EDUCATION
_The purpose of this chapter is to explain why education is made
compulsory, how the schools are managed, what they cost, and what
they are trying to do._
[Sidenote: In a democracy education is essential.]
=Education and Democracy.=—No matter where one may go, in any part of
the world, it will be found that political democracy and public
education tend to keep pace with each other. In despotisms one will
rarely find a system of universal, free, public education; or, if it is
found, one can be sure that the despotism will not last very long.
Education is the friend of democracy and the foe of despotism. Indeed it
can fairly be said that without a system of public education no
democracy can be sure of its own permanence. This is because the
maintenance of democratic government depends upon the ability of the
people to think straight and to see things clearly. The more political
freedom you give a people the greater is their opportunity for abusing
it.
[Sidenote: Free government depends on intelligence.]
In a real democracy the only safeguard is the common sense of the
people, and a system of free, public education will do more for the
diffusion of common sense among the people than anything else can do. It
is unsafe to place the ballot in the hands of people without giving them
the opportunity to acquire that degree of enlightenment which is
necessary to enable them to use the ballot intelligently. The voter who
cannot read a newspaper or understand the public questions which he is
called upon to decide is a poor foundation upon which to build a
government. More than fifty years ago, when England practically adopted
manhood suffrage, some of the old-fashioned statesmen bemoaned the fact
that the multitudes of the people would be “masters” of the government.
“Well, then”, said a certain member of Parliament, “educate your
masters!” That is the only way to keep a democratic government honest,
intelligent, orderly, and capable.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK. By John W. Alexander
_From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston.
Reproduced by permission._
]
THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK
By John W. Alexander
These three mural paintings are in the East Corridor
of the Library of Congress.
The first depicts the spread of knowledge by oral
tradition. A seer, or wise man, narrates by word of
mouth to his tribesmen the story of the race. This
was, in earliest times, the only way of imparting
knowledge. Then, after many centuries, came the
making of manuscript books on parchment. The monks
of the Middle Ages, as shown in the central picture,
spent much of their time in the laborious task of
making books—each letter being printed by hand.
Finally came the invention of printing. In the third
picture Gutenburg, the inventor, is inspecting one
of the pages just completed by the primitive press
which the boy is turning by hand.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Sidenote: If so, why are intelligent men sometimes corrupt in
politics?]
But someone may interpose to ask this embarrassing question: If
education helps to make people more intelligent in political matters,
why is it that well-educated and intelligent people are often found
among corrupt and selfish politicians, and that even college graduates
sometimes become notorious political bosses? The answer is that in this,
as in other things, a general truth does not cease to be a general truth
because there are exceptions to it. Many well-educated men are unable to
earn a living, but would any sensible person argue that education, as a
general rule, renders no aid toward the gaining of a livelihood? As well
might one urge that newspapers render no service in disseminating the
truth because some of them occasionally print lies. It is quite true
that men are not politically wise in exact proportion to the extent of
their education. The man or woman who is only a grammar school graduate
may have more political wisdom than the most finished scholar in the
land. But this does not impair the fundamental truth that knowledge is
preferable to ignorance in all countries, at all times, and in every
field of human activity.
[Sidenote: The general purpose of education.]
=Education and Personal Efficiency.=—To make men and women intelligent
in matters of government is not, however, the only purpose of education.
The general prosperity of the country depends, in the long run, upon the
individual ability of its citizens. Every individual who proves able to
earn his own living, establish a home, bring up a family, and by his
savings add something to the nation’s capital is a contributor to the
national prosperity. Every individual who fails to make his own way and
becomes dependent, either in whole or in part, upon the efforts of
others, is a drag upon the community. In its own interest, therefore, it
is the duty of the whole people to see that everyone is not only enabled
but encouraged to become personally efficient, able to make his own way
in the world, and capable of pulling his own weight in that many-oared
boat which carries the progress of society along.
[Sidenote: The specific purposes of education:]
=The Purpose and Value of Education.=—The purpose of education therefore
is three-fold. [Sidenote: 1. Economic.] First, it aims to give young men
and women the sort of training which will enable them to earn a living.
