VOL. IX, NO. 1 OCTOBER, 1929 


OCT 28 192 


BULLETIN 


OF THE 


Department of Elementary 
School Principals 


President’s Message—Hansen 

Mental Health and the Principal—LaRue 

The Elementary School Principal as a Supervisor—Mossman 

Planning the School Work—Abbott 

Fitting Instruction to the Child—Youngquist 

Geography for a New World—Smith 

Community Relationships—Cober 

Student Participation in School Government—Lantrip 

Study of Credits in the Lakewood Public Schools—Curren... 

The Principal and Extracurriculum Activities—Young 

Character Training in the Home—Daniels 

Evaluating Education in Terms of Rural Needs—Rhoade.... 

The Library as an Integral Part of Elementary School— 
Clement 49 

Measuring Reading and Arithmetic in Terms of Mental Abil- 
ity—Rogers 

American Education Week 

Atlanta Meeting 

Report of the Executive Committee 

Notes and Announcements 

Financial Statement 





PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE 
DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


of the National Education Associafion of the United States 
1201 SIXTEENTH STREET NORTHWEST, WASHINGTON, D. C. 


Entered as_secondclass matter November 20, 1922, at the postoffice at 
Washington, D. C., under act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing 
at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, 
authorized December 18. 1922. 








BULLETIN 
of the 
DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


CASSIE F. ROYS, Editor, 2609 Bristol Street, Omaha, Nebraska 


Published quarterly in October, January, April, and July by the De- 
partment of Elementary School Principals of the National Education 
Association of the United States. 

The payment of $3 active membership dues entitles a member to 
attend all meetings of the Department, to hold office, and to receive 
the Bulletin quarterly. 

Two dollars of each membership fee is for a year’s subscription to the 
Bulletin. 

Subscription to nonmembers is $3 per year; single copies, 50 cents; 
Yearbook, $2. 

Members are requested to report at once any change of address, giving 
old as well as new address. 





Entered as secondclass matter November 20, 1922, at the postoffice 
at Washington, D. C., under act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for 
mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of 
October 3, 1917, authorized December 18, 1922. 





Executive and Editorial “Offices, 1201 Sixteenth Street Northwest, 
Washington, D. C. 





OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT 
1929-30 
President, HERBERT C. HANSEN 
315 Plymouth Court, Chicago, Illinois 


First Vicepresident, Miss EvA G. PINKSTON 
Sam Houston School, Dallas, Texas 


Second Vicepresident, JAMES R. FLoyp 
717 Garden Street, Plainfield, New Jersey 


Third Vicepresident, Mrs, GENEVIEVE STONE 
Whittier School, Minneapolis, Minnesota 


Fourth Vicepresident, N. H. Price 
Hemphill School, Birmingham, Alabama 


Fifth Vicepresident, Mrs. Marcaret N. SMITH 
Principal, Mitchell School 
32nd and Lafayette, Denver, Colorado 


Secretary, Miss Cassie F. Roys 
2609 Bristol Street, Omaha, Nebraska 


Executive Committee 
M. E. Peterson, Twentieth Street School, Los Angeles, California 
(Term Expires 1930) 
ELIzABETH McCormick, Howe School, Superior, Wisconsin 
(Term Expires 1931) 
Joun MerriLt, 1526 Garland Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 
(Term Expires 1932) 
M. EmMa Brookes, Miles School, Cleveland, Ohio 
(Term Expires 1933) 


National Chairman, Enrolment Committee 
HERMAN RitTow, Fort Sheridan, IIlinois 








eer 


oe 

















THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 


HERBERT C. HANSEN 
Principal, Talcott School, Chicago, Illinois 


HE coming meeting of our department at Atlantic City is significant 

because it was in this city that the Department of Elementary School 
Principals was organized in February, 1921. The department has had a 
remarkable growth and is recognized as one of the important departments 
of the National Education Association. It is increasing constantly in num- 
bers and influence and is now an 
outstanding professional organiza- 
tion. 

Principals’ associations—The 
past decade has been character- 
ized by the remarkable growth 
of professional organizations of 
elementary principals, local, state, 
and national. Ten years ago 
there was no national organiza- 
tion of principals. ‘The Second 
Yearbook, 1923, listed only two 
state principals’ associations. The 
Eighth Yearbook, 1929, listed 
eighteen state associations. The 
Second Yearbook, 1923, included 
only eight city groups. Up to 
1920 only forty-seven local groups 
had been organized, while in 
1929 reports were received from 
134 clubs. The First Yearbook 
contained a list of 669 members 
of the national department. We 

Herbert C. Hansen now have more than 4500 
members. 

The great increase in the number of local and. state associations within 
these few years, and the increased membership of local, state, and national 
organizations is indicative of the increased prestige of the principalship. 

Increased activities—Not only has there been a great increase in the 
number of principals’ associations as well as in membership, but local and 
state departments, and the national department have become leaders in 
the various progressive movements of modern education. Elementary prin- 
cipals have become students of the science and the philosophy of education. 
Many valuable studies and investigations are being carried on through the 
research committees of all these organizations. 

Principals, individually, and in groups, have made detailed analyses of 
the work of the principalship. Many have become leaders in the new 
scientific movement. [3] 























4 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 





It is the task of the national department to integrate and coordinate the 
work of all groups of principals throughout the country. 

Salaries—In an article in the July, 1929, issue of this publication, Frank 
W. Hubbard, of the Research Division of the National Education Asso- 
ciation, points out several encouraging tendencies with reference to higher 
salaries for principals in a number of cities throughout the country. Cities 
with high standards for the principalship are beginning to pay more adequate 
salaries. 

In 1926-27, according to reports to the Research Division, only eleven city 
principals received annual salaries of $5500 or more. In 1928-29, 370 
principals were receiving salaries between $5500 and $7000. There are 
nine cities paying maximum salaries of $5000 or more to principals of 
elementary schools. A number of cities are working on salary schedules 
which will become effective during the current year. San Francisco has 
recently published a proposed professional salary scale. Several cities report 
the same basic schedule for elementary and high-school principals. 

In this connection it will be of interest to quote a paragraph from the 
report of the late Ide G. Sargeant, which he presented to our department 
as chairman of the committee on salaries, at Indianapolis, July 2, 1925: 


After a careful survey of the magnitude of the work, the professional require- 
ments, and the need to make the position attractive to the best ability in the land, 
your committee is convinced that a sound public policy demands that the maximum 
for principals in cities over 100,000 in population be not less than $10,000 a year 
and that no distinction be made between elementary and secondary schools. A single 
salary schedule should prevail. This recommendation is based upon the standard 
of qualifications for admission to the principalship outlined by the Committee on 
Qualifications for the Principalship of the Department of Elementary School 
Principals, made at the Indianapolis meeting. 


Ninth Y earbook—At the Cleveland meeting it was decided that the 1930 
yearbook should be prepared under the direction of a committee of ele- 
mentary school principals, assisted by the Research Division of the National 
Education Association. 

An editorial committee of three elementary principals was appointed. 
The members of the committee are: Earl R. Laing, Burt School, Detroit, 
chairman; Isabel Tucker, Shenandoah School, St. Louis; Arthur S. Gist, 
Training School, Teachers College, San Francisco. 

Mr. Laing has achieved success as an elementary principal in Detroit and 
has secured recognition as one of the leaders of our department. He is 
past president of the Department of Elementary School Principals of the 
Michigan Education Association. 

Miss Tucker has had a distinguished record as successful administrator 
and supervisor. She has been a leader in several progressive movements 
in education in St. Louis. 

Mr. Gist is the brilliant and distinguished editor of a series of highly 
successful yearbooks of our department. He is a former president of the 
department. Under the direction of such an excellent committee, the expecta- 




















ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 





tion is that the 1930 yearbook will be one of the best in the entire list of 
publications of the department. The current yearbook will concentrate 
upon various administrative phases of the principal’s work. Emphasis will 
be given to the necessity for good administration in the successful conduct 
of a school. 

The Bulletin of the department, which is issued quarterly, contains 
significant articles on professional problems of current interest. Most 
stimulating and helpful are the accounts of what successful administrators 
and supervisors are doing in progressive schools in all sections of the country. 
The Bulletin aims to meet the needs of both rural and urban principals. 
It is the only educational journal devoted exclusively to the interests of 
elementary school principals. Miss Cassie F. Roys, Principal, Walnut Hill 
School, Omaha, Nebraska, and former vicepresident, has been elected as 
editor of the Bulletin. Under her direction it will render the highest type 
of professional service to elementary school principals. 

Research Bulletins—Among the most valuable of educational publications 
are the Research Bulletins of the National Education Association, which are 
issued five times a year. By special arrangement with the Research Division, 
these splendid publications, so helpful to elementary principals, will be sent 
free to all members of our department. The regular subscription price of 
the Research Bulletin is $1 per year, but for the first time our members 
will receive the five issues this year without charge. 

Committees—During the coming year the several committees of the de- 
partment will make studies of the various problems assigned to them for 
investigation. Several studies relative to the economic and professional 
status of the principal will be carried on. Preliminary reports of the work 
done by each committee will be made by the committee chairmen at Atlan- 
tic City, in February, at the time of the regular business sessions of the 
department. 

Membership—Our Committee on Enrolment, under the chairmanship of 
Herman Ritow, Fort Sheridan, Illinois, has an effective organization with 
active members in every state and in many cities. The goal this year is to 
double our present membership. For several years it has been the ambition 
of the enrolment committee to attain a membership of 10,000. Mr. Ritow 
is confident that this year will be the banner year in our campaign for 


membership. 

The Atlantic City meeting—Arrangements are being made for a great 
meeting in Atlantic City, February 22-27, 1930. “ Education in the Spirit 
of Life” is the convention therne. The Department of Elementary School 
Principals will consider the problems of the principals in formulating and 
organizing a program of elementary education to meet the new needs of 


today. 
Objectives—For the current year our department will have the following 


objectives: 











6 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 





1. To conduct an aggressive membership campaign to increase the resources of 
the department, extend the range of its influence, and enlarge its program of service 
to the elementary principals of the nation. 

2. To organize committees to work upon various problems of elementary education, 
especially those of most immediate interest to the principal. 

3- To continue the high standard of publications for which this department has 
been distinguished throughout its entire history. 

4. To carry on studies relative to the economic and professional status of the 
principal. 

5. To set up standards for the elementary principalship as goals toward which 
the department may direct its program of constructive work. 

6. To aid in setting up professional salary schedules for elementary principals. 

High type of leadership required—Without doubt, the next decade will 
be characterized by radical changes in elementary education which will offer 
abundant opportunities for constructive leadership on the part of elementary 
school principals. Far-reaching educational reforms involving fundamental 
changes in the organization and content of elementary education will de- 
mand the highest type of educational leadership from the modern principal. 

The day of the new principalship is at hand. High standards of pro- 
fessional and personal qualifications are being set in the more progressive 
school systems and there are increasing demands for better service. The 
higher professional skill required, the increased responsibilities of the posi- 
tion, the better service demanded, and the growing prestige of the elementary 
principalship will soon bring about the adoption of adequate professional 
salary schedules. 

Opportunity of the principal—The elementary principal has carried 
supervision to a point where it actually functions in the lives of the children 
of our great country. The elementary principal has the opportunity to 
make education scientific and to make elementary teaching a profession 
in every sense of the word. The country depends upon us for a step forward. 
Let us take a big step forward during the coming vear. 


HERE IS a doctrine that is fundamental in American edu- 

cation, and that is: that every child born in or adopted by 

this republic has the right to have developed through education 
whatever of talent he may possess without reference to quantity, 
quality, or type of that talent, and that he should have assured to 

him the opportunity to go as far as his ability and ambition will 

| permit. At the birth of the nation, the Fathers made clear their 
belief that in education alone lay security for popular government ; 
and the subsequent history of education in this country has made 
this doctrine a part of the fundamental faith of the nation.— 
Frank D. Boynton, Superintendent of Schools, Ithaca, New York. 

















MENTAL HEALTH AND THE PRINCIPAL* 


DANIEL Wo LForD LA RUE 
Professor of Psychology, State Teachers College, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania 


MAN of old experience in marriage was giving advice to a newly 

married pair. “Above all,” said he, “ don’t both get mad at once.” 
A principal is one who is paid extra to refrain from working too hard, 
so that when everyone else about the place has gone fagged or wild, his 
cool head will serve as a nucleus of sanity. More than fifty percent of his 
time (according to Cubberley) he is likely to be dealing personally with 
pupils, teachers, or parents. Now the first of the far-famed ‘ seven objec- 
tives” is Health—and the only ultimate health is mental health. The first 
big duty of the principal, then, is to give a daily demonstration lesson in 
mental hygiene, to carry out Kipling’s “ If,” keeping his head when all 
about him are losing theirs and blaming it on him, to remain a kindly, 
big-souled, thoughtful, sincere, fair-minded, progressive personality what- 
ever betide, to be a creative artist without the temperamental mood and 
passion. Live as you would be lived with. 

The second commandment which sums up the law and the prophets for 
principals is like the first: Treat your teachers as you want them to treat 
their pupils. Let us apply the text. 

1. Be friendly and approachable. The ideal teacher is one to whom the 
pupil naturally resorts when in trouble. He has Professor Palmer’s well- 
remembered “ capacity for vicariousness.” Mental hygienists find that chil- 
dren who are in sympathetic relations with their parents do not develop 
repressions. The principal who does not cultivate sympathetic relations with 
his teachers may find “ repressions ” developing in his school system, and, 
unless the teachers seek relieving counsel elsewhere, in their mental systems 
as well. The teacher should feel assured, too, that his approach to the 
principal for aid and comfort will in no wise count against him. 

2. Study, develop, and integrate your personnel. You expect the teacher 
to study each pupil, discover individual capacities, keep each child mentally 
healthy by the nice adjustment of his tasks to his leading traits, and, har- 
monizing all this variety of selfexpression, to maintain group unity while 
remaining, himself, somewhat in the background. This is your cue to the 
new leadership. You may be able to discover from the outside of ‘the teach- 
er’s personality, better than he can from the inside, the trend roynd which 
he should organize his efforts. At any rate, do not brutally pe i the 
group, but inventory its talent and dispose it strategically. Probably you 
have teachers who can give better demonstration lessons than you can. Use 
them. Do not haze the new teacher by assigning him especially heavy 


* This article appeared originally in the Journal of the National Education Asso- 
ciation for May. The subsequent insistent demand for the article has made it 
advisable to reprint it here. 

Principals will wish also to consult the chapter on “ The Mental Life of Children ” 
which appeared in the Research Bulletin of the National Education Association for 
March, 1929. Vol. VII, No. 2, p. 59-66. 
[7] 










8 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





work, but lighten his task until he is initiated. Avoid the atmosphere of 
depression by remembering that you are not there primarily to criticise 
but to construct. 

3. Through purpose, build morale. There is a story of some workmen 
who, having dug one hole, were blindly told to dig another and another, 
until they finally dropped their tools and declared, “ No more dig.” But 
when informed that the object was to locate a certain water pipe, they 
cheerfully resumed activities. Merely to encourage the “ rah rah habit ” in 
a school is to develop scholastic vanity. But a purpose-filled faculty will 
keep itself frank-minded by open discussion, and even take delight in sub- 
stituting tactfulness for vengeance in dealing with zigzag-minded patrons. 
No one really lives until he has a cause for which to die. 

4. Economize the teacher’s energy. Important here are the atmosphere 
in which he works, avoidance of useless tasks, and the establishing of a 
smoothly-operating régime. The small-minded principal is likely to imitate 
what he mistakes for big business, and charge all nervous systems so tensely 
that there is a leak at every neuron. Or he may keep his teachers worried 
by his feeling, like that of the newly-elected school board member, that 
he must interfere with something or he has not justified his being there. 
To require much writing, elaborate reports, extensive paper work of any 
sort, is an error. Ask yourself always, if the teacher is not with his pupils, 
whether you are not cheating them and harassing him. The smoothly- 
operating régime includes all the grooves our natures slide in. A cold room, 
a refractory window, lack of crayon, uproar in the corridor, too frequent 
or disorderly change of classes, may wear more thin places in the teacher’s 
soul than does the work of the hour. 

5. Use modern, democratic methods as you want your teachers to do. 
It is strange that, even in a democracy, the army and the public school are 
still organized autocratically. In the classroom, however, autocracy is 
passing, and the teacher knows that even school administration without 
teacher representation is tyranny. You do not want your teachers to govern 
by fear. Do you use it? Are your teachers treated like hired servants, or 
do you accord them professional recognition as your equals and make them 
feel that they are an essential part of the system? ‘“‘Give heed to motivation,” 
you exhort. How do you motivate your teachers? “ Use tact.” A majority 
of questionnaired teachers set down “ Tact” as the first qualification for a 
principal, and lack of it as the most common defect. ‘“ Use the project 
method and the socialized recitation.” Is there, in your teachers meetings, 
a teachers’ project? And are those meetings socialized? Dare the teachers 
really speak their minds? “ Install pupil selfgovernment.” Dare you install 
teacher selfgovernment? 

By modern, democratic methods you will best maintain the mental health 
of your teachers and secure that “ gentle and unforced accord ” that “ sits 
smiling ” to your heart. 

Be mentally healthy yourself, and treat your teachers as you want them 
to treat their pupils. 











7 en ae of 


_, ~*~ -_- —_-—- 





—_= 8D 





THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL AS A SUPERVISOR— 
ABSTRACT 


Lois CorFEY MossMAN 
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City 


TUDENTS of education are continuously bringing forward new evi- 
dence relative to the educative process. Sometimes the findings which 
they submit are somewhat disconcerting to those who are actually teaching. 
When pet theories and favored methods are condemned by statistical re- 
search, we are pushed as to what to do. These new findings are forcing us 
to continually modify the educational program. 

