VOL. XVI DECEMBER, 1927 ' a <> we JOURNAL ¢ the | NATIONAL EDUCATION |) | ASSOCIATION | The Sources of Ethical Chardcter—Editorial , ‘ , , : 267 Improvement of the Speaking Voice—Adrian M. Neeens ; , , 269 The Boston that Few People Know—National Geographic Society ‘ , 271 What More Could a Man Desire?—Blynn E. Davis . : ; , 275 The Young Citizens’ League of South Dakota—S. B. Nissen ; ; ; 277 Other Little Children—Mary E. Knapp ‘ ' ; , , 279 Fini | The Teachers’ Book Club—Bernice 8. Engle , . , ‘ : 280 =k= Tendencies in Handwriting—John Oswald Peterson . 4 ; , , 281 7 “1 The Elementary School Principalship—W orth McGlure , ‘ : , 283 \V Editorial—Vitalized Commencements . ‘ ‘ : , ‘ ‘ 286— The Truth in Education—A Plea for Facts ; , : ; A 287 2&2 Membership in Professional and Technical Orzanisstions ; ; ‘ F 288 1 Teachers’ Salaries—Florence Fish . ; ; ; 289 Case Studies by a/Classroom Teacher—Elizabeth H. Birrell : ‘ ; 291 DY Business Education at Seattle ‘ ’ : ; ‘ ‘ > ; 293 . Secondary School Principals at Seattle : ; , : ; ‘ ‘ 294 1 Kindergarten Education at Seattle ; ‘ ; , : ‘ : . 295 The Teacher’s Christmas Scrapbook . ; ; ° , 296 New Schools for Adolescents—Margaret M. A Siecher ; ‘ ‘ : 297 Interesting People—A Reading List for Boys and Girls ; ; ' : 299 Tent City Refugee School—R. 4. Cooper . : ‘ ; . ‘ : 301 Minneapolis Convention—Hotel Arrangements . ‘ ; . > ‘ 302 Builders of Our Profession ‘ ‘ . : ‘ : i > . 303 Notes and Announcements . ; ‘ ‘ ; ‘ ‘ ‘ ; . A-260 — ae fh a KE Heol | yd - (i } A ( tins « fn ci € ini sse! ‘ oi Contents of previous issues of The Journal of the National Education ng Association can be found by consulting the Readers’ Guide in your library. ge, Mass a « Published monthly, except July, August, and September, by the u sy i NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION OF THE UnitTeEp STATES ob- a 1201 SixTEENTH StreEET NortHwest, WASHINGTON, D. C. en : nis =|) Entered as secondclass matter October 28, 1920, at the pete: at Washington, D. C., under the Act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance Ad for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized January 26, 1921. se = = = — — > > = Anon on won ‘ S > — — = a So) by MY FIRST NUMBER BOOK By C. L. Thiele, Supervisor of Exact Sciences, Detroit Public Schools; Irene Sauble, Assistant Superintendent of Exact Sciences, Detroit Public Schools, and Nettie Oglesby, Second-Grade Critic Teacher, Roosevelt Ele- mentary School, Detroit Teachers College. Illustrated by Margaret lannelli, lannelli Studios, Park Ridge, Illinois. My First Number Book, a mast attractive little text for the second grade, introduces the child to formal arithmetic. The pupil learns through the things he loves to do— through games, buying, selling toys, playing store, selling papers, telling time—activities all involving num- ber facts. And he works out his little problems in the light of most engaging little pictures in color by the well-known Iannellis. Introduction by Edward L. Thorndike Send for descriptive folder RAND MCNALLY & COMPANY (Dept. M-95) New York CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO 270 Madison Ave. 536 So. Clark St. 559 Mission St. Designed especially for school use New Books McKinley, and Howland Dann’s WORLD HISTORY IN THE MAKING AND WORLD HISTORY TODAY Both books profusely illustrated in black-and white and color. Many maps. Price of each volume, $1.92 HESE books show that human history has been largely a continuous growth in which each age has built upon what previous peoples had already accom- plished. HEY enable the student to understand many present-day conditions of national and social life by tracing their development. I HE treatment is rational, impartial, judicial. HE sequence of the chief events and the causal re- lations between them are carefully traced. EACHING devices of a varied character help both student and teacher in using these volumes. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO BOSTON - ATLANTA Acclaimed a public benefaction THE A — ee wary Defines every word so that its use and meaning can be instantly understood Published in Three Editions PRIMARY INTERMEDIATE For use in the lower grades For use in all elementary grades ADVANCED For use in high schools and colleges, and for teachers’ desk use Send for illustrated literature describing all three editions HOME OFFICE AND MANUFACTORY, PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO DALLAS TORONTO [i as), FOR TExTeooKks [il ———— a HARACTER EDUCATION comes first. It has always been first with the great teachers. Character comes frst in business. Faith in fellowman is the foundation of the whole business structure. Character comes first in the home. Mutual trust and helpfulness are fast taking the place of cruelty and domination in home life. Character comes first in Citizenship. Faithfulness to public trust is the cornerstone of mod- em government. Character comes first in learning. The world’s great thinkers have loved truth and maintained their intellectual integrity. Character comes first in daily work. No workman is really effective who does not build into his task, however simple, his own spirit and honesty. Character comes first in leisure. It makes leisure a thing of beauty and a joy forever. The old doctrine that happiness belongs to youth alone is false. In the rightly lived life each year grows richer and fuller. The emphasis on character education is slowly transforming the schools. It is making them child-centered, rather than knowledge-centered. It is exalting hu- man nature above subjectmatter. It is helping teachers to realize that normal, wholesome child growth is more impor- tant than the petty accuracies. There is nw a growing inclination to accept children as they are—to appreciate their limitations and their gifts, as suggested by William Hawley Smith in his excel- lent book, All the Children of All the People. This increasing knowledge of childhood is throwing light on the four great sources of character in the child— health, experience, intelligence, and ideals, Most authorities agree in putting health at the foundation of character development. A sound mind in a sound dy is a fundamental of happiness. Good health heightens pleasure and iminishes pain. It gives tone to those delicate organs of sense by which we see, and hear, and smell, and taste, and touch. It is through these intricate sense mechanisms that we get our knowledge of the objective world. Ill health and physical defects tend to ten the attention of children on them- The Sources of Ethical Character selves to the exclusion of those broader interests which underlie the happy life. Health makes hard work a pleasure, and honesty and courage less difficult. Psy- A Few Definitions Piengsee The total qualities of an individual, both good and bad, especially traits that mainly control conduct. Often used in the positive sense to mean ethical character. Bet- ter restricted in professional writings to the narrower meaning of crude char- acter—the individual as he actually is. Ethical character. Character that has been refined or is in accordance with prevailing ethical standards. Under- lying these standards are natural laws and racial experience. Personality. Character in action. The dynamic elements of character which make an impression on others. Morals. The standards of conduct set by people of influence or authority. Superficially, moral patterns differ somewhat from country to country and from one period to another, but funda- mentally they rest on basic human needs. It has been suggested that these master virtues are common to all the great systems of morals—honesty, industry, selfrestraint, and cooperation. Ideals. In discussions of character, this word usually refers to keen ap- preciation of high standards of conduct, | especially in fields of action where pioneer thinkers believe common prac- tise to be too low. To understand how ideals evolve compare standards as you knew them years ago with practises now in such matters as international relations, the obligation of service, selfrestraint, and cooperation. chiatrists and criminologists are now dis- covering that much of the prevailing mental disease and crime is due to physical defects. However, science and education are getting in their work. This is reflected in the increasing average length of life. In the middle ages, plagues and wars kept the average at about 21 years; during the eighteenth century the average individual lived to 25 years; in 1825, 30 years; in 1850, 40 years; in 1900, 46 years; and now, in [267] December, 1927 the United States, an average of 58. Health—including both the mental and the physical—is a foundation of character growth. The aim in character culture is the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Let us emphasize over and over again that in the rightly lived life each year should be happier and richer. In the campaign for ethical character, then, let us put first a rea- sonable program of physical and health education for every child with ample provision for parks, playgrounds, and classes out of doors. Second among the sources of ethical character comes experience. Traditional educational practise tends to place undue reliance on the verbal side of education. Many teachers do not understand the difference between giving a child experi- ence and mere descriptions of experience. The old school taught character by giv- ing the child a code. The new school teaches character by giving the child a task, knowing that his sense of character values grows naturally from his activi- ties and relationships. The emphasis on words, rather than experience has been caused partly by the undertraining of teachers—by the notion that a teacher is a mere peddler of petty accuracies. Red-blooded children want more than petty accuracies. They want experience. It is not enough to tell the child that the magnet attracts iron. He must himself feel it pull. It is not enough to talk about cooperation. The child must take part in situations that call for coopera- tion and give him a firsthand sense of what it means to be loyal, and tolerant, and patient. Each of us who looks into his own growth knows that the greatest character development came during periods of large activity, amid stress and strain, with decisions to be made and things to be done. If the child is to grow in ethical character, there must be things to do that involve moral situations. Progress is not made by don’ts and quits and stops. Necessary as these may be at times, they are not the normal approach to growth, and joy, and power. Let us then seek to create a school that is rich in freedom, fertile in re- sponsibilities within the power of the 268 child, generous in its provision for clubs and free activities, cooperating with or- ganizations for boys and girls, built around a curriculum that is child-cen- tered, rather than knowledge-centered. The third source of ethical character is what Solomon meant when he said that wisdom is more precious than rubies. In education for a changing civilization, sheer intelligence must play a larger and larger part. By intelligence we mean here both knowledge and the inclination to seek knowledge. We mean those atti- tudes of mind and those habits of study and reflection which cause one to weigh all the factors in a situation. There are many people who are unteachable, who simply will not look at facts that seem to conflict with their established habits. The effort to be intelligent, to be fair minded is one of the noblest achieve- ments of the human race. The long struggle that man has made to use the greatest gift that God has given him is an epic that should be written in simple language and taught to every child. In such books as Robinson’s The Mind in the Making, Joseph K. Hart’s The Dis- covery of Intelligence, and Everett Dean Martin’s The Meaning of a Liberal Education, we have a picture of what man at his best is capable of being when he really learns to use his mind. It is a fascinating bit of history—this account of man’s rise in thinking up through mere revery, crude practical decision, and rationalizing to creative and system- atic thinking. If man is to do right in the compli- cated situations that modern life forces upon him, he must first have intelligence enough to know what is right. Little faith can be placed in any morality that does not have its foundations in keen in- telligence, abundant knowledge, and sound judgment. Let us, then, put into our schools more of that knowledge which touches conduct, more emphasis on social studies, and more opportunity for experience in the use of intelligence. There is tremendous moral significance in the desire to learn and the willingness to study that is reflected in the growth of American high schools and colleges. It is during this period that the fourth source of character—ideals—comes into its finest development. For grownups, ideals tend to crystal- lize into laws and codes and platitudes. The infant is not blessed, or embarrassed, by such broad generalizations. He dis- covers his ideals, not in the words of his elders, but in their deeds. He thus de- velops a highly varied and concrete THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION December, 1927 SS ae morality of situation. A child may be scrupulously honest in one subject and cheat like a pirate in another. Research in character education seems to show that there are no such general traits as hon- esty and bravery, although as grownups we create ideals of these qualities in human character. It is quite possible for a child to do perfect lip service to the rules of conduct and still to violate them all. If we really wish the child to have fine ideals, we must build these into the very atmosphere of the school, into the spirit of the home, into the quality of the child’s reading, into the tone of his picture shows, into the character of his associates—these give to each child the standards that control behavior. If these conditions are right, knowledge of rules merely explains and fortifies what has already been built into attitude and habit. As children grow rich in experience and approach the widening paths of adolescence, they examine the generaliza- tions of their elders about conduct. It is then that they come to appreciate, if ever, the great ideals that lie back of conduct—an understanding of their im- portance to the happiness of man. This appreciation—this growth into a_phil- osophy of life—is the fruit not of authority, but of critical and honest weighing of experience and values. Each generation must survey anew the prob- lems of conduct. Were it possible to do so, no thinking man would wish to take the average of present moral practise and crystallize it into a fixed standard for the masses of men for all time. Any standard thus developed would be far too low for the needs of tomorrow. There is a widespread and mischiev- ous notion that the ideals of young people are lower than the standards of their parents. We believe that a rea- sonable examination of all the facts would show the exact opposite to be true. Why, then, this widespread mis- conception? Two reasons suggest them- selves. First, youth is breaking away from certain customs of dress and speech and manners which an older generation took with intense seriousness, but which in reality are relatively unimportant. Second, we older folks too easily forget that standards of right living are higher than formerly. Modern life is so exacting in its de- mand for personal efficiency that it brings out the exceptions and_ break- downs. Failures which would have been taken as a matter of course a few gen- erations ago are now the subject of com- ment and discussion. It is easy to forget that for every breakdown there are many who make the grade, steep though it often is. If our moral standards seem to be in a state of anarchy, it is not youth that has failed, but the grown men and women to whom youth naturally looks for example and inspiration. Youth gets its ideals first not from our nicely worded ethical systems, but from our daily lives. Our ethical systems are fairly simple. They represent the best prac- tise of the best people. Our daily cop. duct is not so simple. It ranges through all degrees of rightness and excellence, from the highest to the lowest. As our final attack on ethical character, we need to set our standards of daily conduct as high as possible. We need then to make our ideals higher still and to guide young people in interpreting those ideals in terms of their own experience. They need to realize that the mighty current of our customs, laws, institutions, per- sonal manners—our very words—has been built up, bit by bit, through the countless years. Ideals of fortitude, loyalty, honesty, purity, citizenship are older than our printed books or our monuments of stone. Buildings crumble, nations fall, races die, religions come and go, but the great ideals abide. They run like a golden stream through all the old customs and religions ever finding new channels, ever purifying themselves in the bright sun of experience, ever reach- ing for the wider purpose, but eternally true to the original nature of man. The trumpet call of a new age is here. It demands solid character, with its foundations laid deep in sound health, buttressed by experience, guided by per- sistent thinking, searching for the best ideals. This is an age of change and edu- cated men face the challenge to improve their ideals and perfect their institutions. The program of the National Education Association is built around the seven car dinal objectives of education. One might think of these seven centers of educe tional effort as a ladder, with ethical character at the top. Or again, he might visualize these great purposes as am afc), with ethical character as the keystone uniting health, home, and learning 9 the one side, with citizenship, service, and leisure on the other. Or, better still, he might picture them # strands of precious metals, so wovett into the cable of life that each adds strengt! to the others, and all together interwove with other cables to make up the pattern of our modern society —J9! Elmer Morgan. — oo m h d ks ts ly ur ly AC- n- gh ce, ur eed as ake ung in hey rent per- -has the ude, are our nble, and y run e old new es in ‘each- rally ge is with realth, y per e best d edu- nprove utions. ication en Cal- Improvement of the Speaking Voice AprIAN M. NEwens President, University School of Music, Lincoln, Nebraska was the only person in the outer ofice of a college president waiting for an interview. “The stenographer- secretary with whom I had slight ac- quaintance was busy at her desk. The typewriter clicked. ‘Time dragged on. Presently the outer door was _ noisily opened and a woman burst into the room. With the words, “Can I use the tele- phone?” she rapidly pushed her way toward the instrument. A polite con- sent was given. The telephone conver- sation was started, continued, and con- cluded. She left the room as hurriedly as she had entered. When the door was banged shut, I found myself smiling. I looked at the secretary who was more than smiling. She was laughing. She