This is a primary and fundamental purpose, because earning a living is
one of life’s great problems. But it is not the only purpose of
education; an educational system would be very defective if it confined
itself to this and nothing more. [Sidenote: 2. Personal.] The second
purpose of education is to develop the personality of the individual,
his own resources and mentality, so that he may enjoy those durable
satisfactions of life which are not directly connected with the work of
earning a livelihood. The enjoyment which men and women derive from life
is not entirely dependent upon the amount of their incomes; one need
only to look about the community to realize that this is so. Even a
large fortune does not of itself guarantee happiness. To live a full and
contented life it is necessary to know what is going on in the world, to
appreciate its significance, and to understand the many things which, to
the uneducated man or woman, are hidden mysteries. Education helps an
individual to know himself, to know what is going on around him, to
understand the motives which govern the actions of his fellow-men, and
to adjust himself to the environment in which he lives. Knowledge is
power. It is power in the hands of everyone who possesses it. [Sidenote:
3. Social.] The third purpose of education, the social purpose, is also
of great importance. Education aims to train the individual so that he
may better serve his fellow-men. Democracy, as has been said, rests upon
the intelligence of the people. A democratic government exacts from its
citizens a sort of service which education alone can teach them to
give.[242]
[Sidenote: The illiteracy of bygone days.]
=The Growth of Public Education.=—For many centuries in the history of
the world the masses of the people were afforded no opportunity for even
the elements of education. Not one person in ten thousand could read or
write. Even kings on the throne were illiterate. There is a well-known
picture of King John, with a crown on his head and a quill pen in his
hand, signing the Great Charter. It is an altogether fanciful picture,
because John Plantagenet could not write a single word, not even his own
name. No copy of Magna Carta or any other document has ever been found
with his signature on it. The only persons who could read or write in
those days were the monks and other officers of the Church together with
a very few laymen who were educated by them. Even after the invention of
printing, education spread slowly and it was not until the nineteenth
century that the desirability of providing free schools for the masses
of the people came to be generally recognized. Prior to that time
education was almost everywhere regarded as a luxury to be bought and
paid for by the relatively few individuals who could afford it.
[Sidenote: The first American schools.]
In the United States free education goes back to colonial days. As early
as 1647 the colony of Massachusetts Bay provided that a schoolmaster
should be appointed and paid out of the taxes in every town of more than
fifty families and that this schoolmaster should teach all the children
“to write and reade”; but this example was not generally followed in the
other colonies. It has been estimated that not more than half the
population in the colonial days could read and write. The proportion of
illiteracy among women was especially large because very little
provision was made for educating girls. Even after the Revolution the
system of free, public schools spread slowly and not until the middle of
the nineteenth century did it cover the greater portion of the country.
Since the Civil War, however, the policy of making education not only
free but compulsory has been adopted in virtually every part of the
United States. The total enrolment in the public schools is now more
than twenty-two millions, and the cost of educating the vast array of
young citizens is considerably over a billion dollars a year.
[Sidenote: The function of the state in education.]
=The Control and Management of Education.=—As the national constitution
gives the federal government no power to control education the
responsibility rests with the several states. Every state has
established a system of free, public education, but the methods of
control and management differ greatly from one state to another. Some
states have centralized the management of the schools in the hands of
the state authorities; others leave this very largely to the school
officials of the counties, cities, or districts. Everywhere there is a
state department of education, with a board or a superintendent in
charge, some states having both. The local educational unit may be the
city, town, township, school district, or (especially in the Southern
states) the county. A school board, usually elected, erects the school
buildings, chooses a school superintendent, appoints principals and
teachers (on the recommendation of the superintendent), and appropriates
money for the support of the schools. The detailed work of managing the
schools rests primarily upon the superintendent.[243]
[Sidenote: Where should the chief control be lodged?]
=Central vs. Local Control of Schools.=—To what extent should the public
schools be under the control of the state authorities? Is it advisable
that local school boards should be left free to manage the schools as
they think best, without interference from the state? These are
questions upon which the opinions of educators differ. It is argued that
the school board, in every city, town, or township knows best the needs
of its own community and hence ought to be given a free hand in meeting
these needs. This policy, moreover, affords each school a chance to try
experiments and it is through experiments that progress in education, as
in everything else, is usually made. On the other hand it is logical to
assert that if the state laws make education compulsory and if the state
treasury grants money to local schools it is the right of the state to
see that the money is properly spent. If every city, town, and village
were left free to manage its schools without any central control there
would be no uniformity in the subjects taught, in the qualifications of
teachers, or in the organization of the schools. It would be difficult
in that case for a pupil to transfer from one school to another, outside
the same community, without finding himself a misfit in the new
institution. A certain amount of central control seems therefore to be
desirable, but it is not for the best interests of education that every
school throughout the state should be conducted in exactly the same way.
A system of that sort tends to deaden the whole process of education.
There is a great deal to be said for home rule in education, provided
there is a sufficient amount of state supervision to keep the schools up
to a proper standard.
[Sidenote: Keeping the schools out of politics.]