Admittedly, there is much that we do not know how to do well, yet the 
children keep coming to the schools. They and their parents are looking 
to the schools for the help needed in learning how to fit into this complex 
problem of living. The children, and often the parents, are not fully aware 
of the mobile condition of the demands of life today. Often parents assume 
that things are as they were when they were children, and they want their 
children taught in just the same way. The teachers of these children are 
then confronted with the necessity of carrying on their education and satis- 
fying the parents while, at the same time they, themselves, do not know 
what is best for the boys and girls either as to curriculum or method. 

Sometimes the demands upon the teachers are so great, or the vision of 
the work so limited, that they cannot see beyond the walls of their classroom. 
Such teachers fail to look for a better program. Then there are teachers 
who have a greater vision but are either so busy or so burdened, or some- 
times so baffled by the disparity between what they believe education should 
be and what parents are asking of them, that they are sorely in need of 
someone to whom they may go for counsel and advice. Such teachers need 
help in checking what they are doing and in seeing what better to do. 
They want guidance, super-vision, and it is their principals to whom they 
naturally should turn for this help which they are so fully needing. It is 
the principal who must have this super-vision. 

What does it mean to be a principal who is truly a supervisor? What 
sort of a person is needed if we would have the teachers go to the principal 
for this guidance and help? What traits are peculiarly necessary for one 
who would be a real help to teachers? 

As I look back over my experience as a young classroom teacher, sorely 
in need of help, vision, and guidance, I find my attention centering upon 
the principal who gave me the help I needed. As I faced that class of sixty-six 
fifth-grade boys and girls in a middle western railroad town, I was con- 
fronted with a task which seemed all too great for one of ordinary experi- 
ence and training. I can remember clearly that morning when the principal 
stepped into the door, just back of me, looked over the array of youngsters 
in that long, narrow, basement room and then turned to me and said, “ You 
have a hard job but remember that I am back of you,” and walked out of 
the room. In those few words he implied some things which seem to be 


19] 





10 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION 





essential in one who would lead teachers. He showed a sympathetic insight 
into the difficulty of my problem. He gave me a feeling that he believed in 
me and he gave me the confidence that he was a source of help to whom | 
could go. In the days that followed I found again and again that I was not 
mistaken either in his sympathy or his confidence or in his professional in- 
sight. I found that he understood boys and girls and had a very big heart 
for considering their points of view. On the other hand, I found that he 
knew how to go to teachers for suggestions and help in such a way as to 
convince us that he was seeking and did not know, and that he was big 
enough to recognize that there were others who had a fine point of view. 

As I think of this principal I am inclined to state some of the traits of 
personality essential in a principal who is able to lead his teachers: Ability 
to look at the teacher’s work from her point of view; ability to convince 
the teacher that he believes in her and respects her point of view; ability 
to help the teacher to consider a different emphasis or a new point of view; 
ability to suggest fruitful, initial steps in pushing the work into new chan- 
nels; ability to lead the teacher in constructive thinking in such a way as 
to secure her best efforts. 

Such abilities presuppose some other fundamental traits. In order that 
one can do the things that have been suggested he must have a richness of 
experience which makes him a source of ideas, suggestions, and help. He, 
himself, must have lived and enjoyed living. He must know sources of life. 
He must have an understanding of personality. He must be a friend. He 
must be possessed of a constructive philosophy about his work which is the 
result of very careful thinking on his part. This thinking should have given 
him a super-vision as to what the work of the school may be, as to what 
the abilities and problems of teachers are, as to what the possibilities of 
children as individuals are, as to the meaning of living richly and fully. 

Given a principal possessing such traits, how is he to do the work of super- 
vising? We find difficulty in stating clearly what is the work of supervision. 
There are those who entertain the hope that we can reduce supervision to 
a definite, objectively-measurable process. There are so many elements of 
the personal equation involved that it seems to some that supervision is an 
infinitely variable thing: Just as truly as each child is an individual who 
should be dealt with in terms of his individual experience, so is each teacher 
an individual and the leadership which the principal is able to exercise over 
her must be individual in its nature. 

Discussion of the work of supervision has usually implied the classroom 
visitation as a means of helping the teacher and we have had some research 
and suggestions as to how this classroom visit shall be made. Score cards have 
been proposed for tabulating the facts observed; data have been collected 
showing what one can observe in a given period of time; suggestions have 
been made as to charts and other equipment one needs to have with him 
to do an effective piece of observation; but little has been said as to what 
is to be done after the visiting. Probably this is because the thing one 
does with the data that are obtained must vary according to the individual 





ww ee 


bie i 











ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 




















































nature of the work and of the teacher who was visited. Obviously, the 
teacher and principal should discuss the visit. This discussion should enable 
the teacher to see her work with a new perspective, to evaluate it in the 
light of principles she understands, and to help her to grasp new principles. 

It has usually been implied that this discusssion should center around the 
effort to help the teacher to do better classroom teaching. It has also been 
assumed that such help should center upon trying to show the teacher how 
to plan her work better for the next time. What are the factors that should 
be in mind in such an effort to plan the next work? It is offered that the 
principal should lead the teacher to consider a few definite things: 

1. What are the group of children trying to accomplish in this piece of 
—_ work? All too often it will be found that the work is so handled that the 
children have no very clear notion as to what they are trying to accom- 
plish other than to do what the teacher says. Much more value in the work 
can be secured where the boys and girls, under the leadership of the teacher, 
clearly know what they are striving for. Helping a teacher to see this may 
enable her to remedy much of the difficulty in her work. 

f 2. What have the children and teacher agreed should be done both before 
coming to the next class meeting and the next session of the class? All 
too often the class is dismissed without any definite agreement as to what 
is needed next. If the children participate in the decision as to what is needed 
next they will have a greater sense of responsibility for accomplishing the 





~ 


j work decided upon. 

3. What are the children doing now by way of preparing for the next 
} session of the class? Many teachers fail in their ability to visualize the 
t children at work alone when preparing the things that are needed to be 


done before the next class session. The teacher cannot see the places where 

the children will go wrong in their thinking, where they will have difficulty 
in understanding the printed material, and where they will make errors in 
their efforts to do the work. If the teacher can visualize the children in their 
study and see the easy and hard places, she will be far better able to guide 
the work of the next class session and inspire the children with the con- 
fidence that she knows and understands their difficulties. 

4. What should the teacher do by way of preparing to supplement the 
children’s efforts? Often the children attempt te gather supplementary 
material to enrich that in their texts. The teacher should think through 
what they will be likely to find and what she can get which they will not 


' find so that she can come to the class prepared to enrich the children’s best 
} efforts. Thus, will the children gain in their confidence in the teacher’s 
ability. 


5. What should happen when the class comes together next time? If 
the teacher thinks through in advance what the children will be ready 
for, what they will be inclined to do, what she can do by way of enriching 
their ideas, and what ought to be accomplished in the time allotted, she will 
be far better able to guide the work of the next class period so that it is 
profitable. If she is uncertain as to what can be accomplished, she cannot 












12 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION 





very well teach boys and girls a sense of responsibility for using the time 
of the class period wisely. 

Another very fruitful source of help is the ability to make suggestions 
as to sources of material which will enrich the work. Many classroom 
teachers lack breadth of experience either in travel or reading. They do 
now know the environment, the places where the birds nest in the spring, 
the neighboring embankment of clay and stratified rock, the local industries, 
or the community enterprises. They do not know what is available in the 
libraries, in the magazines, or in the world about them. 

All this seems to say that the work of a principal is the problem of leading 
teachers in their growth into ability to live fully in order that they may, in 
turn, bring richness of living to boys and girls. He who would show others 
how to grow, must also be growing. He must have an ever new vision of 
this changing world and of the possibilities of education for helping boys 
and girls. To do this, he must keep in touch with the recent findings of 
educational research, and with the new proposals as to the underlying 
theories of education. He must frequently take account of his own educa- 
tional theory and evaluate it in the light of the new ideas. He must fre- 
quently check up his own educational practise relative to his theory. He 
must be an active inquirer into the learning process as it is going on in his 
school. 

Then will he be able to lead teachers in their growth. He can put them 
in touch with new books and call attention to valuable articles in recent 
magazines. He can discuss with them new theories and proposals for the 
work of the school; he can help them to study their own practise; he can 
help them to evaluate their own experience in the classroom and to dare try 
better ways of conducting the work of the school. Such a person must have, 
indeed, super-vision. 








| HE CHILD is not just a small adult, but in his processes of 
thinking he is distinctly different from the adult, so that he is 

as little easy to understand by the adult as is the adult by the 

child. This necessitates that the child should be interpreted to 

the adult. Figuratively speaking, the child’s language has to be 

translated into the language of the adult before it can be under- 

| stood. It is this basic fact that constitutes the most potent factor 

| in the ignorance which has hitherto surrounded the subject of 
childhood.” —William A. White, in The Child: His Nature and 
His Needs, edited by M. V. O’Shea. | 











ee eae 


=" 

















PLANNING THE SCHOOL WORK 


SARA ABBOTT 
Berlin, New Hampshire 


I. Wuy WE SHOULD PLAN 


OES a progressive teacher need to plan her work, or can she rely 
upon the inspiration of the moment to tell her what to do in the class- 
room? Strayer answers that question for us. He says “ The best teachers 
never reach the point where preparation for the day’s work is unnecessary.” 
1. Advantages of planning work—Recently I visited a fifth grade in the 
“ Martin School,” also known as the “ Model School” in Boston. The 
teacher and pupils were “ right on the job.” The teacher had confidence in 
herself. The pupils were alert and happy. The reason was that the teacher 
had her work well in hand. All equipment and materials were ready. 
Wher careful preparation for class work is made: 
We economize time 
. We select better units of work 
. We provide thought provoking questions 
. We take account of individual differences 


. We make better and more interesting assignments 
. We have equipment and materials ready 


An & WN 


2. Reasons for making daily preparation—The successful teacher has 
the habit of giving regular, daily preparation to her work. She never thinks 
that ‘‘ This time doesn’t count.” We know that James says: “ We may not 
count it and a kind Heaven may not count it, but it is being counted 
nevertheless.” 

There are many times when we have to change our plans, that they may 
be better adapted to meet the children’s interests and needs. 

3. Pupil planning—Pupils are more interested in units of work if they 
have helped to select them. We should try to guide them in choosing worth- 
while activities. If a pupil’s suggestions for group activity are not worthy 
‘of group effort they should be rejected. It is our ‘work to keep the pupils 
on the main highways of learning, and not allow them to waste time by 
exploring every chance side alley, which they will be sure to do if allowed 
to roam at will. 

4. Reasons for making a few written plans—We should write out a few 
of the main points in our lesson plans. It clarifies our ideas and serves as a 
check upon ourselves. It is also an aid to the substitute teacher to find a 
daily program of studies, and a planbook showing what the regular teacher 
has done and what she plans to do next. By finding these things she can 
readily fall into the line of work. 


Il. How SHALL WE PLAN 


1. Planning the objectives—At the beginning of the year we should plan 
our chief objectives for the year. In making these we ask ourselves, what 


[13] 








14 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





desirable changes do we wish to make in these children? Are the objectives 
that we have made in harmony with the cardinal objectives of education 
which meet life’s conditions and needs? Are we providing opportunities 
for growth in habits that will help the pupils to live better in the world of 
today, and also in the world of tomorrow which will be theirs by and by? 1- 
will state the principal objectives that I made last September for my class. 
I listed them under “ Plans for the Year.” They are as follows: * 


1. To make the schoolroom attractive—(That they may like to stay there.) 

2. To have interesting materials about the schoolroom. (Kilpatrick says, “To 
have interesting materials about a schoolroom is good teaching.’’) 

3. To acquire skills in reading, arithmetic, spelling, and writing. 

4. To keep up to the health standards. Have right attitudes of mind. 

5. To have some acquaintance with current topics. 

6. To learn how to enjoy better music, literature, pictures, and games. Have a 
further knowledge of birds, animals, and flowers. (Learn these things that they 
may know what to do with their leisure time and spend it wisely and happily.) 

7. To acquire some skill in problem solving and in conveying ideas to an audience. 
(Through the social-civic studies, a Junior Citizen’s Club, assemblies, and other 
activities. ) 

8. To further development of good character. 

9. To do some housekeeping. (Floor free from paper, care of window boxes, 
library books in order, etc.) 

2. More attention to certain subjects—(a.) Health education—shouldn’t 
we give more time to health education? If our pupils are to be well they 
will have to do something more than brush their teeth and have clean hands 
at nine o'clock in the morning. Are we teaching hygiene well it our pupils 
eat lollipops at recess time? Unless we can make changes in the habits of our 
pupils of what use is it to pretend to teach hygiene? If we can get the boys 
and girls to practise more of the health rules there will not be so many 
absent marks in our registers. (b.) Elementary science—Pupils should have 
a knowledge of the things about them—of everyday natural phenomena. 
Shouldn’t a second grade pupil know that certain animals hibernate? 
Shouldn’t a fourth grade pupil know what causes an eclipse of the sun; 
a fifth grader the difference between acids and alkalies? Craig has written 
an excellent course of study in elementary science for grades one through six. 
(c.) Character education—Shall we give conscious attention to character 
education? Isn’t it our work to change for the better the boys and girls that 
are under our charge? I believe that at the end of the year we should be 
able to say of our pupils “ This one is more courteous than when he came 
to me in the fall; that one doesn’t cheat so much; this group is more in- 
dustrious; that group has. shown continuous growth in initiative.” Over- 
street tells us that if we wish to change a child, we must change his habits. 

3. Selecting and arranging the subjectmatter—After we have planned the 
objectives and know what subjects or activities are to be included in our 
program, we might plan the amount of work to be given in each subject 
in a year, then in a term. Finally we construct our daily program and we 
are ready to plan for each day’s work or unit of work. 





*T am indebted to Dr. Lois Coffey Mossman for some of these objectives. 




















ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 15 





The newer movement is to make a plan which is called a Unit of Work. 
In this plan the work continues over a period of four or five days, especially 
in the upper grades. It is like carrying out what used to be called a project. 
These large units of work enable a child at school to more nearly live in a 
real life situation. Descriptions of units of work are given in the Lincoln 
School curriculum. 

A curriculum which any kindergarten or first-grade teacher might find 
helpful is The Conduct Curriculum by Patty Hill and others. This lists 
the activities of the kindergarten and first grade in their relation to conduct 
and behavior. 

4. Ideas used in planning work—The five normal steps are no longer 
used in any progressive schools for planning work. The reason is that they 
are too complex, and that the emphasis is on what the teacher does and not 
on the activity of the pupil. 

A simple scheme to use is the following ‘“ Three Question Plan ”: 

a. Why am I about to do this particular thing? 
b. What materials shall I use? 
c. How am I going to use it? 

These questions ask for the aim, subjectmatter, and method. 

It is well to ask after every class period, “ Did I accomplish what I 
started to do. If not, why?” 

Another idea very often used is this: 

. Purpose 
. Subjectmatter and procedure 


. Results expected 
. Results achieved. 


aoe op 


The steps used in thinking or in a problem solving lesson according to 
Parker are these: 


. Define the problem 

. Keep it in mind at all times 
Make suggestions for a solution 

. Evaluate these suggestions 

- Keep the thinking organized. 


enn op 


The more problematic situations we can provide in our schools, probably 
the better teachers we shall be. 

It takes time and thought to formulate the thought provoking questions 
which furnish the problems, and which we should use in solving the prob- 
lems. They are solemnly difficult, but if we would be progressive teachers 
we will prepare them for use especially in teaching the content subjects. 


III. Factors In DatLy PLANNING 


Every lesson plan should provide for motivation—that the pupils may 
not be greatly bored and will put forth greater effort. 

“If the pupil feels a need for doing a thing the work is motivated for 
him,” says Wilson. The problematic situation or a purpose related to a 
real life situation furnishes the best opportunity for motivation of work. 











16 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





We should provide for individual differences—that the brighter pupils 
may have extra work, the slower ones work that they can do. School work 
should be presented in a variety of ways to give each child the best oppor- 
tunity for advancement. Let us be sure that our pupils are placed in the 
groups to which they belong. Pupils work better in homogeneous groups. 

We should provide for checking results that the work mav be tested. 

We should plan carefully the assignment that definite goals may be set. 
The assignment should enable the pupils to know what to do, and how to 
go about it. It should include any helps that the pupils may need to use in 
the preparation of the lesson. 

There should be a time in every lesson when the teacher gives information 
and illustrations not in the text. 

Above all we should provide plenty of worthwhile work for our pupils 
to do that they may be happy, for “ happiness is activity.” Let us have 
the work done at school and not at home. 

Lessons observed—(a.) I once observed the teaching of a history lesson. 
It was evident that no preparation had been made. The teaching probably 
could not have been worse. What made it so poor? These are the reasons: 
There was no problem. There was no organization whatever, no planning 
of the order in which the subjectmatter should be taught, or how it should 
be taught. No use was made of equipment or of reference material. There 
was no audience situation. There was no checking of results, no summary, 
and no assignment. It was a horrible example of “ how not to teach.” (b.) 
In striking contrast was a geography lesson observed. It was evident that 
careful preparation had been made for its teaching. It was a problem- 
solving lesson. The motivation was in the problem itself. The pupils kept 
the problem in mind. If they strayed from the topic the teacher would 
ask, “Is John talking to the point? Are we talking about industries, 
Mary?” Use was made of equipment—blackboard, pictures, and maps. 
The superior pupils had been assigned extra work, and made their helpful 
contributions. The teacher checked, or had the pupils check after each 
main point had been covered. She kept the work organized and outlined 
the important suggestions on the blackboard. At the end of the lesson every 
pupil could give a summary of the lesson taught. The assignment grew 
out of the lesson. It was a “ leading on.” 


