American Geacher 


Democracy in Education; Education for Democracy. 











Vou. I No. 9 NEW YORK, NOVEMBER, 1913 50 CENTS A YEAR 














3 tat” 14 ) 
WARNING “0:0 





There is danger in the ease with 
which you fall into routine. 


There is danger in the pigeon-holes 


for sorting boys and girls. 


There is danger in last year’s plan- 
book that worked so well. 


There is danger in the discipline 
that works like a machine. 


There is danger in knowing your 
subject so well that you never 
have to prepare your lessons. 


There is danger in perfection; when 
you have reached that look about 
for a new field. 











THE MARRIED WOMAN AS A TEACHER 


In THE April number of THe AmeERri- 
CAN TEACHER reference was made to 
the refusal of the Board of Education of 
New York City to grant a teacher leave 
of absence for the purpose of bearing 
and nursing a child. Since then the 
status of the mother as teacher has been 
made an issue by the preferring of 
charges for “neglect of duty” against 
another teacher because she absented 
herself from school without permission 
of the Board of Education or its Presi- 
dent, and bore a child during her ab- 
sence. 

In anticipation of the discussion on 
the motion to dismiss Mrs. Peixotto, Dr. 
Ira S. Wile, a member of the Board of 
Education, wrote to the chief educational 
officers of the various states, asking for 
information on the position and work of 
married teachers. Replies to most of 
the questions were received from forty- 
two states and the results are presented 
below.? 


I 


Has the State Department of Educa- 
tion made any rulings upon the status of 
married teachers who become mothers? 


The answers from nine states declare 
specifically that there are no laws dis- 
criminating against the employment of 
married women.? But in none of the 
states has the State Department of Edu- 
cation made a ruling on the subject. Lo- 
cal school boards have adopted regula- 
tions excluding married teachers from 
the schools in Missouri (St. Louis), 
Louisiana (New Orleans), Vermont 
(Barre and Burlington) and Tennessee. 
In Maryland the boards generally ad- 
here to the precedent of employing no 
married teacher unless her husband is an 
invalid. In Utah and in Kansas a mar- 


1No replies were received from Delaware, 
Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, 
Wyoming. 


2 Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, 
North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont 
and Wisconsin. 


ried teacher may not be employed, and 
in the latter state the marriage of a 
teacher after employment is considered 
equivalent to a resignation. 


II 


Are there any legal decisions in your 
state, enabling or forbidding the Board 
of Education to dismiss a married 
teacher for neglect of duty because of 
maternity? 

To this question there is no reply from 
Massachusetts and North Dakota. In 
the other states there has been no legal 
decision on the subject. In South Caro- 
lina dismissal of all teachers is made dis- 
cretionary by statute. In Wisconsin 
“there is nothing in the law that would 
prevent a school board from dismissing a 
teacher for failure to satisfactorily ful- 
fill the terms of the contract entered into 
between the teacher and the school 
board.” But in that state there is noth- 
ing in the law to prevent a board from 
“refusing to contract with or employ a 
married teacher.” 


III 


What has been the experience of your 
state with married women as teachers? 


From eight states* there are no an- 
swers to this question, and those, from 
some of the other states are ambiguous. 

In seven states the experience has 
been “favorable” or satisfactory.‘ 
Michigan and Nebraska report that mar- 
ried teachers are just as good as others; 
and Maine finds no inherent objection 
to them, while Iowa says it “depends on 
the person.” California, Oklahoma and 
Texas have not yet had any trouble or 
complaint on account of married teach- 
ers, and in Rhode Island “they are still 
in good repute as teachers.” In that 


3 Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, 


New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota and 


Washington. 


4 Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ida- 
ho, Nevada, New Hampshire. 


130 





a |  eTEew &§ | Gk ee FF 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


State each teacher “is judged by her 
services, whether married or single.” 

Several states report that they employ ; 
very few married teachers ; but in Oregon 
and Montana the issue has never been 
raised. Of all the states reporting, Ken- 
tucky is the only one that is dissatisfied, 
for there the experience with married 
teachers has been “not altogether satis- 
factory,” presumably in comparison with 
unmarried teachers. In that State 
“some of the City Boards have made 
rulings as to married women.” 

The New Hampshire report contains 
his comment : 


I believe that married women in general 
are quite as efficient as unmarried women, 
and in many cases the fact that they have 
children of their own enables them to 
understand pupils better. 


Many of the answers to this question 
show that the State Superintendents in- 
erpreted “what experience” in a qualita- 
ive sense, while others took it in a quan- 


itative sense, so that there is a partial 
overlapping of the next question. 


IV 


Are married [women] teachers less ef- 
cient than unmarried women teachers? 
Twenty-two of the states give no 
nswer to this question, omitting it en- 
rely or stating that they have little or 
ho experience upon which to base con- 
usions. Of the other twenty, twelve® 
nswer with an unqualified, “No!” and 
six say “no” as a matter of judgment or 
alify in some other way. Thus Iowa, 
‘No, when not responsible for house- 
old duties.” 
The two answers that are unfavorable 
te those from South Carolina, “Com- 
monly so, except in rare cases”; and 
trom Montana, “I do not see how a 
harried woman can attend to the duties 
bf her family and the school at the 
¢ time.” This is not the place to 
xplain that much of the dish-washing 
nd voting can very well be done at 
hours that do not interfere with school 


SAlabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, 
daho, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, 
ew Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island. 


131 


work ; but the comments of New Hamp- 
shire and Rhode Island about offset the 
fears of Montana: “I have never been 
able to see that efficiency has any particu- 
lar relation to the married or unmarried 
condition” and “Efficiency depends upon 
personality, not on marriage or single 
blessedness.” 
Vv 


What has been your experience with 
married teachers who have become 
mothers? 


