Sucre Teacher Democracy in in Edweation ; - Education jor Democracy. —— ae Vou, If fo 8 NEW YORK, OCTOBER, 1918 50-CENTS A YEAR blk TH ce * mit = at ew Sometimes a a thinks. Do ‘the teachers in your system suppress the thot? Sometimes teachers. think— and principals. . Does your. superin- tendent suppress their thots? Sometimes superintendents — think. Is. the president of your. school board the censor of all utterances? Free thot or free speech is not a matter of rank or authority. Let each think and let each speak freely—and take the consequences. PROFESSIONAL SPIRIT AMONG TEACHERS: Joun DEWEY *rofessor of Philosophy, Columbia University You anp I know, we all know, how much time, effort and energy are spent in attempting to develop a_ professional spirit among teachers. We all know that it is said over and over, and truly said, that if we could achieve a thoroly professional spirit, permeating the entire corps of teachers and educators, we should have done more to forward the cause of education than can be achieved in any other way. Now it is not my af- fair to tell of all the ways by which the formation and development of a profes- sional spirit may be promoted or hin- dered. It is not my business to attempt even to define very closely just what a profes- sional spirit among teachers is; but I think we would agree that there would be two marked features characterizing the teachers who have a distinctly pro- fessional spirit. One of these traits is manifested in the every-day school work with the children, in the questions of in- struction and of discipline arising from the teacher’s daily contact with the chil- dren. It consists in the teacher being pos- sessed by a recognition of the responsi- bility for the constant study of school room work, the constant study of chil- dren, of methods, of subject matter in its various adaptations to pupils. The professional spirit means that the teach- ers do not think their work done when they have reasonably prepared a certain amount of subject matter and spent a certain number of hours in the school room attempting in a reasonably intelli- gent way to convey that material to the children. Teachers of a professional spirit would recognize that they still had a problem to deal with. There would be the continued intellectual growth that comes from diverted intellectual interest in the methods and material of the teach- ers’ occupation, so that we should have not mere artisans but artists. The other element in a professional spirit consists, I think, of a recognition of the responsibility of teachers to the general public. It is a commonplace that our young are the chief asset of so- ciety, and that their proper protection and their proper nurture is the most fundamental care of society. Now a professional spirit would mean not mere- ly that the teachers would be devoted to the continuous study of the questions of teaching within the school room; but that they would also bear a responsibility as leaders, as directors in the formation of public opinion. Now I am going to say in passing that it is a somewhat striking fact, and, to one who is himself a teacher, perhaps a somewhat humiliating fact, that in the last of these matters, teachers and professional educators have not been especially active. The larger questions about the protection of childhood, the movements for the abolition of child la- bor, movements for playgrounds, for recreation centers, even for the adequate use of the school plant, these and the thousand and one problems relative to children that have come forward with the great congestion of population in cities in the last generation—the initia- tive in the agitation of these questions and the formation of public opinion has to a surprisingly small extent proceeded from the teachers. It has come from so- cial settlements, from philanthropists, from charity workers, from people whose interest was not stimulated by education in a professional way. Now, why is this? As I said, I have no intention of attempting to go into all the causes. But why is it that there has been so comparatively little done in this latter direction? Why is it that it is necessary to harp so continuously upon the formation of a professional spirit among teachers with respect even to the ordinary affairs, the subject matter, the methods and discipline in the classroom: We do not find, I think, for example, in the medical profession that it is nec- * An address delivered at the organization meeting of The Teachers’ League of New York, February 28, 1913. 114 ~— —- nn ~~ Ss fa = as THE AMERICAN TEACHER essary constantly to urge the formation of a professional spirit. We hear more or less about professional ethics; but not of professional spirit in the sense of the uty and responsibility of the physician study his cases, to inform himself of yrovements in methods of diagnosis, hods of surgery and _ therapeutic hods through the country. It is taken granted that it is for the physician’s 1 interest to be intellectually growing, int-llectualiy alive, and concerned with these things. Vow, if I am asked for a reply as to the chief cause, not the sole cause, but the chief cause, of the relative backward- ness of the formation of professional spirit among teachers and the conse- quent need of urging them, of preaching to them, and of almost driving them to develop this more enlightened interest in the work and recognition of making con- tributions to its improvement, my answer would be: the lack of adequate impetus. It is not enough simply to teach peo- ple, and preach to people, and to urge them to do certain things. There must be something in the very nature of the work which makes the thing desirable, makes it their own vital concern. When teachers have as little to do, as they have at present, with intellectual re- sponsibility for the conduct of the schools; when the teachers who are do- ing most, if not all, of the teaching have nothing whatsoever to say directly about the formation of the courses of study and very little indirectly; when they have nothing save ways of informal discussion and exchange of experience in teachers’ meetings, or very little to say about methods of teaching and discipline; when they have no means for making their experience actually count in prac- tice, the chief motive to the develop- ment of professional spirit is lacking. There is not a single body of men and women in the world engaged in any oc- cupation whatsoever among whom the development of professional spirit would not he hampered if they realized that no matter how much experience they got, however much wisdom they acquired, whatever experiments they tried, what- ever results they obtained, that experi- 115 ence|was not to count beyond the limits of their own immediate