=School Boards and Politics.=—It is generally agreed that party politics
should have no place in the management of the public schools. There may
be justification for party politics in lawmaking bodies; but in school
boards there is none. There is an efficient way of managing the schools
and an inefficient way; but there is no such thing as a Republican way
or a Democratic way. Yet elections to school boards are, in many
communities, contested upon party lines. Men and women are nominated and
elected, very often, because they belong to one or the other political
party, not because they have good judgment or a deep interest in school
affairs. In this, however, public sentiment is gradually changing. In
many places the school board elections have become non-partisan; party
designations have been taken off the ballots, and it matters little
which party a candidate belongs to. Why should it? What relation is
there between a man’s views on the tariff or the league of nations and
his ability to serve his own neighbors acceptably as a member of a local
school board? There is no visible relation. Taking the schools out of
politics means that the taxpayers get greater value for the money which
is spent in maintaining the schools, that all questions are decided upon
their merits and not by political favoritism, and that every pupil gets
the benefit of better schools, better teachers, and better educational
methods.
=Educational Work of the National Government.=—The national government,
as has already been pointed out, possesses no formal powers with respect
to education in the states. Nevertheless it has done a good deal to
promote the interests of public education by publishing the results of
investigations into educational problems, and by rendering advisory
assistance to the state authorities. [Sidenote: The national Bureau of
Education.] It maintains a Bureau of Education which is now within the
jurisdiction of the Interior Department. At the head of this bureau is a
Commissioner of Education appointed by the President. The functions of
the bureau are almost wholly of an informal character; it collects data
for the use of educators and publishes this material in annual reports
and bulletins.[244] There has been a strong movement to make this bureau
a regular Department of Education, with a member of the cabinet at its
head, and to increase its powers considerably; but this movement has not
yet been successful.
=Federal Aid to Education.=—Within the last few years there has been a
good deal of controversy, both in Congress and outside, over a proposal
to appropriate further funds from the national treasury for the
promotion of general education in the states, particularly in those
states where the common school system needs toning up. [Sidenote: The
Towner-Sterling Bill: its merits and defects.] This proposal is embodied
in a measure which has been before Congress for some time but upon which
no favorable action has yet been taken.[245] In favor of the measure it
is argued that public elementary education is a national necessity and
that if any state cannot raise sufficient money to keep its common
schools up to a proper standard the interests of the whole nation will
suffer in the end. There is just as much reason, and more, it is
asserted, for federal aid to state schools as for such aid to state
roads. On the other hand it is objected that the policy of large federal
subsidies to education would involve the taxing of the populous and
thriving states of the East, the Middle West, and the Pacific Slope for
the benefit of those other states, especially in the South, where the
school system has heretofore been backward through lack of funds. Most
of the federal government’s income is provided by the taxpayers of
states like New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Massachusetts.
But in these states the public school system has already been brought up
to a standard where there is no urgent need for federal assistance. The
chief gainers under the new plan would be the states which contribute
very little of the revenue. In other words, we should be taxing some
states for the benefit of others. A somewhat more weighty objection, to
some minds, is found in the possibility that if the national government
begins the practice of making large annual grants to the states for
educational purposes it may, in due course, undertake to exercise
control over the public school systems of the entire country. When a
government grants money for any purpose it has an undeniable right to
make sure that the money is being properly spent. To do this it must
create some system of inspection. Inspection leads to supervision, and
supervision sooner or later merges into actual control. It is feared in
some quarters that this would be the ultimate outcome of federal aid to
common school education on any large scale.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ┌─────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ THE PUBLIC │ │
│ └────────────┬────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ┌─────────┴──────────┐ │
│ ┌──────────┤ BOARD OF EDUCATION ├─────────┐ │
│ │ └─────────┬──────────┘ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
│┌───┴───┐ ┌───────┴────────┐ ┌────┴────┐ │
││ CLERK │ ┌───┤ SUPERINTENDENT │ │ COUNSEL │ │
│└───────┘ │ └────┬──┬──┬─────┘ └─────────┘ │
│ ┌─────┴─────┐ │ │ │ │
│ │ SECRETARY │ │ │ │ │
│ └───────────┘ │ │ │ │
│ ┌───────────────┘ │ └─────────────────┐ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ ┌─────┴──────┐ │ │
│ │ ┌─────────┤ PRINCIPALS ├─────────┐ │ │
│┌─────┴──┴──┐ └─────┬──────┘ ┌──┴───┴──────┐│
││ ENGINEERS │ │ │ SUPERVISORS ││
││ JANITORS │ │ └──┬───┬──────┘│
│└─────┬──┬──┘ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ ┌─────────┴─────────┐ │ │ │
│ │ └─────┤ TEACHERS ├──────┘ │ │
│ │ └─────────┬─────────┘ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ ┌────┴──────────────────┴────────────────────┴─────┐ │
│ │ PUPILS │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
HURON PLAN OF SCHOOL ORGANIZATION
THE CONTROL OF EDUCATION
This diagram illustrates a common type of municipal
school administration. The voters choose a Board of
Education, or School Board. This body, in turn,
appoints a Superintendent of Schools who has
supervision over all matters of school management.
