PERIODICAL ROOM GENERAL LIBRARY UNIV. OF MICH. OCT 27 1099 TREN ATIONAL ELEMENTARY RINCIP BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OCTOBER 1932 Vol. XII, No. | THE NATIONAL ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS Published in October, December, February, April, and June by the Department 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 De- partment, to hold office, and to receive the Bulletin. 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; and Yearbook, $2. Entered as second-class 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., Eva G. Pinkston, Editor. OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT 1932-33 President, Elizabeth McCormick, Timothy Fifth Vicepresident, Mason of ‘ork len, nty, and are tan un- just rea og- fall ro- nce ere cr im self-confidence. A community without self-respect commands no respect or esteem from anyone, just as a man with- out self-respect commands no respect or consideration from others. Com- munity self-respect expresses itself in pride in what the community has done and is capable of doing. Communities possessing such pride undertake projects and attract inhabitants that contribute towards its growth. Communities lack- ing it lose even the little which they have. Civic pride—community self-re- spect—cannot be instilled into pupils who do not know their community, nor by teachers who do not know it. Why are we in this world? Weare here for only one reason whether we like it or not and that is to be of use to our fellow-man. How do we prepare ourselves to be of use to our fellow-man? First, we keep our minds and bodies in sound and healthy condition. If we do not do that we are a drain on our community, not ahelp. Then we house, feed, clothe, and educate our families. Failure to do that makes our families community liabil- ities, not assets. Following our family comes the town in which we live. If we make the town active and prosperous it contributes toward the state. If we do not it becomes a satellite on the com- monwealth. To maintain our community as a productive force, contributing both spiritual and material wealth to the state, is the truest form of patriotism. It means far more to our country than demonstrations and parades. Without civic pride—community self-respect— this cannot be done, and so again I em- phasize the responsibility of the schools in developing this community self-re- spect through teaching their pupils to know their local communities thor- oughly. MENTAL HYGIENE’S CHALLENGE TO OUR SCHOOLS* Harvey Zorbaugh S the findings of the White House Conference find their way into print, we are realizing that those in- dividuals who can’t or won’t meet the demands of adult life constitute the greatest problem of our civilization. There are 500,000 persons in American institutions for the anti-social and in- adequate. The cost of their care is three times the federal income tax, three times the total cost of public education. Programs for adult readjustment have met with little success, but study of maladjusted adults reveals that the great majority of them were malad- justed in childhood. What are the schools doing for the mal- adjusted pupil? Little or nothing, until we adopt a philosophy of education that makes the emotional stability and social adequacy of the child its cardinal aim; until adminis- trators realize that the program of the in- dividual child must inevitably vary with his potentialities and handicaps; until teachers are trained to see the whole child, and are admitted to the classroom only when they are themselves wholesome personalities and safe for children to live with. There is a philosophy slowly work- ing its way into educational practise, the philosophy of education as adjust- ment. This philosophy is neither cur- riculum-centered nor child-centered, but life-centered. It views education as a process of learning to live and get- ting along with others. It sees educa- tion as a process of socialization, and the school’s function as one of continual guidance. It would measure its success solely in terms of the effectiveness of the personalities of the children who have grown up in its schools. * Abstract of statement given at Atlantic City, N. J., June 29, 1932. OCTOBER 1932 cA Principal Almanack One Today is worth two Tomorrows, and farther, ow have somewhat t. do Haren, #9 do it Today, . 15. Oct. 1. Nov. 1-13. 45. Dec. 25. 1. Tan. 15. Feb. 25. Feb. 2. Mar. 25. Mar. a Apr. 20. 45. Je. LTT. 4. Sept. on directory of yearbook. . Membership year begins, one ? Bulletin mailed to oe ee, Last date for sending American Education Weet. rl Bulletin mailed. BA ay ! FS? New Year resolufions. oe: & Ad. Bulletin mailed. ana g Winter meeting = Minneapolis. Last date to set names Christmas. AS merr® he absent are never without fault; nor the present without excuse.