Oc1.B261292 DEG 17 ay — Democracy tn Education; Education for toneanetan VoL. I No. 10 NEW YORK, ‘DECEMBER, 1912 50 Cums : A Yee SOME CONSTRUCTIVE IDEAS IN THIS NUMBER HEN MEN are equipped with the prophy- laxis of knowledge, our social problems will be solved. @ THE STATE of tutelage on the part of teachers is opposed to social progress. @ DISCOVERIES in science are most welcome when they clear away some needless impositions of our daily life. @ TEACHERS may be represented in educational administration whenever they get ready for it. @ PROTECTION of the interests of teachers depe not upon law suits, nor upon “kicks”, but upon knowledge and upon pminciples deduced from edge. @ CRITICISM of individuals is trivial; criticism “" systems for the purpose of bringing about readjustment is necessary in order to prevent decay. EDUCATION AND SOCIAL PROGRESS CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN Editor, 7he Forerunner THAT BESTOWAL OF information and development of faculty which we call ed- ucation has long been recognized as im- portant, but few yet realize how impor- tant it is. If we did, if the people of the community rightly appreciated this supreme social function, they would bestow on it the devotion of their noblest minds, the eye-service, and love of their strongest, wisest, and best, and the unstinted supply of public funds. If the process of education was truly understood and fulfilled it would grad- ually absorb and eliminate many other social institutions now considered need- ful, such as a great part of our elaborate legal and punitive systems, of our hospi- tals, poor-houses and asylums, and the shameful survival of militarism. A normal social life, such as we may confidently look forward to as soon as we choose to have it, would anticipate and prevent evils which we now submit to with a blind and silly patience. It would equip its people, each and all, with the prophylaxis of knowledge—knowl- edge as full and thoro as the mind could grasp; it would strengthen them from birth with all the best methods of physi- cal and mental development; and a peo- ple so equipped and so_ strengthened could face and solve our little tangle of political and economic problems without further difficulty or delay. In the meantime we stand quite a long way up on the rising road of improve- ment. Behind us lies the remote period when education was wholly parental—as with the animals. The teacher gradu- ally appeared in loco parentis, and then, little by little, took not merely the place of the parent, but the place of the state. In a system of public education such ars we have begun upon, the teacher rep- resents society. As the parent, in the dwindling range of family affairs, still claims authority and furnishes instruc- tion, so the teacher, in the constantly ex- tending field of social function, acquires a larger duty and a growing power. New methods of education are fast de- veloping, but fully as important as these is the new attitude of the teacher, the recognition of the supreme power of that officer. The teacher has had an extende:| course of evolution like other social functionaries. For a long time he shared in the general degradation of women, the work of teaching being recognized as criginally a part of motherhood. He or she shared also in the low esteem ac- corded to domestic servants, the gov- erness or tutor being a person dependent cf the family, and treated as such. Even in schools and colleges, so long as these were privately endowed, the teacher only ranked with other tradesmen; they must sell their wares to live, and cater to the patrons who supported them. Still fur- ther, when church or king set up en- dowed institutions of learning, such es- tablishments were bound to reflect and maintain the views of their benefactors, and teach as they were bid. Not until democracy began to develop did this great profession of teaching be- gin to rise above the dragging weight of its long past, and since democracy is as yet by no means fully established, we need not look for perfect freedom on the part of teachers. So long as women were no part of the democracy, and yet were a large part of the force of instructors, there must needs be a feeling that teachers were somehow not citizens. Even when a more enlight- ened public opinion began first to teach the teachers, fitting them for their pro- fession in Normal Schools, establishing Chairs of Pedagogy, and journals of ed- ucation, and when civil service examina- tions gave at least a semblance of justice to the selection and gradation of teach- ers, still the profession remains a sort of stepping stone, for women until they marry, for men until they can go into some “better business.” Those who stay in it permanently are theoretically honored, but in fact hold only a moderate share of public esteem. The profession of teaching is of course 134 e- se he at ec] ial ed o THE AMERICAN TEACHER 135 a fellow-sufferer with other professions in its dependence upon payment. So long as personal profit is a necessary ele- ment of work, so long will all the more primitive personal instincts push in the direction of personal gain, and the higher social instincts operate at a disadvantage. This profession, however, is under a special disadvantage not shared by others. Our teachers are not merely piaced and graded according to their proven merits, but they come under the censorship and dominance of Boards of Education, politically elected or ap- pointed with no civil service examination to prove their fitness for the position, and yet able by their arbitrary rulings to ser- icusly interfere with the teachers’ prog- ress, achievement, and freedom. The teachers are themselves kept in a state ef tutelage, required to maintain a sub- dued and respectful demeanor, and even in some states prohibited from taking an active part in the election of their own governing force. This is directly opposed to democratic principles, and to legitimate social prog- ress. It constitutes one of those “ves- tigial rudiments,” highly mischievous, with which society is hampered. We need some drastic operations for this so- cial appendicitis, to rid the body politic once and for all of such discreditable remnants of dark ages long behind us. The true line of development in all forms of social function is through the specialization of individuals to given lines of work. Those who choose the teaching profession because of natural fitness and love for the work are the true teachers. They should then have the advantage of the best instruction and practice of their time, and be provided with every facility for their work. Then the greatest and best of them, the most successful with their pupils and the most gifted in power of organization, should be chosen by the teachers themselves for their Principals, and for members of the Educational Councils to administer the general affairs of the schools in city, county, state and nation. At present our teaching force is of as small importance in the administration of education as the wholly inconsiderable corps of writers who furnish “reading matter” is in the administration of that important moneymaking business, a popular magazine. Yet who can possibly know the needs of the children, the advantage of new methods, the kind of books and appara- tus wanted, as well as the teacher? Let our