Because of lack of experience or of 
information in most states, only twelve 
give definite answers to this question. 
Of these, Kansas, as explained under 
I, makes marriage equivalent to resigna- 
tion; and Montana’s experience with 
married teachers has “not been satisfac- 
tory.” Iowa does “not believe [that] a 
teacher should be burdened with house- 
hold duties’; and in two states (Ala- 
bama and New Hampshire) the situa- 
tion is met by the temporary withdrawal 
of the teacher-mother. Seven states of 
the twelve reporting find the mothers 
satisfactory or better®, and the experi- 
ence of Rhode Island is equivocal: 
“Some are better teachers, others are 
distracted by home duties. There is 
no general rule.” 


VI 


Do they [married teachers who be- 
come mothers] become less efficient and 
are they absent more than other teachers 
in the system? 


Only sixteen answers are given to 
this question—of these nine are favor- 
able to the mothers.?_ In Florida a tem- 
porary withdrawal from service is the 
remedy used for reducing inefficiency 


® California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia 
(“that they are good teachers”), Kentucky 
(“except in a few cases”), Michigan (“not 
less efficient than others”) and Oregon 
(“The experience has broadened their sym- 
pathies and understanding of children; it 
has not made them less capable.”). 


7 Alabama, California, Georgia (“but absent 
more”), Idaho, Iowa (“when not responsible 
for household duties”), Kentucky (with “ex- 
ceptional cases”), New Hampshire, Oklahoma, 
Rhode Island. 














132 


due to the cause specified. In Oregon a 
teacher would “not be permitted” to re- 
duce her efficiency: or increase her ab- 
sences, presumably for amy cause. In 
Wisconsin the courts have held, if we 
read the answer correctly, that the dis- 
missal of a teacher for “incompetency 
under the circumstances is a breach of 
contract, and that the local authorities 
are liable for the full amount of the 
teacher’s wages. Ambiguous replies 
come from Louisiana, which finds some 
of its mother teachers among the best 
and some among the poorest; from 
Michigan, which does not believe that 
the mothers are less efficient or absent 
more than others; and from Nebraska, 
where no difference is noticeable. 


Vil 


Is absence, due to pregnancy or par- 
turition, excused—with or without pay? 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


Fifteen replies were received to this 
answer. In nine of the fifteen stat 
the teacher could retire without pay fy 
the necessary length of time. 

In only one state are the authoritied 
sufficiently far-sighted to be compared 
with those of France, Russia and Servia: 
in West Virginia the mother teacher j 
excused with pay. 

In Georgia and Iowa teachers und 
such circumstances are supposed to re 
sign; at any rate they are not excused 
in the former state. In Idaho such me. 
ters are settled by the local authorities; 
and in Michigan no discrimination js 
made against the married teacher. In 
New Hampshire each “case would } 
dealt with on its own merits.” 


8 Alabama, Arizona, California, Florié) 
Kentucky, Nebraska, Oregon, Rhode Island 
and possibly South Carolina, the answer for 
that state being ambiguous. 





DEMOCRACY IN THE SWISS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 


A. Kovar 
Elementary Schools, New York City 


AT THIS moment there is a distinct and 
ever-growing feeling among the teachers 
of our country that the schools, the bul- 
wark of our democracy, are not organ- 
ized and directed along democratic lines. 
More and more is the teaching profes- 
sion, everywhere, and particularly in the 
large cities, becoming alive to the fact 
that if the great stream of childhood 
which is constantly flowing through the 
schools is to be educated to a healthy and 
vigorous citizenship in this great republic, 
then our schools themselves must be 
made to undergo a marked transforma- 
tion. They must emerge from the mili- 
tary, autocratic, and bureaucratic regime 
under which for so many years they 
have been marking time, and become 
both in their ideals and practical opera- 
tion a true expression of our democratic 
institutions and our social aspirations. 
It has been said that every people has 
that form of government to which it is 
entitled in accordance with its intellectual 
progress and spiritual development. True 
as this law is in the field of political 


science, it is even more profoundly tn, 
although but little recognized, in matters 
educational. The plain fact which is 
slowly beginning to lay hold upon the 
minds of the teachers and the public a 
large, is this:—that our schools in their 
ideals, organization, method of adminis 
tration and pedagogical well-being are 
fully a century behind our social and 
political progress. 


As the result of a long chain o 
conditions and  furtuitous circum 
stances which it is not the present 
purpose to analyze, we are now face to 
face with the startling fact that what 
the public schools were meant to 4, 
namely, to educate the young generation 
for efficient citizenship in the economic, 
social and political life of a democracy, 
and what they actually do, are two differ 
ent things. There is a lamentable lad 
of articulation between the school am 
life, between the needs of the communit} 
and the attempts made by our system 0 
education to satisfy those needs. 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


In view of these facts it may be illum- 
-Minating and somewhat heartening to 
Miclance at our small but vigorous sister 
republic, Switzerland, and observe how 
she with material resources infinitely less 

an ours has grappled with the problem 
of democratic education. 

In a ‘monograph by R. L. Morant, in 

ol. 3, of Special Reports on Education 
Missued by the Education Department of 
Great Britain, it is shown that the two 
fundamental features of the Swiss 
Schools are these. First, that the entire 
educational system is so organized as to 
‘Mallow the people of each Canton and each 
Commune to retain the control of the 
schools in their own hands. And second, 
that the teachers, themselves, wield a 
large responsibility both in the adminis- 
trative and pedagogical direction of pub- 
lic education. 

An outline sketch of the educational 
system of Zurich, typical of the greater 
number of Swiss Cantons, will help to 
make the statements clear. 