SUMMARY 


When preparation for a lesson is made, more efficient work can be done 
in less time and the teacher and pupils are happier in doing it, than when 
little or no planning is done. 

It is the regular, daily planning of the work that counts. 

We should write out a few of the main points of our plans, not many, 
but a few—to help ourselves and the substitute teacher. 

We should plan well the objectives. To plan them rightly, we should be 
aware of the changes that have been made, and are being made in curriculum 
construction. 








a 











ar. ees 











ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 








Especially should we give attention to health education, elementary 
science, and character development. 

Many opportunities for problem solving should be given—that our pupils 
may learn how to think. 

An uptodate movement in planning work is to plan a “ Unit of Work.” 
Detailed lesson plans are not necessary. The simpler the plan for daily 
work, the better it will probably be. A simple scheme to use is the “ Three 
Question Plan.” 

In every lesson provision should be made for motivation, individual dif- 
ferences, checking results, and for the assignment. 

Planning the work equips us for the greater task of teaching. It enables 
us to give true service to the boys and girls who depend upon our insight, 
our progressiveness, and our devotion to duty for their educational growth. 


YOU CAN HELP THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE 


AN EDITORIAL Committee of three has been appointed to 
prepare the 1930 Yearbook of the Department of Elementary 
School Principals. Earl R. Laing, Burt School, Detroit, is the chair- 
man. His co-workers are Isabel Tucker, Shenandoah School of 
Saint Louis, and Arthur S. Gist of the San Francisco State Teach- 
ers College. 

The committee expects to emphasize the administrative phases 
of the principals work in the 1930 Yearbook. In 1931 attention 
will be given to supervision. 

Members of the Department are asked to submit, immediately, 
manuscripts bearing upon administrative problems. Organization 
schemes, management plans and directive devices are particularly 
suited for this yearbook. Tables, graphs, and diagrams should 
be sent with the copy. 

All manuscripts will be carefully read. Only those fitting into 
the committee’s program can be printed. Articles should be in the 
hands of the committee by November 15, 1929. 

Address your inquiries directly to the committee members as 
noted above, or to the Editorial Committee, Department of Ele- 
mentary School Principals, 1201 Sixteenth St., N. W., Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

















FITTING INSTRUCTION TO THE CHILD 


Livia YOUNGQUIST 
Horace Mann School, Winnetka, Illinois 


OME one has said, “ If we understood our children, our educational 

systems might be revolutionized.” Our educational thinking is being 
directed to understanding children. We know that there are abilities great 
and small in the classrooms, and that children should not be treated as if 
they are alike. Children’s interests, attitudes, and abilities are different. 
Favorable attitudes should accompany their learning procedure. Children’s 
originality, initiative, and social consciousness vary in great degrees. A 
large freedom should be the strong environmental factor. 

A school * that fits instruction to the child makes a departure from the 
class recitation method and builds an environment conducive to individual 
and group growth. Its curriculum includes two types of subjectmatter. 
They are the drill subjects for individual progress and the expressional 
subjects for the group and creative activities. The drill subjects are read- 
ing, writing, arithmetic, spelling, the most prominent events in history, and 
some of the most important features of geography. They are the knowl- 
edge and skill parts. The expressional subjects are extensive in their kinds. 
Some of them are music, dramatization, puppet shows, manual arts, garden, 
playground, and auditorium activities. 

Not teachers’ judgments, not teachers’ generalities, not tradition, but 
research determines what facts, and how much of the facts of the drill sub- 
jects, are to be thoroughly learned by the individual. The research depart- 
ment of the Winnetka school determines the basis for a fact course in 
history and geography by an exhaustive study of persons and places that are 
commonly alluded to in periodical literature. This department has made 
it possible to determine the correct grade placement for any book so far 
as difficulty is concerned.” (The content factors that determine the grade 
placement of a book are still under investigation.) By measuring a child’s 
ability and having books graded (as to structure) it is possible to give 
children reading material that coincides with reading ability. 

The spelling words most commonly needed by children, the phonogram 
most useful in learning to read, and the syllables which occur so commonly 
as to demand instant recognition—all have been determined by scientific 
investigation. 

The standards toward which children should work in arithmetic are 
determined by knowing what arithmetic knowledge the adult needs in 
everyday life. It has been found that we need to give more practise work 
and attention to addition and subtraction of integers, and less to the study 
of multiplication and division of integers, and still less to the study of 
fractions. 


*The illustrations and references made in this article are taken from the work 


done in the public school of Individual Instruction at Winnetka, Illinois. 
? Washburne and Vogel. What Children Like to Read. Rand McNally Co. 


[18] 


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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 19 





Research, then, determines the fitness of the fact-curriculum. The ob- 
jectives are the minimum esssentials that are to be mastered by the child. 
The objectives might be termed goals. They are definite. They are units 
of work to be accomplished by the child. The teacher knows what the 
units are and gives the minimum amount of help to the child individually, 
as he proceeds at his own rate. Every child masters these minimum com- 
mon facts the same, that is completely. The time element for the absolute 
learning varies as does the ability of each individual; the slower child 
cannot progress as rapidly as the bright one. 

Complete diagnostic tests cover the objectives that are determined. The 
purpose of that revealing to the child and to the teacher what the child is 
weak in. The smaller the items of the test are the easier for the child to 
accomplish, understanding of course, that each item of subjectmatter mas- 
tered by the child is as small as the test. Or conversely, the child is tested 
on the small unit learned. Often a practise test is given which the child 
corrects himself and then proceeds to do the remedial work discovered by 
his own testing. 

The tests should have several forms and include in every form the exact 
equivalent content, differing only in arrangement. The teacher needs several 
practise tests and several real tests in order to fit the varied abilities of a 
classroom. These tests and the opportunities for selfcorrection take the 
place of recitations. The recitation gives the opportunity for the child to 
tell a fraction of a whole part which he is supposed to know. The diag- 
nostic test gives the opportunity for the child to tell the whole part which 
he is supposed to know. The recitation gives the teacher the opportunity 
to know vaguely what the whole class has learned. The tests tell specifically 
where each individual needs help. 

The subjectmatter which the child learns is in the form of selfinstructive 
and selfcorrective materials and books. Several publishers are making these 
kinds of books now. The more the whole objective is divided and sub- 
divided: the easier it is for the child to teach himself and to correct his work. 
Scientific investigation has found which parts of a whole are the easiest for 
the child to learn at his level. The child learns of the objectives as found 
in the units of subjectmatter on which he is working. He wants to reach a 
goal. He acquires a study habit. A primary child says, “ I know this row of 
words better than that row,” or, “ Mary does not know this lesson. May I 
help her?,” and “Please test me. I am ready.” A little six year old said, 
“Oh Boy! I am glad I can soon get to this story. My sister read it to me, 
and is it a good one! Oh Boy!” 

The child learns that he must correct each step of the procedure. The 
materials are self-corrective. The teacher of a primary group often hears 
expressions like these: “ I got all on this page O. K.” “I missed only one.” 
“Where are the answers for these problems in my book?” 

The teacher gives the children individual attention and help. She need 
not correct the practise papers and practise test papers. But she does correct 
the real test papers and knows if more tests are needed for any child. She 








20 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION 





sincerely rejoices with the child over his individual progress. She is alert 
to watch for habits of laziness, wasting of time, and over exaggeration of 
ability. The child says, “ I am ready for a test,” when he is not ready. The 
teacher must then in a friendly way direct the child to take up again the 
routine procedure for mastering the unit of work. She tries to discover the 
method through which there is a strong feeling of satisfaction. ‘These 
satisfactions may result from correctness of doing, beauty of doing, and 
social approval. The group is always ready to be glad with the child who 
wants to show or express his accomplishment. The teacher, however, 
guards against indiscriminate use of praise. Each child works at his own 
task, or works with a partner at drill lessons. The teacher is among the 
children, helping and stimulating them as they work at their desks. 
Occasionally a few of the children arrive at the same place in the lessons 
in the practise books and may need an explanation in order to go on to the 
next step. The teacher then groups them and gives the needed explanation 
orally. 

Drill subjects should have shorter periods of time for the learner. Ex- 
perience and research have shown that the individual technic makes it 
possible to learn the fact curriculum and still have more time for other 
activities than do the class recitation methods. One half of the morning and 
one half of the afternoon are all that are needed. The other half of the 
morning and of the afternoon can be spent in giving the child the cor- 
responding privileges and responsibilities of the adult—opportunity for 
experiencing real life. 

The expressional subjects are subjects in which the child may manifest 
and urge for expression and experimentation. But the urge must be sacrificed 
when the interest of the group demands it. The child senses his dependence 
upon the group as well as his responsibility for the group of which he is 
a part. 

In music, the sweetest tones, the clearest diction, the most correct pitch 
that each one can produce gives that much more pleasure to the others of 
the group. In listening to good music each child must put himself in a 
receptive mood. A sixth grade shares its intimacy with the three composers, 
Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart by giving biographical talks accompanied 
with lantern slides of their own selection and manipulation. Three children 
furnish music from each of the composers. Finished singing and finished 
rhythm exercises are not the ultimate aims of music, but rather the joy of 
singing, listening, and dancing. 

The assembly work is a means of unifying the whole school. It is a 
place where children may share their individual and group activities. Pro- 
grams vary. They may be those solely electing school-government officers 
and committees. They may be talks about the school day’s activities, story 
festivals, or finished dramatizations. 

The content subjects such as health, civics, literature, nature study, and 
history that includes geography, stimulate a wide variety of cooperative 
activities for the children in the Winnetka Schools. In the first grade such 








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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS ai 





subjects as community life, home life, or farm life are experienced. A 
second grade has Indian, Arabian, or Japanese life. A third grade, studying 
Russia, may troop into their room one day at three, instead of at one 
o'clock, their arms loaded with marsh grasses to be used in making a thatched 
peasant cottage. 

There is a supervisor who aids the teacher and the pupils directly and 
indirectly in this field of creative work. She maintains a reserve library and 
a supply room of lumber, clay, paints, kilns, picture machines, cameras, and 
illustrative materials. She and the teacher want the children to experience 
life. Therefore the creative activities are in the form of playhouses that are 
large enough to “ go inside ” ; caves big enough to “ live in ” ; tepees that are 
life size; Viking boats that are large enough to hold a pupil passenger or 
two. “As much of the world as is possible is brought into the schoolroom. 
When that is not possible the school goes out to the world.” There are 
trips to the farm, to the museum, to the stores. One grade tramped far out 
into the woods to live as did the cave men. When space and materials do 
not suffice for the life size forms, there are miniature forms in the sandtable 
or on tables. 

Problem solving is an essential phase of a group activity lesson. A fifth 
grade group converted the stage of the auditorium into a Grecian dwelling. 
They measured the width of the stage and from that measurement found 
the number of pillars that are needed. They selected pillars that are not too 
thick, nor yet too thin in order that the dwelling be pleasing to the eye and 
correct as to structure. 

A fourth grade displays Egyptian life in various forms. The teacher says 
in answer to questions, “ Yes. It is quite extensive. I told my children that 
if anyone presented any more ideas for this expressional work, I would be 
unable to help them. Sure enough a child came forth with the idea of a 
palm tree for the princess’ palace. The child made the tree all right. But 
to make it stand up was the problem. I have learned that a child can solve 
about three fourths of a problem in his creative work. The one fourth 
resolves itself upon me.” 

The teacher and the supervisor aim to teach correctness of form in ex- 
pressing an idea whether the form be speech, drama, music, or handwork. 
This alertness is constantly evident but not so constantly that spontaneity 
and freshness are inhibited. When an environment is rich for creative 
expressions one may find attempts to give thoughts to the form of poetry. 
A first grade child composed the following: 

In summer when the leaves are green 
And little chickens happy seem, 

The farmyard animals make a noise, 
“Cluck, cluck,” goes the rooster, 

“ Bowwow ” goes the dog. 

“ Bowwow, wow” all the day. 
“Moo, moo,” goes the cow, 

“Moo, moo, moo,” the cow does say. 


The farmyard is the best at last 
To stay and lie all day. 














22 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





A second grade child wrote: 


I have a little shadow 
That stays by me at day. 

But when it goes a raining 
My shadow goes away. 

The teacher and the supervisor know that new experiences for the child 
should be added to the old when the child is ready to make these experiences 
a part of himself. Their attentions are directed to keeping everyone happily 
busy. 

Sharp lines are not drawn to separate absolutely the social and the in- 
dividual parts of the work. The social phase may grow out of and stimulate 
the process of the individual phase but is nevertheless an end in itself. The 
child receives no grade marking for the group and creative activities. He 
has a goal card on one side of which are check marks showing progress in 
developing certain habits and attitudes. They are group spirit, orderliness, 
work spirit, selfreliance, initiative, and special interests. 

Discipline is a training in the use of freedom. It controls and guides. It 
maintains a direction that more and more develops into a selfdirection and 
selfdetermination. The child has a right to be natural and happy in a real 
life situation. ‘“‘ Education is life.” He has a right to modify his intellectual 
ability in the way that makes for growth and prepares for life; he has a 
right to develop his individuality with real problems to solve; he has a 
right to develop the spirit of group service, living with others for others. 
Because the child is better understood, schools are offering him opportunities 
to experience life situations, to develop skills, to create attitudes, to train 
abilities. The child gains habits, thoughts, and actions that are foundations 
for a full living. 








MY CREED | 


BELIEVE in the child. A child is the hand of God recording 

on the universal pages of time the history of the human race. | 

I believe every child has a God-given heritage of life, health, and | 
happiness and opportunity to fill its chosen place in the world. | 
I believe in the right of every child to an education of the head, | 
the heart and the hand. | 
I believe that man owes no higher duty to society than the duty | 

of service to childhood.—James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor. 








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GEOGRAPHY FOR A NEW WORLD—ABSTRACT 


HARRIET SMITH 
Sam Houston State Teachers College, Huntsville, Texas 


T IS my privilege to discuss some recent changes that seem significant to a 
geography teacher, and to emphasize the need in America for geography 
teaching founded on principles not subject to change. 

Changes have been far reaching and profound—Only yesterday, it seems, 
loads were lifted by human muscle; today in the leading nations, more and 
more by gas and electricity. Yesterday, planting and harvesting were mainly 
by hand ; today one farm machine releases ten men for city positions. Yester- 
day, we had the home and hand stage of manufacture; today, the factory 
system with its standardization and specialization. Yesterday was a time 
characterized by isolation, ignorance, provincialism, and hatreds; today, 
distance is being annihilated, ignorance is passing, and world consciousness 
is happily taking the place of neighborhood animosities. 

Outlook on life has changed—More important than things recently ac- 
complished is the changed outlook on life among at least three classes. First,‘ 
the men who are accomplishing these changes seem to accept no stage or 
condition as final. They find permanent satisfaction in no small neighbor- 
hood. They go on to new discoveries and applications, to the winning of 
new records, to new places and people seen, new adjustments made. Second, 
for the somewhat illiterate—the million or more released from routine 
work in America since 1920—education has become a factor in their lives, 
if not for themselves, at least for their children. They see trained men and 
women passing them in competition for professional positions, and the result 
is that high schools and colleges are becoming crowded. 

Teo bridge the gap beween these two groups, the teachers, as interpreters, 
find their work. They must parallel outside material progress with inside 
understanding of its meanings. Classroom practise needs to speed up to keep 
abreast with the interests of the young people watching the airplanes, the 
radio reports, the movies. 

Another change in the attitude that seems to me most wholesome is that 
of increasing confidence in the upward progress of the race. Modern teach- 
ers know it and youth is being trained to accept it. It is belief in slow but 
sure human achievement as against the belief in ready-made supremacy for 
the human race. 

Once the earth was thought to center about man. Today man knows 
himself to be but a small part of life on one of the planets, kept alive by 
heat and light from one of the smallest of suns, far from the center of a vast 
universe, and he thinks of truth, not as something completely revealed but 
as something to be arduously sought and but partially found. Immeasurably 
less exalted from without, man is lifting himself superbly from within. He 
sees the past as a line of progress for humanity, and it affords basis for fuller 
confidence in his fellowman. 





[23] 














24 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





What can geography contribute?—Geography is the study of human re 
sponses to earth controls, a broad and beautiful subject. Just what shall it 
contribute to this new world of change, of modified physical environment, 
of deepened confidence in humanity ? 

Geography emphasizes people in relation to their environment—The text- 
books are leading the way to an increasing emphasis on how people live, and 
how their activities are influenced by the physical environment. Consider 
a few titles of recent books on geography: Man in Many Lands, Human 
Geography, Nations as Neighbors. The emphasis is on people. Also through 
school journeys into local environment the child sees how people are ad- 
justing themselves to their physical surroundings. He studies typical groups 
of people elsewhere in all his own land and in other countries. ‘Through 
reading and through the movie, perhaps through travel, he is led into an 
ever expanding world in which he sees diverse men and women adjusting 
themselves to the same forces of nature, and to other human groups about 
them. His own experience tells him that geography is a study of man in 
relation to his environment, or as he may put it, a study of people making 
homes for themselves on the earth. Thus the study is seen to have out-of 
school significance. 

