American Teacher Democracy in Education ; Education for Democracy. Vo.IV No.2 NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1915 50 Cents a YEAR = a We shall be called upon to take our stand. Where then shall we stand? For Growing Children, or for academic standards? For the Spirit of Youth, or for schedules and examinations? For Human Beings, or for machines and equipments? For Men and Women, or for persons and institutions? Let us Stand Up and be Counted! EDUCATIONAL DEMOCRACY NarHan Peyser, Ph.D., Principal, P S 39, Manhattan, New York So LONG As school is looked upon as a place where children are taught a definite amount of arithmetic, geography, spelling and grammar only ; so long as principals and teachers regard their sole function to be that of teaching the Course of Study, while they fix their attention upon subjects and subject matter and not upon children, their strengths and weaknesses, their ideals and their needs, their past, their present and their future, their life in school and out of school, so long will education be a failure and educational democracy an impossibility. The child is a vital unity of needs, in- heritance, growth possibilities, mentality, physical condition, moral fibre and de- velopment, home living, food, friends, church, street, gang and school experi- ences, sex demands, music, play, love, neglect, happiness and sorrow. To neg- lect all these and to limit one’s observa- tion to methods and results in the so- called school studies is to see a “school child” and not the real child. Attempts to teach him mean an effort to develop but one side of him. The restricting of attention to the curriculum and the ignor- ing of real life means working blindly without the guidance of life interests and life needs. Education for a democratic life, in a democratic community and in a demo- cratic school environment, can be accom- plished only if every child is given that which will enable him to realize what- ever it is for which he is best fitted. The school must seek the child’s whole happi- ness, must mould his whole environment, in school and out of school, twenty-four hours per day, giving him that which has been denied him, extirpating that which is weighing upon him like a dead weight, and freeing his soul and his spirit, so far as possible, from the burdens and fetters of economic, social, moral and physical degradation. Education is more than a mere school It must activity. It is a social activity. know and influence the home, the street, the body, the mind, the hand, the eyes, the ears, the brain, the stomach of the child. Every boy and every girl must be treated as an individual, with a defi nite kind of mind and body, with a peculiar sort of home, with moral, men- tal, economic and vocational strengths and weaknesses, with a neighborhood with which he interacts negatively or positively, with friends whom he leads and who lead him in good or in bad directions, with church, club, street and gang affiliations. The home must be known and worked with and into, the neighborhood must be studied and cooperated with or changed, companions must be understood and se- lected and guided, health must be looked after, mental type and strength or def- ciency taken into consideration, social and vocational possibilities recognized, awak- ened, guided and developed. What is the value of teachers’ initiative, of teacher participation in school government, if all that this means is permission to make suggestion in petty matters of school routine? Only when education includes all the elements mentioned above, is guided by this point of view, and inter- prets arithmetic, geography, history, etc., according to the big human social and vocational life of the child, can educa- tion be said to be really efficient and democratic. Only then can teachers be given the opportunities for freedom, for initiative, for the giving of the best that is in them, and for getting out of the work the best that is in it. Many efforts have been made to realiz this goal, various experiments have been tried. The following account describes more than an experiment, because it rep- resents activities arising out of the larger outlook on education, because it has sprung, as it seems, inevitably out of the spirit and labor of the teaching group of Public School 39 B., Manhattan. On October 3, 1914, all the teachers 18 THE AMERICAN TEACHER 19 of 39 met and organized themselves into the Child’s Welfare League of P. S. 39 in order to assist the principal in the broader social and educational activity, in giving to the children as much as pos- sible of what will make life and happi- ness and character possible to them. After serious thinking, the following organization was suggested for the league and adopted unanimously by the teachers. The chairman appointed a committee consisting of seven members, each of whom was to be a chairman of a sub- committee. The seven sub-committees are those on Music, drama, and folk dancing Arts and Crafts Athletics Social Big Brother and Sister Neighborhood School. It is interesting to note that every eacher in the school requested to be laced on one of the committees, and many offered to serve on two or more. The committee on music, drama and olk dancing takes under its care all the ctivities represented in the terms mak- ng up its name. Belonging to this com- ittee are the teachers leading the school rchestra, the glee club, the dramatic club d the folk dancing league. The assem- ly programs are all arranged by this p. The committee on arts and crafts takes h charge the art club, the poster club, he brass and leather club, the fret-saw- p club, and all the other industrial ection of the members of the different ses according to abilities, purchases terials, arranges for exhibits, etc. The athletic committee supervises the hletics, organizes games, codrdinates ¢ afternoon center with the athletic ork of the school, arranges for pur- ase and presentation of trophies, and epares and supervises athletic meets. The social committee codperates with ¢ neighborhood committee and the sic, drama and folk-dancing commit- in arranging entertainments for the mother and parent association meetings, welcomes the parents and other guests of the school, etc. The Big Brother and Sister Committee has referred to it all cases of juvenile delinquency and threatening delinquency. All habitual truants, pronouncedly dis- orderly boys, boys released recently from the Catholic Protectory or other reform institution, boys discharged or paroled from the Children’s Court or the Bureau of Attendance, boys living under unfor- tunate home conditions, are assigned by the Committee to a Big Brother or a Big Sister in the teaching group, who studies the boy thoroughly, his home, his gang relationships, his habits, his school per- formances, his ideals, his strength and his weaknesses, and makes a personal appeal to him, doing his or her utmost to gain the boy’s confidences, to keep him out of further harm and to guide him to a clean, upright life. The neighborhood committee is the largest group and works along the broad- est lines. It studies neighborhood con- ditions, its moral influences, negative and positive; it investigates specific cases of viciousness, of immorality, of poverty, of neglect; it relieves cases of immediate need ; keeps in touch with outside agen- cies, public and private, moral, chari- table and religious, codperating with them in the suppression of nuisances, the relief of needy, the protection of chil- dren from immoral, vicious and neglect- ful tendencies in the home and in the neighborhood. This committee assists in the organization of mothers’ clubs and parents’ organizations and serves as the vital connecting link between parent, child and teacher, between home, neigh- borhood and school. The school committee studies school problems, lateness, truancy, cleanliness of building, decoration of assembly hall, corridors and rooms, takes under its control the school guards, the Pupils’ Welfare League, the Penny School Lunch Room, the Sunshine Club, the Tripabout Club, the school magazine, the school savings bank, etc. Questions of method, of organization of phonic mate- EDUCATIONAL