There is, in the first place, an Erzie- 
hungs Director, who is one of the Can- 
tonal Executive Council of seven. To 
him is attached an Educational Council 
consisting of six members, of which the 
Herr Director is the ex-officio President. 
Four of these six members are nomi- 
nated by the Cantonal Council of State, 
while the other two are selected by the 
whole profession of teachers of the Can- 
ton, one representing the elementary 
schools, and one the secondary schools 
and university teachers. Their term of 
office is three years, renewable. To this 
Erziehungsrath, as it is called, is com- 
mitted the direction and supervision of 
the whole school organization of the Can- 
ton. Each Canton is then divided into 
a number of school districts each of 
which has a District Education Authority 
made up of nine to thirteen members, 
three of whom are chosen by the whole 
teaching body of the district, the rest by 
the non-teaching residents. This provin- 
cial authority has the entire oversight of 
the whole school organization included 
in its area. The members of this district 
organization divide among themselves the 
visitation of all the schools under their 


133 


control and look after all the details con- 
cerning the good conduct of the schools. 
These districts are again sub-divided into 
school circles each presided over by a 
local authority, the membership of which 
is proportioned in accordance with the 
population. And finally, each of these 
school circles is composed of a number 
of Communes, each with its own Com- 
munal School Authority, elected by the 
inhabitants of the area which it controls. 

It is evident from this brief sketch, 
that the teachers exercise a good deal of 
control over the educational organization 
of each Canton and that the people them- 
selves are in close touch with the schools 
of their immediate neighborhood. In 
each of the two higher authorities, 
namely the Erziehungsrath and the Dis- 
trict Education Authority, the teachers 
are represented to the extent of almost 
one-third, while in the lower two and 
more local educational directive bodies 
the people are in absolute control. We 
thus have the principle of democracy 
actually operating in the educational pol- 
icy and organization of the Swiss Re- 
public, as it does in its political and so- 
cial life. To quote the author of the 
monograph mentioned above, “Switzer- 
land offers a striking proof of the fact, 
that the necessary quantum of central 
control over local freedom so necessary 
to the maintenance of a high level of 
educational effort can quite well prevail 
concurrently with the truest democratic 
development. 

In the Canton of Bern where the edu- 
cational organization is more centralized 
than in Zurich, it still remains true that 
the teaching body as such wields a dis- 
tinct power over the schools of their 
Canton. It is accomplished through the 
medium of an officially recognized 
Teachers’ Council in which members of 
all branches of the profession are repre- 
sented, and which is invariably consult- 
ed before any important change in the 
educational policies of the Canton are 
undertaken. This Teachers’ Council 
acts as a counter balance to the Central 
Authority by presenting to the depart- 
ment its opinion gained from practical 
experience in the classroom upon any 





134 


question that might arise, and by “‘initiat- 
ing discussion of new possibilities and 
bringing them into official consideration.” 
Therefore, whatever danger there might 
be that the Central control would result 
in stereotyped uniformity and atrophy of 
individual experiment and initiative in a 
dry-rot bureaucracy, is dissipated by the 
active part played by the Teachers’ Coun- 
cil. 

We thus find that the Swiss educa- 
tional system is subject to a dual control. 
One arising, as Mr. Morant puts it, “from 
the freedom of individual initiative and 
local effort essential to a free democracy, 
the other from the guidance of an aris- 
tocracy of brains—picked men of educa- 
tional as well as of administrative knowl- 
edge, wisdom and experience chosen as 
such by the democracy for this express 
purpose.” 

If we now turn to our own school sys- 
tem and place it side by side with that of 
Switzerland, what do we find? Just this: 
that it suffers from a lack of the very 
things that make the Swiss schools so 
successful. And they are, first, an active 


THE AMERICAN 


TEACHER 


participation of the teaching force in the 
management of the schools ; second, such 
elasticity and flexibility in educationa| 
policies as will permit adaptation to th 
needs of the community. Here we ar 
weighed down by an educational struc. 
ture which has for its foundation and 
cornerstone — “centralization.” Every 
possible improvement, every possible ad- 
vantage that might accrue from a rel. 
tive freedom, a personal responsibility 
upon the part of the teachers themselves, 
are sacrificed to the idols of uniformity, 
conformity, and lock-step perfection. 
The teachers are “subordinates,” and 
must have the only virtue of subor- 
dinates, which is obedience. To think, 
to experiment, to originate—that is 
treason. The ideal held up to the teach- 
ing force by their superiors is that of a 
well-drilled, perfectly disciplined army. 
Is it any wonder that under such cond- 
tions teaching is a “trade” and a thank 
less one at that, instead of being the noble 
and inspiring profession that it should 
be? 





NEW EVILS OF PART TIME 
S. E. B; 


IN ORDER to reduce the so-called part- 
time evil the Board of Education of the 
City of New York recently adopted the 
following plan: 

(I) That for pupils of the first year 
grades a school day providing four hours’ 
instruction be considered full time and re- 
ported as such; 

(II) That wherever possible, a double- 
system plan providing five hours’ instruc- 
tion daily, be established in congested 
schools not relieved by recommendation 


The “double system” time plan is: 
Section A: Morning Session— 
8:30 to 11:30 
8:30 to 10:30 Classroom. 

10:30 to 11:30 “Opening” exer- 
cises and study 
in auditoriums or 
playgrounds. 

11:30 to 12:30 Recess. 


Afternoon Session— 
12:30 to 2:30 Classroom. 


Section B: Morning Session— 

9:30 to 12:30 

9:30 to 10:30 “Opening” —exer- 
cises and study 
in auditoriums or 
playgrounds. 

10:30 to 12:30 Classroom. 

12:30 to 2:30 Recess. 

2:30 to 4:30 Classroom. 


A critical examination of this plan 
leads us to the following observations: 


RECOMMENDATION I 


The reduction of the school day in the 
first year from five to four hours is de 
fended by the committee that drew up 
the plan, as follows: 


“If a three-hour school day is sufficient 
for a child while he is in the kindergartes, 
what possible physical or physiological 
change can warrant the demand for 
five-hour school day when he is promoted 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


to the 1A grade? If a three-hour school 
day founded on the play instincts and 
needs of the child is considered sufficiently 
long while he is a member of the kinder- 
garten class, is not a five-hour school day 
too long for the same child when he be- 
comes a member of the first-year grade 
with its more formal instruction and more 
rigid discipline?” 