“PR, Yearbook mailed. yearboor? Last bulletin mailed to members, Summer meeting? Chicago. | Enjoy the years no fuss, no haste. This prge in your date-book paste 4 12 THE BULLETIN NECESSARY CHANGES IN THE ELEMENTARY CURRICULUM P to this period in education there has existed too great a gap between the American community and the school curriculum. It is the earnest desire of those interested in the development of childhood to see this gap obliterated as much as possible. This change can be accomplished best by the reconstruction of the school curriculum, so as to enable each child to learn to express himself in terms of an ever-changing environment and in appreciation of the cultural life with which he comes in contact. The making of better courses of study should be one of the fundamental aims of mod- ern education and our traditional edu- cational material must be remade in order to bring about a new ideal of individual and social development. The new school starts with the pres- ent life of the children themselves, with all their interests and desires. A num- ber of changes are stressed in order to fulfill these broader requirements; (a) the pupils must see a purpose in what they do; (b) concomitant learnings must go hand in hand with other learn- ing—and attitudes must constantly be built; (c) the learnings that are en- couraged should be the ones that chil- dren need at present; and (d) the cur- riculum must be a series of guided ex- periences, one leading to, and enrichinz the other. School-measures, up to the present time, have been largely con- cerned with the efficiency of pupils in the three R’s, isolated from their pur- poses in real life. The new schools be- lieve that the efficiency of the school should be measured in terms of the acts of pupils in real life, rather than in terms of the traditional school subjects, for we now know that progress in edu- Charlotte Estes cation does not consist in doing the old things better than they were done be- fore but in the creating of new standards so that the schools may be aware of the desirable social changes that are con- tinually going on around us. The curriculum should consist of all the experiences which all the children are most likely to have out of school, and in which they engage in school. It should be a continuing stream of child activities and should represent the whole life of the school. It must develop the skills, the content core and the creative activities under a teacher who is both scientist and artist. The selection of purposes in the curriculum should be twofold, by individuals and by groups, because boys and girls pursue both in- dividual and group purposes. In the individual purpose it is a cooperative matter between the individual pupil and the teacher, while the group purposing involves a group of individuals, among whom the teacher is one. In the group selection all take part and each one feels free to make any suggestions that he would like the group to pursue. These the group take up for discussion, and select one for group participation. This method of attack, in the new cur- riculum, promises to further the chil- dren’s growth, and enables them to meet changing conditions as they arise. This is why the curriculum should be selected directly from the purposes, needs, and activities of boys and girls in real life. It is a part of the whole educative process in which the learner’s past, pres- ent, and future states must be consid- ered. Learning and life must go hand in hand, for the right kind of learning helps one to live better, and it is for OCTOBER 1932 13 the fullest and best kind of life that we wish to fit our pupils. So it is necessary to know: (a) how we may best learn these things; (b) how learning im- proves living; and (c) what constitutes the “good life.” The Function of the Teacher and Pupil Participation ‘The teacher should be so well-trained that the curriculum is only a guide to the most worthwhile experiences which should meet the needs of children. Here is where the new artist-teacher can most efficiently function, in bring- ing out the best that is in each child and in encouraging him to create. This teacher must understand the meaning of culture, and of child and adult life, in its fullest and richest sense. Under the new curriculum the function of the teacher, in guiding children in the se- lection of purposes, is to provide a school environment which suggests many and varied child experiences and to allow the children under her guid- ance freedom to choose wisely. In this way their outlook is broadened, thus en- abling them to make further wise choices, with the teacher always in the background acting as an intelligent and sympathetic guide. Interference on the part of the teacher should come only at those points where the pupils have ex- hausted every means possible at their command. The planning, executing, and criticizing should come from the pupils as far as practicable. The teach- er, however, should (a) supply sources of reference materials; (b) suggest in- directly by questioning, ways of over- coming difficulties; and (c) approve or disapprove work in the process of ac- complishing the purpose. The individ- ual or the group should always be held responsible. In either case, the teacher must keep in mind that pupil activity is the key to successful learning. In working out plans for any partic- ular unit, the pupils should be thrown on their own, thereby