activity; that they had no authorized way of transmit- ing or of communicating it, and of see- ing it was taken account of by others. The situation would be ridiculous if it were not serious ; that teachers who come in contact with the students should have nothing to do directly, and so little to do indirectly, with the selection, forma- tion and arrangement of subject matter; that they should find that in printed manuals provided by other people, simply with the instruction to purvey so much of that per year, or per month or per week, or, even in some cases, per day. Now, either teaching is an intellectual enterprise or it is a routine mechanical exercise. And if it is an intellectual ex- ercise, and the professional spirit means intellectual awakening and _ enlighten- ment, there is, I repeat, no way better cal- culated to retard and discourage the pro- fessional spirit than methods which so en- tirely relieve the teachers from intel- lectual responsibility as do the present methods. We hear a good deal about the con- centration of responsibility. Now, there is one responsibility that can be concen- trated only by distributing it. An intel- lectual responsibility has got to be dis- tributed to every human being who is concerned in carrying out the work in question, and to attempt to concentrate intellectual responsibility for a work that has to be done, with their brains and their hearts, by hundreds or thousands of people in a dozen or so at the top, no matter how wise and skillful they are, is not to concentrate responsibility—it is to diffuse irresponsibility. And that describes in the rough the system and organization of schools in the democracy under which we are supposed to be living. I read an article in proof a few days ago—I do not know whether it has come out recently—in which the author says that the question at issue re- garding the introduction of industrial education in this country was whether the teachers were to control the new in- dustrial schools, as they, the teachers, controlled all the existing schools; or whether the wide-awake and alert busi- 116 ness men were to control these schools. And he pointed out that one reason for the business man’s control was the fact that the teachers had made such a mess of the schools of which they are already in control. Now, I bring to you this happy news THE AMERICAN TEACHER —that it is you, who are and who h:ve been in control of our public scho ls, Bvt unfortunately it is only when he schools are to be adversely critici:ed that the power of the mass of the teachers to control their own work is in evidence. CHILDREN AND ORGANIZATION Mary S. Maror Visiting Teacher, Public Education Association, New THE CHILDREN are about us every- where, but we do not see them. We con- tinue to sit in our private rooms and plan for them. The school furniture man may consci- entiously make desks of three sizes for each classroom, but he does not go to the rooms to see whether this is all that is needed. He does not see that desks are installed in many rooms with the light falling over the right shoulder (making a shadow on deskwork all day long), in order that after the sliding doors are rolled back during the morning assembly the children may face the platform. A Director of Parks arranged a play- ground for a certain neighborhood. The gates opened at nine o'clock, closed for lunch from twelve to one, and were locked for the day at four. This director complained that the reports of attendance proved a great lack of interest. After a year or two a citizen’s letter hapnened to get past the director’s secretary and into his own hands. The citizen stated that children were in school during most of the time the playground was open, and that the few children who used it were truants, or those who had been excluded from school for illness. Thereupon, the Far more disastrous than the interference of parents is the officious meddling of boardsmen and others who may happen to have “influence.” In such cases there is but one alternative open to the true crafts- man: either such interference must cease or he must resign instantly. It would be a York. director extended the open hours to five o'clock, but he said he could not ask his attendants to get there before nine, or to change their lunch hour, because his de- partment was organized for these hours for all employees. Unseeing action of a similar kind is taken by relief societies. In the com- mittee room a half-dozen people, far from personal contact with a family that may be under discussion, depend upon the observation of an unskilled, low-paid and discouraged district visitor for all their facts. And they seriously ponder and decide the fate of children they never see. And even in the schools with the chil- dren before their eyes, it is a general fault of teachers not to see them. Hence the great unhappiness of teachers who conscientiously carry out a “system,” and have no interest in observing the spon- taneous activities or the responses of their charges. Hence, also, the unhappi- ness of the children themselves, with their activites checked and their re sponses unnatural. Over-organization is vicious anyv here, but it lays a special burden upon the young. 1 whom bright day for the calling of schoolcraft if all teachers could come to an _ absolute agreement on this point. One who for 4 moment truckles to political influence m school work does incalculable harm ‘o the cause of education—WILLIAM C. BAG- LEY, in Classroom Management. OUR OPPORTUNITY PAUL KREUZPOINTNER Altoona, Pa. THE TEACHER in America is in a lique position to be of service to his i:llow teachers and to the community at rge, more so than are the teachers of most European countries. There conditions of life and environ- ent are fixed, and it is quite beyond the wer of the teachers to alter their status to change the laws which regulate the tails of their occupation. Because of eir security of position, however, they fcel encouraged to take part in discus- ms concerning certain policies of the ite, Or country, in a way quite incom- prehensible to our own teachers. It would surprise most of our teachers if they could attend a teachers’ convention in Germany and hear with what aggres- siveness their colleagues assail govern- ment measures. \s a matter of fact, schools and teach- ers are more democratic in Europe than they are in this country. That is to say, notwithstanding the stratification of so- ciety, or perhaps because of it, artisans or others of similar social standing are apt to be elected on committees or some other advisory position where we never would think of doing such a thing. The consciousness seems to prevail that every stratum of society has stored up within itself some social economic experience of value to