looked at me quizzically and remarked, “How would you like to be married to that voice?” With a shake of her head she resumed her work at the type- writer. Contrasts in teachers’ voices—One of the earliest recollections of my school life is the soft, smooth, compelling voice of my first grade teacher. What a con- trast is brought to my memory as I re- call my fourth grade teacher. After that, school was a matter of “I had to go,” for my interest was dissipated in the harsh, cynical voices of other teachers who followed. One of these voices sticks to my mind to this day—high- pitched, accusing, petulant. Voice cultivation needed—What a wonderful instrument the human voice is! It is the only musical instrument How to Improve Your Speak- ing Voice | ee THE HABIT of listening to tones in the speaking voices of others; try to imitate the pure, full tones and to avoid the harsh and flattened ones. Fixing attention on the auditive | memory of your own speech for a few | seconds after you have finished, judge your own tones by musical standards; a faulty tone detected is half corrected. Vowels are resonators of our voices, | souls of our words; therefore give each audible vowel its due value in time and in fulness of tone. Con- sonants are relatively unimportant. To overcome the “teachery” voice, make your tones voice your pleasant feelings as faithfully as they do your irritations; make your words of praise as hearty as your words of blame; be willing to express your enthusiasms generously. You will gradually find your sharp inflections becoming | rounded modulations, and your cold | tones warm with human feeling— | Marion Midgely, teacher of voice, | High School of Practical Arts, Boston, | Massachusetts. God Almighty ever made. to cultivation and thoughtful attention as readily as the mind responds to an It responds educational program. Because the voice is a natural gift is not a reason for neg- lecting its education. Legs and feet are natural possessions but one must learn to walk. A voice must be cultivated that it may reach its best development as an instrument of expression. Great voices of history—Some of the great voices of history are interesting and perhaps revealing to the student. Henry Ward Beecher’s voice was a great asset in his ministerial career. Was this marvelous voice of power given him by nature? To have followed him through his weekly activities would have found one seated in his church al- most daily, listening to him as he prac- tised the technic of the speaking voice. Those who heard him said that the eloquence of his voice equaled the eloquence of his language. In contrast to this, the snarl of Pitchfork ‘Tillman’s voice is a gruesome memory to his con- temporaries and was a coincident ac- companiment to his manner of thought, disposition, and personality. Voice sensitively reveals character— There is no more sensitive instrument than the human voice for revealing character and indicating the depths of human emotion. A man may write beautifully, but his writings may reveal only his brain power, his wit, or his educational acumen, but veals the man that he is. his voice re- His voice is =i TORY HOUR in the Fairy Ring, Columbus Park, Chicago, is eagerly teacher, has a voice that charms and delights her listeners. awaited by children of all ages. 270 THe JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION December, 1927 a OE the living thermometer of the whole man. Through the various elements of the human voice, its quality and pitch particularly, its inflections, its articula- tion and enunciation, the experienced listener unconsciously, wilfully or unwittingly judges of the depth and the breadth of the human soul. The lawyer, the judge, the police magistrate, the experienced officer of per- sonnel knows full well that there is no voice but that will eventually reveal the inner life of its possessor. Training improves pitch and quality— We repeat, “The voice can be im- proved.” Scarcely a voice can be found that under training will not show im- provement in both pitch and quality. These are the fundamental elements wherein improvement first appears. The greatest difficulty encountered in self- growth or improvement is the fact that one’s voice is not known to its possessor. A friend’s voice on the phonographic record is at once recognized. One’s own voice on the same record is foreign to its owner, both in pitch and quality. Per- sons get used to their own voices. The ear ceases to be interested in these two basic elements, pitch and quality, because the word rather than the tone has been considered the vehicle for expression. As one detects the step of a friend even in the darkness, or the sound of his voice on the telephone, so one himself becomes known to others. But his own eccentric- ities or peculiarities he does not know. He is unconscious of his own walk, his own vocalizations. We are with our- selves so much that within our own con- sciousness we do not count. “Learn thou the sound of thine own voice” is as great a commandment as “Know Thyself.” If one would learn the first steps in the process of knowing one’s self, one should learn to know one’s own voice. The voice itself is a wonder- ful and vital recorder of one’s. life quali- ties. Constant petulance shows more vitally in the quality and pitch of the voice than in the words one uses for his vehicle of thought. Kindliness of disposi- tion will reveal itself more in tones than in language. All the qualities of sensitive human life reveal themselves more in tone quality than in the phrases used. Low pitch and warm quality admired —You are a liar!” may bring the slap of good fellowship on the shoulder of the speaker from the target of the remark, depending on the pitch, the tone quality, and the inflection by which the words are spoken. These same words in another pitch and quality with slightly different consciously or inflection may be the gong and curtain on a mortal combat. Pitch and quality of tone, therefore, are of primary con- sideration. Low pitch and warm quality are the most universally admired ele- ments in vocal communication. To let the voice tend toward low pitch, which can’t be done unless one has trained his ear on his own voice, will bring forth wonders in one’s own vocal reconstruc- tion. To hold attention and please the ear and leave lasting, positive, construc- tive impressions, the interested student should cultivate a quality of warmth. Looseness in speech habits—Yet these things are not all that one can do. Asa nation we are careless in our speech habits in ordinary conversation. The habit of cleancut, clear articulation is al- most altogether lost. Attention to pure enunciation will raise the speech habits above the ordi- nary. Every vowel should be well molded in its resounding cavity, the mouth. The letter o should not be mis- taken for the letter e, or long o should not be mistaken for long e or long a. The vowel i should be so spoken that it does not sound like a. Distinction should be made between o and uw. Full resonance should be given to the vowel consonants, m,n, r, 1, v, z. Compulsory torture in schoolroom— The singer works years to produce tone and he makes tone the vehicle of his art, but seldom the public hears him sing. The teacher is speaking throughout the hours of the school day. We can straightway leave the singer if his tones do not please us; but the boys and girls in the schoolroom must stay on regard- less of the quality of the teacher’s voice. We criticize severely the singer whose voice does not suit our fancies. The pupils in school must “be nice,” though they writhe in nervous pain and mental anguish under a Mrs. Ruggles’ voice. Singing instructor a poor speech teacher—The mistake is ofttimes made of going to the teacher of singing for in- struction in speaking. There are not many points in common in the technic of voice for speaking and for singing. There is one point in particular in the singing art which the vocalist spends years to acquire, namely, tone quality. But tone quality for speaking cannot be acquired except by decided readjust- ments in practising the technic of the speaking tone quality. Speaking tone quality should be the primary thing in the speaking art and that tone should be low in pitch and warm in quality. Add to these clear articulation, well molded vowels and consonants and you have the basis for great progress in speech growth, Women’s voices high-pitched—Fo, speaking more men qualify for good ey. pression than women, because men's voices are usually lower in pitch. When one does find a woman with a greg voice like that of Bertha Kuntz Baker, or Katherine Ridgeway, or Julia Mar. lowe, surprise is so great that one is jn- clined to do men an injustice by declar. ing that women outclass men in speak- ing qualities; but these voices are trained voices. Women’s voices are inclined to be high-pitched, yet that high pitch need not be accentuated and continued, for the pitch in women’s voices, and men’s voices alike, may be controlled. Shake. speare in King Lear said: “Her voice was ever soft, gentle, and low—an ex. cellent thing in woman.” Julia Mar. lowe declares, “General _ instruction about control of the voice would be a measureless boon to civilization. It would help to mitigate the high piercing voice that is so common among w women.” The teacher's big opportunity—The preserved language of printed texts and other forms of written material are cold and lifeless in themselves. They must be “lifted” from the page by the im structor and made living things in speech, in other words, interpreted. It is his chief business to put inspirational mean- ing and fuller meaning into all oral ex planations and classroom speaking. Lar- guage becomes vital, effective, and in- spirational, not by a semi-intelligible pronunciation of words in a voice which is the result of thoughtless driftings and habits. It does become vital and effective by proper physiological pronunciation, 4 tone quality, and a pitch of voice thought fully developed and cultivated. “A good voice is a good recommend: tion at all times.” No voice is ever ® bad or so good but that it can be m proved. Place the child in the constatt presence of good voices during the twelve years of his public school life and yo have given him a schooling equal to the informational knowledge he may #? from the teacher. If the teacher know that voice and manner of 9 are as much a basis for tenure of as the information to be imparted, would be a great change in his attitude with reference to the temperament and disposition. The room would be more of a joy to the Pu and the teacher would be developit another important element in persona®™ a good speaking voice. 927 —_ the wth, For ex- en's hen reat aker, Mlar- $ in- clar- Deak- ained d to need yr the men’s hake- voice in ex: Mar- uction bea “Me ercing ng us —The ts and re cold y must the in- speech, is his . mean- yral ex- , Lan- and in- eligible e which ngs and offective ation, 4 hought- The Boston that Few People Know MAN FROM MARS would be sore perplexed upon alighting in Bos- ton. He would see busy tex- tile mills and scores of shoe factories, but he would search New England in vain for cotton fields or cattle ranches. He would visit factories making cutlery and tools and electrical machinery, and learn that New England has no metal mines to produce the raw materials for these commodities, nor any coal mines to provide the power that shapes them. History, which has been defined as “geography set in motion,” abounds in Boston. But the geography of one of the world’s foremost industrial areas, which hasn’t a coal or iron mine or an oil well, and lacks enough farms to supply its exceedingly prosperous and well-fed people, is a somewhat neglected and fascinating story. The historian wiil point, rightly, to the sturdy and industrious Pilgrims, and the poet will sing of how they were snow- bound, also mountain-rimmed, boulder- beset, and cut off from the interior by rivers that seldom are navigable. Counting character as a potent geo- graphic factor and assessing the Puritan qualities as the Mayflower’s most pre- cious cargo, it still will occur to the visitor that had these resourceful people ‘Prepared especially for THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EpUCATION AssOCIATION by the National Geographic Society. } 1 © Nutional Geographic Society CHOOLS now hold toothbrush drills. Chil- dren will be interested in how the tubes are filled. The big containers in the photo- graph are full of paste. Each girl can fill 10,000 tubes a day in this Boston factory. migrated to the Sahara Desert or the barren Rocky Mountains they must have moved or starved. What, then, was there about this forbidding environment that made Boston a Birmingham and Manchester of the states? One answer is remote. Millions of years ago slow-creeping glaciers thrust their surface-carving knives into all New England and hewed out harbors and waterfalls. A second answer projects far out to sea and finds plateaus on the ocean bottom where fish may spawn and feed. mercial geography. ‘HIS VIEW of the water front gives an idea of the world. There are thirty-nine wharves in South many facilities which make Boston one of the best equipped ports in the Boston. The cargoes which enter this port are a veritable museum of com- These fishing banks, geographically speaking, form the seventh of New Eng- land’s six states ; economically they could make good claim to being the most im- portant commonwealth of ‘the group. For they contributed to her progress much earlier than the fertile Connecticut Valley or the White Mountain resort land. Neither does the average map empha- size the most important feature of Bos- ton’s enduring prosperity. Ascend the Custom House tower, where, fortunately for sightseers, Federal architecture defies Boston’s building height regulations, and you easily observe hills which once were the skyline of a vast plain, now corru- gated and eroded by numerous streams. But the eye fails, at the water’s edge of the city’s expansive harbor, to take in the submerged features of that harbor. It is what the geologist calls a “drowned river basin’”’ and the beds of the Charles, the Mystic, and lesser rivers continue out under the harbor’s waters. There, under the harbor’s surface, these channels wind among the islands that once were the hills that rose beside landgoing streams. Great ocean liners and freighters now sail into the city’s wharves and piers along the courses of these submerged rivers. The more the builders lengthen, and therefore deepen, their ships, and the greater the sub- marine’s part in our coastal defence, + © National Geographic Society 272 the more valuable an asset will these un- derwater river valleys be to Boston and the nation. Early settlements are marked by the towns that still cluster around Boston Bay—Salem, Gloucester, Lynn, Hing- ham, and Weymouth—but the great port settled surely at the focus where the deepest valleys extend seaward. In shipping Boston enjoys an advan- tage which is an old story to the mariner, but is seldom considered by the lands- man. When Lindbergh and Byrd flew the Atlantic last summer one heard peo- ple ask, ““Why did they go so far out of their way, over Newfoundland ?” To nonseafaring folk it usually is a surprise to learn that the beeline, or air- plane, course from New York to Liver- pool lies through Massachusetts, west of Nova Scotia, and through inland Newfoundland. Ships, unlike airplanes, cannot sail overland but they do veer as far north as the double obstacles of land and icebergs permit. Now Boston’s northeasterly position in relation to our western farming areas and eastern population centers is a handi- cap, but this handicap is rectified, to a considerable extent, by her proximity to the markets and buying centers of Eu- rope. Boston is nearer Liverpool than New York by more than 200 miles, her advantage over Philadelphia is approxi- mately 350 miles, and that over Balti- more is some 500 miles. These are only a few of the elements which prospered Boston and its New England hinterland, but they are enough to show that the Plymouth Colony’s peregrinations and subsequent expansion form a fascinating chapter of applied geography. The French, settling the fertile river- strips of the St. Lawrence, had preceded the English; Spain even earlier had planted colonies in the Gulf of Mexico; the Dutch had gained a foothold at New Amsterdam; and the English themselves had seen Raleigh’s failure at Roanoke . and the first Plymouth Colonists’ retreat from Kennebec. So there were other experiments, either futile or doomed to later failure, that point to some reason why the Massachu- setts venture was an immediate and abid- ing success. Three factors, at least, stand forth: character, codfish, and white pine to build ships. The dried codfish that hangs over the Speaker’s chair in the Bay State’s Senate chamber is as true a symbol as the bee- hive and the seagull of Salt Lake City. The codfish tells a truer story, in fact, THe JourNAL OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION sees eset ER EL ETA a than the usual narrative of the first Thanksgiving, which implies a bumper crop and dependence thereafter on the soil for a food supply. The first New Englanders were not primarily farmers, they knew little of agriculture in the new country, the soil would have discouraged the best of planters. For five years they had to send overseas for food enough to eke out a Spartan existence. That was when the New England adaptability asserted itself. If the soil was poor, the sea was rich, in fish. They turned from the plough to the ways, and built ships. The scrubby trees that thwarted the farmer provided the stalwart, buoyant timber in abun- dance for the shipbuilder. So first they built ships to fish, then they built ships to sell, and then they built ships to carry their own and other colonists’ goods. And there you have the simple annals of New England’s growth until coal and railroads introduced other elements which she was just as quick to seize. Nor is this losing sight of the histori- cal tradition of New England character. May these factors not have had a potent bearing upon the resourceful Yan- kee of today? Ever since the swarthy Phoenicians began peddling spices, beaten brass, and fine spun linens along the blue Mediter- ranean, seafaring peoples have displayed an ingenuity, a culture and inventive- ness which has made all civilization their debtors. Westward, by caravels rather than by caravans, that civilization spread upon the successive peninsulas of Greece, Rome, then Spain and Portugal, until it burst the bounds of the great inland sea, and was implanted on the rocky New England coast by the most famous passenger list in history. The discovery of the North American fishing banks was bigger news in Europe than the finding of a continent. Colum- bus, of course, never knew he had found a New World, and disposed of Japan in his will. And since the land that was found disclosed only red men and no spices the Portuguese were impelled to redouble their efforts to cruise around Africa to India. Gold later lured ad- venturers, but the