YAN 3.0300 01020 be?e any TO079 The Library Humboldt State College ARCATA, CALIFORNIA DISCARDED-LIGRAR CAL POLY peas | ae NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES Proceedings OGRE SIXTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING HELD AT PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA JUNE 27—JULY 2, 1926 VOLUME 64 The National Education Association 1201 Sixteenth Street N. W. Washington, D. C. MEMBERSHIP FEES AND PUBLICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION AND ITS VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS The National Education Association has three classes of membership: 1. The $2 membership entitles one to all the privileges of membership and to receive The Journal of the National Education Association for one year. (9 issues.) 2. The $5 membership entitles one to all the privileges of membership and to receive for one year (a) The Journal of the National Education Associa- tion; (b) The Annual Volume of Addresses and Proceedings; (c) The Re- search Bulletin; (d) Occasional bulletins and reports. 3. The $100 life membership, which entitles. one to the publications and privileges of the $5 membership for life. Several departments of the National Education Association have separate membership fees and issue departmental publications. One must be a member of the National Education Association before he can become a member of any department of the Association. The payment of one of the membership fees of the National Education Association does not include membership in any department having membership fee. The membership of the depart- ments which issue publications follows: 1. The Department of Superintendence—$5 membership entitles one to receive for one year: (a) The Yearbook of the Department of Superin- tendence, which includes a list of members of the department; (b) The Official Report of the Winter Meeting; and (c) bulletins. 2. The Department of Elementary School Principals—$2 membership en- titles one to participate in the work of the department and to receive its bulletins issued in October, January, April, and July. The July number of the Bulletin is a Yearbook containing approximately three hundred pages including a list of members of the department. This volume of Addresses and Proceedings is sent to all members of the National Education Association paying an annual fee of $5, or it may be purchased by non-members for $3. A space schedule for the departments was adopted by the Executive Committee in Cleveland, February, 1923. In accordance with this plan of space allotment, the officers of the departments have cooperated in deciding the selection of material for their respective departments. Membership fees of the National Education Association and its depart- ments and inquiries concerning all publications should be sent to 1201 Six- teenth Street Northwest, Washington, D. C. [2] FOREWORD T WAS A GREAT CONVENTION. There is nothing to compare with it in the whole world. It was a concentrated university with a faculty drawn from every state. The permanent officers who planned the session turned experience into foresight and produced a smooth-running piece of huge and complex machinery creditable to everybody. And Mary McSkimmon, complimenting everybody at every meeting complimented none too much.” ‘These are the words with which Superintendent William McAndrew of the Chicago schools closes his leading editorial on the Philadelphia convention which appeared in the Educational Review for September, 1926. Both of the 1926 meetings were held in cities of great historic interest. “The Department of Superintendence met in the nation’s capital while Congress was in session which gave opportunity for visitors to be present at Congressional hearings on the Education Bill. ‘The summer meeting at Philadelphia took the Association back to the home of its birth and gave teachers an opportunity to visit shrines made sacred by Washing- ton, Franklin, and other founders of the republic. In keeping with the growth of the Association an effort is made each year to improve these Proceedings. ‘The improvement this year consists in more careful selection of material, the addition of fly-leaves giving historical or introductory notes for each main division, and the addition of descrip- tions of related associations. “The arrangement of the book is shown in the outline on page 5. One new department appears this year for the first time; the Depart- ment of Social Studies. The complete list of the Association’s publications from 1857 to 1924 appears on pages 1041-60 of the Proceedings for that year. It is sup- plemented by tables in Proceedings, 1925: 1080-81; 1926: 1185. The strength of the educational advance is suggested by the increase in the published output of the Association during the past few years. The grand total during 1920-21 for all the Association’s publications was 22,- 951,650 pages; for 1925 it was 129,862,256 pages. This growing literature on the problem of the profession reflects the inspiring devotion of American teachers to the public school. The ideals which the teachers pass on to the children are the most precious thing in the national life. Division OF PUBLICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. [3] —i be y vat oe iit et nyo OU SNe Mesh ie >, aie i a tp ‘hod mh pag bey’ $)09-eates sbAeo ved nea: 4 ' in “ag nalal apne , i» ap aT ’ an) Ode mye lif5 Tet fia & Ane ; -" at sein Fe TLS aR ie Lt t sits Ki eh age 1 Oy ail bro deh ‘ a A a037) Phe, of) gle) se 4 os My y 4 \ PUY Et orton tuoi eke oth a d a2 = ert 1% oy Lote SOMES bv] r Sri th ns oa rag % ‘ ; ar ‘ eth yk J # ast con L.ayse “Vs.0" 2 JS ‘a , Ms : ; : aes oP ak ibe itt Sgt), as oe Bela feo fel )s si alts ne > ey we wat Sei a: “ Le: ima ip AA eT atc aa alt ie ti’? 5 bh ey Sn SM I ho he ciate a oe aS rh PAE MS RO Dh Sit, mf wires x 2 wiley rt iy 4 whe et f ; ‘ t #5 As . sr ~ he r " ry ’ ; | ; al ; i * HOLS os oe | ES 2] a . fe. aes 13 bes Pb Ad aH oo ye ow HOW THIS BOOK IS BUILT HE CONVENTIONS of the National Education Association are great ghee which bring together a wide variety of interests. This vol- ume reflects these interests. Persons who use it will save time by forming a picture of its contents and arrangement. The opening pages cover the speeches before the General Sessions at the Philadelphia meeting. These are followed by the reports of the Associa- tion’s active committees. The addresses and minutes of the National Coun- cil of Education are next in order and are followed by addresses and minutes of the Association’s departments. The closing pages are devoted to records and information pertaining to the Association since its organization in 1857, and brief descriptions of five national Associations. ‘The volume as a whole represents the efforts of hundreds of persons engaged in all branches of educational activity for the past year. SUMMARY OF CONTENTS (Addressesmbetoresthe General sessionss—=. == iS Pct t Suc Maem eGS = ee eee eee 169 iINationale CouncileoteUducatiGn =e ee ne ewan ate Ls) ee 281 NORE. VE GEENR GY ee Son ee a eg 329 BISA. TGKuCRTNGTN) as Sg meee AO a as a ee 373 Giascrodmmalcrchersmee te, So ete ete ee a we ee ee 393 Dearist Ot Vy OIier Meee Se eet Pe Ee et ee 425 Blementary> pcnook ur rincipalss 2 oto boa ee 459 Mendel carrer? WduCalion, = no < (2 ee ee 497 Wiisres bducation © =e eens ee ee Be 529 Gia eva ucatlonmee =o ere eee nes ee sy ee a sii Behiool Hlealthiand Physical Mducation_._.> =. .-22- = 2 eee 601 SGICNECMLNStLIGHONm ee eee ee eee 625 Band aves COOOL PTCA Ge oa ee 637 Sasial Sache. ee ee eS 653 neh MatiniC COIN See Pho be oes 8 ee eer 665 Werelereredilecesw i ee ae el A eee 839 WisualmUnseruc tlonmesnesate pee 2 ae Ae PR 949: Dy ee erONES MC AICALIOIN eee ee 2 ee ee ei en i i ee 965 World Federation of Educational Associations____________________ 997 Ascociation jmecords and Informations 22.2 -- lsc etl e . oee 1005 elated a National mASSOCIA blOls = == eae ee ae ee ee 1187 [5] : a ne : l S56, vie eres wnt ainea bh T tnanitn A tas “ly lit ere Lee tay amnesty oval WE Se « arty 2: ad i Oey onde abner t | ¥ ATV S GAS T int Le . one +“ i pre nit? oval aot sone inh be : iiips v Nii du Ve tt ie TL bpvovliot te "eclt! i): aheyi WAM ; or Be Thats, eT bites m4 : La Saintihi 0 AP} rita th raps Divi texts ves ett apr ws joe Te eee Re VEN owe eS Tee win tiond DY web abies — Bes, \ ag ore ign’ Fadrevitue wa it. * triage oF foie? Tan, itt, * rt Le, iMrguy. eset: ; me sj ot oe ast Hypa a8 ¥ , " he 4 a : a p ‘ rT ay (Adi rai uf 7 “) aa { . " rat 4 = r} - ' vs ‘ A “hy = - - - Se Oe ere ans Ay aes , a ey so ee Bie d i ad — ott Maeght hink at a ‘ie thon be or . = « ancenal gl aaa tua mila hooray ~ zy —— —_) _ “ong ‘ a Lae a en ~ - > =)-'¥ as 9. Shame = tiie ee oe i. ~ ‘ ha tort ALT f5 3 anf Ips nk 0: iG “mst fs ii. on . ~uets pote} er} hrige hiiey 4 r <0 ; =< eI RDIET Rrehely Tite - 7] v CONTENTS GENERAL SESSIONS PHILADELPHIA ADDRESSES PAGE ANGGWRES IY PEIOE a goh rnc SmI ie A MERE EEG OTT CIS OEE SORRY OIG io RSA aaa Pi a 17 Esddtess mune VWV.elcoMme—K e7dricks. «2 eee teil he tee eee al eee 22 AddtesseoLe VV-elcome—Haas.3075 teen oar ee he en ele edema. 3 ENCE SSMOLME VV C1COMIC=—R OGLILID e crest tine ot eiasere eo 4/6 ore neces, she iRacie fee gens eisie «tiem cee 25 EMICRES TK UGOG nla ak REM SOO AO ee eS een By BUI mero NDT) ict Tn tome ett a) 77 LCL SIO 70.2 8 Benes cpctomay eave GS & a idea dove ico aystottuex OE ores dicks Ween: 30 shes baw se brotectionson sehildhood—A Ub0tt. cis 00% nite © ae xe cioleels cus Seve as 31 First Steps in Parent Teacher Cooperation—Reeve.............00ceeeeeeeee 35 puherehildsandethes RunaleSchool——H aliens div oiiee tcie ais as ocvtdlea wu ete aalee’s 411 Transforming School for the Rural Child—Harvey.............00000000005 42 OpeningprNddress=— Vicon s sete Reo. ace es Co oe acces teas cneoeneae 47 (Lhe Declarations and =the "Schools—McA ndrew.... 0... so... 0 esc c wesc wccsces 50 Introduction of President McSkimmon—Newlon............c0cc eee cccevecs 55 The Challenge of Childhood——M CSR MOT 5 ccs sous cise: c0si ies 6 40,0 6,000.56 m0 0s 56 Can We Give a Good Account of Our Stewardship?—Broome.............. 64 Radrto;and thes Child =H ark71 esSeyty Aare. aha ota eisteRe cern A Ket ieee,< uskey. hake 68 sLhesNewspapes and, Childhood J7.awe7. wisuteieciend. heannelean > ote ok 72 GherChildtand ithesMoving=Pictune—U psjpaw encase nee eet 76 Bringing Big Outlooks of Science to the Children—Diefz.................. 80 suivewChildtandathesNew South—W/offordec. ac ccs ccs cee certs caus reverie $1 Nem Rogusato Cnt dhood—Mo0Lencce ice «5.0. (is wisieys oeiehe a ons ysisin seer voce ee ae 85 INGGRCSS=—(G Ay mii aicte = oie sea hipelaioeletesoiecere he, “Vista aunty ME aa suaque tke naysicker stakes Ree eee 89 Teaching Service through the Junior Red Cross—Dunn.................055 91 Wrilizine. Children’s! Specialy Gitts——D rake wave ole « oils dos lee chorale os 94 Legislation in the Interests of Childhood—Blair............600ceec ce eeveees 99 Industry’s Interest in the Education of the Child—Cooley...............4.. 106 ibhem@hildeandh thes Mill-—Dozier pas as vo air ovotttas sath Hea salts eee abe 110 Preventing Delinquency among Children—Healy...............-seseeeeees ig) The Child Instead of War as a Center of World Interest—Thomas.......... 118 Whe CGhilleligan OF. Weick: eS evigamen aso aes sp Mb Seer Oe me Donn Soeomome nan | 123 The Tragedy of Misunderstood Youth—Fletcher................+++-+-.++-- 128 The Final Test of the American School’s Success—Condon.........00++0005 134 RRA GREE ATT ITE ein h One Sec DOn OO OtE Cote an nremanen ort none cris or, 143 A Study of the Preschool Age—Baldwitt.. 2.5.0.2 00.0. dene eee ore ores 145 The Training of the Volunteer in Education—Arnold............+-...-000. 146 The Challenging Epochs in the Life of a Child—Starbuck...............+.. 147 The Classroom Teacher as a Discoverer of the Special Needs of Child- hari i aitie soe 4 oh pO o OScd dae URC aces One nan craitee Sorc 152 Foie Grahame oh Fleniith AY MCA 6505 OE CSS HD OOO Oe UNDO AOS eeS Oca bdr ono 157 TeElears theaChild tens Simone —)igires 70 p mmnete lect te tse t-e oN open Pricatacelstolerl ey oer ee 161 The Child’s Birthright in Art—-Batley a. oc) sachs: mrs ies een tna ee ower 164 [7] § NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION REPORTS OF COMMITTEES Report of the Committee on the Problem of Retirement Allowances—Pyrtle. . Report of the Joint Committee on Health Problems in Education—W ood.... Report of the Committee on International Relationships—Russell.........+-. Report of the Committee of One Hundred on Classroom Teachers Problems— Riddle i Raa S so BL Bk 8 ee ere eC er heer rere Report of the Committee on Visual Education—Finegan...........-..+..-+- Report of the Committee on American Education Week—JoAnson.........-.. Report of the Committee of One Hundred on Rural Teachers’ Problems— | 1A eo Oa Ronn Hon corte oon occoCboUudcet Godot upon atts Teacher Tenure in the United States—Hunter..........ecc cece eveuees Beis Report of the Legislative Commission—Strayer.........++++++++se++seeees Report of the Committee on Standards, Requirements and Credits of Teach- ers; in the, Service——ROsterin. secs «os re © ai ccclste:s ea anshey sane et Roles ener Sen Report of the Committee on Ethics of the Profession—Muir................ Report of the Committee on Community Relations—Carrothers............-. Report ;ofether Hditorial |Council——Bagle gine scslore cree aso dei eel sy arrears Report of the Joint Committee on Better Cooperation between Schools and Museums—B aile yo: 5.2 siigacc so Sie ovolerets is Ghe SOTA aot oe teil ne eee eee Report of the Committee on Homes for Retired Teachers—Jones............. Report of the Cooperating Committees on Behavior Problems of Children as Adopted in Joint Session at Cleveland, Ohio, May 27, 1926—Jones.. Report of the Committee on Revision of Departments—Condon.............. Report of the Research Advisory Committee—Chandler..................+. Report of Committee on Committees of the National Education Association— Newlo ty. oo oakis oiscalate ¢ sisjetcens stsie stein GRoPNC CCIE RATT ice ee ae sal eee Report of the Necrology Committee—Crandall.......... 0.0 cece eee e eee Report of the Committee on Coinclusive Membership....................... NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATION Flistoricall Note... 1:5 seisico 2 eves scans oti cig ohare) TORS etch aii celle Nae Ne SIL een Fresh’ Ai inythe’ Schoolroom—Minslow >. --)-2 ae aee eile eee eee Lighting of ithe Schoolroom—Hoeveleme 1m rien ee eee Registrar’s Office in Schools for Training Teachers—O’Rear........... Raoods Criteria for the Construction of Teachers College Curricula—Evenden...... Extension Work in Teachers Colleges—McKenmy..........00000000cceeee Preliminary Report on Extension Activities in Colleges and Universities— e021 ee RC OR ACC RO em Cero nods rth elit Conoiie usledousjc ‘raming of Teachers\in) Service—Rutcherona4- 4. een dee ee Adult Education as the Next Battle in Our Democracy’s Fight for Existence— bY /1 1 ee ne, Sen ee aoe ne. be OS AOE OR COS Oe eh hoot eboanos What Can Education Do to Integrate the Problems of Life—Blair The Need for Research in Education—S mith Secretary's Minutes Historical Note: 2. 's.ishs ctlmpectnaess sie Scie's cick ree IO GI Ree teen The Native Illiterate—The Progress and Peculiar Problems in His Instruc- tion——-Lawson' 21. icine « heteeetaeeale sa teste setae aE Eee ee eee The Adult Educational Interests and Activities of Our Foreign Language Organizations—Lewis CoNTENTS 9 PAGE An Articulated Program in Elementary Adult Education—Hill.............. 344 Determinism as Applied to Our Treatment of the Foreign Born—Bagley.... 348 Progress in Adult Education During the Past Year—Deming.............. 351 Immigration Problems—Holaday...........0...000cccueeuee ia, Shin BoA ig he 353 he; Heaching or vAmermcanism—Crosste.). tech ds fs oles Godlee ee ee 359 CCLULA IVES mr VIGMUEC Sent samara rach sor ycxcd toys OM Retake rere cts ol Sec copeneanech NATTA es 360 Bylaws of the Department of Adult Education of the National Education UNSS OCIA ClO Naw ees ree) aol SoU REM keen wisi ais eee Bs oa whe 368 DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS EDUCATION He ASROTLG AMIN OLE a obs eral eee airks, se Rhas OARS Ra aserorN oe MIATA eh Ce «Sat 374 Attitude of Worker Toward Increasing His Bodies of Knowledge and Improy- i Mi smOkI Nl LAC ASUUL GHGs, ats oi vie, Saeure as aro ok eR, aL oe 375 The Social Relationships of Workers in Business—Stevenson..............-. 377 Attitudes and Character Development in Business—Childs................ 378 Commercial Education from the Standpoint of the Department Store—Atkinson 379 The Principles of Commercial Education—Lomax..... 00... .00000ccceeeeces 380 Relation of Commercial Education to the Public’s Attitude toward Business— MUGAG © 8.5.5 88.5 wig OO CO GIS Ue Gs OU Oe cee eee ee ee 381 Commercial Education in the Junior High School—Glass................... 382 The Need for Supervision in Commercial Education—Barnhart............ 383 Articulation in the Teaching of Bookkeeping and Accounting—Jones........ 384 Improvement of Instruction in Shorthand—Caseman...........0..00eeeeee 386 The Significance of Recent Studies in Typewriting—Rowe................4. 386 see aching ab ranscriptloN— Mare siento os tab orye oioas eae T ees oto. Wee ele he Be 387 Methods and Values in the Teaching of Salesmanship—Haynes............ 388 Significance of Recent Researches in Bookkeeping—Jomes.................. 388 The Significance of the Latest Researches in the Organization of Commercial Education in the Junior High Schools—Buckley..............00eceeee 389 What Research Can Do for Commercial Education—Blackstone............ 390 SECTELAEY AS UVIINUTES a. B55 3 Fc ple ose wi 5 5 5y5sar ores a: ANNA eater a ble hore sor phak at shear fol Oetodaia ER eNeDs 391 DEPARTMENT OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS istoricallmNOte meri oes crit eyes theta ters s)stede sp ales; sone cae ee me wise & aan aaeeeERs eetioeaeys 394 How the Classroom Teacher is Meeting the Needs of the Child Through Teacher repabatiom=——WOst2t:1 era. fects yey oi cloiteane sy Pelereieloleiels oles avekafelen cise 395 Character MNAUNCAtlON— Pais CHU A speraleieieis esis ccc 6 55 eltrelaqdin ya Ses nin Seo aeuels) Sere 401 IiMpLOVement got eLMStKUCtON—AWV11S 072 orscl- e+ aeieiaie > vie ores ia) vine nl ote etteee elaretel 406 How the Teacher is Preparing the Child for a Worthy Use of Leisure Time— Hag IBTT BOS eS 3 CRs SOO AE En CCD SO Dt Sob O DC Up. cio te oe ua. tid nbc 409 The Classroom Teacher and the Curriculum—HAosic............0000eess eee 411 Report of Committee on the Reduction of Clerical Work—Huanter............ 412 The Single Salary Schedule—Thompson.........0scccecsencet ence eee enees 412 Second Progress Report of the Committee on Retardation Costs Due to Over- @iinatcal MERI VOWS, Sd onctar sacs 64005 co sGoot eo Hoe oo ood a amos 418 Secretary's (Minutes) .))oaestiessceine erie ne veiled eee sie sentence ree 420 DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN PTistonicalm Note | smtec nate arsowiisvew sole sletelscrsisistiter stants eee entre eee 426 Personnel Work Relating to Studies in College—Hopkins.............+..-- 427 What Should be Determining Factors in Requirements for Admission to Col- lege Examinations—Sandison ........ccccsev cece cence tence eee eees 427 10 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The Consideration Given to School Recommendations for Admission to Goucher College—Probst 20.00. .0c centre cee cece cen e ee een tena ae Intelligence Tests as One Basis of Admission to College—Hawkes........ The Personal Interview as One Basis for Admission to College—Walters.... The High School Dean—Her Varied Opportunity for Service Alltucker.. Dean to) De an—F awe sioce cusieteugucdev sus aie chose tlcneleeenehee means oictea nero manne er ete ame ers Secretary's: Minutes) iif. .210).. lah «{s octeterels ot o cleinis el olde ote’ sfela is folaieder= tai toiaial ial DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS PTistorical NOte.* cs ssokeie, «cls 5 erro wie tossllaperaee. chats shai ro og eve le ope le ote e UE eee ee Publicity and Public Education— Allez yy. sicje.- wee clnia ole « oiele teksts hayes itaienae The Educational Hield—McSkimmonss << = ni's 540-002 a eee eee The All-Year School—Ro 6h: 8500s. s1acscters oc os + «aves shard totes sera eee eee The Principal, The Law, and The Evidence—Winship.................4.- The Past, Present, and Future of the Department of Elementary School Prin- cipals as Seen by the Old Guard—Sargeant...............5.eecaees ‘The Value of an Experimental School—eland wats) ae oe eee The Principal and the Improvement of Teachers in Service—Blair.......... Plan of the Committee on Training for the Elementary School Principalship— LONGShOr es v6 seen s stato dare acielnedndiyahe he SATIRE ae ETT aa es What Elementary School Principals Do—One Day with Fifty-three Princi- pals==M orriso ns: ieee slits. RET ne eee The Elementary School Principal and Research—Norton............2.0.000 7 A Single Salary Schedule for Principals—jViebster sen ae eee Secretary’ss Minutes «os 6: so: 5.8 016 cc\«o58 ose arene Ree One ee A Study of Excursions in the Kindergarten—Edwards.................... A Statistical Treatment of Results—Clowes Secretary's Minutes Oo Oto ad ro Oi oe The Social Aspects of Rural Education, with Particular Reference to the Leadership of the County Superintendent—Hale PAGE 431 438 439 443 ALT. 453 460 461 462 463 464 465 471 474 476 539 541 ContTENTS int PAGE The Relation of the Factors in Education—the Child—the Learning Process— themmeachet Beatty s wc eeraciaee a oaicck ate ann ee soe 554 The One-Teacher School—Special Features—Organization and Procedure— JODIE © 2 'hiic'3 SARS RRR. 3 6 Atxtad, AOR IAA a ae 557 Supervision) of One-Teacher Schools—Telfer.............-.-.-+.e00c0-.-e 563 Rural Supervision in Maryland—Wiedefeld.........0.. 0.0. cc euueccccceeee 568 Some Advantages of the Consolidated School—Sargent.................... 572 Democratic Administration and Supervision of Schools—Avery............ 574 Democratic Administration—How Achieved—Hufiington.................00. 578 Democratic Administration of Schools—How it May be Realized—Hall.... 581 shepocatemandithe> Ruralwochool—liogail.... aseceneceats scene novess cee 583 ‘the)Countysand the Rural~School—Lockhart....s..+s00+- es ec sets ee seen. 588 themteachers College) and the Rural! School—Fiair.....0.0--. eastern. see... 589 How May Rural Education Meet America’s Challenge to Her Teachers ?— VIEL MEE CB ADP co 6:08, 010.0 2.5 BICC ES TOIT ICTR COPE IER ORE RR Oe 591 A Principal of a Consolidated School Answers America’s Challenge to Her MeaCherc ici emmPIwe eee ities cis ce eye ce ne a ee eede ies 592 America’s Challenge to Her Teachers—A Supervisor of Rural Schools (AMS Vy CUS —— Laat s O70 ma mteahetetcrer sts hete serie oe geuheicia, sistas y sein s&s bi eins, bone tier eteek 596 DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION Plistoricale Notes eric ccnioe «cars ee ASE Omens Eh ten a aR Aa Le PTOI 602 The Needs of Physical Education—Hetherington......... 000 ccc eev cece veeee 603 Public School Health and Physical Education—Mueller.................... 615 Health and Physical Education in the Public Schools—Scot?................ 620 Teaching and Supervising Health Education—Rood............. 0.0. ...005. 622 The Prevention and Control of the Common Contagious Diseases among School yChildren—Spimsonme. teeta. 32a. MO cade senate ee ee eae 622 Secreta cys mVLimucesmmeiien. rin tr< siz ett bcs lsde tbs o shaletthettho) obo AUST at. See 623 DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION AN SLOTIC al ae NOLC Ie reuciece cro: olopere eins) Sie citer aye Van iosske Slope teraecle fo ko mah toate Reser oddone 626 Natitemotudye ands Citizenship——Dack twa. cy-\lutriicyh stipe y © actus apelcttets foes 627 Nature Study in Open Air Schools—Sickles......ccccccecee cece eeeneeecenees 630 Nature Study in the Hawaiian Islands—Davis...........00-0 cee seeeeeeee 631 NAtITEM Oty MasmlISce mit (COs SLOCK. o ciioiteltore Clsbn «(ile +2 lex eeleys) otescte ontely are 633 The Use of the Question in General Science Teaching—Underhill.......... 634 The Place of Class Experiments in an Elementary Physics Course—Black.... 635 Secretary ss VUlmmute si tayte chet ole! ool hanes 1c) 2hefote oveleue eve ele eveyeyeteforencnetel 21a) o1-T)y eke axa el 636 DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS i heertGall INGE 35, COeyede become er oeo oO ae na aa minmnC Gane o 638 Practical Procedure in Character Education in High Schools—Courver...... 639 The Problem of Individual Capacities—Corning............-.c0eeeeeeeees 644 The Problem of Individual Capacities—W etzel....... 04.0 cc eee c eee ee eens 646 TT hemindivicdialivicthod——Stod d arid an yee tacts tase eilekaeel >. dioveces erslien fate 648 DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES Historicalm Notes erecta ee ects het etsiestet ete iee are sales wlayrus wleceielexelen 654 Making the Contribution of Social Studies Effective—Lingelbach............ 655 Making the Contribution of Social Studies Effective—Bye.............+++.- 659 663 Secretary’s Minutes ........-.-eee cece rece sere cece nen ett tee t eect een enaee Wy NatioNAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION PAGE DEPARTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENCE Historical uNotess «sacs cs cceeereaseery js ci siee = ickok tO Rk eecisbrhs teicher Kgs bes 666 Placing a Wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier—Ballou...........- 667 Address at Vesper Service—Freeman......scre scree cece rere e renee es ees 667 Address of Welcome—Covell.. 1.0... 00 ccccc rete reece neces cere eesegecnees 675 Presentation of Gavel—Comdomt cr «oii er cue moe epetehccateial eres esol her ieee aie ot 676 The Objectives of Elementary Education—l2gertjee cere ke ere 677 The Function of the Kindergarten—Hill...... 0.0... .c eee cence cere eee e eens 685 Characteristics of an Efficient Elementary School Principal—McSkimmon.... 694 Problems of Rural Life and Rural Education—Lowden...........+++++04- 700 Introduction of President Coolidge—Ballou..... 0.6.00 ccc cece eee eee n eee 704 Washington’s Birthday Address—Coolidge... 1.1.1.0. scceee cece eee eneeeeees 706 Teaching as a Profession—Suzgzallo.......- see eee cee teen tee eee e nes 713 [The Scientific Movement in Education—Russell.... 0... c cece cee eee ees 719 Education a National Asset——O 00 Ve ipo ojo doh Nereis ose sh dys soyalekes paledekete Reranceale 728 What is lt All: About ?—Hartewell man oe fetetoe6 4 oiler ies she mee en 733 Out of the Mechanical into the Psychological—Corson...........000++00005: 735 Is the High School a Part of the Public School System—Bogan.............. 737. The Combined County and City School Systems—Evams..............+..+-. 740 Address—I7 tL b ur ose sicays oa Sid tira aioe coca CouonDe.s ood Ja06 ica Bn dp OOS eae ea 966 Organization of a Public School in a Large Industrial Center—Miller...... 967 Relationship Between the Training of Foremen and City Program for Voca- tionalwEducation—Diamorid® 2. csc. + sotsi eee oeiate rs ge cone tie ee eles 967 Relating Foreman Training Programs to the Program of Vocational Educa- tionwinita aCity: “Sy Stem —L70 ite «is... ts en oleteereien te ee erate cies ie tele 974 A Renaissance of Apprenticeship—Briggs...........02.ceecseew eve csevees OT Developments in Industrial Arts Education—Struck...........00.eeeee eee 982 What Can a Girls’ Trade School Do for Girls and Women in Industry—Sill. 986 Apprentice Training in the Metal Tfades—Carey..............-200ecceeees 990 See RS IMMIMIEES oh Be er ao oatot ac GODUooreooUSocAS cosmo sen Genes H0.0% 994 WORLD FEDERATION OF EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS Historical Note ..... ofl RR CRORES Sic, CEE HOS RE ORD Eo ee Ae 998 The World Federation of Education Associations, ....5.:....----ncsece nee 999 ASSOCIATIONAL RECORDS AND INFORMATION Act of Incorporation........ NA OTR CER MART Hi eticds ike sie hie e wae 1007 yl ore mete ge etl hein. 5 sec sea ear sin ws v vase le a eirteldglo A ola eyelsiaia. tao ele bipiereie Hens 9 e 1012 Calarilar oF IMGT, oS 6 deo cp Obdocnds Jag005 1a ob opsed oar ono domo ners 1022 ONG Rena a, MOBO, 39 Geka e oo Since ca dio danse Oto Hochst o A Omarion aioe rte 1025 (OAICEESRE OTL 92622 JH eer eh ralAPG sess hres eter et otfov ove or’e 'o cosa eyts olbaeay eas 1030 (GommitteeseO Pel 2 SH2 OL rele Meme cick eee Tetal cater es uslisteti tee vai cTeuone icra sentecoungs warsr ofan 1034 Program of Philadelphia Convention..............0se.ses eee ee eter eee ees 1049 Minutes of the Sixth Representative Assembly...........-..--..eseeeseeeee 1058 Report of the Executive Committee............... 0. eee eee e eee teens 1074 Minutes of the Executive Committee.............0esceeceercersceeresecens 1083 Minutes of the Board of Directorsspe-moeice ce oe cce ce es ety eee ese eens 1096 Manutesiot News Boardot Directors mimes deel cle es eiclrtsi veo ee cess 1099 Report of the Committee on Resolutions..............-++-s-seeeee eter eres 1101 GIisreasunersiReDOLtmeen iter iim ier eet ci alsa eeiimc-intiesis ca + + > oleae 1103 Report of the Board of Trustees...........0-.seseeee eres cere tte eteeees 14 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION PAGE Auditors’, Reports ss ss olsen iii 1159 MbhenSixths Representative. Assembly. (yc 5,-2.0 2 os see 10 oe ae eee tens 1164 Publications of the National Education Association............6..+e0eee00s 1185 RELATED NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS Introductory Note e. siciate a rccatere to evaie chats reverses sue agen one ahs: susie) oie) shay ican Reel enema 1188 Americany Council on Education sa saee crea tesemiecie cael ake ae eee 1189 American iLibrary Association a. asec mere neler ieee eee eae 1190 National Association of Secondary School Principals...................... 1192 National, Congress!ot Parents and. Teachers. pas -aten teenie iene 1193 National Society for the’ Study ‘ottEducationis. 7 ae ee eee eeieten renee 1195 General Sessions HE PROGRAM OF THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION was built around the general theme, The Chal- lenge of Childhood to the Teachers of America. Special effort was made by President Mary Mc- Skimmon to provide as much new talent as possible, including prominent laymen from various fields. Many members were attracted to the convention by the opportunity to visit historic shrines and the Ses- quicentennial Exposition in the city where the Asso- ciation was organized in 1857. The attendance is estimated at approximately 12,000. The convention opened with a vesper service in Independence Square. Evening sessions met in the Sesquicenten- nial Auditorium. The meetings of the Representa- tive Assembly were held in the beautiful auditorium of the Academy of Music. Parallel with these ses- sions of the Representative Assembly, for persons not participating therein, two general sessions were held each morning in nearby theaters. In addition to the department meetings covered in this volume the following conferences and allied groups were included in the program: American Home Economics Association; Conference on Art Education; Junior High School Conference ; Confer- ence on Lipreading for Hard of Hearing School Children; Music Conference; National Association of Visiting Teachers; National Congress of Parents and Teachers ; National Council of Geography Teach- ers Conference; National League of Teachers Asso- ciations; National Organization of Secretaries of State Education Associations; National Vocational Guidance Association; School Garden Association of America; Conference on School Publications; Con- ference on Thrift Education. ADDRESS WILLIAM MATHER LEWIS, PRESIDENT OF GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, D. C. HE challenge of childhood to the teachers of America; that is the keynote of the sixty-fourth Annual Meeting of the National Educa- tion Association of the United States. How fitting it is that that keynote should be struck for the first time in the quiet of this Sunday after- noon, and in the shadow of the nation’s most historic structure through whose ancient halls there pass in solemn majesty the great ghosts of those who fashioned a government unique in history; a government founded on the ideal of equality of opportunity for all. For the challenge of childhood to the teachers of America is a spiritual challenge and a patriotic chal- lenge. It is not a challenge peculiar to any time or to any land. It is the challenge of all the childhood of all the world, demanding its inalienable right to live the life more abundant; appealing to us that the heaven which lies about them in their infancy shall not be taken from them and for it substituted the materialism and narrowness and hatred which through no fault of theirs may blight the promise of unfolding life: It is the challenge flung out twenty centuries ago by the little Son of the Carpenter, stealing away from his parents to confound with his philosophy the leaders in the temple: ‘““Wist ye not that I must be about my father’s business?’ Soon indeed, must each child in the world be about his father’s business; taking up the tasks which tired hands lay down, stepping into the ranks of in- dustry and of the social and political life of his community, carrying on for good or for ill, crystallizing tradition, writing new pages in the story cf a nation’s life. ; To us is given the opportunity and the responsibility of interpreting in ennobling terms the meaning and the true business of life. Well may we recall the words of the ghost of the miser in Dickens’ Christmas Carol who, when reminded by a friend that he had been a good business man, cried out in anguish, ‘Business! Mankind was my business!. The common welfare was my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!’” What a noble and practical definition that is. How it answers the challenge of unspoiled childhood; how thoroughly it depicts the lofty idealism of those who once stood where we meet today. William Penn; Benjamin Franklin; David Rittenhouse; John Hancock; Thomas Jeffer- son; George Washington—each as his name is called responds with cour- age and with humility, “Mankind is my business.” And we of a later day, if we are true to the ideals of our profession, call back to them across the years, “Mankind is our business.’ And such a little time has passed since they wrought that it should not be difficult for us to be kindled by the spirit which fired them. ‘The foundations of Independence Hall were laid in 1731, just a year before [17] 18 NaTIoNAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION George Washington was born. Here he was chosen Commander in Chief of the Army in 1775. Here on a summer day in 1776 the Declaration of Independence was adopted. From this tower the Liberty Bell proclaimed the glad tidings. And on that bell today we read these words: Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. And how may liberty be proclaimed? ‘The greatest teacher of all time said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Knowledge is the basis of liberty; knowledge and the abiding determina- tion to find the truth, wherever the search may lead. William Penn in his plan for government specified that there should be a committee of manners, education, and art. And in 1863 the assembly adopted an act directing that all children should be taught to read and to write by the time they were twelve years old and that they should then be taught some useful trade. The desire for intellectual freedom in America antedated the desire for political independence. If the influence of environment means anything, it should mean that today, standing upon holy ground, we dedicate ourselves to the task of promoting intellectual freedom, and love of country, and reverence for spiritual verities among those whose future depends so largely upon our unselfish devotion to the task of teaching. : We cannot escape our responsibility by a cynical attitude toward our charges. The normal child is teachable. It is a wise educational maxim which states that where nothing is learned, nothing is taught. It is the glory of George Washington that he took raw, ignorant, and undisciplined soldiers and developed them into a victorious army. We cannot groan beneath the constantly greater burden which is being thrust upon the school by the home and those other agencies which at one time played so great a part in the broader education of the child and which now are more and more unmindful of their responsibilities and their opportunities. The so-called “‘youth problem” is no more serious than it ever was; it is the whole social problem which is more serious; the drifting away of the adults from those standards of conduct, from loyalty to those virtues which gave our ancestors that moral fibre and spiritual buoyancy which enabled them to fashion a republic out of a wilderness. And this shifting of stand- ards is only an added challenge to the teacher; only an added opportunity for serving childhood to the end that manhood may be strong, and true, and fine. In As You Like It Shakespeare pictures life as divided into seven periods, depicting in our progress from the cradle to the grave seven epochs. In the realm of education there are also seven ages: the preschool age; the kindergarten age; the elementary school age; the junior high school age; the senior high school age; the college age; and the professional or graduate school age. We have been more concerned with giving the child some knowledge in each of these ages than in directing and aiding his transition from one to another. We have neglected the periods of adjustment; and the periods GENERAL SESSIONS 19 of adjustment are the most important and fateful in life. We have de- voted our attention to preparing our students to enter a more advanced grade or a higher school rather than directing them how to meet life. We have been remiss in every one of the seven ages of education in explaining to the youth who enters each what is before him, what is the purpose of the particular educational epoch and how he can best suit himself to its exigencies. Booth Tarkington relates that “an old convict ‘lifer’ who had never been outside the penitentiary since he was twenty-two came out at sixty- three a free man. He was out three days and three nights, but was back on the fourth morning asking the warden to lock him up again. He could not adapt himself to the new world, but fled from it in terror, shirking the too great pain of the necessary readjustment.” Every one in some degree experiences similar difficulty. The successful in life are those who have the power and the vision to make adjustments. The failures are those who have not that power. And adjustments are not made intuitively. The child passing from the preschool age to the kindergarten age, thrown with other children outside the family for the first time, has no experience which will guide him in setting up the proper relations. Nor does the youth passing from the regulated program of the high school to the freer life of the college have knowledge of his new experience which will carry him to success. “The organization of the confederation of the colonies after the Declaration of Independence was faulty because of a lack of precedents, and the finally successful form of government was accomplished only after repeated mis- takes and disappointments. We are not without precedents in educational development. We know the difficulties, the obstacles, and the problems which our children face in passing from one epoch to another, but yet we have not made this knowl- edge available to them and as a result the student mortality is vastly greater than it should be. The challenge of childhood to teachers is a challenge for guidance in transition periods even more than in the routine work of the school year. The vacation problem, the problem of orienta- tion in the first weeks of the school term—these are points which if neg- lected will lessen our effectiveness as creators of an intelligent citizenry. No matter how finely constructed are the railroad coaches, they will not travel out of the station unless they are properly coupled to the engine and to each other. A further challenge of childhood to the teachers of America is one which involves the question of mutual confidence and understanding without which the work of the classroom loses its vitality and education becomes a mere form. The real teacher never uses the power of official position to take advantage of those over whom he has brief authority. ‘The real teacher eliminates those artificial barriers which separate the adult from the child mind. Judge Lindsay went to the root of the question in saying, “when you seek a boy go after his heart. But you can’t get his heart by % 20 . NationaL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION ee sending him to jail and you can’t win him by an act that is puerile and weak. Learn to sympathize with him. Sympathy is the divinest quality of the human heart.”’ Confidence and affection conquer where authority and regulations fail. Pestalozzi founded his philosophy upon this thought and the note which he sounded in education is the one we like to think distinguishes the modern schoolroom spirit at its best. Many a successful man looks back with affection to some teacher who quickened into life his best qualities and who led him away from absorption in the petty and the commonplace to the hills of vision. The challenge of youth to the teachers of America is again the challenge of those hungry for a constructive program by which the spiritual elements in life may best be developed. “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” He who enunciated those words struck straight to the heart of the great social and spiritual problems. He tore away the husks. He did not concern himself with the nonessentials of faith. Today, however, certain zealots are raising an issue which does not exist in fact. There is no conflict between science and religion; only between certain men in the field of science and certain in the field of theology. Whether or not the earth was created in six literal days or six ages is an interesting subject of contemplation, but it is of little spiritual significance to him whose religion is a personal and living thing. The question of whether man developed from a rib or from an amoeba is one for which a definite answer can be found, but in the meantime it should not engage much of the time that the truly devout devotes to religious thought. He is wise if he accepts the handwriting of the Almighty on the stratified rock of the eternal hills; phe deciphers alike the papyrus record and that first autograph written when O’er the wet sands an insect crept Ages ere man on earth was known And patient time, while nature slept, The slender tracing turned to stone. He will seek to learn the law of nature rather than attempt to repress such learning by man-made law, knowing full well that one might as well attempt to sweep back the Atlantic with a broom as to stop the considera- tion of evolution by legislation. : The challenge of childhood to the teacher is to lead them to the realiza- tion of the essentials of religion and the contemplation of the undeniable fact that the philosophy of the Galilean is, as it has been for two thousand years, and ever will be, the greatest motivating force in the orderly prog- ress of civilization. Finally, the challenge which comes to us is that we mould effective citizens for our community and our nation. H. G. Wells has defined education as the preparation of the individual for willing and intelligent participation in the affairs of the world. A state or city which provides opportunities for the higher education of its youth has a right to expect returns on this investment in the form of intelligent and devoted citizen- GENERAL SESSIONS Zl ship. It is the shame of a nation dedicated to the principle of universal suffrage that we lead the world in stay-at-home voters. President Coolidge has recently pointed out that in the last two elections only fifty percent of the American voters expressed at the polls their choice for president. This does not compare favorably with Great Britain where recently seventy-six percent of the electorate voted, and with France where seventy percent voted. Eastern Canada has a million less population than New England. It casts from a quarter of a million to a half a million more votes. In the United States the proportion of the highly educated who neglect their voting privilege is disproportionately high. If the republican form of government is still an experiment it is because of a lack of interest in the application of its principles, not in those principles themselves. It is because we refuse to think in political terms. We are given to stressing the thought of what education offers the individual but not enough what the educated individual offers the community which made his opportunities possible. Those whose bleeding feet reddened the snows at Valley Forge were inspired by the thought, “What can I do for my country?” ‘Today too much we are reversing this inquiry and constantly asking, ‘“What can my country and what can my government do for me?” No nation where such an attitude is prevalent can live up to the ideals and the visions of its founders. It was my privilege two years ago to speak on Washington’s birthday to the Boy Scouts of Washington at Mount Vernon, where each year they go to lay a wreath upon the tomb of the First Great American. And as we stood there awaiting the procession there came a little group from an Americanization school, representing perhaps a dozen nationalities. From this group there stepped a young man bearing a small wreath. Lay- ing it against the grated door, and with tears running down his cheeks, he said, speaking in broken English, ‘““George Washington, you are dead. You cannot speak to us but you can speak to God. Speak to God, George Washington, and ask him to make us good citizens of the country which has done so much for us.” The challenge of childhood to the teachers of America? ‘That is the challenge, that we should so train our youth that from their hearts as well as from their lips there shall go up a prayer of loyalty. ‘This great army of teachers gathered at the cradle of independence on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence will have gone far to meet the challenge of childhood if in the sessions of these coming days there shall arise a spirit shot through with the ideals of the founders of America; if earnestly and devotedly we turn our attention to blazing paths along which the children may go into the sacred places where they may meet their God, into the forum where they may strengthen the hands of good government, into the abundant life where liberty and hap- piness shall be theirs. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” 22 NatIonaL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION —— nel ADDRESS OF WELCOME W. FREELAND KENDRICK, MAYOR OF PHILADELPHIA As Mavor of the city of Philadelphia | am honored and pleased bis Par tend a cordial and a genuine Philadelphia welcome to the visitors within our hospitable gates. No city in our great country could be MOLE APP FOr priately chosen for a meeting of the National Education Association than this old historic city where our nation was born, and I am confident that William Penn, from his lofty tower on City Hall, nods a welcome and approval of this Association meeting here at the time of our sesquicenten- nial anniversary. I am sure that the old liberty bell in the State House at Fifth and Chestnut streets trembles out, that again its voice might be heard around the world, and I am confident that the two million citizens of Philadelphia that I have the honor to represent join with me in extending this greeting, with the sincere hope that our visitors will not only be im- pressed with the greatness of Philadelphia but also with the patriotism and hospitality of our citizenship. Philadelphia has been engaged in a mighty effort, an effort to adequately celebrate the greatest event in the history of the present generation. We have builded here upon a thousand acres an international exposition which we dedicate on the altar of patriotism and education. We have been particularly fortunate in the loyalty, the devotion to flag and country, of splendid men and women of the character of Mary Mc- Skimmon, of Joseph Wilson, our Director of Education, and others who have made this Exposition possible. Their encouragement and their assur- ance that they believed in this vast undertaking gave great encouragement to a little faithful band of Philadelphians who were determined to celebrate this event in 1926. We have not forgotten the spiritual side of this celebration, although we have endeavored to show the progress of the arts and sciences, of education, of industry, and of everything that takes its part in the life of men, women, and children. We have not forgotten that yonder at Fifth and Chestnut streets a mere handful of courageous, God-fearing pioneers signed a Declara- tion of Independence that has made possible a nation of peace and prosperity with more than 110,000,000 souls residing safely within the folds of its flag today. We have not forgotten the sacrifice that they made, and the cele- bration of this 150th anniversary of the birth of our nation will not only be held within the confines of this exposition, but will be carried to those shrines of liberty that all patriotic American love so well. A week ago we journeyed to Valley Forge, and there before a multitude of people we reproduced George Washington’s army evacuating the old camp as it did 148 years ago. I mention this because I believe it is good to think back over the sacrifices, the courage, and recall the character of the men who made our nation pos- sible, and in welcoming the National Education Association to the city of Philadelphia, the thought is in my mind that the future greatness and pros- GENERAL SESSIONS 23 perity of our country rests with education and the training of the mind of the youth of today who will be the men and the women of importance of tomorrow. ‘To your keeping a great part of the future of our nation is entrusted, and therefore on behalf of the people of my native city who be- lieve in education, who believe in the recollection of the great things that were done by our forefathers, who welcome you here to Philadelphia, in the spirit of William Penn, the spirit of brotherly love, I say: Welcome, thrice welcome. Our hearts and our homes are thrown open to receive you. ADDRESS OF WELCOME FRANCIS B. HAAS, SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION HARRISBURG, PA. Teachers of America! It is my privilege to extend to you a cordial wel- come on behalf of the Department of Public Instruction of the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania. The educational department of the Keystone State, typical of the office in other states, is merely the agency created by the people to further the realization of their educational ideals. “These ideals are inherent in the immortal document, the one hundred and fiftieth anniver- sary of which is being commemorated by the Sesquicentennial Exposition, which joins in welcoming to Philadelphia the National Education Associa- tion. The educational forces of Pennsylvania appreciate that the times are singularly opportune for uniting with the teachers of the nation in a re- consecration of our professional lives to the service of our country and the youth of the land, to the end that “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happi- ness” be realized and the “Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Pos- terity” be assured. The concept of democracy has substance only insofar as it contemplates adequate opportunity for the progressive development of intelligence, and democracy flourishes only insofar as the practical application of that intelli- gence functions for mankind through the institutions and agencies serving society. Of all the existing institutions evolved as the logical resultant of the persistence of the ideals inherent in our Declaration of Independence the school is the one which presents in the highest degree the enthusiasm, the deliberate planning, and the courageous support of the largest number of people. The writings of many Americans of the early period expressed absolute conviction in the efficacy of and imperative need for education. Benjamin Franklin expressed the vision of the founders of our Nation when he said, The good education of youth has been esteemed by wise men in all ages as the surest foundation of the happiness both of private families and of commonwealths, The tremendous growth of our educational system in one hundred and fifty years bears witness to the faith of our people that democracy spells educa- 24 NaTIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION tion for the masses. A few comparative figures from Pennsylvania, doubt- less paralleled in the educational history of your state, illustrate this ex- tension of educational opportunity. Our records, fairly complete from 1836 on, show in Pennsylvania for that year an enrolment of 151,000 pupils and 3400 teachers in a population of 1,700,000, while in 1926 we Gnd an enrolment of 1,850,000 children with 55,000 teachers in a popula- tion of over 9,000,000. In other words, the ratio of pupils to population has increased from 1 to: 11 in 1836 to 1 to 5 in 1926. The ratio of teachers to population has increased from 1 to 500 in 1836 to 1 to 170 in 1926, and whereas the length of term in 1836 was 90 days, in 1926 it is 180 days. As we confer annually in these great professional gatherings we are deeply conscious of the fact that the school is the teacher and that the teacher has the largest opportunity for the development of true citizenship in a democracy and for the perpetuation of democracy’s ideals. Dean Rus- sell recently pointed out that, Good citizenship as an aim in life is nothing new. Patriotism, intelligent devo- tion to civic welfare, wherever found and at all times, bespeaks an education that is consciously acquired. But good citizenship as a dominant aim of the American public school is something new. It is fitting, therefore, upon this historic occasion that Pennsylvania should give eager welcome to the teachers of America as we meet to solve the com- plex professional problems we are facing daily. The stage is set for the teachers of Pennsylvania to join ranks with the great army of teachers of the nation in a dedication anew of our professional zeal to the preservation of that liberty which the patriots proclaimed in 1776. Enlistment in the service of our profession provides the ‘“Great Adventure” for the educational pioneer of our democracy, which in 1926 is still in its infancy. The history of education both of our state and of our nation is replete with the exploits and achievements of those who have striven to the end that the “torch” of equal educational opportunity for all might be upheld and passed on to each succeeding generation. The broad significance of educa- tion as a social process is universally recognized. The press of America is playing an indispensable part in interpreting the schools to the people. In the light of this important function of education as it expresses itself directly through the immediate work of the teacher, two responsibilities stand out crystal clear. The first has to do with the continuous adaptation of the subject-matter of instruction to the life needs of the citizen of all ages. Technically, this means a continuous, evolutionary curriculum revision and demands on the part of the teacher understanding contacts with all of the institutions of society. Tes second ead is 2 ea of the first and without it the cur- ulum process is ineffective. e gro : i cialized civilization makes PS ieene nM Eon aa: a es or profession. Coordination of the he : coe aS: pa ke of its aim is the function of administration i oe ‘e eee in a social process. The object GENERAL SESSIONS 25 of school administration is to keep the curriculum process usable in the hands of the teacher. The administrative machinery of the school must be progressively de- veloped to meet the demands of the developing curriculum. The profession must face the problem of ensuring that administration functions solely to provide a clear uninterrupted spark at the point of teacher-pupil contact. At the moment of this contact no operation of administration must be allowed to interfere with the teaching situation. In other words, administration is faced with the problem of harmoniz- ing the complex factors made necessary by a changing school society so that when teacher and pupil meet in the teaching situation the interchange still remains as free and unhampered as when Garfield sat on one end of the log and Mark Hopkins sat on the other. The slogan announced by the distinguished President of our Association, “A stabilized, all-inclusive membership and the entire profession at work on its problems,” has a deep significance in that it points out a rational method that must be followed in the solution of professional problems. Madam President, we of Pennsylvania congratulate ourselves upon the opportunity to participate in and enjoy the benefits of the fine program which you have prepared. We are justly proud of the recognition Pennsylvania has received at the hands of the nation’s teachers in the affairs of the Na- tional Education Association. The Association had its birth here in Phila- delphia and three times has our state been honored with the presidency. Teachers of America! Pennsylvania welcomes your participation in two great occasions: the sesquicentennial of our nation’s birth and the sesqui- centennial of the birth of educational opportunity in America. ADDRESS OF WELCOME WILLIAM ROWEN, PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, PHILADELPHIA, PA. The Mayor of this great city, the Honorable W. Freeland Kendrick, extended an invitation to you all as mayor of the city. There has never been a time in my life when it gave me more pleasure, representing the board of education of this great city, than to extend to you all an invitation to this historic city of ours. When I say “historic city,” I think if you will just take the opportunity while you are sojourning here, to visit the many shrines that we have, I think you will go away fully satisfied that we have a historic city that every Philadelphian ought to be proud of, and in fact, every American citizen ought to be proud of. Right in this city of ours the Declaration of Inde- pendence was signed. When you stop and consider one hundred and fifty years ago, those patriots that assembled in Independence Hall and had bright visions of future glory, promulgated and sent forth to the world 26 NatIonaL EpucaTIon ASSOCIATION one of the grandest and greatest documents that was ever conceived or written by man. We also have the Continental, or Carpenter’s Hall, where the first Con- tinental Congress assembled. Right then and there those men framed the Constitution of the United States. Then we have in this city the birthplace of the American flag, the flag of our country, which is nearer and dearer to the hearts of the American people than any other flag that floats, and while we fling it to the storm and breeze, and see no other sign of hope, other than that which emanates from its own radiant hue while gilded by the sunshine of prosperity, and stained with the efforts of peace, it speaks more eloquently than I can speak for it. Behold it! Behold it! Every star represents a state. “There is music in every fiber and quiver, and wherever it speaks, its authority must and shall be respected. It speaks for more than a hundred million of free and happy people. It speaks for the Constitution and the law and the privileges that we all enjoy as free people, and it is the same old stars and stripes that the men of 1776 fought to preserve. It is the same old stars and stripes that the men during the war of 1812 fought to preserve. It’s the same old stars and stripes that the American soldier went down into the citadel of Mexico and planted on the hilltops. i It’s the same old stars and stripes that the men in ’61 to 65 fought to preserve. It’s the same old stars and stripes that the men during the Spanish- American War went forth to battle under, and it’s the same old stars and stripes that the American soldier went more than four thousand miles across the ocean to preserve, and brought it back, not in dishonor, but in glory, and I am satisfied if an enemy without or an enemy within ever attempts to tear down the flag, or to disrupt this nation, the same men will go forth to battle again. Now, my friends, it was just one hundred and eight years ago that the public school system was inaugurated in the city of Philadelphia, and one hundred and eight years ago a board of public education, or of school control was formed. At that time we had six schools, ten teachers, 2845 pupils, and the amount of school expenditures was $22,049. Compare that with what we have today. We have more than 280,000 boys and girls going to our public schools. We have more than 7000 teachers that have those boys and girls under their care and keeping, and there is one important point that I want to call to the attention of the ladies and gentlemen who com- pose this convention, those teachers that we have—in fact, everybody that is employed by the board of education—must be American citizens, because we feel that if we want patriotic boys and girls in our schools, we must have patriotic teachers to inculcate in their hearts the spirit of love of country, love of the flag, and love of our institutions. That is what the board of public education stands for. Now, as I say, the amount that was expended at that time was small. This year we will spend practically thirty-three millions of money, and | want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that money cannot be better ex- GENERAL SESSIONS 27 pended, or a better receipt given for it, by any state in the Union, than to spend it on the education of our youth, and as Adams said in the Continental Congress, when he was speaking of the Declaration of Independence, “Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration of Inde- pendence.” And that is the way I feel in relation to the education of our youth. No matter whether they are black or white, rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, give every boy and girl a square deal to get an education, then we need not fear an enemy from any source, because education gives knowl- edge, and knowledge gives power, and when that power is rightly used, it is a splendid thing for us all. Now, in conclusion, I thought perhaps our distinguished Mayor would present the key so that our guests would have the key to this city. Now, Mr. Mayor, if you will—I think you will—endorse me, I am going to present to the President of this convention an official souvenir key, and I hope and trust that the key will unlock the hearts of every man, woman, and child in this great city of ours, to the members of this honorable profession, and in case you ever get into trouble, if our good Mayor doesn’t take care of you, we have a business manager, William Dick, secretary and business manager of the board of education, who, perhaps, knows more about our city and our schools than most anybody that I know of outside of our mayor. , ADDRESS JOSEPH R. WILSON, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ECONOMY, IN- TERNATIONAL SESQUICENTENNIAL EXPOSITION ASSOCIATION PHILADELPHIA, PA. As I listened to the inspired utterances of our honored mayor and Mr. Rowen, I felt truly that the spirit of Philadelphia was here tonight, and I had a thrill before I came in here as I watched that great army of people wending its way to the stadium to see ‘America’! I would that every one in this audience could join them, and yet I am glad you have remained to hear what I have to say. It seems unfortunate that ‘America’ should be taking place tonight, in the stadium while you are here, but we had two days’ rain and after preparing that magnificent spectacle, it seemed fitting that the people of Philadelphia should have the opportunity to see it, so what did we do? We threw open our gates to everybody and said, “Come,” and perhaps if you can find your way in after this meeting is over tonight, you may see a sight that you will never forget as long as life re- mains. I am informed that there are at present one hundred thousand people in that stadium, and one hundred thousand more that cannot get in. Now, I have seen the key presented to President McSkimmon, a beauti- ful golden key of the city of Philadelphia, and I would that I had some- thing to give her, but I gave her my heart long ago. When she came to 28 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION « Philadelphia last December—and I am glad I am the last speaker because I am taking probably as much time as I want without trespassing too much—when Miss McSkimmon came to Philadelphia last December, we were then reenacting that matchless scene of Independence Hall, I had two tickets for it, one for my wife and one for myself, but my wife said, ““Why not take Miss McSkimmon?”, and I had that great privilege and honor of being her escort, and what was the result? Many of you in this audience read that wonderful leaflet she sent out to every school in this country, to twenty-two or twenty-three millions of people, her impressions of what she saw that night. That was my introduction to Miss McSkimmon, and I have treasured it as I shall throughout life. Now, I am more interested in the National Education Association than any other man I know of in Philadelphia, for this reason: For nearly a year I have been trying to bring this convention here. The thought in your mind was to go to Atlantic City or some other alluring place unless Phila- delphia could prove that it could take care of you, so therefore when the suggestion was first made to me of bringing you to Philadelphia, | went down to the University of Pennsylvania and I arranged for Franklin Field on which to hold your meetings and to place amplifiers there, and to give you auditoriums around the University so that you could hold your different meetings, and out of that came something greater than all; this very build- ing that you see here today is a tribute to the National Education Associa- tion. It was the thought of housing you here which caused me to go to our mayor and plead that we should have an auditorium sufficiently large to take care of the National Education Association, and here it is, and if these curtains were down you would see its magnitude. We can seat 17,000 people, and I hope before your convention is over that we will have to throw those curtains aside and seat it to its total capacity. Welcomes are being extended to you on behalf of the city and the board of education. I extend_a greeting to you on behalf of the Department of Education of the Sesquicentennial Exposition. On the first of March of this year we did not have one dollar toward education. “The Sesquicentennial was going ahead with these magnificent buildings, but there was no building for education, and I pleaded, and I pleaded for months, for days, weeks, and months, until on the first of March, an historic day to me, our mayor said to me in the audience cham- ber, “Mr. Wilson, I will give you $250,000 to build that building. Edu- cation shall be a feature of the Sesquicentennial.” That was a happy moment, for I had been pleading for recognition for ten months. I would that the mayor were still here, because there are cer- tain things that I would like to say to him. From the very start he has been a friend of education, and he was only waiting that moment when he could find the funds to come forward and say, “Go ahead and build your buildings.” So with that $250,000 we advertised for bids for the building GENERAL SESSIONS 29 which we have already erected, and what do you think the lowest bid was? $378,000, and the next one $498,000. It looked as if I was up against something more, another hazard, but our splendid mayor said to me, “No, Mr. Wilson, we are going to put it through. The time for saying how much we shall spend on education has gone by. We are going to erect that building, no matter what it costs.’ That is what I wanted to say to Mayor Kendrick tonight, and he had the matter referred to him with power to act, and as a result the building which you will visit while you are here has cost $348,000, or nearly $100,000 more than the original appropria- tion, and in addition to that, the mayor gave another $10,000 last week for a purpose to which I shall refer a little later. Now, when I consider that on the first of March we had no money for an education building—March, April, May, June—scarcely three months have gone by, and in that building which is 524 feet long, and 208 feet wide, I am happy to tell you there will be contained the greatest, the most wonderful display in education and social economy that has ever been shown under one roof in the history of the world. I don’t know how it has been done unless it has been with the help of Almighty God, and since I have mentioned that revered name, I want to tell you something about the Edu- cation Building which I know will appeal to the heart of every sincere man and woman in this audience: On the left hand side of the Education Build- ing you will find a little chapel erected by all religions to the one God, dedi- cated and consecrated to Him, and I want to tell you that this is the first international exposition in the world which has ever honored God first, and that little chapel will be the most beautiful, exquisite jewel in this great setting. Mr. Tiffany—and his name is known universally—has taken a personal interest in that little chapel. There will be an altar at the end of it. It will seat 350 persons. “There will be no services of religion of any kind. It is by all religions to the one God, but on that altar we will keep beautiful, fresh flowers every day. Behind the altar will be a stained glass window worth $10,000 which Mr. Tiffany is sending over here, and on either side will be two beautiful flower windows, now on exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. We will have eight beautiful stained glass windows in that chapel. The chandeliers were de- signed by the late Stanford White and made by Mr. Tiffany, and when I tell you that last week I paid $1300 for a few minor repairs to those chandeliers, you can have some idea of what that chapel is going to be like. It is not a place—there will be no lecturing, no pulpit, no reading desk. There will be no set services in that chapel. There will be a place where you will be able to wander in from the noonday’s heat and sit there in silence and meditate. It is a happy moment to me to think that I have been instrumental in introducing this chapel as a tribute to our God, ard I know when I say that I echo what is in the heart of every man and woman in this room. When I take you into that building—and I must say a word because this will be my only opportunity to address the National Education Associa- 30 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION tiion—-I want to tell you something about the exhibits which you will see when you go into it. We have states and universities, and the American Library Association will have a wonderful exhibit there, showing how the people are reached all over the United States by the library system—in fact, there are so many wonderful and alluring exhibits in that building that if I say more I may rob the building of your attendance. I am very glad indeed, Miss McSkimmon, to have the privilege of being here tonight, and saying these few words, and particularly in calling the attention of the National Education Association to the recognition of Almighty God in education. Take that back with you to your respective homes. You have come from far and near, but remember this one thought: Hereafter, if we want to achieve anything in this world we must place God first. He has been last. We have not given Him the recognition the great Jehovah deserves, but when we place Him first in our lives there is no ambi- tion that we cannot attain, there is no obstacle too great that we cannot re- move it. When we place Him first—and it is well this Sunday night for me to use these words in His name—when we place Him first, when we can get up in the morning and walk to our window and look out of it, and ask, What is Thy will today, surely we will have a happier day for it, and when we remember—with the little children in your care—that the home is the foundation of the state, that as the home goes, so will the nation, but home is the very cornerstone on which civilization rests—you have a great re- sponsibility in your hands, and I do hope with all my heart, along with the great curriculum of education, you will introduce spirituality and religion into every school in this land. THE ABUNDANT LIFE—ABSTRACT WILLIAM M. DAVIDSON, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PITTSBURGH, PA. Superintendent William M. Davidson of Pittsburgh, in a notable address before the opening session of the Sixty-fourth Annual Meeting of the National Education Association at Philadelphia, struck the keynote of that great convention when he spoke of the charter of childhood, written cen- turies ago by the Great Teacher when He said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” “That charter of childhood,” said Doctor Davidson, “written at a time in the development of the history of armighty people, placed the child in the proper relationship to the community, and the message from that lesson has come sweeping down to us across nearly twenty full centuries of history until tonight we meet in a great National Education Associa- tion convention with the thought of childhood, and with the president of the Association and every teacher saying unto themselves, ‘Suffer little children to come unto us, and forbid them not, for of such will we build states and nations, and civilizations, and the idealism of the world, if you will give us a chance to unfold the life of children as our ideals would challenge us to so unfold them.” GENERAL SESSIONS 31 ee ne eee Pe a ee ek Ae) ON THE LAW’S PROTECTION OF CHILDHOOD—ABRIDGED GRACE ABBOTT, CHIEF OF THE CHILDREN S BUREAU, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, WASHINGTON, D. C. We sometimes forget that provisions for education, for health, for recreation, are made possible for all children only through law. We sometimes forget, too, that while all children are not in need of all the agencies that the public purse makes available, some of the children need all of them and all of the children need some of them. There is no parent however wise and rich and resourceful that can successfully rear his chil- dren without the cooperation of the community. But I have not been asked to discuss all the ways in which needs that can not be individually met are taken care of by community cooperation. I have, I think, been asked to speak this morning on the enforcement by the state of the child’s right to an education by preventing interference with his regular attendance at school. Our present theory of the child’s rights and the parents’ obligations and privileges is the product of many centuries. We have traveled a long way from the time when the father had complete authority over the child—even the right of life and death— and the state reenforced his rights and not the obligations which parent- hood created. According to Blackstone the parent owed the child under the common law, the duty, first of protection, second of education, and third of maintenance. Blackstone held that the second, that of education, was by far the most important, but we would certainly say today that educa- tion presupposed both protection and maintenance. : From the colonial period the interest of the state in the child, the obliga- tion of the state to protect him against cruelty and neglect and its right to compel the performance of parental duties on pain of removing the child from the custody of the parents was established. Child labor at tender years in mine and factory was praised, not condemned a century ago because of the very great interest in promoting industry on this continent. In the last fifty years the movement for free schools and for the attend- ance of every child at school had spread over the country. This did not happen without great opposition. Nothing worthwhile does. In the early seventies the question of compulsory school attendance and, for that matter, of free public schools was a subject of heated controversy in the New England states. At that time the arguments against a compulsory attend- ance law were summarized as follows: (1) It created a new crime, (2) it interfered with the liberty of parents, (3) it arrogated new power to the government, and (4) it was- unAmerican and unadapted to our free institutions.” A If the slogans of today were carried back to the seventies the working men who were urging compulsory school attendance and free public schools in the seventies would have been denounced as bolshevists by the small 1See Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1888-89, Vol. 1, p. 493, quoting speech made in 1872. Washington, 1891. 32 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION group of people who can always be counted upon to raise the cry of dan- gerous radicalism when any measure of social progress is considered. . During the time from 1895 to 1924 when the population of the United States increased 60 percent, attendance at the elementary public schools increased 50.4 percent, at the public high schools 868.3 percent, and at the colleges and technical schools 359 percent. At the beginning of the period known as the “gay nineties” only 26 states and territories had compulsory education laws of any kind, and in most of these the provisions for enforcement were either very weak or en- tirely missing.t That children between eight and fourteen should attend school for at least two weeks during the school year was the most usual requirement of these laws.” - Then, as now, compulsory school laws were difficult of enforcement when not supplemented by laws which prohibited the employment of chil- dren. In 1895 nine states? had no child labor laws at all, and in twelve other states* such laws as there was related only to minimum age-in mines or contained only the very common provision prohibiting the employment of children in acrobatic and other exhibitions or in other dangerous occupa- tions. There were only nine states’ which prohibited children under four- teen from work in factories. No state required completion of a specifiéd grade in school before employment, “The laws of some states still suggest the last instead of the present century in the period for which school attend- ance is required and in the enforcement provisions of their laws, and some school superintendents may be found who attempt to justify their failure to ‘enforce compulsory laws. But such laws and such superiftendents are be- coming rarer each year. The compulsory school laws have contributed to revolutionary changes in our elementary and high school education. It has led to vocational and prevocational classes, to special training for the feeble-minded or subnormal, to scientific consideration of behavior and conduct problems. Neither law nor public opinion makes possible a selection on the basis of “goodness” nor wealth of those who shall have the opportunity of receiving the kind of training by which they can profit. If we have discovered what the sub- normal cannot learn we have also learned that they profit greatly by special types of training and are organizing to give them the kind of train- ing that they can use and enjoy. A report made last autumn by the mission sent to America by the Fed- eration of British Industries to investigate the industrial situation in Amer- 1See reports from state officials, etc., pages 470526 of Report of U issi Education 1889-1890, for evidence as to how littl é P 2 Paco aeanee to, 1890. e enforcement there was in most states up + J *, . 8 Vermont, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Ohio required 20 weeks; Maine, Nevada, Illi- nois, and Utah 16 weeks; New York 14 weeks; Connecticut entire term. In the case of these as well as those requiring only 12 weeks there were some exemptions. 3 Arizona, Florida, Mississippi Y Mexi i ees oa, a, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Caro- * Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Washington, and Wyoming. > Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana (gi Nichi i ‘ yd : girls only), Michigan, Minnesota, N i New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin (applied to 7 months ack year). PNA al Gig! Kentucky, Idaho, Delaware, Missouri, Montana, Utah, GENERAL SESSIONS 33 ica is of special interest. “These British business men were, in fact, sent to find out why American industrial efficiency was increasing while British industry was remaining stationary not to say declining. They gave several reasons, the first of which I quote: I, The spread of education, both general and technical. There is no doubt that the general level of technical education today in the United States is extremely high, and ample facilities are available for anyone wishing to increase his effi- ciency by technical study. As showing the great increase in the spread of higher education it is significant to note that. there are now 500,000 university students, as compared with 200,000 students ten years ago. The British business men found that in spite of the jokes of the last 20 years about the college boy in business and manufacturing the tendency during the last ten years has been to place college trained or technically trained men in key positions in business and industry. This means that scientific organization and determination of policy will succeed the rule of thumb or the accidental discovery of methods which had long been under- stood and evaluated by laboratory tests. The utilization of science in in- dustry and in industrial organization is still in its infancy. We need, therefore, not only to look back at the industrial revolutions of the past but ahead at those that are still to come. Some industries today have themselves organized training classes similar to those now given or which can be had in technical high schools, engineer- ing trade schools. “Corporation schools” in which large industrial estab- lishments are offering opportunities for trade training are “schools” reflect- ing in the method of training adopted the spirit of the times. “The indica- tions are, therefore, that the demand for training schools maintained by the public school system will increase and the numbers in attendance will increase. The percent of children attending school varies greatly from state to state. These differences are not all due to better compulsory and child jabor laws in the several states. In western states in which there has been no racial or immigrant group or native white Americans isolated from the general current of American life public opinion and lack of\opportunity for industrial employment has accomplished this end with less stringent laws than have been found necessary in other states. “The compulsory school laws have quite clearly been an explanation of the differences in school attendance in certain cities. For example, 89.4 percent of all the 14 and 15 year old boys and girls are in school in Youngstown, Ohio, a steel town with a high percentage of eastern Europeans, but situated in a state in which both the attendance and the child labor laws fix a high standard. But there are striking differences between cities with substantially the same attendance laws. In Seattle, Washington, the percent of these 14 and 15 year old children in school was 87.7, while it was 80.5 percent in Cam- bridge, Mass., 72.6 percent in Chicago, 70.8 in New Haven, Conn., 68.8 in Baltimore, 63 percent in Paterson, N. J., 45.4 percent in Fall River, Mass. 34 NATIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION In the course of investigations of the employment of children in the different types of farm work in representative districts of the United States, the Children’s Bureau found their employment on farm work was responsi- ble for long periods of absence from school and consequent retardation. This was found to be particularly true of the migratory children who are often recruited in cities and towns for work on truck farms and in beet fields during both the planting and harvesting season. In the more pros- perous farming regions the work of the children on the home farm, al- though frequently heavy and for long hours is generally confined to the vacation season, but in the poorer farming districts, investigation showed the children were relied upon to do a man’s work in both the spring and autumn and there was great neglect of education in consequence. Local public opinion justifies this sacrifice of the children on the ground of economic necessity, but premature employment of children does not cure, it perpetuates the poverty which is said to require the sacrifice of the train- ing period. This inequality of opportunity which the children enjoy is the really important reason why some solution of our farm problems must be found. We are not willing to ride to prosperity on the backs of little children. A recent study of the mill schools of North Carolina? showed that with a state law passed a few years ago requiring attendance up to 14 years of age® and no educational requirements for going to work, a little more than 20 percent of the 13-year-old school children are not even enrolled in school. According to this report non-attendance is higher for these mill schools than in the rural districts of North Carolina. The statement frequently made that the present day compulsory educa- tion and child labor laws have been enacted at the cost of the authority of the parent, who is, it is usually added, in the best position to know about the needs of his children, is unwarranted. While the rights of the parent have been turned by public opinion into duties and responsibilities and the interest of the state in the welfare of all the children of the state has grown, this interest has led to a strengthening of family ties because of the im- portance of the home in a child welfare program. Under the earlier laws, the parent was supposed himself to give his chil- dren the necessary education and training, and failing in this obligation, they were to be taken away from him and bound out. Obviously many parents otherwise able to give their children the necessary care found it impossible to educate them properly and they were in consequence deprived of their children. The children lost the benefits which come from family life, parental affection, and the association with their brothers and sisters. The provision of free public schools not only meant much better education but it enabled the child to remain in his own home. Until very recently the children of a poor widow, however eager she was to keep together her 1A study of the Mill Schools of North Carolina: hn Harri Columbia University Contributions to Edudation,’ wat a, Ta isoried ae 2? The only other stat i i i Vigne” es with so low a standard are Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and Teachers College, GENERAL SESSIONS 35 family, were taken from her regardless of whether this separation involved a great loss to the children. The so-called mother’s pension laws now enacted in 42 states and the District of Columbia are intended to prevent exactly that from happening. Parents are increasingly interested in the scientific care of their children, in their obligations and their duties rather than their rights. In the infant welfare conferences held under the Maternity and Infancy Act in rural areas, the problem is usually not how to stimulate attendance but how to take care of the numbers of children who are brought—sometimes great distances by automobile, by horseback, by mule back, and on foot to the examining doctor. ‘These are not sick children; they are the average run of well children suffering usually from malnutrition, from remediable de- fects, and from bad habits. Their parents come to ask what is the best way to care for their children. ‘The cooperation of parents with the psychiatrist at the habit clinic and the child guidance clinic is usually secured with little difficulty. The child labor laws of the present are designed not only to protect the individual child but to eliminate the competition of the child and the adult in the labor market which results in the underpayment of fathers and makes the continued employment of the children seem necessary. It is the states that have led in child labor legislation, in effective compulsory school laws, in mother’s pension legislation, and in other provision for the prevention of the unnecessary breaking up of family life. If one goes back to the ideals and the statutes in which the ideals of a hundred years ago were expressed, we seem to have made much progress. But the advance has nevertheless been discouragingly slow. The two great obstacles to securing a minimum standard of protection and of opportunity for all children have always been (1) the selfish interest in the exploita- tion of children by the few and (2) the patient toleration of injustice to children by the many. FIRST STEPS IN PARENT TEACHER COOPERATION— ABRIDGED MRS. A. H. REEVE, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CONGRESS OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS, AMBLER, PA. Is the school a laboratory, or a repair shop? Do we require in it teachers, or tinkers? Is it their task to train and develop the minds of their pupils, or to rem- edy bodily defects, to correct faulty nutrition, to break up habits of lying and stealing, to inculcate the doctrine of fair play, to instil respect for law and order and to establish obedience to authority? In the brilliant program of this great convention you are called upon to answer “‘the challenge of childhood to the teachers of America.” But who are the teachers, and when and where does their work begin? 36 NaTIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION fas eS Se Are they to be found in the school room alone? Does the child wait to begin his education until he is six years old? Do you find a clean slate on which to write, a sound but perfectly blank mind in a sound body, a char- acter totally unformed for good or ill, awaiting your formative and guid- ing hands? If this is not the case—and I think we can agree that it is not—what has been the training of these first teachers who send to you the children eraduating from the six-year course in the home-school, and what coopera- tion have you established with them, in order that the transition may be made with the least possible friction? Is the system so perfectly organized, so evenly graded, that the pupil may pass from one phase of education to the other and back again, with no slightest consciousness of variation in levels, in standards and in aims? In the sevenfold statement of objectives recently adopted by your Com- mittee on the Reorganization of Secondary Education we find these tests, which are to be used for the checking of the worth of every subject which our children are to be asked to study, in order that nothing may be intro- duced into the curriculum which does not meet one of these fundamental needs. “They are as follows: . Worthy home membership . Sound health . Mastery of the tools and technics of learning . Vocational effectiveness Useful citizenship . Wise use of leisure NA WNW BW HD BS . Ethical character Yet not one of these objectives can be classed as the province of the school alone, and it may even be questioned if some of them are the province of the school at all, save as it may act in a supplementary capacity to other educational factors in the life of the child. ; Instruction in the use of the tools and technics of learning is the task of the trained educator, it is true; yet knowledge is useful only in the degree in which it may be made to function. Its mere accumulation is like the heaping up of riches without knowing who shall gather them. Opportunity for the application of acquired wisdom must be furnished by the living con- ditions by which the student is surrounded in the home and in the com- munity. Vocational skill may be developed by the school, but vocational effective- ness is the result of the application of that ability to environment for its successful modification. Unless education covers a wider field than the school in its offer of opportunity to this end, much time, money, and labor will go for naught. For the full attainment of this objective there is need of preschool preparation through training in accurate observation and man- ual dexterity; of recognition by the home of the dignity of labor and the obligation of public service, running always parallel with the teaching in GENERAL SESSIONS SW the school, and of post-school or community provision for the employment of the efficiency acquired in the community-supported educational system. The foundations of useful citizenship are laid in the early years, when mental soundness is established by means of wholesome habits of eating and sleeping, as well as of feelings and emotions; when, as Dr. Arnold Gesell says, the thoroughly normal child gains the positive emotional habituations which make for sociability, for self-control, and even for a childish measure of sympathy and cooperativeness, through consistent training and that favorable home atmosphere which represents to him socialized goodwill. These relationships, a cheerful philosophy of life, a sense of values and of security in his small world, with self reliance and self-confidence, strength- ened later through the wider contacts of the school but again always paralleled by the steadying influence of the home are essentials in his prep- aration for the larger civic arena of the community, the state and the nation as these in turn are to be entered. “Too often is the school compelled to completely demolish faulty construction and build anew, sending the child back to face in the home the wreck of all that he has been taught to rely upon and to seek in vain for firm ground on which to establish a method of living which may bear some resemblance to a standard. As to the wise use of leisure, here the challenge of the children rings out, not to the school but to the home and the community; not to parents and teachers only but to all citizens. Of what use is it for the school to create a. demand, only to find that there is no supply—or a supply that is worse than none? How do we amuse ourselves, we who are “patterns of be- havior” for the children for whose standards we are thus responsible? We have done worse than sell our birthright for a mess of pottage, for we do not obtain even the temporary nourishment which Esau’s recklessness se- cured him. Goethe says that while books may not make a man bad or good, yet they do made him better or worse. We have taught our children to read, and we supply them, or allow them to be supplied, with the sweep- ings of degenerate minds. We have good literature, it is true—plenty of it. But it is in libraries; it is in books which retail at from one to three dollars and sometimes more; in magazines which sell for fifty cents; it is a part of the English course, not a habit of the home. On the other hand, at every corner—especially where our high schools stand—and often several times in the block, wherever our youth do congregate, they are offered slow but certain poison, in covers anatomical, neurotic or lurid, at ten or fifteen cents a treatment. It is only necessary to travel a little on trains and trol- leys to see how freely these insidious drugs are being absorbed, not only by men and women but by boys and girls of all ages, while the public hugs to itself the comforting conviction that,nothing can be done about it. If the parents and teachers of America remain inactive in the face of this challenge, then they are unworthy of the professions of which they are members. For parenthood is a profession second to none in its far-reaching importance and its grave responsibilities, though far beneath all the others in the requirements for its practice, e 38 NatTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION A sixth objective in your all-inclusive program is given as worthy home membership. 