DEMOCRACY NagtHan Peyser, Ph.D., Priacipal, P S 39, Manhattan, New York So LoNnG As school is looked upon as a place where children are taught a definite amount of arithmetic, geography, spelling and grammar only ; so long as principals and teachers regard their sole function to be that of teaching the Course of Study, while they fix their attention upon subjects and subject matter and not upon children, their strengths and weaknesses, their ideals and their needs, their past, their present and their future, their life in school and out of school, so long will education be a failure and educational democracy an impossibility. The child is a vital unity of needs, in- heritance, growth possibilities, mentality, physical condition, moral fibre and de- velopment, home living, food, friends, church, street, gang and school experi- ences, sex demands, music, play, love, neglect, happiness and sorrow. To neg- lect all these and to limit one’s observa- tion to methods and results in the so- called school studies is to see a “school child” and not the real child. Attempts to teach him mean an effort to develop but one side of him. The restricting of attention to the curriculum and the ignor- ing of real life means working blindly without the guidance of life interests and life needs. Education for a democratic life, in a democratic community and in a demo- cratic school environment, can be accom- plished only if every child is given that which will enable him to realize what- ever it is for which he is best fitted. The school must seek the child’s whole happi- ness, must mould his whole environment, in school and out of school, twenty-four hours per day, giving him that which has been denied him, extirpating that which is weighing upon him like a dead weight, and freeing his soul and his spirit, so far as possible, from the burdens and fetters of economic, social, moral and physical degradation. Education is more than a mere school activity. It is a social activity. It must know and influence the home, the street, the body, the mind, the hand, the eyes, the ears, the brain, the stomach of the child. Every boy and every girl must be treated as an individual, with a defi- nite kind of mind and body, with a peculiar sort of home, with moral, men- tal, economic and vocational strengths and weaknesses, with a neighborhood with which he interacts negatively or positively, with friends whom he leads and who lead him in good or in bad directions, with church, club, street and gang affiliations. The home must be known and worked with and into, the neighborhood must be studied and codperated with or changed, companions must be understood and se- lected and guided, health must be looked after, mental type and strength or defi- ciency taken into consideration, social and vocational possibilities recognized, awak- ened, guided and developed. What is the value of teachers’ initiative, of teacher participation in school government, if all that this means is permission to make suggestion in petty matters of school routine? Only when education includes all the elements mentioned above, is guided by this point of view, and inter- prets arithmetic, geography, history, etc., according to the big human social and vocational life of the child, can educa- tion be said to be really efficient and democratic. Only then can teachers be given the opportunities for freedom, for initiative, for the giving of the best that is in them, and for getting out of the work the best that is in it. Many efforts have been made to realize this goal, various experiments have been tried. The following account describes more than an experiment, because it rep- resents activities arising out of the larger outlook on education, because it has sprung, as it seems, inevitably out of the spirit and labor of the teaching group of Public School 39 B., Manhattan. On October 3, 1914, all the teachers 18 THE AMERICAN TEACHER 19 of 39 met and organized themselves into the Child’s Welfare League of P. S. 39 in order to assist the principal in the broader social and educational activity, in giving to the children as much as pos- sible of what will make life and happi- ness and character possible to them. After serious thinking, the following organization was suggested for the league and adopted unanimously by the teachers. The chairman appointed a committee consisting of seven members, each of whom was to be a chairman of a sub- committee. The seven sub-committees are those on Music, drama, and folk dancing Arts and Crafts Athletics Social Big Brother and Sister Neighborhood School. It is interesting to note that every teacher in the school requested to be placed on one of the committees, and many offered to serve on two or more. The committee on music, drama and folk dancing takes under its care all the activities represented in the terms mak- ing up its name. Belonging to this com- mittee are the teachers leading the school orchestra, the glee club, the dramatic club and the folk dancing league. The assem- bly programs are all arranged by this group. The committee on arts and crafts takes in charge the art club, the poster club, the brass and leather club, the fret-saw- ing club, and all the other industrial activities entered into. Its group makes selection of the members of the different classes according to abilities, purchases materials, arranges for exhibits, etc. The athletic committee supervises the athletics, organizes games, codrdinates the afternoon center with the athletic work of the school, arranges for pur- chase and presentation of trophies, and prepares and supervises athletic meets. The social committee codperates with the neighborhood committee and the music, drama and folk-dancing commit- tee in arranging entertainments for the mother and parent association meetings, welcomes the parents and other guests of the school, etc. The Big Brother and Sister Committee has referred to it all cases of juvenile delinquency and threatening delinquency. All habitual truants, pronouncedly dis- orderly boys, boys released recently from the Catholic Protectory or other reform institution, boys discharged or paroled from the Children’s Court or the Bureau of Attendance, boys living under unfor- tunate home conditions, are assigned by the Committee to a Big Brother or a Big Sister in the teaching group, who studies the boy thoroughly, his home, his gang relationships, his habits, his school per- formances, his ideals, his strength and his weaknesses, and makes a personal appeal to him, doing his or her utmost to gain the boy’s confidences, to keep him out of further harm and to guide him to a clean, upright life. The neighborhood committee is the largest group and works along the broad- est lines. It studies neighborhood con- ditions, its moral influences, negative and positive; it investigates specific cases of viciousness, of immorality, of poverty, of neglect; it relieves cases of immediate need; keeps in touch with outside agen- cies, public and private, moral, chari- table and religious, codperating with them in the suppression of nuisances, the relief of needy, the protection of chil- dren from immoral, vicious and neglect- ful tendencies in the home and in the neighborhood. This committee assists in the organization of mothers’ clubs and parents’ organizations and serves as the vital connecting link between parent, child and teacher, between home, neigh- borhood and school. The school committee studies school problems, lateness, truancy, cleanliness of building, decoration of assembly hall, corridors and rooms, takes under its control the school guards, the Pupils’ Welfare League, the Penny School Lunch Room, the Sunshine Club, the Tripabout Club, the school magazine, the school savings bank, etc. Questions of method, of organization of phonic mate- 20 rial, etc., are taken up for investigation and study. All these activities, these interests, these broad questions of organization, of administrations, of individual and social improvement, are recognized as their problems, their activities, their interests, their field, by pupils, teachers, assistant to the principal, and principal, working hand in hand, in perfect harmony, guided and controlled