making their own decisions, and be allowed to make use of all available sources of informa- tion. They should be encouraged to work out first a tentative plan for ex- perimentation. As units differ greatly in kind, no one formal plan can be laid out in advance. The important point is that the plan should fit the project, rather than the project fit the plan. It is also important that the teacher know the kind of projects in which children normally engage. She must also under- stand practical administration of school- room work, so as to enable children to work together in active handwork proj- ects, in quiet story projects, and in group activity, or in play projects as the case may be. In order to get active expression, children should be allowed freedom to participate in the carrying out of all types of work. This freedom, however, should stress responsibility and self-control. Constructive criti- cism should include checking to see if plans are followed carefully and if workmanship is mastered as carefully as possible. In other words, the child should make the finished product tally with the purpose for which it is to serve. Under the new curriculum the teacher must see if the child is ready for the learning; she must provide conditions favorable to success ; and she must watch his efforts and encourage repetition in order to facilitate his learning. Curriculum - Making and Content of the Curriculum In the making of the curriculum the cooperation of experienced teachers should be secured together with that 14 THE BULLETIN ome of specialists. Curriculum-study should be carried on comprehensively and re- vision should be made from time to time along the lines of broad views of life. This means that the personnel of com- mittees should be made up of persons of broad and varied interests. For one thing, they must possess more aware- ness of world affairs. It is impossible to initiate pupils into an intelligent un- derstanding of international relations without acquainting them with the facts and movements of diplomacy, world trade, nationalism, internationalism, natural resources, and economic condi- tions. These facts are in many places taught as the separate subjects of geog- raphy, history, economics, and civics. How much better instruction would be if these facts were grouped into broader units of natural relationships based on the needs of the learner. Efforts are being made to reconstruct the curric- ulum in terms of purposes and activi- ties, rather than in terms of subjects. Many experts feel that the barriers be- tween school subjects hinder true learn- ing rather than promote it, in that they isolate meanings and principles, which to be fully understood must be studied in the close relationships of their nat- ural settings. There must be more research and ex- perimentation done before it can be de- cided whether or not the curriculum should be made in advance. In view of the fact that the future is always un- certain and changing we know that too much planning has been done in the past. All we can do is to experiment as we go along, letting the results deter- mine the solution to the problem. There should be some sort of a guide, how- ever, to enable teachers to keep a bal- ance among the large and varied units of work. Conclusion The school must be a place where children learn to live with others. If learning does not improve living, then we can say that our curriculum has failed. It is not only the knowledge of the different subjects that is important, but also habits of speech, courtesy, at- titudes of openmindedness, respect for personality, tolerance and an unselfish regard for the common good. Various authorities state that these ideals have arisen out of severe struggles in the past, and today their values are realized more than ever before, for they represent fundamental cultural values of greater importance than the knowledge of spe- cified subjects and they should belong to the curriculum of the public school. Fulfilling an ideal may sometimes prove of more value to a person than the mas- tery of some factual knowledge. It causes us to stop and reflect when we read a statement from Mr. Lowie’s book Are We Civilized?, namely, that we have advanced only materially, and that, altruistically speaking, we are lit- tle better off today than the stone-age savage; and that it is the intellectuals who are the worst delinquents in the backsliding of learning. It is surely time that something be done to change the order of things in this process known as education. What we need is a more humanized curriculum, and_ broader culture and scholarship on the part of educators, especially along the line of the new humanities, so that social liv- ing may be improved, through the agency of the school. _ According to present plans, the Nicollet Hotel in Minne- apolis is to be the headquarters of the Department at the win- ter meeting, February 25 - March 2, 1933. OCTOBER 1932 THE STATUS OF THE MICHIGAN N the spring of 1931 the author sent inquiry forms to 415 elementary- school principals in Michigan cities over 25,000 in population. The form asked for answers to