In some cities the members of the Board of Education
are appointed by the mayor. In the larger
municipalities there are, as a rule, one or more
assistant superintendents.
Make a similar chart showing the organization of the
school system in your own community.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Sidenote: A series of present-day questions.]
=Some Problems of School Organization.=—Several problems of great
importance are engaging the attention of the school authorities at the
present time. The more conspicuous among them may be indicated by a
series of questions which are under discussion wherever educators come
together, but which are also of direct interest to the pupils and to the
community. To what age should school attendance be made compulsory? How
can pupils be kept from leaving school before they have received a
sufficient amount of education? How should the school course be divided?
Should we have junior high schools and junior colleges as well as
regular high schools and regular colleges? How may the training of
teachers be improved? Can the work of the schools be brought into closer
and better contact with the resources of the public library? Is it
possible to use the school plant, after school hours, for various forms
of community service? Can greater use be made of the school plant during
the school day? And where are we going to get the money with which to
carry on all these new enterprises if we ultimately agree that they are
desirable? This list of questions may seem to contain some that are not
related to one another, but they all point to different aspects of the
same great problem and may be summed up in the one broad query: What
changes in school organization will better enable education to fulfil
its three-fold purpose?
[Sidenote: Compulsory school attendance.]
=The School Age.=—To what age should attendance be made compulsory? In
most of the states this age is now fixed at fourteen years (or grammar
school graduation) although some Southern states still maintain the
twelve-year limit. Many believe that even the fourteen-year limit is not
high enough and are urging that it be raised. In some states a step in
this direction has been taken by requiring that all persons under
sixteen years of age who engage in any form of wage-earning employment
must either present a certificate of graduation from grammar school or
must attend continuation classes for so many hours per week. More urgent
than any raising of the school age, however, is the need for more
strictly enforcing the rules which now exist. In some communities the
present age limit of fourteen years is not insisted upon, with the
result that many thousands in the backward rural sections and in the
crowded districts of cities are growing up in illiteracy. Whatever the
age limit it ought to be enforced to the letter.[246]
[Sidenote: The present school divisions.]
=Re-arranging the School Divisions.=—But we should not depend wholly
upon the stern arm of the law for the solution of a problem like that of
keeping pupils at school. When normal boys and girls strongly dislike
going to school, when they stay away at every opportunity and leave
school as soon as they can, we may well suspect that there is something
wrong with the school system itself. Graduation from grammar school has
hitherto been looked upon as the natural point at which to break off.
The majority of pupils leave the schools at that stage; only a minority
go on with the regular school course. Our whole system of school
divisions has therefore brought it about that there is no logical
breaking-off point between the ages of thirteen or fourteen on the one
hand (grammar school graduation) and seventeen or eighteen (high school
graduation) on the other. It is believed by many educators, moreover,
that the last two grades of the grammar schools have not been so
organized as to awaken in the average pupil a desire to go further. The
upper grades of grammar schools do not differ essentially in their
methods of instruction from the lower grades although the much greater
maturity of the pupils would seem to warrant the use of different
methods.
[Sidenote: The junior high school system.]
To improve this situation it is now proposed to divide the school course
into three parts by establishing junior high schools, and many
communities have already adopted this plan. The junior high school as
usually organized takes the last two grades of the grammar school, adds
on the first year or the first two years of the regular high school
course, and thus provides a three-year or a four-year program which
carries pupils through to the ages of fifteen or sixteen. The methods of
instruction are those of the regular high school.[247] This plan is said
to have two marked advantages: it induces pupils to continue their
schooling one or two years longer, and it gives them a type of
instruction which is better suited to their age and interests. Objection
is sometimes raised against the junior high school system on the ground
that it involves the introduction of elective studies and hence may
result in the neglecting of fundamentals. It may also result in bringing
all the customary social and athletic diversions of the high school into
the lives of younger pupils. Whether this is an advantage or a defect
may be regarded as an open question.
[Sidenote: The junior college.]
What becomes of the regular high school if its first year or two years
are lopped off? There are two alternatives. It may become simply a
senior high school with a three-year or a two-year course, or it may add
on two additional years covering work which has hitherto been done by
freshmen and sophomores in colleges, thus providing what has come to be
known as a junior college course. Where this policy is pursued the pupil
can be carried two years beyond the old high school graduation and
enabled, on entering a college or university, to obtain a degree in less
than the usual time. All this involves a considerable increase in the
expense of maintaining the school system, of course; but it also
increases the service rendered to the community.