society. Thus, each of the fifty or more “gewerblich—fachliche Fortbil- dungsschulen, at Munich, Germany, has an advisory board which consists of a university professor, the principal of the school, three masters of the particular trade the school is following, and two practical mechanics of the trade, in order to make the experience possessed by the mechanics available for the school. While the political organization of so- ciety is monarchical, aristocratic and to an extent paternal, the educational orga- nization is democratic to such an extent as to draw upon all sources of social activity that may serve to make the schools as efficient as possible. A few years ago when the German Association of Industrial Teachers held their annual meeting at Hagen, Prussia, a reception committee was appoiited, headed by the burgomaster, of course, but immediately following his name and title, and heading the names of all other notables of the city there came : “Arbeiter BABERG” (Baberg, workingman), mem- ber of the advisory board of the indus- trial continuation schools.” This democracy of the German school organization, not observable to the tran- sient visitor from foreign countries, un- doubtedly contributes materially to the success of their schools. The point the writer wishes to make is that the American teachers should found a homo- geneous organization and by diligent cul- tivation of broad educational principles should strengthen and elevate the profes- sion of teaching so high that, as a body, teachers could enter the field of discus- sion of larger social and economic prob- lems, especially as these problems per- tain to their status and to the improve- ment of the schools. Modern industrialism exacts a heavy toll of mental, moral and physical serv- ice from the social organization. In its eagerness to advance its interests it is apt to demand more than its due share from the accumulated stock of social experi- ence and activity. It is one of the functions of the body of teachers, individually, locally and state wide, not only to replenish this stock of social, physical and intellectual strength, but also to prevent its being dissipated by having more drawn from the social soil than there is held in re- serve. In other words, the sociologist, the economist, the hygienist should regu- late the output of the school in conjunc- tion with business, and not let business alone regulate it. But all this requires co-operative work upon the part of the teachers. It is only by united efforts along this larger line of educational endeavor that they will gain that degree of public confidence and esteem which will secure to them ap- preciation, better pay and more individ- uality. 117 118 THE TEACHER’S HEALTH AT A CONFERENCE held in Hamburg early in the summer Dr. J. Hegener of the Colonial Institute of that city gave the results of his investigations into the disorders of the respiratory organs among teachers. Half the cases of dis- ease of the voice brot for treatment to the hospitals and private practitioners are among teachers. Young teachers are especially liable to injure their voices thru loud speech, as well as thru main- taining a high pitch during instruction. The resulting fatigue of the delicate muscles of the vocal organs is not at first noticed and leads to a gradual over- strain, or even paralysis, of the larynx. The exertion that the teacher makes to keep up his voice when he begins to feel the strain only hastens the process of disintegration. Many teachers who use the voice normally in ordinary conversa- tion automatically begin to strain the nerves and muscles when they enter the classroom. Dr. Hegener recommends scrupulous attention to the voice and sys- tematic exercises for the development of correct habits, especially certain lip ex- ercises and whispering. Practice in whispering is also recommended as use- ful for pupils, inasmuch as a clear articu- lation of consonants can be thereby established. Many American teachers will no doubt question the wisdom of letting the pupils do any more whisper- ing ; that word carries a very special con- notation for us. The fight against tuberculosis depends ultimately upon a more thoro. education of the public. In rural communities espe- cially must the teacher be the apostle ux good health and of cleanliness. Every brain worker should walk in the open at least an hour each day. Apparently the teacher in Germany is supposed to be a brain worker. THE AMERICAN TEACHER Dr. Albert Saenger, a_ well-knov1 neurologist and member of the sch board, spoke on the prevalence of nevr asthenia among teachers. He took per- ticular exception to the promotion exa inations, which he holds responsible f much of the chronic nervous strain. T); intense application to instruction is com- plicated by the vigorous supervision ai constant self-examination. To this added the grinding monotony of correc ing exercises and the outside activities necessitated by an inadequate salary. The worries from incorrigible pupils and tyrannical supervisors are also nerve de- stroying. Dr. Saenger insists that ner- vous breakdowns are to be distinguished from mental disturbances and cautions against the attitude that will convert one into a hypochondriac. The teacher should have from time to time a long vacation— at least of four months’ duration. In Switzerland a good beginning has been made toward a systematic study of the teachers’ health, for the purpose of especially throwing light on three impor- tant school problems. First, to deter- mine the prevalence of occupational dis- eases among teachers; second, to dis- cover the incidence of these specific dis- orders according to the age of occur- rence, and third, to compare the relative resistance of men and women teachers to disease. The statistics for 1912 are not sufficient for drawing any far-reach- ing conclusion. It is significant, how- ever, that the diseases of the respiratory tract lead, with those of the nervous system follow closely, while infectious diseases are comparatively rare among the teachers. Another important point brot out is the fact that younger teach- ers show a relatively higher percentage of illness than is shown among o'er teachers, “ . a a ‘ “if we could : only make sthooling coincide with education ! VIZ THE AMERICAN TEACHER THE DELEGATION OF RESPONSI- BILITY CALLISTHENES The “atmosphere” of a Business House is often—almost always—noticeable even to those who stay before the footlights. For one who penetrates behind the scenes there is no sort of secret about it. It is, at once, glaringly hostile or sympathetic, businesslike wr lethargic, keen or slack, happy or indif- ferent. Even a Department Store can pos- sess a soul and personality. * * * There are some Managers and Business Men whom a cartoonist