by the whole-hearted, self-sacrificing, human end of child-hap- THE AMERICAN TEACHER piness—or moral growth, of bodily de- velopment and mental efficiency, all de- pending upon social improvement and school guidance. This represents teacher initiative, individual freedom, school democracy in its broadest sense, because it is based upon the noblest ideals and aspirations of our national democracy, of our religions, and is actuated by the highest motives of child love and social regeneration. FREEDOM OF SPEECH* Henry R LINVILLE, President, Teachers’ League, New York Peruaps for the first time in America, an organization of teachers is holding an open meeting tonight to discuss the issue of freedom of speech in a _ public school system. The implication of the announcement of the subject is naturally that in some way the right of public serv- ants to express their convictions has been called in question. Indeed, the existence of the right of free speech for teachers in the City of New York is now a mat- ter of sufficient doubt to justify a call for enlightenment on the limitations of freedom to express one’s convictions on the daily work and the conditions in the public schools. This call for enlighten- ment which the Teachers’ League is now making is one in which the teachers themselves should be allowed to partici- pate with the Board of Education and the public in meeting and in answering. In accordance with the principle that the demands of any group of persons must be considered in relation to the rights of all the people, we shall have to agree first that teachers should show that greater freedom for them would mean gain for the public. In this, as in every other cause which teachers take up in the effort to advance professionally, they * Introductory address at public meeting of the Teachers’ League, New York, on the subject of “Freedom of Speech in the Schools,” January 22, I9QI5s. must transpose their aspirations into terms of public welfare. It must be admitted at the start that the great body of 20,000 teachers in this city is not asking for freedom of speech, or indeed for anything else coherently, except probably the right to have a fair return for their services. So far, no other organization than ours has asked the question that we are asking to- night, and very few are seriously inter- ested in the particular case that has set us to thinking. Therefore, the only pro- fessional stimulus to making our in- quiry is one that comes naturally to those teachers who think of their teach- ing, their professional standing, and of all the work the schools are doing, in terms of social welfare. As teachers who de- sire to take up our problems with this point of view, we must first put for our- selves the task of expressing clearly the amount of freedom of speech we think could reasonably be asked, and second, of stating concretely the nature of the educational situation in this city which might call for public discussion on the part of teachers. There are teachers and principals among us who maintain that there is no occasion whatever for discussing the limitations of free speech, since they have always been able to say what they pleased. I think it goes without saying THE AMERICAN TEACHER 21 that our problem is not primarily with those who find everything educational to their liking, but rather with those who honestly believe that matters are not al- together satisfactory in the educational system. What is to be done for them in the public interest? The New York school system of late has given some encouragement to the devel- opment of initiative in the ranks of the teachers. This encouragement has been given to potentially thinking men and women. The City Superintendent him- self was one of the first to act upon this encouragement in his notable assertion of his right to give information to public organizations about the conduct of the schools. As thinking men and women, the teachers also should accept the en- couragement, and proceed to act upon it; for that is the next logical move in the development of democracy in the schools. But if we are to think about our work, to study out its relations to the function of the school as the educational unit, to dwell upon the task of seeing to it that our work is made as effective as pos- sible, to consider the influence of the machinery of the school system in its bearing upon the success of the teachers’ work, to go into the matter of our pro- fessional standing and our professional ideals as they come back and affect our work with the children, then we are bound to come into convictions opposed in some measure to current educational practise. Up to this point, thinking and holding convictions in greater or less harmony with social progress, is plain sailing. But we must express our ideas, and we pre- fer to express them where the expres- sion will count, altho we have had little experience in the art of expression. We may be ever so honest in our convictions, but we make mistakes in the method of voicing them. We may speak at the wrong time; we may overstress a situa- tion; we may say things that would be clever and effective, if not directed toward the wrong persons. Thru our inexperience in expression, and doubt- less thru not a little thotlessness in try- ing to make progress past pitfalls that take the form of by-laws, we find our- selves in trouble. We are fined, trans- ferred, or denied promotion. The natu- ral and unfortunate result of punishment for mistakes in the method of expressing ideas is the creation of a considerable class of teachers who are cynical, bitter, and rebellious toward educational author- ity and indifferent toward any move- ment for educational betterment. We ought to be able to prevent this social waste of those who might be useful, as well as to save the younger teachers who are coming on. If I may make an elementary sug- gestion, it is that we set for our govern- ing educational bodies ideals of broad social understanding, of clearer vision and a more generous outlook upon the possibilities of liberty of speech, unre- strained except by the developing codes of those who use the liberty. Out of this liberty we should expect to derive ideas for the betterment of the schools and the work they are supposed to be doing, but are not doing. Thru insist- ence upon the formalism of the method of speech, or upon any other non-essen- tial, we shall surely kill the desire for expression, and possibly also for think- ing. The public cannot afford to have either destroyed. It is but fair to state to what conceiv- able extent the freedom of speech once guaranteed might carry the thinking of *he teachers. In the first place, it might strike at the social wastefulness caused by the long insistence on the point of obedience to superior officers in the bureaucracy, and seek to substitute there- for the democratic principle of codpera- tion. It might call public attention to the untapped resources of helpfulness among the teachers which the autocratic government by its very nature cannot render available. The freedom to tell the truth, and not be punished for doing so, might result in the public’s learning that the educa- tional system by its organization permits principals to assume the attitude of per- sonal ownership over the school plant, 22 THE AMERICAN TEACHER the children, and the teachers. Under these conditions, the loyalty the principal expects and generally receives is per- sonal loyalty. Out of this condition comes the petty tyranny of which we see so much. This also is enormously waste- ful, from the point of view of the social purpose of the school. But I am not persuaded that it would be advisable under the present system of superior and subordinate to grant to teachers the right to speak freely con- cerning the conditions that surround them in their daily work. Even if those conditions were much less serious than they are, any statement concerning them would almost surely imply unfavorable criticism of a principal. The principal is in possession of effective means of retaliation, for no teacher who has had trouble with his principal can look for- ward hopefully toward promotion. Fur- thermore, the harassing of a