=The Training of Teachers.=—In the last analysis the success of
education depends upon the teacher. Suitable buildings, a well-planned
curriculum, good text books, all contribute their share towards the
efficiency of a school; but these are inanimate things. Without capable
teachers they are of little avail. Now effective teaching requires two
attainments on the part of the teacher, a knowledge of the subject and
ability to impart this knowledge to others. Both of these things are
essential and both are in large measure the result of training.
[Sidenote: Normal schools.] It is for this reason that all the states
maintain normal schools in which prospective teachers are trained in the
art of giving instruction. For teachers who are already in service many
of these normal schools provide courses during the afternoon and evening
hours so that teachers may keep abreast of the most modern methods in
education. [Sidenote: Extension courses.] The universities also provide
extension courses and summer instruction with the same end in view. All
this is highly desirable and should be carried even further. We are
inclined to spend our school appropriations on buildings, books,
supplies, and facilities for the pupils and to feel that the community
discharges its full obligation to the teachers when it pays them
salaries that are by no means proportionate to the importance of the
work in which they are engaged. But human knowledge is moving forward at
a rapid pace and anyone who does not keep close on its trail is sure to
be left far behind. Unless the teachers are afforded the opportunity of
keeping in touch with everything that is new it is difficult to see how
their instruction can keep pace with the times.
=The School and the Public Library.=—The public library is an
institution of great educational value and its relation to the schools
ought to be more intimate than is usually the case. Too often the public
library is merely an ornate building with a miscellaneous assortment of
books (mostly fiction) on its shelves. It is regarded as a place for
adult readers primarily. But the way to enlarge this circle of adult
readers is to bring them into touch with the resources of the library
when they are young, and the public schools are the natural channels
through which this can be accomplished.
[Sidenote: How the public library can help the schools.]
In well-managed public libraries this is now being done. Many of them
have established juvenile departments in which an expert carefully
chooses books that are likely to interest the young. Reading lists of
interesting and timely subjects are also kept posted; the pupils in the
schools are encouraged to use the library in connection with their
studies; illustrated lectures are provided in the late afternoon hours
and on Saturdays, and the whole atmosphere of the library becomes one of
welcome to readers of every age. It should not be thought, however, that
all public libraries are rendering this degree of service. Many of them
are unprogressive in these things.
[Sidenote: The school as a neighborhood center.]
=Wider Use of the Schools.=—Under ordinary conditions, how many hours of
use does a community obtain from its school buildings in the course of a
year? Five hours per day, five days per week for about forty weeks in
the year. That makes a total of about a thousand hours—a year contains
more than eight times as many. When used for school purposes only,
school buildings are empty seven-eighths of the time. But the cost of
maintenance (interest, care, etc.) goes on all the time just the same.
These buildings are admirably suited for many after-school purposes;
they are centrally-located, well heated and ventilated, clean and
commodious. Why not make use of them outside of school hours? The answer
to this query is that many cities are now making use of them for evening
classes, for public meetings, and neighborhood recreation. The high
schools in many cities have become evening social centers for the
section in which they are located. This means that the classrooms,
assembly hall, and gymnasium are opened for lectures, entertainments,
games, and dances, all under the supervision of officials (usually
teachers) who are appointed and paid by the school board. The complaint
is sometimes made that this wider use of the school plant is not
education in the customary sense, but recreation or amusement, and that
the taxpayers should not be required to pay for adult amusement under
color of supporting a public school system. There is some force in this
contention, but so long as the work is of value to the community, and
worth what it costs, the particular heading under which the money is
expended does not matter a great deal. These evening activities are
placed in charge of the school authorities as a matter of convenience
and not because they are exclusively of an educational character.
=The Gary System.=—Do we make sufficient use of the school facilities
within the available school hours of the day? The usual school program
does not cover more than five hours, although there are eight hours
between eight in the morning and four in the afternoon. [Sidenote:
Schools on an eight-hour basis.] In Gary, Indiana, a few years ago the
school authorities decided that schooling, like labor, should be put
upon an eight-hours-a-day basis. Pupils were therefore kept at school
from eight until four, spending half their time in the classrooms and
the other half at vocational work or at organized play. In this way the
classrooms were made to accommodate twice the customary number of
pupils. The Gary plan was based on the idea that even as regards their
play the school can be of service to pupils and that time spent in
learning something useful should be substituted for time spent in
roaming the streets. Especial emphasis is placed by the Gary plan upon
letting each pupil follow his own line of interests both in the
classroom and in the vocational work. But the system has not, on the
whole, proved popular elsewhere with either parents or pupils. The labor
organizations also dislike it, suspecting that the plan is a capitalist
scheme for getting the children of the worker more rapidly into the
shops and factories.
[Sidenote: The old curriculum.]