entrance examinations be as rigid as the community demands; let years of preliminary practice be re- quired; let the parents, alert and inter- ested, visit and inspect the school and the teacher constantly; let the children too have some voice in the choosing of the teachers they most love and honor; but having chosen the best teachers, we should certainly allow them to teach, with full responsibility and freedom. GOOD AND SUPERIOR TEACHERS Word comes from Illinois that a school inspection committee is empowered to place a plate on the front door of a school house when it is found that the school “comes up to the standard.” The front door plate says this is “a standard school.” Furthermore, the district gets a diploma for its virtue. Among the requirements for “a standard school” we select this highly significant qualification “The teacher must have a high school education, receive a salary of at least $300 a year and be ranked by the county super- intendent as a good and superior teacher.” Evidently the old New England theory of high thinking and low living is main- tained in Illinois. A superior teacher is essentially one with a lean and hungry look, — 8 with a good and superior appetite left un- satisfied. That is as it should be. Psycho- logists tell us that the best work is done on a semi-filled stomach. And three hundred a year ought to keep even a ravenous profes- sor from being overtrained. A good and superior teacher will not look to wistfully at a porterhouse steak if he wants a “stand- ard” dipioma. If the front door plate says “standard” on three hundred a year, what would it say on the doors of bloated Eastern professors who complain bitterly that they cannot live on $3,500 a year? Would a county superin- tendent from Illinois pass these purple- hooded nabobs as “good and superior” ?— New York Sun, Nov. 8, 1912. NEW IDEAS IN VENTILATION C. E. A. WiInstow College of the City of New York, and Museum of Natural History, New York THE OLD IDEA that ventilation was needed primarily for the removal of chemical poisonous products has gradu- ally given way before the advance of physiological investigation. We know quite clearly now that the decrease of oxygen and the increase of carbon dioxide in breathed air never goes so far as to affect health under any conditions ot normal human occupancy. The prison- ers in the Black Hole of Calcutta died of oxygen starvation, but in even the worst ventilated schoolroom the oxygen changes in the air are far too small to be of practical importance. There are of course organic substances in the air, some of which may be detected by their odor, and some of which have recently been studied in delicate physiological ex- periments by Dr. Rosenau. There is at present, however, no evidence that these organic compounds produce any effect upon the health or comfort of human be- ings, except for the aesthetic displeasure, excited by odor, in a person entering a badly ventilated room from outside. On the other hand, the careful and ex- haustive physiological studies of Fliigge ard his associates in Germany, of Hal- dane and Hill in England and of Bene- dict in our own country, have shown that all the effects produced upon a human being by “bad air’ can be pro- duced by high temperature combined with high humidity, and that the effects of “bad air” can be relieved without changing the air at all by simply cooling the surface of the body. Surprising as they seem, these results are substan- tiated by a long series of experiments in which men in closed chambers re- breathed again and again the air breathed by themselves and others and were quite comfortable so long as the chamber was kept cool, while if the chamber was al- lowed to become warm and damp from the body heat and moisture they could not be relieved by breathing fresh air thru a tube from outside. It is of course possible that chemical poisons may some day be discovered in the air, but it seems certain that the ordinary discomfort we experience in a badly ventilated room is due primarily to heat and moisture. It is not so much then the air we breathe that is important as the air which bathes our bodies. This by no means indicates that ventilation is unim- portant, however, but rather the re- verse. We need fresh air but it must be fresh cool air. Mere air quantity to di- lute carbon dioxide is not sufficient. We must have air of the proper quality as regards temperature and humidity; and such air has not been supplied by the average school ventilation system in the past. The ordinary schoolroom is venti- lated on the principle that the air enter- ing it will be warmer than the room and will gradually be cooled until it leaves. Hence inlets are placed at the ceiling and outlets at the floor. As soon as the room becomes too warm, just when ventilation is most needed, the system ceases to op- erate efficiently. The hot air in the room rises and tends to shut off the supply en- tirely, while the air which is forced in by the fans is now cooler than that in the room and drops to the floor outlet with- out mixing with the general atmosphere. Since many ventilating systems have thus been designed without any concep- tion of the modern physiological stand- ards, and since many of them are oper- ated so unintelligently as not to give even the results they were designed for, there has been profound dissatisfaction with the whole art of ventilation and a tend- ency in many quarters to throw aside “artificial” ventilation entirely and rely upon open windows. I cannot myself feel that this is the ultimate solution of our difficulties. I am familiar with the results attained by maintaining open air classes for special groups of children, but I doubt whether the whole body of chil- dren in our public schools would main- tain their maximum level of health and 136 ~~ Be ie ae i ae ak a af at | eS. See Se, ee ee ee a ee ee oOo —- py x = —™ (TF rR Be be oS nome ee THE AMERICAN TEACHER efficiency if they were kept all winter in outdoor air combined in the case of city children with the noise and dust of the city street. Or, if the attempt is made to maintain an ordinary indoor tempera- ture while ventilating by means of win- dows we meet the difficulty arising from unequal distribution of cold air. The children near the windows will be too cold or the children away from the win- dows will be too hot, usually the latter: The hope of the future lies in “arti- ficial” ventilation, but ventilation on newer and more rational lines. In order to avoid any possibility of overheating, which is the prime danger, the air sup- plied must be always cooler than the air in the room, and its quantity and tem- perature must be so adjusted that it is always sufficient to remove the excess heat produced by human beings and il- luminants. If cool air is to be supplied, the place to introduce it is at the bottom, not the top of the room, and ceiling out- lets should be provided for the removal of hot vitiated air. Both inlets and out- lets should be of such a number and so placed as to give adequate distribution of the fresh air in all occupied parts of the room. While we are waiting for such venti- lating systems, what can the teacher do? Two things, I think. First she should know what the conditions are in her schoolroom. This does not require any elaborate chemical apparatus but 137 just a plain