teacher may continue without legal check until his spirit is broken, for the by-laws do not provide for charges being preferred by a subordinate against a superior. It would be an empty offer to grant frce- dom of speech to teachers with the in- junction that they are to avoid disre- spect in its use, for the conditions of petty tyranny and perpetual humiliation from overbearing officers under which many teachers are obliged to work, can- not be spoken of at all in any way tliat would be considered respectful by the petty tyrants themselves. The President of the Board of Educa- tion may well say that teachers should not be timid protesters in a far corner, but should come forth and exercise the right of initiative, and the public might support the President in this. Yet those who advise do not stand by to observe. If they could see without being seen, they would learn that the grant of free- dom of speech under autocracy would create an impossible situation, officially, and a misleading one, for the teachers. It may be a long time before our point of view in the administration of the schools changes enough to entertain the lesson that might be leariued any day from the way the Swiss manage their schools. Aside from the fact that the schools of Switzerland are among the best in the world, the administration of them is upon a democratic basis. In the Canton of Zurich, two of the seven mem- bers of the controlling body called the Educational Council are teachers selected by the whole profession of teachers of the Canton. Teachers are also repre- sented upon the less important educa- tional administrative bodies of the Can- ton. Thus thru democracy, codperation is possible, and freedom of speech comes as a matter of course. If the teachers of Switzerland find the conditions under which they work impossible or their officers overbearing, insolent, brutal, or inefficient, they have a voice in changing these conditions or officers for better ones. Nothing could be simpler, but it is important to note that under democ- racy conditions could never become so bad as those many of us know under autocracy. Whether we learn this easy lesson now or later, we must grant the active and intelligent interest of all those who are assembled here tonight in bringing about conditions which will permit us and the better and still better teachers than we are, or can be today, to get down as rapidly as possible to the real busi- ness of the schools, which is to train the children of the people for efficient and happy living. JUST BE DECENT WHEN WE consider that today the teacher is not received with the courtesy due him as a human being it may seem like asking too much to insist on social rights of the child which the teacher him- self may not be granted. Two wrongs, however, do not make a right. Even if the teacher is not treated with proper consideration by his superiors he should not on that account transmit a lack of consideration to the children —Fe.ix ARNOLD, in School and Class Manage- ment. LETTERS ON FREE SPEECH IN THE SCHOOLS* I believe that everybody is entitled to the right of free speech, and I am under the impression that our Constitution grants this right whether it be with re- spect to the School System or any other system or Department of Government. I do not know that any attempt has ever been made on the part of the Board of Education to restrict this right, and I would be one of those who would oppose strenuously any effort on the part of the Board to curtail the privi- lege. If this meeting is intended to take up the question of the action of the Board of Education with respect to the discipline of a certain teacher for writ- ing a certain letter, I want to protest most emphatically against the Board being charged with a desire to prohibit Freedom of Speech. That question was not an issue at any time in the deter- mination of the case referred to. ARTHUR S SOMERS (Board of Education, New York) Teachers have a right to discuss, in public or private or by written or oral communications, any subject relating to the schools or to anything else—includ- ing the right to criticise actions of the Board of Education or of its officials, provided that in so doing they do not make unfounded or injurious aspersions upon the motives or character of the Board or of its officials—I would not say their superiors, because I think a teacher who publicly makes false or mali- cious statements in regard to the con- duct of another teacher of any grade, should be held accountable to the Board therefor. In other words, “free speech” is one thing; malicious libel or slander is another. Truly yours, Geo W WINGATE (Board of Education, New York) *Sent to the Teachers’ League, New York, in response to an invitation to participate in a public meeting on this subject. 23 I want to say that I am in hearty ac- cord with the purposes of the meeting. It seems to me that the attempt to bridie the teachers is as harmful to the Board of Education and to the school system as it is to the teachers person- ally. A really progressive school ad- ministration would welcome criticism. Only men who are entirely satisfied with, their prejudices and errors resent the- expression of views divergent from, their own. Yours very truly, Ww» Wirt Mitts (The Evening Mail, New York) Teachers in all our schools must stand together in defense of the right of free- dom of speech essential to democracy and guaranteed by the Constitution. As Franklin said, if we do not stand to- gether now we shall hang together later, and not only we, but all that is best in our institutions will be strangled. We should follow the President of the United States in the enthusiasm ex- pressed two weeks ago: “There is one thing that I have a great deal of enthu- siasm about, I might almost say a reck- less enthusiasm, and that is human lib- erty.” Truth, openness, publicity, are the safeguards of free institutions. Light is an excellent disinfectant; what is of more consequence, it is essential to life and growth. “And God said, let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.” I have now quoted Benjamin Franklin and the President of the United States, the Constitution and the Bible; I sup- pose no one except a member of the New York City Board of Education would regard that board as a higher authority. Sincerely yours, J McK Cartreti (Columbia University) 24 THE AMERICAN TEACHER PUNISHMENT FOR DISLOYALTY THE FOLLOWING resolution was adopt- ed by the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, October 20, 1914: Any school employee may be removed by the Board for disloyalty. It shall be consid- ered disloyal to criticize unfavorably, by man- ner, act, or word, the plans and policies of the schools or the work of any of its school offi- cers, or to discuss the same in a light, trivial, flippant, or cossipy manner. In general, it shall be considered disloyal to discuss in a derogatory, fault-finding manner, the plans and policies of the schools or the work of ‘any of its employees, except it be in a serious, professional, business conference with some ‘officer of the school, superior in rank to the ‘one making the complaint. This shall in no sense apply to the full and frank and free discussion of matters or topics which may arise for consideration in the regular business and professional meetings of teachers and other officers of the schools. THE AMERICAN TEACHER has inquired of responsible persons acquainted with the situation at Topeka, and has been furnished with the official resolution given above, It appears that the resolution was past to meet a situation brot about by two or three teachers who felt that they had been discriminated against. The cam- paign of criticism reached a point where in the belief of the Board permitted con- tinuation would have been demoralizing in its effects, if not on the teaching force, at least on the student body. We are not informed as to the exact fature of the charges made by the teach- ers, nor whether any professional ideal lay at the bottom of their fight. How- ever, it is admitted by professional au- thorities in a position to measure the effect of the resolution that the Board made a serious tactical blunder. At the