Precisely for the reason that the transi- 
tion from the kindergarten to the first 
grade is so marked should we hesitate be- 
for we curtail the five-hour school day? 
If the school day is shortened, the 
chances are that all the time will be con- 
sumed in formal study, and not enough 
time will be given to play and recreation 
to which the child was accustomed in his 
kindergarten days. 

However, if a four-hour school day 
will reduce part time, the sensible thing 
to do would be to establish a four-hour 
school day in the first year, and if feasible 
even in the second. But enough time for 
play and recreation must be provided. 


RECOMMENDATION II. 


It is claimed that this plan will not 
only reduce part time but also that the 
children will not lose any time from the 
traditional five-hour school day. At first 
glance the scheme appears to be excel- 
lent. Upon closer study, however, we 
observe some features which show this 
plan to be of doubtful value. 

1. In the first place, it violates all prin- 
ciples of personal and school hygiene. 
Children in Section B spend the first 
hour of the school day in “Opening exer- 
cises and study in auditoriums or play- 
grounds.” That is, one, two, three, and 
more classes, carrying clothing and 
books, come into the auditorium or play- 
ground directly from the street. If the 
auditorium is the place of study, they oc- 
cupy seats built for adults. They breathe 
foul air and read and write in cramped 
positions by poor, artificial light. They 
have no desks to write upon, nor have 
they racks upon which to hang their 
clothing. In rainy weather the children 
are not only uncomfortable but their 
health is actually imperiled. Several 
classes and teachers in one room nat- 


135 


urally produce a state of affairs that is 
not entirely conducive to intensive study. 
An additional source of disturbance is 
the playing, during recess periods, of 
lower grade children in the vicinity of 
the auditorium. 

If the place of study happens to be 
the playground instead of the auditorium 
the situation is still more serious. Here 
the children are forced to stand or to sit 
very close together on benches (in some 
cases they must sit on the floor) holding 
their books and clothing in their laps. 

That these conditions are not over- 
stated is proved by the committee itself : 


Having two teachers in a classroom 
sometimes leads to a clash of authority 
and a failure to codperate in the details 
of the program. 

* * * pupils are frequently obliged 
to occupy accommodations that are not 
suited to them. * * * Another objec- 
tion is that pupils are obliged to carry 
their materials with them and are not 
able to work as satisfactorily as if they 
had a fixed abode. 

Few assembly rooms have adequate 
equipment for proper class instruction. 
The lighting and ventilation are usually 
unsatisfactory. The difficulty of having 
to work for several hours amid distract- 
ing noises of other classes certainly in- 
terferes with progress. It is a strain to 
teach in assembly rooms not intended for 
classroom purposes. The ceilings are 
usually too high. Fitting these rooms 
with curtains or movable partitions does 
not improve matters. 

These are the facts. What is the char- 
acter of the work that can be done un- 
der such conditions? Have we been 
talking “standards” only for the sake of 
hearing ourselves talk? Is the experience 
of child study experts, competent teach- 
ers, and wise superintendents to be cast 
to the winds? 

Listen again to the committee that pro- 
posed this new part-time plan: 

If these (approved) conditions are 
necessary to the physical, mental, and 
moral well-being of the child, then any 
lowering of the standard is an invasion 
of his rights, and is to be deplored. The 
schoolhouse is not merely a place for 
housing children, but for oe! them 
so that they can get the full benefit from 
the instruction provided. 

Why, then, make recommendations 
that violate these standards? 




















































Not only a seat, but a seat and a desk 
for every child—that is the issue that 
ought to be taken up. 

In many old and in most new school 
buildings the auditorium is located on 
the ground floor, or lower. The seventh 
and eighth year classes are invariably 
found on the upper floors—in some 
buildings on the fifth. Pupils and teach- 
ers are subjected to the additional strain 
and discomfort of climbing four and five 
flights of stairs in order to “camp” for a 
short while in a temporary abode. When 
you remember that books and clothing 
have to be carried along, this kind of ex- 
ercise is not physical culture—it is truly 
physical torture. 

2. According to schedule, Section B 
has a recess (lunch hour) of two hours 
—1I2:30 to 2:30. Has it occurred to any- 
one to ask what an active seventh or 
eighth grade boy will do with so much 
spare time on his hands? Surely the 
claim that this plan will keep boys “off 
the streets” must be seriously questioned. 

3. Again according to schedule, Sec- 
tion B goes home at 4:30 p. m.—one and 
one-half hours after the usual dismissal 
time. In the districts where part time 
is most prevalent many of the boys and 
girls over fourteen years of age are en- 
gaged in gainful occupations of some 
sort after school hours. The extra hour 
and a half in school will thus effectually 
decrease the family income. By what 
process of reasoning can we justify such 
a transgression upon the needy ones? 

4. Another violation that must be 
charged to this plan is the invasion of the 
home routine and an unnecessary call for 
waste of time and energy. In localities 
where part time is the rule rather than 
the exception, it is not uncommon to find 
three or more children of one family in 
the same school. Now, it is not alto- 
gether inconceivable that one of these 
children is in Section A, the second in 
Section B, and the third on full time. 
This means additional drain on the en- 
ergies of the already overworked mother. 
Instead of having a family lunch hour 
between 12 and 1 p. m., the lunch period 
is now extended over a period of about 
three hours. The labor of cooking, serv- 












136 THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


ing, spreading tables, washing dishes, 
etc., is trebled. 

5. Lack of permanent abode for teach- 
ing and learning purposes is another 
great fault of this scheme. Decoration 
of the room which reflects the personality 
of the teacher and awakens a permanent 
interest in the children is out of the 
question. To carry illustrative material 
and objective illustrations from place to 
place is a task that was never intended 
for intelligent teachers. Here again the 
committee forestalls criticism: 

The teacher is entitled to the exclusive 
possession of a classroom which she may 
decorate according to her taste and in 
the decoration of which her pupils will 
naturally take part and pride. 

