewed during the survey stated the case very clearly: "I can see
no good reason why I should make pecuniary sacrifices for the benefit
of my competitors. Very few of my apprentices remain until the end of
their term, because by the time they have completed their second year
other firms which make no effort to train their quota of skilled
workmen for the trade steal them away from me. Any plan for the
training of apprentices which does not apportion the burden among the
different establishments in direct proportion to the number of men
they have, simply penalizes those public-spirited employers who
participate in it."
CONTINUATION TRAINING FROM 15 TO 18
The years between 15 and 18 are among the most important in the life
of the young worker. If left to his own devices during this period, he
is very likely to lose much of vocational value of his earlier
education, because he does not grasp the relation which the knowledge
he acquired in school bears to his daily work. As a result the problem
of supplementary instruction at a later age, when he wakes up to his
need for it, becomes much more difficult than if trade-extension
training had been taken up at once when he entered employment.
The vocational interests of young workers and the social interests of
the community are both opposed to the current practice of "graduating"
boys from the public schools at the ages of 15 or 16 and then losing
sight of them. The fact that the large number who go into industrial
occupations will not or cannot remain in school beyond these ages does
not absolve the school system from further responsibility for their
educational future. There should not be a complete severance between
the boy and the school until he has reached a relatively mature age.
In other words, the school system should maintain, as long as
possible, such a relation with him as will help to round out his
education and lead him to continue it after reaching manhood.
It is the opinion of the Survey Staff that the only practicable
solution of this problem lies in the day continuation school, backed
by a compulsory law which will bring every boy and girl at work under
the age of 18 into school for a certain number of hours per week. Only
through a comprehensive plan that will reach large numbers of young
workers can the difficulties inherent in the administration of small
classes be overcome. The night schools have never been successful in
holding boys long enough to make more than a beginning in
trade-extension training. It is certain that growing boys should not
be expected to add two hours of study to their nine or 10 hours of
unaccustomed labor in the shop. Both individual and community
interests demand that this problem be taken up in such a way as to
obviate the sharp cleavage between the boy's school life and his
working life. From every point of view it is unwise to permit him to
lose all contact with the educational agencies of the city during his
first years at work.
The compulsory continuation school avoids the difficulties which are
responsible for the common failure of those schemes which depend for
their success on the initiative of individuals or the voluntary
coöperation of employers and trade unions. One of its great advantages
is that the principle on which it is based makes for equal justice to
all. There can be no doubt that the decline of apprentice training in
the shops is due partly to the fact that employers find that much of
the time and money it costs goes toward providing a skilled labor
force for competitors who make no effort to train young workers. The
cooperation of employers on a comprehensive scale will be secured only
when the burden is equally shared.
THE TECHNICAL NIGHT SCHOOLS
Night classes are conducted in both of the technical high schools for
two terms a year of 10 weeks each, the pupils attending four hours a
week. A tuition fee of $5 a term is collected, of which $3.50 is
refunded to those who maintain an average attendance of 75 per cent.
No special provision is made for apprentices as distinct from
journeymen, and the trade classes are attended by a considerable
number of wage-earners employed in occupations unrelated to industrial
work. The list of courses offered during the past year, with the
number enrolled in each course at the beginning of the second term, is
shown in Table 12.
A glance at the list of courses shows at once that while the
vocational motive is given first importance, the schools also aim to
provide instruction in cultural subjects which have only an indirect
vocational application. Less than one-third of the students are
pursuing courses which are directly related to their daily work. The
remainder are enrolled in courses which have little or no connection
with their daily occupations. In but four of the courses--machine
shop, architectural drawing, printing, and sheet metal work--are more
than half of the students employed in directly related occupations.
TABLE 12.--COURSES AND NUMBER ENROLLED IN THE TECHNICAL NIGHT SCHOOLS,
JANUARY, 1915
Number
Course enrolled
Mechanical drawing 328
Machine shop 222
Electrical construction 159
Sewing 103
Mathematics 89
Architectural drawing 83
Pattern making 73
Woodworking 67
Chemistry 59
Sheet metal drawing 52
Cooking 46
Foundry work 36
Agriculture 31
Printing 27
Sheet metal shop 23
Business English 20
Electric motors 19
Arts and crafts 18
Millinery 18
Electricity and magnetism 16
------
Total 1,489
The policy of the schools is to form a class in any subject for which
a sufficient number of students make application. Only a small
proportion of the pupils attend more than one year, and the mortality
from term to term is very high, although the tuition fee plan insures
fairly good attendance during the term. The data collected by the
survey indicate that the average length of attendance is approximately
two terms--the equivalent in student hours of less than three weeks in
the ordinary day school.
Most of the men who enroll in night school classes need a course of at
least two or three years. All but a few, however, insist on having
their supplementary training in small doses. Frequently they want
only specific instruction about a specific thing, such as how to lay
out a certain piece of work or how to set up a particular machine
tool. They want to secure this knowledge in the shortest possible
time, and very few want the same thing. A course of two or three years
does not appeal to them. Another difficulty is that their previous
educational equipment varies widely, and some are not capable of
assimilating even the specialized bit of trade knowledge they need
without a preliminary course in arithmetic. As the personnel of the
classes changes to a marked degree from term to term, the courses
undergo frequent modifications. Apparently the teachers and principals
have made a sincere effort to adapt the instruction to the demands of
the men who attend the schools, but the fact is that the difficulties
inherent in such work make it impossible to organize the classes on
any basis except that of subject matter, which means fitting students
into courses, rather than adapting courses to the needs of particular
groups of workers.