Geography lays foundations for peace—In stressing people in response to 
their physical environment, geography sets itself the big task of laying 
foundations for peace. It does this by reasonable interpretation of the 
activities of people. It is against provincialisms that tend toward family 
feuds; against “ nationalism the full fruit of which is war,” says Zangwill ; 
against a racial superiority complex which fosters the bitterest antagonisms. 

It would be in line with geography teaching to drop our childish, crude, 
offensive national boasting, and consider studiously how we can conserve 
instead of exploit our vast material resources, how we can elevate our social 
and economic standards, and by our own superior practise, win the right to 
lead our neighbors in their needed adjustments. Probably this can come 
only through the development of youth in the schools; all of us know that 
middle-aged people must die in their sins, but “ whatever is put into the 
school process of today comes out in the social process of tomorrow.” 

Geography tends toward world brotherhood—Geography teaching, it 
sincerely carried out, will tend toward a more sympathetic knowledge of 
people and a diminution of racial friction. If we had more knowledge, we 
should almost certainly have less friction. 

Geography has its own scientific content—Geography can serve educa- 
tion best, it seems to me, if it is recognized as a whole science rather than 
a mass of mutilated fragments in a sea of social studies. It has its scientific 
content, strong enough to stand alone. Casual relationship is the keynote 
that binds together as a science all the factors of geography. Dr. Bagley 
says that “ The firsthand records in the field of geography furnish the ver) 
best exemplification of the spirit and methods of scientific inquiry that can 
be grasped and appreciated by the average mind.” 


















ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 25 





The conception of a vast lapse of time—Contrasted with history, that 
gives the yesterday and the today of human action, geography tells the story 
of millions of years before human history began. For instance: the geo- 
graphic topic, ancient glaciation, calls for a conception of hundreds of thou- 
sands of years; the formation of coal took millions; in the development of 
continental platforms and ocean basins can be felt the very pulse of the 
universe. Grappling with big fundamental thoughts like these tends to lift 
and make large the whole life of the student and to develop an attitude of 
patience, humility, and reverence. 

Geographic interpretation adds depth to the curriculum—The essence of 
geography is interpretation, by which it gives to elementary education better, 
perhaps, than any other subject of the curriculum its third dimension, depth. 
The elementary curriculum is well supplied with length and breadth. It 
embraces knowledges and skills of almost bewildering extent and perplexity. 
Geography adds depth for its true function is to trace meanings. It centers 
about those talismanic words, relationships, and adjustments. “‘ What rela- 
tionships?” you may well be asking. I shall mention three typical classes. 
It interprets relationship between two physical factors, as rainfall induced 
on windward slopes of high mountains. It interprets relationships also 
between a people and their physical environment, as maritime that develop 
where a people are hemmed in between highlands and the sea. Third, rela- 
tionships between groups of men in business intercourse, as trade back and 
forth between the manufacturers of the temperate zone and the producers 
of raw materials of the tropical zone. 

These are casual relationships that call for adjustment, a keyword in 
geography. Maladjustment means strain; adjustment gives relief. Political 
boundaries, the location of cities, trade routes, the development of com- 
merce, and the settlement of many international questions are founded on 
adjustments that have been made or should be made. Happy the pupil who, 
through a study of man’s proper adjustments can so modify his own con- 
duct as to conform pleasantly and constructively to the demands of his 
physical and social environment. 

Geography is one of the new humanities—In the schools the tendency 
seems to be away from the merely disciplinary studies and the purely cul- 
tural subjects to emphasis on the socalled new humanities: geography, 
history, biology, other sciences. “ These contain,” say Chapman and Counts, 
“the larger knowledge before which popular mythologies cannot stand,” 
and they give the broad world viewpoint. 

If geography were only or mainly place, names, and boundaries, it would 
deserve no place in the new humanities. But through problem and project, 
through regional studies, through field trip and journey geography, through 
openminded search for truth, and a plea for increasing respect for other 
people, geography has a message for and should keep its place in modern 
education. As I see it, this is geography for the new world. 











COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS 


E. W. CoBER 
Principal of Holmes School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 


HERE can be no school where there are no pupils. This immediately 

presupposes a community. The community patronizes and supports the 
school. In order to do his work satisfactorily the principal must have his 
“ finger on the pulse ” of the community if he is to sense and interpret the 
wishes and needs of the community. We realize as never before the strategic 
position of the elementary school principal in a large city school system in 
interpreting and “selling” to his patrons what the superintendent of 
schools has planned. In turn the principal must gain the confidence of 
his community so that the community will accept the decisions of the 
principal, in the same matter-of-fact way as the patient does that of the 
physician. 

This cannot be done in a haphazard manner. Neither can it be done in a 
month or a year. For nine years the writer and his staff of teachers have 
followed a definite and systematic program which we believe has gained, 
and is holding the confidence of the community. 

During this time the status of the people has changed, socially and 
occupationally. While always a rather heterogeneous constituency—racially 
and religiously—the community has changed, so that there is in many cases 
no encouragement for higher education. In the Holmes School of which 
the writer is principal, with an enrolment of 1200, which is 300 more than 
it was five years ago, we have only fifty or sixty entering the senior high 
school from our eighth grade. Another factor to be reckoned with is con- 
stant moving from the district to places more inviting and prosperous. Their 
places are taken by others not so prosperous in this world’s goods. These 
in turn remain until they become financially more prosperous and then 
move to sections more desirable. 

I will give a brief review of the agencies and organizations which we 
use in promoting a healthy community relationship. 

Special assemblies—These are called at intervals during the year and are 
addressed by some representative person of the community such as a banker, 
policeman, fireman, traffic officer, clergyman, rabbi, or director of religious 
education. There is a standing invitation to parents and friends to be 
present at our assemblies whenever held. 

Special auditorium exercises—These are held on such days as Christmas, 
Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Memorial Day. 

Regular auditorium sessions—These programs are given in the audi- 
torium every Thursday when all grades from the 4th to the 8th participate. 
Plays, musicals, and moving pictures are given. Very often children are 
costumed by their parents. This very often is the means of bringing parents 
and friends to the school i in order to see the program. While in the building 
they will likely visit in rooms where their children are scheduled. and in 
this way the teacher and parent will meet. 


[26] 











— Sl llc | Ce 

















ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 27 





Mothers’ meetings—These are arranged and given monthly by the 
teachers of the kindergarten. Here again the mothers assist and contribute 
in a material way if necessary. Occasionally the first-grade teachers join in 
these mothers’ meetings and in this way a sympathetic attitude is maintained 
during the early years of the child’s formal education. There are no ses- 
sions in the kindergarten Friday afternoon. This permits the teachers of 
this room to call on the mothers of the kindergarten children and gives us 
a very definite “link up” with the home. 

Closing exercises of the evening school—The evening school is largely 
made up of Americanization and elementary English classes. Just before 
the Christmas vacation the writer, who is principal of the Holmes Evening 
School, and the teachers arrange an evening’s entertainment consisting of 
moving pictures, songs by the school, readings, solos, instrumental selections, 
and short speeches. This is given in the auditorium. Later in the evening 
the pupils of the evening school and their invited friends are taken to the 
gymnasium where a sccial hour is spent and refreshments are served by the 
teachers. Games are played, and in this way an evening of good fellowship 
is spent where race, nationality, and creed are forgotten. A program pro- 
vided by the Womans’ Club of Oakland, in which the Oakland Board of 
Trade also have a part, is given at the close of the evening school in March 
of each year. Here the new American and his invited friends meet and 
associate with an organization of club women and also an organized body 
of business men. 

Closing exercises of the day school—These are given at the close of each 
semester, when the 8th grade pupils complete their work and are given 
diplomas which admit them to high school. A play is given by the class to 
which the parents and friends of the graduates are invited. While this 
event severs the child’s actual relationship so far as the local school is con- 
cerned, it nevertheless helps to continue the parent’s interest in the school, 
especially if the pupil does well in the high school. During these exercises 
representatives of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the 
American Revolution, and the local post of the American Legion make 
formal presentations of prizes or medals to members of the class for excel- 
lence in scholarship as well as courage, honor, service, and leadership. 

Counselor—During the last year we have arranged the schedule so as to 
have one of our teachers give part of his time to the guiding and counseling 
of pupils of grades seven and eight especially. This involves conference 
with pupils, and in many cases with the parents also. In this way pupils are 
advised intelligently. Very often we can induce them to enter a trade 
school instead of quitting school. The counselor does a very valuable piece 
of work by directing the boys and girls in the choice of the proper courses 
when they enter high school. 

Parents’ night—open house—During Education Week parents are urged 
by formal invitation to visit their school. The form below was sent to 
every parent last November. 














28 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION 





To the Patrons of the Holmes School 


Education Weck is being observed from November 5 to 11 in the schools 
throughout the United States, and we wish at this time to give you a 
cordial invitation to visit your school on Monday, Tuesday, or Thurs- 
day, of this week from 9 to 3:45 o'clock. 


However, in order that all fathers and mothers may have a special 
opportunity of learning about the work being done by the pupils of the 
Holmes School, we have set aside Wednesday evening, November 7, 
between the hours of 7:30 and 9:30, as a time when the teachers will 
be glad to meet you. 


Time: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 9 A. M. to 3:45 P. M. 
Wednesday, 7:30 P. M. to 9:30 P. M. 


Place: Holmes School. 


Purpose: To help your boy and girl. 
E. W. Coser, Principal. 


This is followed up by the report teacher asking her pupil if father and 
mother are coming to school during the week, and especially on Parents’ 
Night. 

The principal in conference with his teachers has all plans and arrange- 
ments made so that every teacher is in his room. The children are asked to 
bring their parents, otherwise they are requested not to come to the 
building. 

In the higher grades each report teacher selects two pupils as her aids 
who assist in calling attention to the exhibits and some work of every pupil 
which may be found on the desks, walls, and blackboards. In the lower 
grades teachers are furnished with aids from the eighth grade. Certain 
older pupils are also detailed to act as guides to parents, since the rooms— 
thirty-five in number—cover four floors. 

This is an opportune time for the parents and teacher to compare notes 
and thereby serve the child efficiently. More than that, the parent meets 
the teacher under the most auspicious circumstances. We have also observed 
that many parents who are very reticent about coming to school, at this time 
come willingly, since it is quite the thing to come to their school at the 
stated time on Parents’ Night. 

With an attendance of 510 which we had at our last Parents’ Night, the 
teachers had a very busy, yet a very profitable evening. The many questions 
which were asked and answered will have no small part in solving and 
cementing our community relationships. 

This has not been written with the thought that it is new or unusual. It 
is simply a recounting of what we have found to be assets in “ selling the 
school ” to the patrons. The growth in mutual respect and confidence has 
been gradual, but it is little short of marvelous in the attitude of the 
parents toward their teachers. In the past we have said, ‘“‘As the teacher so 
the school” or “As the principal so the school.” Why not say, “As the 


community so the school?” 











STUDENT-PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL GOVERNMENT 


Dora B. LANTRIP 
Principal, Eastwood School, Houston, Texas 


ITH THE idea that poise, selfreliance and development of initiative 

must go hand in hand with book-learning and the usual classroom 
instruction in the development of the really worthwhile citizen of tomorrow, 
we at Eastwood school have, for nine years, carried on a form of student 
participation in school administration, that has proved a success from the 
fact that the principal and teachers are vitally interested, and are untiring 
in their efforts to make the system a success—realizing that it is one of our 
most important duties. 

We have found it to be not an easy form of government to administer, 
for it requires a combination of great patience, alertness, tactfulness, sym- 
pathy, and a good understanding of child gsychology—and one must be on 
the job constantly. But when once well est¢blished, it relieves the individual 
teacher of many of her little perplexing disciplinary problems, and assists 
the principal in many matters pertaining to management of the school; 
while in a much greater way it gives the children some idea of responsibility, 
civic pride, a working knowledge of the meaning of citizenship, and serves 
as a most effective safety valve for pent up energy. 

Our government is fashioned along the lines of the Houston city govern- 
ment with modifications to meet our individual needs. The elective officers 
are mayor, water commissioner, fire and police commissioner, tax com- 
missioner, street and bridge commissioner, and judge. These are elected 
by the student body from pupils selected from the fifth grades. When we 
began the system, we had the sixth and seventh grades, the elective officers 
being chosen from these higher grades. When these two grades were 
transferred to junior high school, leaving our highest grade the fifth, I was 
not quite sure how the plan would work, but have found that the fifth 
graders are equal to any occasion that arises, and have displayed just as 
good judgment as the older children. Of course, the problems to be con- 
fronted are simpler in nature, but I believe children can manage their own 
childish affairs in about as efficient manner as grownups manage theirs. 

Before a pupil can announce himself for an office, he must make a written 
statement that he wishes to become a candidate and get the approval of his 
teacher and the principal. No one can become a candidate whose conduct 
is not excellent—this puts a premium on good conduct. 

When our candidates have announced, we usually have from two to five 
for each office; we then collect a poll tax of five cents from each child who 
wishes to vote. This is not compulsory any more than the poll tax of one 
dollar and fifty cents is in the state, except we insist that every good citizen 
in the school and the state will pay his poll tax as one dollar of the state 
tax goes into our state school fund and the five cents school tax goes into 
our local school fund. We stress this dollar state tax so that the message 
may be carried home as many of our parents have not yet learned that the 
schools receive a benefit from the state poll tax. 

[29] 











30 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





Each child is given a receipt for his money and this entitles him to vote. 
We keep a list of all who pay poll tax so that if any child loses his receipt 
his name is on the list and he is entitled to vote. Our school is divided 
into nine precincts and a child must vote in his own precinct. 

We have our elections the second week of each semester. On election 
morning school begins a little earlier than usual and each child is given a 
printed ballot with instructions as to marking it. These ballots, with pledge, 
are quite similar to those of the city. No child receives assistance in mark- 
ing his ballot except in the kindergarten and first grade where the teachers 
and judges appointed for that work help. No suggestion is made as for 
whom a child shall vote. Each one knows perfectly well whom he wants 
and why. I find children use good judgment in their voting as those elected, 
without a single exception, have been the very best candidates. 

The ballots are counted in the afternoon in the presence of all the can- 
didates so that they can see that the ballots are counted fairly and accurately. 
We have four election judges who are not candidates who pass on question- 
able ballots and assist the teachers in the counting. Excitement runs high— 
each precinct vote is taken separately and each candidate is anxious to know 
just how he stands in the different precincts. In the past nine years we 
have had no unpleasantness on account of our elections. Those who lose 
take it very philosophically and usually congratulate the winner. 

For a week before the election the candidates resort to every fair means 
to get themselves before the voters. They make speeches, put up posters, 
have parades at recess, some have had cards with name and slogans on them. 

We always have an assembly, our mayor presiding, for the candidates at 
the beginning of the campaign when each candidate is introduced and 
makes a speech telling what he stands for and expects to do. We have 
another a few days after the election when the officers take the oath of 
office—it is the same taken by all our public officials—and are presented with 
their insignia of office, a metal badge that looks like silver. These are 
coveted by all Eastwood children as many privileges as well as responsi- 
bilities go with them. They are accepted on busses and street cars in lieu of 
the special card which permits the children over age to ride for half fare 
and it is amusing to watch them get on the bus and display the badge. 

At the first meeting of the council which takes place immediately after 
taking oath, the mayor with suggestions from the principal announces the 
heads of departments—that cover all our needs—for the approval of the 
council, reserving the right to appoint his own secretary and mayor pro 
tem. If for any reason any name proposed does not meet the approval of 
anyone, he very plainly states his objection and why—usually the reasons are 
good. After discussion by all, the vote is taken and those selected are re- 
quired to sign a pledge of loyalty and are presented with badges. These, in 
turn, appoint assistants from every grade and have meetings with their 
respective groups whenever necessary. This develops executive ability and 


leadership. 








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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 31 





Each department has specific duties to perform but each officer must 
report any irregularity that is discovered in any other department. 

The question of whether the candidates are boys or girls as such is never 
discussed. Qualifications are the only things considered. 

Our organization has brought out the very best in our boys and girls and 
has given them the opportunity for initiative that they have never had, has 
given them a love for their school subjects never possessed before. I have 
seen some boys made over, so to speak. 

A father brought me a twelve year old boy one day who had always 
attended a private school, and told me that the boy was sent home as im- 
possible—the expression used—and that he would not learn or behave. The 
father asked me if we would tackle the job of doing something for the boy. 
| agreed, looked the little fellow over, talked to him privately and asked 
what was the trouble. His reply was: “A fellow gets tired sitting in a 
schoolroom all day saying lessons and catechism with nothing to do.” I saw 
at once an opportunity to reach the boy, as we were having our election and 
I thought we would be able to arouse his interest. I asked him if he would 
like some outside work around the building and he seemed delighted to be 
of service. When the council met to name heads of departments, I sug- 
gested John, the boy mentioned above as park superintendent and he was 
appointed. I outlined his work which was to move shrubbery which was in 
the way of the new building to be erected, and see that it was properly 
placed as well as properly planted. 

We have about nine acres in our school ground and have no regular yard 
man. For that reason we have had to ask the boys to help, and find that this 
helping has developed a pride in the care of the grounds that could not be 
developed otherwise. 

John tackled his job, appointed his assistants, and the work began. He 
always came to school early so he could talk over his plans with me for 
the day. The boys worked before school, at recess, and after school. The 
work was finished on time and John developed into one of our most depend- 
able boys. With his interest aroused in the work outside of school came an 
interest in his school work and no teacher ever complained of his conduct. 
What was done with John has been done with many of our children. 