plain man ploughed, fished, mined, bought, and sold as un- touched as is today’s average American by a new bonanza in the Yukon. But fish! That was a discovery as vital as the later revelations of iron, coal, grain, cotton, and other products of which gold is only the measuring rod. Food in Europe in the seventeenth cen- December, 1927 tury was scarce; religion made fish ap essential substitute for meat on Fridays and numerous fast days. Europe's eyes turned west. The Mayflower’s modey voyage eclipsed the brave adventures oj Cabral, Vasco da Gama, and his sugges. sors; Portugal’s glittering empire top. pled like a pack of cards before the cold, lackluster eye of a dead codfish! Teachers who wish to apprehend more of Boston’s geography than the usual sightseeing tour affords should go down to Boston’s waterfront, facing a spacious harbor two thirds as large as the District of Columbia. There they will see a fish pier extend- ing over nine acres, with boats, two and three rows deep, unloading on three sides of it, in a busy season. The pier can handle fifteen millions of pounds of fish a day. Its equipment includes an ice. making plant which could supply 1200 families were its production delivered daily from door to door. Such facilities make Boston the best equipped fishing port in the world, but fishing is only one chapter of her ship- ping story today. ‘There is the great Commonwealth Pier, about twice as large as the main waiting room of Wash- ington’s huge Union Station. This pier has nine elevators and a fascinating array of cranes, winches, tractors, trailers, and tiering machinery. Boston really has three distinct ports, since the city is built on three peninsulas, whcih inclose the mouths of the Charles and Mystic Rivers. There are 39 wharves in South Boston alone. And a stroll along these wharves affords a re view of strange flags of distant lands, for there lie ships with goods from India and Dutch Guiana, Russia, Singapore and Venezuela, Argentina, Denmark and Turkey. Their cargoes are a museum of com mercial geography, a congerie of strange commodities: bones, furs, kangaroo hides, bologna sausage, beeswax, ivory Chinese nut oil, quebracho extract, sisal, salt, plumbago, silk cocoons, cement, per fumery, manure salts, steel ingots, and silver laces. Think of the sources of these hum dreds of fabrics, ores, and vegetable products and you sense the romance of modern industry that enlists steamships and camel caravans, swarthy Malays knotty-muscled coolies, jungle buntes and Siberian trappers to provide ou foods, our clothing, and the furnishings of our homes. Outward go gasoline engines, candles printing presses, typewriter rib 27 an ays ves lest | of ces top- old, Nore sual own 10Us trict end- and sides can E fish | iee- 1200 vered best |, but ship- great ce as W ash- iS pier "array s, and ports, nsulas, “harles re 39 And a $a re lands, 1 India wapore snmark yf com- strange o hides, ~ tusks, t, sisal, nt, per rts, and hun- reti ble ishings Landles, ibbons, Vol. 16, No. Y theostats, Phonograph records, barbed wire, writing paper, pianos, and wash- ing powder to remote places from Pata- gonia to Prinkipo. Take a map of the world and trace red lines to the places Boston sends her manufactured goods, and you not only have ensnared every state of the United States in your commodity mesh, but every continent and virtually every civi- lized country in the world. And these goods may reach their final destination by llama in the Andes, the wheelbarrow ‘s China, tne dog sled in the Far North, or the curious, circular “koofah” boats of the Tigris. Every product on the multifarious list has its human story of some special skill, invention, or ingenious touch that makes New England a world factory for shap- ing raw materials into the 1001 human uses that would have taxed the roman- tic Scheherazade’s imagination. How, one wonders, did New Eng- land, colonial land of fishes, boat build- ets and traders, “get that way ?” Study the list of the multifarious things she makes and they begin to shape themselves until an age-old geographic story repeats itself. Recall New England’s geography again—here is a land with few navigable rivers or lowland routes beckoning early comers to interior settlement; no rich fam lands or mines to induce hardy men to migrate inland; no coastal plain to promote plantations. The falls line which is set back, farther south, at such inland points as Macon, Columbia, ——— THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Richmond, and Philadelphia, juts out, in New England, to the shoreline at such coastal places as the very name of Fall River, Massachusetts, implies. Early New England’s eyes were fixed firmly on the sea. Thoreau tells de- lightfully of the parson who augmented his preaching income by watching for drift whales. Such duty was made ob- ligatory by law on the colonists at Ply- mouth. There are towns in New Eng- land to this day where church services are immediately suspended if a fishing boat puts into port during the hour of worship. The transition story from fishing to trading to manufacturing builds up very naturally. Gloucester launched the first schooner, and added a romantic page to the annals of the sea. By the time of the Revolution it was estimated that nearly one third of Britain’s merchant ships were New England built. The Yankee fisherman, for a time, was apt to sell both the fish and the boat at the point of delivery. Fish are a one-way cargo and bringing back empty bottoms had no appeal to the thrifty soul of the fisherman. The big Atlantic business route of the early Colonial days was between the southern colonies and the West Indies, on one side, and England, on the other. With her fish and her ships Boston easily made herself a port of call for the Charleston-Jamaica-London trade. The irreverent point out that the New England skippers carried rum and slaves, which is true, but they soon found ways | \HESE ARE some of the many fishing ships that supply one of the great industries of Boston. i made Boston ships and later was used for paper making has been a major factor in New England’s development. The right Photo shows wood chips ready to be put into the huge steel digester where they are converted into pulp for making paper. 273 EEE nena naman of making better profit than being colo- nial middlemen. The shipping gave rise to some of the region’s earliest indus- tries which still are preeminent. Boston built its first ropewalk in 1641, and at Plymouth today, in sight of the famous Rock, is a modern plant as an unwitting reminder of the origin of the ropemak- ing industry. Earliest nails were made by hand; nailmaking was as much of a household industry for a time as spin- ning and churning. One Massachusetts city, Taunton, now is the premier tack town of the United States. Other ship requirements, anchors, bells, cannon balls, kettles to refine sugar and molasses, pans for the salt preserved ship stores, fostered iron working and planted the seeds of the metal and hard- ware factories that abound in Boston and later were carried into the Connecti- cut River Valley. New Britain, Connecticut, was a double inheritor of the Boston tradition in that it gave us Elihu Burritt, the blacksmith schoolmaster, and today has a huge output of tools, percolators, locks, and keys. Then, too, ships bring men with money to spend. Boston’s early water- front abounded in tailor shops, ances- tors of the city’s readymade clothing in- dustry. Ships required then, as now, compact food supplies, so the early flour mills, biscuit makers, and salt-meat pack- ers were the forerunners of famous bis- cuit, chocolate candy, and cake brands enticingly advertised in the magazines of 1927. . © National Geographic Society The presence of wood that first 27 THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION December, 1927 nee Clear, swift rivers, tumbling cleanly over rock ledges close to the sea, carry little sediment to clog up harbors. More important, however, they soon were util- Their falls were planted with factory towns when power machinery was introduced a decade ized as ready sources of power. before the Revolution, even when these falls were located back from the sea. A New England manufactur- ing city, to this day, frequently is a marker for a waterfall; and these falls were the first major magnet that drew many people away from the coast. When steam power was introduced, about the middle of the last century, these inland cities were handicapped in getting cheap But they emerge again as possessors of a priceless boon with the spread of hydroelectric development. coal. today Frequently a varied array of products will point to a single raw material Ships, paper, wood alcohol, ap- ples, radio cabinets, hooks, and certain toys seem diversified but all of them are ex- ports derived from New England’s trees. source. And one of the greatest sources of New England’s progress, after ships, was paper, represented in Boston’s publish- ing industry of today. We are accus- tomed to think of Boston in terms of Longfellow, Lowell, and Hawthorne. Literature may have little to do with the proximity of trees that provide pulp for paper mills, but the giant industries of papermaking, printing, and general publishing have much to do with it. Emerson, A year after the city was founded Boston launched her first ship; in 1866 paper was first made in New England from wood pulp. And those two dates are the 1620 and 1776 of the region’s industrial history. White pine built the ships; the plenti- ful spruce was equally valuable, two centuries later, for papermaking. And spruce in combination with water power originated one of New England’s fore- most industries. The course of paper from tree to mill is a separate story. Boston enters the picture when the raw material, paper, is laid down in her warehouses, and from that paper she manufactures books. Did you ever consider a book simply as a manufactured product? Such a study is not irreverent, it is a revelatiou in processes of printing, illustrating, bind- ing, and distribution which combine to make literacy, education, and culture pos- sible. It is a pride of America that the printed page is a commonplace of our everyday life. Yet the layman is always surprised at the revelations of a printing plant. Usually he is astonished to learn that, for all the busy clicking of lino- type machines, the type they set is a stranger to the printing press. A page of type is routed to an electro- typer, there to undergo a complicated process, with the aid of products from the beehive, the mine, the electrical gen- erator, from which emerges a nickel or copper plate. Then and there the discerning teacher who visits one of Boston’s great printing plants will make a note to have her class inspect the nearest newspaper or print- ery, and study the amazing geography of the printed page. The pupils will learn that the silver plated spoon is the godfather of the elec- trotyping process. The type from the linotype—literally a “line of type’’—ma- chines is molded in lead or wax, the latter a mixture of beeswax and ozoce- rite, which by its product name, paraf- fin, is familiar to every housewife who makes her own jellies. This embryo page is crushed under tons of pressure. Then it is sprayed with graphite, mined by some dusky laborer of Madagascar or Ceylon. The graphite, and later iron filings, ground fine as flour, are sprinkled over it, to form an electrical conductor over the face of the wax. Then comes a miracle of modern chemistry, when the wax mold is sus- pended in a mixture of sulphuric acid, copper sulphate and water, an electric current turned on, and minute particles are deposited on the graphite-covered wax, thus forming a paper-thin copper plate, which is a replica, in every detail, of the original page. There are a few more things to do— floating the sheet of copper in a pot of molten metal heated to 700 degrees, Fahrenheit, to give it a backing, working acid into every comma and dot of an “7”? to release certain gases, and pouring hot metal on the back to the required thickness. ‘Then it is shaved to a thou- sandth part of an inch by a micrometer gauge, and put on a curving machine to get it to the area of the printing cylin- der—and there is the plate ready for the printing press! Perhaps the plate contains a picture in addition to the type. In that case a single photograph is multiplied many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thou- sands, of times for a world of readers, In taking a photograph one looks out upon a patch of landscape through a tiny window of his camera, called a lens When the photoengraver makes his Pic- ture for reproduction he looks at it first through thousands of little windows— through some 6000 midget apertures in the case of a fullpage picture of The National Geographic Magazine—which he calls, preversely, a screen. By “screen” he means a glass ruled of with crisscross lines, like a window screen, only the interstices, in this case, run 150 to the square inch. It isn’t the screening that makes the picture on the sensitized plate, it is the rays of light, some stronger, some weaker, that filter through the tiny windows of the screen, and each tiny square actually produces a minute dot so small that it cannot be seen without the aid of a magnifying glass. The negative made up of these dots, dark or light according to the lights and shades of the photograph, he superim- poses upon a copper plate, treated with a solution of bichromate of ammonia, glue, and the whites of eggs, which is sensitive to light and registers the dots. Then they are etched in on the copper, hardened by baking, and the “plate” i ready to be placed in the page of type for the foundry. And a print shop is only one of hun- dreds of the varied industries of Boston. Each kind holds its geographic story of diverse commodities, often assembled from remote places, and molded in in- genious processes of manufacture which have made New England a workshop of the world. By all means, when in Boston, see the city’s historic shrines, its Faneuil Hall and its King’s Chapel, its relics of the days of Paul Revere and the Adamses and Longfellow; but the teacher also will have an incomparable opportunity to see how shoes and clothes, candy and saucepans, and an almost infinite variety of other products, are made. \ ‘ TRITERS will doubtless be found in increasing numbers who will b willing to spend twice the time on books half as large. And publishers may some time recognize that the possibility of sell- ing a hundred thousand copies at 4 dollar a copy may now and then outweigh the fair security of disposing of five thousan at three dollars and a hal f.—James Harvey Robinson in The Humanizing of Knowledge. TS, een, eS a t be ying dots, and -rim- with onia, ch is dots. pper, ” re is type hun- oston. ry of mbled in in- which op of ee the Hall of the Jamses r also tunity ly and variety —e und in vill be 1 books y some- of sell- . dollar igh the ousand —James izing of What More Could a Man Desire? Biynw E. Davis Principal, Lawrence High School, Falmouth, Massachusetts HE BUSINESS MAN and I had just put through an important deal which had left him in a pleasant humor and this fact led me to presume upon a casual acquaintance to ask him a personal question. The tasteful elegance of the office furnishings so impressed me with the power of success that I was curious to learn how this man who had traveled so far viewed the backward path. “We are all fighting the battle. How do you explain success? Why one man wins and another fails?” “No secret, sir. Perfectly plain. Most people look beyond the point.” He swung his chair toward a view of the distant hills through a large window by his side and I waited for him to ex- plain the point. “It depends upon the man, sir. Ability and opportunity, you know. To him who hath shall be given and from him who hath not—you remember how it goes.” “Yes, but 1 was thinking of you per- sonally. Your own success——” “But 1 am not successful, my dear man. | have achieved very little in this life yet. Probably never shall, in reality, be successful. I hold success to be not the accumulation of material things but the building of character and the crea- tion of spiritual potentialities. As far as the work I have done is concerned, I owe everything to the training of an old school teacher.” “Tell me about him.” “Not much to tell. He’s teaching school today among the hills where I was born. He has a brilliant intellect but is perfectly content to spend his days in a little school in a community well off the main roads. He finds his chief joy, probably, among his books. He has a really wonderful study, with an atmosphere all its own. Many a boy has ‘een life anew after a visit to that study and a talk with Mr. Smith. I’ve been there many times. In fact, I usually drop m about once a year. But it was in Mr. Smith’s classes that I learned the big thing. He taught me to use my head— ing besides bucking the line 'ootball, you know—to think with it. 9 —" that it can’t be done, ee Coe ave gained any facility in the use of my brain, I owe all credit to Mr. Smith.” “Using one’s head, then, is a big factor in success ?” “The biggest. Hard work comes next probably, with imagination, courage, Folks Like You OULDN’T the world be nice to live in, Cheery through and through, If everyone were just as kind as Folks like you. ’Course we can’t get all we aim for Every day, it’s true, But there’s one thing never fails us, Folks like you. Mighty sure when I embark for Shores beyond our view, I shall find that Heaven is only Folks like you. —Selected. perseverance, honesty, and the rest of the list that the books give for young men, trailing right behind. I’d say that the two great results of using one’s head are to develop common sense and imagi- nation, without which no man can do business for a day. Many a man works nard, has perseverance, courage, is honest, and all that, and gets nowhere. The suc- cessful man uses his head and the man who doesn’t use his head isn’t successful.” I did not stop to consider how com- pletely the business man had summed up the situation regarding success. I for- got the matter entirely until many months later I was hunting for a short cut across a range of hills in a north New England state, when at a cross- road I saw a sign reading: “Graytown 5 miles.” Instantly my conversation with the business man came back to me, for Gray- town was his boyhood town and the place where Mr. Smith lived and taught. I decided to drive through Graytown as a matter of mere curiosity. Turning the car into the narrow road I struck a steep hill at once and my progress was more up and down than it was straight ahead. Finally, as I topped a particu- larly sharp summit, I saw before me a charming view. Away in the distance along all the horizon the mountains were [275] spread and the hills stretched away to their feet. The whole landscape was one mass of dark green forest, tinted purple on the mountains, dotted here and there with glistening lakes and with farmhouses set amid fields of a lighter shade of green. I was thrilled. I longed to live there where I could enjoy this magnificent view. I even planned a summer home on the slope of the very hill where I was sitting. At the foot of the hill I found the village. 