1 should like to restate that proposition to read: member- ship—with all that the word implies—in a worthy home. In such a home, standardized closely as to its teaching and ideals with the best that school and community have achieved, will be taken the first steps in parent-teacher cooperation, as children are given sound mental and physical foundations, habits of observation and concentration, manual skill, service which the smallest child may render and patterns of behavior in home relationships and in civic righteousness, set by the parents and woven into the very warp and woof of the character of the boy or girl, to wear as long as the fabric itself endures. Education based upon the objectives touched upon has already gone a long way on the road to the formation of a code of ethics which ascends normally and effectively into that conception of religion which is “the life of God in the soul of man” and which results in that “life more abundant” which is so great a need in the complex civilization in which our lot is cast. That a child’s character is formed in the preschool years is, then, a fact more and more generally acknowledged, as also that the mental character- istics are as much the result of right habits, right environment, as are his physical attributes. “The development of both should be initiated in’ the cradle, where education begins, for when consciously good teaching is not provided from the outset, bad habits are being definitely inculcated. In child training there is no neutral position; ‘che that gathereth not, scat- tereth.” , A test of this theory has recently been made, and the facts have been established to the satisfaction of both parents and teachers. Herbert Hoover, speaking in his capacity as president of the American Child Health Association before the American Health Congress in Atlantic City last month, set 2 national standard when he said: Our ideal is not only a child free from disease; it is a child made free to develop to his utmost capacity for physical, social and mental health. This means liberty to grow—the modern idea of education. Until quite recently the question of disease was the province of the medi- cal profession, and the man, woman or child who was not unmistakably ill was considered well—or well enough; but the old proverb that “preven- tion is better than cure” has slowly won recognition as a practical truth, and health campaigns are taking the place of attacks upon wide-spread disease. Unfortunately the vis inertia of the great mass of the people, backed by ignorance or indifference, is repelling the advance of the doctors and nurses struggling so valiantly against it. On the two flanks the great- est progress has been made. The very rich have recognized and adopted preventive measures as one more luxury, and the hospital-trained attendant directs their nurseries, while the social workers and visting nurses are sur- veying, investigating, and districting the very poor, bringing them into clinics and supplying free medical aid. GENERAL SESSIONS 39 Between those two extremes dwell the millions of the average people, who recognize actual illness—usually—when they see it, but who do not give serious attention to the state of not being well. Here we find the people who say proudly; “oh, my child can eat anything!”—and who let him do it; those who send their children to school with a sausage and a banana, or with money to buy a pie at the corner stand because it takes so much time to put up'a lunch; the people who are overworked or tired or lazy and so give their children coffee and fried food and canned stuff because it is the easiest way; and who, considering quantity as synonymous with quality, believe that if a child eats enough, it is adequately nourished. Here too we find those who still believe that it is a good thing for children to “take” all the diseases possible in the early years, “because they have to have them anyway,” and so expose their own and other peoples’ children mercilessly to contagion; and those who resent the report of the school nurse and consider—and publicly state, that “it is none of her business to tell me how to bring up my own child.” They are not remote heathen or savages, these people; they sit beside you in church; they elbow you in the street car; they are in front of you and behind you in the “movies.” ‘They are well dressed and prosperous-looking ; they drive cars—not Fords—and they would not be seen at a free clinic; they are affectionate parents, and they mean well by their boys and girls; but they do not know their busi- ness—and they are ignorant of their ignorance. Thirty years ago a woman who knew and loved childhood set in motion the great idea that parenthood is a profession, when she summoned the mothers of the land to take counsel together. From that first congress of mothers has grown, as some of you are aware, a mighty organization of parents and teachers—a million men and women united by one central pur- pose, the welfare of the boys and girls of America, founded upon the solid rock of the education of the whole child, all the time, everywhere, it has laid increasing emphasis upon the one great truth which its years of experiment and experience have made evident—that the child is developed in three sec- tions of one great school of life, and that home, school, and community must have one standard and one program if that education is to result successfully. Reaching now from the preschool and the study circle through grade and high school to the college association, this cooperative body, meeting gen- erally in the American forum, the public school, has become a broadcasting station through which the average parent and the average teacher may be reached and influenced. By its means as by no other, the program of the school may be carried over and made to function in the home, the un- trained mother may be drawn into the study group for education extension, and the community may be aroused to a consciousness of its responsibility for the training of its future citizens by means of preventive measures and the force of good example in high places. For more than a quarter of a century this organization has striven to understand and support the school system, to promote health, to protect childhood and to better general conditions, while slowly finding its exact 40 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION place in education, and learning its limitations as well as its opportunities. Six years ago it began to correlate its somewhat scattered efforts more closely, and by 1923 it was prepared to formulate a program of five special aims: (1) the education of its rapidly increasing membership in the duties and privileges of the organization; (2) the development of the idea that parenthood is an all-the-year-round profession which takes no vacation and whose busiest season is to be expected when the schools are not in session ; (3) the restoration to the home of the specific duties of the home in order to relieve the congestion in the school system; (4) the awakening of the general public to the value of education and its responsibility for assuring it equally to every child, everywhere; (5) the promotion of law observance beginning with the preschool in the home and applied both to civics and to health. As this program developed, the conviction strengthened that there were certain definite contributions which the school had a right to expect from the home, of which the first, and possibly the best, was a scholar physically sound and consequently mentally alert, and to that end, the observance of the laws of mental and physical health must begin with health, must begin with life itself and not upon the attainment of school age. After careful observation of two experiments, one made by the Cali- fornia branch of the Congress in cooperation with the state health authori- ties, and one in Georgia in connection with our preschool study circles, the National Congress of Parents and Teachers made in the summer of 1925 what is to the best of its knowledge and belief the first definite, nation-wide effort to place fairly and squarely where it belongs—upon the parents—the responsibility for sending to school a child ready to take advantage of what the school has to offer. As a result we are seeing today what seem to be the first faint glimmerings of the dawn of a new era—in which the normal child shall be the average child and not the rare exception; when the under- nourished, the hard-of-hearing, the half-blind, the mentally retarded because physically unfit, shall be in the minority, and the reproach of the com- munity shall fall where it should—upon the negligent father and mother who wait for the orders of a health policeman before they take steps to learn and then to obey the laws of health. The United States Commissioner of Education, Doctor Tigert, has ex- pressed his conviction in these words: It is a matter of congratulation that parents are beginning to show their reali- zation of the importance of preparing their children for school life during the preschool period by taking the initiative in a nation-wide campaign to insure the entrance into school of children free from remediable defect. This movement, inaugurated by the National Congress of Parents and Teachers is one to which the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education, gives its hearty cooperation. Of the recent movements to benefit children, none has impressed me as being more significant than this one, which aims to give to every child in the United States a chance to be well and happy and to grow to useful manhood and woman- hood, GENERAL SESSIONS 41 Why send to school from your home a neglected child? Let parent pride put parent power to work! This is the challenge which is offered to the homes of America by the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. THE CHILD AND THE RURAL SCHOOL—ABSTRACT FLORENCE M. HALE, STATE SUPERVISOR OF RURAL EDUCATION, AUGUSTA, MAINE The rural child has a right to expect an equal chance to receive an ade- quate preparation for life through a well-taught program of the funda- mental subjects taught in all schools and to go to a school large enough and weli enough equipped so that he learns how to mingle with other children— how to live with people—and how to conduct himself in a well-mannered fashion. ‘The greatest handicap of the rural pupil has been the usual isola- tion of his surroundings and the meagerness of his acquaintance with habits and customs common in mingling with large groups of people. Most rural educators believe that the closing of little, poorly equipped schools and consolidating them into well-equipped, fairly large central schools is the best way of giving the rural child both the subject-training and also the larger life experiences. The speaker believed that some form of federal aid, similar to that at first advocated in the Education Bill, is necessary if every rural child is to have an opportunity for equal educational opportunities. This need not mean federal control. If the method of administering federal aid has been such as to seem to favor such federal control, then let the method and its administrators be changed. The plan itself, however, could be worked out so as to give assistance where it is needed. The child of the rural school is now most neglected in the cultural sub- jects such as music, art, and, oftentimes, real literature. One of the greatest needs in rural education today is someone who shall formulate a practical course in music, for example, and then evolve a sensible method to guide the untrained teachers in the small schools in carrying out the course. The tend of today to emphasize agricultural subjects in rural schools is all right if not carried too far, but children will never stay on the farms through knowledge of seed testing, etc., alone. They must have an educa- tion that will waken their souls to the beauty of country life through a study of nature and of fine literature centering around country problems with a broader outlook in the world’s affairs to go along with it and they must learn to find resources for happiness in remote places, such as today is easily available through the radio, improved victrolas, etc., if only the child is taught how to enjoy them and how to have a taste for fine things. In other words, the rural child is like every other child—a pvtential citizen and through education should be taught how to live creditably with other people and how to enjoy the fine things in the world about him. 42 NatIionaL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION TRANSFORMING SCHOOL FOR THE RURAL CHILD— ABRIDGED MARIE TURNER HARVEY, DIVISION OF RURAL EDUCATION, STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, KIRKSVILLE, MO. In compliance with the request of Mary McSkimmon, this is to be a report of progress, made in transforming school for the rural child in a situation ihat is typical, in the hope and belief it may strengthen somewhat the contention of that group of educational thinkers who recognize a funda- mental cause for the increasing inefficiency of the one and two-room schcols of this country, and who believe it becomes our solemn duty to make this one-teacher school an efficient educational agency wherever this building may be, because more than 5,000,000 of the nation’s children are in such schools today and for incontrovertible reasons, millions will likely attend such schools for many generations to come. They recognize that the rapid growth of cities during the past fifty years, the needs they presented, forced the development of a system of educational procedure in keeping with the conditions and needs of urban life—a pro- cedure concerned with course of study, grading and classification of pupils, suitable textbooks, supervision, administration. i Because the graded system proved reasonably satisfactory in the cities, the tragic mistake was made in modeling the state course of study after the city plan; overlooking the patent fact that the rural school presents condi- tions diametrically opposed to those of the city, so that the impossibility of one teacher making the school serve the educational needs of from twenty to forty boys and girls of different degrees of ability and varying in age from six to fifteen years by forcing this heterogeneous mass of humanity into an arbitrary mold through an obedient attempt to follow the traditional course of study and curriculum and to use the official daily program and prepare pupils for passing the quarterly and final examinations for promo- tion and eighth grade graduation—is so obvious that one wonders why we have been so slow to believe that modern educational ideals are realizable in the small rural schools, so slow to set ourselves seriously to the challeng- ing task of providing right educational opportunity for the sake of the in- dividual child as well as his country. This carries no implication that there should be less effort in the direc- tion of intelligent consolidation; on the contrary, making this school a more nearly efficient institution will expedite progress in consolidation by raising the general level of intelligence, for “we, the people,” still control. During 1910-1912, while connected with the Division of Rural Educa- tion in the State Normal School, Kirksville, Missouri, I became deeply im- pressed with the general situation: Five million children of varying ages getting their only preparation for life in these schools! approximately one- fourth or 1,250,000 of this number were leaving school annually; they would be men and women in an incredibly short time; establishing homes, participating in the public business of district, county, and state. Often GENERAL SESSIONS 43 they would exert the determining influence on public policies, conscienti- ously but too often to the detriment of the cause they would serve—and for self-evident reasons. There I came to realize the need of an experimental study in such schools under existing conditions, and finally won my own consent to undertake it. ‘The initial steps included finding a district with a school suffering from all the characteristic ills and having also a vacant house available for the teacher’s home. The Porter school met every required test. A four room shack was rented by the teacher for her home and she agreed to “teach” the school for eight months at $50 a month with the sub rosa understanding that if she could prove satisfactory to the patrons, and if they would cooper- ate with reasonable demands which did not contemplate a burdensome tax, she would remain three years. Thanks to the county superintendent of schools, a man of vision and courage, I was free to work out the best pos- sible curriculum, daily program, etc., and proceed at all times according to my best judgment. Briefly, it was to be a real “laboratory.” ‘The measure of the community can be taken by viewing the schoolhouse, a shack built by a jack carpenter at a cost of $600 some twenty years preceding, a house lacking in every essential of a school, hospitable to the tramping fraternity, but allowing its children to frost hands and feet in severest winter. Yet is was necessary to call a mass meeting to secure favorable sentiment of the community before the school board would agree to let the teacher lock doors and windows effectively against the tramps, lest they react on the farmers by burning haystacks and barns. Previous to 1912 these creatures burned window shutters, toilet doors and many bushels of coal unmolested. ‘To evaluate progress made, a closer examination of the schoolroom as it appeared September 1, 1912, is necessary. “There were no shades at the windows, although three windows were on the south and exposed to the sun’s rays all the day; the plastering was broken and the torn wall paper loaded with dust hung in festoons; the woodwork, painted an ugly blue, was begrimed with dirt; the old stove in the middle of the room was con- nected with the flue by several joints of horizontal pipe that quickly filled with soot and forced the gas and smoke into the room; a wabbly teacher’s desk, a set of torn maps, a worthless globe, and a few soiled and torn ‘Jibrary books” in a cupboard completes our inventory. That there are, today, thousands of schools in this country more or less like this 1912 picture of Porter school is justification for reciting such de- tails to this audience. Only $200 were available for the much needed improvements, but note the response of this small group of parents to a rightful appeal for their children’s welfare—all people of very limited means and burdened with the onerous duties of farm life. By December, the main room had been transformed. ‘The plastering was repaired and the side walls covered with a soft tan oatmeal paper, the arched ceiling with a light paper; a picture molding around the room was 44 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION ek) eS ee stained a golden oak as was all the wood work; windows were provided with adjustable shades; a new built-in bookcase with glass doors was sup- plied with a good traveling library and several sets of supplementary books; a new teacher’s desk and chair, a slate black board lowered for the use of all sizes of children, a few copies of well framed masterpieces on the walls, an oiled floor, an organ and a telephone near the teacher’s desk that connected the school with every home, presented conditions essential to a modernized educational program, and gave to the patrons a new vision of the service their school could give. The stove had disappeared ; a full sized basement with concrete walls and floor had been constructed by labor contributed in lieu of money by the in- terested patrons and in it was installed a good hot air furnace which ab- sorbed $189.65 of the $200 of money in the school’s treasury. “There was also running water, a kitchen sink, a drinking fountain, and an oil stove. The school yard came in for a share of attention. The toilet buildings were repaired and screened, but no changes were more significant than the provision for play. A homemade giant stride and volley ball standards set in concrete were placed so as to interfere as little as possible with running and circle games; in the rear of the yard were horizontal bars built over an ample pit filled with a sand and sawdust mat. The crowning touch, however, was the erection of a thirty foot flag staff made of two discarded telephone poles, spliced, and set in concrete, from which floated daily the Stars and Stripes. ‘That these improvements came one by one as the result of much counsel- ing and the heroic efforts of the parents had many values for all concerned, and “cooperation” became the community slogan. It was this same spirit that made possible the transportation of eighteen pupils who lived unusual distances from the school as a Delphi school wagon driven by a sixteen year old school boy, whose father furnished a team of horses gratuitously the first year, brought them in regularly, promptly, and comfortably, the teacher riding with them for one mile. Any departure from traditional methods is risky in a rural school, but children are reasonable beings and in this case they agreed to the trial of a new plan which it was explained would bring them long recitations and study periods and other large benefits. The plan included a classification into four groups largely on a basis of age and ability to read, a flexible daily program of never more than sixteen recitations, and the elimination of the report card, the quarterly examination, the copy book, the spelling book, and such texts as a primary physiology and language book, and also every nerve- racking, envy-creating artificial stimulus. The “A” group included five boys and two girls from fourteen to seven- teen years, intelligent, hopeful young folks, only two of whom could read as well as the average sixth grade pupils. Very soon they were named the “Senior group,’ thus removing the stigma of an eighth grade classification in name and limitation of studies. The “D” group enrolled six little folks from five to seven years. Through the latter it was possible to win general GENERAL SESSIONS 45 En SS ES Be RE AG confidence, not only because of the ease and rapidity with which they read, wrete, dramatized, etc., but also because it afforded the other pupils op- portunity to strengthen weak places in their educational structures; whereas the senior group with mature minds and awakened ambitions, quickly be- came valuable aids in interpreting the purpose and procedure of the school to the community. Here, too, was the first social unit, organized within ten weeks as a parliamentary body, self-styled “The Shakespeare Reading Circle.” Among other things, the general program contemplated teaching chil- dren how to read and what to read; developing in them power to think, to study, to speak and write good English, to appreciate somewhat the beauties and marvels of nature in their environment; developing in them a respect for all kinds of labor well performed; convincing them that farming is a fundamental occupation and that it is as respectable to be a good farmer- citizen as to be a good merchant; giving them a vision of a realizable country home, and ambition to own one and be a worthy inmate of such home. ‘There was never any thought of “‘vocationalizing” the school ot condemning all children to the farm regardless of capacity for another life. Realizing that the welfare of the children demanded a mutual interest and understanding between parent and teacher, ways were discovered that first year to secure the presence of parents on such special occasions as ‘Thanksgiving and Christmas Days, Washington’s Birthday, and Arbor Day. Invitations motivated the English and handwork. ‘The programs built from regular school work soon had the desired effect on pupils as well as on parents who found literature, history, and music, through the medium of their children, interesting and instructive. The teacher did not fully realize then the large results that were to follow these simple beginnings. ‘The frequency and quality of such meetings improved with the passing years. Never was Shakespeare more thoroughly enjoyed than by this com- munity when they saw their sons and daughters, correctly costumed, in a very creditable interpretation of ‘“[The Merchant of Venice,” the play being preceded by a sketch of the author and the story of the play, this for obvious reasons. It can readily be seen that because of the dramatization of such literature as ‘‘Miles Standish,” ““The First Christmas Tree,” “The Christmas Carol,” etc., the younger children early learned to enjoy Long- tellow, Van Dyke, Dickens, and began to build their personal libraries. ‘he music hunger of the community was early revealed, and by the suim- mer of 1915 there were thirty-two young folks studying music—the school house serving as a studio. ‘Today, good music, vocal, piano, and band, is at all times at the command of the community. There came the day when the community band furnished the summer concerts for Kirksville, in this way earning a large part of their director’s salary. Unconsciously, old and young had been “going to school” together, and the original fear that the new régime would enforce a high school entailing general bankruptcy had given way by 1917 to a determination that their 46 NaTIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION children should have such opportunity in the home environment during their formative years. : The 1922 program of exercises carries this information: ‘The high school annex was made possible by cooperation. We are especially grateful to I. A. Novinger for the building and to Margaret Crecelius without whose most generous service this could not have been done.” It recites further the important fact that the state high school inspector reported approval of twelve and one-half units of ‘a superior grade of work.” Outstanding numbers on this program were,—‘‘Influence of Invention on our National Life,” ‘Conservation,’ “Our Immigrant Problem,” “Our Next Step—the Farm or the City?” and a clever class prophecy given as a one act play entitled “in 1942.’ The members of this class were the little “D Group” of 1912. Their elementary work and three years of acceptable high school work were done in ten years of eight months each. As 1 faced those twenty-three rather unpromising looking children in 1912, I could not then measure their potentiality, nor did I imagine that so much could be done for their development in this type of school. It is elso worthy of note that in a district which boasted of not one high school graduate previous to 1912—100 percent of the elementary output were now voluntarily seeking a high school education, some more, and that all were honor senior high school students in Kirksville, and are also out- standing students in the state teachers college. Enough has been suggested to conclusively demonstrate that the open country has natural advantages for its children superior to those in the city situation requiring only a qualified teacher to utilize these; that country children have capacity for highest types of citizenship, and that rural people respond quickly to leadership in the interest of their children; that here is the place for teacher-leadership; that the teacher must be a part of the com- munity; that this school can and must become the clearinghouse for the social, intellectual, and economic interests of that community—a distribut- ing center of efficiency, if you please, for in the typical situation which lacks hall, library, and church, it is not conceivable that the school can play its legitimate part for childhood without making the school so react on the home as to get in turn the desired reaction of the home on the school. Only in this way can modern ideals of education be realized in these small rural] schools, and the solution lies in a living wage, a small livable home near the school, a three years’ contract allowing common sense adjust- ment of the traditional course of study and curriculum binding only so long as both parties are satisfied, all of which would attract men and women qualified in service and with ideals of service to this field. When will this great association have made the necessary research to cause all state departments of education to give necessary freedom to qualified teachers? When will all state teachers colleges provide adequate preparation of teachers for this school? Our national life lies so close to the soil—there is grave danger in delay. This is the challenge of rural childhood to the educational forces of this country. GENERAL SESSIONS 47 OPENING ADDRESS JESSE H. NEWLON, FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION AND SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, DENVER, COLO. The political, industrial, and territorial expansion of the United States in the past hundred and fifty years has been matched by the development of its educational system. The founders of the republic believed that a system of popular education was essential to the success of the great experiment in representative government. Repeatedly we find in their writings recog- nition of the fact that popular education and popular government must go hand in hand; that one is essential to the other. ‘The labors of Thomas Jefferson in behalf of education make one of his greatest contributions to the development of our nation. He considered the founding of the Uni- versity of Virginia a greater achievement than the presidency of the United States, and Benjamin Franklin was equally great in science, education, and statecraft. I shall content myself with one quotation which vividly states the atti- tude of many of the great leaders of that day towards education. James Madison said: A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. ‘The best service that can be rendered to a country, next to giving it liberty, is in diffusing the mental improvement equally essential to the preservation and enjoyment of that blessing.* There is no more romantic story in history than that of the expansion of the United States of America in the first hundred and fifty years of its existence. [he pioneers crowded a thousand years of economic and social development into the brief space of a century and a half. ‘This period wit- nessed the most marvelous development in the field of science and industry that the race has known. In 1926 we are the richest, the most powerful nation on the globe. In 1776 we had only the meager beginnings of a school system. The development of education has kept pace with terri- torial and economic expansion. The most important fact to be remembered about schools as we celebrate the sesquicentennial of the Declaration of Independence is that our system of education, including the high school as a part of the common schools, great tax-supported and privately endowed institutions of higher learning, compulsory education laws, schools for vocational education, technical schools, magnificent school buildings and equipment, an army of eight hun- dred thousand teachers, have come because modern civilization demands such a system of schools for its existence and growth. Just prior to the great war between the states, the National Education Association was formed. By that time the evolution in education was bringing into existence a profession of teaching, and those who were en- gaged in this work were becoming conscious of their distinctly professional 1 Cyclopedia of Education. Monroe, Paul, Macmillan Co., New York, 1919. 48 NatTIOoNAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION { problems. It was only a small band of the more devoted members ot the teaching profession who brought into existence this great association in the year 1857. With only three or four interruptions, the National Education Association has held annual meetings since that time. In the last generation, the methods that had long been applied to the study of natural phenomena were applied to the study of education, with the result that education has taken its place among the sciences. Today, mastery of subject-matter alone does not prepare one for teaching. Hand in hand with mastery of subject-matter must go mastery of. what has been learned about the educative process. Teaching has become a profession, with its own body of professional knowledge and technics. In its earlier years, the National Education Association was composed primarily of those who were responsible for the administration and super- vision of education, but as the years have gone by classroom teachers in ever- increasing numbers have become members. ‘Today the Association numbers a hundred and sixty thousand members. It serves as a great clearinghouse for educational ideas. “Through committees, through its representative assembly and its great departments, assisted by a professionally trained staff, it is concerned with the study of every problem that pertains to the advancement of education in this country. ‘ A hundred and fifty years ago the fathers of the republic considered a system of popular education as essential to the success of representative government. But their concept of education was very narrow compared with present-day ideas. “Today we hear on every hand criticisms of the schools. Many of the evils or fancied evils of the day are laid to the al- leged ineffectiveness of educational methods. We are told that if the schools were functioning as they should there would be less crime and a greater respect for law; that if the schools*were doing their full duty in respect to moral education our people would exhibit more moral stamina. We are told that if the schools were as effective as they ought to be in training for citizenship there would be less of indifference to civic duties; that more than fifty percent of the legal voters of the United States would exercise the right of suffrage in a presidential election. Students of the history of education know that ever-increasing demands have been put on the schools during the period of our national life. In colonial days no one thought of holding the schools responsible for moral and civic training. It was the business of the school to give the individual the tools with which he could acquire the knowledge necessary to an intelli- gent exercise of his duties and responsibilities as a citizen. To the home and the church was left the chief responsibility for character building. James E. Russell has very aptly characterized the changed conditions. He says that: The acceptance of good citizenship as the dominant aim in public education im- poses a severe burden upon teachers who have grown up under conditions hitherto generally prevailing. What is a good citizen? What should he know? What GENERAL SESSIONS 49 should he do? Reduced to concrete terms, answers to these questions will try the best of our social philosophers. What are the significant facts concerning education to be emphasized in this sesquicentennial year? I shall attempt to answer briefly. 1. A system of education extending from the kindergarten to the graduate school and including numerous technical, professional, and vocational schools, is indis- pensable to a modern democratic society. The evolution of our system of educa- tion has been brought about by the changes that have come in American life. 2. Power to adapt itself to changing conditions is an essential characteristic of an effective system of education. 3. To meet the needs of American life in the next generation or in the next cen- tury and a half, our system of education must continually adapt itself to the changes that will come about in the social, economic, and political life of the American people. The perpetuation and growth of American ideals is dependent on such a system of education. I hold these truths to be self-evident. Critics to the contrary, notwith- standing, the American public schools have not failed the republic. “They have given it life. Truth is not restrained within national boundaries. ‘The scholar, the teachers, and the university have ever been the greatest factor in the culti- vation of international good will. In 1923 the National Education Asso- ciation recognized the need of a closer cooperation between the teachers of the nations and called the first World Conference on Education to meet in the city of San Francisco. Last year the second world conference was held in Edinburgh, and a permanent organization was formed. Who can tell what blessings may be brought to mankind in the next century and a half through this cooperation among the teachers of the nations? The major objective of the National Education Association and kindred organizations in the states and territories of the nation is to assist in bring- ing about, through a process of orderly evolution, the constant adaptation of our system of education to the everchanging needs of national life. No voluntary professional association in all the world is concerned with policies more far-reaching in their effect on the happiness of our people and on the development of civilization. It is fitting that the National Education Association should meet in this memorial year in Philadelphia, the first capital of the nation. We, the representatives of the teachers of America, have come to this birthplace of the nation to rededicate ourselves to the service of our country “‘that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and this government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” I count it a great honor, on the 28th of June, 1926, within a few days of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independ- ence, officially to declare the Sixty-fourth Annual Meeting of the National Education Association in session. 50 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION THE DECLARATION AND THE SCHOOLS WILLIAM McANDREW, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, CHICAGO, ILL. The Declaration won immediate acclaim. It put into simple form and happy phrase ideas familiar and widely approved. ‘The signers repre- sented men afire from the friction of a powerful government grinding upon the large and little affairs of the day’s work. Resolved upon escape, they sought to show a decent respect for the opinion of mankind by a list of the reasons for starting a government of their own. The bulk of the Declara- tion, as you well remember, consists of recitals of the repeated injuries and usurpations by the King of Great Britain. Few of us care much about them now. If any king since George III desired to repeat the acts enumer- ated, his chances dwindled to the vanishing point. But in the expression of the general principles which were declared as major premises to justify cur independence there are thoughts in the Declaration still considered vital. These are the ideals by which the free nation was to work out its destiny. In 1776 we accepted them as axioms. We held them as truths not need- ing any argument. We declared them self-evident. All men are born equal. ‘They are endowed with certain unalienable rights. “The most im- portant are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Government is for the purpose of securing these. Government depends on the consent of all the people; when government fails to give us our rights it is our duty to abolish it and to institute a new system. ‘This should not be done for light and transient causes; but when there is a long train of abuses and usurpa- tions, we must reform our social, our political scheme. This was the original American gospel. ‘The first and fundamental principle of it is equality. It is the only feature I will discuss here. As different states of this union, after the Revolution, composed their constitutions, they wrote this proposition into their fundamental laws. Says Massachusetts in 1780: “All men are born free and equal.” Says New Hampshire in 1784: “All men are born equally free and independent.” In this manner began the constitutions of newer states. “Equal rights” re- sounded the world over as the American salute of a new day. Scottish poets glorified it in song; royal personages made it their motto, foreigners carved upon their civil palaces: Liberty, equality, brotherhood. The great desertisn—The doctrine of equality has waxed and waned during these hundred fifty years. The most formidable attacks upon it be- long to the forty years beginning in 1826. We shall consider the earlier defections in a few moments. In the generation before our civil war, equality, the right of a man to his life, and his liberty, if that doctrine were applied to men of a certain color, meant an overturn of existing laws and usages and, so said many prominent men, was a danger to the union itself. Therefore, even in America, innumerable persons of high standing, of dis- tinguished talent, addressed themselves to arguing into nothingness the proposition of our national charter. Comes Rufus Choate with his ridicule of “the glittering and sounding generalities” of the Declaration. Comes GENERAL SESSIONS 5; 51 Governor Hammond with the explanation that “our forefathers were too excited and angry to tell the truth.” Comes the Reverend Ross with the charge that “every word of it, every jot and tittle is the claim of infidels.” Comes Calhoun with the argument that “equality must be the equality of citizens in. the eyes of the law, but to establish an equality of condition of all men would be to destroy both liberty and progress.” Perhaps you are familiar with some of the various attempts at ridicule upon the signers for their absurdities. Every few years somebody dis- covers that the framers of the Declaration were crazy. Everybody knows that men are not born equal. Willy Thompson was born with an impedi- ment in his mouth; Percy du Mond, with a silver spoon in his. Rosa Nixon, with the countenance of an angel; Ann Simons with a face to stop the whole industry of Waterbury. In the birth record of Philadelphia, July 3, is recorded: “Born to William Wilson and Jane, his wife, a son; nine pounds; and to George Carver and Ann, his wife, a daughter, 12 pounds.” Is 9 the same as 12? On the committee which framed the Declaration of equality was Doctor Benjamin Franklin, in the front rank of men of science, a pursuit hostile to wild generalities, a cult which meas- ures, and weighs, especially words. On the committee and charged with the wording of the document, was Mr. Jefferson, also a scientist, a lawyer, trained in careful and exact speech. How shall we account for their set- ting down in the most important document ever attempted in their lifetime a dictum so absurd? The gleam of a great hope—A glance at the Declaration itself, settles the manufactured difficulty. Men are created equal insofar as certain unalienable rights are con- cerned, born equal in their right to life, born equal in their right to happi- ness. ‘To secure for ourselves and our posterity these rights to life, liberty, and happiness, we unite in an organization. We call it a nation; we call it a government; we call it the U. S—us. How simple it is! how sensible! how old! how holy! ‘For God hath made of one blood” not of two bloods, blue blood and paler blood, high-born blood and low-born blood, but “God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” Through the ages for almost two thousand years, runs this bright thread, this hope of humanity that all men are children of one father, even God, and are brothers, every one. The determined men in the old State House in the City of Brotherly Love caught the gleam of it. They may have been excited ; they may have been angry; they may have had a meager knowledge of history, law, and government; they may have underestimated the selfish instincts of mankind; but they proclaimed a humane and generous idea. They exalted equal justice higher than power, patience above persecution, good will more than hate, peace superior to war. ‘They pledged us to a Declaration that beneath the accidents and fortunes that make distinctions between men and nations there lies a common humanity, to recognize which 2 NationaAL EpucaTion ASSOCIATION makes for concord upon earth instead of strife. In declaring this, the men of ’76 reached an exalted state of political enthusiasm, a civic ecstacy. Such moments of glory brighten the world for a time and grow dim ina cloud of argument, expediency, and fear of being too good. The best thought of the best men in their best moments runs at least three risks of corruption. ‘The supply of best men varies, or they run short of best moments, or they substitute some of their second-best thoughts. Although the opposition after 1826 was the most brilliant it was not the first. Within a year of the signing some of the supporters of the Declara- tion were proposing that the curse of the country is equality. With the heat of the war cooled down there were not lacking Roger Shermans to assert that the people should have as little as possible to do with the gov- ernment, Elbridge Gerrys to declare that men are suffering from too much democracy, Alexander Hamiltons to say that the public is but a big beast, many prosperous patriots to believe: When everyone is somebody No one is anybody. The return of the faith—As long as Mr. Jefferson lived, and that was fifty years after the signing, his rejection of artificial distinctions rejoiced a multitude. General Washington and Mr. Adams, in presidential func- tions, had maintained much of the formality of a court. When Mr. Jeffer- son became president, the manager of these ceremonies asked him what would be the official order of precedence in going into dinner: should the Secretary of the Navy go ahead of the British minister or chase him, as the navy had the habit of doing when the English was in front of it? Mr. Jefferson proposed: “Let the order of precedence be this, that when dinner is announced these who are nearest the door shall go in first. When Jefferson died and the second fifty years of our existence had well advanced, the number of admittedly best people who knew better than the framers of the Declaration was imposing. In the ranks of the anti-equality expounders were almost all of those who call themselves the leaders: thriv- ing merchants, pastors of rich churches, public officials, college professors. ‘But still, clinging to the improbable doctrine, was a multitude composed of the every-day common man, the sort of human stuff that was the first foundation of the country. He pushed one of his own into the nation’s first place. In a superb burst of confidence and power, the American doct-ine gets itself reaffirmed; “Our fathers brought forth a new nation dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’’ Whenever before had a nation been dedicated, consecrated, to a proposi- tion? Religion had been so consecrated ; churches had been thus dedicated. The United States had been in this manner founded, and had seen its under- pinning chipped and chopped at by their own brilliant sons. But the Dec- laration, doubted, sneered at, discarded by many during a generation, is redeclared upon the field of Gettysburg within the memory of some among you here. If anyone is entitled to tell what the American doctrine is it GENERAL: SESSIONS 53 oe een eee ee Sy eA ty inust be the world-accredited United States’ representative, Mark Twain: With us, no one is born with a right to look down upon his neighbor and hold him in contempt.” Where we come in—What particularly concerns this assemblage is by what means the first proponents of this American doctrine intended it should chiefly be kept alive. All of the most eminent of them made them- selves clear on that point. From their speeches, their pamphlets, their let- ters, their conversations, comes the repeated agreement that the agency for promoting this ideal shall be a system of public schools. They get it into one of their earliest and most important laws; “(As necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa- tion shall be forever encouraged.” Here is the Revolution with a big R. To take a process like education, which for thousands of years had been the power and ornament of the better-born, the possession of ‘‘the gentleman and scholar,” the emphasis on distinctions among men, and to make it the promoter of equality, is an amazing proposal. But no one who listens to the men of the Declaration can fail to grasp this meaning. You and I, looking down the vista of these one hundred fifty years, will see against that sun- rise of ’76 the fingers of Washington, Franklin, Adams, Madison, Monroe, Jefferson, pointed straight at us. You and I can hear the voices of DeWitt Clinton, of Webster, of Mann, of Stephens, of Lincoln, of Grant, of Hayes, of Garfield, of Roosevelt, of Wilson, of Harding, and Coolidge, of states- men more than scholars, they all said it: ‘“You teachers, are the appointed and ordained Evangels of the nation’s gospel. No scholarship, learning, or culture of your old education may be put before this: to train the people to a more perfect union, to justice, to domestic tranquillity, to the com- mon defense, to the general welfare.’”’ The idea of equality—equality in the clear, dignified, and generous sense in which the Fathers conceived it— gleams bright in each constitutional requirement of our service. We are the commoners—We find ourselves peculiarly circumstanced to carry on this mission. The number of high-born among us is not oppres- sive. Sons and daughters of laborers, we carry in our blood, the healthy distaste of snobbery. Some of ous break out now and then with an itching for what we call “the aristocracy of brains.” Some of us love to be called of men Rabbi, Rabbi, or to make wide our phylacteries on graduation day, and to deck ourselves in academic confectionery; but the old breeze of American ridicule will save us from carrying our mortar boards too high. On our regular working days, when we are properly clothed and in our right minds, do you know of any place where rich and poor, black and white, clean and dirty, can come nearer to equal rights than in the Ameri- can schoolroom? We have been put to some trial to get and hold our own equality. The school folk of ’76 had amongst them enough scum of the earth to make them doubtful agencies for levelling up a nation. The genial Irving did us damage by collecting so much pettiness, cowardice, and contemptibility and labelling it “Ichabod Crane, Schoolmaster.” In my own day I have seen 54 NatTIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION a marvellous lessening of inequality. The pompous pedagocial oracle in long coat and commanding style, the old settler who settled by his say-so every point in his teachers’ meetings, the super-superior, grows fewer and farther between. He is levelling himself down. The sad-eyed sisters of sorrow who came mournfully among us to escape the alms and would make a poorhouse of the schoolhouse, do not wail so numerously as was their wont. ‘There are a few left who persuade magazines to give rewards to those of us who will smear the most sobs over our service—the size of the prize depending on the size of the sighs. But the number of us who has discovered that mankind despises a despiser, has, according to statistician Tigert increased 257 percent in 25 years. “The last educational measure- ment survey demonstrates that the teachers’ complaint of teaching is as the square of the distance from the real purpose of teaching, to wit: general welfare, not personal warfare. According to the observations of the not over-optimistic Mark Twain, Elbert Hubbard, Walter H. Page, Brand Whitlock, Don Seitz, and Cal- vin Coolidge, checked by the statistical department of the Literary Digest, the American teacher has arrived at equality, and the only persons who do not know this are not of the general public but a few noisy survivors of the ancient tribe of the Kickapoos. “This equality has not been achieved by self- pity nor by sniveling over contemptous treatment, nor by rebellion, nor by adroit politics, nor by loud clamor for recognition, nor by a superior dis- play of scholarship. The most distinct variation in the method of the teacher accompanying and justifying the change of public attitude from contempt to regard, has been the teachers’ discard of self-conceit, assumed superiority, tyranny, severe correction, sarcasm, physical and mental punish- ment. ‘In their stead have come professional preparedness, quiet self-re- spect, good manners, participation in social life, companionability, gentle- ness, affection. ; How we achieved equality—Many of you here present are so used to these things that you can’t understand how great a transformation it is. Mark Twain called it the marvel of our age. ‘‘We used to have to be driven to school,” he said, “but I now know schools from which you have to drive the children home.’”’ My mother cried when she took me to school. When I recall the Great Stone Face in whose charge she left me, I don’t wonder. But if that classroom had been in charge of any one of the hun- dreds of bright women whom I see every day in schools I think I should have cried if mother hadn’t let me stay. Oh, pshaw! You can’t put across the old inferiority stuff any longer. There isn’t enough of it left. A committee of this association collected last September a great pile of newspaper accounts of the opening of schools in every state in the Union. No more of the old assumptions that Johnny hates his school and his teacher. On the contrary a country-wide record in the rural weekly and the city daily press that the American school has GENERAL SESSIONS 55 become an attractive resort—for the main reason that it is in charge of per- sons desirable to be with. Hear, then, this sentiment to explain our realization of an American ideal: “The teachers; our fathers feared them; our children love and re- spect them and therefore, so do we.” The look on the level—Therefore, dearly beloved, having put off all hope of dominating by our superior learning, having cast aside the inferiority complex inherited from the days before the Revolution, having learned that it is unAmerican to look up to men too much, or to look down upon them at all, let us look on the level, and diligently teach our young citizens this duty of generous equality to all,—a national trait which the founders signed the Declaration to bring to pass. For in this observance of equality abideth the faith, the hope, and the brotherhood, without which our Re- public must cease to be. INTRODUCTION OF PRESIDENT McSKIMMON JESSE H. NEWLON, FIRST VICE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, AND SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, DENVER, COLO. The advancements that have been made in the social, economic, and political life of the American people are most strikingly illustrated by the new status of woman. ‘The development of our national life has brought to them innumerable opportunities. A century and a half ago it was unthinkable that women should become in great numbers the teachers of youth. Here and there might be found a woman teaching a class of girls, but- the people had not dreamed that women would enter business and the professions. “Today the majority of the army of eight hundred thousand teachers in America are women, and among the honored names in education in our generation are found the names of women. The National Education Association elected its first woman president, Ella Flagg Young, in 1911, only fifteen years ago. She had by sheer ability risen to the high office of superintendent of schools in the second city of America and one of the largest cities in the world. It is fitting that on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence a woman should be president of the National Education Association. This woman enjoys all the rights and all of the responsibilities of an American citizen. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, it probably did not occur to him that there must be another declaration of independence; that in this great nation women as well as men must be made free. Mary McSkimmon, the President of the National Education Associa- tion, has had a notable career as teacher and as principal of a great elemen- tary school. The election of an elementary school principal as president of the National Education Association carries with it recognition of the fundamental importance of the elementary school in our system of educa- tion and in the life of the nation. ( 56 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION Miss McSkimmon served for five years as president of the Massa- chusetts Federation of Teachers. She has long been an active and forceful leader in the affairs of this Association. She is a distinguished daughter of New England, the mother of our public school system. I now have the pleasure of presenting to you Miss Mary McSkimmon, the President of the National Education Association. . THE CHALLENGE OF CHILDHOOD MARY McSKIMMON, PRINCIPAL, PIERCE SCHOOL, BROOKLINE, MASSA- CHUSETTS, AND PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION One hundred and fifty years ago the founders of our government, in words that shall not perish while the English language is spoken, laid with an exalted courage seldom equaled in human adventure that foundation stone of our liberty upon which the lofty turrets of a great and free people have been reared. Our beloved and beautiful word, education, does not appear therein, but the soul of the American people has found it implied in every one of those noble sentences, for no people crippled by the bonds of ignorance could either attain or preserve the independence this great Declaration was pledged to accomplish. ‘Twenty-six of the signers were college graduates; others had been edu- cated at home. Every word that has come down to us from the stately language in which the document was couched to the fragments of their discussions, which by devious paths are yet our inheritance, bespeaks the masterly power of thought and expression in noble speech that is the posses- sion of the trained mind alone. ‘The three of the signers from Massa- chusetts, besides Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, who had received all his schooling there, had been members of the first public school in the Colonies, the Boston Latin School started in 1635, made a public school by public taxation for its support in 1647. I have heard Edward Everett Hale say that their signatures on the Declaration were faithful specimens of the penmanship taught by the schoolmaster, Nathaniel Williams. Public schools had already begun to make a mark that was to last. Sixty-nine years ago the National Education Association was born in this same great city. What was its object? Here is what they said in the Pro- ceedings for Organization: “We call to all practical teachers who are willing to promote the educational welfare of our country, by concentrating the wisdom and power of numerous minds, and by distributing among all, the accumulated experiences of all who ate ready to devote their energies and contribute of their means to advance the dignity, respectability, and usefulness of their calling; and who, in fine believe that the teachers of the nation should be gathered into one great Educational Brotherhood.” There is not the slightest reference to the child that gave these dignified workers their excuse for working. The dignity, respectability, and useful- ness of their calling seems to be wholly apart from any solving of problems arising in the teaching of children. Do you suppose they dreamed that GENERAL SESSIONS 5¥ they had any responsibility for the misbehavior of the children of the next: generation, pilloried by that keen satirist, William James, in “Daisy Miller,” whose naughty little brother stands out for all time as a specimen of the age? Do you not believe that if in that far beginning they had undertaken to study the material with which they worked, the children in their schools, that the emolument and dignity they craved might have come a little sooner? That is the thesis upon which the program of this, the second meeting of the National Education Association in Philadelphia, is based. The challenge of childhood is the sevenfold one so often held to our united attention by the gifted editor of our Journal and now woven into the consciousness of this great army of the National Education Association. It is because we have already accepted this challenge that we are no longer alien sections or states or counties or cities but a united educational system holding common viewpoints. Any one of us may cross the continent, visiting a school every one hundred miles, and in every school find himself among friendly children with a feeling of perfect ease and contentment. The year has given me this wonderful opportunity, one of the most delight- tul that can ever come to any teacher. Everywhere that this golden trail has led me, I have found this re- markable truth—the children are unfailingly like those I left behind in all the realities of life. Once in a while the accent or vowel values of the words of the teacher made me conscious of how different my Yankee speech must sound to her, but the children seemed unaware of any differ- ence. They listened with the same kindly indifference to certain profes- sionally important platitudes, as untouched as my own, but kindled with eager joy when life—earnest, vibrant life—arrested their attention. I have no doubt that the service rendered by William Dawes at the time of the daring drive to Lexington and Concord was as important as that of Paul Revere, but I can testify that the poet has made Paul Revere the beloved heritage of every American child with whom I have talked. This thing is sure: the deeds that led to the signing of the Declaration of In- dependence are the. common bond between the children of the American nation. How the study of the problems of childhood have united us! Is any- thing’ in this Association more worthy of our earnest wonder than this spirit of being one in heart and mind throughout the land? We have no national system of education and yet with these common ideals and com- mon aspirations born of thoughtful counsel for the solving of our mutual problems, we are coming into a new unity. One of us may go from East- port to San Diego to teach and find the waiting task essentially what was left behind. Through this mingling of teachers in our Association of all rankings, in working together on committees, in departments, in the group- ings about common interests, we are developing a system of education that is beginning to take on a national color and is hastening the day when as a nation we may lose our provincialisms and learn to take a more inclusive point of view. 58 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION neem pnp oven ce A ALLL AOAC A A The first note of the challenge is health. Has the school answered this challenge? What more gigantic task has it ever faced so unflinchingly ? Through requiring vaccination for admission to school, smallpox is no longer a horror to be reckoned with. The Schick immunization has al- ready protected children from diphtheria wherever it has been applied. All schools are teaching cleanliness and the great help that milk, as diet, renders the growing child. There is ready response in this country to demands for clean teeth ever since our boys paraded Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square and heard the delighted populace cry, “Smile, Sammy, Smile!’ Even the primary child knows what his weight ought to be, and the value of fresh air, day and night, and sunshine, and play. When the National Congress of Parents and Teachers started the cam- paign for the round-up of the five and six-year olds in thirty states last summer, that every little beginner might be ready for school in the fall, a mighty public American object lesson was given to all communities. “There is hardly a state in the Union that is not lined up through its boards of health to carry forward the means of making one hundred percent of our little beginners fit to go to school this fall. But you will have to take your year’s pilgrimage up and down this land to see the glory of the new school buildings of today set in their ten, sixteen, and twenty-acre play- grounds and realize the sensible uses these great breathing places are being put to. No wonder we are told that the child born today has a safe hope of adding twelve years to the span of his grandfather’s years. In the progressive school systems, the old textbook study of anatomy, physiology, and hygiene has already given place to health education. Health habits are taught and tested. Health examinations are being slowly but perma- nently established. Following the examination comes a suggested fol- lew-up program for correction of remédiable health defects, such as malnu- trition and functional disorders caused by bad posture, all of which may be tested and corrected in the school, while the more serious health condi- tions that require medical or surgical care are brought to the attention of the home. The second challenge of childhood is for skill in using the tools of learn- ing. The schools have always known their value. No one today can ob- serve education long without knowing how much better the children gain possession of these tools than those of a previous generation. The Spring- field tests of 1846, given recently to the Massachusetts children, have shown vast improvement in both accuracy and knowledge in arithmetic, spelling, and geography by the children of today. Our boys and girls probably read one hundred pages today for one read. by their grandfathers. We have learned that the eye can be trained to increase its natural rate of motion, and we are helping children to increase their speed for informa- tional reading. But when it comes to real literature, the great and beauti- ful words of poetry, the treasure that is our inheritance and our birthright, let us take time for that seed time of the soul, of which Wordsworth sang. The teachers of America are meeting with increasing purposefulness the challenge of the children for tools. They remember what A. C. Benson GENERAL SESSIONS 59 says of Bishop Westcott. The old idea of education was to induce our pupils to accept the gold coins of our own wisdom by trying to transfer them from our pockets to theirs. We know now that the only way to educate is to show the child where the ore is and to place in his hands the tools that will get the ore from the mine. We expect our pupils to free the gold from its dross and coin it for themselves. Our next challenge is home membership. Our classes in domestic science, woodworking, repairing, interior decoration, cooking, serving, home furnishing, study of harmony of color, textiles, and laundry work show the widespread interest in making opportunities for children for hav- ing a share in helping to make homes beautiful, and to take that interest in their improvement that indicates a remarkable economic betterment. One of the finest fruits of the nature study in our schools is the increasing delight in the care and protection of bird life. And when our boys and girls have toiled over their own little gardens, their neighbors have a pro- tection from the old lawless depredations that no iron wall could have given their treasured roses and lilies of the old day. Do you think people realize what it means today that priceless treasures of shrub and blossom grow absolutely unprotected by the old fence or wall of the past genera- tion? This is a real test of right-minded home membership. And the very courts themselves pay tribute to the decrease of juvenile de- linquency. Our scientific measurements have helped us understand under- lying causes of delinquency in children that could not be arrived at without this great service. As the variant is now being understood as never before, what wonder that the records of fourteen cities taken from the report of the Children’s Bureau of the United States Department of Labor shows a decrease in juvenile delinquency in every one, and is especially marked since 1920. Right-minded boards of education are providing opportunities for developing such abilities as the least-favored child possesses, and the gifted one, as important a problem as the other, is being studied and under- stood and given the chance to learn those experiences in knowledge and the society of his contemporaries that shall give the power of leadership for which he was endowed. Children are better school members with their willingness and efficiency in taking on responsibility for the bettering of conditions therein. They are better members of the neighborhood and the playground. Surely they must be increasingly more helpful, more thought- ful, more efficient members of the home. What of the challenge of citizenship? The school is more interested in this subject than ever before in the history of American education. How much more intelligent it is to emphasize those principles of government - by putting them into daily school life than to depend upon the learning of bare facts from a textbook! How our Good Citizen clubs help in serving the school by caring for play-grounds, lawns, and shrubbery, our Patrol clubs, helping younger children to cross the streets safely, taking charge of classes entering and leaving the building, serving at fire drills having re- sponsibility for the care of lunchrooms and corridors, doing the faithful service of a devoted citizen for the safety and beauty and well-being of 60 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION ST a he ES ee eee public property; all for service and nothing for reward! Isn’t this a splendid foundation for the discussion of civic problems in the classroom? It is hard to believe that our pupils thus trained will not show by means of the ballot the appreciation of the great principle of self-government for which our fathers died. If the same indifference to the duty of each citi- zen’s responsibility to the faithful exercise of suffrage should go unchecked by every means possible in the schools, then shall we indeed be failures and unworthy of our great inheritance. May a great light be kindled within us and passed on to the generation now in school, whereby we may both see our responsibility to meet the challenge of a loyal citizenship that will preserve and develop the inestimable blessings of life under the Constitution of a land where opportunity to achieve and to be gleams like Sirius in the crystal air of a January night. And what about the challenge of leisure? If we have not in the past been so keen about this, it is because we hardly know it as a reality in our own profession. To most of us, the summer vacation means attendance at professional classes either as teacher or student, or returning to the old home to care for inyalid parents or assist in lightening labor for others. lt means preparation and study during the spare moments of term time, or it means giving special help to some backward pupil. The more the school fills its supreme place in the community, the less chance there is for a leisure hour. If all our pupils were to become members of our profession, the use of leisure would not be a problem to consider; it would take care of itself. It was a wise old priest who said, “I give my forenoons to God; I give my afternoons to my fellowmen, and I give my evenings to myself.’”’ We know that work, service, play—all are needed for any adequately rewarding life. Each has borne a part And that a needful one In making up the calm existence that is mine, When I am worthy of myself. There are those of us to whom books, through the noisy turmoil of our busy days, make the same appeal that the bubbling spring of cold water. - does to the parched traveler. No worthier effort can engage the teacher than awakening this love. Given eyes that see correctly, with training to read rapidly enough to satisfy the hungry mind, I believe all children may become possessors of this unmatched blessing. We must give them wide experiences in order to help them find their own stride. Did you ever -know a boy who would not kindle to that alien world—poetry—through the magic of Alfred Noyes’ “Highwayman,” of Kipling’s ‘The Bell Buoy”? They get away from the limitations of the noisy tenement district as they haul up the big cod into the Gloucester schooner in “Captains Courageous,” and it is hard to keep from envying Stevenson, whose power to appeal to the imagination enlists every child to embark with old John Silver and the rest and sail joyously forth to Treasure Island. If you have never tried them on biography, you will get a real surprise. “Up from GENERAL SESSIONS 61 Slavery” is an unfailing lodestone; so is “The Iron Puddler,”’ and the “Americanization of Edward Bok.”’ No teacher who can walk with children into the field and woods, show- ing them the amazing plan by which the wild Iris or the fascinating Lady’s Slipper solves its problem of fertilization; no one who has ever taught the children to listen to the song sparrow or the bobolink has failed to give seeing eyes and hearing ears for the later hours of leisure. And to show them noble Orion marching up the winter sky, following the Pleiades and Hyades into the zenith, will give the thrill that lasts while life lasts to those whose eyes have been opened to a matchless world of beauty and delight. The day is not far distant when whole communities will unite in beautify- ing desolate and ugly school grounds, laying out fields for outdoor sports, where every resident in the community may feel ownership because he has had a hand in providing an opportunity for community play. What answer shall the American school make to the challenge of de- veloping noble character? ‘Through the better adaption of the school curriculum and its recognition that children have bodies as well as minds, the old importance of the discussion of discipline and punishment has passed. Initiative, leadership, responsibility have taken the places of coercion and autocracy. Nature study has abolished thoughtless cruelty, and school gardens have established respect for the property of others. Scientific mental testing has discovered the moral imbecile and has deliv- ered the school from his baleful influence. The aid of the invaluable psychiatrist is helping boys and girls to solve their problems of maladjust- ment to the school, arising after bad conditions and experiences of broken home life or wrong treatment in preschool age. What untold blessings to the school have thus been wrought. The school children of a good school are better behaved today probably than children have ever been, in their attitudes toward dumb animals, toward each other, their teachers, and the world at large. But enduring character is deeper than a casual live-and-let-live indifter- ence. The kindly gesture toward his fellow beings must be wrought into habit that shall last and dominate his life; that shall be the conscious ex- pression of right decisions made habitual, a source of power when his temper, or prejudice, or fear, would paralyze his will and chain power of right action. This growth in judgment and self-control in respect for law and the rights of others is not an achievement of days or months. It is a slow growth at best, for humanity is only in its cradle stage of self- government, and the constitutional democracy of our own land has not yet learned how to implant respect for the laws even in the hearts of the very men: who have made them. This slow growth in the elements of character needed to insure the safety of our kind of government is the unanswerable argument for the school age to be prolonged until that character which shall make right- minded citizenship has been developed. It is sometimes a slow growth. We have placed a standard of attainment in subject-matter achievement that must be reached before boys and girls can leave school. We must 62 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION see to it that years enough under the competent guidance of skilful and devoted teachers are allowed to give all children experience in putting into action again and again those great principles of conduct that are the guar- anty of good character. It is the boy leaving school with unformed char- acter who becomes the tool of unscrupulous men, and too often a criminal before the law. Our Association mourns today the recent death nf John F. Sims, the chairman of the Committee on Child Labor. We recall his real grief at last summer’s meeting when his noble words rang out: “Opponents of child labor sacrifice childhood to money, education to cheap production and the amassing of wealth. They foster greed in the strong, hatred and discour- agement in the weak.” The recognition by Congress in conserving the childhood of America marks an epoch in our constitutional history fraught with wholesome, far-reaching results. Who can estimate the value of the child, the potential ruler and worker of the future? Let us be loyal to him. “It is the function of the present generation to conserve the interests of the children so that in the springtime of life they may have abundant op- portunity for the training that will so develop them that they may later ‘discharge in full measure the duties and responsibilities of American citi- zenship.” ; The gracious soul of the man whose words remain to us has gone on its everlasting reward. We pay tribute to his noble service for the childhood of this land. If we cared for the children as he cared for them, we should have come nearer accomplishing each in his own state what he so grandly won for Wisconsin. He lays upon us the challenge, the pitiful appeal of every child in the dreary drudgery of the mine, the exhaustion of the beet field, the deafening weariness of the factory, and the benumbing, stupifying toil of the mill. Rich and prosperous America will not long consent to receive dividends paid by the sacrifice of ambition, by the cost of health, by the price ignorance exacts. All right-minded citizens of this land will respond to our interest in the citizenship of tomorrow when we have that desire so alive in our own hearts that it springs forth like sacred fire, for the warm- ing of the failing courage of young lives, bearing burdens too: heavy for such tender years, and cut off from the one shining light that alone can illumine darkened minds, the beacon light of education. To whom shall the neglected child look if not to this Association of our country’s teach- ers? We shall not fail you, neglected, forgotten, unschooled children of a favored land. I bring violets of loving reverence to the memory of the devoted love of John F. Sims. Therefore bring violets. Yet if we, self-baulked, Stand still, a-strewing violets all the while, These moved in vain, of whom we have vainly talked. So rise up henceforth with a cheerful smile, And having strewn the violets, reap the corn, And having reaped and garnered, bring the plough And draw new furrows ‘neath the healthy morn, And plant the great Hereafter in this Now. GENERAL SESSIONS 63 On that very first day of the first meeting in August, 1857, when the forerunner of our great Association came into existence in Philadelphia, in the opening address of T. W. Valentine, of New York, who had issued the call for the meeting, we find these significant words: “I trust the time will come when our government will have its Educational Depart- ment just as it now has one for Agriculture, for the Interior, and for the Navy.” Surely these interests can not be more important than those which pertain to the intellectual and moral welfare of our people. The forty-one brave men and the two braver women of the founders of this Association have given the finest evidence of their clear insight as to means to the great ends they sought to “promote the educational welfare of our country by concentrating wisdom and power of numerous minds, by distributing among all the accumulated experience of all.” I ask you if thay does not sound as if it were taken from the Congressional Record at the time of our February meeting. Shall we deny the faith of the found- ers? Shall we leave to those coming after us the work that ought to be done by us, today, in order to give the “dignity, respectability, and useful- ness” that they pleaded for, to this great absorbing thing we call public education, the fourth leading industry in America? We know our needs are stupendous in importance today, the needs of research and the dis- semination of its findings; we know the prestige that will be attached to the utterance of the Secretary of Education, for there is no one today in the whole field of education who has the authority to speak for all, whose utterances automatically demand attention, as coming from the cabinet of a President. If we can only hold to the faith of that far beginning and the truth we know of education’s great need of having the authority to appeal to men who are doing the great work of our land but who do not yet take the problems of education seriously we shall arrive, the goal shall be won, not by the work of gifted leadership alone, illustrious and inspiring as ours is, but by the common service of every single member of the or- ganization. When Commander Byrd and Pilot Bennett were nearing the pole, where no human being had ever traveled through the air, in that ghostly land of ice and snow, silent save for the whirring of the Fokker, they dis- covered a leak in the oil tank. Bennett remarked that it looked bad. “But,” narrated Commander Byrd, “we decided to continue on to the pole and to decide what to do to the leak afterwards.” We scem to have been sixty-nine years worrying about the leaks people point out in our plans. Let us forget them all, and get on to the pole! We have built splendid schools for carrying on the education of our children. We have equipped great normal schools and teachers colleges to train teachers for them. We have awakened to the importance of the preschool child, and with the parents we are studying the laws of physical and mental hygiene to prevent the waste of unnecessary disease. Our great playgrounds resound with the shouts of happy children. We are holding our youth to high school and college that it is the despair of boards 64 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION of educaticn to try to keep up with the greai young army seeking more, and ever more, schooling. A few days ago in a school belong‘ng to the county in Massachusetts in which Horace Mann was born, an eighth grade class in current events contributed their discoveries. One lad arose with his offering. The National Education Association will hold its annual meeting in Philadel- phia June 27 to July 2. The program is based upon this subject, “The Challenge of Childhood to the Teachers of America.”’ A silence filled the classroom for a moment. ‘The teacher spoke, ‘“Why do you suppose that subject was chosen?” ‘Probably they are going to count up the achieve- ments of the American people because of the lessons all those teachers have taught,” said George. “I think they will want to talk about what they can do to educate the children to become better citizens of America,” said another. Then spoke still another, “I think they will talk about what kind of men and women we ought to be because of what our teachers have helped us to become.” Yes, dear children of our America, what you shall win of greatness and wealth, what wisdom and insight you shall bring to the government of your great heritage, what character you shall grave on the world, all these developments of your life shall have the first place in the service that crowns our days. Our hearts, our hopes are to be forever realized in this great adventure of yours that lies just beyond tomorrow’s gates. Girt with the fragile armor of Youth, Child, you must ride into endless wars, With the sword of protest, the buckler of truth, And a banner of love to sweep the stars. About you the world’s despair will surge; Into defeat you must plunge and grope— Be to the faltering an ‘urge; Be to the hopeless years a hope! Be to the darkened world a flame; Be to its unconcern a blow— For out of its pain and tumult you came, And into its tumult and pain you go. CAN WE GIVE 4 GOOD ACCOUNT OF OUR STEWARDSHIP? EDWIN C. BROOME, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PHILADELPHIA, PA. If ten historians, or ten teachers, or ten lawyers, or ten business men or women should be requested each to mention the ten most important dates in the history of our country, it is probable that most of the important dates would appear. It is equally probable, however, that one of the most significant dates in the history of America, or, in fact, in the history of English-speaking people, would be omitted. That date is 1647; in that year the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decreed that every town having fifty householders should at once appoint a teacher of GENERAL SESSIONS 65 reading and writing, and provide for his wages in such manner as the town might determine; and, that every town having one hundred householders must provide a grammar school to fit youths for the university. This was the first time in the history of English-speaking people that the state re- quired its communities to establish and maintain schools. It was the begin- ning ot our public schools. The development of our present nation-wide system of public education from that small but significant beginning is familiar to all who are sitting in this assembly. During the last ten years the enrolment in public schools has increased about three times as much as the population. This would seem to indicate that the public schools are popular and are appreciated. If there is any doubt over this point, the fact that the enrolment in high schools, where attendance is not generally compulsory, has increased from eight to nine times as much as in the elementary schools, would seem to settle it. “Today nearly a fifth of the people of the United States are going to school. We have the greatest system of popular education in the world. Education is Uncle Sam’s most important industry. We have gathered here from all parts of the country to exchange ideas and to discuss professional problems. ‘The time, the place, and the occasion would seem also to offer an unusual opportunity for some serious reflection by an organization representing all the teachers of all the children of the nation. Our president has sounded the general theme as “The Challenge of Childhood to the Teachers of America.” ‘That is a beautiful thought around which to build a program. A corollary to that thought is this: Our responsibility to the American people for the trust that they have placed in our hands. Like the rich man described in the Gospel of St. Luke who returned from a journey and called his steward unto him, and said ‘Give an account of thy stewardship,” the American people are saying to us today, “Give us account of your stewardship.” Can we give a good account of our stewardship? Our masters, the American people, are asking us a number of questions, but they are especially insistent on satisfactory answers to three questions: First, are the schools not costing too much? Too much is a relative matter. The answer must be tempered by one’s sense of values. Compared with what they spend for tobacco, chewing- gum, and applications to beautify the person, the American people are spending far too little on education. This is no especial reflection on the American people. For all time people have been willing to spend much more for the pleasures of the senses than for the satisfaction of ‘the soul. Let us go a little further. We are spending considerably more dollars on public schools today than we did ten or fifteen years ago. The impor- tant question is this: Can we justify this increase? Let us take the case of a city which is typical of most other cities. During the last ten years the number of dollars expended for education in that city has increased 150 percent. Seventy-five percent of this increase can be charged up to the de- preciation of the dollar. Fifty percent can be explained by increase in enrol- ment, more especially because the enrolment in the grades above the sixth, 66 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION where education is most expensive, has increased eight times as much as that “of the lower grades. The remaining twenty-five percent can be charged up to increased and extended service which the public itself has demanded :— such as Americanization and other forms of evening-school work, summer schools, increased medical and health service, and various types of special classes. In this particular city the people are receiving more and better service for every dollar expended than they did ten years ago. The funds are handled with scrupulous honesty, and there is practically no waste. Conditions in this city are fairly representative of conditions country-wide. We can honestly answer the first question by saying: ‘The American people are not spending enough money for the extent and quantity of the service demanded of their public schools.” Second, our masters want to know whether or not the schools are as thorough as they used to be in the “good old days.” In 1905 an enter- prising principal in Springfield, Massachusetts, found in an attic of an old school a bundle of examination papers that had been given in 1846. Ques- tions and answers,were intact. The examinations were in spelling, arith- metic, geography, and writing. The same examinations were given to pupils of about the same age and grade in 1905. The result when com- pared was a revelation. In every subject the children of 1905 surpassed their grandfathers by a wide margin. The aggregate difference in spelling, arithmetic, and geography was 70 persons. In writing the improvement was especially marked. The Springfield examinations were given in many places in this country, and the results were similar everywhere. Examinations were also found which were given in the schools of Boston in 1845. Again these were given widely to pupils throughout the country in 1922. We have not the space to publish details. “They may be found in an interesting book, Then and Now in Education. ‘The results led the authors of this book to say that the tests “plainly indicate improvement in instruction.” If there ever were any “good old days” they must have been somewhere around 1845, as that was certainly long enough ago for all of the present generation to have safely forgotten the facts. Judging from all the evidence obtainable, we can still take comfort in the thought that the “good old days” in education are yet to come. Adults often judge the schools by the work of their own immature children; and quietly flatter themselves that they did much better at the same age. I have found myself doing the same thing in examining the work of my fourteen-year-old son; until one day I found in an old trunk in the attic a book of compositions which I had written during my first year in high school. Needless to say I have since made no reference to my superiority at his age. Much of the complaint about lack of thoroughness in the essentials comes from business men who employ clerks and stenographers. Unfortunately they, as a rule, do not represent the best product of our schools. The best students usually go on to college, technical schools, and normal schools. The clerical force of the country is in a large measure recruited from those who for economic reasons, or because they could not keep up, leave school before completing the course. Our honest answer to the second question is GENERAL SESSIONS 67 this: “The public schools are doing many things today that were not thought of years ago as belonging to the scheme of public education, and- they are also doing the essentials better.” The third question which our masters put to us is this: Are the schools failing in the all-important work of character-building? This question can never be satisfactorily answered, because there are as many judges of right conduct as there are individuals. The only answer to this question is a statement of facts. The school has supervision over the child five hours a day, for about two-thirds of the days of the year; the home and other institutions have charge of the child for the rest of the time. Moreover, it is doubtful that moral conduct can be defi- nitely taught, like arithmetic or grammar. The character and influence of the environment, and the example of elders would seem to be of most effect. It would seem reasonable that the influences to which the: child is longest exposed, that is for nineteen out of twenty-four hours of the day, would largely determine the final result. Those who are inclined to hold the public schools responsible for murder, banditry, arson, robbery, and other delinquencies, would do well to read what Judge Archbold, of the Juvenile Court of Los Angeles, said recently: ““My observation leads me to believe that about 95 percent of the youthful delinquency today can for the most part be blamed on bad home conditions.” I would be the last person to place too much blame on the American home. It is the finest institution that America possesses; and we should use all our influence to strengthen it, rather than to discredit it, There never has been a time in the history of our schools when more attention has been given, directly and indirectly, to character-building. The schools everywhere, public and private, are accepting this responsibility seri- ously and conscientiously. A sub-committee of the national Commission on the Curriculum has been studying this subject for a year. This is what they are able to report as a result of their country-wide investigation : ‘The schools of the country are giving universal and definite attention to the development of good character in the children entrusted to their care.” One of the most serious problems of the day is how to meet the growing tendency of the public of placing more burdens upon the schools through legislation, and through other forms of organized influence. Akin to this problem is that of the benevolent exploitation of the schools by well-meaning, but often misguided, organizations and individuals in the interest of all kinds of enterprises. These people are not enemies of the schools. ‘They are friends; but they don’t realize that every such project, however important it may seem to them, only takes the precious time of the children whose school life is none too long and distracts teacher and pupils from the main business for which schools are maintained. A good question to ask when such projects are urged upon us is this: Who will benefit more from this enterprise, those who propose it, or the children? A truthful answer to this question, in every case, will eliminate ninety percent of the school distractions that have become so numerous since the war. 68 NatioNAL EpucaTIon ASSOCIATION There are thousands of influential people in every city and town who would soon change from an attitude of indifference or criticism towards their schools to one of encouragement and support, if they understood what the schools are actually doing. This condition is a challenge to us. We must expect indifference, unjust criticism, and unintelligent interference, * until every teacher, principal, and superintendent makes it his business to do or say something every day to somebody at home, in his club, or his church, or his lodge, that will inform the people correctly regarding the work of the schools, and will help to create an attitude of intelligent inter- est in public education. There are some other important matters which we, as stewards, should attend to while we are putting our house in order. At least a quarter of the children of the country are still taught by unqualified, or under-quali- fied teachers. In places where that unfortunate condition exists, it is our business, as professionally minded teachers, members of a great professional organization of teachers, to bring about legislation, or to encourage boards of education to advance standards for admission to, and for promotion within the profession and to pay salaries that will attract to, and retain in the profession, teachers of adequate qualifications. P In spite of extensive efforts towards curriculum revision, we still have an overcrowded curriculum, and one that in many respects is not adapted to the needs of certain types of children. “The Commission on the Curriculum is working heroically to bring about general curriculum revision throughout the country. This is an enormous task. We have already been at work three years; and the end is not yet in sight. No central commission can make an all-American curriculum, even if it were desirable. It can only furnish data, and show the way. “There must be country-wide cooperation. In this we ask your assistance. No public servants can give a better account of their stewardship than we. An honest accounting will present all in facts, whether favorable to the steward or otherwise. We have nothing to fear. No public institutes in America can face its master and give a better account of its stewardship than the public schools. RADIO AND THE CHILD—ABSTRACT W. E. HARKNESS, VICE-PRESIDENT, BROADCASTING COMPANY OF AMERICA, NEW YORK CITY Within the past four years there has come into being a wonderful voice which can speak to the entire world. It is not restricted by the size of the auditorium nor to the distance between the speaker and the listener. It can appeal to the individual or to the multitude; it can use any language ; break forth into song, or produce the tones of any musical instrument. We may well ask, What use will be made of this wonderful voice, the radio? GENERAL SESSIONS 69 Ltt A. \ So far its principal use has been to entertain those who desire to listen to it. As we consider the uses to which this new medium of communication with the masses could be applied we can but stand in awe and pray that it may not be misused. Under the circumstances it is evident that at present this new and wonderful medium of communication is far from accomplishing the results which it should. On the other hand it should be remembered that it is less than five years since it was first introduced to the American public and in that limited time has developed at a rate far in excess of any other medium of public communication. During the first years of broadcasting the listeners were so thrilled by the mystery of radio transmission that the type and quality of the program was ignored ; however, during the past two years there has been a remarkable change in this respect. The radio audience has become more critical of the program, the quality of transmission and reproduction. It is interesting and encouraging to note that the desires now expressed are for programs of better quality, both as to material and methods of presentation. ‘There. was a time when programs consisting of phonograph music would be ac- cepted, but today the radio audience expects to hear the world’s great musical artists, politicians, actors, explorers, and writers in person and attend the important public events of the day by radio, if not in person. To secure the talent necessary to present a high grade musical program and to interest the leaders in the various arts in broadcasting is not an easy task, nor can it be done without expense. Another important factor in program arrangement and presentation are the personal views and desires of the owner or those operating the station. If they tend toward the better things in life, something worthwhile will result from their efforts, but on the other hand if the tendency is toward the sensational and burlesque type of program matter, much harm may result. It should be remembered that radio programs enter the home without the producer ringing the doorbell and asking whether you wish him to enter. The child in the home can and does tune in to any program that is avail- able and can absorb many things which he would not otherwise hear. Under these conditions, it is important that if radio is to accomplish the greatest good for the greatest number, it be in the hands of those who realize their responsibility to, the listening public rather than in the hands of those who for publicity or other purposes will depreciate this medium -of communication. We have seen many articles in the public press calling attention to various experiments of an educational nature carried on by broadcasters throughout the country, both in the cities and rural sections. A number of educational institutions own and operate broadcasting stations, while other educational institutions are cooperating with broadcasters in developing ways and means of using their facilities for educational purposes. As far as it is known, up to this time the results of these separate experiments have not been collected and summarized. 