We have built sidewalks, and coping for flower beds; in fact, the children 
take part in everything around the place. I often consult them about ex- 
penditure of money that they have to help raise and I am constantly amazed 
at their good judgment. We are trying by means of our council to educate 
our boys and girls to be able to meet every emergency of life. 

On account of our pupils taking part in all the affairs of school—the 
classrooms, the auditorium, cafeteria, halls, lavatories, and our school yard 
are kept in better order; but this is only the physical manifestation of the 
gain made. The students have come to regard the school as their own in a 
sense never experienced before. A feeling of personal pride and interest 
now attaches itself to every phase of school activity. School spirit or school 
pride has taken the place of indulgence of personal whims. This spirit is 











32 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION 





manifested in every detail of school life. The children are constantly on 
the alert to find something to do for the improvement of the school and are 
willing to do hard work and undertake big things. Thus the pupils have 
developed habits that make good citizens now and in the future. This form 
of administration keeps me on the alert at all times but the children are a 
pleasure and a great inspiration day by day. New teachers coming into the 
school always marvel at the admirable spirit of cooperation and fellowship. 

It has been the aim of Eastwood school to make the pupils not only good 
citizens of tomorrow but good, helpful, law-abiding citizens of today. 
‘Then as they travel along their way they shall realize that they have real 
duties and obligations of all kinds just as important and binding in their 
everyday world as are those of their elders in their world thus developing 
citizenship so that when they reach the threshold of tomorrow they shall 
bring their best in the way of honesty, truthfulness, industry, justice, wis- 
dom, and good-will. 


VALUE OF VISUAL EDUCATION 


. Greater percentage of people see alike than hear alike. 

. Learning is generally mentally recorded as pictures. 

. We think our thoughts largely in terms of the visual. 

. More impressions are received through the eye in a given time 

than in any other way. 

5. We can visualize or learn correctly only through comparisons 
made possible by past experiences. 

6. Pictures classify distorted conceptions and excite and stimulate 
the fancy, which results in further activity. 

7. The proper use of visual education will reduce the number of 

failures and will effect economy.—H. W. Norman, Secre- 

tary of Visual Instruction, Indiana University. 


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A STUDY OF CREDITS FOR SUMMER-SCHOOL WORK AND 
EXTENSION WORK IN THE LAKEWOOD PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS, LAKEWOOD, OHTO 


EpirH _L. CuRREN 
Principal, Hayes School, Lakewood, Ohio 


HE problem of credits to be allowed teachers for summer school and 

extension class work was given special consideration by the superin- 
tendent of schools of Lakewood, Ohio, during the school year of 1927. He 
appointed a committee of six members, composed of a teacher and a principal 
from the elementary schools, a teacher and a principal from the junior high 
school, and two teachers from the high school, to formulate a plan for regu- 
lating and evaluating the work of the teachers done in summer schools and 
in extension classes. 

In its preliminary study, the committee found that there was a decided 
need for the direction of teachers in the selection of work to be taken when 
credit was desired, as well as for a definite plan for the granting of credit 
for summer school and extension work. Aside from the desire for pro- 
fessional growth, the state requirement for certification and the plan of 
salary increase based on further study have made it desirable, in fact, almost 
necessary for the majority of teachers to do work in summer school every 
two or three years, or to take extension work during the school year. It 
has sometimes seemed that the real purpose of such study was being sub- 
ordinated to the more immediate need of accumulating credits for certifica- 
tion and salary increase. To prevent this situation from growing, the com- 
mittee raised several questions: 

What should be the purpose of summer school and extension courses? 

How much credit should be allowed for work done in any one summer? 

Should the amount of extension work done be limited (1) by the health of the 
teacher; (2) by the possibility of lessened teaching power; (3) by the number of 
other outside activities being carried on such as teaching in night schools? 

Should the courses taken be limited (1) by consideration of previous training; 
(2) by the teaching position held? 

Should the selection of work be left entirely to the teacher, or should recommenda- 
tions be made by the superintendent, the principal, or the supervisor? 

Could a program of courses for the guidance of teachers be worked out? 

The result of this study was the formulation of a body of rules and 
regulations which, after many conferences of superintendent and committee, 
were formally adopted by the board of education. These rules and regula- 
tions are as follows: 

1. Summer courses or extension courses, taken for credit towards salary increase, 
should definitely tend to make the teacher better fitted for his position. With this 
in view, certain programs will be set up as indicating desirable courses to follow. 

2. It is desirable that a teacher without a degree or a diploma, who elects to take 
extension courses, should take work towards a degree or diploma. 

3. It is required that all teachers taking courses for which salary increase is 
expected, shall consult with the superintendent, or some one designated by him, and 
in advance secure approval of the proposed courses. 


[33] 








NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 





34 





4. The Cleveland ruling on the number of credits allowable for extension work 
will be followed, namely, “That not more than two hours of extension work per 
semester be taken and not more than four hours for the school year, except by the 
presentation of a written permit from the principal and a health certificate from 
the doctor.” 

5- Teachers should not attempt to do extension work, teach in night schools, or 
recreation classes at one time, unless they have the approval of the superintendent 
of schools. Only one of the activities should be engaged in. 

6. No more credits will be granted to a teacher for work done during the summer 
than will be granted by any one accredited school. This is taken to include credits 
for travel courses under the direction of an accredited school, or under the auspices 
of some recognized educational agency approved by the superintendent of schools. 


These regulations do not apply to persons who are not seeking credit 
toward salary increase. 

Setting up a program for the guidance of teachers was made a study by 
itself. In doing this, the committee kept several definite principles in mind. 


1. The teaching body should have a part in setting up this program. 

2. The program should include the best and latest lines of study in the field of 
education. 

3. The program should guard against dictating too closely the kind of work 
which should be done. 

4. The program should suggest work of general and cultural value as well as 
specific value. 


A questionnaire was sent to all of the teachers asking them to list the 
kind of courses they were interested in, and the kind they had found most 
helpful. The teachers then met by grades, or by departments, and compiled 
their results. These were later turned over to the committee for the further 
work of organization. 

This program was divided into three sections: Part I for the elementary 
school, Part II for the junior high school, and Part III for the high school. 
A quotation from the foreword of this report will indicate more adequately 
the purpose and organization of this program: 

These courses are suggested for teachers who feel the need of improving their 


methods of instruction, of securing a wider range of subject matter, and of keeping 
in touch with the current problems of education as they relate to their own work. 


The courses are listed under two heads: 


1. General Courses—of interest to all teachers 
2. Special Courses—of interest to teachers of different grades or of special 
subjects 
Besides the general and special courses there are also listed courses of interest 
to teachers who which to increase their fund of general information, or to 
follow some line of work, not necessarily related to their professional work, for the 
cultural or recreational value to be derived therefrom. 
There is no intent to say that the courses herein listed are the only courses which 
may be taken with benefit or for credit—but these will be used as a basis for the 
conference required under Article III of the rules and regulations. 


In further accordance with Article III of the above rules and regulations 
a standing committee of five was appointed by the superintendent to act 
in an advisory capacity. Three of the members of the committee had been 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 35 





members of the credit committee. This committee arranged the conference 
hours at the beginning of each term to consult with teachers who were 
planning to take extension work, and again in the spring, to consult with 
those who were planning summer school work. This committee had no 
power to approve or reject the proposed courses. That power rested with 
the superintendent. Their job was to interpret the rules and regulations 
and to explain the program of courses. 

To further facilitate the work, blanks for the approval of the courses 
were printed and sent out to the buildings. Teachers who were planning 
work for which credit was desired, filled out these blanks in duplicate. 
The following information was asked for: the teacher’s name, teaching 
position, previous professional training, purpose of proposed study, work 
contemplated, the institution to be attended, and the credit expected. One 
copy of this application was returned to the teacher with the mark of the 
superintendent’s approval, and the other was filed in the office until such 
time as the credit for the work was brought in. In case the proposed work 
was not approved, the teacher was asked to come to the superintendent’s 
office for a conference. 

The plan has been in effect such a short time that its value cannot be 
fully determined. It is apparent, however, that it has been of some assistance 
to teachers in planning programs for professional study, and it has caused 
teachers to consider more carefully the character of the work to be taken 
in summer school and in extension classes. 





| HE MOST important social task that lies before us in edu- 
cation is to analyze the cultural core of American civilization. 

This can be accomplished if we first select our cultured people and 
then investigate their interests, their qualities, their problems, and 
their obligations. When this task has been performed, the labor of 
determining what the schools should do will be relatively easy. 
Until this is accomplished, the school’s curriculum is in confusion 

so far as articulation with living is concerned.—W. W. Charters. 








THE PRINCIPAL AND EX’TRACURRICULUM ACTIVITIES 


AMELIA D. YOUNG 
Principal, Keating School, Detroit, Michigan 


N RECENT YEARS there has been much discussion among educators 
on the nature of “ The Principal’s Job.” After considerable analysis 

and definition it has been conceded that his time should be given to (1) super- 
vision of instruction, (2) administration, (3) community leadership, 
(4) professional study, and (5) clerical work. 

In considering the various activities of a principal’s day, it appears that 
extracurriculum activities really find place in one or more of these classi- 
fications. It was Dr. Hosic, I believe, who recommended the use of the 
term “ super-curriculum activities ” instead of “ extracurriculum.” 

One of the important duties of a principal is to know and understand 
the community he serves. That he may do this effectively he must under- 
stand the social, industrial, and home life of the people, and their under- 
lying moral standards. Only through such knowledge can the school develop 
properly the child’s character, health, and mind. 

A survey of the housing condition of the community is a valuable aid in 
determining the child’s needs, in learning his capacity for physical and moral 
development. During the past semester such a survey was conducted by 
the Boy Scouts of Keating School, using a sub-divider’s plat and using 
the following divisions: (a) vacant lot; (b) cottage or one-story bungalow ; 
(c) house; (d) two-family flat; (e) apartment. 

When the map of the district was completed it was found that in some 
sections cheap tenements prevailed, in others bungalows, while nearer a 
super-highway apartment houses predominated. Generally speaking, incor- 
rigibility and low mental level of pupils show in direct ratio to the kind of 
homes from which the pupils come. An interesting concomitant of this 
survey was the graph of the amount of unimproved property which gives a 
hint as to the future growth of the school. 

A second duty of a principal is to “ sell’ modern education to the com- 
munity. One way of accomplishing this is through the activities of the 
Parent-Teacher Association. The object of this organization is three-fold 
to bring the home and school into closer relationship for the welfare of the 
child; to educate the parents in school methods and to give the teacher a 
better understanding of the child and his home conditions. 

In Keating at regular meetings of the Parent-'eacher Association demon- 
stration lessons have shown the need and value of some of the methods of 
modern education. On these occasions the pupils have presented lessons in 
silent reading; Picture Story; the method of individual instruction in 
reading for the first grade ; musical appreciation ; social science, showing the 
value of the moving picture, the stereopticon and stereograph and the use 
of tests and measurements. 

These meetings afford an opportunity of presenting other phases of the 
work as the socialized recitation and the project method. 


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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 37 


An organization such as a Parent-Teacher Association demands much of 
a principal’s time and energy. He must attend the meetings of the executive 
board, he is a member ex-officio of all the committees, whose meetings he is 
expected to attend; he should be present at all regular monthly meetings 
of the association of his school and the monthly meetings of the central 
council of the city. 

The Mutual Help Committee of the Parent-Teacher Association provides 
clothing, food, and in some cases, household equipment for the deserving 
families. The same committee has secured hospital facilities for children 
needing surgery or medical assistance. 

Considering the advantages to the school and to the community at large, 
Parent-Teacher work is one of the most fruitful extra-activities. 

The principal in conjunction with the Parent-Teacher Association and 
other community agencies has brought before the proper authorities the 
need of future improvements. At present the community in which our school 
is located is making a drive to secure adequate playgrounds, a branch library, 
and an intermediate high-school. 

The principal should meet with the officers of the various pupil organi- 
zations growing out of the social life of the school, such as Boy Scouts, Girl 
Scouts, Pathfinder Councils, Garden Clubs, Safety Clubs, Literary Clubs, 
Civic Clubs, etc. Although not directly supervising, the principal should 
know the aims, and be familiar with the plans and activities of these social 
groups within the school. 

Different civic agencies have requested that work which they sponsor be 
introduced in the schools. To include these activities in the school program 
becomes an administrative duty of the principal. 

An illustration of this is the work of the Garden Club sponsored by a 
local women’s club of the city. The club provides packets of seeds at one 
cent each, and sends an instructor once a week to direct the work of the club. 
The members plan, execute, and cultivate their own gardens with the pur- 
pose of exhibiting the produce at the vegetable and flower festival in the 
fall during the State Fair. 

Results attained from the work are: 

1. Improvement of the gardens in the community 

2. Beautifying home surroundings 

3. Raising of produce for home consumption 

4. Learning the various kinds of soil 

5. Learning how to improve the natural soil 

6. Worthy use of child’s leisure time 

The public school is called upon to participate in a multiplicity of drives 
and campaigns such as Near East Relief, Early Christmas Shopping, Abate- 
ment of Smoke Nuisance, Safety Week, Book Week, Animal Welfare, 
Father and Son Week, Mother and Daughter Week, Thrift Week, Music 
Week, and so on. Each in itself is a worthy project but there should be some 
check on the number of times principals, teachers, and pupils are expected 
to go over the top for activities not coincident with school work. 














38 NATIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION 





The relation of the school to other civic agencies has an important place 
in the program of the school. The school has sought the cooperation of the 
Child Welfare Association, the Visiting Housekeepers’ Association, the 
Board of Health, the Fire Department, and the Police Department. 

The value of the work done by the Child Welfare Association through 
the school cannot be overestimated. Many unhappy children have found 
new berths or are living in better home conditions through the efforts of the 
organization after the school has called its attention to cases of neglected 
children. ; 

One case in which a better home was provided is that of Billy, a boy 
eight years of age whose parents are separated. This tired, tattered lad was 
living with his paternal grandfather in an old boat house at the edge of the 
creek. The grandparent was too aged to care about the appearance of the 
boy but loved him too dearly to allow him to go to his mother. ‘The investi- 
gation resulted in another and more sanitary house and a housekeeper to 
provide some of the comforts of a home. Billy, today, lives the life and looks 
the part of a normal, healthy boy. This is only one of the many instances 
that might be cited where a little extra time on the part of the principal 
has resulted in a happier pupil with a greater capacity for learning. 

To increase the caution exercised by children on the way to and from 
school, the principal arranged to have a representative of the safety bureau 
of the Police Department talk to the pupils on public safety and show 
moving picture films on safety. School records show that accidents have 
been greatly decreased. 

Last year’s statistics for the city tell us that one third of the people, 
injured or killed through accident, were children. 

Representatives from the Fire Department have demonstrated in the 
school how to send in an alarm, how to use a fire extinguisher, and how to 
prevent fire. 

One of the most valuable extra-activities in the school is the general health 
inspection of all children by the teachers, who receive their instructions from 
the Board of Health physicians. All children are weighed and measured. 
They are examined for defective sight, hearing, tonsils, adenoids, glands 
both cervical and thyroid, anemia, skin diseases, and flagrant heart cases. 
The teacher’s diagnosis is checked by the “ Squad ” doctors who visit the 
school not later than one week following the initial inspection. The doctor’s 
examine the underweight children and those having a “2x” or worse 
record in defects. 

Results of this inspection are gratifying. There are many cases of correc- 
tion. In some instances the defects were unknown to parents. 

The children who are fifteen percent or more underweight are placed 
in a nutrition class instructed by a nurse from the Board of Health. Mothers 
are urged to attend the class which meets weekly to study proper diet and 
to discuss the time required for rest and sleep. In school the children receive 
each morning a half pint of milk and two graham wafers. Each week the 


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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 39 








pupils of the class are weighed and measured and graphs showing rate of 
improvement are kept. 

Other phases of the health program are the administration of vaccine and 
the toxin-anti-toxin treatment for the immunization of diphtheria. 

To insure despatch in conducting this program of health activities the 
principal selects pupils, and in some cases teachers, to assist the doctors and 
nurses in getting the children ready for the various examinations. Other 
rooms than the clinic are needed and this requires a temporary adjustment 
of the housing of classes. 

In addition to knowing the parents and acting in “ loco parentis’”’ to the 
child while in school, a principal is responsible for the development of the 
esprit de corps of his staff. Conditions for teaching should be made as 
ideal as possible by securing an adequate amount of modern equipment and 
supplies, by keeping the building and grounds in excellent condition, by 
organizing the school efficiently, by distributing fairly the duties required 
of teachers, and by properly classifying and assigning pupils to the grades. 

Lastly, the principal should provide or plan social activities for the 
teachers. In a large school it is impossible for teachers to become sufficiently 
acquainted to promote the spirit of friendliness and cooperation unless they 
have an opportunity to “ get together ” as we say at Keating. All work and 
no play makes, not only Jack but his teachers dull. 





| THE AMERICAN’S CREED 


BELIEVE in the United States of America as a government of 
| the people, by the people, for the people, whose just powers are 
derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a re- 
public; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect 
Union, one and inseparable, established upon those principles of | 
freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American 
patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. 

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to 
support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and 
to defend it against all enemies—William Tyler Page. 














CHARACTER TRAINING IN THE HOME 


Mrs. Hazext C. DANIELS 
Editor-in-Chief, Parent-Teacher Broadcaster, Minneapolis, Minnesota 


HE Parent-Teacher Council of Minneapolis appreciates the honor 

and the courtesy extended when you invited a mother to speak for you. 
It makes us very happy to feel that we are becoming more and more allied 
in the big job of developing the right kind of citizens, which is the com- 
mon ground upon which school and home meet. But what can I tell you, 
a group of educators, about character as it is developed in the home? 