Again the query arises: Why make a 
recommendation that is at cross purposes 
with accepted principles? 

6. No slight objection to this plan is 
the fact that the teachers of Section B 
are compelled to work one hour a day 
more than the Section A teachers or the 
full time teachers. These teachers begin 
work at 9:30 a. m. and do not stop until 
4:30 p. m—a working period of seven 
hours instead of the present six. By 
what right or authority can any one de- 
mand one extra hour of work daily from 
any set or group of teachers? Has the 
committee proved that teachers are suf- 
fering from a lack of hard work? Truly, 
this is an insult to the intelligence of the 
teachers and a shameful imposition upon 
their rights as workers and citizens. What 
other body of workers—lay or profes- 
sional—would tolerate such high-handed 
procedure? 

7. The last, tho by no means the least, 
objection we have to this plan is the 
fact that at no stage of the deliberations 
—initial or final—was the experience of 
the 20,000 teachers officially utilized. At 
the instance of the President of the 
Board of Education, three superintend- 
ents (no teachers or principals, who 
come in constant contact with the chil- 
dren and their work) set to work to 
abolish part time. The result is a plan 
that meets neither the needs of pupils 
nor the approval of teachers or parents. 


(Continued on page 142) 


Se 2 of 


> © OS & mB“ 





pa 0 UU ee ee, ee ee is 


The 


American Cearher 


Democracy in Education ; Education for Democracy 








Published monthly, except July and August, by 
THE AMERICAN TEACHER 
129 Lafayette Street, New York. 
Gasrizt R. Mason President 
Marx Horrman . - « « Treasurer 
J. E. Mayan Business Manager 








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Copyright, 1913, by Tue Amertcan TeacHenr. 


Entered at the Post Office of New York 
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Vo. Il. NOVEMBER, 1913 No.9 








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. 





DODGING ISSUES 


Ir 1s an evidence of low mental de- 
velopment to suspect our adversaries of 
stupidity or insincerity. We must be- 
lieve that those whose views differ from 
ours are just as sincere as we are; and 
we must try to enlighten them if their 


137 


erroneous views are based on ignorance. 
By the same token, we must try to un- 
derstand why they think as they do, for 
there is always the possibility that we 
ourselves are in the wrong. 

In the matter of the married teacher 
it is easy to see why honest people hold 
divergent views. But the action of the 
New York City Board of Education, af- 
ter voting to dismiss Mrs. Peixotto from 
the public service, is hard to understand. 

It was made plain in the course of the 
discussion that the lady was mot being 
dismissed for bearing a child without 
permission of the Board of Education or 
of its President; she was dismissed, ac- 
cording to law and precedent, for “neg- 
lect of duty” inasmuch as it was proven 
that she was absent from school without 
permission. Very well. 

After the vote was recorded one of 
the Commissioners moved that the Su- 
perintendent be directed to prefer 
charges against all teachers whose cases 
were “similar to that of Mrs. Peixotto.” 
Another Commisioner thot this motion 
superfluous, since under the by-laws it 
is the duty of the Superintendent to pre- 
fer charges against all teachers who are 
suspected of “neglect of duty.” A third 
Commissioner was in sympathy with the 
purpose of the motion, but feared that 
the wording was not sufficiently definite, 
since each case might have distinctive 
features, and there might not be another 
one exactly similar to that just disposed 
of. Then Commissioner Wile arose and 
said, “All right then, let us be honest 
about it. I offer as a substitute or as an 
amendment, that ‘the Superintendent be 
directed to prefer charges of neglect of 
duty against all teachers who have. ab- 
sented themselves for the purpose of 
child-bearing.’ ” 

Did the Board accept Dr. Wile’s invi- 
tation to be honest? It did not. It re- 
jected his amendment and voted the 
original motion. No doubt they were 
sincere in doing so; but some things are 
hard to understand. 





Must we choose between stupid hon- 
esty and brilliant rascality? 





138 
TWEEDLEDUM 


In our editorial last month, “Bosses 
and Bosses,” we allowed our readers to 
get the impression that in adopting reso- 
lutions reprimanding the City Superin- 
tendent, the Board of Education of New 
York City somehow trenched upon the 
right of free speech. 

Nothing could be farther from the 
truth. The President of the Board has 
publicly called attention to the fact that 
free speech was not at issue, and to 
the fact that he is himself a stanch ad- 
vocate of free speech. When he gave 
members of the teaching staff permis- 
sion to go to the state capitol and speak 
on behalf of the “McKee bills,” he was 
encouraging free speech. When he rep- 
rimanded a school principal for speak- 
ing against the “McKee bills” he was 
again supporting free speech—he was 
solicitous lest the teachers to whom the 
Principal spoke might fear to. speak 
back. 


In the present instance, the letter of 
the President to the City Superintendent 
and the resolution of the Board merely 
affirmed the principle that an employe 
of the Board should not participate in an 
unauthorized conference on school mat- 
ters. 





THE SCHOOL COUNCIL IDEA 


Ir tHE Teachers’ League of New 
York does nothing more than continue 
its advocacy of the “School Council” 
idea, it will make a permanent impress 
on the New York educational system 
and on other systems similarly organized. 
The School Council is a committee of 
three, five or seven teachers elected by 
the teachers of the school to work with 
the principal in formulating the problems 
of the school and in endeavoring to solve 
them. No scheme of codperation has 
been suggested for large schools that 
holds greater promise of beneficial re- 
sults than does the school council plan. 

At the October 17th meeting of the 
Teachers’ League, Dr. Ira S. Wile, Mem- 
ber of the Board of Education, admitted 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


the probability of the usefulness of the 
plan, and declared that there is no legal 
or administrative reason why it could 
not be generally adopted. 





The Boys High School of Brooklyn 
has a School Council already in working 
order. Other New York City schools 
are seriously considering the adoption of 
this democratic idea. 