70 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION = — Early in our study of broadcasting the question of its value as an educa- tional medium was raised and arrangements were made with Columbia University to join with us in carrying out some experiments which might indicate its value for educational purposes in the metropolitan area. The first subject selected was one which from the start was felt would not be popular, but would indicate the minimum result. In addition to this a charge was made for a syllabus which could be used to advantage by those wishing to carry on a more extensive study of the subject. The experi- ment covered ten lectures of one half hour each on Robert Browning given during the evening hours. While the response from the audience was not large as compated with other program features it indicated that further experiments should be carried on. A series of lectures on Early American History, English Literature, Practical American Politics, and Psychology were presented during evening hours. In each case a syllabus was offered. These lectures were found to be more popular than the previous ones, but still far less popular than program features of an entertaining nature. Later a series of lectures in French were presented and on account of their popularity are being continued. In addition to these continued programs, experiments have been made with courses and individual programs covering specific subjects by instruc- tors from the various departments of the university, principally those in- terested in home economics, including child care with special reference to the health and mental development of the preschool child. These have been given in the morning hours and have met with a very favorable re- sponse from women. ‘These talks are being continued and will doubtless be increased as the morning audience is developed. Among other experiments which we have carried on with educational institutions has been a series of talks to parents and children by a repre- sentative of the vocational training department of the board of education giving the possibilities in various lines of business and manufacturing establishments. This resulted in many inquiries from parents, children, young people already employed, and from those desiring to employ young people. The Kansas State Agricultural College has for several years been actively engaged in the use of radio in connection with its extension work and has prepared and presented numerous lecture courses on agriculture, engi- neering, home economics, and general science. It is understood that their efforts along these lines have convinced them that radio is a very - integral part of their extension service. Work of a similar character is being carried on by a number of other colleges and universities. In cooperation with the music department of the New York board of education the principal broadcasters carried on an experiment in connection with their efforts to develop in school children an appreciation of good music. his consisted of broadcasting fifty selected compositions during a period of several weeks preceding a contest held in the schools in their annual Music Memory Week. GENERAL SESSIONS 71 The board of education during the winter months gives a series of public lectures at various schools. The lecturers are available to broadcasting stations and they have broadcast during the morning hours, thus reaching a much larger audience. The experiments mentioned indicate the principal applications of radio to educational subjects. Many modifications have doubtless been made by stations throughout the country. Now, let us consider other radio program features that have an appeal to the child. As has previously been mentioned, the younger children of the radio audience have shown a decided preference for stories. During the first two years of radio broadcasting the so-called bedtime story was one of the most spectacular items on the radio program. ‘The interest in this feature was usually created by giving the story teller a fanciful name, broadcasting the names of children during the story period, or sending them a picture or other prize in return for something which they would do for the broad- casting station. Now, as to what radio has given and is now giving the child: In music it has and is presenting the famous vocal and instrumental artists of the world and the principal symphony orchestras in their regular and educational concerts with explanations by such leaders in the musical field as Damrosch, Fleck, Hadley and others; the best in chamber music, band music, and orchestras; the important singing and glee clubs of the country. In addition to this, various musical organizations in the schools are given an opportunity to demonstrate their skill by broadcasting. In literature, they are given the opportunity to hear Shakespeare, Dickens, and other standard authors presented by those who have made a special study of these works and are trained in their presentation. They can hear well known authors in person or criticisms and reviews of modern literature by well-known critics. What is true of literature is also true of art. “The authorities on this subject lecture on various phases and branches and have aroused interest in museums and collections. In science, radio presents to the child those prominent in scientific de- velopment and research. It also offers to those with mechanical skill the opportunity of making, for themselves and others, radio equipment, thus making a practical application of their theoretical knowledge. By radio, matters of great importance in connection with personal and public hygiene are presented by authorized and responsible agencies. It offers an opportunity of hearing the outstanding men of the nation and even the world in discussion of social, economic, and political problems. The great sporting events of the day are made to live although not seen. The spirit and atmosphere of the baseball and football games are trans- mitted to the invisible audience and their interest and enthusiasm stimu- lated. The new accomplishments of explorers, travelers, and adventurers are 72 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION a ear a eT aaa ae TT ET told by them in person and the conferring of honors upon them are heard by all. In religious matters an opportunity is given to hear the outstanding preachers of all faiths and a broader and better understanding of the funda- mentals of religious belief developed. Those broadcasters who are giving serious thought to the development of this new medium appreciate their limitations in handling this complex subject. So far the so-called educational program features have been indi- vidual experiments. There has been no systematic planning by the broad- casters and educators and much remains to be done individually and col- lectively before satisfactory results are obtained. While it is possible, with proper presentation, by voice alone to stimulate and maintain the interest of the listener, such a method of teaching lacks the advantages of pes eal contact between the teacher and pupil in the classroom. From our experience in presenting educational courses by radio it is evident that its greatest value is in stimulating the listener’s interest in the subject presented and after this has been done the real educational work should be carried on through those agencies which have been and still are being developed by those engaged in educational work. ; The educator should study the broadcaster’s general problem and with this and the limitations of radio, for it has limitations, assist the broadcaster in developing and presenting programs of sound educational value to the child as well as the adult. THE NEWSPAPER AND CHILDHOOD—ABRIDGED JULIA TRAVER, SCHOOL EDITOR, ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE ROCHESTER, N. Y. ‘The newspaper reflects the life of its community. Its aim is to interpret that life as wholesomely as possible. More than any other agency, the newspaper shapes public opinion. Not even the church is as powerful in this direction. To form public opinion in the right direction, the news- paper must image personalities and events, movements and their objectives intelligently and accurately and as they are, and not as they ought to be or as one might wish them to be. ‘The newspaper always has recognized the importance of the church and the public school. In a way, it always has recognized the importance of education in its larger aspects, but only in the present time has it come to see the significance of the great educational movements. Heretofore it has been content.to leave the discussion of the problems involved to the profes- sional journals and to the educators themselves. Now it realizes that it has an important function to perform towards the community in an en- deavor to interpret both the schools and the educational movements to the homes in particular. GENERAL SESSIONS 73 eee eee eS ee ee In recent years the newspaper has sensed the value of the child as a news factor. Previously, the child had stood in the editorial mind only as a part of the family unit to be considered as a part of that unit merely and not as a human factor of sufficient importance to be viewed in relation to his own happiness or misery; not as an important element in a treatment of his sur- roundings or a consideration of the things that happened to him. ‘Then something began to happen to the editorial mind. The newspaper began to be more circumspect in handling its news and questionable advertising began to be cast out. The child had emerged as an individual. There is a type of newspaper, however, that by exaggerating the impor- tance of everything that the child does or that happens to him exploits him. Result—the part of the community that it serves has come to believe that a generation of heedless, sinful, and carousing young people has arrived. But those of us who really know young people either in our own homes or in school know that this indictment is not true. The responsible newspaper is thoroughly conscious of its obligations. to the community and to the community’s children. The one significant figure in the editorial mind in this new attitude is the child. The eternal ques- tion in editorial rooms with regard to the schools is: “Is the money that is being spent in this community on schools giving the child the sort of educa- tion it needs for life; will this process through which he is being put from kindergarten days until the moment he is ready to enter college or go to work, make him the kind of citizen America needs? Will the child step into the commercial or industrial world fitted to meet the complexities of the life he must face?” We are not asking, “‘Will he be able to face his job better prepared than was his father?’ ‘The conditions of life his father faced as a youth just starting out and those he will face are so entirely dis- similar that such a question cannot be used as measure of the efficiency of the public schools. Schools and education now have a particular value to newspapers and an importance that makes it possible for the closest kind of cooperation between schools and newspapers. ‘The newspaper wants to advance the interests of the public schools and education generally, but it wants to do it intelligently - and free from propaganda of every kind. ‘The opportunity is oftered in many communities for a splendid piece of cooperation in the interests of the children. Any school system can get it that goes after it, and thereby makes its community acquainted with methods and objectives. Many persons who today criticise the public schools have not set foot in a school room for ten, twenty, thirty or even forty years. The type of school they are thinking about does not exist today in any progressive com- munity. It would not be tolerated in any intelligent community of our time because it would be inadequate to the needs of our complex civilization. There is no legitimate quarrel with the person who studies the schools conscientiously with the purpose of giving constructive criticism in an effort to clarify the situation. I am quite certain that the far-visioned and con- 74 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION scientious educator welcomes this sort of activity. After ten years of close association with a school system acknowledged to be among the best, I am conscious of things to be criticised. I am also conscious that educators know about these things and are using every effort to correct them, and that teachers are doing yeoman service in this direction. In the editorial rooms of the country we see in the innumerable surveys and studies of curriculums, of administration and of costs a very deep- seated desire on your part to improve the service of the schools to the child and to the community. We are not unmindful of your problem in a coun- try which in a generation, as it were, has passed out of the pioneer era of living, but still, in a very great degree, retains its pioneer thinking. That is, remains provincial on many subjects. We are not unmindful of the problem you face in a country which in a generation has developed from one of homegeneous population into one of great complexity that has thrown into the schools a great army of children from the four corners of the earth and from racial stocks of every degree of culture, or lack of it. With the child of cultural background you have to accept the child of generations of illiterate ancestry to do for it the very best you can. We know it is your task to take this raw material—plenty of it unpromising, but, oh, so much of it worthwhile, and make of it citizens that shall be worthy of the America we all love. We know that the American school teacher not only leads her children towards the light of knowledge and understanding, but that she mothers whole districts from which her chil- dren come. What we, in the newspaper offices, want the teachers to do is to let us know more about the substantial and worthwhile things they are doing. We are interested in your surveys and your studies, and we should like to know the results. Elementary school principals, and other groups all over the country, are doing wonderful work in making special studies and at- tempting to simplify matters, and in those efforts giving the highest type of service to their superintendents and boards of education and to their com- munities. The world doesn’t know about these things because those respon- sible modestly keep the facts hid in the archives of their organizations. Or, when they do tell about them, they tell it to professional magazines— teachers’ journals, where the people who most need to know about it never see it. ‘The newspapers have discovered with what great care the public schools generally are being administered. ‘There is a general recognition today that the average school board is made up of men and women who are devot- ing full time to the task often at considerable financial loss to themselves. They are recognizing that the superintendent of the modern school system is a business man of the highest type who would increase his yearly income many times by deserting to the ranks of industry or commerce. They are recognizing that the public school principal must be an administrator of unquestioned ability with a multiplicity of capacities. They are recognizing that the teacher is a person of infinite patience, much tact, and special apti- GENERAL SESSIONS 1D tudes. They are discovering that teaching is a profession, demanding many sacrifices but making rich rewards in terms of lives influenced and careers assured. The newspapers are conscious also that the people demand good schools and that each community wants the best. They know that from the first parents have said: “Here are our children; take them; teach them; train them in the way they should go,” and having turned the job over to the schools, paid little attention to the matter until school costs began to ex- press themselves emphatically in the tax-bill of the community. Then everybody began to talk at once, and many silly, unwise, and unintelligent things were said, as was very likely to be done from the very nature of the discussion. While many talked few offered any constructive criticism or advice. We are beginning to realize that there are differences in children; that the same pattern and design of education will not fit all children; that educational programs must attempt to meet the needs of an almost endless variety of child mentalities; that what is good educational practice for one set of children is not fair to another; that if the schools are to fill their fundamental purpose of making good citizens, they must have varied and enriched curriculums open to all children according to their abilities and their special needs. This new viewpoint has emphasized the importance of the schools and focused anew the interest in the child. One of the results is that in recent times very much more attention is given by the newspapers to the schools than before. Out of this interest has come the school page, now an impor- tant feature in a number of leading newspapers. Our paper is just completing a series of articles which concretely describe the course of study in the public schools, giving the authority under which each subject has been introduced and the results obtained insofar as results can be measured. ‘The series started with a statement of the objectives of the elementary school by Superintendent Herbert S. Weet, took up the kindergarten, the elementary school, the junior highs, and the senior highs, the special schools and departments, and will end in a few days with the city normal school. Altogether there are ninety-four of these articles, one of which has been published each day, except Sunday, since March 15th. They are to be printed in pamphlet form this summer. A copy will be given every person employed in the Rochester public school system, and copies will be supplied the Chamber of Commerce and similar organizations and to the public at cost. The effort has been to keep the entire series absolutely impartial and to have each one tell the story of the subject dis- cussed as briefly and definitely as it possibly could be done. From all parts of the country and far away places like Hawaii have come requests for copies of the series. The series was worked out through the cooperation of the superintendent of schools, many teachers and directors in the system and the managing editor and school editor of the Democrat and Chronicle. Not a person in the Rochester school system involved in getting out the material failed to 76 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION respond generously and promptly despite the fact that the series had to be worked out at a time when everybody was about as busy as he could be. That bit of cooperation is appreciated greatly. In its service to the children, the modern newspaper does not stop with its school page and its special educational articles. It has a children’s page, its scout page, and its youth’s religious page, the latter a recent acquisi- tion. All of them are bringing into newspaper offices persons with the new viewpoint of childhood and the opportunity to serve it. In addition, every year the newspapers of the United States give thousands of columns of space to stories dealing with the work, the aims, and the achievements of child- caring organizations and institutions. Great care is used in the modern newspaper office to avoid the exploita- tion of children in the news and to prevent unnecessarily bringing them into the limelight even when they are delinquent. It has become a principle in many newspaper offices that no permanent record should be made of the delinquencies of youth which might in time to come darken years of effort to go straight. Newspapers are stepping forward in many directions but in none so rapidly as in their work for children. Some of them are providing college scholarships for worthy boys and girls of the public schools who otherwise could not go on to the higher institutions of learning; thirty-eight of the leading newspapers, including the Democrat and Chronicle, cooperate each year in a national oratorical contest on the Constitution which has come to mean much to boys and girls of the junior and senior high schools. One Rochester newspaper last week sent a hundred and ten standardbearers | and their escorts to Washington in special cars, all expenses paid for three days of sight-seeing. The newspaper, like the school, is the creation of no one person, but that of many who have given freely of themselves to carry enlightenment and understanding into every corner of life. Our torch we soon pass on to others, but while we hold it we “try to see the other fellow’s job, and interpret it sympathetically.” And finally, the press and the schools are interested in the creation of a loyal patriotic citizenship that shall cherish American traditions and protect American honor from assaults from within and from without. THE CHILD.AND THE MOVING PICTURE—ABRIDGED WILLIAM DAVID UPSHAW, UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE FROM GEORGIA, ATLANTA, GA. While I have never been an actual teacher, with all the honors, emolu- ments, privileges, salary and perquisites that go with the position, I have felt for three strenuous, but glowing and happy decades, a peculiar com- radeship for teachers. When I got off bed where I had stayed for about seven years, living amid the wreckage of my youthful hopes and plans, I made a straight line to the schoolhouse trying to help the boys and girls GENERAL SESSIONS Ti who had no handicap to gain what I had missed in the schoolroom prepa- ration for life. I have had about four million students to stand up and repeat the motto of my shut in life—and my motto since then, if you please, “Let nothing discourage you—never give up!” And during the latter years of this period I have been constantly meeting prominent grown-up men and women who tell me that they went through college on the prac- tical inspiration that that motto gave to them. And since I have been a member of Congress these seven busy years, I steal away from the tedium of law-making to the schools around Washington and bathe my tired spirits in a refreshing sea of youth. That is the way, my comrade teachers, I have been able to keep so young—you observe that I did not say young and “beautiful’—but young in spirit and purpose. Indeed the theme of these schoolroom messages has been “Pluck and Purpose’—putting into italics the pluck that falters at no obstacle and the purpose that is linked to God. Do you wonder, then, that my theme today is a congenial one? My subject, “‘Motion Pictures and the Child” was assigned me, and I gladly accept the assignment, for on the one hand we have the Creator’s greatest unit of dynamics, and over against that winsome marvel of plastic poten- tialities, the child must consider the greatest human agency for blighting or blessing that child. Needed—a new concept concerning the child—The most amazing, shock- ing and sorrowful thing I know is the average low, materialistic concept of the child and the utter abandon with which some teachers and more parents regard the child. If we wish to grow a better brand of colts or calves, or chickens or pigs, or puppies, we will see to it that nothing comes their way—certainly that nothing stays in their path that will poison their bodies and hurt their development. But in countless thousands of cases the child is allowed to throng the unclean streets or sit for hours every week under pictures that “lead to bewilder and dazzle to blind.’ Fascinated by this marvelous triumph of genius and art the child mind and the child nature respond to the screen scenes which grip and stir, utterly regardless of the insidious poison being deposited in mind and soul. ‘‘Let me go to the movies, mother,” is the plea in practically every home in towns and cities where pictures are shown; and partly out of the spirit of parental love and indulgence, and partly from a desire to be free from childish noise and pranks, consent is given and the child scampers away to join hundreds more of the “Tomorrow of the Republic,” who are entertained and enriched by much they see of edu- cational value, and warped and weakened by much more they see that “Gazzes” their tastes and lowers their ideas and ideals of living. : ‘ Strangling and blighting our children—During the recent hearings be- fore the House Committee on Education concerning my bill, calling not for censorship in the usually accepted sense of that term, but for purifica- tion at the source, so as to make varying standards of bothersome censorship unnecessary in different states and cities, I was offered earnest evidence from friends of children all the way from the parent and teacher to the 78 NATIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION observant judge on the bench, proving the sorrowful contention that the motion picture business, as now conducted, is blighting the mental, moral, and spiritual potentialities and possibilities of the American child. And yet when such incontestable evidence is produced as a reason for governmental control of interstate commerce in the sensual and devilish influence against child development, the blind champions of the motion picture rush in and cry: “Stop, you Sabbatarian, puritanical reformers, you are trying to strangle this great and wonderful industry.” I deny the allegation—and I almost ‘defy the alligators.” We are not trying to strangle the motion picture business—we are simply trying to keep it from strangling itself, and we are trying yet more to keep it from strangling, body and soul, our children who are “dearer to us than the ruddy drops that gather in our hearts’”—our children who are the seed corn of the nation itself. 4 I put into italics here what I said at the hearings of the House Com- mittee on motion picture regulation and control, and that is the statement that I am a movie fan. I stand amazed and delighted at the mastery and wizardry of creative genius as portrayed in the motion pictures of today. Because education travels to every recess of mind and soul through the eye of the child as it does in no other way, I believe in capturing the motion picture influence for the cause of education and using it as the mightiest power, perhaps known today, for child development. But I remind you, my comrade teachers, you who are engaged in the basic, far-reaching work of citizen-building, that education without wholesome ideals of moral char- acter is like a flower without fragrance—it is like a statue without a soul. Two thousand men behind bars—I recently spoke to two thousand men, not one of whom got up and left before I finished. “They were in the Federal Prison. ‘There were bright men there, men with really handsome faces—men who had led their classes in high school, who had been cham- pion debaters and victorious athletes in college, men who had university diplomas framed on the walls of their shadowed and sorrowing homes— they had been “‘educated,” as the schools call it, but they were under the mandate of wrong ideals—they had forgotten God. “Tread softly there,” says some timorous soul, “it is not our province as teachers to teach religion—it is our duty to educate the mind and develop the body.”’ I answered, tread more softly still—for we are entering now the courts of the “Holy of Holies,” for, in your high and holy task in which you are permitted to enter into sacred partnership with the Creator of the Universe—not only of worlds and stars, of mountains and plains, of lands and seas, but as builders, with Him, of God’s crowning handiwork, the human master of the earth—men, who came to subdue it and cultivate and develop it for the glory of its Creator—ah, my comrades, I remind you that you stand in constant fear lest that bright boy or girl whom you send out with blushing honors beyond the campus gate shall fall a prey to selfish, sinful indulgence and Godless, wordly ambition. A picture which fasci- nates “Young America” mentally and physically nine-tenths of the way, may suddenly throw on the screen one liquor-drinking scene which defies GENERAL SESSIONS 79 the majesty of our constitutional law—one lecherous climax of sex appeal which tramples every sacred law of God and man—and alas! your treasure handiwork of many patient years is shattered in one fateful and fatal night. h I summon you, as your teacher-friend Woodrow Wilson used to say, I summon you to comradeship” in helping to drive every unclean, destruc- tive picture from the American screen! Comradeship in ideals—I summon you again to the responsible task of catching a new vision of the regnant power of wholesome ideals and of basic concepts on the part of the child under your care. Verily, the education you impart, according to that old-time aphorism, is “a sword in the hand of a madman” unless pure God-fearing, unselfish ideals of reverence and service, shall control every element of that educa- tion, every step of the way. If you teach a boy that he came from an inert protoplasm (whatever that means) or a wallowing tadpole, a grinning ape or a jumping monkey, and that boy will naturally want to do groveling, muddy, monkey-like things; but if you teach that boy, that bundle of human and Divine dy- namics, that he came from the creative hand of the Creator of the Uni- verse, who “flung the stars from His fingers in creation’s morn,” and who upholds the worlds by the Word of His power, plant the miracle of re- generation in his bosom, place the Star of Bethlehem in the say of his life, feed his mind and soul on the pabulum of purity and truth, and that boy, with an appetite for the immortal, will never be content to stand any lower than upon the shining heights of a radiant, glorious, victorious manhood. I summon you also, my teacher comrades, to the value of the chapel hour or half-hour (never less), as the case may be. I speak to you now, not as an actual teacher myself, but from the stand- point of schoolroom fellowship; having spoken, I remind you to four million school boys and girls. What glorious times I have had for these thirty years with teachers and pupils—north, south, east and west. How gratefully remembered those warm hand clasps of principals and teachers, and of students, saying, ‘““You have made our tasks easier from now on!” How treasured that gracious work of President J. C. Wood- ward of the Georgia Military Academy, College Park, Atlanta, when, after I had spoken thirty minutes to his gallant boys on “The Power and Purpose,” he arose and said: “I was just thinking while Mr. Upshaw was speaking how I would that some great-hearted, far-visioned man or woman who believes in endowing institutions would catch the vision of endowing a man and make it possible for our friend and Congressman to go all over America and carry this message of inspiration to students everywhere!” Frankly, my friends, I wish somebody would—for what would be a Congressional crown compared with such a boundless opportunity for touching humanity and building with you every day the pillars and guar- dians and defenders of our Republic! ! Let no principal say, ‘“We haven’t time for chapel” or “we can only find time once a week,” I remind you that you have all the time there is—you haven't time not to have it! The school needs its unifying inspiration 80 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION power every day. The child needs its psychic, subtle, sweeping influence. Whether it be a song, a spoken message, or a message from the gripping magic and mastery of the screen, God help you to make that daily message as pure, as powerful as Eternal Truth, as refreshing as the dew of Hermon, and as fragrant as the breath of Sharon’s Rose. BRINGING BIG OUTLOOKS OF SCIENCE TO THE CHILDREN—ABSTRACT DAVID DIETZ, SCIENCE EDITOR, THE CLEVELAND PRESS, CLEVELAND, OHIO The schools of the nation must do more than teach children how to make a living. They must teach them how to live. It is easy to make a living, as the prosperity of the nation shows. It is not easy to know how to live, as the endless discussions raging over ethics and morals and the sad records of the courts show. I believe that we can best teach the child how to live by bringing the big outlooks of science into his life. The facts of science will give the child a new universe in which to live. The spirit of science will give him a new outlook upon life. The facts of science will fill the ordinary happenings of everyday life with new beauty and wonder. ‘The wind and the rain, the sun and the stars become objects of intense interest and charm to the student who knows the facts of science. The spirit of science is the spirit of tolerance, the spirit of open-minded- ness. It is the desire to seek the truth and to accept the truth fearlesslv when it is found. I believe that we can begin to teach science in the elementary grades. The six-year-old child asks: ‘“‘Why does it rain?” ‘Why do the flowers grow?” “What is the moon?” We can begin to teach science by answering those questions. ~ As the child reaches the age of hero-worship, let us give him scientists for heroes. Let us tell him of the bacteriologists who risked their lives to conquer disease. Let us tell him of the research workers who consecrate their lives to the search for truth. As the child learns the facts of science, he will absorb the spirit of science. He will see that the method of the scientist is to observe things as they happen, then try to formulate theories to explain these happenings. He will see that the scientist next goes into the laboratory and sets up experi- ments to test the validity of these theories. He will see that the scientist accepts the theory only if it fits the facts, and that as new facts are found he is ready to change his theory to meet the new facts. If the child can be taught the beauty of this way of looking upon life and of doing things, it is safe to assume that he will carry it into whatever occupation or venture he may enter in later life. And in this—the wide dissemination of the scientific spirit—lies the most powerful force for the improvement of civilization, GENERAL SESSIONS 81 THE CHILD AND THE NEW SOUTH—ABRIDGED KATE WOFFORD, SUPERINTENDENT OF LAURENS COUNTY SCHOOLS, ; LAURENS, S. C. Before we can think straight about the so-called new south we must acknowledge a few plain facts about the south from which this new and overwhelming growth has sprung. In the beginning I wish to say that the term, “new south,” is misleading. The average person uses it loosely; it suggests a condition which has never existed and which does not at present exist. It indicates a decided break with the past in the forming of a new land and a new civilization. Neither condition has been brought about. There is a new south, but it is a readjustment of the old. This growth, however, has come from within; the south has never allowed its civilization to be imposed from without. The history of the south from its earliest beginnings will bear this statement out. Its history is a long and honored one. Many of the earliest settlements were made in her states. Five of the thirteen stars shone in the original flag for her colonies. Through all of the years of the nation’s early development the south prospered indus- trially, agriculturally, and educationally. She compared favorably with any other section, any other state. In 1810 the south had more manufacturing plants than the six New England states combined; she had a system of schools—the apologists for the Reconstruction Period to the contrary— which was the pride of those early leaders who dared as early as 1840 to preach the educational doctrine of an equal opportunity for every child. Slavery and its tragic progeny of war, reconstruction, and illiteracy fol- lowed hard on these prosperous times and not only retarded but checked our agricultural and industrial development and barred forever to the child of her darkest hours, his chance at the fulness of living. Sidney Lanier voiced the poignant despair of the youth of the south during this period as “most of living consisted in not dying.” Nor were these all the south’s deflections from progress. During the fifteen years following the war the south lost 500,000 of her white popula- tion who moved into the west and Texas seeking wider opportunities. His- tory does not record a greater drain on any country. In the words of Clarence Poe, one of the agricultural leaders of the new south: “We have come up through great tribulations, but we have come, having meanwhile achieved the great strength and serene confidence of one who having per- formed the tasks of Hetcules, unafraid awaits other tasks.” We have demonstrated the truth that “he who comes victorious from wrestlings long and laborious has power with gods and men.” The. new south is literally shining triumph of a defeated people over ignorance, prejudice, and a de- pleted and impoverished land. Not only has the new south conquered ignorance and a depleted land but she is drawing. back, multiplied, the great host who left her in the early eighties. The nation has discovered the south, but before this was possible the south first gloriously discovered herself. “The mass movement of hu- manity upon the new south has been described by one writer as follows: 82 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION It is the setting in motion of a current which may result in a national shift of population scarcely less important in American history than the rush to California and the far west in the days of ‘49. Though unwarlike and less violent this move- ment may have its effects as far reaching as other celebrated ‘hegiras; such for instance as the descent of the Goths on Rome; the Mongols on China, the Dutch on South Africa or the Mormon trek from Illinois to Utah. In spite of the influx of this mass movement of peoples, however, the South has kept her own identity; the new south is her own peculiar and triumphant development. Again, the apparently sudden prosperity of the new south is not sudden at all. It is a gradual development brought about by the faith and hard work of those who learned to “make bricks without straw.” It is not my purpose to state how this happy condition has been brought about. I am only honestly trying to state conditions as they were and are. The end of the war not only found the south depleted in men, but the whole section in chaos, a chaos which took a half of a century to make straight again. Out of this chaotic condition, however, has come peace and order and pros- perity. Over half of the country’s cotton mills are in the south; the value of the cotton goods produced in the south is nearly three times the total value of the cotton manufacturers of the entire country in 1900; 84 percent of the nation’s tobacco is produced below the old Mason and Dixon line; and the coal area of the south covers 100,000 square miles. Out of these great resources, dormant and idle for years, the south has come back with a vigor and confidence that has astonished and delighted the whole of the United States. Thirdly, the old south is not narrowly sectional; she has never been. Too many people in the United States prefer to speak of the south as if it were a single and separate country inhabited by a peculiar people. Even historians are guilty of speaking of the “southern attitude,” the ‘‘southern vote,” the “southern opinion,” as if these could be definitely measured and weighed. I have had friends from other sections, very gentle and very fine, who were honestly surprised to learn that southerners were like all other Americans with perhaps the exception of being more broadly national than any other section of America. I mean by this that whatever distrust and dislike that may have unfortunately arisen during the war between the states is being happily forgotten, and that the heroes of the blue as well as the gray are honored in a way in which many of the other sections of America have not yet thought proper. The children of our schools are taught to honor the memory of both Lincoln and Lee with a generosity of spirit that is both beautiful and inspiring. Whatever of bitterness may have resulted from the war and the Reconstruction Period there has come out of it for us all a common way of thinking and a common way of life. Particularly on questions involving the welfare of children have we agreed upon the same ideals, the same aims. With this—I trust—slightly clarified idea of the new south, what of the child in her midst? The south is making an unprecedented growth in ma- GENERAL SESSIONS 83 terial progress. Her thousands of new smoke stacks are eloquent witnesses to this fact. Her newly developed water power, more powerful than all of. her slaves, thunder forth the prophesy of her future greatness. What of the child? Is the south making her greatest potential asset a real one? Is she sacrificing her future leaders to economic progress? What of her schools? Is she being “true to the Heavenly Vision”? What of the Child? The south has definitely dedicated herself to the cause of public educa- tion. This has not been an easy task. The year of 1876, when the south returned to self-government, was an optimistic one for the schools. How- ever, the optimism was short lived. Educational apathy and indifference on the part of the public deadened and finally killed the first outburst of educational enthusiasm. The public as a whole felt that a proper contempt for schools was another way of showing a proper contempt for the recon- structionists, and the discredit of schools was discredit for those responsible for the system. It took the south years to recover from the serious results of this unfortunate opinion of the public. The same indifference and neglect has held, in fact, until recent years when the schools were taken back into the public’s confidence and given access to the public’s pocket book. The thoughtful leaders of the south knew then, as they know now, that the development of the south along all lines rested upon an educated citizen- ship, and be it said to their everlasting credit they dared to make the begin- ning toward this shining goal in the midst of the most dire poverty and despair. One of the many obstacles in the way of a growing system of schools in the south was the early lack of money. ‘The principal of local and state taxation for school purposes was accepted slowly. Conservatism, a virtue of questionable values for the south, made men cautious in the appropriation of sufficient school funds. The new south gives promise of overcoming this obstacle. A few figures are necessary here. “Twenty-five years ago the states of the south raised by taxation and paid for public schools $27,- 270,310. In the year 1925 there was raised and spent in the same section for public education $273,036,452, an increase of over a thousand percent. School terms have been lengthened from four to eight and nine months, the salaries of teachers increased, and the qualifications for teachers steadily advanced. In her prosperity the south has given generously to public educa- tion. In fact, so free has she been in her expenditures for public education that we have faced and are facing a real danger. There