thermometer, altho a wet and dry bulb thermometer, giving the humidity as well as the temperature, would be still more helpful. The main thing, however, is to avoid excessive temperatures, for with a low tempera- ture neither dryness nor moisture are likely to be objectionable in a_ school- room. Yet I suppose nearly half the public schoolrooms to-day have no ther- mometers, or only broken ones. The teacher should keep one in her own desk if the school cannot keep one on the walls; and as soon as it passes 70 degrees, she owes it to her children to act. Very often it is not the design of the system that is at fault so much as the operation, and by less violent heat- ing of incoming air or by some change in dampers the worst conditions may be relieved. If remonstrances are use- less there remain the windows; and the crudest window ventilation, with all its defects, is better than elaborate systems of fans and ducts that keep the school- room hot. The thermometer should be as essential to the teacher as its clinical form is to the physician, for every time that the temperature passes 70 degrees she may know that the children are be- ing hampered in their work and in- jured in their health, and she owes it to her work and to the children under her care to secure in some way a miti- gation of the evil. IN HIS ANNUAL address to the principals, Superintendent Maxwell of New York referred to Thorndike’s Education, a good and helpful book from which we have printed several selections. Within one week the pub- lic libraries of Manhattan alone re- ceived over one thousand requests for this book from the readers. This might show that teachers (and princi- pals) are anxious to improve them- selves professionally, and take every opportunity to utilize competent coun- sel. But we are informed that for five years certain branches of the public library had been supplied with care- fully selected pedagogical periodicals— American, English, French, German, Scandinavian, South American, Italian and others. These received practically no use and were withdrawn this year. The teachers have not yet clamored for the restoration of the privilege of becoming acquainted with the thot abroad. THE LEAVEN IS WORKING Henry R. LINVILLE Up at ItHaca, New York, they have a college president who is breaking away from the wellnigh firmly established tra- ditions of the “presidential boss.” It will be to the advantage of every elementary and high school teacher to keep in touch with what becomes of some important recommendations of President J. G. Schurman, of Cornell. Dr. Schurman reports to the trustees of Cornell University that, altho the pro- fessors in American colleges are in most institutions fairly secure in their posi- tions and in the right to freedom of thot and speech, yet they are much dissatis- fied with other conditions under which they are compelled to work. These con- ditions our professors are unable to rem- edy because of their having no part in administration. The President calls attention to the fact that the legal corporation of an Ox- ford or a Cambridge college is composed of the head and the fellows, who are the teachers of the institution. This body fills all its vacancies, and in other ways controls the college. In Germany the state furnishes the funds, but, except for the light touch of a minister of educa- tion, the government of the university is in the hands of the faculty. The American professor “wants the same status, the same authority, the same participation in the government of his university as his colleague in England, in Germany and in other European coun- tries already enjoys.” Dr. Schurman says that what is needed in American universities to-day is a new application of the principle of representative gov- ernment. He therefore recommends to the trustees of Cornell that they grant to the professorate the power to elect from their number representatives to the ex- tent of one-third of the membership of the Board of Trustees. The idea of President Schurman is not new. But it has never been seriously entertained by trustees or other educa- tional administrators in America. On the contrary, it has been ridiculed on the ground that it is nonsense to think of an inferior officer being elevated to a posi- tion where he may judge his own acts as a subordinate, beside questioning the acts of his natural official superior. If one spent any time in meeting that argu- ment, it would be to remark that the feudal system has long been discredited where it once existed, and that officially it never existed in America at all. But in educational administration we are indeed living under feudal condi- tions. The feudal lord might have thanked his stars if he could have thot of all the clever maneuvers that we know for keeping vassals in their proper places. However, the new day is dawning. If anyone who has seen a glimmer of the light, or has seen the rising of the new educational philosophy, wants to know how teachers are to go about it to claim a part in educational administration, let him be told that teachers can be repre- sented on boards of education, if they want to be. Neither President Schur- man nor any other college presiden would think of offering to professors the right of “a voice and a vote” if the pro- fessors had not been demanding it. There is the lesson for the rest of us. TO BE GUIDED in elementary a better plan—the adult plan—with education by the promptings of the very natures that are to be trained, sounds quite illogical to the adult mind accustomed to look with complacent adulation upon its deliverances. We are still greatly, even if unconsciously, influenced by the old idea that the na- ture of children is intrinsically bad. They must be made over, remodeled on large parts of them left out. And so we set up a psychical operating-table in every school-room, and proceed to cut each child according to our measure, forgetful of our own deficiencies, lop- ping off one individual trait after an- other, until we have made him com- monplace enough to fit him into the traditional pedagogical mould.—E d- gar J. Swift, “Mind in the Making.” 138 _ oe a Oe Ot at ee eee CU Ct pre A =Ss -—§ Hh aA ore 4 THE AMERICAN TEACHER IN RUSSIA, TOO A. B. Ir WAS GETTING CLOsE. The air was sticky and stifling. Spring had come so suddenly that there was not time to shut off the ventilation system. The children were becoming uncomfortable. The teacher knew what the trouble was, and she knew how to remedy the trouble. But she had been instructed not to open the windows and as a loyal teacher, she followed instructions. How could she presume to teach order and loyalty and several other virtues if she did not practise as she preached? The win- dows remained closed. The children were showing signs of distress; but the windows remained closed. When the rescue party arrived, three children had stopped breathing and five others were unconscious. All but one were revived. ok ok ok It rained on Monday—not very hard. but it rained. The principal looked at his calendar and remarked casually to the clerk, ““We must have a fire drill before Thursday.” Of course they must; it would be two weeks Thursday since the last fire drill and the regulations required that there be one at least every two weeks. It rained again on Tuesday—and on Wednesday. Thursday morning the principal