ON THE TREAD MILL 


WALKING up the incline, day after 
day, month after month, year after year, 
you get very weary and footsore. And 
your brain gets tired, too, and hardened; 
and your spirit droops and becomes sul- 
len. That is why you stay on the tread. 
You stop now and then and wait for the 
driver to slip in a new tread, for in time 
you wear out the old ones. Then the 
driver wears out, for driving is even 
harder than walking the tread, but the 
man higher up puts in a new driver. 
Then you wear out, but the grinding 
goes on and on forever. There are 
other beasts where you came from. 

But one day will come a beast that 
will carry the heritage of his unbridled 
ancestors. He will not tread the mill, 
but will crush it with his powerful feet. 
And ‘then all the beasts that are left will 
scream for joy that one has come with 
more spirit than the mill had crushed 
in them. 

And when the mill is destroyed, some 
wise observer of the race of man will 
discover that the mill had been used to 
grind out the souls of his own kind, the 
souls of little children. Those who had 
managed the mill, and collected the 
beasts to work it, had been so much oc- 
cupied with the machinery that they did 
not have the time to notice what it had 
been doing. 





A silk ribbon or metal beads worn 
about the neck are a better protection 
against diptheria than all the antitoxin 


‘in the world—The Character Builder, 


June, 1913. 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


NOT A PROFESSION 


In the testimony before a board of 
arbitration considering the pay and con- 
ditions of service of the street railway 
employes in Boston, the superintendent 
of the surface railway service declared 
that it takes five or six years for the 
average conductor to develop a satis- 
factory degree of efficiency. In a letter 
to the President of the Board of Educa- 
tion of New York City, former president 
Charles W. Eliot of Harvard ventured 
the opinion that a teaching career of five 
years was sufficient to compensate the 
state for the training received in the 
normal schools. No one would explain 
these apparently divergent views by 
claiming that the public service corpor- 
ations held up too high a standard, 
whereas Dr. Eliot’s standards are too 
low. 

The key to the matter seems to lie in 
the nature of the question each was called 
upon to answer. The superintendent of 


the Boston trolley cars was trying to ex- 
plain why the bulk of the men are paid 


such low wages. The retired educator 
was trying to justify the exclusion of the 
mother from the class-room. Both were 
making special pleas. The street-car 
man, however, has this advantage over 
the educator ; he was dealing with facts, 
whereas the other was dealing with opin- 
ions and conclusions that were not 
necessarily based of facts. The fact is 
that the green conductor is not an effici- 
ent conductor; that the green teacher is 
not an efficient teacher. That some con- 
ductors and some teachers develop effici- 
ency more rapidly than others must be 
obvious to all; and that some in each 
class never acquire a satisfactory degree 
of efficiency must be admitted while de- 
plored. The one thing that is significant 
here is the fact that it takes time to de- 
velop proficiency and efficiency. If 
teaching is ever to be a profession it 
must first of all offer an opportunity for 
maturing in service. 

The managers of industrial and com- 
mercial enterprises of all kinds are 
rapidly waking up to the fact that it 
does not pay to break in workers who 


139 


are not going to stay. The public, in the 
management of its schools is doing more 
than breaking in teachers—it is giving 
them several years of specialized, ex- 
pensive training. In many States the 
normal school student is required to 
pledge service in the schools amounting 
to from two to five years. In most cases 
no attempt is made to hold the graduates 
to their share of the agreement. The 
theory of exacting the pledge seems to 
be that the State can in part at least 
compensate itself for the costly educa- 
tion by getting a quantity of underpaid 
service from the graduates. The theory 
of leaving graduates to teach or not to 
teach seems to be that even after the 
expensive education has been bestowed 
upon an individual, it is poor economy 
to make an unwilling teacher hold a class 
even at a low wage. But nowhere are 
school systems with their normal depart- 
ments organized with a view to develop- 
ing high grade professional service from 
the teachers. 


There is supervision, good supervision 
in many places. There is a premium on 
continued study. There are special fa- 
cilities for further study, for confer- 
ences, for other special assistance. But 
there is no attempt to encourage the teach- 
er to make a life-work of her calling. 
The expectation seems everywhere to 
be that the teacher’s career is to be cut 
off by marriage or by entrance into some 
business and those who stick to it long 
enough may hope to be promoted to su- 
pervisory or administrative positions. 
As long as this state of affairs continues 
there will be no teaching profession in 
this country. 


Nine-tenths of the teachers are wo- 
men. Most of them have taught less 
than five years—less than three years. 
That is to say, accepting the Boston 
street-car standard of relative efficiency, 
most of the teachers are barely ripe. If 
the majority of teachers are to be of a 
satisfactory degree of efficiency there 





140 THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


will need to be a great change in the 
composition of our teaching body. We 
shall either have to reduce the number 
of women in the schools until they re- 
present but a small residue of perma- 
nent workers, or we shall have to make 
it possible for a woman to remain a 
teacher and at the same time satisfy her 
other needs as a member of society and 
as a human being. 

The controversy about the return of 
the mother to the classroom has been be- 
clouded by several more or less irrelevant 
issues. From the point of view of so- 
ciety as a whole it is eminently desirable 
that the mother give her children a cer- 
tain amount of personal care, however 
inefficient she may be as a nurse or teach- 
er. So important is this that far-seeing 
employers have found it profitable to pay 
mothers for staying at home with their 
infants instead of having them come to 
work. Where the mother is driven by 
economic necessity to abandon the child 
to the vicarious solicitudes of a day- 
nursery the community suffers. No per- 
son who understands the elements of the 
subject would maintain that mothers 
should return to their work “as soon as 
possible.” But this is not the same as 
saying that they should not return at 
all. 

In the first place there are the mothers 
who must work to maintain themselves 
and their children—and this is true abso- 
lutely without prejudice to the fathers 
of the children. Those who think that 
the wage-labor of mothers is in itself 
iniquitous should agitate for state sub- 
sidies for necessitous mothers and indi- 
gent children, or for a minimum family- 
wage for every male wage-worker. From 
the point of view of the children, there 
must be maintenance as well as the 
mother’s care. 