could only properly represent as sitting at their desks and hold- ing in both hands hundreds of different strings which are presumably connected with every little section of their business. On their faces would be expressions of acute inxiety and fear, and it would seem obvi- ously difficult for them to keep tight hold of,all those strings at once. They are the people who never delegate responsibility, who never cheer their staff by encouraging initiative, who govern or rather rule, but never by any chance inspire. It is the absence of such Managers and methods of control at Selfridge’s which is the most striking characteristic behind the scenes. + * « The etiquette among Buyers and Shop \ssistants is as marked as in every other walk of life, but at Selfridge’s I have never seen it relapse into tyranny. By the simple method of deputing to each worker a sense of responsibility and trust, the Staff is kept at concert pitch. After all, the man who oils the pumps may know as much or more about them as the Chief Engineer. You never know; and in any case his opinion is of value. Kudos—it may be a trifling thing but few of us are big enough to ignore it. How many hundreds of thousands of clerks earn the kudos which their superiors get? How [ pity all those who work in bureaucratic offices, where all initiative is stultified, and the poor depressed subordinates are well “kept in their place,’ where some so-called Organizing genius holds desperately on to every little string, too little himself to dare to delegate responsibility. * * * Surely the finest organizers have always been not those who can do the most them- selves ‘but those who can first inspire and en keep the greatest number of active, en- , usiastic brains working on their behalf. CALLISTHENES writes an article every day, reflecting the “policies, principles and opinions” of the famous business house of “Selfridge & Co.” in London. 119 The above was taken from one of these articles in the Westminster Gazette, and may be taken to indicate that even the business man, whose primary purpose is generally assumed to be a purely selfish one, has come to realize that the most efficient type of organization is not the military type. A number of business houses in Europe and in this country have long since discovered that democ- racy pays dividends. The managers of school systems—in this country—are still to be enlightened. There is a useful task in which we should all co-operate. DEMOCRATIC RUSSIA THE TEACHERS of Moscow maintain through their Mutual Aid Society a Pedagogical Museum, a _ psychological laboratory and club rooms. The building has a concert or lecture hall, smaller lec- ture rooms and lodgings for unmarried teachers or out-of-town visitors. They plan a scientific investigation of some educational problem each year. Last year they made a collection of chil- dren’s drawings; these were collected co-operatively and studied by a commit- tee which compared them with such well- known collections as those of San Fran- cisco, Geneva, Leipsic, Munich, Dresden, Budapest and Antwerp. The drawings are to be preserved in the museum for the use of students. This year they are making a statistical study of the inter- ests and ideals of children. AFTER TEN YEARS of service a teacher in Schenectady, N. Y., may obtain a year’s leave of absence for study or travel with one-third salary. Is it not high time for the boards of education of our larger cities to follow suit and grant a sabbatical year at more than one- third salary to those teachers who are anxious to improve their professional standing? It has been calculated that no extra expense will be incurred in carry- ing out this plan. Why not then make this progressive move and thus improve the teachers in service? THE CREDIMUS IV “We believe that the work of. teaching must be done by men and women of high purpose, without narrowness and without sex antagonism.” From “Cred- imus” in December (1912) number. Food and poison, fire and water, heat .and cold, truth and falsehood, justice and wrong obviously affect all human be- ings alike, regardless of the sex of the individuals involved. Aside from making slight modifications in the course of study for boys and girls, we universally appear to consider education a human and social activity, and not a sex ac- tivity. Whatever may occur in the administra- tion of school systems for reasons of economic strain to set men and women against one another, the effect can only be detrimental to both. Whatever may seem to be the danger of the greater in- fluence of either sex upon the lives and characters of the young, by so much are we losing sight of the great aim of edu- cation in developing the human charac- teristics by means of the devotion of hu- man, not sex, beings. For sex to con- tend with sex makes for biological waste and meanness. Truth being a conception of universal and growing character, it is very im- probable that any one mind, or even any established social, political or religious creed contains all the ideas that are fun- damental for the good of mankind. Creeds have a way of holding fast to what they have gathered. That. is be- cause lazy, or narrow, or unintelligent minds let them. The proper way to man- age a creed is to keep it as the scientist keeps his theory—by dropping it when it ceases to explain or interpret new facts or relations. It is especially harm- ful for teachers to hold to creeds or theories after they have ceased to be true. Teachers may thus be cutting off two or more generations from getting at some very important ideas. As a matter of fact, however, man has been able to get at, many of the fundamentals of life in spite of his teachers. Thus, much of ‘the harm of failure comes to the teach- ers themselves, and that.is how some AMERICAN TEACHER retribution for narrowness falls where it belongs. If we look upon the purpose of edu- cation itself, apart from the purposes of the persons engaged in carrying it on, that purpose stands pre-eminent. There is no greater on our intellectual horizon. Our collective mind has conceived it, shaped it, set it off on high—and looked at it. If it had been a real star, we would have calculated its tangible re!a- tions and the way of reaching it math- ematically long ago. But nearly every- body engaged in education is busy with the apparatus, so busy that the apparatus as apparatus looms larger in the mind than does the supposed use of the ap- paratus and its adaptability for getting at the high purpose of education. Many persons outside our profession, and some of those inside, have long sus- pected that official leadership in educa- tion has suffered from the apparent scarcity of persons really able to think beyond the tools they use in their work. It is thot there may even be a gild