said te himself, “We must have that fire drill to-day, rain or shine.” Of course he must; how was he to expect loyalty and obedience from his subordinates if he did not him- self set the example of strict and faith- ful compliance with directions received from his superiors? On Thursday it was pouring a whole menagery. How- ever, true to his duty, the principal put his hand to the switch and emptied the building in two minutes and fourteen seconds. The children were drenched; on Friday many were absent—many more than on ordinary Fridays. But the experience was of great educational value to them all; we need not only exhortations to virtue, not only good models, but also practice in the disci- plines of life. 139 We Americans are inclined to as- sume that only in our great country do the graces flourish and the virtues thrive. It is well that we should have brought to our attention examples of loyalty—and of other virtues—from lands across the sea: we need these things to broaden our outlook. A story just reaches us from Russia— that land we are taught to think of as backward and benighted, disorderly, chaotic, treacherous. A police officer was instructed by his sergeant to open the faucet in a bath-tub, as the ser- geant wanted to bathe. Before he could get to the tub an emergency called him away, and he did not return to the palace for several hours. In the meantin.e the water ran into the tub— and out again, for the policeman had received no instructions about shutting off the water. He stuck to his post with the water rushing about him. The water ran thru the floor, thru the ceiling of the rooms below, soaked the furniture, ruined the wall decora- tions and the plastering. Ordinary of- ficials in the building protested and shouted and cursed, but the policeman, loyal to his superior officer, stood fast and let no one touch the sacred spigot. Every loyal heart must accelerate its beat in response to the heroic action —or inaction—of this ignorant but noble soldier. SABBATICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE INTEREST in sabbatical leave of absence is growing among teachers. Our read- ers will recall the table on this subject published in the last May number, and the further notes in the June number. A committee of principals in Denver has sent out a questionaire with eleven questions to those who have taken ad- vantage of the leave of absence under the Boston plan. A summary of the an- swers appears in The Elementary Teacher (Baltimore), for November. The most valuable result of the experi- ment appears to be the improvement of the schools thru the increased efficiency of the teacher. 140 THE AMERICAN TEACHER AN OUTSIDER’S VIEW OF THE SITUATION THE FOLLOWING are the main recom- mendations for reform in the common schools that Mr. James Phinney Munroe makes in his recent book, “New De- mands in Education” : Much larger school appropriations, to- gether with better systems of business management. Much smaller classes—not to exceed twenty-five. Higher salaries to competent teachers. Better training for teachers. A reorganization of most normal schools in order to bring about that better training. The organization of the teaching profes- sion (like that of law, medicine, and of engineering) for the purpose of promoting higher professional stand- ards. Limitation of the authority of school boards to matters non-educational. Establishing of school “faculties” with authority, under the superintendent, over all educational questions. Development of a rational and diversi- fied school program to meet the life- needs of the average pupil, not the ar- tificial examination standards of the college. Schvol buildings simply planned and fur- nished, but properly ventilated, heated and lighted. Ample provision for physical training and for health teaching. Education of each child as an individual, with due regard to his present apti- tudes and future prospects. “Social education”—that is, the training of the child to live usefully and happi- ly with and for his fellows. Wise development of manual and indus- trial education, leading to vocational training. CREDIMUS WE BELIEVE that the hope of educational regeneration for the schools lies in the possibility of arous- ing the teachers themselves to realize that their professional and social stand- ing is far too low to enable them to produce effective results in teaching. WE BELIEVE that teachers owe it to themselves, as well as to the pub- lic, to study the relation of education to social progress, and to understand some of the important social and econ- omic movements going on in the pres- ent-day world. WE BELIEVE that with an intel- ligent outlook upon life, teachers will be able to contribute from their ex- perience in teaching the best ideas for the adjustment of education to the needs of hurman living. WE BELIEVE that the work of teaching must be done by men and women of high purpose, without nar- rowness and without sex-antagonism. WE BELIEVE that unless some tangible and important function in edu- cational management and control is granted to teachers, it will be useless to expect much improvement in educa- tion from within, and useless to ex- pect much improvement in the profes- sional and social spirit of teachers. WE BELIEVE that teachers will never get the right to a “voice and a vote” in the work for which they are especially trained, until a considerable number of them demand it themselves. ” The American Weacher Democracy in Education ; Education for Democracy Published monthly, except July and August, by THE AMERICAN TEACHER 225 Fifth Ave., New York. GABRIEL R MASON, - MARK HOFFMAN, - - - J. E. MAYMAN, - P» esident, Treasure? - Business Manager. HENRY R. LINVILLE, - Editor-in-Chief. BENJAMIN C. GRUENBERG, - Managing Editor. Address all manuscripts and other communica- tions to THE AMERICAN TEACHER, 225 Fifth Avenue, New York. Subscription price, 50 cents for the year. Copyright, 1912, by THE AMERICAN TEACHER. om Entered at the Post Office of New York as second-class matter. Vou. I. DECEMBER, 1912. No. 10. It is the aim of this paper to better the working conditions of the teacher, thru sober criticisms of present edu- cational administration, and thru dis- cussions tending toward a general reali- zation of the democratic ideal in all maiters affecting the schools. OUR FIRST YEAR THERE IS NO simple rule of thumb by which we might compute the results of the first year’s work of THE AMER- ICAN TEACHER. Subscribers have not flocked to our support by the thousands ; neither has any educational system ma- terially changed its methods because of our criticism. No organization of teach- ers in the city of the paper’s birth has approved our policy; neither has any disapproved it. No educational autocrat has smiled the smile of indulgence upon us; neither has any lifted the mailed fist to crush us. Altho the color of our hopes, our convictions, is rose, the unlit horizon is slate or lead or drab. The paper stands for certain ideals, “up in the air” to be sure, but placed there on purpose, so that they could be seen of all men and women. It has not been expected that machine-operating educational officials or machine-made teachers would give up their “busy” work at once, to peep over the tops of their grooves. We have flashed small, but penetrating lights under their eyes, and on