Never before have parents shown such a keen interest in their children’s 
development, never before have they striven so hard to comprehend the 
newer methods in education. We must keep on trying, if we are to save 
ourselves from being “ intellectually knocked down, run over and left smothi- 
ering among the ruins of an old order.” 

We comprehend that among the new phases of endeavor that have en- 
gaged you educators is character education. As I understand it, it does not 
contemplate that children shall study character as they study arithmetic or 
geography, but rather that incidentally and by indirection the teacher shall 
guide the child toward the higher moral values. 

The school is a powerful agency for good, but it should not be forced into 
taking more than its share of this character-building responsibility, for after 
all specifically and primarily schools are maintained for the purpose of 
academic and vocational education and should be supplementary to the 
home whose purpose is to serve as a brooding place for citizenship. But 
at the present time I feel this responsibility is being shifted more and 
more to the public schools. ‘This is perhaps natural as the schools are highly 
organized while homes are not and while character training is an integral 
part of the right kind of teaching, still it is time parents grasped and took 
to themselves the vital truth that we should not send our children to a 
school as raw material is sent to a factory. 

If life’s mightiest forces are the intangibles, how are parents to go about 
this job of training children that they may become acceptable members of 
society? A study of classifications of the qualities that go to make up char- 
acter is rather disheartening. And when reflection brings to mind that we 
can give only what we have, it is appalling. Our consolation must be that 
there is no perfect parent, and reasonable approach toward good character 
in ourselves, because in our children the finished product will bear the im- 
perfections of the mold in which it grew. 

The dominant home influence is not the kind of instruction that the 
child directly gets from its father and mother, but the indirect instruction 
it gets from its father’s and mother’s own life attitudes. Children do 
not learn from copy book maxims. They learn from example. They do not 
learn nearly so much from what their parents tell them as from the way 
they see their parents behave. 


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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 41 





In the upbringing of children there is nothing we need more than some 
method, surer than the passing sensation of the moment, for determining 
what is the real significance of any given act. How easy it is for us to 
imagine our own comfort and our children’s morality as one and the same 
thing. For as a rule if the adults in any home enjoy comfortable peace, 
the conclusion is the children in that home must be good. 

Most children have to learn to survive as best they can the wildly vary- 
ing extremes of an ethical temperature that is determined, not by things as 
they are, but by things as they happen to affect their elders. They must 
learn to emulate the patient philosophy of the little boy who upon being 
asked what wicked thing he had done that his mother should scold him so, 
explained briefly: ‘“ Oh, mother’s got an awful headache today.” Under 
such a system what ideas of right and wrong will the children themselves 
learn? Will they not have conception that a good action is something done 
when one’s mother is feeling well and good natured, a bad one, anything 
done when she has a headache. 

Children afford us a virgin field in which to work. They have in them 
the very elements that make it easy for us to plant and cultivate. These 
early tendencies are the channels through which the child draws to himself 
the impressions that mold him. His sympathy develops love; his parental 
love inclines him to obedience; his tendency to imitate leads him to copy 
what we do, be it good or bad; his desire for approval makes him do the 
things we commend him for; his curiosity is a vast cavity that we may fill 
with material of our own choosing; and through his sense of justice he may 
be taught to be just to others by our being just to him. 

But the child has other tendencies that do not lend themselves readily to 
our work. The instinct of self-preservation, selfishness, anger, and others 
must be diverted or sublimated into higher social behavior. 

In fact, directing and in some measure controling the instincts and ten- 
dencies of the child is about the sum of our endeavor in character building. 

I am rather a believer in the theory of heredity in matters of mental and 
moral quality. I believe that every human being has within him certain 
ineradicable virtues and vices, some near the surface and others so deeply 
buried that they rarely if ever show themselves. But I do not follow the 
advocate of the theory of heredity who says the human quality cannot be 
modified by environment. He preaches a cold and heartless doctrine. If it 
be a true doctrine, then the ills of humanity can only be alleviated by 
selective parentage, and the age-long endeavors of churches, and schools, 
and men, and women to teach children love of God and love of their fellow- 
men are so much waste effort. 

But undoubtedly in the beginning the child is what he is, and undoubt- 
edly he retains in some degree all of his inherent characteristics. As I see 
the problem, it is to bring out and develop the virtues so that they will 
over-shadow and smother the vices, just as a strong and healthy plant will 
protect itself against the weeds. Whether an inherently vicious tendency is 
rooted out is not so important. Our purpose is well served if we prevent 











42 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





the expression of it: for whatever may be the inherent tendencies or quali- 
ties, vice is vice only when it is expressed in word or thought or deed. 

We teach best the things we live, and we cannot hide our lives from our 
children. It is astonishing, and sometimes embarrassing, to learn how open 
their eyes and ears have been, how keen their observation, and how com- 
pletely our thoughts are absorbed and how accurately reflected. Little 
children are mirrors of our own lives, with the difference that the reflection 
does not disappear with us. 

Honesty cannot be taught by a dishonest teacher. I speak now of honesty 
in its fullest sense, and not merely as indicating that a man does not steal 
or deliberately lie. The little subterfuges and deceptions, the evasions and 
equivocations that we are so likely to resort to when we want to avoid 
embarrassment or effort or what not, does not escape the keen young eyes 
that are always upon us. We may get by once, we may get by several times, 
but when the realization comes that teacher, father or mother is no longer 
the paragon of honesty but has feet of clay, what may at first be disappoint- 
ment is invariably succeeded by imitation. Love and respect still hold up 
the parents and teachers as models to which the child should conform. 

Insincerity is a dangerous thing. To pretend before guests that the feast 
that is spread on the board in their honor is only an example of the daily 
fare, or to pretend the behavior of the children is far below normal, breeds 
insincerity and deception in the hearts of little ones. Much better to do 
as the locomotive engineer whose boys insisted on being served ahead of the 
minister who was a guest for dinner. The father promptly led the boys out 
of the room with the announcement that he was going to switch a couple 
of empties. 

Love and reverence are not taught by being harsh and unkind in the home, 
or by being disrespectful and intolerant toward others. Nor is it taught 
by sermonizing. The children get it when:they see it lived. If they have 
kindness and courtesy, they do not need to be taught politeness. Without 
them politeness is mere artificiality, which sometimes develops cunning. 

Most good teaching is done by permitting the child to draw his own 
conclusions from what he sees and hears and by letting him dig things out 
for himself. All we need to do is to provide the opportunity, and that can 
be done by doing things or suggesting things instead of telling about them 
directly, and by putting in his way the books we want him to read and the 
objects we want him to study. The end to be sought is not commanding 
the child what he must do, but permitting him to learn what he ought to do. 

Now I might go and tell you that the greatest trouble in the home today 
is the selfishness of parents. They do not like their children enough to be 
friends with them. They shirk the anxiety and responsibility of loving. 
Men want to play golf with other Olympians on Saturday afternoo.is in- 
stead of taking Harry or George out fishing. Women want to read the last 
best seller to themselves instead of reading Peter Rabbit to the toddler. 

But this is no brief on the inadequacy of the home. You know what its 
shortcomings are as well as I do; but I do want you to know there is being 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 43 


made the same concentrated effort on the part of thoughtful parents to 
teach children to live that you are making in the schools. 

Now I realize I haven’t brought anything new to you, but what is there 
new to bring? The finest rules for right living that have ever been evolved 
date back to the time of Moses. 

What we parents need to do is to teach our children ‘“‘ The Ten Com- 
mandments,” have them understand them, practice them, and get enjoy- 
ment out of such practice, and when we are able to do this we shall hear no 
more of the inadequacy of the home, for we shall have produced a genera- 
tion of children developed as they might be. 





| OBJECTIVES FOR VISUAL AIDS 


. To give concreteness to ideas. 

. To connect words with objects. 

. To visualize information. 

To economize time in understanding facts. 

. To interest pupils with materials. 

. To provide the approach to problems. 

. To bring the real world into the school. 

. To give the pupils the best substitute for travel and out-door 


CON DNF WH 


excursion. 

| 9g. To visualize the different phases of school studies—W. M. 
Gregory, Director of the Educational Museum, Cleveland, 
Ohio. 














EVALUATING EDUCATION IN TERMS OF RURAL NEED 


C. L. RHOADE 
County Superintendent, Laporte County, Indiana 


HE SCHOOL is an institution developed in response to definite 
needs of society. Rapid changes are constantly being made which 
affect the life of the people. M. V. O’Shea of Wisconsin Universit) 
stated in an address some time ago that there has been almost as much 
progress in the last twenty years as there formerly was in twenty centuries. 
Fred High of Chicago recently remarked in his characteristic way that in 
these days we must run “ like the dickens” to keep standing still. This 
means that the school must make rapid adaptations to answer the changing 
needs. There is danger that traditions, school methods, and customs of the 
past may serve as rust and moss to retard the work that is to be accomplished. 
President Frank of Wisconsin University several years ago addressed 
the Indiana State Teachers Association on the startling subject, “America 
and the Evils of Institutionalism.”” He explained how ever-ready the Ameri- 
can people are to discover the need for new institutional machinery and 
immediately proceed to set up organization machinery, but in many in- 
stances, when it is set in motion, it begins to run away from the original 
intentions and proceeds to enslave its founders and supporters. It is pos- 
sible that in the school in some aspects this may be happening. It is at least 
essential that those in positions of educational responsibility should be ever 
ready to study the needs of the everchanging adult and community life, in 
order that they may make the necessary changes to answer presentday needs. 
The work of the county superintendent has to do largely with the educa- 
tion and training of rural people. He has a position of trust and great 
opportunity to render service. Counties, like individuals, have local dis- 
tinguishing characteristics. No one has a greater opportunity to make an 
indelible impression upon the future achievements of the county than the 
county superintendent. His progressive educational policies and his enthus- 
iastic effort put forth, will help mold the future success and destiny of those 
in his school system. Fortunate is the county whose school administrative 
leader is free from political clubs swinging about his head and in a position 
to perform his duties without dictation from political bosses. Fortunate also 
is the county whose superintendent plans and promotes definite objectives. 
Every activity, even though it may be routine detail, should contribute to 
some well planned purpose. Many times workers in a system fail to see the 
sum total result of which the individual contribution may only be a small 
part. The story of the stone cutters may illustrate. A traveler came to the 
scene of a large number of men chiseling and shaping stone. He observed that 
there was a difference in the way they did their work. He stepped up to one 
who was working away in a heartless fashion and said, “ My friend, What 
are you doing?” The workman shrugged his shoulder and said, ‘‘ Can’t 
you see, I’m cutting stone.’ That was as far as his interest or vision extended. 
‘The visitor stepped up to a second who seemed somewhat more happy in his 


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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 45 








task and again asked “ My friend, what are you doing?” This man shrugged 
his shoulder and said, “I am a stone cutter by trade and I am earning a 
living for my family.” He stepped up to a third workman who seemed very 
happy and delighted in his work, and asked him the same question. ‘This 
man raised his head with a smile of satisfaction and said “I am building a 
temple.”” This man had a big vision of the results of his work. With a 
far reaching vision of this type the individual efforts of the school person- 
nel will coordinate in the achievement of success approaching the ideal. 

It is important that a rural school leader should know rural life and con- 
ditions. With personal experience in country life he can gain the confidence 
of his rural leaders and intelligently, with their assistance, make adapta- 
tions to the local needs. One of the great assets in school administration 
work is cooperation from the patrons. Receiving advice from those in adult 
life many times brings a splendid backing. After gaining this cooperative 
background it is essential that the leader should get the latest and best 
information about advance steps and by tactful methods have new steps in 
school progress backed by local progressive individuals and organizations. 

It is very essential that the county superintendent should know rural 
life and rural problems. In order to get the confidence of rural people having 
a background of personal experience in the country is a great asset. The 
city-bred administrator many times fails to understand farm people and they 
likewise are sceptical of his ability to answer their needs. If he can gain 
a position of confidence, he can introduce the latest and best educational 
ideas and methods by working with local communities and allowing the 
people to assist him. Rural people are slow to accept educational edicts 
saddled upon them if there isn’t a tactful cooperative method of introduction. 

Everyone understands that there is a rural problem. At the last election 
campaign much was said about the farm crisis. The failure of banks in rural 
communities and the great unrest of farmers indicate that some solution 
should be found. The special session of Congress indicates that there is 
need for some rural relief or adjustment. 

Before discussing remedies it is well to consider the causes of the unsat- 
isfactory rural conditions. In a questionnaire sent to two hundred farm 
leaders in our county the following was the summary ranking of causes 
for present rural conditions: 

. The failure of farmers to cooperate effectively 
. Inefficient rural organizations 

. Unsatisfactory marketing system 

Lack of agriculture and home economics training 
. The use of poor business methods on the farm 
. Organized labor influences 

. Insects, pests, animal diseases 

. Excessive taxes 

. Increasing number of luxuries 

. Too many out of date methods 

. Inadequate school education 


. Too many farmers 
. The absence of old fashioned virtues 


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46 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION 


After considering these suggestive causes it is well that we try to find 
remedies. A short time ago I asked a business man who has had a broad 
experience with farm problems and who has made some study of present 
conditions how the present rural problems could be solved. His reply was, 
“Tf I could answer that question I would tell President Hoover.” In the 
questionnaire referred to above the tabulation shows that our farmers are 
placing the remedies in the following order: (1) Cooperation, (2) educa- 
tion, (3) better business methods, (4) legislation, (5) more industry and 
thrift, and (6) corporation farming. 

The school has been and still is called upon to help accomplish national 
objectives. In times of conflict the school is called upon to help win the 
war. In times of peace it is asked to promote the cause of peace. The school 
played its part in helping to solve the anti-slavery movement and the 
prohibition movement. In the same way it may be possible for the school 
to render its assistance in solving our present debated farm problems. 

The rural school unfortunately has many handicaps which hinder the 
promotion of an educational program in keeping with rural needs. In 
many instances it is difficult to secure teachers especially trained for rural 
teaching. In our state of Indiana much progress has been made, but we still 
find it necessary to use many teachers who do not thoroughly understand 
rura! school needs and who are merely teaching in the township schools as 
a stepping stone to get into a city position. Another handicap is the lack of 
adequate supervision. In Laporte county we are fortunate in having a 
supervisior of health, one for art, one for home economics, and several for 
vocal and instrumental music. 

At the time of introducing these supervisors there was some feeling in 
the county that supervision was too expensive and not necessary; but with 
the success of the work in these various departments under supervision, the 
people at large are feeling that worthwhile results are being accomplished, 
and I am sure myself that supervision is a solution for effective and efficient 
work. The lack of consolidation in certain sections is another handicap 
which progressive leadership can help to overcome. The one room sthool 
served the purpose but under the presentday rural needs it has become 
inadequate. With the short period for recitations there is too much danger 
for the condition with pupils suggested by the little boy who said that while 
at school he many times “ sets and thinks and many times he just sets.” 
Another little boy when asked what he liked best about his school said, 
“ Going home.” Rural communities need schools as adequately equipped 
and which offer as much opportunity as the schools in the city. 

One of the big high-school rural problems is the revision of the courses of 
study adapted for answering the rural need. The State of Indiana as well as 
other states is putting forth a great deal of effort to rebuild the high-school 
curriculum on a basis of being more practical and effective in achieving 
results. The consolidation of small high schools will be one of the future 
aims and will result in removing the handicap of small township corpora- 
tions trying to finance an adequate high school plant. 





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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 47 





Some of the other rural handicaps are the lack of finance for vocational 
work, the difficulty of providing classes for subnormal children, the difficulty 
of maintaining high attendance standards, and the limited length of school 
term. We have a school term of eight and one half months now in our 
county, and are trying to lengthen that to nine months. People realize they 
have to pay for the school, and many times unfortunately they hold back 
just a little; but in consideration of the times, I think our people in the 
rural districts have been sincere and loyal where they have been sold to the 
value of good schools, and they are willing to pay their own hard-earned 
money to support the school for the training of their boys and girls. 

In our county questionnaire I would like to call your attention to the 
fourth item which has to do with the subjects of our elementary schools. 
The result from this questionnaire shows that the rural people in our 
county would place first, reading; second, arithmetic; third, writing; fourth, 
spelling; fifth, physiology and health; sixth, history and civics; seventh, 
agriculture; eighth, geography; ninth, art; and tenth, music. 

Also, in this questionnaire the results of our. high-school subjects, item 
five, is as follows: They would rank first, business arithmetic; second, 
English and literature; third, health; fourth, vocational agriculture, cook- 
ing and sewing; fifth, citizenship courses; sixth, government; seventh, gen- 
eral science; eighth, American history; ninth, physical training; tenth, 
biology; eleventh, manual training; twelfth, geometry; thirteenth, algebra; 
fourteenth, physics; fifteenth, American social problems; sixteenth, com- 
mercial geography; seventeenth, European history; eighteenth, foreign 
language; nineteenth, art and home economics; and twentieth, music. 

From the standpoint of looking at the rural problem in terms of rural 
needs and looking at the remedies that have been suggested in our question- 
naire, for our rural problem, there are several things I wish to mention. 
The health problem is surely one of the big problems of the school. In our 
county we have had a nurse for seven years. At first our county people 
thought her work wasn’t necessary, and that we were spending money in a 
useless manner. At the present time they feel it is exceedingly valuable. I 
think if we had to eliminate some work, they would want to take out any 
other type of work instead of our health program. 

Of course, it is necessary in these various departments that each year 
we have certain specific objectives. We may especially stress as examples— 
the matter of equipment for physical training for the high-school boys and 
girls, hot lunches in the school, and immunization for contagious diseases. 