1 ventured a call upon Mr. Smith. I was doomed to a moment of disappointment, for the old schoolmaster was at his teaching. But the charming, little, white-haired woman who met me at the door—Mrs. Smith, as I learned later—saw my _ disappointment and added: “If you want to see Mr. Smith about any important matter, I’m sure he'd be willing to have you go right to the school.” I assumed that my errand was im- portant and ventured to visit the school. At the door a pupil met me courteously and took me to the principal’s office. In a moment a dignified, scholarly looking man entered. His hair was white but his tall form was soldierly in its erect- ness. As he greeted me his face was pleasant to look upon; the lines, which I judged could upon occasion show stern- ness or even disapproval, softened into a warm kindliness that instantly made me feel glad I had come. “I’m glad to see you. What can I de for you?” His hand had a firm, warm clasp. No excuse for the intrusion presented itself. Those clear, blue eyes would have seen through any subterfuge. I mentioned the business man and instantly the face before me lighted up with a winning smile. “Well! Well! He’s one of my boys. A wonderful man! I’m glad you’ve met him.” Then followed a cordial invitation to visit with him while he was teaching and I followed him into the classroom congratulating myself upon having the privilege. I taught school once myself, just long enough ‘so that I feel I can recognize good teaching when I see it. I was charmed at the. atmosphere of the room as we entered. One boy was 276 in charge of the class and another boy was at the board demonstrating a prop- osition in plane geometry. The pupils were following the work so carefully that they scarcely noticed our entrance. To my surprise—for | thought | knew the natural curiosity of school children— i was accorded scarcely more than a glance. One girl near me smiled and handed me a book opened to the right page. Mr. Smith did not interrupt the reci- tation but took his seat quietly and seemed to be paying no particular atten- tion. As the demonstration came to an end, the boy in charge called for criticism and was rewarded by two or three responses. “Then he quietly resumed his and the old schoolmaster arose. With a winning smile that made me feel this school could know no real discip- linary troubles, he commended the work. “Good work! Well done! a good teacher, Charlie.” Charlie beamed with delight, as did the demonstrator. Then Mr. Smith pointed out two omissions in the demon- stration, showing his close attention all the while. Then followed what I have since come to call a sermon on the straight line. In simple, but mathematically seat You are exact, language, he made the straight lines of that figure glow with meaning and interest. 1 could see them stretch . away into infinity and I found myself traveling away on them beyond the realm of space into that glorious heaven of the mathematicians where parallel lines meet and where parabolas and a lot of other things are completed. I found myself carried away on the wings of a mathematical imagination that, really, I never dreamed was mine. Truthfully, it hadn’t been mine before, for Mr. Smith gave it to me then and there. His class followed him _ breathlessly and—what is more—understood him, as their later questions showed. In his attitude toward these questions, I glimpsed the greatness of this man as a teacher. Every question, however simple, was treated with perfect seriousness and was answered with amazing clarity. I was myself a boy again, learning plane geometry, and I did learn as I never had before. Too often we think the teacher asks questions only to find out how much pupils have learned. Here, as never before or since, I heard a teacher who could really teach with questions. Build- ing upon the facts which they knew that they knew, he led them along until they THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION knew things which they had not known that they knew, probably because they had not really known them before. Mr. Smith did not seem to tell the pupils anything at all in developing the advance lesson, but without loss of time he led them into a perfect understanding of the work ahead. My own impression was that each pupil left the class with the feeling that the advance proposition was an old friend. “IT shouldn’t think you would have many failures in this class,” I ventured. “Failures,” said Mr. Smith, with a puzzled look. “Why should any one fail to learn plane geometry ?” I had no answer. The entire afternoon was an experi- ence of a lifetime. Never had 1 dreamed that teaching could be made such an art. I had visited many schools, large and small, and I had been impressed with a rather unsympathetic, business- like atmosphere in most of them. Every- thing seemed to be directed toward efh- ciency. Pupils seemed to be mere ma- chines, which were to be speeded to run at a given rate and to absorb knowledge with perfect regularity. The teachers seemed to use tests as gauges to deter- mine the level of absorbed knowledge and I thought of them as operators, skilled artisans to be sure, but with scarcely more interest in their pupils than has the mechanic in his lathe or the printer in his press. One doubt arose in my mind. “Do you—that is—have you many boys and girls to college ?” The recital that followed of the achievements of the boys and girls who had gone out of that school into higher educational institutions, seemed to be the proud recounting by a father of the deeds of his own children. I was amazed to learn that college after college numbered among its graduates many a boy from that school, and girls, too, but not so many of them. I was surprised to find that I was already familiar with the names of more than one of those sent December, 1927 boys who had made names for themselves, From that the old schoolmaster drifted into story after story of what his boys and girls—his, mind you, because they had been his pupils—had accomplished outside that rim of hills and beyond that great range of mountains. I was car. ried in imagination from the east coast to the west coast, from Alaska to the Great Ditch, from Russia to South Africa. He had kept track of them all, I caught a vision of service grander than I had ever dreamed. In a simple, but in a delightful, way the old, white. haired teacher made the doings of these beys and girls, boys and girls no longer, but whom he still loved as if they were his own, live and glow. When the busi- ness man was mentioned he smiled. “Oh, yes. You told me you know him. He was a bright boy. No wonder he has made a success of life. He had good ability and a mind clear as a bell. An excellent thinker he was.” I smiled as I thought of what the business man had told me. “Do you know? He said you were the one who taught him to think.” “Just like John. Always giving some one else the credit. He was a natural thinker. I’m sure you have found him a keen analyst and a pleasant man to meet.” I agreed and reserved my decision about who taught him. The afternoon was waning when | stood again by the car at the roadside ready to climb those hills. Mr. Smith had given me all necessary directions for my way and stood with me to say good- by. “It is not an easy road. Gray- town is hard to reach and hard to leave.” I agreed and ventured: “I should think you’d like sometime to move to 4 larger place, to a city, perhaps. They need good teachers there and salaries—" “Yes! Yes! I know!” and the first trace of impatience crossed his face— and vanished. ‘The salaries are larger. But what of it? Could I be any hap pier teaching in Boston or New York than here? This is my home. These are my people. These are my hills and valleys. Two of my own little boys lie up there on the hillside. I couldn't leave them. My other boys and girls come back to see me now and then. | can’t do much myself but I like to watch them do things. I’m happy here and— what more could a man desire?” These words fell as a benediction and all the way up and over those steep hills, my mind echoed and reechoed the ~~ tion: “What more could a man desite: ell. the vere ome ural him n to The Young Citizens League of South Dakota S. B. NissEN Editor, South Dakota Education Association Journal, Sioux Falls, South Dakota HARACTER EDUCATION and citizen- ship training are accepted by all teachers as being of first impor- tance in any program of education. Vol- umes have been written and will con- tinue to be written concerning these phases of education, but the programs which provide for the practise of the vir- tues acknowledged as necessary to char- acter are the ones which will result in the greatest good and will be the nearest approximation of character and citizen- ship objectives. One such program which has made great progress in the past few years and which holds even greater prom- ise for the future is the Young Citizens’ League, which had its inception and growth in South Dakota. The Young Citizens’ League, spon- sored by the State Department of Public Instruction, has challenged the active interest of a large percent of the ele- mentary school children of the state. It has enjoyed the cooperation of all of the teachers of the state and is being enthusi- astically indorsed by them, by the parents of the members, and even by the adminis- trative oficers of the state government. The legislature of South Dakota in spe- cial session in June, upon the recommen- dation of Governor J. W. Bulow, ap- propriated $10,000 for the biennium for Y. C. L. March Song UP FROM every valley And down from every crest, We come, thy local children, By all thy favors blest, To pledge our firm allegiance, America, to thee— Thy guardians of tomorrow, By mountain, plain, and sea. CHorRuUs We march and we sing; our voices ring; Young Citizens are we; Leagued in a host whose watchwords are Youth, Courage, Loyalty. | Hailing our nation’s banner, | Afloat in the sunlit sky, | Which through hopes and | through future years, We will hold evermore on high. fears, In all the winds of Heaven There breathes a patriot’s creed— Clean hearts and minds and bodies Serve best our country’s need— That creed we hold, America, Enshrined in heart and soul; A deeper sense of duty And better lives our goal. = — It is believed the work of the league. that this is the first instance where a | | ieee yn i 6 eis ————— — , > " i ‘ Finer Anmvat Gawenticn Yoong t measheage Piex 4 s DAA Govex WRAS+26.972E§ Butow OUNG CiTIzENs of South Dakota at their first annual convention at Pierre, April 25-26, 1927. Governor Bulow stands with his hands folded in the middle of the front row. state government has appropriated funds for character education. Interested indi- viduals have donated prize money to be awarded to author and composer of words and notes for a Y. C. L. song. Statewide comment through editorial col- umns was given the league when its first state convention was held at Pierre, on April 18 and 19. This convention of elementary school children, by the way, is believed to have been the first of its kind ever held in America. The Young Citizens’ League is an or- ganization of elementary school children which has for its object: “to enable each boy and girl to love and serve his country better and to become strong of mind and body.” The state superintendent of public instruction, C. G. St. John, is state chairman of the league and E, C. Giffen, under whose leadership the league has made its greatest progress, is fulltime state secretary, receiving his salary from the special appropriation. County superintendents are county chair- men, and teachers in rural schools or in city and village grade _ schoolrooms, wherein league units may be organized, are the advisers. The league has as its motto: “Help Uncle Sam, one another, our school, and our community.” The pledge of the 278 THe JourRNAL OF THE NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION league is as follows: “I hereby pledge my active devotion to my country by a study of its ideals and by a constant interest in the general welfare of my state and na- tion. I shall strive to do something each day to improve the standards of my school and community, and thereby en- deavor to promote better ciztienship.”’ Appointive committees carry out the “do”’ program of the leagues; these committees are on health and sanitation, physical training, patriotism, cleanliness, and order and courtesy. ‘The names of the several committees indicate the type of work that they carry on. Each year a major project is adopted for all of the leagues of the state. In 1926-27 this was Dur- ing the present school year, the major project is the reconditioning and enlarg- ing of school libraries. the beautifying of schoolgrounds. Origin and history—The first league was organized in South Dakota in 1912 in a rural school in Brown County under the leadership of M. M. Guhin, then county superintendent, later head of the State Rural Department and now rural school supervisor of Northern State ‘Teachers College, Aberdeen, South Da- kotfi. Mr. Guhin recommended the or- ganization of leagues in the state. In 1925 the league was made a state organi- zation upon the action of the county sup- erintendents in convention assembly and under their leadership and that of Mr. Giffen has had its greatest growth. The aid of the Young Citizens has been enlisted by those in charge of the campaign to eradicate the barberry bush —which plays a part in the life cycle of the black rust—so destructive to the small grain crops of the northwestern states. “Mock” elections, held at the same time the general state elections are held and made mandatory in the schools of the state by a 1925 state law and for which the county auditor of each county is re- quested to furnish sample ballots, were made effective through the Y. C. L. organization. The compiled reports for the school year 1925-26 showed a total of 1662 league organizations, with a total mem- bership of 27,983. This report also showed that these organizations during that year had earned through programs and through other means a total of $14,285.34, all of which was spent for school equipment. It showed that 3000 trees were planted by league members during that year. During the school year 1926-27, 3415 chartered organizations reported a total membership of 60,092 boys and girls of grade school age. The compiled annual report shows that more than 5000 books have been placed in the school libraries through the efforts of the Y. C. L.; $7357.43 was spent for playground ap- paratus ; $2618.17 was used for the pur- chase of pictures; $886.66 was spent for flags. The report shows that 21,858 trees were planted by the league children following the governor’s special “Arbor Day” proclamation addressed to them. The state officers of the league report that the amount of project work reached a total of $83,408.37 during the past year, all of which was expended for school purposes. Although the totals for project work are challenging in their magnitude, this project work is deemed of minor importance by the adult officers of the league and they hold stedfast to the primary purpose of the organization as that of training for a higher type of citizenship. State convention—The Y. C. L. State Convention held at the capital in April was attended by 131 official delegates (children from the third grade to the eighth) and by 42 county chairmen and many unofficial visitors. Bad weather and road conditions prevalent in the state at the time materially cut down the total attendance. The state convention was preceded by county conventions held in 57 of the 64 counties of the state. Dur- ing the two days of the convention the youthful delegates were honored guests of the capital city and of the state of- ficers. Upon their programs appeared not only many of their own number but also such prominent persons as the mayor of Pierre, the state superintendent of public instruction, a United States Sen- ator, the governor of the state, the state commander of the American Legion, and the president of the South Dakota Edu- cation Association. Governor and Mrs. Bulow held a reception in the executive offices of the capitol building for the children delegates. During the convention the Young Citi- zens listened to the speeches of these interested individuals, made their own speeches, passed resolutions, and adopted a code of ethics. In their resolutions they extended thanks to those who had made their visit a pleasant one, to those who appeared upon their programs, con- ferred the title of President Emeritus upon M. M. Guhin, founder of the Y. C. L.; commended their state secre- tary, E. C. Giffen, for his efforts in their behalf, and invited “the cooperation of the governor of South Dakota, the state December, 1927 eT Se legislature, the Department of Public Instruction, the South Dakota Education Association, the American Legion, and other civic and patriotic organizations of the state in carrying out its work.” The code of ethics follows: Code of ethics—The highest titles to American citizenship are virtue, knowl- edge, and judgment.—Lamar. Patriotism—Good citizens are patri- otic. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we under- stand it.—Lincoln. 1. I pledge allegiance to the Young Citi- zens’ League. I acknowledge the obligation that I owe to the state and to the county for the training which I am receiving. As an expression of my gratitude, I cheerfully pledge myself ever to uphold the ideals of the Young Citizens’ League and to aid in its further development and improvement. Duty—Good citizens do their duty. 1. I will find out what my duty is and do it to the best of my ability. 2. I will vote at every election and be will- ing to hold office. Courtesy—Good citizens are courte- ous. Politeness is to do and say the kindest thing in the kindest way. 1. I will show courtesy in all my acts. I will be polite because good Americans are vot rude people. I will do my best to help others. Good health—Good Americans try to keep good health. 1. I will try to eat the best food and take enough exercise to keep me in good health. 2. I will always try to keep clean and neat. 3. I will try to protect the health of others. 4. I shall always try to be clean in body and in mind. Sportsmanship—Always play fair. 1. I will play hard to increase my strength and courage. 2. I will not cheat. I will try to keep the rules of the game. 3. I will be a good loser or a generous winner. ; 4. I will be sportsmanlike, generous, fair, and honorable, a quiet winner and a cheer- ful loser. Truth and reliability—Good citizens are reliable and trustworthy. With good citizens that are able to trust each other our country grows better every day. 1. I will always be honest. I will not cheat or pretend. 