occasion have flicked their skins a bit. Once in a while some one looks up, and we think we see a gleam of hope iliumine the careworn face. For the rest we wait patiently, but it will not be for- ever. Socially and politically the old world is not only looking up, but it is busily engaged in climbing cut of its grooves and ruts. Altho teachers should be of great power in facilitating the evolution of men, they are taking very little part in that wonderful process. If they do not arouse themselves soon, they may be aroused by the rest of society. The policy of this paper has been to point out that teachers may bring about their own awakening and professional development, by taking an interest in educational and social problems of the day. In concrete detail we have advo- cated the plan of teachers becoming ac- tively interested in the problems of their own teaching and in the administration of their own schools, to the end that they may in time be prepared to help, and to demand the opportunity to help, in the management of education itself. Only thru discipline of this kind does it seem that teaching can be lifted to the plane of a true profession that other men and women will respect. Naturally, it is difficult to estimate the extent to which our efforts for our fel- low teachers and for teaching has been attended with success. But this we know: A high ideal will make its way thru all kinds of opposition and neglect to the very hearts of men. DEMOCRACY in schocl adminis- tration would not mean the soft rule of “flanneled fools.” When occasion arose, the “iron hand” might descend with greater force than ever it has de- scended under one-man power. Every educational rascal or proven incompe- tent would have good cause to respect the might of the people’s will. 141 142 AGAINST THE SYSTEM THE PRESIDENT of the school board of a large city told us the other day that he had but one criticism to make against a certain report presented by a committee of principals. The committee recom- mended so many changes, and such radi- cal changes, that the city’s financial re- sources were being strained, the routine work of the schools was interfered with, and the children were suffering as a re- sult. The president admitted that the changes recommended were for the most part good, and should be adopted—but, there were too many of them. We called his attention to the fact that his criticism had two edges to it: the changes de- manded by the committee were so nu- merous because the school system had not been kept up to date; the farther behind it falls, the more radical and the more numerous will be the changes nec- essary at any time to make the system adequate. And this point any person of common intelligence can grasp. In criticising the shortcomings of a system we must avoid attributing the “fault” to any person or persons. It is in the nature of institutions to stand; but it is in the nature of a living being to move on and on. Now a school sys- tem, or a business establishment, or a statute is planned for a specific pur- pose that has its limitations in time and space. But the human beings for whom the school system, or the busi- ness, or the statute is designed are constantly changing; the population of to-day is different to-morrow, the old die off and the unborn soon take their places. And with the new day and the new generation come new prob- lems, new relations, new deeds—for meeting which the old system of schools or business routine or legal procedure is utterly inadequate, or at best but par- tially adequate. We throw off our skins gradually, day by day, and our growth is never hamp- ered by the skin. The lobster’s growth is made possible only by periodical moults. An artificial embodiment of hu- man ideas and ideals must necessarily THE AMERICAN TEACHER hamper the growth of these essentially spiritual categories, if provision is not made for facile and orderly readjust- ment. You may crowd the bedrooms as the family grows—but there is a Jimit. There seems, however, to be no limit to the crowding of class rooms as the city’s population grows. When we cry out against placing eighty-five, or even sixty- five, children in one class room, we are not “finding fault” with anyone; we are pointing out that it is time to take coun- sel of the lobster, or the snail. It is the business of a system to facili- tate the functions of the human beings that compose it. When routine saves making hundreds of decisions in situa- tions that arise with practical uniformity day after day, routine is a blessing. When we protest against the imposition of routine in situations that call essen- tially for thot, it is not to find fault with the principle of supervision or with the supervisors, but to point out the danger in following the rules of yesterday with the children of to-morrow. The business of teaching must be carried on in buildings, apparently, and with books that are al- ready stale when they come from the press; but it seems fair to ask whether it must be carried on in time divisions as rigid and as old as the buildings, whether it must be carried on by teachers and rules as stale as the books. Should not the teacher come fresh to her work, alert, open-minded, enthusiastic? And if the system petrifies, or takes too long to find out to-day what was needed yes- terday, how is the teacher to do her work? That there is real danger in too must system, or rather too rigid system, seems to have been realized by the best educational thinkers. In this connec- tion the following quotation from the 1892 report of Superintendent Max- well, at that time in charge of the Brooklyn schools, may be of interest: There is no more serious obstacle to progress than the principal who insists on teachers doing everything exactly in the way he prescribes; who will not permit a teacher to think for herself. Against this peril he must be constantly i pe die & THE AMERICAN TEACHER on his guard. When it becomes or threatens to become a real peril, it is one of the first duties of the superin- tendent to step in and secure to the class teacher that reasonable liberty of thot and action, without which no teaching can be effective, no system of schools can be progressive. We may ask in conclusion, without prejudice, whether this idea of protect- ing the progress of a system by protect- ing the liberty of the teacher is being ef- fectively carried out anywhere thru re- liance upon the vague duty of the super- intendent. We cannot see how, taking Dr. Maxwell’s case, a system which de- pends for its progress upon the oldest heads casually protecting the very sources of progress, instead of deliber- ately nurturing them, is going to adjust itself smoothly day by day to the new problems. Nothing is to be gained by fighting “against the system”; teachers will find their salvation in adjusting sys- tems and in readjusting them. There is something distinctly histrionic about the teacher’s art, which is one reason why it is so exciting to those who love it. Every recitation should be an event. Many people think a teacher’s life must be monot- onus, made up of dull routine, because he teaches the same subject and the same les- sons over and over again. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I know of no profession more exciting, more stirring, more thrilling than teaching. No one be- lieves that an actor who acts Hamlet finds it monotonous, altho he repeats not only the same words, but the same gestures, the same attitudes, the same intonations. There is no monotony in teaching the same les- sons to different pupils, not if the teacher is a good actor.—W illiam Lyon Phelps, in “Teaching in School and College.” A PRINCIPAL who reports against a teacher without having first made himself thoroly familiar with the de- fects in her work and, secondly, having given her abundant warning, criticism and assistance, fails utterly in his duty. William H. Maxwell, in “Re- port of Superintendent of Public In- struction, Brooklyn, 1892. 143 SOMETHING MORE ABOUT SUPERVISION A PROMINENT high school principal of New York City said recently to a mem- ber of the staff of THe AMERICAN TEACHER that if teachers object to the way they are treated in the judgments on “superior merit,” they must take some positive stand on what they consider the elements and conditions of a fair and ex- act estimate of their work in the class room. This they must do, he said, for their own protection. We take it the principal did not mean to imply that superintendents or principals would consciously take unfair advantage of teachers. He meant, and it is a fact (as we have pointed out before), that the teachers must begin to do the thinking that is being done for them, on too little material evidence, by principals and superintendents. The evidence and the facts of teaching can be sup- plied only by the teachers themselves. All progressive people interested in education will agree that we must have supervision of teaching, but it must be intelligent, helpful and constructive supervision. We offer again the suggestions pre- sented in a recent issue of this paper. They may be considered the beginning ef some constructive thinking by teach ers. Supervisors must be qualified to judge the value of the facts and principles de- veloped in the recitation. They must understand the ideals of the teaching of the subject-matter itself. They must visit the teacher in the class room sev- eral times. They must present a dupli- cate copy of their criticisms, favorable and unfavorable, to the teacher. They must give immediate and abundant op- portunity to the teacher to meet any un- favorable criticism. They must be able t» show ir their criticisms that they have constructive ideas of their own which may give their judgments value. If you want to know why these ele- ments have never been recognized ade- quately by school authorities, you 144 must be informed ‘that it is because teachers have preferred to play the lazy man’s part of going to law, or to kick out blindly against “unfair treatment” in the safe security of the company of one another. They have done ex- tremely little constructive thinking on the matter of what kind of supervision would be useful to them in making their teaching effective. Let them now see their mistake, and get to work! The way is open. If these paragraphs hit you, “come back at us” with a subscription and a letter. Go to your principal and ask him for teachers’ meetings in which school and teacher problems are discussed openly by teachers themselves. Let the teachers’ meetings and THe AMERICAN TEACHER be your forums, and before you realize it things will begin to move. As every teacher must have interests that carry the thots beyond the limits of the village and beyond the vocabulary of the street, we are glad to call to the at- tention of our readers the following no- tice, and to urge them the action called for: An inquiry is to be undertaken by the United States Bureau of Education as to the desirability and practicability of an international agreement on a universal alphabet for use in dictionaries, language manuals, geographical treatises and vari- ous text-books, to indicate, where neces- sary, the pronunciation. In view of the chaos which prevails in the notations employed in this country, it is to be hoped that all teachers who can will ex- press to the Secretary of the Bureau their approval of the plan. Further in- formation can be obtained from the un- dersigned. Raymond Weeks, Columbia University, New York. IF YOU WANT respect for your profession, if you want pay for leaves of absence devoted to professional im- provement, if you want pensions which you do not extract from your own left- hand pocket—then help to promote a movement which has for its purpose the winning and deserving of these things, and more. THE AMERICAN TEACHER GOOD WILL AND GRAFT THAT NOBLE impulse of man to be kind to those about him, to befriend those who have been kind to him, to help where the need for help is evident, is an impulse not to be rudely inhibited Rut it frequently develops into forms that can not be tolerated. This good will is of course a good trait, to be encour- aged and increased; but when it takes the form of doing favors for the princi- pal who has been so kind as to give you a satisfactory rating last term, it is time t> put up the danger signal. A candi- date for appointment to a certain school invites a member of the school committee te an automobile ride, or casually sends him a basket of fruit from his brother’s garden; these are obviously manifesta- tions of good will, but a rival candidate might misinterpret the act. If you have a couple of tickets for the opera next Friday, that you will not be able to use, it is kind of you to offer them to the head of your department ; but if it is any- where near rating time, better give them to a colleague whose good will may not mean quite so much to you. At the same time, there is every rea- son why the members of our calling should live in friendship and kindliness with one another. We need free inter- course for relaxation and for breadth; principals have much to learn from teachers, and teachers should have larger opportunity to learn from prin- cipals, outside the school building. Let us not begin during this season of good will to inhibit our impulses to kindliness ; let us merely guard ourselves in the dis- tribution of our favors. To those with whom we deal on a plane of equality we may freely give; and from them we may freely take. When our relations are quite frank and all have faith in our fairness, we have nothing to fear. Where there is the need for justice—and where is there not?—there is no place for spe- cial favors or for charity. It is but a short step from good-will to graft. The average length of service of teachers in the rural schools of Wis- consin is only three years. THE AMERICAN TEACHER LET US HEAR FROM YOU ONE OF THE nineteen recommendations that Dr. Maxwell makes for the improve- ment of the school system of the City of New York is: “The method of compiling the eligible list of principals of elementary schools should be changed. Instead of placing on the elig- ible list the names of all those who reach a certain passing mark, we should place on the next list only a sufficient’ number of names to provide for the estimated number of vacancies during the succeeding two years, and these names should be the names of those who stood highest at the examina- tion without regard to a passing mark. In this way examinations would be held more frequently and the schools would have the advantage of always obtaining the services of the best among the applicants; while un- fit for applicants (who now appear in large numbers) would be discouraged from com- peting, and all candidates would be relieved from the ignomity of failure to reach a fixed passing mark. The chief argument, how- ever, in favor of the change is that under the proposed system none but the fittest principals would be appointed.” Thirteenth Annual Report. P. 230. Now read these questions and let us know what you think of the above recommendation. 