=Vocational Education.=—The foregoing topics do not exhaust the list of
things which educators are earnestly considering today. There is also
the important question as to what should be taught in the schools and
how it should be taught. For some years the whole curriculum of the
public schools has been in process of change. The training of the
old-time American school was in large measure literary and intellectual,
without any direct relation to the present or future interests of
pupils. It came to us from a past generation, when education was the
prerogative of the well-to-do alone, the privilege of the leisure class,
designed to give culture and erudition. But inasmuch as nearly ninety
per cent of all the pupils in the public school go directly into some
form of industrial or mercantile employment (not into the learned
professions) it can readily be seen that a school program of strictly
cultural studies does not satisfy the real needs of the community. Hence
the demand for vocational education, for such study and practice as will
connect the pupil directly with his future life work.[248]
[Sidenote: The new curriculum.]
In response to the demand for vocational studies the old school
curriculum has undergone a striking change. Today it is the disposition
of educators to challenge every subject to demonstrate its value. A
subject which cannot demonstrate that it helps to fulfil some one of the
recognized purposes of education is given a subordinate place in the
curriculum or taken out altogether. In keeping with this attitude the
vocational studies have come into great prominence during the past
twenty years or more, for they are regarded as connecting the pupil with
his future life-work. Shopwork, millinery, sewing, cooking, stenography,
mechanical drawing, and a dozen other branches of vocational work have
been brought into the school program. They are crowding the older high
school studies, particularly the classical languages, into the
background. Special schools of commerce and industry have been provided
in many of the large cities, and special schools of agriculture in the
rural districts.[249]
No sensible person should regret that the schools have moved in this new
direction; the only question is how far they ought to go. If the only
purpose of education were to teach the art of earning a living it would
be another matter; but do purely vocational studies afford sufficient
scope for the attainment of the other educational purposes? Man does not
live by bread alone. The cultural studies have their value although this
is often overlooked because it does not appear in plain sight to the
naked eye. Even in the vocational school there should be a proper
balance between the definitely vocational studies and the so-called
cultural subjects.
=The Newer Methods of School Instruction.=—Forty or fifty years ago all
American education, in schools and colleges, was on a prescribed basis.
Definite subjects were laid down to be studied and everybody studied
them. But the plan of allowing students to choose some or all of their
studies was adopted by the colleges and in due course this elective
system worked its way down into the schools.
[Sidenote: The elective system.]
There is a good deal to be said in favor of the elective system; it
permits a choice of work in accordance with individual interests and
capacities. After all, the school is created for the pupil, not the
pupil for the school. The _pupil_ is the true unit of instruction, not
the _subject_. On the other hand the elective system may be carried to
extremes; in some colleges that was the case and it has now been found
necessary to put restrictions on the plan. A system of free and unguided
electives leads to a patchwork education, desultory in character and
without depth. It is all right to know a little about everything; but it
is even more important to know some one thing well. Certain subjects
form the groundwork of knowledge, and to go ahead with others before
first mastering them is like building the roof of a house before you
have dug the foundation or erected the walls. Without a grounding in the
great languages, the English language particularly, and a fair
proficiency in mathematics, history, and the elements of science no one
is entitled to call himself an educated man.
[Sidenote: The socialized recitation.]
The classroom methods have also changed considerably in the last
generation, and they have changed for the better. The older methods
sought to drill facts into the pupil’s mind and resulted, very often, in
merely over-stocking his memory. Today the aim is to utilize, wherever
possible, a method of approach through the interests of the individual
and to show him how every shred of knowledge fits into the whole fabric.
The old methods of classroom instruction laid the entire emphasis upon
individual study and recitations; today much greater emphasis is being
placed upon group activity, which includes group discussions, group
investigations, and group reports. This does not mean, however, that the
individual pupil carries less responsibility than under the older
system. It still remains true that there is no royal road to knowledge
and no system of rapid transit either. No system can make an educated
individual without self-effort. Education is one of the very few things
in the world which _anyone can obtain_ but which _no one can give
away_.[250]
=Financing the Schools.=—All new educational enterprises mean increased
expenses. Public education in the United States has become enormously
more expensive during the past twenty years. The newer methods of school
organization and instruction, the wider use of the schools, the
extension of vocational education, the providing of free text books, the
progress of health work in the schools, the establishment of evening
schools, continuation schools, vacation schools—all these things have
caused the cost to keep mounting year after year. [Sidenote: A billion
dollars a year for education.] The public schools of the United States
now cost the taxpayer more than a billion dollars per annum. That is
twice what they cost ten years ago. If the expenses double once more in
the next decade, where will the money come from? Practically all of it
is now obtained by taxation; but taxation spreads itself out through
rents and prices upon the whole people as has already been shown. A
billion a year seems to be a large sum. It is a large sum but, strange
to say, it is less than the American people spend every year for
tobacco. Money for the schools, it is safe to predict, will be
forthcoming when people understand what education means to individuals
and to the nation. If present sources of revenue will not stand the
strain others must be found. There is no more profitable way in which
the nation can invest its wealth.