I think our rural people, more than any other, must depend upon them- 
selves. They are their own managers. They are not working under the 
direct supervision of a director or boss who tells them what to do; by way of 
routine and repetition doing that same thing every day. They are depending 
upon themselves, and managing their own problems. They have to find out 
how to study, how to organize, how to use time right, and the solution of 
the problem of selfinstruction, and individual instruction will assist in 
accomplishing this result. 


see gree 








48 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





Home economics is very essential for rural schools. In our county we 
have county supervision and I think the work is done well. We start our 
home economics work in the fifth grade, and our rural people like it very 
much. They feel we are giving them, even in the fifth grade, something 
practical in sewing, cooking, and house decoration. All of that is certainly 
worthwhile in their judgment. 

For the boys the work of agriculture is important. In our county we do 
not do a great deal of vocational work, but we are introducing a club leader 
into the county employed in the same way as our supervisors. They are 
forming projects for our boys and girls in home work, and they are doing 
the same for the boys in the agricultural club. 

For individual efficiency it is essential that rural pupils be taught business 
methods. The farmer needs to know how to keep records, how to budget, 
how to figure costs, how to buy economically, and how to market. In fact, 
all of that is a big business and I believe that specific training can be given 
to make them more successful individuals in that particular field. 

In addition to training for individual efficiency there is a great need for 
preparing boys and girls to live as a part of the group. In other words, 
I think it is essential that we prepare our young rural citizens to develop 
a group consciousness and group feeling. The questionnaire referred to 
shows that cooperation is one of the rural essentials and surely in our train- 
ing we must teach them to find themselves as a part of the group, and they 
will learn better to solve their group problems. 

Consolidation helps a great deal in developing community centers. It 
teaches how to organize, how to carry on, and to promote group activities. 
Athletics help to develop community spirit. We may be going to the ex- 
treme in our state with basketball. Nevertheless, I think it helps to 
encourage an interest in the group and from this point of view it is worth- 
while. 

Leadership for group activities is very essential. Many good communities 
fail in their efforts because they lack leaders. The rural school must not 
fail to develop those who have ability to organize and coordinate the group 
activities. 

However, we must not be too practical and lose sight of the cultural in 
rural education. We must prepare for efficiency individually, and for group 
life and group activity, but we must also prepare for some of the higher 
values in life, the cultural values. This nation is known at the present 
time by many of our foreign friends as “‘ Shylock America.” You probably 
know of the little boy who was.asked the sum of fifty and seventy-five. 
He said, “ One dollar and twenty-five cents.” He was evaluating everything 
in terms of money. 

I am sure that as county superintendents in our problems of rural schools 
we can do much in studying our needs first and giving the right evaluation 
to the various phases of rural school work and, by so doing, we will help to 
solve the rural school problem. 











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THE LIBRARY AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOL—ABSTRACT 


Bess CLEMENT 
Principal, Eliza Clark School, Clarksdale, Mississippi 


O MATTER what method a teacher may employ, be it Dalton, 
problem-project, or simple socialized procedure, his class is not going 
to give one hundred percent effort unless the equipment necessary is pro- 
vided. How useless it is to plan a lesson requiring data which you know 
are not going to be available to the majority of your class. Better to return 
to the age of text-book worship, where youth is not discouraged by such an 
obstacle as has just been mentioned. But we are not willing to retrace one 
step which has pointed toward progress, and we stand today with our feet 
firmly planted on the laws of learning, realizing that there is a paramount 
need for libraries in elementary schools. 

The N. E. A. Committee on Reorganization of Secondary Schools in 
1911 listed as the third cardinal principle: mastery of the tools of learning. 
The acceptance of this aim in reorganizing elementary education so that the 
transition from elementary school to secondary school is accomplished with 
an equal chance to the child to succeed in pursuits of continued education, 
brings us face to face with one of the gravest problems for which we as 
elementary principals are held responsible. Need I state that this problem 
is teaching children to read? The public looks to us for leadership and 
centralized attention in the promotion of better reading, that most funda- 
mental of all tool subjects. 

An analysis of that part of the reading process for which the elementary 
school is held responsible substantiates the evidence that the best and most 
modern methods call for many books, well graded, well selected, and con- 
taining diversified subjectmatter. How are we going to be sure that each 
child has access to these books unless we place them in the school as part 
of his equipment? 

Let us briefly consider the place and function of the library as judged 
through an analysis of that part of the reading process for which the ele- 
mentary school is held responsible. The greatest service that we can render 
boys and girls is to teach them to read. I accept as the definition of reading 
a series of habitual responses known as thought, feeling, and thinking which 
is stimulated by the printed page. New world education places emphasis 
on accuracy, speed, and comprehension. The laboratory for working out 
individual records in these attainments is the library. 

Consider the first period known as the “ initial period.” If we neglect to 
furnish library facilities here, we impoverish the curriculum which calls for 
the reading of many books. As one author has fittingly expressed it, “A 
child must learn to read as he learned to talk, through unremitting exercise.” 

In the second period, “ rapid growth in reading,” we find a different need. 
Here we wish to enrich the experiences of the child, and in order to do this 


[49] 








50 NATIONAL EpucaTIOoN AssocIATION 





there should be provided many books of a non-literary type. These books, 
however, should be interesting and fundamentally good. Challenge the 
mentally lazy boy or girl to find out things through reading and seeing. 
Provide wide variety here and note the outcome. No class as individuals 
will choose the same books. The dreamer still prefers his books with fan- 
tastic pictures; the hero-worshipper wants his ideal; and the lover of the 
great out-of-door chooses a piece of work which presents replica of flower, 
bird, tree, or stream—all with the same motive—to learn more about it. 

The third period is termed the “ period of enriched experience.” Here 
the best teacher is the one who avoids many “ telling situations.” He 
interests himself more in the followship than in the leadership of his class, 
for with proper training preceding this period, the children have acquired 
habits and skills which enable them to do much independent study. The 
average pupil enters this period unaware of any great transition. He begins 
his work in the social subjects without feeling any great change. His work 
or study type of reading utilizes his general habits and skills in reading and 
to these he adds others, such as power to organize, associate, and judge what 
he has read. Our job here is to sustain his interest, raise his standards, and 
provide a common background. 

We have briefly discussed some of the outstanding contributions we 
expect from elementary libraries as integral parts of elementary schools. 
They seem logical, and yet little has been done toward furthering the 
project. Let us now briefly discuss some of the reasons why the average 
practitioner has been slow to accept the theory. 

First, our courses of study have not taken into account the possible maxi- 
mum growth of the child. They have been made to serve the average child, 
which sad to relate never exists in classes. A thorough revision of courses 
of study which take into consideration the superior child and the subnormal 
child, plus the possibilities of the library unit as a stimulus would result in a 
revision and reorganization of work which would eliminate much dissipa- 
tion of energy on the part of the teacher trying to teach the same thing to 
pupils of different capacities at the same time, many of whom do not need 
the lesson at all, being perfectly able to ferret out the thing by themselves. 
Second, there is only a vague idea of the workings of an elementary school 
library from the standpoints of administration, equipment, and initiation. 
Third, the financial support is not in sight, and our rapidly increasing public 
school population has all but left us mendicants, unless the need is outstand- 
ing. This same condition existed in secondary schools and was overcome. 
Surely we are going to demand equal rights from no selfish motive. 

Whenever a new unit of work is initiated into a system, the teaching force 
feels pressure of some kind. Just what type this pressure from the initiation 
of elementary libraries assumes will largely depend on the tactics employed 
by the principal. There are several truths which are worth consideration: 


1. The library is the antithesis of compulsory education. It says, “ Thou may’st.” 
Compulsory education says, “ Thou shalt.” 








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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 51 





2. The library gives value received for the time charged to the pupils’ school day. 
3. The librarian’s job is not to supervise study, but to aid in developing habits of 


independent study. 
4. Close friendship and cooperation between teachers and librarian are most 


desirable. 

5. Children need to learn the rudiments of library organization and functioning, 
and should therefore be permitted to assist in the workings of the library. 

6. Elementary libraries should guard against formal library conduct, and some 
plan should be devised to permit at least ten minutes for exchange of ideas to 
precede every library period. 

7. It is highly desirable to allow at least two library periods per week for all 
grades. These periods for pupils from grade three through elementary school should 
consume at least one hour of time. Below the fourth grade the teacher’s judgment 
should determine from the interest of the child when to call him to other activities. 
Usually the span of attention varies. 

8. Courses of study should not omit such valuable types of work as book reports, 
bulletin board news, and club activities which are a direct outgrowth of library 
experience. 

9. Have the children in the school take an active interest in buying the books and 
teach them to treat the books as they would treat good friends. 

10. Sufficiently advertise the library advantages among the teachers and children 
so as to make them feel a contagious interest in the project. 





CAN YOU HELP? 


| HE headquarters office requests the return of the following | 
publications by any persons who have copies they are willing 


| to spare: 
Bulletin of the Department of Elementary School | 
Principals, No. 3, November, 1921, published at | 
Duluth, Minnesota. | 
Bulletin of the Department of Elementary School 
Principals, No. 4, February, 1922, Grant School 
Duluth, Minnesota. 


The headquarters supply is completely exhausted and the office 
is anxious to recall and keep for the permanent file copies of these 


publications. 


Pamalatuitie 





MEASURING READING AND ARITHMETIC IN TERMS OF 
MENTAL ABILITY 


Don C. RoGERs 
Principal, Smyth School, Chicago, Illinois 


CCASIONALLY the several schools in a city system are ranked or 
rated according to the results obtained from testing the pupils in these 
schools. Where this is done, certain safeguards in testing technic are desir- 
able. The following paragraphs suggest the need of one such safeguard, 
namely, the raw test scores should be transmuted to terms of mental ability. 
In January, 1927, one hundred thirty six pupils in grades 5B, 5A, 6B 
and 6A of Smyth school were given each of the following standard tests: 


Reading: (Stanford Achievement Tests used) 
1. Paragraph meaning 
2. Sentence meaning 
3- Word meaning 
Arithmetic: (Stanford Achievement Tests Used) 
1. Computation 
2. Reasoning 
Mental: 
1. Otis Self-Administering Test of Mental Ability 
2. National Intelligence Test 


‘The average chronological age of these 136 pupils was 13 years 1 month. 

Based upon their test scores, their average reading age was II years 10 
months and their average arithmetic age was 11 years 11 months. In both 
cases, the norm was 13 years 1 month, hence they seemed very low both in 
reading and in arithmetic. 

If ranked with other Chicago schools on the basis of raw test scores Smyth 
school pupils would undoubtedly stand rather low. Several important facts 
should be borne in mind, however. If there are any under-privileged chil- 
dren in Chicago, they are surely found in the Smyth school district. Twenty 
five percent of these children received School Children’s Aid, County Aid, 
or other outside help during the school year. The pupils are predominant] 
from “ broken” homes, or where both parents work or where there maj 
not be a book in the home, or where there is parental indifference toward 
regular school attendance. Seventy four percent of these pupils were born 
in the South, and they report very limited schooling privileges prior to their 
arrival in Chicago. Of the remaining 26 percent, many were born in 
Europe, and English is not always spoken in the home. The average intel- 
ligence quotient of these 136 pupils was only 88.2 whereas the norm is 100. 
The average mental age of these 136 pupils was only 11 years 3 months, 
whereas the norm was 13 years I month—nearly two whole years sub- 
standard. 

‘At first blush one might be tempted to say that it would be wholly futile 
to compare schools whose pupils are predominantly as described above, 
with other schools the majority of whose pupils may come from some 
“ Gold Coast ” neighborhood. It may be feasible, however, to compare them 


[52] 


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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 53 





on the basis of equated test scores, that is, of scores equated to terms of 
mental ability of the pupils. For example, the average mental age of these 
136 Smyth school pupils was 11 years 3 months; their average reading age 
was II years 10 months. Using the formula: Reading Ratio equals Read- 
ing Age divided by Mental Age, the following subject ratio is obtained : 


RR= RA __ 11 years 10 months, or 142 months _ atid 
~ MA tr years 3 months, or 135 months 


(Smyth school reading ratio was 105.2; the norm is 100.0.) 


Likewise, using the formula: Arithmetic Ratio equals Arithmetic Age 
divided by Mental Age, the following subject ratio is obtained : 


AA __ 11 years 11 months, or 143 months 


= = 106. 
MA sir years 3 months, or 135 months — 


AR = 


(Smyth school arithmetic ratio was 106.0; norm is 100.0.) 


The I. Q. and Mental Age indicate the caliber of the “ tools ” with which 
reading comprehension and arithmetic computation and reasoning function. 
Teachers can do nothing to increase mental ability ; they can, however, exert 
some degree of influence in the achievement subjects. 

On the basis of mental ability of these 136 pupils, they achieved as high 
a standing in reading and arithmetic as one has any legitimate ground to 
expect or demand of them. The teachers of these children have no occasion 
to be worried over the fact that the raw test scores show their pupils are 
below country-wide and city-wide raw test score norms. On the contrary, 
they may be cheered by the knowledge that when their pupils are tested in 
terms of mental ability, their classroom product stands above norm. 

It is doubtful if the different schools in a city system can justly be ranked 
or compared as to efficiency of teaching until some plan for equating mental 
ability of the pupils tested is put into practice. 


HE FUNCTION of play and of art is to supplement adap- 

tion in making more complete the integration of the person- 
ality. Such a supplementary process has an essential place. When 
it is made the whole of life and of education, to the exclusion of 
socially responsible activity, it not only impairs the individual’s 
adaptation to his environment but it results in grave disorders of 
the personality—Frank N. Freeman. 














AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK 


IMS—American Education Week, sponsored jointly by the National 

Education Association and the American Legion, will be observed for 

the ninth year the week of November 11-17. The school principal is the 

officer upon whom usually develops the responsibility for carrying out the 

plans of this program which is prepared to inform the public of the needs, 
ideals, and achievements of the schools. 

American Education Week is an opportunity to create a deeper under- 
standing of the significance of the school in the life of the child, the com- 
munity, the state, the nation, and the world. In spite of the increased 
number of designated days and weeks the observance of this event has 
increased in popularity each year. 

The program—The program of American Education week is built around 
the seven cardinal objectives of education. These objectives of education 
have been so widely quoted that their use in connection with the program 
tends to secure for it an acceptance based upon appreciative understanding. 


SUGGESTED PLANS FOR THE PRINCIPAL 
1. A special edition of the school paper to be distributed to parents 


2. Circular letters from the principal to parents 


3. Posters made in art and printing classes to be publicly displayed in the 
community 


4. A letter from each child to his parents telling about the school 

5- School exhibits sponsored by the parent-teacher association 

6. Special meetings of the parent-teacher association to discuss the objectives 
of education 


7. Talks by the principal and teachers before women’s clubs and other civic 
organizations 


8. A parents’ night in which fathers and mothers may participate in an abbre- 
viated program of the school day 
9. Talks on the “ Value of Education” by children at school assemblies 


While American Education Week seeks chiefly to enlist the interest and 
support of patrons of the schools, the opportunity to educate the pupils 
themselves upon the importance of education in their lives and in the na- 
tional life should not be overlooked. 

The contrast between the methods, courses, and achievements of yesterday 
are always of interest to parents because of their familiarity with education 
of a generation ago. Some parents tend to lack appreciation for the new. 
Others never cease to marvel at the progress the school system has made. 
Every program of public information must be prepared to face these two 
very different attitudes. 

Perhaps the most effective program includes both pupils and parents. 
Pupils learn educational facts through participating in the presentation of 
them. Interests which the children have helped to transfer to their parents 
create a common bond in the home. 


[54] 








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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 55 





THE PROGRAM OF THE WEEK 
Monpbay, NOVEMBER 11 


Armistice day—Programs may appropriately call attention to the Pact of 
Paris and the responsibility of the school for promoting international good- 
will. An interesting variation is a brief talk by a member of the local 
American Legion Post who may relate incidents of the recent war and 
emphasize the desire of those who participated in it to further the cause 
of world peace. 


TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12 


Home and school day—Vhis is an appropriate place on the program for 
exhibits of work in the domestic arts, parent education, and gardening. 
Parents may be asked to talk on What Schools Do to Improve Homes and 
What Homes Do to Improve Schools. 


WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13 


Know your school day—School visitation and a carefully planned pro- 
gram of information regarding the needs of the school may be the high 
spots on this day. Call attention to building advantages and needs. Show 
how the curriculum meets the demands of today’s life. Call attention to the 
increased qualifications of teachers. Explain the work and purposes of 
extracurriculum activities. 


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER I4 


School opportunity day—Show what education means to the individual 
in the choice of vocation and the preparation for it. Point out the increased 
cultural advantages of the new curriculum, education in music and the 
fine arts. 


FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15 
Health day—Point out the increased span of life and show how courses 


in physical education have made contributions to it. Parent-teacher asso- 
ciations may discuss the mutual helpfulness of school and home in promoting 


health habits. 


SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 


Community day—Show how the schools are training students for wise 
use of leisure. Show what the school contributes to the cultivation of tastes 
in arts, music, literature, architecture, and sports. 


SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17 


For God and country day—For many years churches have cooperated 
in the observance of this week by emphasizing the higher values of living. 





56 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





Ethical character should be emphasized as the highest objective of educa- 
tion. Show how the school encourages ideals of right conduct. 


Material for reference—The October, 1929, issue of The Journal of 
the National Education Association contains suggested programs, bibliog- 
raphy, and facts that will be found useful. Write to Belmont Farley, 
Division of Publications of the National Education Association, for a broad- 
side of news stories which may be used in securing the cooperation of the 
press. Other agencies which will be glad to cooperate are your city super- 
intendent’s office, your state superintendent’s office, and the United States 
Bureau of Education at Washington, D. C. 