1. Is this an admission of the fact that the present system is a poor one? . If it is a poor one, is the proposed remedy desirable? How is the estimate of the number of vacancies during the next two years to be made? Isn’t it a fact that the Department of Education has erred many times before in making estimates for only one year in advance? 4. If a definite number of “desirables” is not agreed upon in advance, is it fair to keep the “near-desirables” in a state of sus- pense, and thus keep them from preparing for the next “slaughter”? 5. Are the persons who usually head elig- ible lists “book-worms” or practical school men and women? 6. If the former, are they desirable super- visory officers? 7. If the latter, how is test their practicability? 8. What is meant by “best applicants”? “Unfit applicants?” 9. Is the excruciating hard labor entailed in repeated preparation for the Principal’s examination beneficial to the school chil- dren? 10. Will this plan increase or decrease the coaching evil? 11. What suggestions do you make? it proposed to 145 WHILE it has to be admitted that mere labor, as labor has no culture value, it is not at all necessary to con- cede that there is no culture value to be found in certain aspects of labor. It is only when the devotee of scien- tific research loses himself in the more or less mechanical details of his work that it ceases to be cultural. It surely goes without saying that an atomic theory is as cultural in the hands of Dalton as in those of Lucretius. But that there is culture in other than purely literary or artistic work is com- ing to be gradually recognized. The engineer and the skilled craftsman generally are now recognized to be not altogether empty of culture, even if they make no great display of book lore. One probable result of educa- tional development in the near future will be the increase of an important non-reading (or perhaps more accur- ately LITTLE-READING), but not on that account non-intellectual class. John Adams, in “The Evolution of Educational Theory.” STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MAN- AGEMENT, ETC., REQUIRED BY THE POSTAL LAWS AND _ REGULA- TIONS. THe AMERICAN TEACHER is published monthly jonmeet July and August), at New York, 2 Raitor, Henry R. Linvitte, 60 Terrace Ave., Jamaica, N. Y Managing Editor, BENJAMIN C. GRUENBERG, 471 Central Park West, New York. Business Manager, Mark HOFFMAN, 1143 Vyse Ave., New York. Publisher, Moops PustisH1nGc Co., 134 West 29th Street, New York.* Owners, Henry R. Linvitte, BENJAMIN C. GRUENBERG, MARK HorrMan, G. R. Mason, . E. MayMan. No bondholders, mortgagees or other security holders. (Signed) Marx HorrMan, Business Manager. (Statement sworn to and subscribed on the 5th day of October, 1912, before Henry Best, Notary Public, whose commission expires March 30th, 1913.) *This paper is now published by THE AMERICAN TEACHER (not incorporated), at 225 Fifth Avenue, New York. Owners the same as heretofore; officers, etc., as given on editorial page. 146 THE AMERICAN TEACHER BOOK REVIEWS A BRIEF COURSE IN THE TEACHING PROCESS, by George Drayton Strayer, Professor of Educational Administration, Teachers’ College, Columbia University. 12mo, pp. xiv + 315. New York, The Mac- millan Co., 1912. $1.25 net. THE LEARNING PROCESS, by Stephen Sheldon Colvin, Professor of Psychology, at the University of Illinois. 12mo, pp. xxv + 336. New York, The Macmillan Co. 1912. $1.25 net. These two books may well be used to supplement each other, for they both deal directly with the work of the teacher, the first from the point of view of what the teacher does, the second from the point of view of how the pupil reacts. The first is more than a manual of method; the second is more than a manual of psychology. Dr. Strayer conceives of education in a broad, comprehensive view that refuses to educate particular fractions of human be- ings; education has to do with physical, in- tellectual, moral and economic processes— and with the enjoyment of life. Where ed- ucation was formerly concerned chiefly wit! the leisure pursuits of the leisure class, it must now concern itself with all the activi- ties of all the people, and we can no longei leave to chance the acquirement of health habits, or honor habits, or efficiency habits. Democracy demands that each child be guided in the acquisition of all desirable habits to the extent that its capacity will allow. Hence the teacher must be more than a hearer of lessons or a maintainer of discipline. In addition to the chapters on the topics usually found in books of this general class are excellent chapters on the teacher in relation to supervision, the teacher in relation to the course of study and on measuring results of education. The author lays emphasis on the importance of cultivating the power of independent thot, or the spirit of investigation; this end can never be adequately attained unless the teacher herself is imbued with the spirit, and this spirit can thrive only where the re- lation of the teacher to the supervision is of the right kind, and where the teacher is the master of the course of study, not its slave. Dr. Colvin presents the facts of psychol- ogy not as science or philosophy, but as the basis for the practical work of an expert doer. The teacher finds here not a bald summary of definitions and principles from which to be unburdened in an examination, but a closely reasoned, well illustrated body of usable knowledge to be applied every day in the class room. The experienced teache: can well afford to go thru this book care- fully for the purpose of measuring his own habits of work against the standards ob- tained by the scientific study of the instru- ment upon which he seeks to perform—the mind of the child. Those who have not kept in touch with recent advances in psy- chological research will find the chapters on the association methods of Jung and Freud, and on the transfer of training especially valuable. One is compelled to realize the futility of considering instruction the essen- tial thing in the education of young children when he considers on the one hand how little of what the child learns is remem- bered, and on the other hand, how imperish- able are the impressions of this period, and how little is without some effect. If the younger teachers apply these principles to the management of schools in the years to come we shall witness a violent reaction against the stupidity of placing the inex- perienced teachers in charge of the young- est children. An analytical table of contents and a good index makes of each of these books a valuable help for reference as well as for study. A QUARTER CENTURY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT, by Will- iam H. Maxwell, Superintendent of Schools of the City of New York. 12mo, pp. xii > 417. New York, The American Book Company. $1. The pessimist may find misery in this volume, fer it is without doubt a record