thirty-seven specific ques- tions, each of which was so arranged that the answer could be indicated by drawing a circle around the one num- ber in a series that most nearly answered that question for the principal who checked the form. Two hundred eighty- one, or 68 percent, of the forms were returned. Principals in the following cities cooperated to make the study pos- sible: Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Bay City, Dearborn, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Muske- gon, Pontiac, Port Huron, Saginaw, and Wyandotte. The questions asked on the inquiry form divided into three major group- ings: (a) training, (b) experience, and (c) description of school. The purpose of this article is to present a summary or survey of the study for comparison with the Seventh Yearbook (1928) and similar studies published by the national Department. Age of Principals The Seventh Yearbook reported the median age for men principals in the United States as 43 years and for women principals, +9 years. In the pres- ent study in Michigan the median age for men principals is 45 years and for women principals it is 47 years. The median ages for both men and women principals vary little between cities of the first, second, and third PRINCIPALSHIP* John S. Thomas classes, except that it is 54 years for men in cities of the second class. Degrees Held by Principals Slightly less than 50 percent of the principals in the seventeen Michigan cities hold the bachelor’s degree, and only 13 percent have earned the mas- ter’s degree. Only one principal holds the degree of doctor of philosophy. The Seventh Yearbook reports that at least 46 percent of the principals who re- turned the questionnaires hold some kind of college degree. The North Carolina study indicates that 54 percent of the elementary-school principals in that state hold college degrees. Special Training for the Principal- ship What percent of the city principals of Michigan have had courses of spe- cific application to elementary education or to the elementary-school principal- ship? The replies of Michigan princi- pals to the above question indicate that over 30 percent have had no courses which applied to training for the princi- palship. About 36 percent report five or more undergraduate courses in ele- mentary education, and 13 percent re- port five or more graduate courses. Recent Training Secured by Princi- pals Thirty-six percent of the Michigan principals took extension, or “‘in-serv- ice,” courses during the year 1931. About one-fourth attended summer school in 1930. The data indicate that there is a growing tendency to study *Since the nationwide study of the status of the principalship in the 1928 yearbook, the Depart- ment has published brief reports of studies made in North Carolina (Bulletin, July 1929), and New Mexico (Bulletin, July 1930). THE BULLETIN sink dut clu Ye sur ten yea wil thr Su th: tra ele fou tw Pri tra of col as op eit we su wl ua th wl sti AN |p* nas for the gan and nas- Ids [he 2ast me rth ent in al- als on al- ci- lat ses Ci- ve le- te since more principals have taken courses during each of the last three years in- cluded in this survey. The Seventh Yearbook reported 52 percent of the supervising principals as having at- tended summer school within three years previous to 1928. This study of Michigan principals shows 42 percent with summer-school years during the three years prior to 1931. Summary of Training Data of this Michigan study show that the median number of years of training above the high-school level of elementary principals in Michigan is four years. This varies only slightly be- tween the largest and smallest cities. Principals report a median of three years training in normal schools and a median of two years training in universities or colleges. Education was the subject reported as the major study by 39 percent of all Michigan principals in the cities co- operating. The remaining 61 percent either indicated no major subject or were divided among the other major subjects. Of the 41 percent of the principals who reported that they were doing grad- uate study, 34 percent were conducting that study as a major in education, while the remaining 7 percent were studying in education as a minor. The general training received by Michigan elementary-school principals is equal to that shown by other studies. About half of them hold bachelors’ de- grees, 70 percent of them have taken one or more courses applying to elemen- tary education, over 50 percent have taken courses during the last three years either during the year or at summer schools. The median of their training above the high school is four years, and most of them make study in education their major activity. Teaching Experience As might be expected the major por- tion of the teaching experience of Mich- igan principals has been in the elemen- tary-school field. More than three- fourths of those replying to the inquiry have had no experience in either the junior or the senior high-school fields. Of the principals who report elemen- tary-school teaching experience, the median is thirteen years. Experience As a