of educational toolmakers, drawing their in- spiration and pride in handiwork from the Middle Ages. And as in the gilds, the masters determine the membership and set the rules for the apprentices, who have ever before them only the ideals of good tools. The acts of the apprentices are watched as they make or mar the material—we do not mean the children, but the reports, the records and the programs. Let us get together and stop this non- sense of wasting the golden opportunity of striking directly for the great purpose of education. It may be a long fight, be- cause the toolmakers control the ma- chinery. Moreover, they are shrewd enough to see that their control depends on the cohesion of their fellows against every idea that tends to weaken their grip. It must then be a struggle of ideas against the standpatters. Every man or woman who feels |um- self drawn to the standard to fighi for the high purpose of education, revard- less of the strength of the enemy. will find the people waiting for the com: g of the conqueror. The American Crarher Dem cracy in Education ; Education for Demewvens lished monthly, except July and August, by THE AMERICAN TEACHER 129 Lafayette Street, New York BRiEL R. Mason President lanK HorrMan . _ Treasurer E. MayMan Business Manager enry R. Linvitre Editor-in-Chief wyamin C. Gruenperc, Managing Editor iress all manuscripts and other communi- ations to THe AMERICAN TEACHER, 129 Lafayette Street, New York. id notice of change of address promptly ing the old as well as the new address. Magazines will be sent to subscribers until an ) discontinue, together with all arrearages, is . At the time of expiration, a pink renewal will be found in the copy. REMITTANCES should be made in postal money- express order, draft, stamps or check (New exchange). ubscription price, 50 cents for the year. (Foreign, 60 cents) pyright, 1913, by Tae American TEACHER. Entered at the Post Office of New York as second-class matter. Vor. IL. OCTOBER, 1913. No. 8. This paper seeks to advance the status of the teacher to the dignity and the in- fluence of a profession, by advocating high standards of admission to the call- ing; by urging an extension of the op- portunities for the participation of teach- ers in the direction of educational affairs ; and by supporting the organization of teachers for all legitimate professional purposes. BOSSES AND BOSSES Tue conpuct of large and complex school systems, like the conduct of large and complex commercial or industrial enterprises, is blighted by the traditional but fallacious assumption that military efficiency is the only, or at any rate the highest, efficiency. A beautiful illustra- tion of the demoralization that may come from the application of military principles of organization and adminis- tration to the conduct of Auman affairs is presented by a recent incident in New York City. The Public Education Association of that city had arranged a conference of citizens on the subject of the budget esti- mates for the following calendar year. True to the traditions of respectability, they set the hour of the conference for 2:30 on a Monday afternoon—a time when most people who have to work for a living, including teachers, are still on the job. To this conference were in- vited the City Superintendent, a number of his associates and certain members of the board of education who were sup- posed to be.informed on the subject. The president of the board, who had not himself been invited, learned that such a conference was to take place. He either resented the slight to his person or to his station implied by the failure to invite him, or he felt outraged that mere em- ployes of the board—upon whom he evi- dently looks as his subordinates—should be consulted upon school matters with- out his permission or consent. At any rate, his response to the situation came in the form of a letter to the superin- tendent requesting him to keep away from the meeting and to “direct the superintendents or other officers imme- diately under” his direction “not to ap- pear at such conferences unless the Board of Education, or its president, grants permission.” The superintendent rose to the occa- sion like a true American. He wrote a letter that evidently offended the presi- dent and some of his friends; but its spirit manifests the only self-respecting attitude that an educator could take under the circumstances. He said in ef- fect that he intended to exercise his pre- rogatives as an American citizen by par- ticipating in a public discussion of public affairs, and that he was obliged reluct- antly fo refuse to accede to the presi- dent’s request, since he had neither the authority nor the inclination to direct his associates in a matter wherein each was entitled to the utmost freedom of discretion. I2I I22 At a subsequent meeting of the board two hours of most valuable time were taken from the transaction of important and urgent public business for a discus- sion of who said what and what the an- swer was, and for the adoption of reso- lutions supporting the president in his interference with the privileges of the educational officers, and reprimanding the superintendent for his insubordina- tion in refusing to comply with the presi- dent’s request. There are those in New York City and elsewhere who will rejoice in the rash and arbitrary action of the admin- istrative board-of commissioners, be- cause their fling was in this case aimed at a certain person who has in his day made many enemies. It is, however, not only shortsighted on the part of the com- missioners to dispose of the case as they did; it is even worse for those in school business to uphold the attitude of the board. We must be careful to separate our feelings about particular persons from our cool judgments about principles of organization and administration that are involved. The superintendent has been tyrannical and arbitrary; he has sent teachers from his presence in tears; he has been on occasion petty and vindictive; he has himself directed that those “immediately under his direction” refrain from taking part in just the same kinds of public functions, and did not think that he was then exceeding his authority. He would not, for example, tolerate criticism of a principal by a teacher, or of a superin- tendent by a principal, etc. It is wicked to bring charges against a superior, even if the charges are true, according to Dr. Maxwell. At no time within recent years has he shown any special consid- eration for teachers as human beings. Nevertheless, he has worked incessantly for: the advancement of teaching to the status of a profession. He has labored earnestly and effectively for the educa- tional improvement. of. the system and for the elimination of, certain sinister in- fluences from