same time, it is maintained that the prov- ocation was great, and that the rule really is the product of a spirit of forbearance and leniency, rather than of arbitrariness on the part of the Board. It may be worthy of consideration by the people of Topeka that a natural com- ment on sttch a rule made in a state that had its birth in the struggle for freedom is to this effect: “How could such a think happen in Kansas?” It does not sound like the spirit of the West. But one must remember that all sorts of peo- pe are to be found anywhere. In the best of communities, it is pos- sible for a body representing the com- munity to betray a spirit of inanity while believing that it is acting with forbear- ance. What could be more ridiculous than the proclamation that any teacher should be dismissed from the service who criticizes unfavorably, by manner, act, or word, the plans and policies of the schools? We cannot resist the tempta- tion to inquire whether it would be wise for a teacher to enter Board of Educa- tion headquarters with a frown on his face, or for a teacher with a constitu- tional tilt of the nose to pass nearer than one block. Anything less than the kinder- garten smile of loveliness might be inter- preted under the category of criticizing unfavorably “by manner.” Moreover, a handful of teachers com- plaining because they had been discrim- inated against would seem to be an insuf- ficient excuse for the promulgation of any kind of a formal rule by so re- sponsible a body. Should we not expect public bodies to have a more appropriate sense of their importance as representa- tives of the community? And what of poise ? We are inclined to think that the rem- edy we have suggested in other cases of conflict between individual teachers and boards of education would have been ef- fective in the Topeka trouble. The cases could have been submitted publicly to the consideration of a few representative teachers’ organizations. Their judgment would have been helpful. And besides, the occasion would have been an inspira- tion to the teachers themselves. Have you any enthusiasm left at the close of the day? Use some of it to advance the interests of your profes- sion. The eAmerican Cearher Democracy in Education ; Education for Democracy Published monthly, except July and August. by THE AMERICAN TEACHER COMPANY, INC., 129 Lafayette Street, New York. ANGELO PATRI Louise M. Dirueipce Treasurer Henry R. LInvityte Editor-in-Chief Benjamin C. Gruenserc...Managing Editor iam H. Dorie Jay D. -Lester x HorrmMan JoserH Loew Cuartotte E. Lee Gasrret R. Mason J. Epwarp Mayman Business Manager This Magazine will be sent to subscribers until an order to discontinue, pe with all arrearages, is received. At the time of expiration, a bill will be in the copy. Remittances should be made in postal money- order, express order, draft, stamps or check (New York exchange). Subscription price, 50 cents for the year. (Foreign, 60 cents) eS Entered at the Post Office of New York as second-class matter. VOL. IV FEBRUARY, 1915 No. 2 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. FREEDOM OF SPEECH THe TeacHers’ Leacue of New York City on January 22, 1915, held a remark- able open meeting on the subject of Free- dom of Speech. Altho the immediate stimulus to the preparation of the plans for th® meeting was the case of Henrietta Rodman, of the Wadleigh High School, New York, referred to in the January number of THE AMERICAN TEACHER, the formal speeches developed in an entirely adequate fashion the fundamental princi- 25 ples upon which freedom of speech must be justified. Effective as were most of the speeches, the really dramatic portion of the meeting consisted of the inspired and inspiring informal discussion that followed the formal addresses. With one or two exceptions, the in- formal discussion was carried on by teachers in the elementary and high schools of New York City. Those who are familiar with the condition of mental thraldom in which the teachers of New York have existed long before the sys- tem “was freed from politics,” will have the necessary understanding to appreciate what would happen in the minds of teach- ers still intelligent tho suppressed, and still watchful tho cowed, when suddenly the sharp-edged swords of champions had cut away the sham and pretense of free speech with discretion or free speech with respectful demeanor. The last defense of autocracy swept away, the unfortunate defenders of the dying faith fared badly, in the face of the rising wrath and con- fidence of the oppressed. What the teachers said we are not able to repro- duce; it was the way they broke loose that counted. THE THREAT ADMINISTRATIVE AT A RECENT teachers’ meeting in one of the New York City high schools, the chairman of one of the committees on school organization, in his eagerness to secure prompt reports from his fellow teachers, declared that he would report to the principal any teacher who failed to send in returns at the time set. One of the teachers took exception to this announcement, making the observation that threatening is quite an unprofes- sional method for securing codperation. The other teachers expressed their ap- proval of this sentiment by loud applause. We hope that they all get their reports in on time. Democracy needs leaders who are bigger than their personal grouch, more clever than their opponents, and wiser and more tolerant than their offi- cial superiors. THE AMERICAN TEACHER MOTHERHOOD AND THE STATE THOSE WHO HAVE in the past opposed the retention of mothers as teachers out of sheer stupidity, or out of mental in- ertia, or moral cowardice will no doubt be shocked by the decision of Com- missioner Finley. But they will gradu- ally adjust themselves to the new point of view. At any rate, we do not need to bother with them any longer. The case is closed, so far as they are con- cerned. But there have been those who op- posed the retention of the mother in the class room on the ground that it is con- trary to social policy to permit mothers to do anything at all outside the home while their children need their services and attention. Now that the case has been settled in what they believe to be an anti-social way, they should at once undertake a propaganda for educating the public to their point of view. In this THe AMERICAN TEACHER will be glad to assist. We might begin by sup- porting all well-planned legislation for widows’ pensions, for motherhood sub- sidies, for the prohibition of woman’s work under conditions injurious to motherhood or to childhood. We might borrow the legislation said to have been adopted in Germany during the present war, on the subject of motherhood and the next generation. According to re- ports, the measure in question provides that the expenses of childbirth and of nursing incident thereto be borne by the public treasury, that the mother receive all her support for eight weeks after child-birth, and for twelve weeks if she nurses the child herself. This is a frank recognition of the de- pendence of motherhood, and an equally frank assumption by society of the re- sponsibility for relieving mothers of the burden. This has nothing to do with opportunity to serve, or with “holding jobs.” When the molders of policies are ready to protect the defenseless and to assist those who need aid we shall be with them. PRACTICAL HELP FOR THE TIMID INCIDENT TO the reorganization of schoo] work at the beginning of the Spring term in the New York schools, a teacher felt that she had been treated un- justly by being given a very heavy pro- gram. Officially, she would be expected to state her case to the principal, who was indirectly responsible for the assignment. This she did not want to do because she believed she would be treated rudely— and she would have been. And yet, she did not want to take her case to the superintendent of her district, for she was afraid he would reprimand her for going over the head of her principal. The advice she received from one of the staff of THe AMERICAN TEACHER was to state her case to the superinten- dent, and to tell him frankly, before he asked, why she was afraid to speak to the principal. The superintendent hap- pens to be a gentleman. Would