of progress. The teacher who lives by the gospel of inertia may point to the fact that current educational problems were dis- cussed years ago, and may draw from this fact the conclusion that “there is nothing new under the sun”; but this book is still a record of progress. There are thirty-four wv - oS wa ek eh ea a okt Se eee ‘ro w Q ms THE AMERICAN TEACHER chapters, made up of selections from ad- dresses, 1eports and special articles; the selection was made by a committee of New York school men, who were also in charge of the arrangements for the recent celebra- tion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Dr. Maxwell’s service as school superintendent. Some of the problems of earlier years have been solved; some of the _ tentative proposals have in the course of the years merged into accomplished facts. Thus the formation of parents’ societies to co-oper- ate with the teachers and principals, the es- tablishment of vacation schools, the ex- tension of the school plant to function as a social or neighborhood center, the in- struction in sewing and cooking in elemen- tary schools, and many other “reforms” are to-day matters of course. Valuable sidelights upon the history of these factors in education is to be found in the extracts from Superintendent Maxwell’s reports here reprinted. In 1887, we learn, he urged the establishment of manual training high schools; in 1888 he urged the introduction of physical training into the schools; and for many years he has maintained a run- ning fight against the reactionaries who would save the tax-payers all the money that is spent on what they are pleased to call “fads and frills,” or the special branches that have proved of such great value to the mass of children. Years ago the superintendent recom- mended specialized schools; and the High School of Commerce established in New York was the first one in this country de- voted exclusively to commercial education. He recommended the establishment of trade schools in the administration of which em- ployers and organized workers could co- operate with the school officials; this year classes in patternmaking were established in accordance with this idea. Schools for defective children, special classes for back- ward or exceptionally bright children, tru- ant schools, continuation and evening schools, medical inspection and a depart- ment of school hygiene, school luncheons and school libraries, school playgrounds and a dozen other problems were consid- ered by Dr. Maxwell years before the city had anything to show in accomplished real- ity, or before the public realized the con- crete needs. 147 It is interesting to see the uniformly high ideals that Dr. Maxwell has maintained for the teaching profession, his insistence upon adequate compensation ‘for worthy ser- vice, and his firm struggle to eliminate politics and patronage from the adminis- tration of the people’s chief business. The temptation to quote passages arises con- stantly as one goes thru the book. One citation must suffice. Speaking of the duties of principals. Dr. Maxwell said twenty years ago that among other func- tions was that of improving the teaching thru private criticism, thru model lessons and thru teachers’ meetings. For these meet- ings there was recommended the thoro dis- cussion of sound works on pedagogy and psychology, to the end that teacher may become a thinker and a _ discoverer of truth. “Until a teacher has learned to think for herself and to discover truth for herself, she will not be able to teach her pupils to think and discover truth for themselves.” The book gives a better perspective on the man and his aims that can be gathered from current discussion and criticism, and would be worth reading if for this alone. An index would have enhanced the value of the book considerably, and its omission is unfortunate. each DEMOCRACY DOES not consist of letting alone, as so many people sup- pose. There are too many teachers who know of no better praise for their principals than the fact that they are iet alone; and too often the best that can be said of a superintendent is that he lets the principals alone. Of course, if you have a competent teacher you should not interfere with her do- ing her best work; and if you have a good principal you should not obstruct his plans for developing his school in accordance with his ideas. But no per- son can live efficiently alone, and no teacher can grow to full capacity when left altogether to herself. If the prin- cipal cannot help the teacher—get an- other principal. If the supervisor can- not help the teacher and the principal— get another supervisor. 148 THE AMERICAN TEACHER A FEW QUESTIONS ON THINKING Am I teaching the same lessons that I taught last year, in the same old way? If so, is it because I have reached per- fection? Or because there is nothing new to be taught in the subject? Do I insist upon clear thinking, or do I accept good words as a substitute? Co I make pupils repeat words and phrases without thot and attention? Or do I merely allow such repeti- tion? Or because I am too tired to move? Do my lessons raise new problems in the minds of the children? Do I encourage my pupils to make intel- ligent guesses to explain their ex- periences? Or do I teach them that there is no use wondering about anything? Do I encourage dogmatism, or a healthy skepticism ? Do I develop a love of truth, or a faith in sound doctrine? Do I teach my pupils indiscriminate re- spect for all who claim authority, or do I teach them to seek to dis- tinguish the charlatan from the ex- pert? Do I emphasize the correctness of the pupils’ conclusions, or the methods by which the conclusions are reached ? Do I try to make a concept out of noth- ing? Do my lessons end with the learning of isolated facts? 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A new volume in The Art of Life Series EDWARD HOWARD GRIGGS, Editor THE SUPER RACE An AMERICAN PROBLEM By SCOTT NEARING This apparently sensational title describes with keen accuracy the eaeee 8 pro | for the improvement of human society. Super. i. writes Mr. Nearing, is not a theory, but a living = he is not, as the ancient Greeks thought, the offspring of gods, but the son of man and woman. The qualities of the Super Man: physical normality, mental capacity, essiveness, concentrat sympathy and vision, ma insur drw—{ "Eugenior—The science of race culture; (2) Social Adjustment— science of mold- ing institutions, and (3) Bonet The science of individual development. Price 50 cents net; postpaid 55 cents. At all bookstores or of B.W. Huebsch, Publisher, 225 Fifth Ave., N.Y. MAKE YOUR READING COUNT Read This Course (Thirty-fifth C. L. S.C. Year) Social Progress in Contemporary Europe. Frederic At Austin Ogg, A.M. Ph. 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Smith,) The monthly magazine also serves in many interesting ways as a “don't read at random” teacher for the reading course ........ 2.00 $1.50 All Four Books (cloth bound) and the ae, ee a * Remit 3oc. extra for postage or prepaid express. ‘“‘Collect’’ charges are more. “EASY FOR ANYBODY, WORTH WHILE FOR EVERYBODY” If in doubt, send stamp for handbook of testimonials Address, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua,N.Y. DON’T READ AT RANDOM When answering advertisers, please mention THE AMKRICAN TEACHER — —— ~———