General References
E. P. CUBBERLY, _Public School Administration_, pp. 3-65;
S. T. DUTTON and DAVID SNEDDEN, _The Administration of Public Education
in the United States_, pp. 25-95;
F. J. GOODNOW and F. J. BATES, _Municipal Government_, pp. 335-354
(Educational Administration);
A. J. INGLIS, _Principles of Secondary Education_, pp. 340-383;
JOHN A. FAIRLIE, _Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages_,
pp. 215-224;
W. E. CHANCELLOR, _Our City Schools_, pp. 25-77;
W. B. MUNRO, _Principles and Methods of Municipal Administration_, pp.
356-402;
GEORGE F. SWAIN, _How to Study_, pp. 1-21;
The Annual Reports of the United States Commissioner of Education, the
Bulletins of the United States Bureau of Education, and the Annual
Reports of the State Superintendents of Education contain much useful
information.
Group Problems
=1. The purpose, progress, value, and limitations of vocational
education.= The old curriculum, its merits and defects. The rise of
manual training. Its value. Beginnings of industrial education. Its
progress. Its scope. Its place in the school system. Its relation to
industry and the attitude of industry toward it. The attitude of
organized labor. Limitations on the scope of vocational education.
=References=: P. H. HANUS, _Beginnings in Industrial Education_, pp.
3-27; DAVID SNEDDEN, _Vocational Education_, pp. 1-104; MEYER
BLOOMFIELD, _The School and the Start in Life_ (United States Bureau of
Education, _Bulletin_, 1914, No. 4, pp. 117-133); S. T. DUTTON and DAVID
SNEDDEN, _The Administration of Public Education in the United States_,
pp. 404-425; IRVING KING, _Social Aspects of Education_, pp. 144-176; A.
H. LEAKE, _Industrial Education, its Problems, Methods, and Dangers_,
pp. 3-39; United States Senate and House Committees on Agriculture,
_Vocational Education_ (Report of Hearings, 1912). See also the
Proceedings of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial
(Vocational) Education (published annually).
=2. How far should the state control the public schools?= =References=:
S. T. DUTTON and DAVID SNEDDEN, _The Administration of Public Education
in the United States_, pp. 41-72; E. C. ELLIOTT, _State School Systems_
(U. S. Bureau of Education, _Bulletin_, 1910, No. 2, pp. 31-68); A. C.
PERRY, _Outlines of School Administration_, pp. 16-28; J. M. MATHEWS,
_Principles of American State Administration_, pp. 296-334.
=3. The school as a social center.= =References=: _Irving King_,
_Education for Social Efficiency_, pp. 262-279; C. A. PERRY, _The Wider
Use of the School Plant_, pp. 3-16; 335-380; E. J. WARD, _The Social
Center_, pp. 302-314; National Society for the Study of Education,
_Tenth Yearbook_ (1913), Part I, pp. 1-69.
Short Studies
1. =The social aim of education.= IRVING KING, _Education for Social
Efficiency_, pp. 11-20.
2. =The organization and functions of school boards.= W. B. MUNRO,
_Principles and Methods of Municipal Administration_, pp. 359-372.
3. =How teachers are appointed.= F. W. BALLOU, _The Appointment of
Teachers in Cities_, pp. 8-41.
4. =Vocational guidance.= IRVING KING, _Education for Social
Efficiency_, pp. 177-205.
5. =How schoolhouses should be constructed.= F. B. DRESSLAR, American
School Houses (U. S. Bureau of Education, _Bulletin_, 1910, No. 5, pp.
17-38 and _passim_).
6. =The Gary system.= General Education Board, New York City. _The Gary
Schools, a General Account_, pp. 17-72.
7. =Has popular education failed in America?= C. W. ELIOT, _American
Contributions to Civilization_, pp. 203-236.
8. =The educational lessons of the war.= F. A. CLEVELAND and JOSEPH
SCHAFER, _Democracy in Reconstruction_, pp. 212-243.
9. =Education and economic success.= J. ELLIS BARKER, _Economic
Statesmanship_, pp. 143-179.
Questions
1. Explain why public education is necessary for the preservation of
popular rights and liberties.
2. If democracy and public education usually go together, why is it that
Germany had an excellent system of public education and yet remained an
autocracy down to 1918?
3. Do the laws of your state provide for compulsory school attendance?
If so, between what ages? What is your opinion as to the proper age
limits?