The enrollment is far below what should be expected in a city of
nearly three-quarters of a million inhabitants. The total number of
journeymen, apprentices, and helpers from the skilled manual
occupations, receiving trade instruction in the night schools, is
considerably less than one per cent of the total number in the city.
A large enrollment is necessary for efficient administration. Success
in specializing courses in night schools, as in day schools, requires
a large administrative unit. The possible variety of courses is in
direct ratio to the number enrolled. In a class of 200 carpenters
there would probably be, for example, 10 or 15 men who need
specialized instruction in stair-building. On the basis of the present
enrollment of 40 or 50 carpenters the class would dwindle to three or
four, with the result that the per capita teaching cost becomes
prohibitive.
The relatively small result now obtained is not the fault of the
schools, but is due principally to the fact that the great field of
evening vocational instruction is treated by the school system as a
mere side line of the technical high schools. The evening classes are
taught by teachers who have already given their best in the day
classes. The enrollment cannot be greatly increased so long as this
type of education is handled as one of the marginal activities of the
school system, manned by tired teachers and directed by tired
principals. It is a totally different kind of job from regular day
instruction and requires a different administrative organization, with
a responsible head vested with sufficient authority to meet quickly
and effectively the widely varying demands of its students. This will
require the speeding-up of administrative methods in the establishment
of courses and the employment of teachers, a freer hand for the
principals as regards both expenditures and policy, and most important
of all, the organization of all forms of continuation and night school
instruction under a separate department.
A COMBINED PROGRAM OF CONTINUATION AND TRADE-EXTENSION TRAINING
In considering the general conclusions of the survey as to what should
be done in the matter of trade preparatory and trade-extension
training in both day and night schools, it must be borne in mind that
these two types of vocational training are still in the experimental
stage. Their future development will probably involve a wide departure
from conventional school methods and the evolution of a special
technique through trial and experiment. At the present time we can
only formulate certain of the main conditions to which future advance
in these fields must conform.
First of all, it must be recognized that such work is a big job in
itself and cannot be successfully conducted as an appendix of the day
school. It is worth doing well, or it is not worth doing. It needs an
organization sufficiently elastic and adaptable to quickly make
adjustments to unusual and unexpected conditions. It needs the
supervision of a competent director who can devote to it all his time
and energy, and a corps of teachers who not only know how and what to
teach, but who possess a firm conviction of the value and utility of
this kind of instruction. In the hands of teachers who bring to it
only the margin of interest and energy remaining after a hard day's
work in the high school, or who are unable to comprehend the radical
difference between teaching a boy in the day school 35 hours a week
and teaching a boy four hours a week in the continuation school or
evening class, the full measure of success cannot be expected. The
employment of day teachers for night school work has never been other
than a makeshift, and the insignificant results attained in night
schools throughout the country have been due in great measure to this
cause.
Apart from the fact that the interests of adolescent workers
imperatively demand the establishment of day continuation schools, an
additional argument in favor of such schools is that they would
provide a means for making the night trade-extension work effective,
through the use of continuation day school teachers for night school
work. Such a plan would mean that teachers employed on this basis
would have charge of a day continuation class during one session of
four hours, and a night class of two hours, making a total of six
hours' work per day. A plan of this kind would make possible the
establishment of the fundamental conditions for successful
trade--preparatory and trade-extension training in the night schools.
The present system is unjust to both teachers and students;--to the
students because the man or boy who sacrifices his recreation time to
attend night school has a right to the best the schools can give; to
the teachers because no teacher can work a two-hour night shift in
addition to seven or eight hours in the technical high school without
seriously impairing his efficiency.
The development of this plan would necessitate the establishment of
two centers, one located in the eastern and one in the western section
of the city. In these centers should be housed the day vocational
school, the day continuation classes, and the night vocational
classes. This would relieve the technical high schools of a task which
does not belong to them, and which by overloading the teachers
seriously interferes with the work they were originally employed to
do. At present a considerable number of the technical high school
teachers are devoting from one-fifth to one-fourth of their total
working day to elementary teaching, as most of the work in the night
schools is below high school grade.
By bringing together all the trade preparatory and trade-extension
work under one roof, it is possible to secure the highest efficiency
in the use of equipment. Expensive shops can be justified only on the
basis of constant use. If the suggestion for the establishment of a
vocational school is acted upon, such future contingencies as the
continuation school should be borne in mind in planning the buildings
and equipment, so as to permit of extensions as they may be required.
It is practically certain that universal continuation training for
young workers up to the age of 17 or 18 will be made compulsory in all
the progressive states of the country within the next decade. The Ohio
school authorities should get ready to handle the continuation school
problem before the example of other states and the overwhelming
pressure of public opinion forces it upon them.