2. I will take nothing that does not belong to me. 3 3. I will always do what I have promised to do. 4. I will always stand by the truth regaré less of my likes or dislikes of people. ; SS eS = do vill- rte- the are help ry to take Ith. neat. thers. body r. rength ep the nerous 5, fair, cheer- itizens good other Vs t cheat belong omised egard- ELL,” said my friend, “let’s change the subject. We have taken enough serious thought to be sufficient unto the evil of one day. ['ll sing you something light and joyful.” She turned to some of The Child’s Gar- den of Verses put to music. “This will do,” she said. Dark brown is the river, Golden is the sand; It foats along forever, With trees on either hand. Green leaves a-floating, Castles of the foam, Boats of mine a-boating— When will all come home? To her The Child’s Garden of Verses meant what Stevenson wrote it to mean; to me it meant something quite different. The took me back five years to a bitter January morning; a New England morning so intensely bitter that the motes in the sunbeams looked frozen. The sun, just risen, threw a cold gold and pink glare on the snow which lay over the road and fields, a vast undulat- ing sea of white. I stood looking over to an opposite hill, a mile across the lake, where a small white schoolhouse almost blended with the background of snow. | was rather weighted down with my planbook, three or four schoolbooks, my lunchbox, and an armful of kindling wood. Although I already be- numbed, I rejoiced in the morning, in the splendor of the snow. To be young and out on such a morning was “bliss and very heaven.” No real New Eng- lander ever spends much time in self- pity on a bright winter day; he is too much attune with and absorbed in his surroundings. I faced the east and tushed into the morning as a swimmer would plunge into a billow, and chant- ing “The Salutation to the Dawn,” I walked down the driveway leading to the schoolroad. The long driveway and the much longer road were crooked and full of ruts which made walking through the deep, unbroken drifts doubly difh- cult. 1 plunged along slowly, staggering, and holding the precious kindling wood tightly and almost as carefully as a mother would her child. The wind ‘wept across the lake and struck me full Mm the face like a dozen javelins, and when I brushed away the frozen tears Which the blinding reflection of the sun on the snow had caused, I found frozen song was Other Little Children Mary E. Knapp blood on my glove. Only people who have walked far through knee-deep snow can realize how exhausting such labor is; how it works every muscle; how it ( wanes in rural districts sometimes trudge many miles in cold snowy weather both to and from school buildings. makes the whole body feel leaden; how every drift causes a feeling of utter spentness such as a drowning man might experience in going down for a third time. I battled on, gasping and panting. The glistening snow blinded me, and I reeled. My hand, clutching the wood, was frozen; my feet were paralyzed for I could no longer sense any pain when they touched the rocky road under the snow. Praise to the kindly genius of the wind which had drifted the snow on the lake and had left the schoolyard bare! I threw the kindling wood on the school- house steps and fumbled in my pocket for the key. Never was such a selfwilled key, determined to go everywhere but into the lock. Opening the door took about four minutes, but to me, with my right hand aching as if it were in touch with an electric current, it seemed half an hour. When the padlock finally sprang open, I gathered up the wood, knocked the snow from it, and entered the little school. “The prison unto which we [279] doom ourselves no prison is,” I quoted involuntarily, for I assured myself on this point every morning, as regularly as the padlock flew apart from the hasp. The octagon clock pointed to almost eight. Not bad. The room would be warm before the children arrived. | wondered, and I still wonder, how those children, most of them small, walked to school on days like this, laboring through even two miles of snow. A little more plaster had fallen from the ceiling during the night, as if it were having a violent case of mural fever. I pushed back the swivel-lid of the stove, threw yesterday’s waste papers on the still warm ashes, placed the kindlings crisscross over the papers, put on some larger wood, struck a match, and in a second there came the faint crackling sound which meant the fire had started successfully. Once when I had failed, I had the distress of watching a dozen children stand shivering and huddled-up like birds in a sleet storm, while I ex- perimented with the fire. When my hands and feet started to thaw, I resorted to my usual method of filling a wash- dish with snow, putting it on the stove until the snow melted, and then sub- merging my hands in the water. I wrapped them in the folds of my coat and worked my fingers slowly, until I could hold a piece of chalk. This stage reached, I got down to the day’s work and printed Stevenson’s “Where Go the Boats?” as a reading lesson for the first grade, At half-past eight the first grade, three small children, arrived, the smallest cry- ing from cold but maintaining bravely, ‘The teacher always has it warm when we get here.”” Since that winter, people more inquisitive than thoughtful have exclaimed, ‘““What’s the matter with your hands?” My pupils never asked; they knew. Four o'clock at last and the school day over. The sun was already setting, and the evening wind was wandering gently over the drifts when I went out to the shed to cut wood for tomorrow’s fire. “The school committee un- usually inconsiderate about the quality of wood sent to the schoolhouse. The sticks were too large for an inexperienced wood-chopper and knots were as com- mon in them as Browning quotations in Phelps. It was quite dark when I com- was 280 pleted the task. By the light of the fire I arranged the morning’s supply of wood. The largest log I placed in the stove so that the room would keep warm far into the night. The light played on the walls and made frightfully fantastic shadows. I ran my hand along the books on the desk, until 1 found an anthology. By the fluttering light I turned over the pages to Clough’s little poem, “Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth.” Suddenly there came the sounds of horse’s hoofs and wagon wheels. A wagon driven at night has always had a foolish, unreasonable terror for me; al- ways bringing some thought of mystery and death. The wagon stopped before the school. Very quietly I crossed the room and stood hidden in the darkest corner. In a few minutes the wagon went on. The driver had stopped merely to rest his horse. I shut the stove door quietly, hurried my work into my school- bag, snapped the padlock on the hasp, and ran from the school as one would flee from certain danger. Under the night I felt perfectly safe. How much more beautiful snow is by starlight than by sunlight! I had stopped for a minute to get my breath and to look at the stars tangled like jewels in the branches of the trees, when I heard someone coming behind me. It was Bruce, the brightest pupil in the school and the only boy in the eighth grade. “Gee, you walk fast.” He tugged at the hair over his forehead in lieu of tip- ping the cap which he had been in too great a hurry to find. “You know that story you told the kids about the Pleiades? Well, I found them. Ill show you when we get out where there aren’t so many trees. Gee, Miss _--_-, I love algebra. My father says he’ll send me up to Danbury to high school, and then, perhaps, I can go to college. Won't that be great?” Away down the river, A hundred miles or more, Other little children Shall bring my boats ashore. Be TEACHERS BOOK CLUB of Cen- tral High School, Omaha, Nebraska, has been a successful organization for eight years. The club was formed by teachers of the school in 1919 for the purpose of giving members a chance to read the new and much discussed books of the day. ‘Teachers’ salaries are not large enough to allow large individual book purchases; their work demands an acquaintance with contemporary writ- THe JouRNAL OF THE NATIONAL EpucaATion ASSOCIATION ing; and their lack of time makes con- venience of access a very important item. Any teacher in the school is eligible to membership, and the fee has always been $2 a year. For this sum one may bor- row books throughout the year. Gradu- ally, as old books have accumulated, part of these have been sold and part have been voted into a permanent collection of the club. Rules allow each member to have one fourteen-day book and one twenty-eight-day book at a time. Over the week end or vacation as many books may be taken as one chooses, provided that the excess books are _ returned promptly the next school day. During the eight years a total of 490 memberships has been paid, making nearly $1000 in fees alone. Out of ninety or 100 faculty members fifty to seventy have been members of the club. Three auctions of old books have amounted to $200. Occasionally gifts of books have been added to the shelves. At present nearly 300 volumes belong to the club. Of this number eighty have been bought during the last school year, and include such best sellers as The Silver Spoon, Sorrell and Son, Doomsday, The Story of Philosophy, Napoleon, Elmer Gantry, The Plutocrat, etc. Some popular mystery and de- tective stories are bought each year. Thirty volumes have been voted into the permanent collection. The club has purchased not only popular fiction, but it has regularly chosen each year a certain number of serious and discriminating books that may well become classics. Especially has a wide number of transla- tions of foreign books been selected. The club has bought many translations of the important Dutch writer, Coup- erus, including his Small Souls series. Undset, Bojer, Hamsun, and Lagerlof are prominent Scandinavian writers rep- resented. Interest was aroused by pur- chase of German translations of Haupt- mann, Schnitzler, Wassermann, and Thomas Mann before they had gained much recognition. Copies are on the shelves of all the volumes of the great French novelist, Proust, so far published in translation. The club is now circulating twenty- five titles that cost $5 to $7, and three titles costing $10 or more. These books have had a very wide circulation. Success has come partly from the method of operation. A general com- mittee has charge of the finances and work of the club; but at least every three months it appoints a special committee to prepare lists of current books. These December, 1927 lists are always annotated with sugges. tive notes that may help in selection, and then the final choice of books to be bought is decided upon by a vote of the club. Zora Shields, in charge of the Central High School Library, has contributed , great deal of her time and interest, She is standing member of the general com. mittee, and is also the purchasing agent, Through her kindness and the coopera- tion of the Matthews Book Store the club has been able to buy a number of very good books perhaps not otherwise available. She has devised interesting lists, blurbs, and notes of one sort or another that have helped greatly to stim- ulate circulation. By her permission the club has used the library for teas at which interesting outside people have talked about books. The principal of Central High School, J. G. Masters, comments: “The plan of having a Teachers’ Book Club is the happiest solution I have been able to learn about for supplying books to all of us. Almost no one is able to purchase the very large number of books appear- ing from time to time. Our plan makes the books accessible and is a fine solution of an otherwise difficult problem.” Jessie Towne, assistant principal and dean of girls, has been a very enthusiastic member ; she says: ‘“‘For casual reading of books one does not wish to buy; for ac- quaintance with many the rental libra- ries perhaps cannot afford to carry; for books on which one wishes to spend more time than three or four days usual to the lending libraries:—How can one spend $2 to better advantage than in reading $100 worth of new books a year?” Heads of the English departments are equally approving. Sara Vore Taylor states, “The personnel of the Book Club insures a range of books wider than my own individual choice. At the same time the books thus chosen are almost sure to be worth reading.” And Bertha Neale finds that the lists of books with com- ments which the committees prepare for the club cause her to notice the seasons best in literature. “Whether the book is purchased or not,” she adds, “it 8 brought to my attention so that I may follow it up.” Other members echo Miss Neale’s statement, declaring that they have bought more books rather than fewer since joining the club. i Possibly other high schools with simr lar organizations have found better plans Happy suggestions are at all times most welcome.—Bernice §. Engle, Centf High School, Omaha, Nebraska. ng im- the ‘ich ked ool, 1 of the » to all hase year- akes ition and jastic ng of r ac- ibra- ; for more ‘o the spend ading ts are ‘aylor Club in my e time ure to Neale ) com- re for -ason's » book “t iS ] may o Miss t they than simi- plans. most Tendencies in Handwriting Joun OswaLp PETERSON Supervisor of Penmanship, Public Schools, Tacoma, Washington HE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION is in- terwoven with the history of the art of writing. ‘There are several excellent works which trace the develop- ment of our alphabets from the early pic- torial forms up to the time when me- chanical printing was invented. With the invention of printing the forms of the letters became mechanically fixed and stabilized so that few changes have taken place in the print forms since that time. Stabilization of the print forms was followed, however, by changes in the handwritten characters which led gradually from the laboriously hand- printed letters to the free, flowing, con- nected script of today. These com- paratively recent changes can be traced through existing manuscripts and rec- ords, but, on the whole, we do not seem to be so familiar with them as with the changes which occurred prior to Guten- berg’s invention in 1450. The illustrations, by means of which we attempt to give a birdseye view of the transition from print to flowing script, are not exact copies of the hand- writing of any period. ‘They are rather composites intended to show general tendencies and stages of the evolutionary process. Handwriting has always varied among individuals as much, if not more, than it varies now. Moreover, there are quite positive indications that the skilled scribes of the past, like those of the present day, used two or more styles of handwriting. Most of us, perhaps I should say most of us teachers, use a somewhat formal hand before our pupils, aid a freer, more individual hand for our notes and memoranda. Reproduc- tion of a single formal specimen therefore frequently does not reveal accurately the general tendency of a given time. A truer understanding of the present tend- fncies in handwriting is to be had, we believe, by means of this somewhat sketchy backward glance at the hand- Written scenery of the past. Since the time when printing was in- vented and the print forms thus became tabilized, there has been a constant tendency for the more fluent handwrit- ten forms to take on new characteristics and lose resemblance to their parent forms. Tt is, of course, apparent when We stop to look for it, that we are able ‘0 read handwriting only when there remains a recognizable similarity between the script letters and their corresponding print forms. ‘Those forms are able to withstand great distortion while still re- maining recognizable. However, the ScALE & RATING MOVEMENT No sone we Pager mae. POOR If the hand rests on the Fingers are used, the rating 1s ae? to ‘Fasr.” grosp the pen one inch from the pont and rouse the hand from the pager and. only the No.2. Finger. hana wrest. movement FAIR To ch te Good’; hold the pen well rouse the wrist Prom the pager. ond pracuce (ne large exercises a that you can write long words such a6 orghnitalion The writing machine consists of the fingers. hand, wrist). and. How much of the ma- used. ? te SCALE is taken from the Fourth Year- book of the Department of Superintend- ence of the National Education Association, and was contributed by Harry Houston, supervisor of handwriting, New Haven, Con- necticut. more nearly the written forms retain the outlines of Roman print the greater the legibility and consequently the higher the quality of a handwriting. We do not have two sets of characters. We have one set of characters produced by several different processes. Pica, or typewriter type, is merely the outlines of Roman print type without the heavy downstrokes. Running script forms are merely the same Roman type forms sloped forward and joined together to lend fluency. Though derived from the same pattern as print forms and though still dependent upon similarity to them for meaning, the drift of handwritten characters away from their parent forms has been considerable. In the first stage we have the Roman letters sloped for- ward, with the ceriphs more rapidly and [281] less precisely made. These letters, known as italics, being made with the same writ- ing instrument as were the Roman let- ters, retain the contrasting thin horizon- tal lines and accented main strokes. This characteristic of the Roman let- ters, namely, alternate thick and thin lines, is due to the chisel-edged reed or quill pen. The influence of this writing instrument survives in the type which you are now reading. ‘Traces of it remained until recently in our light line running hand. As an instrument for artistic let- tering this pen survives in the form of the presentday broad pen or text letter- ing pen used by skilled letterers and en- grossers, and also in the form of the chisel edged lettering brush used by show- card artists and sign painters. The stub writing pen is also a survival. An at- tempt is now being made to revive the use of this pen in connection with the socalled “manuscript writing.” After the type founders had stabilized the letter forms and the printers took over the making of books, there was naturally less need for accurate and painstaking hand lettering except for art purposes. Speed and fluency therefore became desirable factors. Writers did not always pause to lift the pen between letters and cursive or connected writing began to appear more and more fre- quently. It is not to be presumed from the foregoing that cursive writing did not exist prior to the .invention of print- ing, for earlier examples are to be found, and hand printing or lettering has re- tained a place to the present time. At best, cursive writing with the flat broad pen is a rather cumbersome process, and gradually the reed pen gave way to the quill pen. The width of the chisel edge of the quill pen was narrowed until, finally, the pointed quill pen with the split nibs became an accepted writing in- strument. The quill is still the pictorial symbol of the penman’s art and its Ro- man name survives in our word “pen.” With the pointed quill pen it was dif- ficult to imitate the heavy down strokes which the broad pen made automatically. Skilful penmen did succeed in imitating them to some extent, however, and the result