SECRETARY’S MINUTES—ATLANTA MEETING 





From every standpoint the Atlanta meeting was a notable success. ‘The 
programs of the department were splendidly presented. The meeting was 
distinguished by the gracious hospitality extended to all by the citizens and 
school people of Atlanta. 

The department had breakfast meetings at the Ansley Hotel. At the 
first meeting on July 1, the president gave a brief report of the activities 
of the year. Mr. Ritow, Chairman of the Enrolment Committee, reported 
a great increase in membership. Mr. Norton and Mr. Hubbard spoke 
briefly on the research studies being carried on in cooperation with the 
Research Division. The report of Mr. Cober, Chairman of the Research 
Committee, was read by the secretary. It was moved that a vote of thanks 
be given Mr. Cober for the fine work accomplished by his committee. 

At the second meeting on July 2, all present were introduced. The 
meeting was characterized by a fine spirit of goodwill. Principals were in 
attendance from many states, but the majority were from the south. 

The Opportunities of the Elementary School Principal as a Supervisor 
in Forwarding the Education of Today was the theme of the general meet- 
ings of the department. 


Monpay AFTERNOON, JULY | 


I. Music 
See the Conquering Hero Comes.................. 0c ee eeee teens Handel 
NN a ach etegrda ang estas rssc tw As semch ae kA Taco aI RLSS nal clown al eealle ts 
I IE cov cca deem wert neek seep are a aewe ccm ea iaieinne do Rubinstein 


S. M. Inman Orchestra 


Il. THE OpporTUNITIES OF THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL AS A SUPERVISOR IN ForR- 
WARDING EDUCATION ToDAY, FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT'S POINT OF VIEW 
Dr. Willis A. Sutton, Superintendent of Atlanta Schools 
III. GEOGRAPHY FOR A NEw WorLD 
Miss Harriet Smith, Sam Houston State Teachers College, Huntsville, Texas 
IV. THe Liprary AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 
Miss Bess Clement, Eliza Clark School, Clarksdale Mississippi 











he 
as 


id 





ere 


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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 57 





Turspay AFTERNOON, JULY 2 


I. Music 
SUCRE RUINS Fo nats ics aval e' ainceta ssa niehiajand Sh acre cea ee Rachmaninof 
Medley from the South................. Pina, ace etek Pda alerereeee Pike 
NNN $6.21 941 c:0rara, blots ols u ace ater aad WY. dSikiere felpraiprel take dus SS Parlow 


Southern Memories 
Plantation Melodies 
Commercial High School Girls’ Glee Club, 
Miss Edna L. Whitmore, Director 


II. SomE MoDERN TENDENCIES IN THE TEACHING OF CHARACTER EDUCATION 
N. H. Price, Hemphill School, Birmingham, Alabama 
III. THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AS A SUPERVISOR 
Dr. Lois Coffey Mossman, Teachers College, Columbia University, New 
York City 
IV. ADVENTUROUS AMERICA 
L. S. Rugg, West End Grammar School, Alexandria, Louisiana 
Breakfast, Monday, July 1; Tuesday, July 2, at Hotel Ansley, 7.00 A. M. 
Banquet, Tuesday, July 2, 6.30 P. M., Eastlake Country Club, Dr. John J. Tigert, 
speaker 


Tuesday afternoon, July 2, 1929, the business meeting was held. The 
secretary read the revisions to the constitution which were recommended 
for adoption by the executive committee. These proposed amendments will 
be voted upon at the Atlantic City meeting. 

Miss McCormick, the chairman of the Resolutions Committee, presented 
resolutions expressing appreciation for the gracious hospitality of the people 
of Atlanta: 


APPRECIATION OF HOSPITALITY 


Elementary principals, of Atlanta, a privilege and an honor I consider it, to 
find myself delegated by our president, Miss Eva Pinkston, to offer you greetings 
from the Department of Elementary School Principals of the National Education As- 
sociation. You have taught us the real meaning of that southern hospitality of which 
we had heard so much. Your cordial welcome made us feel at home with you imme- 
diately. We like your soft voices. We admire your gentle manners. We have 
been entertained by your peculiar humor. As we leave you to return to our homes 
in many widely separated places, we wish to assure you of our deep appreciation 
of your many courtesies. From the land of cotton we are carrying memories that 
will long linger with us. In Dixie Land we have gathered ideas that will broaden 
our comprehension of the educational problems of our country. From the home of 
Uncle Remus we have absorbed bits of your quaint philosophy that will mellow our 
lives and make us more optimistic in dealing with our teachers and children. We 
are grateful for your services so generously rendered and for those of your teachers 
and of the children of your schools. Your contributions so generously accorded have 
meant much in the success of this convention of the Department of Elementary 
School Principals. 


Copies of the financial statement were distributed. The department 
will end the year with a substantial cash balance. 

Mr. Duffy, the chairman of the Nominating Committee, presented a 
report which was unanimously adopted. The officers were elected for the 
year 1929-30 as printed on page two of this Bulletin. 











58 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 





On Tuesday evening the members of the department were entertained by 
the Atlanta principals at dinner at the Eastlake Country Club. A fine 
musical program was presented. The charm of Dr. Sutton as a story teller, 
the humorous review of the history of the department by S. D. Shankland 
and the splendid address of Dr. John J. Tigert made this dinner the most 
delightful feature of the entire convention. 

Herpert C. HANSEN, Secretary. 


MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

The first meeting of the executive committee of the Department of 
Elementary School Principals was held on Monday morning, July 1, 19209. 
Those present were: President Eva G. Pinkston, Helen B. Shove, John A. 
Spargo, F. H. Duffy, Jessie M. Fink, Elizabeth McCormick, Frank W. 
Hubbard, Assistant Director, Research Division, Herman Ritow, National 
Chairman, Enrolment Committee, and Herbert C. Hansen, Secretary. 

The minutes of the Cleveland meeting were approved as published in 
the July Bulletin. 

Mr. Ritow, chairman of the Enrolment Committe, reported on the work 
of his committee and presented suggestions for an aggressive membership 
campaign for the coming year. Mr. Ritow was given a vote of thanks for 
his valuable services as chairman of this important committee. 

There was a general discussion of the type of yearbook to be issued 
by the department. At the Cleveland meeting it was voted that the 1930 
Yearbook should be prepared under the direction of a committee of ele- 
mentary school principals, assisted by the Research Division of the National 
Education Association. The president was authorized to appoint an editorial 
committee to prepare the 1930 Yearbook. The members of the committee 
are: Earl R. Laing, Burt School, Detroit, chairman; Isabel ‘Tucker, 
Shenandoah School, St. Louis; Arthur §. Gist, Training School, ‘Teachers 
College, San Francisco. 

The editorial committee expects to concentrate the 1930 Yearbook upon 
the administrative phases of the principals’ work. Emphasis will be given 
to the necessity for good administration in the successful conduct of a 
school. It is likely that the 1931 Yearbook will contain several studies 
in supervision. 

The second meeting of the executive committee was held on Monday 
evening, July 1, 1929, at the Ansley Hotel. Those present at the meeting 
were: President Eva G. Pinkston, Helen B. Shove, John A Spargo, F. H. 
Duffy, Herman Ritow, Frank W. Hubbard, and Herbert C. Hansen, 
Secretary. 

It was voted that it be the policy of the department to appoint the 
retiring president as a member of the National Council of Education. 
The representatives from this department to the National Council of Edu- 
cation are as follows: Arthur S. Gist, term expiring in 1930; John A. 
Spargo, term expiring in 1932; Eva G. Pinkston, term expiring in 1934. 


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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 59 





It was voted that $100 be appropriated for the clerical expenses of the 
members of the editorial committee. 

On motion the secretary was directed to write to the members of the 
Budget Committee and express the appreciation of the department for the 
liberal budget set up for the Research Division of the National Education 
Association. 

On motion the secretary was directed to present at the business session 
of the department, a few revisions of the constitution, which were recom- 
mended for adoption by the executive committee. 

It was voted that $1000 be appropriated for research studies in coopera- 
tion with the Division of Research. 

It was voted that fifty percent of the cash balance on hand July 1, 1929, 
be transferred to the Permanent Fund of the Department. 

It was voted that for the year 1929-30 the five issues of the Research 
Bulletin of the National Education Association be sent, free of charge, 
to all members of the department. 

On motion the president was authorized to extend fitting recognition 
to Frank W. Hubbard for his splendid services to our department. 

It was voted that the expenses of the president and secretary be paid 
on the basis of the standard set up for the officers of the National Education 
Association. 

The president expressed her appreciation for the cordial support and 
hearty cooperation of all members of the committee. 

A motion was made that a vote of thanks be given the retiring president 
for her able and efficient services to the department. 

Herpert C. Hansen, Secretary. 


NOTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 
Tue ATLANTIC City MEETING 


The sixtieth meeting of the Department of Superintendence of the Na- 
tional Education Association is to be held at Atlantic City, New Jersey, 
February 22-27, 1930. Headquarters, registration, general sessions, and 
exhibits will be held in the Atlantic City convention hall located on the 
Boardwalk. 

“Education in the Spirit of Life” is the convention theme selected by 
President Frank Cody. 

Mr. Herbert C. Hansen, president of the Department of Elementary 
School Principals, has completed arrangements to have general sessions on 
the afternoons of Monday and Wednesday. There will be breakfasts on 
Monday and Tuesday mornings. These breakfasts furnish the opportunity 
for principals from all sections of the country to become acquainted. Com- 
mittee chairmen will present brief reports. Every elementary school principal 
is invited to be present. The dinner will be on Tuesday evening. The 
headquarters of the Department of Elementary School Principals will be 
at the Shelburne Hotel. 


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60 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION 





For hotel reservations, application should be made at once to A. H. 
Skean, Secretary of the Hotel Committee, Atlantic City, New Jersey. State 
clearly the type of accommodations desired and the date of your arrival, 
Be sure to give name and address of persons who will share your room, 
Act now. 

Principals should begin at once to make their plans to attend this great 
meeting. 

Program details and general announcements will appear in the January 
issue of the Bulletin. 


Miss Pyrt.e, New N. E. A. PResipENT 


The Department of Elementary School Principals rejoices in the election 
of Miss E. Ruth Pyrtle to the presidency of the National Education Asso- 
ciation. Miss Pyrtle is a past 
president of the Department of 
Elementary School Principals. 
She is principal of the McKinley 
School at Lincoln, Nebraska. 


SAN FRANCISCO PRINCIPALS CONTRIB- 
UTE TO SALARY STUDY 
In the Spring of 1928 eleven 
teachers organizations in San 
Francisco met to discuss the 
salary schedules. The outcome 
of these meetings was the ap- 
pointment of a Consolidated 
Study Committee of thirty-three 
persons. ‘The three representa- 
tives from the elementary school 
principals group were: Mr. 
George Learned, Mr. Charles 
Danforth, and Miss Julia Coffey. 
Under the direction of Dr. 
Frank W. Hart and Dr. L. H. 
Peterson of the University of 
E. Ruth Pyrtle California, the committee com- 
pleted a careful analysis of salary 
problems. Factors in San Francisco were surveyed and compared with 
those in other cities. The completed study of 148 pages may be purchased 
for $3.00 from the San Francisco Teachers’ Consolidated Salary Study Com- 
mittee, 465 Post St., San Francisco, California. 

















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CITY AND STATE ORGANIZATIONS 
LocAL PRINCIPALS’ ORGANIZATIONS 


Presidents of local principals’ organizations are requested to send to 
Cassie F. Roys, Secretary, 2609 Bristol St., Omaha, Nebraska, the name 
of their organization, the names of the officers, copies of programs, reports, 
yearbooks, and news items of general interest. 

The secretary would like to keep the membership of the department 
informed with reference to the activities of the various local organizations. 

Data relative to new salary schedules and the general improvement of 
the professional and economic status of the principal are especially requested. 


PoNTIAC ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS’ CLUB 


The officers of the Pontiac Elementary School Principals’ Club for the 
school year 1929-30 are: President, Gertrude McVean; Vicepresident, 
Nina Doty; Secretary-Treasurer, Mary McGinnis. 


Boston ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION 


The Boston Elementary Principals’ Asssociation has done much valuable 
work in bringing professional aspects of education before the public. Mr. 
Arthur A. Lincoln, Master, Washington Allston District, and Mr. Chester 
H. Wilbar, Master, Barnes District, have spoken before local groups. 
Miss Rose A. Carrigan, Master, Shurtleff District, spoke at the first confer- 
ence of the Massachusetts Elementary Principals’ Association at Amherst 
on “ Some Phases of the Character Education Program in Boston.” 

At the May meeting of the Massachusetts Association of Educational 
Methods, Miss Gertrude E. Bigelow, Master, Hancock District, spoke 
upon “‘ Every Day Character Work ” and Miss Lillian M. Towne, Master, 
Bowdoin District spoke upon ‘‘ Some Factors in Character Development.”’ 

Miss Mabel E. Adams, Master, Horace Mann District, is a member of 
the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Promotion of 
Teaching Speech to the Deaf, and chairman of the Committee on the Hard 
of Hearing Child. 

At the summer session of the Teachers College of the city of Boston, 
Mr. Frederick A. Guindon, Master, Quincy District, gave a course on 
“ Individualization of Instruction in Elementary Schools,” and Mr. Edward 
J. Muldoon, Master, Bigelow District, gave a course on “ Principles and 
Methods of Teaching in the Intermediate Schools.” 

The officers are: President, William L. Phinney; Vicepresident, Ed- 
ward J. Muldoon; Secretary, Lillian M. Towne; Treasurer, James A. 
Crowley. 


LANSING ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION 


The new officers of the Lansing, Michigan, Elementary Principals’ Asso- 
ciation are as follows: President, Effie Kellum, Principal Allen Street 


[61] 


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62 NATIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION 


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School ; Vicepresident, Edna Jones, Principal, Genesee St. School ; Secretary 
and Treasurer, Esther Brandt, Principal, Cedar Street School. 


MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 


The Department of Elementary School Principals of the Michigan Edu- 
cation Association has issued its second yearbook under the title, “ Functions 
of the Elementary School Principalship.” 

Over five hundred principals are members of the department. ‘The 
officers are: President, Earl Laing, Detroit; Vicepresidents, John Merrill, 
Detroit, Carrie Dicken, Ann Arbor, Margaret Strahan, Grand Rapids: 
Secretary, Elizabeth Welch, Flint; Treasurer, F. H. Atkinson, Highland 
Park. 


FINANCIAL STATEMENT 
RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS 


For THE YEAR ENDED May 31, 1929 


CAM MOR OE BOM ec ccaacvmn sce heer bepen Cae aenwanataces $1,295.81 
Receipts: 
Membership Dues: 
Current Year—4250 members at $3 each................ $12,750.00 
Arrears—27 members at $3 each.................-..0. 81.00 
1929-30—56 members at $3 each....................... 168.00 
Aporepriation from N. E. A. 0... scccccccscccccnccesess 1,500.00 
NU NI si alvsaig arsine eres om nce wads mmncd naan 4,474.69 18,973.69 
20,269.50 
Disbursements : 
Printing: 
FSR ea ere Ce Ea Sa ee $415.75 
NIN 55.5.5 6 sp dit wiiisin Diack Adenine deanna awions ’ 479-98 
SN os ck: sara. ade dieian/ 40. Gale Se ae Saisie Sikiee e kes 502.03 
EPR ee ee ne ar ae 4,284.85 
Tickets, membership applications, leaflets, cards, etc..... 829.10 
Postage, stationery, and office expense..................-. 2,350.16 
Stenographic and clerical service.................-+-.0:- 1,670.38 
Committee on enrolment.............-..cccceeecceeereees 12.20 
EE dcccccweetabechage ihakenbi me bpp nbne souk oe 70.34 
Traveling Expenses: 
MN 0d cdi 5 wig as cioin ke wile ube duerckiomed ard $895.04 
ST TN NN is sit pawn cnemsedammpunncne 178.33 
SE ee nO nO Pe ee eee 57-02 
ec 65's "6: aiasan arm's aia ard iacasu ciated Qokere wa lecd 87.40 
IN i. s5S6bs od ab cian mspaueri< sd alee 335-25 
PN Oe NE oo bv icdvccunececwecceacdasmeee sane 108.10 = 1,661.14 
SN ga) aaa a ass ariel lloyd ncn oman ie mae oe 12,275.93 
Transferred to the Permanent Fund of the N. E. A........ 453-50 12,729.43 
NE AAR TR BE, DB okie oka nrrcvecacamdine sclcsie dee omeisies'e $7,540.07 


Peat, MArRwick, MITCHELL & Co. 
WaASHINGTON, D. C., 
June 14, 1920. 











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HE Bulletin of the Department of 

Elementary School Principals is issued 
in October, January, and July. Each num- 
ber contains 64 pages filled with articles of 
timely interest to every principal. 

The Research Bulletins of the National 
Education Association, which are among 
the most valuable of educational publica- 
tions, will be sent free to all members of 
the Department during 1929-30. 

The Yearbooks of this Department con- 
tain studies of current progressive move- 
ments and are practical handbooks of the 
various phases of elementary school admin- 
istration and supervision. 

The Ninth Yearbook, which will be 
prepared by an editorial committee ot 
which Earl R. Laing, Burt School, Detroit, 
Michigan, is the chairman, will concen- 
trate upon the administrative phases of the 
principal’s work.