is a tendency— deplored by our educational leaders—on the part of the lay public to spend more money than thought on education. It has been necessary to teach the public in certain sections of the south that a magnificent school building does not necessarily make a magnificent school. The greatest progress, however, that has taken place in the education of the south has found its development in the high school. ‘Twenty-five years ago there were only one hundred four-year high schools in the whole southern section; today there are over 2500 public high schools housed and equipped at an expenditure of over $50,000,000. In 1913 the high school 84 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION a i a enrolment was only 165,241, in 1922 it was increased to 357,100 and now -the enrolment has reached the magnificent number of 500,000. For a quarter of a century educational leaders have preached the policy of finish- ing high school. Recently we have discovered the fact that everybody and his child has taken us at our word. As a result of the increased high school attendance colleges and universities are being overwhelmed with well trained boys and girls demanding entrance. The child in the south is be- | ginning to receive the educational attention and assistance denied to the past generation. Many other obstacles, however, are still blocking school progress in the south, and as a consequence are proving stumbling blocks to the south’s children. Although the child is benefitting from increased school revenues he is still being taught in a school system largely controlled by an ugly prac- tice of politics which is stifling school growth at its very beginning. So viciously has the system of politics worked among the schools that many policies of school administration, supervision, school control and even certifi- cation,of teachers have felt its blighting influence. “The child, in whose name the system does its vicious work, suffers most of all. The average court house and state house political ring is a factor to be reckoned with in southern education. Progress of schools is retarded, the rights of parents and of children are disregarded in order that unscrupulous politicians may further their own selfish aims. The schools of the south will continue to fail in their maximum of usefulness as long as politics dictate the policies of school systems. In order for the child of the south to come into his own educational in- heritance certain other fundamental changes must take place in the public schools particularly from the standpoint of a reorganization of the entire system. If the public schools are to make adequate returns upon the vast sums of money being spent for them we must bring about a new emphasis upon the right sort of educational leadership. In the word leadership I particularly wish to include the offices of state and county superintendents of education. “These offices have long ago outgrown the duties of a clerk and now demand the highest type of technical skill. The office of state superintendent formerly, for instance, required the combination of a statis- tician and politician who could extract state aid from a reluctant legislature and in turn dispense it to the county superintendents. The needs of the office have enlarged with the new south’s increasing responsibilities to its children. The importance of the office is now so great that it requires the best type of leadership and statesmanship. ‘The south, if it is to meet the needs of its children, must take this high office out of politics and refuse to limit its choice of leaders to the individual states or as for that matter to the south. Further, in order for education in the south to keep step with her prog- ress along other lines it seems necessary for her to make radical changes in the unit of school administration. The whole south, with one or two out- standing exceptions, is hide bound with a district system both pernicious and GENERAL SESSIONS 85 antiquated. In theory the county is the educational unit but in reality the small districts served by local boards of trustees, all loosely bound together form the unit of school administration. The local boards of trustees carry on the work of their particular school district with never a thought nor a care for the county system, as a whole. Consequently the most glaring educational inequalities exist. “These inequalities fall unfairly hard upon the country child, who because of the small taxable area in which he lives has often for his lot inefficient teaching, poor equipment, and practically no supervision. With school control centered locally it is almost impossible to enforce compulsory attendance laws, and the rural child suffers accordingly. The child labor problem in the south is no longer a textile one, it has be- come most acute for the small producer on the farms. For this problem the district system of school administration is largely responsible. Until this local district system can be replaced with a combined community unit system for school administration and the financing of the system placed on a county basis the country child in the south can never catch nor keep step with the other lines of the state’s progress which will sooner or later need his educa- tion and his leadership. However, a brighter day is dawning. Already the children of the city and town schools of the south have the same educational advantages offered by other parts of the United States. A few of the states have led the way in giving every child the same opportunity. Already indications point to the greatest educational development which the south has yet experienced. Educational systems give promise of a complete reorganization, with the welfare of children as the chief concern, school politics are being gradually conquered by school policies and sound business principles are being em- ployed to make the school efficient in its service. The new south will take care of its own. Against its background of pain and poverty the south faces the future, and thru the eyes of its children faces it serenely and with con- fidence. NEW ROADS TO CHILDHOOD—ABRIDGED ANNIE CARROLL MOORE, SUPERVISOR OF WORK WITH CHILDREN, PUBLIC LIBRARY, NEW YORK CITY Children’s tastes in reading are better than their parents and teachers when given a natural exposure to books because children can be trusted to read books for reading’s own sake. What is natural exposure to books? There is a power in books, persistence—fortitude—imagination. Literature is something that is still going on—going on for children as well as for the rest of us. Writing for children is an art, not an exercise or a chore. Children’s books are changing as children change and in direct ratio to the divination of their needs and desires by writers and publishers who have \ 86 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION hi el soe A Talo. Ak SORA oA the imagination, the skill, and the courage to produce books which belong to childhood rather than to the names on title pages and in catalogues. New books for children are worth reading. Who are the writers of them? Striking changes have taken place in the publication of children’s books during the past fifteen years! Poetry is being widely read for pleasure since E. V. Lucas made the first of the modern anthologies. His Book of Verses for Children stood alone in the field and 1,000 copies a year supplied the demand of the time, while 10,000 copies of Louis Untermeyer’s This Singing World have been sold in the period of two and a half years since publication and it is passing into a special edition for junior high schools. Other delightful collections of poetry have appeared. The question so often asked, Will children read poetry? is answered. Yes, if presented in attractive form, and without tiresome explanations or apology. Let the poets who know how to make the anthologies make them. Let every teacher go forth from her training with Walter de la Mare’s “Come Hither” as companion and guide to the heart of English poetry. Imaginative fiction has had notable original additions. Doctor Dolittle is here with assurance that human interest in animals has come to stay, for Hugh Lofting has created in him a genuine character of universal appeal. Rootabaga Stories are here and here to stay for they have sprung out of our own western soil—the gift of a poet to the heart of a child—the fore- runner of a great life story, Carl Sandburg’s Abraham Lincoln—Thke Prairie Years. Poor Cecco, the story of a wooden dog, owes a big debt to the Italian classic Pinocchio as well as to the magic of Hans Christian Andersen fo: blazing his trail. The resuscitation of the inanimate is an art of peculiar delicacy. Margery Williams Bianco possesses it. Her ‘Little Woodeti Doll” and “The Velveteen Rabbit” give further proof of it. Will children read modern fairy or fanciful tales? Yes, if they interpret truly and report clearly what a child sees, feels, and knows about life. What about realism for children? Realism is not photography. Has the writer the skill and the knowl- edge? Dorothy Canfield Fisher has. “Give me a book to unhitch my boy’s mind at night,” implored the father of a ten year old boy who had a natural distaste for poetry and fairy tales. Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s Made to Order Stories filled the bill for it was writtin to satisfy the natural craving of her own little boy. Children as well as the rest of the American people are reading more books and better books than they have ever read before. Millions of statistics might be advanced to prove it, but all statistics of reading are both tyrannical and deceitful. The subject can neither be svelghed nor measured in time or space. I am here to tell you instead that children’s reading is not a by-product of GENERAL SESSIONS 87 che 2S 8 Ae Ss Name case a all Ser Se ea rch lc an English course, an intelligence test, or of anything else. Children’s reading is a subject of limitless possibilities and lifelong implications. Leave children as free to read the books of their choice as to breathe the air of mountains or seashore, By the breath of life that is in it, and by that alone, does any book survive or the love of reading become established in the Ife of a nation. Finally, I am here to remind you how brief is the generation of school age and that responsibility must ever rest upon the teacher to become a con- tinuous reader herself if she would influence the reading of children who come and go each year, preparing them, not by graded list of syllabus, but by natural association with books, new and old, to discover in their own good time their own masters in literature and to take nothing about reading on hearsay. Beware the uneasy ghost of Mr. Gradgrind, ever flitting across the field of education with his measuring rod. Conquer these deadly enemies to the rapid advancement of fresh creative work and its ready assimilation by undernourished children: The inertia of parents as individuals. The persistence of routine habits in relation to matters which are not routine. The clatter of educational machinery. Over-recommendation of books which rouses a strong determination not to read. Over-condemnation of books with its opposite effect. Reading for credit or reward, which I condemn without hesitation and without mercy as destructive to the love of reading. The serious habit, acting as a narcotic on author, publisher, reviewer, and book- seller, as well as upon the child, by dulling the sensibilities to sensitive prose and verse and closing the mind to those fresh manifestations of literature which afford such keen pleasure to real judges of literature of any age. “The publishing of children’s books at the present time is worthy of the highest type of intelligence and skill that we can bring to it,” says one of the foremost publishers of the day. ‘No longer is it a by-product of the publishing business but a distinct department with special problems of its own, for the solution of which we must turn with a new demand and with fresh confidence to the schools as well as to the libraries of the country.” “Yet, strangely enough at present,’ he observed, “the sloppiest manu- scripts that come into this office are from teachers of English. ‘They lack precision in quotation, proper respect for authoritative sources and show poor balance in the organization of their own subject-matter. How do you account for it? What’s to be done about it?” Doesn’t it all go back to natural exposure to books in childhood and to proper feeding and assimilation? Some children are born with the power to choose and to assimilate. In others it may be slowly developed. Many grown-ups die every year without ever having known that such power exists. ‘They learned the mechanics of reading, they taught the mechanics of reading, but they never really entered into the joy of reading for reading’s own sake. Their reading never ‘soaked into them and became a vitalizing element in their existence. 88 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The wisest teacher of teachers I know—Emma L. Johnston, principal of the Maxwell Training School in Brooklyn, New York—has always been a reader of books as well as of character. She is the author in associa- tion with the late William H. Maxwell of several textbooks in English; her name is upon the title page of an excellent book of plays for little children. Miss Johnston has been my friend, as Kate Douglas Wiggin records in The Garden of Memory that she was hers—all the years of my profes- sional life and when I asked her what I should say to you on this great 9c- casion, these are some of the things she mentioned: Don’t try to entertain them. Give them principles. Tell them who are making books for children teday and that school- masters should confine themselves to the habit-getting things. Creative writing should not be in the style of a language book. Tell them to make an event of the coming of the new book and children will never forget it. And then she added, “I am not a real judge of literature—few of us are. Dr. Maxwell had that power. He felt it keenly and was alive to present as well as past manifestations. 2 “When the first number of Trilby appeared in Harper’s Magazine he recognized it for what it was and told us right away. He waited for no one to tell him that a book was good.” In closing I would like to pay my own tribute to New York’s great superintendent of schools, with whom I was told it was about as easy to gain an audience as with the President of the United States. But leaping the barriers I found him the gracious, genial lover of literature I believed him to be after listening to one of his eloquent addresses. I had something to tell him to which he listened attentively and it was simply this: Hundreds of little children just learning to read are standing in line every day in our branch libraries all over Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx, waiting for easy books to be brought back by other children. What shall we co about it? Shall we buy primers? “I had thought the school supplied enough of them,” was his reply, “but if they really come and stand like that,” and his eyes grew very bright, “why that means language interest. They want to read of their own accord out of other books, out of school hours—the English language. They must have all the books they want. You have told me something thar makes me very happy. I am coming to see them in the libraries.” More and more are the libraries of the country becoming spacious play- grounds for the mind as well as testing places for the reality of interests created in the schools. America has made this special gift of children’s libraries to the world, Let us cherish its freedom of exercise rather than bind it by mechanical organization. GENERAL SESSIONS 89 ADDRESS JESSIE GRAY, TRAINING TEACHER, PHILADELPHIA NORMAL SCHOOL, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Education is a national asset, and teachers are the artisans, the keen tem- per of whose idealism must develop that asset for the greatest gain to the nation. The determination to promote and increase education may be measured by strength of personality as well as by the scientific training of teachers. Strength of personality, strength of determination, as of any other power, is measured by the distance it can be felt, as well as by its intensity. Life, as power, must be increased by the potentiality of every individual who may add to the sum total of the life stream of which he or she is a part. Whether the life stream in this nation is to be clear, deep, forceful, and guided is for us teachers to decide; and organization, not only of the indi- vidual life but of the aggregation of lives, is the keynote of its accomplish- ment. Organization primarily increases power and prevents waste; it accomplishes results impossible by isolated individuals. A life, weak in isolation, may be as strong as the group to which it allies itself. The slogan of the National Education Association “The profession at work on its problem,”’ aims at this concrete result, power in the individual and in- _ creased power and influence in the group for and by the group. The National Education Association by its departments, research bureau, discussions, and Journal seeks the elimination of wasted isolated effort and makes each member the recipient of all that has been accomplished by every other member. A book that I can heartily recommend has recently been edited by pooling all the wisdom of the state secretaries. It is called State Organization and is compiled by Hosman of Nebraska. As teachers we must produce better results; we must look more scientifically at the produc- tion process, and our research bulletins, our educational magazines, and the Journal hand to us power to produce more quickly, and more unerringly, the product we are after—deeper understanding and wider technic of edu- cation in individuals. To make of living a fine art—a life that shall be purposeful, indefa- tigable, well disciplined, tempered to endure the utmost strain and stress of living, is an ideal worthy of any educator. ‘To strive and hold cheap the strain, to dare nor grudge the throe, is worthy living! ‘To do this we need common experiences in the laboratory of life. We may think of or- ganization as this common experience that we all voluntarily seek to get a wider sphere of usefulness, to become more tolerant, sympathetic, un- selfish—to achieve all those human reactions without which life together is a failure. As a uniting force, the National Education Association serves this most useful purpose. Ideals shared help to unite; but ideals accomplished by mutual aid form 90 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION an indissoluble bond. Organization means to me the sharing of common humanitarian ideals—and the sharing of strength to accomplish those ideals. Organization is the structure of our mutual endeavor through which we secure progress for ourselves, guidance for the group, and accomplishment for all. Loyalty, which is putting the hand to some bit of work till it is accomplished, is the by-product of organization. The concrete thing we accomplish is good, but the strengthening of the spirit of loyalty is the greater good, because it is an earnest expression of future skill and en- deavor with greater results as a harvest. It is what we are loyal and pur- poseful enough to pass on to others that is the great test of an expression of living. Organization, then, develops individuals, through the creation of a fine loyalty, a fine generous spirit of comraderie and sharing; and at the same time it combats and defeats selfishness. Organization, I repeat, is a common experience we all pass through to develop greater constructive power in individual lives for the good of the group. The National Education Association is the aggregate community interest that educators of the nation have created for a larger field of usefulness and influence. In loyalty to that organization, through service, we find our own development, we rid ourselves of peculiarities, we gain in the grace of living together, The courtesy, the graciousness of life comes from an expression of ap- preciation for all that has been attempted and accomplished for us by others. It is so in the home, the community and the state. We find that opportunity to grow in gracious appreciation in our National Education Association because so much is done for us by others. Some one has said “Life is a cup, not to be drained, but a chalice to be filled.” I might paraphrase “Organization, this National Education Association, is a cup, not to be drained, but a chalice to be filled with service, appreciation, for- bearance, sympathy, generosity.” The soldier who passes on the cup to slake another’s thirst has all the finer well of water that springs up and gains by giving—That after all, is the great difference between a child and an adult—the attitude toward giving and getting, Our organization teaches us to put away childish things and to give and grow. We learn forbearance when we hear teachers thoughtlessly say ‘The National Education Association has done nothing for me.” We learn to wait for growth; for growth into service is an evolution: it takes time. The day is quickly coming when more and more teachers will see that the National Education Association is an opportunity individually and collec- tively to increase a powerful kind of influence that reckons on better lives and better living, together as an aim worthy of the best that our democ- racy demands. I ask when you return home to your part of the nation, that you go, as a result of this splendid convention, with increased determination to preach GENERAL SESSIONS 91 the potency of this National Education Association and increase its mem- bership by the keenness and contagion of your own enthusiasm, to show others what they may do, to assign duties if possible, and above all to praise for work well done. To one clear note in divers tones each one of us thrills—In a few days, every nation of the globe will pledge the United States of America on the 150th anniversary of its birth in this city, a short distance from where we are gathered in convention. Fellow teachers, I pledge to you of the United States of America one nation, indivisible, with liberty, justice, and opportunity for all. We are the educators of that nation; the keen edge of our enthusiasm is the tool that carves its destiny and chisels its ideals so that all who run may read. Let us look to our tools again, for faster and faster must we work; and more unerringly must we create the spirit, that is worthy of being the voice of the people, for the people, by the people. And I hear a prophetic voice saying “‘write’ and I ask what shall I write and J hear again the answer “These are they that have come out and have prepared themselves in all conscience to help others lead more abundant lives in the place where youth and opportunity meet, and that is the public school.” TEACHING SERVICE THROUGH THE JUNIOR RED CROSS—A BRIDGED ARTHUR W. DUNN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR, AMERICAN JUNIOR RED CROSS. WASHINGTON, D. C. In the fascinating story of his life, Michael Pupin describes the birth, in the Civil War, of the National Academy of Sciences, and in the World War, of the National Research Council. “Blessed be the country,” he exclaims, “which even in time of war creates institutions the highest aim of which is to cultivate the arts of peace!” The Junior Red Cross is one such institution. Born in war time to enable the children to share in the work of the Red Cross, its underlying purpose has always been to foster the spirit of service and good will. Con- ceived in the minds of educators, its educational values have always been uppermost in the thought of those who have directed the movement. It is only one of many examples of the mobilization of children during ‘the World War for participation with their elders in a great national en- terprise. Among these examples it is unique in that it has not only con- tinued to function since the war, but has spread by leaps and bounds, like a prairie fire, until today it is a world-wide movement, of and for children, unparalleled in history. More than forty countries, representing every continent and distant islands of the seas, now have their Junior Red Cross organizations, with an aggregate membership of nearly ten million children, under the direction of their teachers in their schools. Half of this member- ship is to be found in 150,000 schoolrooms in the United States and her territories. 92 NatTIOoNAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION The foreign program of the American Junior Red Cross first scattered the sparks that burst into flame here and there throughout Europe, and were later wafted to other parts of the world. It was more like the kindling of a multitude of friendly lights, from each of which, in turn, new lights were lighted, spreading illumination over ever-widening circles. This idea is symbolized in our American Junior Red Cross poster for the past year, “Lighting the World,” which hangs before you. , The rapid spread of the Junior Red Cross has been due to the avidity with which children take to it. It appeals to them. They like activity. They are naturally friendly. They enjoy bdo of service. One of the most popular slogans of the Junior Red Cross has been “Happy Childhood the World Over.” I often think that the significance of this slogan is not appreciated by many. It does not refer to the kind of happiness that results from mere relief from suffering. It does not mean merely well-fed, well- clothed, and well-housed children. It refers rather to the joy that comes to children through activity, and especially through activities that are of service to others. The service of the American Junior Red Cross to the children of Europe after the war, and at the present time, has been largely that of giving them something to do, rather than something to eat or to wear—playgrounds, workshops, gardens, and the like. This was true also in the striking work done by the American Junior Red Cross for the chil- dren in the tornado area of Illinois and Indiana last year. Mental hygiene plays an important part in the work of the Junior Red Cross. At this point I think I should give you the definition of the Junior Red Cross which was formulated a year ago by an international group of lead- ing educators who spent four days in Paris discussing the Junior Red Cross and its relations to education. It is the best characterization of the Junior Red Cross of which I know, and I shall refer to it from time to time in the course of my remarks. The Junior Red Cross is a voluntary organization through which children and young people find opportunities for self expression; the motive which it brings into any classroom appeals to the imagination and the will of children in such a way as to transmute knowledge into action; this motive is being used, by those who are directing the movement, to promote health, to develop the altruistic tendencies in children, to give practice in good citizenship, and to promote international friend- liness among the children of the world; it is not a method of education, but it is a free spirit which quickens the life of the whole school in which it is organized. The Junior Red Cross was founded in America by educators, and every- where throughout the world it works in the schools. In fact, it has, and can have, no successful existence independent of the schools. In its very essence it 1s a joint enterprise of the school and the Red Cross; an enter- prise which the Red Cross could not carry on without the full cooperation of the schools. Nor could the schools carry it on without the Red Cross. Furthermore it is an enterprise in which the schools can not engage except on the supposition that, by doing so, they are furthering their own ends of education. The best Junior Red Cross program is not one which adds many new GENERAL SESSIONS 93 activities to the school life, but one which gives new educational and social values to activities which already form a part of the regular school work. “School work for service” has come to be a maxim in Junior Red Cross work. What the Junior Red Cross does is to add, not activities, but a real social motive. When the uninitiated look at an exhibit of so-called Junior Red Cross work, they may very likely say, “But that is just an exhibit of the regular work of the school!” And that, for the most part, is probably just what it is. The significance of such an exhibit, from a Junior Red Cross point of view, is to be found, not in the articles themselves, but in the social uses _ to which they have been put, and in the motives which inspired the chil- dren when they produced them. The girls of a sewing class learn to sew by making garments; but they do so with the knowledge that the finished product will contribute to the necessities, the comfort, or the pleasure of some one needing it, and with the new social interest that this knowledge gives. The same is true of the manual training classes, the art classes, the domestic science classes. It is true of the geography class when its study of Albania, or Greece, or Guam, is spiritualized by the sending of simple Christian tokens made, perhaps, in the art class, or of messages written in the language class, to the children of these countries. It is true of the classes in language, or history, or civics, or art, when the motive of ex- changing, through international school correspondence, ideas, and experi- ences and samples of school work, is present. In many a high school, exist- ing musical or dramatic organizations derive new inspiration by arranging entertainments for children’s or veterans’ hospitals, or to raise money for their service fund. This explanation should throw light on that part of the Paris definition of the Junior Red Cross which reads, ‘“The motive which it brings into any classroom appeals to the imagination and will of children in such a way as to transmute knowledge into action.” “The motive which the Junior Red Cross brings into any school room,” our definition further says, “is being used to promote health.” On this point I shall only take time to say that the American Junior Red Cross has no particular scheme of health education. It does, however, by various means, seek to impress upon its membership the idea that “fitness for serv- ice” is a prerequisite to a life of service, and therefore to stimulate the formation of health habits. In doing this, it seeks to support and to sup- plement whatever health education work the school may be doing. Its main service in this field is to afford, or to strengthen, the social motive for health knowledge and health activities, and to provide a means by which to “transmute (health) knowledge into action.” The only other point which my time permits me to develop relates to what, in my mind, is the most important contribution which the Junior Red Cross has to make to the schools. Referring once more to the defini- tion of the Paris conference, ““The motive which the Junior Red Cross brings into any schoolroom is being used . . . to give practice in good 94 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION citizenship, and to promote international friendliness among the children of the world.” Let me remind you, first, that modern civics, or citizenship training, in our schools starts with the broad conception of the “good citizen” which Professor Dewey long ago declared for, namely a “thoroughly efficient and serviceable member of society.” Second, that it recognizes the present citizenship of the child, and is therefore largely a training in citizenship and not merely a training for future citizenship. It seeks above all to de- velop in the child a sensitiveness to his membership in the community, and does this largely by fixing his attention upon his own actual community experiences, and by extending these experiences through participation in community activities. This being so, it is not difficult to see how the Junior Red Cross fits into the scheme. Its essential purpose is to afford children opportunity to be “serviceable members of society” and to enrich their social experience through group action among themselves and with the adult membership of the community. But even in this connection it is possible for some schools to say, as some have said, “But we do not need the Junior Red Cross. Our whole educa- tional scheme is based on pupil activities. We teach community civics, and our pupils engage in a multitude of community activities.” Our answer to this is, ““Yes, but don’t you think it is worth while for the pupils and teachers in your school to be linked up with the 5,000,000 other children and the 150,000 other teachers enrolled in the United States in a great national organization with a program of national significance?” I know from experience in organizing and teaching community civics the ease with which can be developed in boys and girls a consciousness of, and a sensitive- ness to; their membership in the local community, and the difficulty with which a similar consciousness and sensitiveness are developed with refer- ence to our national community. One can hardly overestimate the civic value of giving to the children of the nation the conscious experience in nation-wide cooperation that comes through active membership in a nation- wide organization with service as its keynote—a nation-wide organization not only of children, but representing also the organized voluntary coopera- tion of the adult citizenship of the country, with and through government, for disinterested service to humanity. UTILIZING CHILDREN’S SPECIAL GIFTS—ABRIDGED FLORA DRAKE, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, INDIANAPOLIS, IND. Education is growth. No one questions the truth of this statement, but it will be difficult to find another statement made by three words which has a greater variety of interpretations. Teaching and educating, although not synonymous terms, are closely allied in meaning. It has not been long since men called attention to the derivation of the GENERAL SESSIONS 95 word from the Latin “educere,”’ to lead out, in order to impress upon teachers that somehow children were to be led out of the darkness of ig- norance into the light of knowledge. Teaching was thought of by such leaders as fact-giving. The business of the teacher was to lead the children intrusted to his care to fountains of knowledge—to Pierian springs and there, if necessary, compel them to drink. They were heard to murmur in self-defense and protest against such procedure when some errant boy or girl, with whom they had struggled, failed to pass the examinations, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Today, teachers and parents in all sections of our country are striving to give children an education. ‘They think of the race achievements in knowl- edge and skills as desirable possessions to be acquired by children through study. Education is still interpreted in terms of subject-matter, if practice is the criterion. Theory says, “Education is growth.’ Growth ‘is not something done to plants, animals and human beings; it is not something they acquire; it is something they do. In this process of growth (education) the teacher is to the child what the gardener is to the plant. A school is a child garden, to translate a German term. Just as an expert gardener should know the peculiarities of each species of plant he tries to keep growing in his garden, so should the teacher recognize each child’s special gifts. Every child has’ individual tendencies, latent powers, potentialities, ca- pacities, capabilities which appear and grow in a favorable environment or what an Indiana professor calls developability. Heredity acted upon by environment produces the individual. The teacher’s work along with that of administrators and supervisors is to supply the proper conditions to in- sure growth. Our law of growth is that of exercise. If children’s special gifts grow, they must be used. In far too many places, these natural instincts of growth stirring within are wholly disregarded or treated as obnoxious traits not in conformity with certain external standards of the school. Children possess initiative—a quality often missing in adults. They do not wait to be told to act, but begin at birth to experiment with certain bodily movements. The trial and error method is too expensive for all learning to take place in that way, but the teaching, the giving of aid must be done in such a way that the child is encouraged to make further efforts and continue until he feels that he has succeeded in the thing he started ovt to do. , If the child’s initiative is directed toward unsocial or anti-social ends, then the teacher must put up the detour sign and reroute the misdirected energy. By the time children enter the public schools a few have already lost much of this power of initiative because in the home they have been hedged in by a wall of “don’ts” and “you can’ts”’; however, most of them are eager for every opportunity to use this power. In the schools a decade ago, when the thought of the teacher was centered on teaching children to read, to write, to calculate, to sing, to draw, to obey commands in calis- 96 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION eee eR a cere thenics, there was no place for the child’s initiative. The boy who exercised this natural gift was labelled bad, troublesome, marked low in deportment, or otherwise punished until he found life tolerable only when he conformed to school rules and school discipline. Talking by children to each other during school hours was strictly forbidden and no movement of children about the room or building was permitted except when they were told ex- pressly how, when, and where to go. Contrast this with the modern classroom where the teacher recognizes thirty, forty, yes even forty-five individuals each with a divine right to grow at his own rate while he lives naturally as a social being serving his group, each according to his ability. “The teacher is no longer a dictator, an autocrat, but just as was the greatest of all teachers—a servant, placing him- self so that he will be of the most possible service and inspiration to the group as a whole and to each child individually. There is a time for work, a time for play, a time for silence, and a time for the noise of industry. Children possess the natural gift of curiosity—a gift if directed that develops the scientific attitude, but undirected develops busy-bodies. In the modern classroom just described the curiosity of some of the pupils would be so stimulated that they would go at once, if left free, to books and encyclopedias for further information. ; Strong, healthy children are naturally active. —They demand action. The wise teacher does not attempt to repress this spirit of activity, but utilizes it in carrying on community projects. What an opporunity for him through this gift to help children to recognize the abilities of others; now to step aside to become a follower and at another time to assume leader- ship. Jealousy, one of the greatest enemies to human happiness, has no place to thrive in such a school. Some child suggests that the story just read be dramatized. “The class eagerly gets to work. Those who can draw best make the scenery, those who can write best transpose some of the indirect discourse into direct, those who can manage properties prepare the stage, and those who are the best penmen write the invitations. The class leaders and the wise teacher finds something for each child, if it is nothing but to be a swaying tree or to imitate the sound of the wind which sways the trees, or to be critics and newspaper reporters who view the perform- ance and report it for the school paper. The discipline here is of the highest type—self-discipline. Children move freely about to get needed materials, sit now in their seats, now at the library table or in a low chair in some nook in the room; talk with a neighbor about an arithmetic problem, ask a neighbor to dictate some number combinations or spelling words in order to know just what ones need attention—all of course so quietly that others are not disturbed. The bell rings all too soon for noon dismissal. Children return eager to begin where they: left off. Whispering is not a crime, the clock ticks be- cause it must to keep time, but not for children and teachers to hear. Idle- ness is not punished by the teacher, but made taboo by the society living within the room. Public opinion governs, not the teacher’s commandments. GENERAL SESSIONS 97 Cop eh a en Dae Children possess great creative power. The imagination is most active in early life. Children possess great faith in their own ability as well as in the abili- ties of others. Long ago Emerson said, So nigh is grandeur to our dust So near is God to man When Duty whispers low, “Thou must,” The youth replies, “I can.” In most grown-up folks this faith has been dwarfed by failures in enter- prises undertaken on one hand and fear of ridicule on the other. Philoso- phers tell us that man only uses a small part of his strength. By utilizing the innate powers in children in carrying on classroom enterprises which succeed to a large degree, this creative power will grow, the imagination will be directed along profitable lines, and a justifiable faith in one’s own ability will continue throughout life. Children live in the present; they are not interested in the future except that close at hand—‘tomorrow,” ‘‘next week.” To them the future has no stimulating or directing power except as present activities tend to extend into the immediate future. The stimulus to healthy work resides in the situation with which they are actually confronted. ‘The teacher who has sufficiently keen insight into the nature of each child so that he can bring about naturally problems that children enjoy solving because they call forth latent powers and allow the creative spirit within to operate, is the teacher who finds continuous joy in service in working with the current of happy, spontaneous activity of child life. : This creative power, accompanied by the fearlessness of little children, is the foundation of progress. When it is at work the child forgets com- pletely self; the inner urge to carry to completion the project he has in mind brings about self-direction and self-control, two points added within recent years to report cards which children carry into the homes. Crea- tive power at work unlocks the tongue, motivates language, soon brings about a need for reading to see what others have to say about the subject in hand, demands the assistance of others and thus breaks down any ten- dency toward egotism or a feeling of self-sufficiency which proud parents and admiring teachers are apt to bring about unconsciously by praising the precocious child. In schools where work is motivated by appeals to the creative powers, idle and indolent children are not found. Pupils work with a will and a purpose in order to produce results as soon as possible. The progress made today spurs them on to greater effort tomorrow. Per- sistence, perseverance, concentration, become a part of the fiber, backbone and very soul of the child who is trying to express in a material way that which surges within. Dependence which characterizes the long period of intancy, one of chil- dren’s special gifts, is a very important factor in education. Native curi- csity must be satisfied and together with initiative must be directed toward 98 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION a desirable ends. Because of this dependence this direction is managed so ingeniously by the teacher that development is not impeded. Dependence involves interdependence. “There is always danger that in- creased personal independence, for which modern education strives, will decrease the social capacity of the individual. This gift dependence makes it possible for the teacher to suggest to the individual who is inclined to believe he can live and act alone that he can assist or be assisted by his class- mates. Dependence developed into interdependence makes children willing to accept criticism and keeps them from the dangerous state of complete self- satisfaction. How to utilize children’s gifts must be a part of teacher-training. Un- fortunately, most of our demonstration schools have twenty or less pupils per teacher. The load of the teacher varies from 30 to 45 pupils and money is not available for supplies of paper, paints, clays, wood, tools, tables, benches, etc. The teachers in Indianapolis faced just such a situation. ‘The progres- sive spirits among them felt the need of materials that would stimulate curiosity, promote purposeful activity, evoke creative power, and elicit growth in industry and cooperation among their pupils. Beginning with a few suggestions from the central office, they began to think, to search, to organize existing materials and invented some excellent devices both for use in the recitation and for motivation of work done outside of the recita- tion. In the spring, two years ago, those who had found interesting ma- terials, devices, projects were asked to bring a sample to a primary grade meeting, that an exchange of ideas might take place. So numerous and so valuable were the specimens, that the teachers suggested that they be placed as an exhibit at the meeting in September when they would have time to study and take notes. A committee volunteered to organize the exhibit. By request the work was left up for several weeks so that teach- ers might study it with notebooks in hand. Other cities in the state asked to borrow this exhibit and today it is still regarded as a source of inspira- tion. Coordinate with this development of teacher initiative and creative. power, came a renewed interest among children. On every hand new projects came into existence, booklets of every kind, geography, nature study, travel, birds; sand tables found new uses, now a farmhouse and the buildings surrounding it; then a Japanese sunken garden. Corn and beans grew in cups on every desk in some rooms; the visitor was invited to the vivarium to inspect grasshoppers and other insects or to be present at the feeding of the household pets, turtles and fish in the aquarium. Poems and stories and drawings found places in the school publications—for most buildings developed newspapers, printed monthly on the school presses for upper grades and news sheets printed in large type for the primary folks. The visitor to a building was very certain to receive an invitation to visit a club at the time of its meeting or to witness a dramatization. Teachers have not exercised their own initiative nor encouraged pupil initiative because too great an emphasis has been placed upon uniformity GENERAL SESSIONS 99 throughout a school system, by those in executive positions. In this mod- ern age much is said about cooperation—a process according to a writer in Harper’s Magazine, some two or three years ago, in which one “coos” and the other operates. Utilization of children’s special gifts means a real cooperation in which pupils, parents, teachers, executives engage to produce the maximum amount of growth in the constructive powers with which individuals are endowed. Children bring to the school their offerings. ‘They lay upon the class- room altar special gifts: immaturity, or the power to grow; initiative; a creative spirit ; curiosity ; activity; joyousness; and a dependence, involving unlimited faith in man and God; saying “Take these, teacher, use them in helping us to grow strong, increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” LEGISLATION IN THE INTERESTS OF CHILDHOOD FRANCIS G. BLAIR, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION SPRINGFIELD, ILL. About forty years ago there came to southern Illinois a gentleman born and reared on the rolling prairies of lowa. Up to the time of his coming, as I have heard the story, he had never seen a natural forest. He had seen only those trees which were set out and grew up together. When he heard of a strip of virgin timber in the creek bottom