you have followed the same course, if he had been something else? Say “Yes.” Now, why? A New York high school principal said recently that he accepted it as nat- ural and inevitable that the principal of a school should be regarded as an enemy by pupils and by teachers. It would be worth while to know how other principals look upon this suggestion. If being re- garded an enemy is natural, it may be de- sirable. If desirable, how can we pro- mote the relation? PUT THE BARS A FEW PEGS HIGHER (A real letter from a real physician in New York City) To the teacher Louis S—— is a very sensible child that catches very easy a cold by bath- ing, while bathing at home he is taking the greatest care and put right to bed which cannot be done while bathing in school. Therefore I will kindly ask you to dispense him from bathing in school. JOHN BLACK. inp —- ao = THE AMERICAN TEACHER ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS THE MEETING called for the purpose of organizing this association was held in the auditorium of the Chemists’ Club, New York City, on the afternoon and evening of Friday, January 1, and the morning of January 2, 1915. Over 250 were in attendance in the course of the three sessions. Professor John Dewey, of Columbia University, called the meet- ing to order and delivered an introduc- tory address upon the purpose and possi- bilities of such an association, as con- ceived by the committee on organization, of which he had served as chairman. We quote from Professor Dewey’s ad- dress: But have we not come to a time when more can be achieved by taking thought together? Im the future, as in the past, progress will depend upon local efforts in response to local needs and resources. We have the advantages as well as the disad- vantages of the lack of the European sys- tem of centralized control. So much the more reason for the existence of a central body of teachers, which, lacking official and administrative power, will express the opinion of the profession where it exists and foster its formation where it does not I am a great believer in the power In this country nothing stands against it. But to act, it must exist. To act wisely, it must be intelligently formed. To be intelligently formed, it must be the result of deliberate inquiry and dis- cussion. It can not be developed in corners here and there; it can not be the voice ot a few, however wise. It must be formed democratically; that is, codperatively. All interests, however humble, must be heard; inquiry and conference must glean all the experiences available; decision must be based upon mutual consultation. exist. ; of public opinion. TEACHING SCHOOL and college boys to understand and appreciate Mexicans, Canadians, Japanese, South Americans, and Germans is considerably more im- portant than teaching them to shoot. Teaching them to respect the rights, the views, and even the psychology, of others will bear a better harvest than any in- struction in military tactics—Epwarp T Devine, in The Survey, January 2, 1915. MOTHERHOOD AND THE PROFESSION Tue Commissioner of Education of the State of New York has given us cause for congratulation, for he has up- held the principle that the business of teaching must be given an opportunity to develop professional standards. He has said that teaching must no longer be looked upon as a convenient pastime for respectable but indigent young fe- males awaiting the call to matrimony. He has said that acceptable service in this vocation is a matter of zeal and devotion and efficiency, and not a mat- ter of economic need, or of evading the corollaries of marriage. He did not say all this in just that way; but he said something just as good, and he said it better, in his decision in the case of Mrs Bridget C. Peixotto, who was dismissed from the schools of New York City for being absent from school on account of the birth of her child, “without permis- sion of the Board of Education.” The text of the decision is as follows: As commissioner I would give every pos- sible aid in my power to promote devotion to duty, zealous service and efficiency on the part of the teachers of the state, to prevent neglect of duty and inefficiency and to elim- inate incompetence; and I attribute only such high purposes to the Board of Education in its action in this case. But I am of the clear opinion, which I am obliged to follow, that these ends and purposes will not be served by selecting, or seeming to select, for stigma or reproach such a reason for temporary ab- sence from school duty as is offered in this case, or inferring, or seeming to infer, ineffi- ciency from the mere fact of motherhood. If, as this honorable board appears to hold, married women teachers should ipso facto end their service upon maternity, this policy (which I can not believe sound in principle or wholesome in practise) can be made pos- sible only thru legislation, making it lawful to discharge, because of marriage, a teacher in service. Meanwhile it is the duty of the board to adopt a practise in accord with the clear intent of existing law and in harmony with this decision. 28 THE AMERICAN TEACHER Mrs. Peixotto was absent from her position because of illness attending motherhood and such absence was the basis of the charges against her. She was found guilty of neglect of duty and dismissed from the service. Such neglect of duty therefore consists of her ab- sence from her school for the purpose of motherhood, and she was dismissed for such cause. The charges preferred against Mrs. Peixotto can fall under none of the four specific causes for dismissal named in the charter except that of neglect of duty. No question has been raised as to her misconduct or inefficiency, nor is it anywhere indicated that she was guilty of insubordination. It is also clear that the dismissal of a teacher may not be based upon any other cause than those speci- fied in the charter. As asserted by the counsel for the board, it may be that absence for the purpose of bear- ing a child is not absence for “serious per- sonal illness,” within section 44, subdivision 4, of the by-laws and therefore excusable “with pay.” But such absence clearly falls within subdivision 4 of such section, which author- ized excuses of absences “without pay,” with no restriction as to the cause thereof, ex- cept as to special absences described in sub- division 3A. The fact of her absence for the purpose of motherhood was deemed by the district super- intendent as sufficient to justify charges of neglect of duty against her. It was apparent- ly the purpose of the board and its officers to adopt the policy of dismissing from the service all married women teachers who ab- sented themselves from their positions be- cause of childbirth and to classify such ab- sences as inexcusable. There is no statutory prohibition of the employment of a married woman as a teacher in the public schools of the city of New York, nor so far as the record shows is there any by-law or regulation of the board which forbids such employment. As to the continuance in the schools of a teacher who marries after entering the serv- ice, it has been decided by the Court of Ap- peals in the Murphy case that marriage may not, in itself, be made ground for dismissal. But this appeal carries the question of the status of the married women teachers in the City of New York one step beyond this de- termination of the court. Married women teachers under the rules and practises of the board may be and are employed. Women teachers under the decision of the Court of Appeals may not be dismissed on account of marriage after entering the service. The question now asked is: May the board dismiss a married woman teacher for that which is the lawful, natural consequence of marriage and its social sanction? Such answer as the highest court gives to this question on its legal merits is to be found in the following quotation from the dissenting opinion of the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals in this very case: The question which we are called upon to decide is whether the specific accusation upon which the relator has been dismissed from her position, to wit: “Absence for the purpose of bearing a child,” constitutes