the. control .of, educational affairs. Dr. Maxwell’s stand for 101 kat 32!) the’ human and professional as against the official: THE AMERICAN TEACHER and mechanical call for the hearty com. mendation of all who can_ separate clearly questions of personal likes and dislikes from questions of public policy and sound judgment. This incident affords to teacher; ap occasion for further study of the condi- tions necessary to the harmonious man- agement of an _ educational system Thru free criticism in a democratically managed educational system the natural leaders would long ago have learned to co-operate for the advancement of the chief business in which they were en. gaged. Where the principle of auto. cracy obtains—every Caesar must sooner or later meet his Brutus. PROFESSIONAL SPIRIT To THE ACTIVE mind an address char- acterized by analytic power cannot fail to be inspiring. We commend to all active-minded teachers and to all educa- tional administrators who want to keep abreast of the times the thotful consider- ation of the leading article in this nun- ber of THE AMERICAN TEACHER. One point that should not fail to im press all thinkers is the fact that several writers for this periodical, including the editors themselves, have arrived at pre- cisely the same conclusion in regard to the imperative need of education ; name- ly, that teachers must have some motive for taking more genuine intellectual in- terest in their work and for making edu- cation count effectively as a social func- tion. Professor Dewey and all others who hold to this belief do so as the result of long and honest observation of the working of our task-ridden system of teaching. If teachers themselves are indifferent to the general absence of inspiration m their professional lives, the fact is only another reason for our pounding away on their shells until we get them out If administrators are indifferent to the situation, we must look to the possibil- ity of developing administrators who have other qualities than the disp sition to hold fast to things as they et: rnally thave been. THE AMERICAN TEACHER DEMOCRACY AND BUSINESS FORE PRINTING Professor Dewey’s “A Undemocratic Proposal”—in which the bill on industrial education then be- fore the Illinois. legislature was criticized —we asked Dr. Edwin G. Cooley, the autor of the bill, to write a reply to Dr. Dewey. This he did not care to do. The article was reprinted in THE SurveY, in the Cu1tp Lazpor BULLETIN, in the EpuCATOR- JOURNAL and elsewhere. With the reprint of the article in the May number of VocaTionaL EpucaTIon appeared this editorial comment : * * We believe it deserves a wider reading. His reasoning is as- serted to be fundamental ; if sound, its influence will be far-reaching ; if fallacious, it should be answered. We are driven to guess that Profes- sor Dewey’s reasoning was fallacious, for a reply appears in the September number of VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, from the hand of Dr. Cooley, formerly superintendent of the Chicago public schools, and now special agent of the Commercial Club of Chicago. Professor Dewey explicitly waived consideration of the motives of those who were backing the criticized legisla- tion; Dr. Cooley feels called upon to de- vote a page of his article to an apology for the Commercial Club and the char- acter of its members. His years of ex- perience as superintendent of a large school system have evidently not taught him that anti-social group interests are quite compatible with high personal morality and generous devotion to public welfare. He again emphasizes the high ideals of the proposed industrial schools: Their “ultimate aim * * * is character devel- opment and civic efficiency, gained through the increase of the personal effi- ciency of the pupils.” But their admin- istration should be separated from that of the ordinary schools because, among other reasons, they are “radically differ- ent from the ordinary ones in purpose ***” Now, we had always supposed that the ultimate aim of the “ordinary” education was character development and Civic efficiency. Dr. Dewey says that the separation of administration would tend “to paralyze one of the most vital movements now operating for the improvement of exist- ing general education.” Dr. Cooley says that as his “plan involves no interfer- ence with the existing school systems either as to funds or clientele, it is hard to understand this statement. No plan now in operation for improving the ele- mentary schools will be touched by the proposed system of schools.” The italics are ours, and the reply seems to us altogether too ingenuous. By divert- ing a movement we shall certainly leave existing systems as they are; therefore, the separation of administration will in- jure no one! In his earlier reports Dr. Cooley cited with approval the ideas of Dr. Kerschen- steiner on industrial education ; especially did he approve the idea that vocational education should be conducted primarily for citizenship, and that it should lead the student to comprehend his work in its scientific relations, its historical, eco- nomical and social bearings—in other words, that it should be conducted from an educational or cultural point of view, a point of view that places the social and human product before the commer- cial advantage to employers. Now, how- ever, Dr. Cooley tells us that the public elementary schools should “remain broadly cultural, rather than vocational * * * Vocational efficiency will always be an important by-product of good cul- tural education, but it should con- tinue to be a by-product, something not directly aimed at.” But one of the strong claims that the movement for vocational education makes is that cul- ture is really a by-product of good voca- tional work. This is the very vitalizing movement that promises to reconstruct our “ordinary” education and make it something worth while. It must be admitted, as Dr. Cooley maintains, that effective administration of vocational schools cannot be left en- tirely to the academicians who know nothing of the trades or other vocations. But that is a begging of the question. ‘The problem is not academic versus ex- 124 THE pert counsel or administrators, but a sep- aration of the public’s children into two camps, those in training for productive activity. and those in training for the enjoyment of life. Dr. Cooley denies that the proposed plan would separate the children, because the . vocational school would only “begin its work where the other leaves off.” Yes; and the scheme then would perpetuate the pre- vailing segregation on the assumption that it is something necessary and ulti- mate; it asks no questions about the causes of the mortality, it seeks merely AMERICAN TEACHER to make the utmost use of the