Non-Teaching Principal Freedom from full-time teaching as- signments has been one of the important steps in the development of the new principalship. The median for non- teaching principals in Michigan is six years experience. Table 10 of the Sev- enth Yearbook gives a median experi- ence for supervising principals, a group equivalent to the non-teaching group here discussed. —The median number of years of experience of both teaching and non-teaching principals is nine, which is still below that for the supervising principals in the 1928 yearbook. Tenure of Principals The Seventh Yearbook points out that case studies of successful principals indicated that they remained in their present positions for periods from ten to twenty years. The question is raised as to whether or not a principal can make an impression in his school district in a shorter time. Table 13 of the Seventh Yearbook gives a median of about six years for principals in their present posi- tions. The New Mexico study shows the greatest number of principals in that state to have been in their present posi- OCTOBER 1932 17 tion between two and four years. The median for the Michigan study is slight- ly over six years. More significant is the median of nineteen years experience in the city in which the principal is at present. Summary of Experience In addition to the experience of Michigan principals reported above, re- plies indicated that about 28 percent have had previous experience as super- intendents or principals of high schools. About 67 percent of the principals in first class (largest) cities in the study have had from one to fifteen years ex- perience as assistant principals, while less than 10 percent in second and third class (smallest) cities had such experi- ence. The median experience of all kinds in school work reported was twenty- five years, while the first quartile was about eighteen years. This seems to in- dicate rather a long experience in school work for the principals who replied to the inquiry. The Seventh Yearbook gives medians of twenty years for teach- ing principals and twenty-four years for supervising principals for total experi- ence in school work. The most outstanding observation that can be made of the principals re- ported in the present study is that as a TABLE I—Savaries Paip Ciry PRINCIPALS IN MICHIGAN IN 1931 general rule they are teachers of wide experience. Size of Schools Five principals failed to report the enrolment of their schools. “The median enrolment for the remaining 276 schools is 658 which is slightly higher than the 632 reported in the Seventh Yearbook in 1928. The first quartile in the pres- ent study is 406 pupils and the third quartile is 949 pupils. Salaries The general characteristics of the salaries paid to city principals in Mich- igan are shown in Table 1. As com- monly asserted the better paid positions are to be found in the largest cities. Undoubtedly this factor of salaries is closely associated with the enrolments. The Seventh Yearbook gives a median salary paid to supervising principals in 1926-27 of $2710. This lower sum may be due to the earlier year in which the data were gathered. The North Caro- lina study gives an annual salary of $2200 for the typical principal. ‘The New Mexico report shows that thirty- six of the eighty-eight principals receive salaries between $1500 and $2000 and that only seven principals receive sal- aries over $2000. Yearly Size of Cities Salary | All Cities Received Large Medium Small | (1) (2) (3) (4) | (5) Lowest $2600 $1850 $1900 | $1850 Highest 4800 4400 4800 4800 Range 3300 2550 2900 | 2950 First Quartile 3259.93 2396.83 2186.34 2410.37 Median 3594.75 2626.00 2412.29 2872.34 Third Quartile 4105.78 | 2836.23 2876.00 3582.52 18 THE BULLETIN wide t the edian hools 1 the book pres- hird the [ich- -om- ions ties. 5 IS nts. dian s in may the aro- The rty- pive and sal- Assistance for the Principals The median number of teachers in the schools of Michigan principals in first class cities is twenty-two. The median ‘number of teachers in all of the city schools participating in the study is eighteen. In the first class cities, principals have the help of assistant principals in all of the schools. In the smaller cities, there are fewer assistant principals in 7 percent of the schools in secend class cities, and 13 percent of the schools in third class cities. About 48 percent of the assistant principals in the first class cities devote full time to teaching. The remaining 52 percent teach varying amounts of time; 12 percent of this group do no teaching. When all of the cities of the study are grouped together, the median num- ber of clerks is less than one. Again, most of the clerical assistance provided the principal is in the first class city. The median number of clerks is one to a school in the largest city. Summary The typical elementary-school prin- cipal in Michigan is a person of long experience in the elementary school, most of which experience has been gained in the city in which he now works. While about half of the princi- pals hold college degrees, attendance at summer schools and other classes