In the second place, we must accept the 
fact that women do work, and it is so- 
cially important that their work be as 
efficient as possible. If high statesman- 
ship require the exclusion of mothers 
from wage-earning, let us settle that is- 
sue first. If it does not, then the ex- 
clusion of mothers from the classroom 
must be justified on other grounds. The 


best argument so far offered for this ex- 
clusion is that the interruptions necessi- 
tated by motherhood tend to reduce the 
quality of the work. This, however, is a 
mere conclusion; it may be true—and 
then again, it may not. Debaters could 
offer good arguments on both sides; we 
need to know the facts. Our own opin- 
ion is that a woman who is really in- 
terested in children and in education is 
worth more professionally after a series 
of interruptions to bear and rear infants, 
than one who has been continuously in 
the classroom because she had no oppor- 
tunity to give up teaching. Moreover, in 
the life of every normal family there 
comes a time when the youngest child 
needs the mother but a small portion of 
the day. And it is at this very time that 
the mother’s work—whatever it may be— 
is likely to show its highest efficiency. 
To make it illegal for mothers to give of 
their experience and insight to society 
would be suicidal folly. To permit 
mothers to live and feel and think with- 
out doing useful service would be well- 
nigh murderous. To allow them to 
serve, but to exclude their service from 
the schools would be the extreme of pe- 
dantic stupidity. 

. Society needs the services of all who 
are able and surely teachers who become 
mothers still have ability that the schools 
need. The individual needs an opor- 
tunity to serve, and surely for many the 
best service can be given in the school— 
mother or no mother. The establishment 
of high standards of service and efficien- 
cy is possible only where the opportunity 
for work is not cut short by arbitrary 
rules, however it may be interrupted. If 
we are to have a body of professional 
teachers we must make it possible for 
women as well as men to look upon the 
vocation of teaching as a life work. 





Unless the thinking forces of this coun- 
try are turned from the subordinated ideals 
of the past to the vital ones of the present, 
hunger and economic servitude will cause 
the masses to change evolution into revolu- 
tion as they have done before, when those 
who should have been their leaders became 
their masters—CHARELS DE GARMO, 
in Herbart and the Herbartians. 





an 2 ee eee ee oe a ee i CK 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


CREDIMUS V 


We believe that unless some tangible 
and important function in educational 
management and control is granted to 
teachers, it will be useless to expect much 
improvement in education from within, 
and useless to expect much improvement 
in the professional and social spirit of 
teachers—From “Credimus” in Decem- 
ber (1912) number. 


If you were trying to improve the 
breed of a band of hunting horses, a 
bar added now and then to the height of 
your fence would afford a convenient 
test of the vaulting ability of the ani- 
mals. Being the owner of the horses 
you would not hesitate to add a bar 
whenever you thot the market or your 
own pride in the product required it. 

If you were the boss of an educational 
system, you might feel a similar need 
or pride in “raising the standard”. In 
fact, you would be obliged to raise the 
standard, or fail to have your name ap- 
pear in the “herdbook” of your country’s 
educational aristocracy. 

Now, bars are good things in their 
places, but one limitation to success in 
applying them rigidly in the rearing 
of horses or teachers, is that as you pro- 
duce excellence in jumping bars, you are 
liable to overiook the possible existence 
of some other useful qualities, or breed 
them out altogether. If you are breed- 
ing horses, you may not care; if you are 
producing teachers, you may not care 
either. If you have been a teacher your- 
self, one reason you would not care is 
because caring for other things (which 
means having other ideals) is one of 
the qualities that have been bred out of 
you. 

Whether you like this or not, is it not 
true that the constant insistance upon 
raising the scholarship standard of ad- 
mission to the teaching profession and 
for promotion has produced a body of 
teachers who have improved notably in 
that one qualification? Indeed, their 
general excellence in scholarship tends 
to make their human, social and even 
their intellectual qualifications appear 
quite insignificant. 


14! 


The system that has produced this one- 
sided development does not appear to 
have the internal power to stop even 
long enough to take account of its prod- 
uct. True, there are many leaders in 
the higher reaches of education who 
“lecture” teachers on what they should 
do, and the teachers find their talks so 
inspiring. But the lectures do not solve 
the problems. Undeveloped human be- 
ings still teach our youth, and there is 
little “improvement in education from 
within.” 

Evidently, what we need for the pur- 
pose of developing young human beings 
is fully developed older human beings, 
men and women who have outgrown 
their childish pride in the A’s they re- 
ceived at college, strong persons of poise, 
balance and independence, who have 
thrown off the yoke of educational feudal- 
ism and all its trivial signs of bondage 
to a foolish ideal, and have stood forth 
as men and women. 

We cannot get such people by the 
lecture method; they grow from practis- 
ing on life. The natural life for a 
teacher to practise on is the complex of 
affairs of his own profession. To those 
professional and non-professional mana- 
gers of education who have not made 
satisfactory progress by themselves, we 
say: Let the hitherto restrained and 
natural desire in teachers to do manifest 
itself in codperating with you in the con- 
trol of educational forces. Then we 
shall see the natural response of strength 
and breadth that comes from dealing 
with large affairs. 

Those qualities which teachers find 
useful in improving education from with- 
in, will give them just that impetus for 
the development of professional and 
social spirit which they have always 
needed. 





“Why do teachers always have to be 
so sarcastic?” said a school girl recently 
when she thot there were no teachers 
about. Let us go into the department 
room and think it over. 





THE AMERICAN TEACHER 


STANDARDS FOR MEMBERS OF EDUCATIONAL BOARDS 


The Bureau of Municipal Research of New York City in its recent circular, 
“No Matter Who is Elected—No. 18” says, “Nothing could do more to keep edu- 
cation out of politics than to have those who appoint voluntary educational trustees 
from 1914—1917 pledge themselves to be specific in their standards, and to refuse 
to appoint or to reappoint men or women to the Board of Education, local school 
boards, City College, etc., who, ” (see below). 