where there were growing trees two or three hundred years old, he asked to be taken out to this forest. When one of the farm neighbors had driven him to a point from which he could see the great sycamores and elms and oaks and hickories reaching toward the sky, he asked the driver to stop. For a moment he looked as if he were in prayerful adoration. ‘Then he made a remark which showed clearly that he was ignorant of the composition of a naturally grown and growing forest. He seemed to think that all there was to this forest were the great upstanding trees which he beheld in the distance. He seemed un- consicous that down under those towering sycamores and elms and oaks was an under-forest of young sycamores, young elms, young oaks, ever reaching their branches upward to the sunlight and the air. And he seemed wholly unconscious that down under the leaves, in the warm fructifying mold, there were hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of acorns and nuts and seeds swelling big with the promise of a future harvest. But if this same gentleman could have come back to that region three years thereafter, when what we commonly call in southern ILlinois a cyclone swept over this region, flattening to the earth and wrecking this bit of primeval forest beyond recognition—and if he could have gone with sone of the younger folk who, having been away at school in February when the storm came, went one bright May afternoon to visit the wreck of this forest where they had celebrated their Fourth of July occasions and held so many picnics, and if he could have seen what they saw with their eyes, he 100 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION would have known that down under the great trees which he looked upon three years before there was an oncoming forest of young trees. For on that bright afternoon these young sycamores and elms and oaks and hick- ories, least hurt by the wrath of the storm were lifting their branches and leaves as if to say, ‘“Wait ten years, children; wait twenty or fifty or a hun- dred years and we will come up to take the places of the trees that have been broken by the storm.” I know the figure is an extreme one, but I am convinced that in the hurry and strife of our modern economic and social order there are lawmakers, business men, and ordinary citizens who are so engrossed in certain par- ticular lines of endeavor that they are making the same mistake when they look at the human forest: They seem to think and act and legislate as if they thought all there were to the human forest are the grown up men and women, forgetting the great under-human forest of boys and girls, coming up from the cradle to graduation from the high school so imperceptible as to escape their notice. Let me cite one case. A young man had sold out his farm possessions and gone into Chicago to engage in business. For twenty years I lost track of him. One day by mere accident I discovered his name in the directory of a large building in the loop in Chicago. His offices were on the twelfth floor. Thinking to surprise him I went to his door, opened it and went in. I found him in conversation with two men, a heated, bitter conversation. Thinking that I had come at an inopportune time, I started to retreat. Recognizing me, however, he caught me by the hand and ushered me to a chair by the window. After his conversation with the two gentlemen was ended, I stood and started the re-approachment by saying that the twenty years which had flown over our heads since we had last met had left some- what the same marks upon us, but that he would pardon me for saying that I saw certain lines on his face which indicated to me that he was spending his life too freely in the fierce business conflicts. He turned upon.me in some warmth with the statement that he would not listen to a lecture by a schoolmaster who was cloistered, who did not have to go out every morn- ing to fight in order to earn a dollar and then fight harder in order to keep it. Thinking to change the conversation, I said that during the ten minutes I had been sitting at the window looking down twelve floors into the artificial valley which they had built up, I had seen literally thousands of men and women going by on foot or in various conveyances, but during that time I had not seen a single child on the sidewalk, on the street cars or in any kind of a carriage or car. With a somewhat startled look on his face he said, ‘‘A child, a child, 1 have never thought to look for one. In fact I have almost forgotten that there are children in the world. I fight only with men, and it is with men that I work and about men that I think. In fact it has been fifteen years since a child climbed upon my knee and put its little hand on my cheek. I have almost forgotten that they were in ex- istence.”” This I admit is somewhat unusual, but we will find in every state and county and community and our legislation halls certain men and women who are in somewhat the same state of mind. GENERAL SESSIONS 101 But I care not how unthinking a man or woman may be, and how seem- ingly little concerned they may be about the presence of this great under- human forest of boys and girls, let such a human cyclone as the recent World War sweep the earth, hurling to destruction millions and millions of the most upstanding human trees that the world has ever produced—let such a human cyclone as this come and their minds must be instantly turned to the great under-human forest of boys and girls around the earth that must grow up and take the places of those destroyed by the storm. I do not know exactly how many men were killed in the World War, but it is estimated that at least ten million of men who but yesterday stool tall and courageous, seeking to achieve for themselves a modest fortune, to build themselves a home, to rear their children, to feed and clothe them—that ten million of such men today have their bodies rotting at the bottom of the sea or on the soils of various nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa. And, ladies and gentlemen, the only rainbow of hope which I can now see spanning these mighty continental fields of the dead—with all due respect to leagues of nations and world courts—the only rainbow of hope that now spans the sky of humanity’s future is the radiant bow of the world’s childhood.» Out of the hearts and minds of the oncoming generations of the earth must break the dawn of that new day which we fondly hope will succeed this terrible nightmare of war. Qut of the hearts and minds of these unnumbered mil- lions of children must be created the new heaven and the new earth, of brotherly love and brotherly kindness which shall succeed this terrible ordeal, where men, Christian men, go out upon the battlefield to kill and destroy each other. And when we think of these human trees, not destroyed outright, but mutilated, wrecked beyond all repair, arms shot away, legs gone, eyes blinded, lungs burned out, the wreckage of this terrible war passes our comprehension. I have come to believe that one of the worst out- comes of any great conflict of arms is this broken scrap heap of men that come wriggling, crawling, limping back from every firing line. My bless- ing upon the nation that extends its generous hand to bind up the wounds of these broken ones, to give arms to the armless, legs to the legless, eyes to the blind, and care to the deaf—to do everything it can to make the re- mainder of the life of these broken men as economically independent and happy as possible. But if you inquire into how much it costs our nation to put on a single artificial arm, a single artificial leg, the cost is startling. Not one dollar wasted, I am sure we will all agree, if it aids in any way in making life happier for these crippled men. But when we think of how the nation is willing to pour out its wealth to build up these broken human trees, how during the war Congress and the state legislatures laid aside party politics and voted all needed laws, and how individuals and groups and states poured forth their wealth like rivers to purchase bonds, to build battleships, to organize and transport armies—when we think of all this very proper outpouring of zeal and energy and wealth, we can not fail to turn our minds to the twenty-five million of boys and girls enrolled in the common schools of this nation which we are trying to build up into right men and right women through a process of twelve years of common school 102 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION De eee ee ee eee eee education at an annual per capita cost that would not keep an army mule through one winter’s campaign; and when in our effort to secure legisla- tion and money to purchase school grounds, to build school buildings, to project courses of study, to employ teachers, we meet with some of these individuals and corporations who were so generously patriotic during the war, we can not fail to take note of the fact that some of the hands that were so magnanimously open then are now closed tight, and that instead of that wartime, radiant, patriotic generosity, we often meet with indif- ference and sometimes hostility. I do not count myself competent to say who is loyal to America, but if I ever should undertake to fashion a definition, it would be something like this: I shall count that man a good patriotic American regardless of where his ancestors were born, regardless of what language they spoke, regardless of what church alter he bows his knees upon—lI shall count him a true American citizen if in word and in deed he seeks, through the enactment of laws and through his own cooperation to give this under-human forest, these boys and girls, a fair chance and a square deal. And I shall count that man disloyal to the America that I know and I love—I do not care how many times a day he stands and sings The Star Spangled Banner, I do not care how many times he stands and reads the Preamble to the Declara- tion of Independence or to the Constitution of the United States—I shall count him disloyal if in word and in act he is disloyal to the interests of the childhood of this republic and is unwilling to pay his part and play his part like a good citizen, like a good sportsman, in seeing to it that they are safe- guarded and protected through constitutions and laws from exploitation by individual and corporate greed and surrounded with such social, economic, and educational conditions as will tend to develop them into true men and women. In federal and state legislature we are constantly enacting laws for the conservation of our disappearing natural forests and the reforestation of devastated area. All this we believe is worthwhile and should be extended and strengthened. But we look with considerable concern now and then to see what our federal and state legislatures are willing to do for the con- servation of this under-human forest and to prevent its devastation in the laws they enact in the interests of the childhood of the nation. It is now my purpose to name some of the beneficial laws. I believe that the one first great law which was passed in behalf of childhood was that law that established the right of the nation, the state, the community, to tax individual and corporate wealth for the benefit of all. I have not a drop of communistic blood in my veins. I believe that individual or corpo- rate endeavor to secure wealth is essential to the development of right character and sound government. But character strength comes mainly in the honest endeavor to secure wealth. Often when it is accumulated it be- comes a destroyer of character. So long as individuals and groups of in- dividuals could amass large individual and corporate fortunes without any acknowledgment of this obligation of indebtedness to the entire community, the children of the toiling masses had little or no hope for educational or GENERAL SESSIONS 103 social opportunities, When, however, some one conceived the idea of a tax through which the wealth of every individual, of every corporation, could be made to behave as if it belonged to every man, woman, and child in the community—when that first drastic, far reaching law was enacted, one of the greatest possible benefits to universal childhood had come. | pay my tax and lights swing along the street and darkness and danger disappear. I pay my tax and good roads are laid down over which I go to visit my neighbors or transact my business. I pay my tax and parks and play- grounds are opened up, down to which come the children to play themselves into strong manhood and womanhood. I pay my tax and libraries are opened up wherein children may meet the great and greatness of the past on easy, accessible terms. I pay my tax and school grounds and _play- grounds are purchased, school buildings and gymnasiums are built, courses of study projected, teachers employed, up to which come the millions of children to have their hearts and minds touched into greater light and greater power. I believe that the tax is the most practical application of the Bible doctrine “I am my brother’s keeper’ that was ever written into constitutions and laws. I am convinced that the quality of civilization of every nation can be measured by its interests in its children as expressed in its constitutions and laws. All modern human progress has been made along the line of the enactment of legislation promoting and safeguarding the interest of childhood. Here in Philadelphia we are making the Declaration of Independence the basic text for much of our discussion. In the years succeeding its adoption there has been much questioning as to the inclusiveness of the phrase ‘‘all men” in the statement ‘‘all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Did this glowing statement include black men as well as white men? Did it include women as well as men? ‘These two large questions have been answered in the affirmative. Within the last twenty-five years we have begun to ask, does it include children? If children have these inalienable rights, should not our govern- ment, instituted by the fathers, deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed, make its constitution and laws secure to the childhood of the nation these inalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness ? Even a hasty survey will show that many such laws have already been enacted within the state and the nation. In guaranteeing life to its child- hood a state or a nation must consider the biologic, the physical side of chil- dren. Laws establishing state, county, city, and community boards of health are déing noble and effective work to this end. Public clinics and hospitals, county and community nurses, official studies and surveys into the physical needs of childhood; all of these are helping to secure physical life to the childhood of the nation. Better city and home sanitation, more play- grounds and open spaces, better and more nourishing food; all these conserve and promote the growth of our human under-forest. 104 NatTionaL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION Some years ago, Michigan authorities discovered that white fish which grew and throve in certain lakes could not be made to grow in other nearby lakes. An investigation showed that in the lakes where the white fish persist and increase in numbers there was a small bit of vegetable growth floating in the water upon which the little white fishes fed after being hatched out. In those lakes which had been repeatedly stocked without success, this vegetation was wanting. It was an easy matter to “transplant” this vegetation into these barren lakes and establish a con- tinuing stock of white fish. That state or nation which does not, through its laws and regulations, seek to discover and provide its children with proper food, is not securing for them the essential condition of physical life. But, perhaps the most important, far-reaching law passed by state or nation to secure the right of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness is the law curbing the greed of parents and corporations from employing their children in dangerous, exhausting labor during their formative, educative years. Child labor laws are a manifestation of the highest type of civiliza- tion, and it is nothing short of disgrace to any community, to any state, to any nation, to allow individual or corporate greed to sap the energies and waste the birthright of the children during these years when they should be at play or employed in those educative and social activities which tend only to larger and more complete development of their latent powers and abilities. As a boy on a farm one of my delightful occupations was in helping to gather the sap from the sugar maple trees. It was a matter of common knowledge that a mature tree could be tapped extenisvely without any apparent injury to the tree, but any attempt to tap the young, tender trees arrested and stunted their growth. No state or nation is conserving its young human trees that allows them to be exploited in the interests of any real or fancied need of parent or corporation. No doubt, the largest and most beneficial body of legislation which has been enacted by the states and nation in the interest- of our childhood relates to the founding and developing of our great school system. In no other way has the guarantee of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness to our growing youth been more fully realized. More and better play- grounds, athletic fields, gymnasiums, and swimming pools, better seating, better heating, and better ventilation, better lighting, better living and working conditions; all these have tended to conserve the physical life and increase the liberty and happiness of the children. Most of this liberty and happiness comes through the facilities furnished in rich programs of study and trained instruction for the development of their intellectual and emotional powers. What noble efforts have been made within the last decade to secure for exceptional children, the crippled, the blind, the deaf, these rights of life, liberty, and prrsuit of happiness! It is difficult to imagine a more touching appeal than is made by this potential human scrap heap in their demand that we provide them with such conditions as will enlarge their lives, increase their liberty, and GENERAL SESSIONS 105 promote their happiness. Our school laws relating to vocational education brought with them a hope and a danger to American childhood. No human being will live fully nor enjoy the largest kind of liberty until he has found some work which suits him and which he suits. Therefore, the introduction of courses of study, laboratories, and workshops, to arouse and direct the vocational instincts and aptitudes of public school pupils was a beneficent movement. But the danger lies in the cock-sureness of the infallibility of certain forms of subject-matter, certain methods of instruction, and certain mental tests, to determine the exact vocational niche in which each child may be made to fit. Let us expose our children to the incitements and allurements of a rich, lifelike program, and voca- tional selection will largely take care of itself. Perhaps the largest and most drastic school law affecting the interests of childhood is the compulsory attendance law. It invades the privacy of the home. It is justified on the grounds that ignorance is a liability, that no state or nation can endure permanently if its foundation rests upon the sands of an ignorant people. The only way to build a great common- wealth is to build it in the hearts and minds of its children through the process of universal education. By all odds, the most beneficent of all this group of laws have been those which have sought to secure for every child in these schools a good teacher—a man or woman fitted by nature, by education and training, to develop in these children a more complete life, a more rational sense of liberty, and a more intelligent pursuit of happiness. The highest crime of the pedagogic seas, is to compel a child to sit for nine months at the feet of a mediocre, incompetent teacher. Let us hope that the day is not far distant when every state in the union will guarantee to all of its public school children real teachers. ) This great National Education Association has been one of the most potent and effective forces in America in formulating, in promoting, in insisting upon the enactment of such legislation at Washington and in the capitals of the several states which shall conserve the interests and secure rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to all the children throughout the nation. Let us here and now rededicate ourselves to the great unfinished task which lies before us. Let us here and now highly resolve that the work so nobly begun shall be carried forward. Let us, from the activities and devotions of our noble leaders in this Association and in legislative halls, take increased devotion. Let us here and now rededicate ourselves to the great task of securing more and better legislation for the safeguarding, protecting, and developing of the childhood of our republic, for securing to every child in America the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 106 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION eae tl Re ee ee INDUSTRY’S INTEREST IN THE EDUCATION OF THE CHILD—ABRIDGED R. L. COOLEY, DIRECTOR OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, PUBLIC SCHOOLS MILWAUKEE, WIS. Following the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act by Congress in 1917, there has been a widespread interest in the subject of Vocational Education. One of the results of this interest has been the enactment by some twenty states of continuation school laws. These laws all require attendance at part-time schools on the part of young people employed in gainful occupa- tions who are under sixteen, or seventeen, or eighteen years of age—as the law of each particular state may provide. The required period each week varies, in the different states, from one half to one full day. I shall not discuss these laws. They are identical in principle. All are part-time schools, which mean short time contact extended through the early years of initial employment in trade, commerce, and industry. Wisconsin passed its continuation school law in 1911, thus antedating the Smith-Hughes Act by six years. Milwaukee got under way in Novem- ber, 1912. We may therefore speak upon the subject from an ey of fourteen years. In establishing a system of continuation schools, nothing is of greater importance than that they shall not be set up as elementary schools, differ- ing only in that they offer an attenuated program, a sort of “‘stint’”’ to be worked off before complete freedom is attained. So long as the young people are made or permitted to feel that they are being snatched back from their new-found freedom, and put into short pants for a day each week, there will be trouble. The continuation school must be regarded, by those projecting it, as the last rung in the ladder of elementary educa- tion. It must be provided, equipped, and presented as the first rung on the ladder of adult education. The great mass of those who will be required to attend are employed. ‘They are working eight hours a day, five days a week, and draw their paycheck. They must work from now on—and that is a long time. They may be young but they are through with all school except the part-time school. So far as the great majority of adults are concerned, all adult school attendance must be in part-time schools. The part-time feature characterizes adult education. This grows out of the fact that adults must support themselves and this activity takes most of the time of most of them. That the part-time continuation school should be an adult school is then my first point. Secondly, it should not be assumed that these young adults are to cease attendance at the part-time continuation school at the end of the compulsory attendance period. Opportunities for voluntary attendance, either day or evening, should be provided, both in excess of the required period each week and beyond the compulsory age limit of the particular state. The night school, which is a part-time school, and the GENERAL SESSIONS 107 a part-time day continuation school, present the same problems in the main, and should be organized into an adult education program, Adult education again, for most people, necessarily means part-time schools, and a demand for work largely calculated to serve some vocational end. ‘The work offered need not be “manual” to be vocational. The part-time or day continuation schools, because of the adult attitude, situa- tion, and needs of those who are required to attend, or may attend volun- tarily, must respond to the vocational education needs, and hence are frequently spoken of as vocational schools. The attitude expressed ought not to grow out of a contempt for the elementary or other full-time school. ‘Their work is fundamentally important and on the whole well done. There is an invaluable work to be done by the continuation school in bringing about the intelligent return of some of the young people to the full-time school. This should be regarded as one of the great privileges and opportunities of the day continuation school teacher. How can we bring our public along? What justification, economic and social, may we present for the intrusion of another tax-supported educational institution into the very age field heretofore thought to have been adequately cared for, and upon a local community already groaning under the expense of our present school establishments? How can we move our “status quo” school authorities, who render their best service by making the proponents of a new movement put up a vigorous fight to get recognition for their proposals? What may we say to the em- ployers with whose employment situation we are interfering, or to the parent who too often is the great (oftentimes unconscious) exploiter of child labor? What can we say to the teacher—frequently firm in the conviction that a one-half day or even a day period each week is a piffling thing, big enough to be a costly nuisance but too small to be of any educa- tional use? The day continuation school, as I conceive it, is calculated to meet the educational needs of, first, that group of young people who are through with the elementary school but have not yet finished high school. Roughly, that includes all young people who come under the compulsory attendance feature of any of our state laws. Second, all others who would voluntarily attend a part-time school designed to accommodate them. ‘Taking this second group into the plan at the beginning will powerfully affect the whole outcome of the continua- tion school movement. Can the public afford to leave these groups without provision for their further education? Is it fair to these young people to do so? Can the community afford to provide free public education? For years we have felt that any community having five hundred boys from such homes as could afford high school education should be provided with a school building, faculty, and necessary equipment, plus athletic fields and other important features. Yet if that same community were to have five hundred boys of the same age out at work, earning $300,000 a year, it 108 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION still seemed to some like a new, dangerous, and extravagant idea that they too have some equity in the moneys spent by the community for education, or that any special provision should be made for them. The character and volume of business in the future will fundamentally depend upon two factors—taste and productivity. Both of these factors will be most powerfully modified by education. We are bringing up too many boys as “colts” so that they will not be able to pull a load when they become “horses.” Economically it is stupid to stint the purchasing power, of ten, twenty, or thirty future years for any advantage accruing to but three or four immediate years. A long adulthood, with its accompanying responsibilities, spent upon a low serving, earning, and buying plane, is too big a price for business to pay for the privilege of hiring youth upon terms that take no cognizance of educational needs. Many argue that all this should be taken care of in full-time institutions. They suggest the trade school for practical training. ‘The full-time trade school has its place, but as an institution it has its limitations. Only those may attend it whose parents are able to support them while attending. The trade school can never be made sufficiently varied in what it offers so that it will not funnel the young people into a few crafts. For volume and variety of trade training we must depend upon an apprenticeship plan supervised and supplemented by a day part-time school. Today, all over ‘the country, if it were not for the golden flow of trained adults who have come and are coming to our shores from other lands we would be bank- rupt for skill. Some of our brightest and best young people have succeeded in acquiring training by our present unsystematic scheme, but on the whole we have been making our own American youth into the great Amer- ican half-baked. It is interesting to note that the wages of young people of high school age actually working in Milwaukee amount in the aggregate to more than the current expenditures for the operation of all our public schools in that city. Is not this group entitled to some consideration? Regard this group as prospective customers, and it gives one a new view of them, making the expenditures in their training appear more definitely an investment. But even when the economic argument is accepted, there is the matter of the inconvenience to employers. It is said employers will not hire young people who must come to school one day each week. They say they will fill the jobs with older people. Good! If there are older people unem- ployed needing jobs, then certainly these younger people needing school ought to be in school. If this answer seems conclusive, the question is asked: “What can you do in school one half day a week? ” Strange that employers, who fear the influence of one hour, once a month, at union labor headquarters, should be so certain that nothing can be accomplished in from four to eight hours once a week at a school supported and administered to co- operate with them for the young person’s welfare! Again, it is said that the young people do not like the part-time school GENERAL SESSIONS 109 and compulsion is a bad thing. If this argument were to prove frue upon analysis, we would, I think, be obliged to abandon all compulsory school attendance. I am satisfied it is not true. Of course it is incumbent upon the school to develop “drawing” power, and that can be done. Neverthe- less, I think the part-time school is working under great disadvantages. Exploiting parents and discommoded employers frequently perpetuate a state of mind upon the part of the pupil, hard to overcome. If the school were to work with the employed student body trying to stir up opposition te the employers with respect to wages, working conditions, etc., using the same methods as are used by some opponents of the school, I am sure it would be easy to create a very antagonistic spirit toward the employers. The ethics of any responsible school administrator will not permit him to retaliate in kind. Parents, employers, and sometimes the students themselves, have urged, at times, that required part time at school diminishes weekly wages and interferes with promotion. “There may be some instances where this is true, but usually the cases will not bear examination and analysis. On the other hand, the opposite effect has resulted in very many cases. To close the Milwaukee part-time vocational school would be the equivalent of placing two thousand four hundred additional young people upon the labor market full time. Were the school to be abolished, wages of this group would undoubtedly fall. This is a subtle economic problem not easy for parents nor inexperienced young people to understand. It is not easy to bring young people to see the immediate far away, nor to bring the distant in time close up. ‘That is, however, one of the problems of these schools. Exemptions are frequently urged, but it must be shown, when such requests are made, that when anyone is exempted from the re- quirements of the part-time attendance law those who are held for attend- ance have not had a fair chance to compete for the job in question. We must not hold some to a program and let others “get by.” In our fourteen years of experience, not a single one of the objections to the continuation school has proven true. With some six thousand people seeking voluntary attendance of less than eight hours weekly, it cannot be contended that nothing valuable can be done with the twelve thousand coming eight hours each week. ‘The necessity of adjusting in- dustry to receive these twelve thousand employees upon a basis of five days per week has not been unsurmountable, and has not led to fewer being employed. The age of the employed group has been somewhat in- creased and this is one of the good effects of the law. Restriction of im- migration has led to some pressure because the labor of those under eighteen is desired greatly. But these young people are so soon to be the men and women of our city that people are beginning to see the im- portance of their proper training. So far as the cost is concerned, education is so clearly the source of our national wealth that it becomes obvious that we are only taking the “seed corn” out, in taxes, whereby to raise the next crop. 110 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION In Milwaukee we are completing a $3,500,000 building, with $700,000 in equipment, to take care of this part-time group. We have over three hundred teachers and are spending $800,000 annually in operating the school. Yet no project ever undertaken by the city has received such unanimous support. All elements of the community—political, racial, and religious—are supporting the movement. ‘The social as well as the eco- nomic consequences are becoming apparent. ‘This work is spreading throughout the country. The larger conception of the work must prevail and generous financial support must be given it. “The part-time continua- tion school must not be made a Cinderella in the household. ‘This great body of teachers can help. I trust I may have served to create a better understanding. THE CHILD AND THE MILL—ABRIDGED KATHARINE DOZIER, GAINESVILLE, GA. Lovers of children and seekers of truth will consider this topic without prejudice or bias and devote a clear head and a sympathetic understanding to its discussion. The child of our Piedmont Belt in the south is the one we know, the one we have taught for twenty-five years, and we speak with assurance that we do know. We shall endeavor to present simple, concrete facts in such a way as to impart real knowledge of existing conditions, and to compare with these conditions former environment and conditions of living affecting the child under consideration. The tragedy of the isolated mountain or farm home is veiled by the romance of distance and sentimentalism until the average individual never has any true conception of its real conditions. What avails freedom to the slave of bitter poverty? What good does bracing mountain air do to the hovel with wooden shutters closed tight to keep out the “night air?” What advantage of mountain spring water polluted by surface drainage? What sort of diet does “pone and fry” furnish to malnourished children with tobacco supplied as a special luxury? What freedom of action can be secured by the slave of illiteracy? ‘To all the sentimentalizing of story writers who rave over “the Anglo-Saxon untrammelled on his mountain height” and lament his “descent into the toils of the industrial bondage” of the manufacturing plant I would ask ‘‘What has he lost that is of real value to himself or to society? What contribution did he make to society in “his untrammelled freedom” except a lunatic wife driven mad by hard labor, illiteracy, and isolation? A malnourished family with an occasional idot? A still to supply raw corn liquor to further stupefy and bestialize the human family? An unsanitary home? An ignorant progeny? To beget ignorance that it might beget more ignorance? What has “his descent into industry” done for him? Freed his wife from worse than slavery. Taught her to cook and sew and care for her new-born baby and her family. Assured her child of equal opportunity in education, health, and recreation. GENERAL SESSIONS 111 Provided a good home with modern conveniences and sanitary surround- ings. ‘Taught the entire family the value of community relations, and developed a sense of social obligations entirely wanting in former environ- ment. Offered an opportunity for gainful employment and a means for supplying all necessities and some luxuries. (Our plants average an auto- mobile to every family.) In the law of averages, in weighing advantages and disadvantages, in calm consideration of actual facts, what do we find to be the simple truth as it applies to the child in the mill village? Before I went to work in the mill village I was a mountain missionary teacher for several years. Brought up in our Piedmont Belt I had known our people intimately all my life. As a mountain teacher I drove many, many miles in a buckboard, and everywhere I found a group of fifteen children I organized a little cove school. Two families usually furnished the requisite number. I placed a teacher in the mountain cove and sought out another group. I lived in their homes. I shared their sorrows. I heard the cry of the mountain women for a chance for their children. Or I found them apathetic and worn with burden bearing, too tired to care—dragging out a wretched existence with poor food poorly prepared, scant clothing, ignorant of the proper care of themselves or of their children, illiterate, hopeless. And then I came to the mills. I have many of those very same families in our mill village I had in the mountains. ‘The shiftless father is working regularly. He can not live here unless he does work. The mother works in the mill or not, as she pleases. Most of our mothers stay at home. Lights, water, comfortable surroundings, neighbors, schools for her children, the church of her choice, recreation of many types to suit every taste, all these things and more, are blessings she has never enjoyed before. She is happy because her child can go to school, can be properly clothed and housed and fed. And she knows that when her child does go to work that his labor will have a wage compensation to give him many things he could never have enjoyed in his barren mountain fastnesses. She knows too that she need not let her child work when he is old enough to work - unless she so wishes. That he need not find work in the mill unless he so desires. We have furnished from one plant alone a school superintendent of a large city system, a number of teachers, as many ministers, many farmers who have saved enough money in the village to buy their own land, a number of small merchants, bookkeepers, clerks, telephone girls, but we are proudest, of course, of those who have earned promotion in our own industry. The master mechanic in one of our mills learned to read and write six years ago in our night school. His twelve children are among our brightest and best, and he plans to send them all through high school, where his second daughter is now a pupil. His oldest daughter has recently married a member of our basket- ball team and the young people have good prospects. The second daughter plans for college, and from illiteracy to college in two generations speaks 112 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION eloquently for our industrial centers. Practically all of our younger workers have finished the grammar school and an increasing number each year attend high school and college. In one large family three generations of illiterates have been redeemed and one of the connection is now in high school. Our mills show as large a percentage of children attending high school and college as the respective states show. We could multiply these true incidents and examples until you would be exhausted in listening to a mere recapitulation. We speak only a simple truth when we assert that the southern cotton mill has done more toward the Americanizing the native Anglo-Saxon of our land than any other agency. Individualistic in the extreme, unedu- cated, antisocial in many respects, he has learned quickly and well once given the chance which his industrial life has afforded him. ‘The time of exploiting the child is a thing of the past and the mill is giving to the child in its churches, schools, and recreation centers advantages he would not otherwise have. + When he does become old enough to work, he may still go to part-time and evening schools. He has always healthful recreation afforded him. His health is a matter of expert care and interest. His civic interests are ever in the foreground, kept there by skilled leaders who are employed’ to develop good citizenship. Libraries encourage him to read. Athletic clubs stimulate good sportsmanship. Social clubs help him to play. Gymnasiums and swimming pools are open for his use and pleasure. Health centers and free clinics provide for his physical well-being. Churches and Bible schools minister to his spiritual needs. And in all these activities his own individuality is sacred as the community leaders carefully avoid the attitude of paternalism, and encourage the individual to pay his just share for all advantages. Ignorant of every community obligation the isolated mountain dweller or hill farmer, learns in our industrial centers the value of common welfare, the joy of social intercourse. He sees, often for the first time, his country’s flag, and learns for the first time his lesson in civic responsibility. Wisely directed his life finds pleasure in hitherto unknown _ joys. Musical entertainment furnished by his own bands and orchestras develops appreciation and his asthetic nature. Recently forty of our boys and girls in the grammar school have organized a mandolin club and their fathers have bought the guitars, mandolins, banjos, for their own children. When we first began this work the mill bought the musical instruments for those who would learn to play. We have a piano in each of our assembly rooms and parlors. But the orchestra wished to have one in the band room they call their own; so they bought one without asking the mill to contribute a cent. At first all our refreshments at our parties were paid for by the company. But now the young people’s social club provides for its own entertainment, having all necessary committees for program, reception, refreshments, and paying each, his own part. We have at one of our plants a blonde giant whose ruddy face, blue eyes, and fine physique attract attention and elicit GENERAL SESSIONS 113 admiration from all who see him. He is humorous, shrewd, kindly, and closely observant of those who visit our plant. Like all other independent, free American citizens, he is quick to see and to resent patronage. I can give you our general attitude toward those who express written opinions of our southern -mills knowing little or nothing of actual conditions by quoting this native of our mountain belt: When I see these fellows come around and begin in their high and mighty way to talk about things they jest naturally don’t know nothin’ about, hit makes my “Andrew-Saxon” blood bile, and I want wipe up the earth with the pore little snoopin’ eejits. Then I get to thinkin’, and I know theyr’e jest plum ign’rant and a tryin’ to fool theyselves into thinkin’ theyr’e smart and fust thing I know I’m feelin’ plum sorry for them and'‘a wantin’ to learn ’em some sense. If they’ll come often enough and stay long enough we'll learn ’em lots and they’ll git to be plum civilized. PREVENTING DELINQUENCY AMONG CHILDREN WILLIAM HEALY, DIRECTOR OF THE JUDGE BAKER FOUNDATION BOSTON, MASS. To you school people who have invited me to speak to you on the topic of “Delinquency of the School” I would say, first and last, that a very great reduction of our immense problem of delinquency and crime is most certainly possible. What we grievously lack to this end is coordinated public social effort. Some efforts to stem the tide are made, of course, but there is too little pulling together by the different agencies who should be interested in the prevention of delinquency. ‘The school as one of these agencies, indeed an important one, has vast possibilities for detecting early delinquent trends and coping with them. These are not arm-chair words; over years we have been making studies of careers, extending from childhood to adult life. And measuring failures over against successes we have been forced to the conviction that in a vast number of cases, commonsense effort following scientific inquiry would have headed off the careers, after early signs of delinquncy trends have been perceived. An established truism, that by this time should be known to everyone, is that the real roots of delinquency and crime in nearly all offenders are imbedded in the experiences and thoughts of youth, often of extreme youth. We must never forget that character is formed during school years. Get a boy through his school age, certainly through his high school age, without his developing delinquent ideas and habits, and it is to be shown statistically that he is very unlikely to show them later. So all this terribly costly effort to catch those who have committed crime and the frightfully expensive methods of attempting to convict them, if they are caught at all—as they so frequently in America are not—and the punishment of them or the treatment of them, are part of a process of shutting the barn door after the horse is stolen. | -Now, there is much in our civilization at present conspiring to produce 114 NATIONAL EpucCATION ASSOCIATION delinquency and crime—much that is realized and felt by any public-minded person—that a great deal has to be done about it if we are to preserve a decent dignity, self-respect, and even protection in our ways and manners of social life. The school, as the first social organization in contact with masses of human individuals, has the earliest chance. Very frequently indeed the foreshadowings of trouble and the actual problem itself may be discerned in school life. From prolonged studies in two American cities, we could give actually hundreds of illustrations of this fact, namely, that the progress of a career frequently proceeded towards criminalism of the worst sort straight along from beginnings that were present and could have been ob- served in school life, and indeed sometimes were observed, but nothing efficient was done about it. Let us not talk about blame; our schools have been so wonderfully beneficent in building up our nation’s manhood and womanhood towards realization of the prosperity and the many blessings with which we are endowed. But I wonder if our school education has not been on the whole more aimed at achievement of material welfare than directed toward incul- cation of good ethical standards of living. Is it true that, as a notable author recently says, the elementary school system does little more than make of its pupils ‘something rather less than good. adding machines, fair atlases, and rather poor outlines of history,” not aiding them to meet life, which is hardly a process of reciting sums, dates, localities, but which requires continuous judging, weighing, balancing, and drawing conclusions? About the school centers the main opportunity for most important mitiga- tion of the greatest destructive expense which, outside of wartimes, the citizens of our country have to bear. . There is temptation to dwell on possible systematic endeavors by the school to cultivate ethical discriminations and attitudes which would fore- fend disaster for the individual and save much for society, through mass prevention of delinquency. For it is actually true that the pupil in his day-by-day acquisition of