4. Explain the organization and functions of your state board (or
department) of education and your local school board.
5. Give a summary of what the federal government is now doing for
education. Do you believe that it ought to do more? If so, what?
6. How are funds for school purposes raised in your community? On what
basis does the state make its contribution?
7. What suggestions can you make for keeping the schools out of
politics?
8. Do you believe that teachers should be appointed under civil-service
rules?
9. Do you approve or disapprove of the Gary system? Give your reasons.
10. Make some suggestions for bringing the school and the public library
into closer relations.
Topics for Debate
1. The Towner-Sterling Bill should be passed by Congress.
2. School discipline should be placed in charge of a student council.
3. The age limit of compulsory school attendance should be raised to
sixteen years.
-----
Footnote 242:
By naming these three purposes of education, first, second, and third,
it is not intended to imply that this is their order of importance.
Some would put service to the community first of all. Over one of the
main gates at Harvard University, through which the students pass out
into the world after they have been graduated, is this timely
inscription: “Depart to serve thy country and thy kind.”
Footnote 243:
The laws and the practice differ greatly from state to state, and
sometimes from one community to another. It would be futile to attempt
the task of presenting here even the most important variations. Those
who desire to know exactly how the schools are controlled and managed
in different parts of the country will find full information in S. T.
Dutton and David Snedden, _The Administration of Public Education in
the United States_.
Footnote 244:
In 1917 Congress provided that each year a grant from the federal
treasury should be made to the several states in order to encourage
vocational education. This money is distributed among the states on
condition that each shall contribute an equal amount, the distribution
being made, not by the Bureau of Education, but by a body known as the
Federal Board for Vocational Education. This board is made up of seven
persons, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, the
Commissioner of Education and three other persons appointed by the
President. A considerable part of its work for the present is
connected with the providing of vocational training for American
soldiers and sailors who were disabled in the World War.
Footnote 245:
The Smith-Towner Bill, now the Towner-Sterling Bill.
Footnote 246:
According to the census figures only one person in fifteen (above
school age) is unable to write; but the experience of army officers
with drafted men during the war showed that the proportion must be a
great deal larger. The census enumerators take a man’s word for it;
the army authorities at the various camps applied an actual test. They
found that about one man in every five was unable to write a simple
letter of a dozen lines.
Footnote 247:
The essential differences between grammar school and high school
instruction are these: the work of the grammar school grades is
practically all prescribed; in the high school there are some elective
studies; in the grammar school grades one teacher gives the
instruction in all the subjects, whereas in the high schools the
various subjects are taught by different teachers, each one a
specialist.
Footnote 248:
A proper system of vocational education involves three things: (_a_) a
broad and practical foundation in elementary education of the ordinary
type; (_b_) a study of the social and civic forces which control the
life of the people; and (_c_) definite training in some particular
vocation or trade. In order to help the pupil choose his life work
more intelligently, many schools have made provision for vocational
guidance. A vocational director or counsellor studies the special
aptitudes and abilities of each pupil, points out what opportunities
are open, and advises as to the best means of training for the work
selected.
Footnote 249:
The demand for vocational education has come from several sources:
namely, from parents who believe that education ought to be directly
related to earning-power; from teachers who are convinced that there
is little or no educational value in drilling pupils in studies which
do not interest them; from the general public which thinks the schools
would render a larger social service in training pupils to vocational
efficiency; and from enterprising employers who see in this form of
education a chance to get a supply of trained workers without having
to break them in as apprentices. Organized labor at first looked with
suspicion upon the movement, but is now more favorably disposed toward
it. Vocational education should be clearly distinguished from manual
training, which is merely a general education in the principles of
skilful hand work without regard to any particular vocation or trade.
Vocational education does not turn out a fully-trained worker, but
only one who has practically finished the apprentice stage.
Footnote 250:
There is a current notion that those who stand highest in their
studies at school or in college usually do poorly when they get out
into the world, and that those who take a prominent part in school or
college activities, even though their scholarship be very poor, are
the ones who rise to the top in later life. The evidence is all to the
contrary. Every investigation that has ever been made into this matter
indicates that in the vast majority of cases the boy who does well at
school does well in his college studies if he goes to college; and
that students who stand high in their college studies are much more
likely to succeed in later life than those who stand low. Three great
Eastern universities, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, gave the nation
three successive Presidents during the years 1901-1921, Roosevelt,
Taft, and Wilson. Nobody thought it worth while to mention that each
of the three was a scholar of high rank at graduation; but if anyone
of them had been graduated near the bottom of the list, we should have
heard comment in plenty. The exceptions are too often singled out for
notice; the instances that prove the rule are so numerous that they
pass unobserved.