indi- cates a constantly raising standard of training. Michigan principals in all three phases of this study compare fa- vorably with the nationwide survey re- ported in the Seventh Yearbook. All indications are that the principals of the state are keeping abreast of the develop- ment of the new principalship. DO YOU KNOW HAT the Department was first organized at Atlantic City in Feb- ruary 1921 as the National Association of Elementary School Principals. The group became a Department of the Na- tional Education Association at Des Moines in June 1921. THAT the first president Leonard Power is now assistant superintendent of schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma. John L. Bracken, the first corresponding secretary, is now superintendent in Clayton, Missouri. Courtland V. Davis the first (and only!) treasurer is now a principal in Plainfield, New Jersey. THAT the first yearbook in 1922 was on the technic of supervision. It was the first yearbook published by any department in the field of supervision. THAT the 1922 yearbook contained 142 pages as compared with 621 pages in 1932. THAT the first yearbook published a list of 669 members, while the 1932 yearbook contained the names of +600 members. Seven times over in eleven years! THAT the first two yearbooks were edited by special committees; the 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, and 1929 were edited by Arthur S. Gist (now president of the Arcata State Teachers College, California) ; the 1928 volume was pre- pared by a special committee with the help of the Research Division ; the 1930, 1931, and 1932 yearbooks have been compiled by the Editorial Committee in cooperation with the Research Divi- sion. THAT the State of New York in 1931-32 had over +00 members in the Department. California, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts follow in this order. OCTOBER 1932 WITH THE LOCAL AND STATE GROUPS Stella Holmes, former state enrol- ment chairman of Nebraska, has been made president of the Elementary School Principals’ Club of Omaha. Lillian Towne, second vicepresident of the Department of Elementary School Principals, is vicepresident of the Boston Elementary Principals’ Associa- tion. Aaron Kline, chairman of the Elev- enth Yearbook of the national Depart- ment, is president of the Chicago Prin- cipals’ Club. The officers of the elementary-prin- cipals’ section of the Minnesota State Association for the coming year are as follows: president, Maude Irle, Grove- land Park School, St. Paul; vicepresi- dent, Frances C. Elgar, Lester Park School, Duluth; and secretary, Anne Brezler, Garfield School, Minneapolis. The elementary-principals’ section will join with the secondary principals in their section program at the state meet- ing in St. Paul, October 27-29. They will be addressed by Philip W. L. Cox, professor of education of New York University, and Dr. Morris Fishbein, executive secretary of the American Medical Association. The Association of Women Princi- pals of the Public Schools of the City of New York has merged with the New York Principals’ Association. Arthur Bowie, principal of P. S. 206. Brocklyn, is president of the association. Mary McSkimmon, principal of the Pierce School, Brookline, Massachu- setts, retires this year from active teach- ing, after serving 39 years in the Pierce School. Miss McSkimmon was presi- dent of the National Education Associa- tion in 1925. Mildred English, assistant superin- tendent, writes that the Raleigh, N. C., principals will soon have their first year- book off the press. Katherine C. McDonnell, president of the Boston Elementary Principals’ Association is the leader in a move to secure more time for each Boston prin- cipal, irrespective of his pupil enrol- ment, by providing efficient clerical as- sistants. The Texas Elementary Principals’ and Supervisors’ Association hope to have their first yearbook, Emphasizing Elementary Education, completed about November 1. Thomas E. Pierce, Abi- lene, is president of the association for thecoming year, and George P. Mecham, Corsicana, is editor of the yearbook. Harry A. Maass, Nokomis Junior High School, is president of the Min- neapolis Principals’ Forum for the year. A brief account of the program of the New York Principals’ Association for 1932-33 is as follows: ‘At least six dinner meetings will be held; other meetings will be called as the need arises. The first dinner of the year will be asocial one. There will be guests of honer, including a newly appointed commissioner of education, the superin- tendent of schools, and the president of the board of education.” The members of the Principals’ Club of Atlanta, Georgia, will discuss the 1932 national yearbook at their Octo- ber and November meetings. Topics of other meetings include: worthwhile books, trends of the times, modern music, and fine arts. Rusha Wesley is president for the school year 1932-33. The New Jersey Principals’ Asso- ciation will meet at Atlantic City on November 12th. There will be a gen- eral session in the morning and a luncheon and group meetings in the afternoon. Ann Troy is president. 20 THE BULLETIN a r= Oo