carc «ses Instead of advancing methods for !:old- ing the children longer in school and giy. ing to all what is worth while, ‘t js planned to send a rescue party fter those who, for one reason or anc:her cannot stand the “ordinary” schools an longer. And let us not forget that many of those who are not squeezed out suffer just as much for staying in the “ordi- nary” school as do those who drop by the wayside and give so much conicem to the employers of inefficient labor BOOK NOTES All books may be ordered from The American Teacher MORAL TRAINING IN THE SCHOOL AND HOME: a manual for teachers and parents. By E. Hersuey Sneatu, Profes- sor in Yale University, and Grorce Honces, Dean of the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge. 12mo. pp. vii+221. New York: The Macmillan Co. 1913. $1. ETHICS AND EDUCATION. By J. How- ARD Moore, Instructor in Ethics, Crane Tech- nical High School, Chicago. tI2mo. pp. viii+188. London: G. Bell & Sons. 1912. $1 net. HIGH SCHOOL ETHICS. Book One. By J. Howarp Moore. 12mo. pp. xiv+182. G. Bell & Sons. 70 cents London: net. The systematic instruction in morality or ethics is characteristically absent from the pub- lic schools of this country. One reason for this is no doubt the fact that in the minds of most people morality cannot be separated from theology, and there is no place for theologies in the public schools. Aside from this, how- ever, it is an open question whether the moral purpose of the school is best attained thru instruction about morals, thru training in moral conduct, or thru the moralization of the various school subjects. The authors of the first of these books would not teach systematic ethics in the grades, but they would have the teacher “establish the pupil in the virtues—in the habits of will and forms of conduct—that are so essential to the development of the in- dividual and of society.” This they would do by the indirect method, while recognizing that in the home at least there is need for more or IgI2. less direct instruction; and their indirect method centers about selected stories becaus of the psychological force residing in the story. The virtues must be selected to fit the stage of the child’s development and there re- sults a graded course, dealing successively with the morality of the bodily life, of the intellectual life, the social life, the economic life, the political life and the esthetic life After each chapter there is a list of suitable stories to illustrate the virtues under dis cussion, the references being for the most part to a series of literary readers issued by the same publishers, “The Golden Rule Series’ There is a chapter on the moral atmosphere of the school, and one on the relation of religion to moral teaching, in which the personal deity is assumed to be the sole foundation for sound moral teaching. A strict use of this manu involves therefore so much of theology tha it cannot be directly adapted to the public schools; the individual teacher may, however, find a great deal of helpful material and guidance in the selection of readings Mr. Moore’s work is an outgrowth years of experience as a teacher, and the present books are especially designed ‘o mett the legal requirements for moral ins'ructiol in the public schools of Illinois. Mr. Moe has strong convictions not only about right and wrong, but also about the teac ing 0 morals. He would teach children rot on how to do things right, but why this is rig and that is wrong. He follows what |: wow of many THE AMERICAN ethic,’ and his Many of without aps call, an evolutionary tarianism is of a broad kind. pet beliefs, however, crop out mstrating their rational foundations. He 1 special aversion to the destruction of al life in the service of man. This may iore than sentimentalism; but the modern io ogist in preaching “Live!” does not add, | let live.” Indeed, we cannot see that the oriental distinction between animal life and plant life is a practical one or a useful one in the field of morals. It is hardly fair to con- demn flesh eaters as immoral on the basis of the “architecture of the roof of the baby’s mouth.” The economist and the biologist will have to tell us whether the civilized nations can afford to forego the use of flesh food; the psychologist will have to tell us whether the slautering of animals and the slicing of the brutalizes those who go meat business: then we shall be able to judge whether the eating of meat is wicked. Until then the enthusiasm expended upon vegetarian- ism as a moral cause will be largely wasted. The author’s style is lively and he has much to say that is of special significance to the teacher—of all sorts of subjects—especially in the first of these books. But we cannot com- mend the genera! adoption of his course in high school ethics. carcasses into the A BUNCH OF LITTLE THIEVES, by Day id s - Greenberg, with an introduction by Prof. F. G. Bonser, Teachers’ College, New York. 12mo, pp. viii + 336. Illustrated. New York. Shakespeare Press, 1913. $1.35 , net Michael Roate had stolen an apple—not very much, but it was enough when added to other crimes committed by him because he was hungry or because he was buffeted about by the schools and by the law, to carry him thru the Children’s Court to the reformatory up the river. » There Michael became one of hun- dreds of boys constituting the “bunch. of little thieves,” called so by the officers-of the insti- tution. And they were little. thieves.even in the reformatory for the same reason that they had learned to be thieves outside of it—because of hunger, neglect, persecution and downright physical brutality. At the time of -Michael’s appearance’ at the teformatory, there were four of the teachers in the schéol of the institution. two men. and two women, who had social ideals that they were steadfastly trying to apply. For example. they thot a boy could safely be trusted with TEACHER 125 a small responsibility out of ‘the sight of guards, as a preparation for making a man of him. The officers knew he would run away. The teachers thot the little waifs could be led by confidence, sympathy and understanding to establish standards of right and wrong for themselves, and to see the social futility of lives of crime. The officers believed the chief activity of the young criminal mind is to defy properly constituted authority. The teach- ers, with the reluctant consent of the Superin- tendent, helped the boys establish a little re- public, with a constitution, officers and regula- tions for community discipline. The officers, true to their own ideals derived from long ex- perience, conspired to destroy the republic and all it stood for. Naturally they succeeded. Thus is was proved, as it has been proved many times before, that the greatest obstacle in the way of the