was a beautiful script which sur- vives and is known to us as round hand, or engrossers’ script. Because of its wide adoption by engravers, it is frequently 282 spoken of as copper plate, although this term is also applied to any fine script. Whether the engraver copied the work of the penman or whether the penman copied that of the engraver is at present a subject of debate. No doubt both con- tributed, although the engraver has never succeeded in capturing the grace and spontaneity of our most skilled pen artists. Traces of all the characteristics which have been mentioned are plainly visible in facsimile copies of the Declaration of Independence, as are also some of the tendencies which later became more pro- nounced. Since the writing of that docu- ment, the accent on the down strokes has almost entirely disappeared. Fluency has been gained by the invention and adop- tion of the steel pen, and execution has been facilitated by attention to the physi- cal requirements of the position and type of movement used. Three general styles of handwriting have been taught in our public schools L222 Lao ve A Leap0e 0 Fee ee gt Los Z Vertical semi-print LHL mecham- MGVEAN LMT, walled! Ply woth conppl modes i td iinet ie F77z ot pol LETC LS. 272 hei anc cmvesie 4 Va THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION during the period of their rapid growth and development. ‘The main character- istics of these styles will be most readily recognized from the illustrations of spencerian, vertical, and muscular writ- ing. The spencerian writing systems which followed the Civil War based their chief claims on the grounds of grace and beauty, though some attention was also paid to facility of execution. The vertical systems, prevalent at the beginning of the present century were of a semiprint nature placing their main emphasis on legibility. On the whole there appears to have been purpose and progress in the transi- tions from one general style to another. The spencerian type of writing systems corrected some of the sharp angularity of the styles which they succeeded. They also sanctioned the almost complete elimi- nation of heavily shaded main strokes. The vertical systems displaced the ex- treme slant, the long loops, the intricate capitals, and the last remnants of the MadilisrteS [etiay Avr Wer i od 01g Gyebemt G LedreA temas. Revival of the broad - = a a aespe use tore some Letters somewhat like poner emer tenn aivthe parent- itunes of printers’ type, aud modern handwriting. Casting the letters in type standardized and fixed their forms. The handwritten letters became lesf formal and more and more .. December, 1927 shaded strokes to be found in spencerian styles. Our present muscular systems had their origin in the private business ¢gl- leges, forerunners of the present com- mercial departments in our schools, and they still reflect that influence. Their chief contribution has been to bring at. tention to bear on the mechanics of ex. ecution. Especially have they stressed movement and speed. In style the forms are a compromise between the spencerian and the vertical systems. When well made, these forms retain the outlines of the print forms, but the stress on move- ment tends greatly to distort them. On the whole these systems have not been satisfactorily adapted to the needs of the younger children in our schools. The great bulk of modern handwrit- ing is now done with the pencil or with the fountain pen. The requirements of these writing instruments are beginning to receive some recognition from progres- sive teachers of handwriting. Atoatiiniins Lhe hand written letters LECaAMe Ltaltres. Crimrected, the ltalicsbecame script. Whe allenalethich and shies Lltchel J Seem fPUS Le 0 tii - tale uit Theta ual. Boundhand, or pet. init fected dettfil, Jd Pill? A tao Mi OPE VA cua ee yp bite Ltd: Typewriter letters are outlines of Roman type, all strokes are uniform in width. Typewriters appeared ae the time when shades were omitt from handwriting. the rit- ‘ith of ing res- \s d / The Elementary School Principalship WortH McC.iure Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Seattle, Washington ATERIALLY SPEAKING, the ele- mentary school principalship may be old. Spiritually, it is of the same generation with radio and polar flights. Chronologically, it is per- haps entitled to all the reverence which is the due of every venerable and time- worn tradition. Professionally, it is a robust adolescent, typical of the scien- tific spirit of education. At one time commonly spoken of as a convenient and comfortable post for retirement, the principalship is now undoubtedly one of the most potential stations in the school system. What does the principalship offer as alife career? The appeal of the princi- palship is entirely distinctive. At the same time it has much in common with the fields of the teacher, the special su- pervisor, and the superintendent. The principal is a teacher, but his work is carried on almost entirely through the medium of other personalities. Like that of the teacher, his work retains the joy of pleasant contact with childhood. He is teacher-by-proxy of every child in his school. The principal is a supervisor, but his supervisory unit is the individual child, not a teacher, a class, or a subject. Like that of the special supervisor, his work affords the constant stimulation of prob- lems of instruction. “How may I in- tegrate and adjust the resources of my school—curriculum, teachers, and all— to the educational unfoldment of Johnny Doe in the fifth grade?” This is his constant challenge. The supervisory out- comes of the principalship are measured finally in terms of human lives. The principal’s field is comparable in breadth of activities to that of the super- intendent. In many school systems, he is privileged to enjoy much closer contact with teaching and learning than it is possible for the superintendent to main- lain. It is true that the principal has neither the final determination of major administrative policies nor the larger financial rewards, but it is equally true that his responsibility is less, his freedom from political interference is much seater, and his tenure of office is prob- ‘bly the most secure of all positions in the school system. Leisure for profes- ‘onal study and individual research are his, and he has at his hand a great edu- cational laboratory—the American ele- mentary school. Moreover, the financial rewards of elementary school principals are encour- Books for Further Reading NDERSON, Barr, and Bush. Visiting the teacher at work Almack and Bursch. The administra- tion of consolidated and village schools Barr and Burton. Supervision of in- struction | Buckingham, B. R. Research for | | teachers | Burton, William H. Supervision and the improvement of teaching | Cubberley, E. P. The principal and his school Gist, A. S. Elementary school super- | vision | Hall-Quest, A. L. Supervised study | in the elementary school | Klapper, Paul. Teaching English in the elementary and junior high schools Lewis, E. E. Personnel problems of the teaching staff Morrison, Henry C. Practice of teach- ing in the secondary school Nutt, H. W. The supervision of in- | struction Osburn, W. J. Corrective arithmetic Parker, S. C. Types of elementary teaching and learning Paterson, D. G. Preparation and use of the new-type examinations Ruch, G. M. Improvement of the | written examination Spain, C. L. The platoon school Stormzand, M. J. Progressive meth- ods of teaching Terman and others. Intelligence tests and school reorganization 24th Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education Yearbooks (six) of the Department of | Elementary School Principals, Na- | tional Education Association. Third and Fourth Yearbooks of De- partment of Superintendence, Na- tional Education Association aging in their upward tendency. This is exhibited somewhat strikingly by a com- parison of the salary figures, as shown by the Research Bulletin, Vol. 111, numbers 1 and 2, National Education Associa- tion. In 1923 the best paid 50 percent of principals in rural elementary schools [283] received $939 or more annually. One year later the yearly salary of the best paid 50 percent of rural elementary school principals was $1591 or more. In 1923 supervising principals in cities of 100,000 population and over were actually receiving $3126 or more annu- ally. By 1925 this figure had become $3307. In the same year, 23 cities over 10,000 in population reported maxima of $4000 or over, while 13 had set maxi- mum salaries in excess of $4250. Improved salary conditions undoubt- edly are having a stabilizing effect upon the principalship. Nevertheless, a study by Arthur S. Gist in the Third Yearbook of the Elementary Department School Principals, of the National Education Association shows that the position can- not be classed as a blind alley job since there is noticeable a distinct tendency upon the part of superintendents to ad- vance elementary school principals to more highly paid positions. Cubberley in his The Principal and His School summarizes the attractiveness of the principalship as follows: The principalship of a school, then, must be considered as one of the most desirable of all educational positions. In opportunities for a studious life, as well as in salary, it ranks fairly well with that of a teaching position in a college. To the man with the habits and instincts and aspirations of a student there are few vocations in which one can realize better the ideals of his life. No other person in the school system can do so much good at first hand, no other person in the community can so immediately mold its life and shape its ideals, and the opportuni- ties for personal culture and pleasure are very large to the man or woman who will use them. Is there a standardized course of study and training? There is yet no univer- sally accepted elementary-school princi- palship course. Principalship appoint- ments are still frequently made from the rank of teachers who have demonstrated administrative capacity, no additional qualifications being required. This of course represents a half-way stage in the development of a profession, and finds its parallel in the day when the approved means of entering the practise of medi- cine was through service and study with an established practitioner. A carefully developed program of 284 training for principals is the only answer to the challenge of the modern elemen- tary school. The need for broader pro- fessional training of teachers has been recognized and normal schools are fast becoming teachers colleges with courses leading to the bachelor’s degree. One may well marvel that the preparation of those whose peculiar responsibility it is to lead the teachers has not been given more consideration. The answer is not to be found in pro- fessional inertia but in the complexity of the new principalship. The field of the teacher has been well charted and is being continuously remapped with grow- ing accuracy. On the other hand, the guide-posts of experience are but slowly being established in that of the princi- pal. Courses of training, if they are to be practical, ought to be based upon a thorough-going, scientific analysis of the principal’s job. Those who seek to enter service ag principals, as well as the schools themselves, are entitled to such a standardized curriculum. Elementary school principals have already recognized this. A Committee on Standards and Training for the Principalship was ap- pointed in 1924 by the Department of Elementary School Principals, which with the advice and assistance of the Re- search Division of the National Educa- tion Association, has undertaken to make this epochal study. Pending the results of this study, what have we to serve as criteria in advising those who look forward to becoming principals and who would prepare them- selves in institutions of learning? The case is by no means hopeless. We have no such definite list of duties and traits as has been given in the secretarial field, or as is now being prepared for the American Library Association in the field of librarianship. We can, however, analyse the principalship in the light of its present status and its historical de- velopment, and upon the basis of such an analysis we can indicate the -general directions to be followed in study and training. W hat are the principal’s duties? There is considerable agreement among the various statements that have already been made of the principal’s duties. Professor McMurry classifies the duties of the principal -as follows: those that are purely clerical; those that concern in- struction more or less, but that largely concern routine and therefore require little special ability; and those that re- quire the technical ability of the educa- tional specialist. W. C. Reavis broadens THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION Tn enn eee eee ee ee en en eee the scope somewhat by indicating man- agerial, professional, and social duties. Cubberley’s statement includes organ- ization, administrative, supervisory, and social duties. A study made in 1920 for the Seattle Principals’ Association defined five classes of functions and ranked them in the following order upon the basis of judgments of professors of education in leading universities throughout the coun- try: supervision of instruction, adminis- tration, community leadership, profes- sional study, and clerical work. How did the principalship develop? The principalship is distinctly the prod- uct of the evolution of the modern school. The healthy existence of the modern school with its numerous special- ized functions is dependent upon a di- recting and unifying agency. This agency is the principal. The evolution of the elementary school principalship has been well outlined in the Fifth Yearbook of the Department of Elementary School Principals of the National Education Association. The principal’s responsibility as teacher-by-proxy of every pupil is ap- parent as we consider the various stages by which he has arrived at his present status. Gradually he has been relieved of teaching and routine duties by the appointment of assistants. During the same process he has been made respon- sible for a larger number of pupils. His moral obligation, however, has not been shifted, and his problem now is vicari- ously to instruct his students. This we call his supervisory function. ‘“To super- vise instruction,’ wrote Arnold Tomp- kins in 1895, “is to find the way through the teacher to the pupil.’”’ So while the principal “teaches at long range,” he must nevertheless continue to “touch the life of each individual pupil.” How shall I prepare myself to enter the principalship? Vo attempt to name specific courses without careful defini- tion would involve considerable confu- sion. The following outline for a course of training with objectives indicated un- der the conventional headings of atti- tudes, abilities, and skills, may serve to indicate a suitable program of profes- sional training. In the absence of objec- tive data, such as the Committee on Standards and Training for the Prin- cipalship is seeking to provide, such state- ments as this may at least have the merit ‘of affording a point of departure for further study and critical evaluation. I. Attitudes A. Desirable insights December, 1927 1. Sociological a. Community life b. Aims of education 2. Child life B. Academic preparations 1. Social sciences—philosophy, jt. erature, history and Philosophy of education , 2. Biological science 3. Psychology—in various applica. tions, including child-study II. Abilities A. Se rvices to be rendered 1. Leadership a. Professional b. Community 2. Cooperation a. With teachers and parents b. With supervisors and other specialists c. With superintendent B. Academic, professional, and extra- curricular preparations 1. Managerial activities in school 2 3 onaAawM III. Skills and college . Public speaking . Intensive preparation in at least one particular line, as music, dramatics, athletics, etc. . Teaching, business athletic experience . Education measurements . Elements of statistical method . Child accounting . Individual investigations (sem- inar work, etc.) experience, A. Essential technics 1 2. . Supervision: a. Inspiration b. Continuous diagnosis and fol- low up in regard to: mate- rial conditions of instruc tion; methods; improvement of teachers in service; re sults of administrative acts: social, moral, educational c. Systematic inspection: meas urement of results; stand- ardization of marking sys tem; rating of teachers d. Integration of instruction i the interests of individual pupils e. Coordination of specialized services in the interests of the individual pupil; spe cial subjects such as music; auxiliary agencies such as medical department Administration: . Office routine . School plant . Building activities . Community relationships - . Progress of pupils. Adjust- ment of individual pupils as in grade levels and adjust ment of atypical or h capped children conan et Bk B. Academic and extracurricular pre? 1 arations . Social contacts 2. School hygiene 3. Classroom management 4. Educational psychology lit- phy ther xtra- hool least \usic, erice, od ‘sem- d fol- mate- struc ement s Te acts: nal meas- stand- z sys rs ion in vidual alized sts of ; Spe nusic; ich as 8 \djust- pils as adjust- handi- prep fol. 16, No. 9 onan 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. . Methodology of teaching various subjects . Practise teaching . Teaching experience . Familiarity with current educa- tional literature . Methodology of supervision of various branches Educational measurements, in- cluding simple statistical theory Child accounting Educational standards Knowledge of objectives of spe- cial subjects Fundamentals of office practise School administration Public speaking Intensive preparation leading to outstanding ability in some par- ticular line, such as music, dramatics, athletics, etc. Methods of educational guidance Vocational and industrial con- tacts Education of atypical children ‘ How may the principal in service keep up to date? For those principals who are already in service and who desire to keep abreast of the newer professional developments, both the regular and the summer sessions of leading institutions now offer specific courses in the admin- istration and supervision of elementary schools. In addition to this opportunity, the yearbooks and bulletins of the De- partment cipals of of Elementary School Prin- the National Education Asso- ciation constitute the greatest single body of literature in this field. Other publi- cations which will be found particularly helpful are given elsewhere in this article. Should the principal have a degree? Until such time as more specific prepa- rations have been indicated this cannot IC ERsHIP of children has a positive slant for the modern principal, as shown in the picture on the left. Contacts with auxiliary agencies, such as medical and dental service, occupy an important share of the principal’s time. be fairly settled. It is no doubt a safe prediction, however, that in view of the increasing tendency for higher standards for teachers, those of