the neglect of duty. I agree with the learned Judge who heard the case at Spe- cial Term (Justice Seabury) that it does not. This opinion, concurred in by Justice Hogan, serves not only to define clearly the issue before the Commissioner of Education, as stated above, but also to give advice of greatest weight and of highest source as to the import of the laws of the state touching the merits of this controversy. Without undertaking to determine or to define here the limits of the board’s discretion (and it is and has been the general policy of this department to assure the widest discre- tion practicable) and without discussing here the advantages and disadvantages of the policy of employing married teachers or esti- mating their relative efficiency (since such rehearsal would not touch directly the mat- ter at issue) I present the conclusion to which I am compelled, after careful and thoro ex- amination of all the papers in the case, that the board should have accepted the natural corollary of its policy, voluntary or enforced, of employing or retaining married women teachers and should have given at least as favorable consideration to an absence for motherhood as is normally given to absences asked for reasons of personal convenience. THE AMERICAN TEACHER 29 NOT A PROFESSION—IV BETRAYING A TRUST SoME Two or three years ago, a large city became aware of its chronic penury and decided, thru its official agents, to re- trench its expenditures by eliminating from the annual budget the items cover- ing the pay of shop-teachers for after- school classes. It happened, however, that the demand for shop work had in the meanwhile grown to large propor- tions, and a practical solution was found by employing the simple expedient of offi- cially “assigning” the regular shop teach- ers to work after school hours—without additional compensation. (For, you see, there was no money to be had for addi- tional compensation.) For a year the shop teachers—at we know not what sacrifice—nobly stuck to their posts and did the regular work, plus the extra work, for the pay previously allowed for the regular work done. In this the shop teachers may seem to have exhibited the spirit of devotion to service, the soldierly virtue of doing what needed to be done without thot of com- pensation, or at any rate without insist- ence upon compensation. But subsequent events lend color to the suspicion that they stuck to their posts because they were afraid to do otherwise. Several lines of conduct lay before them. They could continue indefinitely doing extra work without pay, and gradually establish new forms of “trade customs” for themselves and for their colleagues in other departments. Or each could individually protest against doing the extra work, and assume the risk of whatever penalty may attach to the mak- ing of such protests. Or they could collectively make a dignified protest with specific demands or refusals—that is, they could collectively refuse to continue to work under the conditions imposed, after giving due notice. This would be very much like threatening to strike, and this is the very thing that they most feared to do. So they adopted the very last resource of desperate impotence. They pretended to continue at their posts, conducting shop classes after school hours; they retained their jobs; they did not break with the authorities. But they devised a hundred cunning ways of discouraging the pupils. They stultified themselves by imposing upon the boys conditions of work that made the shops decidedly unattractive places for afternoons indoors. And they at last succeeded so well that the after-school classes were officially discontinued for lack of patronage. As teachers and as citizens these teachers did thus a wicked thing as well as a foolish thing. It was wicked be- cause the children who came to the shops were entitled to the best that the equip- ment and the teachers could yield. What- ever grievance the overworked or the underpaid or the otherwise abused teacher may feel is not a grievance against the children, and the children should not be penalized for the imposi- tion upon the teachers. Far better would it have been to refuse to man the shops than to deal dishonestly with the boys. And the device was foolish because it acted injuriously to the teachers them- selves. By treating the pupils as they did they not only drove away the extra work ; they also discredited—for the time being—all shop work. It was to the in- terests of the shop teachers to increase the demand for their services to the point where appreciation would have forced increased compensation. They suc- ceeded not only in closing the after- school shops; they succeeded also in re- ducing the demand for more shops. In addition to all this, however, they demeaned themselves to the level of the hopeless plodders who have no voice and no resource but destruction. In this they disgraced their occupation ; and this is the unpardonable sin. In deploring and in denouncing a group of teachers for their unprofes- sional conduct, we must recognize that there is another side to the situation. This is not said in mitigation of what the teachers did; for there is no mitiga- tion. But it is necessary to call atten- 30 tion to the fact that the issue was forced upon the teachers by a group of men from whom we are commonly accus- tomed to expect bigger things. Mem- bers of boards of education, superintend- ents, municipal authorities—these are people of larger experience and more than average ability; at least, so we are taught to believe. It is upon these men that the onus of the disgraceful situa- tion falls. It is these men who blow hot and cold, according to circumstances, but who profess to be shocked when others exhibit flexibility in their moral codes. The duplicity of business men control- ling public affairs has become so com- mon that we accept it without question as an exhibition of high ability, or even of “statesmanship.” In this particular connection it takes this form: Facing the “taxpayer” our administrators as- sume the attitude of dealing with all pub- lic problems from a “business” stand- point, which means buying goods and services at the lowest market price. Facing the teachers or the street- cleaners, however, our statesmen sing a different song. They speak of loyalty to the city and devotion to the service and public welfare. They do not say cent for cent ; they appear to be shocked when public employes seek to reduce their ex- penditures of time and energy to the lowest point per dollar of wage. They denounce such conduct as eminently un- patriotic and even dishonorable. In other words they insist (for the edifica- tion of taxpayer and voter) upon using the most brutal elements in our commer- cial life in their treatment of public em- ployes; while they demand of these em- ployes the most lofty idealism in public service. The answer to this dilemma is to be found in getting teachers (or other pub- lic servants) who are prepared to adopt the professional attitude towards their work ; and in getting administrators who are prepared—by character and training and experience—to deal with public em- ployes in a modern, human and sincere manner. THE AMERICAN TEACHER BOOK NOTES One OF THE causes of the retardation of educational progress, says Hollister (The Administration of Education in a Democ- racy, Scribner's), is the difficulty with which the full significance of democracy in educa- tion is grasped by the popular mind. He cites as an illustration the parsimonious at- titude of the average taxpayer towards school appropriations, while at the same time loudly accusing the schools of incompetency. He forgets to take note of the difficulty ex- perienced by School Boards and Superintend- ents in grasping the full significance of dem- ocracy in education. This book is the result of the author’s thirty years of experience as teacher and supervisor and so he is able to discuss every possible phase in the field of educational administra- tion from a practical standpoint. He points out the necessity for industrial education and shows how little provision we had made there- for up to 1910. Then there were only 82 Manual Training and