reform of institutions is the attitude of resentment to change held by those persons in actual control of the institutions. The reformers were driven out, but the two men established another institution for way- ward boys and girls a few miles away. It prospered, and to it one winter night came Michael Roate, escaped from the reformatory. He remained, for already influences were at work discrediting the inhuman methods of the older institution. The new school with its socializing indus- tries succeeded, and in time the older reform- atory came under the control of those who had been sent away. The new school ig the author’s old one was his reality. If you demand that a novel shall show on its cover a picture of a handsome lady, who might still be a thief, you will be disappointed in “A Bunch of Little Thieves.” If you feel that the plot should thicken so much that your very being would be wrought up. for hours with delicious suspense, you will be still more disappointed. The book is very plain in ap- pearance. perhaps even a little crude. The proofreading is not perfectly done. The writ- ing, too, is a little faulty in the lack of com- plete mastery of English idioms. But the story rings true and clear and strong, because it is a bit of real life as observed by the au- thor in a reformatory im the State of New York. dream; the The school should be a place to work, but not a jail for the imprison- ment of youth. The children should find advantages and joys alike in the schools, and the teachers should awake in their pupils joy and pleasure in work, instead of disgusting their pu- pils thru loveless treatment.—HER- MANN WEIMER, in “The Way to the Heart of the Pupil.” 126 IDEA OF THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. In his “The Idea of the Industrial School,” Dr. Kerschensteiner* has some wholesome things to say to those who look upon indus- trial education as a scheme for making the “lower classes” more efficient objects of in- dustrial exploitation. The aim of the public school is determined by the aim of society it- self, or the State; and he assumes that the aim of the latter today is thoroly democratic —notwithstanding that he writes in Germany and directs the public schools of Miinchen. The ideal aim of social organization he takes to be one that will contain within itself “the means for satisfying the individually differing characters, and offer every individual the pos- sibility of finding satisfaction in a manner ac- cording to his nature.” This is a far cry from the old formula of teaching every one to be content in that station in life wherein it has pleased Providence to place him. The idea of the industrial school must be comprehensive enough to prepare not only for every possible kind of technical training, and to give each pupil an opportunity to discover what kind of technical training he should eventually take up; it must include provisions for training in social co-operation for team work as well as for team play; it must include training in the uses of leisure as well as training for the demand of leisure; it must include training in the adjustment of the individual to the group, and in self-government, as well as for leader- ship. Altho the title suggests that the “in- dustrial” school is something specialized, every thotful teacher will find in this little book stimulating suggestions that can be applied to the work of the classroom in every grade. THE *THE IDEA OF THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. By Georc KerscHEensTeINer. Translated from the German by Rupotr Pintner. 16mo. pp. xi+110. New York: The Macmillan Co. 1913. 50 cents net. N. W. Shepard & Co., in. Manufacturing Jewelers Badges, Class Pins, Medals Secret Order Jewels, Charms and Pins 102-104 Fulton Street, New York City Telephone 391 Joha THE AMERICAN TEACHER SPECIAL OFFER The American Teacher, 50 Cents Combination Rates eacher $1.25 $1.25 $1.25 Educational Foundations $1.25 Teachers Magazine. . $1.25 School News . . . $1.25 The American Teacher 129 Lafayette Street NEW YORK When is a citizen not a citizen? When he is employed by a board of education. HERBART HALL INSTITUTE for ATYPICAL CHILDREN FOUNDED APRIL |, 1900, BY MAXIMILIAN P. E. GROSZMANN MAINTAINED BY THE National Association the Education of Sas orion? This institution is one of the activities of the N. A. S. E. E. C. and is intended solely for the —— a ee boner oe oe. the handi- a normal c Ww er or 1. N feeble-minded, ate . . or se are The object of this Institution is to train the EXCEPTIONAL CHILD Whether overbright or somewhat backward, to be able later to compete with the average nor. mal child. In addition tothe ordinary branches the course of study includes ysical train ing, mature study. manual and constructive work,etc. Methods and Equipment are based u the most modern agogic incipics. Medical care is a Wty tye the work. $8 the pioneer instit nmin t ores education. The Asnociation main. taini ays emphasis u the neéds of the misunderstood normal child in contrast to the overstimu'eted interest inthe feeble minded and abnormal. “Watchung Crest,” the home »f HERBART ALI. comprieanover twenty-five acres of land and is situated on Watchung Mountain. a spur of the Blue Ridge, five bun- dred feet ahove sea-level (four hundred feet above Plainfield) ‘or terms. catalog. end information addres: WALDERMAR H. GROSZMANN, Princip! “Wachung Crest.” PLAINFIELD, N.! low When answering Advertisers please mention THe AMERICAN TEACHER THE AMERICAN TEACHER The Postal Life Insurance Compan pays you the Commissions that other Companies pay their agents O vertising charge. sion money to an N entrance into the Company you get the agent’s average first-year commission, less the moderate ad- Other companies give this commis- agent: the POSTAL gives it to you. 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AMERICAN TYPEWRITER CO. 271 Broadway, New York Lantern Slides and Stereographs Keystone “600 Set” Dr. J. Paul Goode, Univ of Chicago, says: “This one of the most significan vances of recent years in th: ter equipment for school worl Great historical places, i tries of the world, smoking canoes and the cold frigi: ciers have had their s skimmed off and actually « into the classroom so that ean feel its way into thei: midst. The cross referenc tem is simple and yet so | and complete as to harmo the “Set” with eyery subj: the regular school ‘course you know that our “600 S« an equivalent teaching va 6000 subjects? Our selling od places them within our reach. Do you wish the free | of our colored lantern slide L« ‘(ure Sets? Literature sent upo re quest. KEYSTONE VIEW COMPANY —Mod Pig I Machi t Rest, Pittsburgh, P.. (Ine.) ee ee — Dept. E. MEADVILLE. PA. When answering Advertisers please mention THe AMERICAN TEACHER