principals will naturally be affected. The effect of wide- spread adoption of salary plans award- ing increased compensation for those teachers holding degrees inevitably has- tens the day when the bachelor’s degree will be required of candidates for the principalship. The logic of this situation is inescap- able. The requirement of the bachelor’s degree in turn will result in the stimula- tion of institutions of higher learning to offer more graduate courses for princi- pals, which will have a tendency to raise standards again. Asa result of this com- bination of factors, it is not altogether unlikely that the next generation of prin- cipals will see the master’s degree as a standard requirement. What does the principalship demand? The personal qualities which mark the successful principal have been defined by A. S$. Gist in Elementary School Super- vision. His list is as follows: Sociability, sincerity, optimism, professional enthusi- asm, fairness, impartiality, breadth of mind, open mindedness, frankness, tact, sympathy, discretion in conversation, ap- proachableness, interest in teachers’ wel- fare, poise and selfcontrol, industry, leadership, sense of humor, organization ability, courage of convictions, executive ability, personal neatness,judicial quali- ties, willingness to assume responsibility, and loyalty to teaching corps. The principal's leadership is not lim- ited by the four walls of a classroom nor by the confines of a given subject. His THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 285 ee ee ee ae service includes not one grade but many, not the functioning of one subject alone but of the whole curriculum; not lessons alone but the whole segment of child life which we call the school; not child life alone but teacher growth as well; not books and children and teachers merely but community life as well—the home divided against itself and the one whose circle is complete; the parent whose par- enthood is a failure and the successful parent; the father who is out of work and the captain of industry; the home that is crushed by economic discourage- ment and the home newly flushed with worldly prosperity; the letter protesting against the barbarism of the school dis- cipline and the letter requesting that Johnny be spanked; the conference with troubled parents and the public address. His responsibility encompasses not the good of a single school and its neighbor- hood alone, but the whole school system and the whole community—not local is- sues alone but the forward advance in educational policy in harmony with the other units of the school system and the careful consolidation of the ground thus gained in the local sector. ‘These make up the warp and woof of the day’s work of the elementary school principal of to- day. The new principalship is for those who have active minds; who would be leaders in many things rather than fol- lowers; who would share largely in the molding of human lives. There is no doubt that it demands all of the fine qualities of the old and considerably more. It presents all the challenge of a great opportunity. THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The Journal of the National Education Association Published monthly, except July, August, and Sep- tember, by the National Education Association of = the United States President, Cornelia S. Adair | Secretary, J. W. Crabtree The payment of $2 active membership dues entitles a member to attend all meetings of the Association and its departments, to vote for delegates to the Rep- resentative Assembly, to hold office, and to receive Tue JOURNAL. The payment of $5 instead of $2 entitles an active member, in addition to the privileges of the $2 mem- bership, to receive the Proceedings, committee re- ports, and other regular publications of the Associa- tion. One dollar of each membership fee is for a year’s subscription to THr JOURNAL. The pay- ment of $100 gives the privileges of the $5 active membership for life. Subscription to nonmembers is $2 per year; single copies, 25 cents. Advertising rates on application. Members are kindly requested to report at once any change of address, giving old as well as new address. Tue JourNAL is a member of the Educational Press Association of America and is published in ac- cordance with the standards of that organization. Entered as secondclass matter October 28, 1920, at the postoffice at Washington, D. C., under the act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103. Act of October 3, 1917, authorized January 26, 1921. Harold A. Allan Business Manager Joy Elmer Morgan Editor EXECUTIVE AND EDITORIAL OFFICES: 1201 Sixteenth Street N. W., Washington, D.C. Vitalized Commencements OMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES as they have developed in connection with mass schooling in America offer excep- tional opportunities for building vital truths into the lives of young people. Commencement speakers of experience are impressed with the difference in the effectiveness of the ceremonies in differ- ent schools. Could not all commence- ments be made as good as the best, or at Could not each commencement be made to serve the needs of its particular school or com- munity? Cannot some of the more or less meaningless traditional elements in commencements be replaced by signifi- cant new material? That there is a widespread desire to make commencements richer and more forceful is shown by the responses to editorials on the subject that have ap- peared in THE JouRNAL of the National Education Association during the past few years. ‘These calls for help have led to a movement to vitalize commence- ments so that throughout all America these ceremonies will mark a turning point in the lives of young people as do the initiation ceremonies among primitive peoples. The thought is not to have uni- form plans for all commencements, but rather that a general effort will be made to have running through the commence- least as good as the average ? \ December, 19)7 ee ment season forceful truths and symbol- isms that all believe desirable to build into the lives of youth. It is hoped to develop an advisory committee of repre-y sentatives from each of the states and from all levels and branches of the school system. While this committee would not be able to hold meetings, it could pass on plans by mail and cooperate with the officers of the Association in developing the idea. Among the questions which would be considered by such a committee are these: 1. Could there not be in commence- ments of all types each year a thread of basic truth which would bring some one of the larger ideals of our life into sharp focus? For example, each of the seven cardinal objectives of education might be taken in turn for special emphasis, thus giving a seven-year program of vital significance. 2. Could there not be worked out for graduation on each of the various levels of the school system plans that would give a useful sequence of emphasis as youth passes up through elementary, junior high school, senior high school, junior college, and college? For ex- ample, promotion exercises from elemen- tary schools might emphasize the spirit of learning—honesty and truth. Promo- tion exercises from junior high schools might emphasize the ideal of service and of joyous industry. senior high schools and junior colleges might emphasize citizenship and public duty. Graduation from colleges might emphasize the obligations and oppor- tunities of leadership. For the commencements of profes- sional and technical groups—such as teaching, law, medicine, engineering— could there not be worked out ceremonies that would visualize for both graduates and public the special services and ideals of these groups in their larger settings? To be specific, why should there not be in the commencements of teacher-train- ing institutions elements that would make everyone keenly aware of the long, slow struggle for intelligence and free education ? Why should not law schools have a ceremony which would show the de- velopment of liberty under law; whicn would call attention to pioneer libera- tors; and which would impress upon law graduates their obligation to sim- plify and improve law and to make it serve more effectively human needs? 4. Could there not be used in com- mencement ceremonies more impressive symbolisms and pageantry? For ex- Graduation from_ ample, why should not the children graduating from the elementary schoo} have a candle-lighting ceremony in which the candles to be lighted would corte. spond to the great characters of history, who by passing on the torch, have made learning and _ schools possible? Why should not teacher-training institutions feature a program in which students, impersonating historical characters and using extracts from their writings, would show the struggles that have been made in the development of schools ? 5. Cannot the incidental features of commencements—marches, Processionals, and the like—be made more effective by gathering the best practise and making it available for the use of all schools? For example, what processional marches are considered best for various schools? 6. Could there not be in every com. mencement some pledge on the order of the Athenian Oath—this particularly for the elementary schools—which each child would take knowing that many other children were joining in a similar pledge worked out by themselves or made their own. Persons interested in this project are encouraged to write the Editor of Tue JOURNAL giving suggestions and calling attention to any plans or materials they have found especially helpful. By begin- ning early, some of the points here out- lined can be developed for the 1928 com- mencement season. oe E. REYNOLDS, elected a member of the Executive Committee of the National Edw- cation Association at the Seattle meeting: He is Secretary of the Ohio State Teachers Association, Columbus, and has long bees active in educational affairs. aa ~ rm ee ~an = For are om- r of for any ailar nade "are THE ling they egin- out- com- of the al Edu- eeting- achers g been HESE ARE DAYS of educational questions and questioning. Lead- ing magazines are publishing an ynusual array of articles on the problems of the schools. Most of these articles in- dicate a search for truth rather than the presentation of facts. American thinkers of all professions are taking a deeper in- terest in learning what is best for pupils in the schools and students in the colleges. The questions asked in the magazines are of two general types. The first is “Whom and how shall we teach?” The scond is ‘Who should go to college?” Here are a few titles that have appeared recently in leading lay magazines: Chaos or Cosmos in American Education; What is ‘English’? What is it all About? What seems to be the Trouble? Underpaid Teachers and Underpaying Students; Is Education for Sale? “In- stilling’ the Constitution; The Great “Selfexpression” Delusion; Should Johnny Go to College? The Overpopu- lation of the College; Confessions of a Dean; The Doom of the Arts College. These questions are both encouraging and challenging. They encourage be- cause they indicate a wholesome desire that American young people have the best equipment for citizenship. They chal- lenge because they indicate a demand for truth which must be supplied in order that the desire may be fulfilled. One of America’s greatest thinkers in the field of public education voices a plea for an “American System of Education.” He does not mean standardization of American schools. He says: “Standard- ization has laid a deadening hand upon ws. There is much attention to processes and little assessment of results.” On the other hand he points to the lack of knowledge which causes doubt as to how the public school program should be or- ganized—whether the junior high school good; whether platoon schools are bet- ter than “traditional schools.” He cites discussion of college entrance re- (irements and asks whether Latin is still an essential for all pupils in Ameri- can schools. Writers, thinkers, and speakers every- Where question the objectives of school- ing. They ask whether schooling should result in the accumulation of credits and, ineidentally some information, or the Moduction of the thoroughly educated Man or Woman. The Truth in Education A Plea for Facts Then there are those who are con- cerned by the phenomenal rise in college enrolment. Some of them suggest that too many young people continue beyond the high school and ask whether those | H* YOUR CONGRESSMAN heard from youP The Seventieth Congress will convene at noon, Monday, Decem- ber 5. Since the Sixty-ninth Congress adjourned last March teachers’ organi- zations and lay groups all over the country have taken action urging the passage of the New Education Bill, to create a Department of Education with a Secretary in the President’s Cabinet. Most of the Senators and Congress- men have returned to Washington. They are depending on the teachers of their home districts to tell them the attitude of the profession and the pub- lic on this measure. Write your Sena- tors and your Congressmen today. Letters coming almost daily to Na- tional Education Association head- quarters indicate that the New Educa- tion Bill will be the subject of many high school debates throughout the country this year. Teachers will ob- tain help for these debates by writing to the Association’s office at 1201 Six- teenth Street N. W., Washington, D.C. Write your Congressman for a copy of the Joint Hearings on the New Education Bill held February 24, 25, and 26, 1926. same young people eught not to enter at once into profitable employment. All of this means that America is seek- ing the truth in education and that the search is not being adequately repaid. The United States» has no factfinding agency sufficiently/equipped with funds, personnel, or information to study and make public the best available data for the solution of educational problems. America does not want a federal, standardized schaol system, such as that of France or Germany. But the school interests of America do need to cooperate on a national scale for the benefit of the pupils they serve. Only one agency can meet the cry for facts in American education. That agency is a Department of Education with a Secretary in the President’s Cabi- net, whose primary function will be to serve all the schools by giving them the results of nationwide studies. There are those who believe that edu- cation has made greater progress in the (287] past decade than in the half century pre- ceding. We are now sufficiently ad- vanced to know that there is much still to be learned. The past growth of American education has been somewhat a matter of chance. Educational studies have been conducted by individuals and independent institutions. Various groups work independently on the same prob- lem. If this course were to be followed in the future we should continue to make progress, but meanwhile millions of children would suffer because the prog- ress would be too slow to meet their needs. Thousands of children would continue to fail in school subjects and most of those failures would be unneces- sary. When we reach the golden age in education this enormous human waste of childhood hopes and efforts will dimin- ish. Failures will be reduced because the curriculum will be adjusted to meet the individual needs of the child and the teachers will secure for every child his maximum guided growth. The teachers and parents of America’s children no longer regard the proposed Department of Education merely as a “desirable thing.” They look upon it as a necessity and they will herald its estab- lishment within the next few years as a national blessing. Earlier numbers of THE JouRNAL which give a useful background for this subject include: An answer to pessimism—Theodore Chris- tianson. January, 1926; 15: 1 The New Education Bill—February, 1926; tS: 55 Hearings! 1926; 15: 117 Action? Action?? Action???—May, 1926; 15: 147 Legislation for childhood—Francis G. Blair—November, 1926; 15: 233 Do you know your Education Bill? Williams—November, 1926; 15: 252 Debating the New Education Bill—May, 1927; 16: 161 Department of the 1926; 15: 47 Popular education in 1825—March, 1926; 15: 85 The basis of democratic civilization—El- mer Cornelius—May, 1926; 15: 148 Equal educational opportunities—Henry Noble Sherwood—June, 1926; 15: 173 Chief state school officers favor Depart- ment of Education—June, 1926; 15: 183 New Education Bill at Seattle—October, 1927; 16: 203. Resolutions 1927; 16: 213 Hearings! Hearings! April, Charl Interior—February, Adopted at Seattle—October, ' | Membership in Professional and Technical Organizations United States Alabama. . Arizona. Arkansas California C olorado. Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia. Florida. . Georgia Idaho Illinois. . . Indiana. . lowa Kansas Kentuc — Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada.. New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico... New York. North Carolina North Dakota Ohio... Oklahoma | Oregon Pennsylvania. . Rhode Island... . | South Carolina. . South Dakota... Tennessee Texas Utah.. Vermont | Virginia | Member- ship in American Medical Associa- tion 1926 1,61 22 180 203 068 i, 4, a, 1,229 148 549 700 1,784 23) 7,020 2,671 2, 362 1,556 1,850 1,248 785 1,259 4,248 Decent of physicians members of American Medical Associa- tion 4 61.75 70.57 $8.73 $3.35 50.26 58.14 65.23 57.81 30.28 48.21 57.14 57.45 65.35 62.83 69.92 65.82 Number of lawyers in 1920 60.84 62.68 75.70 54.43 68. 66 2,983 2,053 976 3,270 269 4, 222 91 489 2,240 260 10, 885 1, 686 394 5,240 1,553 551 61. 67 72.73 57.34 56.32 51.24 65.65 70.54 81.37 62.80 71.23 Member- ship in American Bar Associa- tion 1926 Percent of | lawyers members of American Bar Associa- tion 61.60 73.92 81.24 64.59 61.53 = 85 34 $4.86 65 . 38 56.79 50.22 57.38 70.69 65.74 72.85 w ashingt: yn West Virginia......... Wisconsin Wyoming Alaska Canal Zone | Foreign } Guam Hawaii... Philippine Islands. Porto Rico mae Virgin Islands.... 63.56 58.19 72.68 58.43 Estimated number of teachers 1926-27 Prepared by the Research Division of the National Education Association — Member- ship in National Education Associa- tion Jan. 1927 Percent of teachers oman National Education Associa- tion 10 11 891,555 15, 800 3,000 13,500 17, 800 4,500 46, 500 . , 800 , 400 . 600 16, 500 12,900 7 "000 8,900 26, 500 mw _ woAw oO | 30, 800 23, 000 16, 600 24, 600 6, 800 Bmw } — AO— es | wWenwwy 825 3, 400 24, 100 3,350 rh “72, 200 24, 000 9,600 43, 200 19, 800 7,900 56,500 3,900 13, 200 9 600 “16, 900 38, 400 4,650 3,200 17,900 11,900 15,000 23, 200 3,200 200 “14, 400 170, 053 > 142 2,095 765 17,924 4, 450 1, 986 802 1,449 2,225 671 950 9, 303 6,439 3,313 2,696 1,244 906 1,782 1,371 5,415 10, 311 12 19 07 7. 23 69.83 5.67 49.79 44.50 20. 