Industrial schools of high school grade, to 10,313 academic schools. Much of the training of these schools was “not of a kind calculated to aid in acquiring skill of a definite and well organized charac- ter.” Some of the essentials of educational prog- ress in the future, he says, are “thoro and continuous study of the present and changing social needs, both local and national, as re- lated to our system of public education, and also the freeing of 11 educational experts from political influence in their appointment.” There are some interesting things about supervision in a democracy. Many will be surprised to learn that in a democracy super- visors will make teachers better by (a) sym- pathetic assistance and counsel; (b) con- structive criticism; (c) bringing to their at- tention the latest thing in education and by encouraging them to blaze new paths of edu- cational procedure. He favors the highest possible degree of freedom and initiative on the part of teacher, principal and supervisor. In Germany, he says, little expert supervision is called for. “Teachers are approved by the Government and so are considered competent to direct the work of their schools in ac- THE AMERICAN TEACHER 31 cordance with the prescribed courses.” Those who are looking for a real program of democracy in education will perhaps be disappointed. He defines an ideal school board as one consisting of no more than seven mem- bers, serving without pay, and elected by the people. There is no mention of teachers being represented on the board nor is any provision made whereby teachers might be consulted in the solution of educational problems. Neither is there any mention of the participation of teachers in the administration of education in a democracy. It is evidently not the democracy we are looking for. The author’s sense of social responsibility does not seem to be highly developed. Real- izing that “conditions in the home or indus- try may prevent the child from going to school,” the only remedy he proposes is the adequate enforcement of attendance laws. This method of overcoming the conditions of the home and industry that interfere with the child’s presence at school is not very far- sighted. The Macmillan Company has reissued the first part of McKeever’s The Training of the Girl as a separate little volume under the title The Industrial Training of the Girl. The democratic spirit that pervades all of Professor McKeever’s writings and the well selected references makes this book helpful; but it cannot be said to be a “practical” book in the ordinary sense. (New York, i914; 50c.) What They Say To the Editors, THE AMERICAN TEACHER: Recently it was my privilege to visit two well-known schools in a neighboring state. In both schools I was strongly impressed with one fact. It was that the value of experience was recognized. In one school the principal is an old man. He has given the best years of his life to actual work in the classroom and has an established reputation as a teacher. Now an assistant relieves him of much of the detail work incident to the office, while the school reaps the benefit of his ripe experience, kindly supervision, and clear, far-sighted policy. In the other school is a wife and mother who, side by side with her husband, has labored for years, not only to teach physical training, but also to develop the strongest and best quali- ties in her students. It was an inspiration to talk with her. Her influence upon the girls is little short of wonderful. It reaches far be- yond the walls of the school, out into the lives and homes of those who have been privileged to be under her care. The school is to be con- gratulated on being able to retain the services of a woman pre-eminently fitted to deal with young girls on the most vital of questions. Recently in one of our large cities, a teacher of experience wished to take the examination for physical training in the high schools. She was told very frankly that she was too old, as the director of physical training desired “young teachers who could dance.” Indeed, the re- quirements have been lowered to make it easier for these young teachers to become eligible. Contrast the moral effect of the earnest teaching of a mother of large ex- perience and that of a young woman to whom dancing appeals as the most interesting phase of physical training work, as well as being one of the easiest to teach! Do not these examples of the recognition of experience represent a concrete principle? The older a person grows the more experienced he becomes. Would any one expect a young physician fresh from college to be able to deal with disease as efficiently as an older man? The students themselves are quick to recognize this when they anxiously await an appointment on a hospital staff, principally for the experience. Is it not a mistake then to crowd out the older teachers even if they are physically unfit to compete with the younger? Would not the schools gain by retaining on the staff the older men and women and by expecting them to guide and direct the younger? Were a de- crease to be made in the amount of work de- manded and in the hours assigned, doubtless many teachers of successful experience would be glad to accept a corresponding decrease in salary. Queens, L. I. A. G. Jacos. THE AMERICAN TEACHER A VOICE FROM MINNEAPOLIS A STEP FORWARD in democratizing the public schools of the country is the growing tendency of cities to organize Teachers’ Councils. In no case has the council failed to be its own best excuse for being; and the improvement in organi- zation shown in the newer councils is evidence that the teachers of the country are awake, and observing something of what is going on around them. Plans for the organization of a Public School Educational Council were sub- mitted to the teachers of Minneapolis early last month. It is interesting to note the evolution of the “Proposals.” A Codperating Committee met in Conference with the Superintendent of Schools, at his invitation, and together they worked out the idea of the Educational Council. This democratic method of organization is further exemplified in the body of the “Proposals.” Just as a matter of compari- son, let us look at the Teachers’ Council of the City of New York, then at the Educational Council of Minneapolis. NEW YORK I Function 1. The furnishing of information and the opinions of the teaching staff (prin- cipals and teachers) upon questions sub- mitted by the Board of Education or by the Board of Superintendents. 2. The introduction of recommenda- tions concerning any of the problems affecting the welfare of the schools and the teaching staff. 3. All final decisions shall be left to the Board of Education or the Board of Superintendents. II Membership The Teachers’ Council shall be com- posed of 45 representatives from such voluntary teachers’ organizations as were in existence March, 1913, and of such other teachers’ organizations as may thereafter be recognized by the Board of Education. III Election of Members The delegates of the voluntary teach- ers’ organizations shall meet in joint conference on the second Thursday of November in each year, at a place desig- nated by the President of the Board of Education, and there proceed to the election of members of the Council. Elections shall be by ballot. What can we learn from the comparison? MINNEAPOLIS I Function The Educational Council shall have for its purpose conferences with the Superintendent of Schools upon matters concerning the practical operation of the city schools. All recommendations of the Educa- tional Council shall be filed with the Board of Education. II Membership This organization shall consist of three grade teachers and one high school teacher from each of the [four] high school districts; two grade principals; one high school principal; two repre- sentatives of the supervisors and teach- ers of special subjects. III Election of Members Yearly, the third week of September, the Superintendent of Schools shall cause the teachers of the city to assemble for the purpose of electing the members of the Educational Council. Elections shall be by ballot. DO YOU BELIEVE IN FREE SPEECH? GET YOUR FRIENDS TO READ THE MARCH NUMBER