These standards as proposed by the Bureau ought to be very serviceable, 
but we beg the future Mayor and the Borough presidents to give heed also to some 


others which we propose. 


Proposed by the Bureau of Municipal 
Research 


1. Who in intelligence or strength of 
character are inferior to teachers 
and principals. 


. Who believe that the public can never 
understand school questions. 


. Who are not in the habit of basing 
judgment upon facts. 


. Who do not know reasonably well 
the local conditions which the city’s 
educational work is supposed to ex- 
press and to meet. 


5. Who are incapable or disinclined to 
use and to improve the official rec- 
ords which tell more than their 
own eyes or ears can see and 
hear. 


aon 


Additional Qualifications Proposed by 
The American Teacher 


1. Who in their understanding of the 
purpose of education are inferior 
to teachers and principals. 


. Who believe that the teachers can 
never understand public questions. 


. Who are in the habit of ignoring 
facts altogether. 


. Who do not know reasonably well 
the local conditions which inter- 
fere with the city’s educational 
work, and what interests are re- 
sponsible for them, and why. 


. Who are incapable of using or not 
inclined to use their own experi- 
ence, as well as indifferent to the 
use teachers and principals and 
superintendents make of the rec- 
ords of their eyes and ears and 
minds. 





(Continued from page 136) 


It may be argued, and in fact it is 
argued by the committee, that this plan 
is “merely a temporary expedient to re- 
lieve intolerable conditions * * * and 
it is in no way intended to minimize the 
necessity of constructing new buildings.” 
If that is the case, it is a very poor ex- 
pedient, and one that does not solve the 
part-time problem at all. The extra time 
allowed for the school day does not com- 
pensate for the objectionable features 
inherent in the very structure of the plan. 
In fact, the plan that has been in most 
common use for a long time (designated 
by the committee as “First System”) has 
many more commendable features than 
the one proposed. 


This being the case, we think that the 
only solution to the part-time evil is to 
have no part time. This may be accom- 


plished by the construction of a sufficient 


number of school buildings to meet not 
only present demands, but also those of 
the future. In the meantime, let a plan 
be evolved which will meet the serious 
problem presented without creating new 
evils infinitely worse than those we wish 
to remedy. The teaching corps of the 
city should be called upon to make sug- 
gestions for this purpose. That the 
teachers have not been consulted is a 
good indication that Democracy in Edu- 
cation is still a matter for the future. 




















THE AMERICAN TEACHER 











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STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGE- 
MENT, CIRCULATION, ETC., 


of THE AMERICAN TEACHER, 
monthly Comees July and August), at New York, 
N. Y., requi by the Act of August 24, 1912. 


Editor-in-Chief—HENRY R. LINVILLE, Ja- 
maica High School, Jamaica, N. Y. 


Managing Editer—BENJ. C. GRUENBDRG, 
Commercial High Scheol, Brooklyn, N. Y. 


Business Manager—J. EDWARD MAYMAN, 
P. S. 84, Brooklym. N. Y. 


Publishers—BENJ. C. GRUENBERG, Commer- 
cial High School, Brooklyn, N. Y.; MARK HOFF- 
MAN, Man. Tr. High School, Brookiyn, N. Y.; 
HENRY R. LINVILLE, Jamaica _— School, 
Jamaica, N. Y.; GABRIEL R. MASON, P. 8. 62, 
Manhattan, N. Y.: J. EDWARD MAYMAN, P. 8. 
84, Brooklyn, N. Y. 


Owners—BENJ. C. GRUENBERG, Commercial 


ublished 


High School, Brooklyn, N. Y.; MARK HOFF- 
MAN, Man. Tr. High School, Brooklyn, N. Y.; 
HENRY R. LINVILLE, Jamaica High’ School, 


Jamaica, N. Y.: GABRIEL R. MASON, P. 8. 62, 
Manhattan, N. Y.: J. EDWARD MAYMAN, P. 8. 
84, Brooklyn, N. Y. 


Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other 
security holders, holding 1 per cent. or more of 
total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other se- 
curities—None, 


J. EDWARD MAYMAN, Business Manager. 


Sworn to and subscribed before me this 24th 
day of September, 1913. 
LYMAN LEWIS SETTEL, 
Notary Public, 
(My commission expires March 30, 1914.) 













144 


A CREED OF WORK FOR WOMEN 


I BELIEVE that every woman needs a 
skilled occupation developed to the degree 
of possible self support. 


She needs it commercially, as an in- 
surance against reverses. 

She needs it socially, for a compre- 
hending sympathy with the world’s 
workers. 

She needs it intellectually, for a con- 
structive habit of mind which makes 
knowledge usable. 

She needs it ethically, for a courage- 
ous willingness to do her share of the 
world’s work. 

She needs it esthetically, for an un- 
derstanding of harmony relationships as 
determining factors in conduct and 
work, 


I BELIEVE that every young woman 
should practise this skilled occupation up 
to the time of her marriage, for gainful ends 
with deliberate intent to acquire therefrom 
the widest possible professional and finan- 
cial experience. 


THE AMERICAN TEACHER 





I BELIEVE that every woman should 
expect marriage to interrupt for some years 
the pursuit of any regular gainful occupa. 
tion; that she should pre-arrange with her 
husband some equitable division of the 















family income such as will insure her 1 
positon in a partnership, rather than one of 
dependence; and that she should focus her 


hope to return, in the second leisure of mid- 
dle age, to some application of her early 
skilled occupation—either as an un. 
salaried worker in some one of its soci 
phases, or, if income be an object, as 
salaried worker in a phase of it requirin 
maturity and social experience. 


I BELIEVE that this general policy o 
economic service for American wom 
would yield generous by-products of intel. 
ligence, responsibility, and contentment. 


—LAURA DRAKE GILL, President Col; 
lege for Women, Sewanee, Tenn., in 
The American Magazine, June, 1913. 











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