06 55.31 $4.68 23.42 3.77 21. TT 20.01 24.96 12.09 13. sal _— Rank of column 12 44 6 47 9 12 24 7 8 21 51 22 25 20 37 31 43. | 45 | 19 30 23 16 28 53 33 50 27 3 32 18 41 HIS TABLE compares the member- ship in professional and technical organizations as indicated by the following: Percent of physicians members of American Medical Association, percent of lawyers members of American Bar Association, and percent of teachers mem- bers of National Education Association. In the United States as a _ whole there are 148,644 physicians. Of this num- ber 91,792, or 61.75 percent, are members of the American Medical Association. Of the 123,162 lawyers in the United States 24,751, or 20.10 percent are members of the American Bar Association. Of the 891,555 teachers in the United States 170,- 053, or 19.07 percent are members of the National Education Association. You may obtain the figures for your state by reading table as follows: Of the 2284 physicians in Alabama, 1612, or 70.57 percent, are members of American Med- ical Association. This percent gives Ala- bama a rank of 11 in this regard. Of the 1416 lawyers in Alabama, 206 or 14.55 percent are members of American Bar Association. This percent gives Alabama a rank of 45. Of the 15,800 teachers in Alabama, 1142, or 7.23 percent, are mem- bers of National Education Association. This percent gives Alabama a rank of 44 in this regard. The figures for number of physicians and membership in American Medical As- [288] sociation were obtained through the cour- tesy of the American Medical Associa- tion. Figures as to number of lawyers | are taken from the Federal Census of Occupations for 1920; they include law- yers, judges, and justices. Figures for years later than 1920 are not available. ; Membership in American Bar Associa- ||’ tion is taken from membership Record of the American Bar Association. The figures as to number of teachers and membership in National Education Asso- ciation are from THe JoURNAL OF THE Nationa. Epucation Association, April, 1927. Preserve your files of THE JOUR- NAL. These tables and many other origi- nal features can be had nowhere else. __ cor. ee -~oano Publicity N THE SPRING of 1926 it became evi- dent that the salaries of Minneapolis teachers were too low and that a re- vision of the schedule was imperative if the efficiency of the schools was to be maintained. A joint committee from the Board of Education and the Teachers’ Central Committee was chosen to study the situation and report findings. Following the example of New York, Chicago, and Cincinnati an expert was employed to find out what a decent efh- ciency budget was for a Minneapolis teacher. Royal Meeker of the economics department of Carleton College with wide experience in surveys was chosen. His findings were printed in the fall of 1926. During the winter of 1926-27 an at- tempt was made under Mrs. Decker of the Board of Education as chairman to get together citizens and teachers to dis- cuss Dr. Meeker’s report. Last February the teachers submitted to the Board of Education a schedule based on Dr. Meeker’s report. Up to this time the Board of Education has not acted on this matter. It is for this reason that teachers are employing a teacher as publicity secretary to present this matter to the Minneapolis public. The first difficulty I, as publicity sec- retary, encountered is this: That you, the public, do not think of teachers as we teachers think of ourselves. The typ- ical teacher to you is a young woman who, to quote Dr. Meeker, is using the school as a hope chest. You, of course, say, “I know there are men also, but they too are using their teaching as a stepping stone to something else.” If there are older people engaged in this work you think that the good ones are Promoted to administrative work and those left are the disappointed medioc- ities. Your idea of a good school is a ‘igorous principal who will hold in line or efficiency the young, temporary, and -the hopeless. We, on the other hand, know that one third of the Minneapolis teachers are at the maximum salary, therefore, must be at least thirty-five ce and that they have the same bilities as other normal adults. Shes also know that the job of teach- an interesting one, important fnough, we believe, for a life work and ‘Teachers Salaries FLORENCE [‘IsH many more men and women, too, would regard it so if the maximum salary were large enough to enable them to lead normal lives. Another thing we know is that even the best supervision cannot make a good Se. NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIA- TION is a _ powerful aggressive body of over 170,000 of the 800,000 teachers in the United States, with welldefined objectives and dedicated to the welfare of the children of America. It recognizes no sectional lines and its deliberations are sin- gularly free from socalled political taint. Apparently the best men and women come to the front from sheer force of leadership and convictions. Its 1100 delegates come from every state in the union and outlying ter- ritories and are doing more to create a national consciousness and spirit of goodwill among the nations of the world than any other agency in Amer- ica. Four years ago it sponsored the organization of the World Federation of Education Associations in which over forty nations participated. For the individual teacher it is doing much. It has brought about higher standards in professional requirements which in turn are responsible for longer school tenure and many successful pension and retirement laws. By virtue of its nationwide influence it has elevated the teaching profession to a dignity and level that comport very favorably with those of other professions. Per- haps some of us can remember when much of our teaching was subject more or less to the review of the in- fluential people of the community and to that extent lacked the independence and selfassertiveness so necessary to make independent and fearless citi- zens.—W. G. Hirons, Grand Junction, Colorado. =. teacher out of the temporary or the hopeless. We ask you, therefore, to direct your attention to the mature ex- perienced teachers. Among these you will find too few men. tion true only in the United States. England, Germany, and France all have a large proportion of men teachers. The conduct of the typical son of a widowed mother should weight the argument that at least some men are necessary. What has been the past job history of this mature teacher? [289] This is a condi- Secretary, Central Committee, Minneapolis Teachers’ Organizations She or he has gone to school at his own or parents’ expense from four to seven years beyond compulsory age. He has had at least two years success- ful teaching experience outside of Min- neapolis. He has probably been in Minneapolis schools from ten to twenty or more years. Modern educational theories make a great many more demands upon the teacher than the old ones. The teacher’s task now is to provide an ideal commu- nity life for your boys and girls to grow up in. You will admit that this is a difficult task in view of the many influ- ences against us. If the salary a teacher receives forces him to fear for the future of himself and his dependents, this fear will be reflected in his teaching. If he has to skimp, his teaching will be crabbed. If he has to work in outside jobs, lack of interest and energy in his teaching will result. In short, experienced teachers in Minne- apolis know that they are underpaid and I do not need to tell you that underpay will have the same effect upon teaching that it does upon any other work. Our knowledge of underpay rests upon facts of which the following are the very briefest résumé: We Americans think that we have a high opinion of the worth of teaching, but points like the following are rather startling to us: In the British Empire 3314 to 40 per- cent of teachers are men who have no thought of changing their career for an- other. In Bulgaria the Minister of Educa- tion is assisted by a committee of five members, three of whom are teachers. China pays board for students learn- ing to be teachers. The requirements in Japan are so strict that they would eliminate 40 per- cent of our teachers. In Norway teachers are always repre- sented in parliament. In the United States, of 44,600,000 gainfully employed workers in 1926 the average annual income was $2010. During the war they told us that the average citizen had a sixth grade educa- tion. In Minneapolis the highest paid teach- ers in group one, that is, the normal 290 Tue JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION December, 1927 Cee ere school graduates under the present sched- ule, can receive no more than $2000. These teachers must have spent at least fourteen years in school. It is evident that young people are recognizing the contradictions between talk and salary because only eight per- cent of college women are going into teaching and the proportion of men has decreased from one in three to one in seven from 1890 to 1920. Yet many citizens important enough to be in Who's W ho began as teachers but left this work because of low salary. Again, if we compare Minneapolis with other cities over 100,000 in popula- tion these facts are discovered: The National Education Association has made a careful investigation of 59 such cities. Minneapolis is fifteenth in population in this group, is thirty-fifth in maximum elementary salary, is fortieth in maximum high school salary. Of 79,554 elementary teachers in these cities the minimum receives $2000, while in Minneapolis the maximum re- ceived $2000 and under the present schedule can receive no more. Of 24,995 high school teachers in these cities the median receives $2583, while in Minneapolis the maximum re- ceived $2500 and under the present schedule can receive no more. The fifteenth maximum salary for ele- mentary teachers in this group is $2400. Minneapolis is fifteenth in population but pays $2000. ‘The fifteenth maxi- mum high school salary is $3080. In Minneapolis it is $2500. As to cost and standards of living in re- lation to teachers’ salaries, Dr. Meeker finds that $1356 per year is the lowest amount on which a young teacher away from home should live in Minneapolis, and $3062 per year is the lowest amount upon which an adult teacher with normal responsibilities should live. Since the present minimum is $1200 and the present maximum is $2500 it is not surprising to find that teachers do much work outside of their teaching. That, in fact, they increased their earn- ing power by outside jobs from 14 to 28 percent of their salaries. In this way many Minneapolis teachers are becom- ing parttime teachers. If they are so AVERAGE SALARIES TEACHERS, SUPERVISORS, AND PRINCIPALS BY STATES. 1925 Based on data from U.S..Bureau of Education Reseurh Qwswa Aatonal Lducutuon. » fash, Aver persoris Average income of all persons having incomes of less than 83000. —- earnings of r vo COMPARISON of TEACHERS SALARIES WITH EARNINGS AND INCOMES OF VARIOUS GROUPS OF GAINFULLY OCCUPIED PERSONS IN1926 ¢ income ofall suntully occupied, ts in 25 mane situated that they do not need to help anyone but themselves there cannot byt be danger that a skimped selfish life wij make skimped selfish teachers and gy the Minneapolis children will suffer, In conclusion, let me say that there js only one reason for raising salaries and that is to improve teaching service. Min- neapolis teachers are not weaklings, They do not wish to be considered as complaining but the facts ‘are that some teachers are leaving Minneapolis for higher pay and that the schedule is not high enough to attract the best teachers to Minneapolis. Many teachers that stay here are seeking outside work by which to increase their income. These facts must mean impaired efficiency, We believe that the average intelli- gent taxpayer is more interested in how his taxes are spent than in how much they are. We believe that he would not wish to have too much economy in the teachers’ budget and it is in that belief that we are asking you to support the teachers’ request for a _ revised sched- ule—From The Parent-Teacher Broad- caster, Minneapolis, Minnesota. is ZOLO | 2 1 G93 | i$ 1509 | facturing industries. Ave c e earnings of’ trace wnion members Average salary of routine clerical employees work- ing under supervision Average salary of hugh grade clerical workers Average salary of U.S. Government Employees Average Salary of teach- ecs, principals, and superintendents in public schools i? 1275) Gesceacch Quswh Uational Education Associa Read table thus: The average income of the 44,600,000 xain- fully occupied persons inthe United, States in 1926 wasi2010 Simulacly reac figures for other groups of workers. Sources of data: These figures based upon a number of income and wage investigations cited in the May, 1927 Kesearch Bulletin of the National Education Association. REAT TEACHERS are always inter- 5 ested in individual lives. Case d studies are built around this nat- I- ural interest. But they are much more $. than sentiment. They are a method of As getting at the child’s whole life—of visu- ie alizing the problem of educating him in or its broader relationships. The following ot case studies were made by Elizabeth H. TS Burrell, a teacher in the elementary at school of the University of Missouri. by They show one teacher’s attempt to bring se all she knew into play for the betterment of her problem cases. They are adapted li- from the 1927 Yearbook of the Depart- OW ment of Classroom ‘Teachers of the ich National Education Association. Let hot every teacher who reads this try making the one such study each month. lief the A Neurotic Case—Jackie R. ed- . Chronological age—8 yrs., 5 mos. l ad- 2. Mental age—10 yrs., 3 mos. 3. Educational age—10 yrs., 5 mos. 4, Physical condition—He has under- gone four major operations since he was sixteen months old. Has enlarged glands in neck, The father is highly nervous and very irritable with the child. This condition is cause enough for mental difficulty in the boy. The father’s personal habits are such that he is severely censured in the community. The boy knows this. He takes a definite stand against his fa- ther on the subject of cigarette. drink, and gambling. “You bet I won’t let any habit get such a hold of me that I can’t | stop,” he tells him. 5. Social development—Jackie plays | readily, is well liked but gets into many fights. He usually has a reason that his teachers will grant is tenable so far as childish experience goes, and he can be made to see his faults. But the out- breaks continue to be frequent, as he has the “only child” attitude toward play- ground and schoolroom property. 6. Our problem—The foregoing par- agraph indicates our problem in part. Jackie’s desire to monopolize common play and study materials, his irritability and an unusual lack of selfconsciousness or even reticence, make him a continued “urce of trouble. Other difficult chil- dren are sure to clash with him fre- quently. He jis highly nervous, irritable, " Selfeentered, pert, mischievous, and ob- Tusive to a tiresome degree, bringing up meonsequential questions and points for Case Studies by a Classroom Teacher argument and clinging to them and hark- ing back at every opportunity. 7. Treatment—The mother, the boy, and the teacher had a conference over Jackie’s frequent lapses into misconduct. Both agreed that the school is working to help them. Since that time Jackie has i YOU EVER stop in the midst of a busy day’s work to look into a child’s mind to see what was going on there? Did you ever lay aside the routine of the school to make a com- plete study of the whole life of one child in order to see the forces that are influencing his growthP Many things that teachers do have been bor- rowed rather blindly out of a tradi- tional past. The road to better prac- tise lies in close, constant, systematic, scientific observation of the individual child, not by an occasional specialist, but by the masses of teachers in their daily work in the schoolroom. This method of studying cases has helped doctors to make a profession of medi- cine which was once even blinder than teaching now is. It will help the teach- ing profession to give life and vitality to its verbalistic studies of psychology and principles of education. It will lift teaching from drudgery to the plane of a great adventure. checked himself in several attempts at teasing others, and has been easier to deal with when he gets into trouble. 8. Results—This case grows all the time. It is constantly open, as the school is on the alert for new developments. The child has so much ability and so many tendencies that are fine, we want to give him a definite standard of be- havior. We know his sensibilities may be aroused by the incongruity between his ideal standards and those of a loved parent, hence the need for watchfulness. A Health Problem—Steven B. . Chronological age—9 yrs., 5 mos. Mental age—9 yrs., 5 mos. Educational age—7 yrs., 2 mos. Physical condition—Small for age, normal weight for his height. Enlarged tonsils. Rapid heart. Sub- ject to catarrhal colds and headaches. 5. Social development—Steven is a good follower, fond of play, never a leader, but never quarrelsome, is liked by his schoolmates. 6. Our problem—Steven is still in third grade and at the bottom of the class. He repeated first grade because YP Pr [291] he did so poorly in reading. Can handle numbers very well when he learns a process but can do little reasoning. Memory poor, writing and spelling al- most nothing. At daily medical inspec- tion he never gets past the doctor with- out comment: “Ought to have those tonsils out right away.” Mother very complacent about his condition. ‘He isn’t a bit sick. I can’t see any reason for calling in a doctor when he isn’t sick.” 7. Treatment—In daily health les- sons the need for the removal of dis- eased tonsils was explained to all the class. Literature on the subject was ob- tained from a local insurance agent, and was distributed to be taken home. Dur- ing a recent epidemic of scarlet fever Steven was sent home on two separate occasions because of a suspicious-looking throat. His mother refused to call a doc- tor because he wasn’t sick. ‘The teacher visited the mother, and by personal con- tact smoothed over a developing feeling of resentment, but did not get far on the subject of removing tonsils. Finally the mother was told, “The school is doing all it can with special teachers and experts in every line. If you don’t do your part by him we will not enrol him for another term.” 8. Results—The mother has prom- ised to have the tonsil operation this coming summer. A Discouraged Pupil—Jerome K. . Chronological age—8 yrs., 1 mo. Mental age—10 yrs., 3 mos. Educational age—7 yrs., 2 mos. Physical condition—Normal. Social development—Average. Our problem—Jerome is failing in reading. A visit brought out the fact that the family were so concerned over his reading they kept at it every evening, father, mother, and twelve-year-old sis- ter one after the other taking him through reading and spelling lessons. They were having him read aloud, point to words as he read, spell a word he didn’t know and scolding him and heap- ing reproaches till he has no confidence in himself. 7. Treatment—Special lessons. ‘The family were solicited for help in restor- ing his confidence. When asked not to help at home they were at first doubt- ful, but consented. 8. Results—The boy is reasonable improvement. PRS YY, > making a ese = PES Sn soe ny aS, SNES (oe erg pes Pre % pacientes