training in the use of mental tools for life’s work is more than apt to gain no sort of fine background of thought, of ideas, and imageries that form the sustaining tissue of satisfactory lives. It seems to be undoubtedly true that the content of mental life that is utilized in daydreams and fantasies, especially in youth, and out of which emerges persistent interests in the goals of life, is of vastly more import for behavior and the conduct career of the individual than is any amassing of facts or acquirement of facilities such as are the objectives of the ordinary run of school subjects. One would wish above all to see the schools giving young people, not o1ly many more discriminations of real values for life, but also affording them mental pabulvm to be assimilated into their beings which mav serve as a basis for the imagination, for the daydreams, and the ideals which are ee to the growth of a productive career, even as set in humble piuths. About codes of ethics to be taught in the schools, I know too little of « GENERAL SESSIONS NG) their value; you school people can judge them better. But from our many studies of human lives, we have come to know over and over the stimulus to right living that comes from mental pictures and ideas that represent the achievement of strong men and women, and the equally great stimulus towards misconduct and serious delinquency that is engendered in ideas and imageries that are concerned with the lives and conduct of clever, bold, and dashing misdoers and adventurers, whether the ideas be derived ‘ from what. the individual sees, or reads, or hears from companions. But the great opportunity of a school in the prevention of delinquency is also very specifically concerned with, first, the early chance for knowledge of facts in individual cases and, second, the possibility of initiating or having a hand in constructive effort in special situations. And special situations always are arising. The acquirement of knowledge of the essentials of a particular case challenges the best intellectual effort and interest. To face a child with “Don’t do it or I will do something to you that you won’t like” in the fashion of ignorant parents or as the law does later to grown ups is a most ineffective procedure. It often brings trouble in its wake because the challenge to the child is always then to deceive, to try to “get away with something,” to say ‘See if you can catch me.”” The game is on as soon as you say, “I will punish you if I catch you,” and a very considerable pleasure comes in the thrill of the game. No doubt the attitude of school people very frequently is that they can not attend to all the child’s needs, that much of his ethical education must be given by the family. The inquiry and knowledge of influences is thus considered to be a family job. But the weakness of this is that many families leave everything to the school; perhaps they know nothing about recognizing the first signs of delinquency. And certainly they regard them- selves as naturally inferior to school people whose profession supposedly leads them to understand mental life and causes of conduct. And what this all leads to may be illustrated by a case seen by us recently in sedate Boston—an alert, inquisitive, merry, imaginative lad of 11 years, normally advanced in school, of good average intelligence. Tell me, where lies the responsibility for his delinquency? He has been in some petty street mischief, he tells us, but now he is charged with three times entering a school building and stealing there. Even this would not have been known if he had not confessed it. The last time he entered with another boy whom he induced to go with him to take some money from the teacher’s desk. And what an adventure and game there may be in delinquency is shown by the fact that these boys bought with the money, among other articles, a pair of handcuffs. And then it was when they were playing “Gerald Chapman,” one boy being marched handcuffed down the street by the other boy, that they fell under the attention of a policeman because they could not remove the handcuffs. The story appears not a little ironical—money taken from the schoolhouse to satisfy interests that the school had not given the background for satis- fying in a better way. And the father, a very decent man, though having / 116 NatIonaL EpucaTIon ASSOCIATION too much faith in our daily sources of information and education, said that his boy was bright and he wanted him to learn a lot and so he bought for him, this 11-year-old lad, two newspapers a day. Consider the matter of truancy, the delinquency that above all others belongs to the schools themselves, truancy, the so-called kindergarten of crime. What does truancy mean? It means hundreds of different things; scores of causations that should be known and skillfully met. In a study of 4000 cases of more serious delinquency, no less than +0 percent showed truancy that was other than a rare event. The needs of these 1600 cases had varied most widely. And the work of attendance officers who merely held up the law as a threatening stick had usually in nowise accomplished satisfactory results. . If there had been repression of truancy there had been delinquencies breaking out in other forms. Truancy is a symptom, just as other delin- quencies are, and the basic trouble may reveal itself in other conduct disorders if the essential cause is not ascertained and eradicated. School dissatisfaction, which is such a menace to the child’s education and moral welfare, is not fundamentally altered by forcing him to go to school. His mind is his own and may wander off even in the schoolroom into all sorts of unfortunate paths, to his own and to society’s detriment. We may leave aside the discussion of defectives; their numbers among delinquents are not as large as was once supposed and their needs are becoming much better understood in school systems. “There are the many children of quite normal and even superior intelligence, who turn to delinquency. Thus another 11-year-old boy, unusually sturdy, mature in his mental attitude, considerably superior in mental endowment, reasonable, self- confident, courageous, sophisticated; we saw him not long since and found he had three years behind him of stealing, truancy, and staying away from home long hours. For this very bright boy school was unpleasant—he tells us in so many words that he doesn’t learn anything that interests him, the teachers scold him too much. ‘The ideas which he does revolve over and over in his head and in great detail have been derived from bad com- panions and the movies and the newspapers. In manly fashion he has rejected baser vices which attract some boys; it is the arduous life that delights him. He has created his heroes for himself out of current reading and knows their lives and their doings, their encounters with the police and the courts. Here before us we have a youngster desperate, but of won- derful possibilities and the school people haven’t the least idea of what is going on in his head. Society’s appointed guardians of his mental life, of his education, are not at all those who have given him his mental food. It should not be understood that many.children have such well-defined criminalistic ideas and impulses as these, but analysis of delinquent back- grounds does bring out many mental conflicts, notions of enjoyment, trends and actual habits of thought and action that have-been very little touched, if at all, by life in school—S5 days in a week, 10°>months in GENERAL SESSIONS 117 social agency which has greatest of all opportunities, it would seem, for influencing opinions and judgments and interests. What may be unearthed by careful ‘study of a child who through appearance or action shows delinquent trends, is of such value for modifying the child’s behavior and the protection of other children, that inquiry into it should be a very seroius undertaking. To be found out are—the sources of bad ideation and bad experiences, the unfortunate championship, bad practices anywhere, the poor type of movie or theater, the hideous older person who influences children for the bad, the neighborhood and “hang- out,” a gang or club in which there are evil communications, the inimical family situation. Finding out the real sources, the plague spots of moral contagion and contamination, opens the way to saving many. Thus it is a whole community affair, this study of children who are delinquent. For very often indeed it is not so much the devil that is within, - but dragons that are without, devouring our children, that have to be conquered and slain. Failing the ability to slay all dragons, it is for society to arm children by creating within them interests that so command them that they pass by the evil, unattracted by it. And so scientific inquiry, leading to good diagnosis is requisite before treatment of delinquency is undertaken. These studies of children, where shall they be carried out? ‘The child study departments of an older day in school systems were concerned mainly with defectives and their problems of education; in some places already the work of such departments has been extended into investigation of the still more important problems of conduct. But whether it can be done best in the school system itself or through the child guidance clinics or juvenile research bureaus that have grown up so rapidly in the last ten years depends upon the local situation. Be that as it may, such studies are absolutely necessary in order to get at the under- lying facts, in order to treat the real causes of delinquency. ‘The elements of physical and. mental makeup, of experience and ideational life, and external influences, are not to be correctly known otherwise. And then comes constructive effort. One may question whether any school system alone can satisfactorily carry out all the different measures that are necessary. It certainly is very doubtful, for example, whether, as proposed, the school can take over the functions of the juvenile court. Cooperation is the first need; coordination of effort. The juvenile court, if a court not given over to theories, whether of eugenics or of the use of punishment to break the spirit of delinquents, or of sentimental adaptations, but rather a court that uses scientific methods of gathering the real facts in order to do the right thing, should be cooperated with to the fullest extent. Juvenile court is not a criminal court—it is an agency of social protection, and it should be a court that deals with family relations and with the contributors to delinquency. And as it applies more science it needs more power; then it can show vastly better results. In the school system itself, teachers who know the problem from even their professional training, attendance officers who have had good training in social work so that they can make effective contacts, and school visitors 118 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION and visiting teachers have the best of all chances to bring about cooperation. Of course, families must be drawn in, but it is unfortunately the fact that the parents who ought to be in the cooperative endeavor are not those who are usually found in parent-teacher associations, Juvenile protective agencies or the police themselves, if they will work intelligently, are neces- sary agents for subduing personal influences and environmental conditions that are the breeders of delinquency. To handle the child alone and allow the destructive influences to continue in existence is social hypocrisy and inefficiency, which the child, we find, himself frequently resents. The weakest part of the social fabric in its relation to delinquency, even in ‘otherwise good communities, is in the lack of really good cooperative endeavor. So frequently, for reasons of self-protection, social, and personal laziness, or of egotism, agencies, and departments play too little with each other; there is not the teamwork that could contribute most greatly to the prevention of delinquency. And so, we are forced to appeal to our wonderful social organization— the American school system—for help in our great national problem of delinquency and crime. From the accumulation of facts concerning the minds and lives now of thousands of delinquents, we assert and insist that because of the early beginnings of careers, because of the great chancé of the school for early inquiry and for setting in motion good constructive effort, because of the opportunities that there are for establishing coopera- tions and coordinations about school life as a central point of vantage, the school must play a more glorious part than ever in the development of a better citizenry. THE CHILD INSTEAD OF WAR AS A CENTER OF WORLD INTEREST—ABRIDGED AUGUSTUS O. THOMAS, STATE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, AUGUSTA, MAINE, AND PRESIDENT OF WORLD FEDERATION OF EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS, There is a legend of a cliff from which was afforded a magnificent view, so wonderful that people often risked accident for the thrill it gave. It is said that in the attempts to get the view, many people fell upon the rocks below, Enterprising physicians grasped the idea of building a hospital at the base of the cliff to take care of those who fell. Finally, some one came along and put a railing around the dangerous place and the hospital went out of business. For many centuries, the nations have resorted to military training and equipment for the purpose of self-protection. "Those who have advocated a high state of preparedness have urged war as a means of national soli- darity, the development of national courage and growth essential to protection. ‘They have been building hospitals at the base of the cliff. The real solution is in bringing up generations who can live together in GENERAL SESSIONS 119 the spirit of fraternity and justice. It is more difficult to prepare a nation for peace than for war. The glamor of war, the pomp of military cere- mony, the glitter of trappings, the thrill of martial music, the heroism of the battlefield, and the constant urge of excitement thrill the young. We have made of our flag a military rather than a civil emblem. We have builded a patriotism upon defense of country and the idea of a foe. If, in the advance of society, we can produce a consciousness of right and justice, and international moral consciousness and a due regard for international traffic rules, armed forces will eventually become unnecessary. Education a directive force—No age can be considered wholly scientific until we are able to measure the amperage of the human individual and to establish certain definite governing elements in our educational processes. We are able to propagate plants and to cultivate them to whatever perfec- tion we may desire. We are doing the same with lower animal forms. We must have faith that the human individual is susceptible to a definite culture and that such influences can be brought to bear in his life at its formative period as will shape its trend and direct its future. This premise is based upon observations of what has already been accomplished and what we know directly of the underlying principles of education. A teacher who does not believe that his work will have a salient influence on the life of the child for his good and the good of society has no reasonable excuse for remaining in the profession and for the acceptance of his com- pensation. It goes without saying that as a profession we believe that if it were possible to formulate a definite code of ideals such as we would see embodied in future generations and if we could teach these to the children of the world, we could determine now in large measure the qualities, characteristics, and attributes of generations yet unborn. In the past, education has not been widespread. No effort toward universal education has been put forth. Civilization, like Topsy, merely grew up under the dominating forces of the super-man, but in the upward climb of civiliza- tion, we have come out upon a great plateau where we can view intelli- gently the whole human race and where we can begin to devise ways and means for such form of leadership and training of the youthful generations as will produce more desirable results. Teaching is conscious guidance. Is it possible for the present ruling generation to consciously guide the first steps of the new generation in paths of safety and in fruitful fields? There is no work comparable to that of training childhood, no work as far-reaching, no work so important. The young generation is made of these individual children and as each individual is taught, so the ideals of the group will be formed. Today, the culture of the child as a means of human advancement is engrossing universal attention. Too: long have we tried to reform through adult life. We have never wrought a single reform in one generation. ‘The adult generation is too conservative, too set in its ways, too fixed in its habits, its likes, dislikes, and prejudices. If we would change the trend of affairs and work a definite reform, we must begin with the children. The last decade has dashed many an old- 120 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION time custom and oldtime procedure upon the rocks and has broken up conventions of long duration. We are freer today from the traditions of our ancestors than we have ever been. It is a good place to begin. If we would have a settled world with Stable government, a great world com- munity with peaceful neighbors a hundred years hence, we must begin today and we must begin with childhood. Childhood is the hope of the world. Impulses for good move upward slowly. Man is by nature a conservative. He clings to what he learns and believes and is loth to give up original conviction. He does not jump into conclusions. He grows into them. Open-mindedness is not a trait of human nature. Men balk at changes which are far-reaching. “They prefer the ills they have to others they know not of. ‘They have a natural fear of the dark, and things not experienced are dark. Conservatism is as great a virtue as progressiveism since it keeps us from running headlong into danger and fear seems to be part of God’s plan. It is only as man’s eyes are opened to a new view by accident, discovery, or invention does he lay aside the old. To turn from the clouded horizon of the passing day to the rosy-hued dawn of tomorrow is the pleasure of the optimist. I am glad to be one of them. In fact, I can not see how any one can be a teacher and be otherwise. If I did not believe that education can direct the trend and character of the future, I could not continue with it. Our old world is not on the rocks; the ship of state will sail on into midstream and the individual will continue to climb. Achievement both of individuals and nations will continue. What unfathomed possibilities are wrapped in the swaddling clothes of an infant! Who can measure a child’s influence for good or ill? Before it can lisp a word, it has brought to one woman the sweet consciousness of motherhood and to one man the added strength of a new responsibility. ’ Every day, that child’in its development touches some one. Its innocent prattle is music to some ears. When he reaches school age and his parents send him to us, they entrust him to our care—this priceless creature. What do we do with him? We teach him science, mathematics, language. But it is not. sufficient that he know how to measure the forces of the earth, how far the stars are separated and space extends, what forces attract or repel; not enough that he be taught all the facts or human knowledge, unless he know how to live and how can he know how to live unless he knows that he is linked by indissoluble ties to every other human being? Great is the responsibility of the teacher. We can train the child as we will. We can shape his affections, mould his character, and carve his full stature in life. He will follow where we lead. Teaching the primitive—It has been our philosophy in education that the child is a replica of civilization and in his educational experience passes through all of the periods of evolution known to the race. He is at first a barbarian, even almost cannibalistic, and he moves by stages up to the point of civilization with his seniors. Based upon this philosophy, we have GENERAL SESSIONS 121 begun by teaching him of the primitive types of life in the different coun- tries. The Indian is good to begin with. The Eskimo is a good second. The cave and cliff dwellers follow along but we fail to go on and give him the full knowledge that there are children in many lands who have perfect right to be his equals. Human nature—It is an old saying that human nature never changes, that it not only does not change but can not change. This is a fallacy, a hopeless viewpoint. If true, then man may never expect to pass out of his uncivilized into a civilized state—from the barbaric to the Christian. This is an old saying and an old philosophy but it has been disproved by every historic change man has made. It changes in our viewpoints, in our standards of right and wrong, in our dealings with our fellowmen. All one needs to do is to pass through the archives of history. The’ chamber of tortures in London Tower will convince anyone that man’s inhumanity to man is changing. We are more human in our dealings, not only with dumb creatures who, by nature of our superior endowments, are our servants, but with our fellowmen. Human nature represents our inclinations as influenced by our emotions. Thus, it can be cultivated and purposefully guided. The international mind—The “international mind” may be defined as the consciousness of a world society with definite and necessary relation- ships. It is a sort of attitude of sympathy and appreciation which bears an intelligent understanding of other countries, peoples, and events. It is the basis of an international morality which helps us to judge other people according to their own standards and to appraise their work after an adequate acquaintance with their nature, conditions, and motives. The international mind is essential to world understanding and to good will, friendship, and justice in international contacts. The new element in citizenship—a world viewpoint—Among_ the advancing ideals of the race, citizenship has exercised a decidedly evolu- tionary spirit. It was used in the beginning to designate a non-soldier from a soldier, then a dweller of a city which was a community of citizens. “TI am a Jew, a man of Tarsus, a citizen of no mean city,” said Paul. It later became applicable to a country but in this advanced age, it takes on a world-wide aspect in its moral sense. A citizen of this new world state is one who owes allegiance not alone to the welfare of the country in which he exercises political rights, but who owes to his fellowmen and the world over his allegiance to the highest motives of advancement and who in turn should have protection from them. ‘To this extent, it is possible for one to occupy a position in and to be a part of a world citizenship wherein all members of all civilized states are working for the highest interests, welfare, culture, and general prosperity and happiness of all men. There is likewise a world civics or science of world government, just as there is a science of sociology or the government of the individual among his fellows, where one comports himself not wholly according to his own 122 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION individual interests, but who makes and receives concessions for mutual good. This is not the “internationalism” we have learned to fear. It is virtually the building of an “international mind.” One’s paramount duty is to his country and to the citizens thereof and he is not to throw it down, obliterate its boundary lines or scrap its flag. Christ said, “Render unto Cesar the things which are Casar’s and unto God the things which are God’s.”” Government and national life are the means through which we reach the world state. To destroy them defeats the ultimate end of dealing in world goodwill and justice among nations. Force as a prevention of war—lIt is entirely justifiable to believe that the several schools advocating the extreme of either militarism or pacifism are entirely sincere and believe firmly in the doctrine they preach. ‘The mili- tarist tells us that full preparedness is less costly than neglect of defenses; that we must have war to end war; that the only way to secure peace is to be better prepared than our neighbors; that peace makes a nation flabby in courage; that war is the cement in national solidarity; that courage, physical fitness, and patriotism are specific results of military training and that war produces the best fibre. ‘The pacifist, on the other hand, would literally disarm. He contends that war is murder, which is non-Christian, and that passive resistance is better than the destruction of life. At present, complete disarmament would be disastrous to the nation which undertook it. This can come about only at some far distant day as a realization of that world brotherhood which still is largely idealistic. But progress towards such an ideal can scarcely be made while the belief prevails that in superior force lies the guarantee of national safety. We have in a measure progressed beyond a point where individual safety is secured only to the man powerful and to the armed, as was the case in the days of the frontier. If the large and strong persisted in dominating the small and poorly protected, the world would slide back into the vilest form of human slavery. In order to protect the weak, we have established codes of law defining individual rights and guaranteeing their safety. There is a constant striving to maintain a more or less fictitious balance of power in war. One nation or one group of nations insists that it should be permitted by some general agreement and some co:iceded merit to preserve its advantage which may be due to geographic conditions, natural defenses, range of commerce and trade or by the precedent of past ward. So long as this psychology exists and controls diplomatic negotiations, whether held in Geneva, The Hague, or Washington, there will never be more than a gesture of disarmament. And so long as it is believed prudent or necessary or advantageous to maintain ratios of armed strength, there will continue to exist fear, jealousy, and distrust. We must have faith that it is possible to relieve humanity of the entire burden imposed by hatred and war. War is the result of hatred, hatred the result of ignorance, and ignorance is the problem of education. Necessity of diplomatic machinery—Nations find easy contacts today and \ GENERAL SESSIONS 123 the ease and frequency are rapidly increasing. Every steamship which crosses the sea carries the products from land to land and distributes them to meet the necessities of the human race. Great ocean liners and rapid trains are carrying the citizens of one country by the hundreds of thousands into other countries where they mingle with each other, becoming amenable to the laws of the country in which they sojourn but still protected by the laws of the country in which they live. This develops a new type of citizenship, broader than that known in any other age. Nations are now touching nations rather than being separated by great seas and mountain barriers. It is said that tourists in Italy last year left 185 millions of dollars net, sufficient to balance the budget of that country. This is only an example of what is being done in every land. This new condition forces upon the nations of the world the necessity of absolute agreements, which must be brought about through some international body specifically designed to meet the necessities. Whether it will be a league of nations, an association of nations or a parliament of the world is yet to be deter- mined. ‘There must be some diplomatic machinery set up, for the world can not go long without regulations with individual and national interests overlapping so extensively. It is indeed difficult at the present time, owing to the national jealousies, racial hatreds, and international misunderstanding and suspicions, to secure one hundred per cent efficiency in any overhead body which might be established until after repeated attempts and ultimate perfecting of the viewpoints and contacts. Even now, it is reported that the experts of the League of Nations, working on the basic elements of international agreements, have abrogated the principles of the Washington Conference. ‘This in itself shows the futility of carrying on diplomatic programs until they are backed up by definite underlying and ethical prin- ciples and a moral consciousness which will make agreements mean more than scraps of paper. It is the mission of education, either religious or secular, to furnish these values. Diplomacy must furnish the machinery ; education must furnish the skilled operator. It is impossible for educa- tion to perform its service except through the rising generation. ‘This means a long process and a long look into the future, but unless we begin now, we can not hope ultimately to win. Nations are too distrustful of each other. One nation looks askance at the military equipment of another, scrutinizes it closely and reads in it a menace of national invasion. Nations are sparring for commercial advantages. ‘There is too much racial hatred and prejudice, too much international fear. ‘These must be driven out. They can be driven out only through the spirit of justice and the development of friendship. THE CHILDREN OF TODAY—ABRIDGED ANGELO PATRI, PRINCIPAL, PUBLIC SCHOOL 45, NEW YORK CITY I believe in the child of today. I have more faith in the child of today than I have in the child ‘of yesterday. He isa better child. He is a bigger child. He is a cleaner child. He is a finer child in the truest sense of 124 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION those words, and that good child could only grow well in a good world. No matter what people think, this is a finer world we are living in than it was ten years ago or twenty years ago, because good children could never come out of a wicked world, and wonderful children must come from a wonderful world. I cannot help but think of the picture that I have seen, a picture of a woman making syrup, and every once in a while the syrup would boil up to the top and then the woman in charge would take her ladle and scrape the syrup off the top of the pot and sometimes throw it in the fire, and then she would take another stick and put it on the fire. She must keep that pot boiling hard. She must keep it bubbling so that constantly the impurities would come to the top and then she would take them out and purify it. But what a mess she did make, the fire and the stuff that was cast off into it. What a smell there was, and how bad it looked, but the hotter that fire was and the more the syrup boiled, the surer the im- purities were to come to the top and be cleaned off. “That syrup must not be allowed to cool, for if the impurities settle to the bottom and become part and parcel of it, then the product would be unclean. It might be palatable. It would not be so good to look at and it probably would not have the same lasting qualities. ‘This syrup must be pure; it must be clean; it must stand the test, no matter what the test was, in order to bring the higher price in the market. The world of today is like fire under the pot. It is speeding the growth of children, and speeding that growth means that the children are becoming older sooner—and I don’t mean older in years, I mean older in wisdom and in experience. Sooner in life are they casting off the impurities, sooner are they being made clear and pure so that they may live long and as long as they live stand the test of all kinds of experiences that come their way. You know, the thing we should fear is not freedom for the child, but it is the old clamping down, shutting down on the life of the child, closing itin. It is the old discipline that we have been trying to run away from, and have succeeded. You know, we have been talking for a generation about the lengthening period of infancy. We are going to talk now about the lengthenitig period of active life, of joyous life, and the shortening period of infancy, where the child begins sooner and is going to last longer. Not only have we freed the child, but we have set a higher standard for him. We have measured his knowledge in a much more daring, in a much more clear-cut way, in a much more mechanical way. When he sits down to pass an examination the child of today does not have the feeling that we used to have. I remember that our training was something like this: That if we only half got the answer, the teacher would remember us and give us credit for knowing the rest of it. Now the child must know; his knowledge must be definite. It must be complete; it is measured almost on mathematical precision. ; GENERAL SESSIONS 125 The same thing when it comes to morality. We have set a higher standard of truth, because we want the child to know the truth. We want. the child to be able to tell the truth, but to be able to tell the truth first to himself, and if he can not do that, anything that he says that seems to represent the truth is not true and we have no use for it. We want the child to be happy, but somehow or other in our idea of happiness we put a new meaning. We want him to be happy because we feel that happiness is that condition of the soul that makes him most responsive to the beautiful things that are around him, and he can then respond to the ideas of the world, if he is in the right attitude. That is the very highest standard, and we who are constantly pushing toward that standard are unconsciously making him better. We want a child to be reverent today, but somehow or other our rev- erence, our religion, has a different meaning to it. We feel that in order to have a child reverent he must have an appreciation of the great universe, so great that the most powerful imagination can only glimpse it, and he must have a notion of the universe that is so high that the most gigantic imagination is staggered by it, something that will stand between the smallest and the biggest. We want his reverence, his religion, to accom- plish that fact. We want him to have the feeling, to think when he looks at the sun and calls it, ‘brother,’ when he says that the wind that kisses his cheek was his brother and the birds of the air were his brothers, and the brook that came down the mountain side was his brother, and the snake under his feet was his brother—that nothing that is created, high or low, can be anything but brother. It is that notion of religion that we want in a child; it is that notion of reverence that we want to aspire to. There is no place in this ideal of ours for jealousy. I remember when I was a boy it was perfectly natural for the gang to fight the other gangs on a religious question. It seemed to be perfectly proper for the Catholics to fight the Jews and the Jews to fight the Protestants and the Protestants to fight both of them. In fact, there seemed to be a suspicion that you were hot loyal to your religion if you didn’t fight for it and hate the other fellow. That notion of religion no longer holds. We know now that nobody can be a good Catholic and hate anyone or anything; that no one can be a good Jew and hate anyone or anything; that no one can be a good Protestant and hate anyone or anything. Hatred must be foreign to his notion of religion. Then, too, we have a new standard of physique, a new standard of cleanliness, a new standard of conserving one’s energy. It is not just the matter of using the child’s energy, but it is the conservation of it. It is the way he walks and the way he carries himself that counts, and that is a better standard than we ever had before when we said “Get there. Win. Win by all odds.” We want the finer thing, because we know that the finer thing means that the child shall last and last long. Whichever way 126 NatTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION we measure the child of today we find him better than the child of yester- day, we find him more intelligent. I remember some time ago in my school I sent a team to take part in a prize contest. ‘This team went over to another school, and when they came back I said to them, “How did you make out?” And one of them said, “We won.” “Well,” I said, “was the prize announced?” ‘We don’t know, but we won. We went there and they showed us into a room and said to us, ‘do everything that that room tells you to do,’ and they went out. So we looked around and we found a mirror. We found cocoa, and we found cereal and we found fruit, and that meant breakfast to us. So we sat down and prepared the breakfast and set the table and put the break- fast on the table. ‘Then we looked around but nobody appeared, so we sat down and ate that ourselves. Then when nobody appeared we washed the dishes and we put the things away.” ‘Then one of them looked at me and said, ‘‘and we didn’t put the table cloth back in the ice box where we found it either.”’ Sure enough, when the prize was. announced, they had won. The prize was $20. The question now was, what to do with the $20? So they felt that they needed some things in their apartment, a couple of beds and a little table and a lamp shade, and $20 would not go very far. So they bought some lumber and some hardware and they called in a boy from the shop and showed him what they wanted, and in two months the beds and the table and the lamp came back. Those children had not only won the prize for taking care of themselves but they had afterwards invested that money very intelligently until it came back to them ten fold. ‘That is intelligence of a very high order. They began very early in this season of life. I remember one fellow coming into school on the very first day, and he had with him a bucket and a shovel, and when the teacher asked him what he was going to do with that, he said, Why, didn’t she know his daddy told him that when he went to school he would have to dig for his education, and so here he was. And so from the minute they come until the minute they leave they are wide awake. And they are loath to leave. One boy, I re- member, after his mother had gotten work papers for him, came back one day and took his work papers and put them on my desk and said, “I am going to stay in school.” ‘They feel that they need school and they feel that the school is worthwhile and that is the tremendous achievement that the teachers of America have made, to make the child feel that this education really functions in his life and that he must have it in order to go out. First we have the keen child, secondly, the keen and wonderful teacher who can make him feel that way about it. And the more intelligent he is, the more intelligent this child, the more humane he is. I remember having a teacher that we thought was a very old man. He was not so old. He was about my age, and I remember the things we did to that man. I suppose I will have to spend a brief period somewhere to atone for my share. But we tortured him. We pulled him around the classroom by the coat tails. We spilled the ink. We threw GENERAL SESSIONS 127 the slates where they didn’t belong. We talked. We marked out things when he was not looking. We sat down in the wrong chair when there was a tack there. There was nothing that we didn’t do that the mind of a child can conceive to torture that man. Not long ago I saw an old man in the classroom. He was 78—in a modern classroom. He was a teacher of pottery. He was old, too old to teach, and yet there he was. He was so old that he found fault with the very best material. He was easily angered. He was easily tired, and for half an hour at a time he sometimes would sit in his chair fast asleep, and there were the children in the school room. If we had an invitation like that when I was a child what a glorious opportunity it would have been, and yet those children never molested the old man. They took the very best care of him. When they thought he was sick, someone would go and find a teacher and take him to that classroom. They became more humane, these children. ‘They have a finer sense of humor than children ever had before. We no longer tie tin cans to the cat’s tail. We take care of the cat just as we took care of the old man. i These children have a finer sense of humor; they have a finer sense of duty. ‘They dress better—oh my, they dress better. I remember seeing one morning near the entrance to the zoo, near my school—I am very near the zoo—sometimes they visit me when they should go to the other place, and vice versa—but this day was Sunday morning, a beautiful Sunday morning in Spring, and I went over to the zoo, and in front of the zoo was a great pansy bed, just as golden as it could be, and there was the most delicate perfume coming from it, and I stopped to look at it and I noticed that the adults as they came to the entrance made straightway for the cages beyond; rarely did they stop to look at the pansies, but the children stopped and they looked at the pansy bed and they smelled of them. ‘That is the modern child. I say these children are far better, whether we measure them in their intelligence, whether we measure the bigness of their hearts, whether we measure their morality, they come into the world better equipped than children ever were before. They come with a righteous heritage. They come with greater possibilities. Just as we have learned to take care of children, so have we learned to conserve their energies. “They come with an. understanding that is very keen. ‘They have read and they read the lessons that the geologist tells. ‘They read in the papers the story of the geologist who found the track made by the worm two million years ago. The child reads that and something clicks in his brain and he says, “If a worm can make a mark that lives two million years, why can’t I do some- thing that is worth while and that will live two million years. I remem- ber the story of an astronomer who saw a new star in the Heavens, and as he watched it night after night the star grew bigger, and from a very faint star it became a star of the first magnitude, and then as he watched it, it began to disappear, and finally it disappeared altogether, and the astronomers computed that that star was a million light years away—a thousand light years away doesn’t make much difference so far as the understanding is con- 128 NATIONAL Epucarion ASSOCIATION ey cerned—that that star had been dead a thousand light years, yet its image still lives to inspire men that lived on this earth to read the message. A child reads that and says, “If a star may live a thousand light years, why may not 1? Why should I perish? I am part of it all.” When the child reads that the Creator made man in his own image the child says, “I too must create if I will be worthy of Him. I must create so as to be worthy of my chance, so as to be worthy of the people that have brought me forth, so as to be worthy of the teachers that inspire me, so as to be worthy of the country in which I live.” There is the impulse to do and to be in this modern child, and it is so strong that it can not die. It is so strong that it will overcome any difficulty anywhere. He looks to us, to these teachers for help, but not too much help; for guidance, but not too much guidance, for he would do a better job than any of us have done, and he can only do that through freedom and through the fine appreciation that we may give him. I must tell you one story before I stop, and that is this. Not long ago I had a visit from a man from India. He may have visited some of your schools. He said he had been sent out from India to find the country where the people were most enthusiastic about children, the people who were doing the most for children. He said he had been to every country and he had come to America last. He was sailing the next day. I said, “How did you find things?” He said that the one country where there was genuine appre- ciation of childhood was America. “I am going back to carry the message of the teachers of America to the teachers of India,” and as he went out of the door, somehow or other there flashed before me another picture. I thought of the three wise men that had come out of the East, who followed a star that they might find their way to the feet of a child. I thought of the teachers of America, touched with the spirit of wise men, and they too were following the light that they might find their way to the heart of American childhood. THE TRAGEDY OF MISUNDERSTOOD YOUTH BROOKS FLETCHER, REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO In discussing the subject, “The tragedy of misunderstood youth,” I hope briefly to present some reasons why we must supplant the traditional edu- cational methods with an educational technic formulated on the labora- tory findings of the research biologist and the research educational psychol- ogist in their efforts to explore and understand the human personality. “But,” exclaims the professional educator, ‘what contribution can a non- professional, a mere newspaper man, and a politician at that, make on such an intricate issue as the one involving a scientific approach to solving the riddle of the human personality and most especially the mysterious person- ality of enigmatic and paradoxical youth ?” 1 This is an abstract. For full address see Congressional Record, July 16, 1926, page 13238. GENERAL SESSIONS 129 You, out there in the great audience, who are college and university presidents, and you other distinguished leaders in the field of education have the right to challenge a layman who presumes to make a contribution in the field in which you are highly trained specialists. Therefore it is only fair to you that I should first attempt to answer the doubt that is in your mind at this moment by stating, in the spirit of mod- esty, I hope, that although editing and publishing newspapers has been my business, my life vocation, and politics my avocation, yet education and working with young people has been my life hobby and shall continue to be the rest of the way. Every man, if he is to remain normal and get the most out of himself, should have a vocation, an avocation, and a hobby. A hobby is the device through which a man may sometimes find his eteate est chance of self-expression and for usefulness. It was in self-defense that I first got started in this work of trying to help young people adjust themselves to their environment and succeed where they are with what they have. First I became interested in finding out why some of my newsboys with only a few patrons on their carrier routes had two or three times as many complaints for inferior service telephoned into the office against them by the dissatisfied people to whom they were delivering the newspapers as other boys of the same age with three or four times as many patrons to serve. You can not do much for young people unless you understand them and you will never understand them unless you have been at least a superficial student of both biology and psychology. Even if you are fortified with a knowledge of biology and Dy eubloey you will not be able even then to understand the behavior of young people until you develop the interrogation point mind. By the interrogation point mind I mean a mind that has acquired the mental habit of everlastingly asking the questions: Who? What? Why? When? Where? How? Those six words are the golden keys that will unlock for you the mysteri- ous doors to all the knowledge about people or about things you will ever possess. So I approached the newsboy problem with a why. Why this amazing difference between boys of the same age as revealed by the efficiency scores based upon the complaint records of the subscribers to whom the boys were delivering our newspapers. I soon learned that the parents did not know much about the factors con- tributing to the behavior of the boys. ‘The parents could think only in terms of effects. They did not seem to know how to analyze and think in terms of causes. I am not one who joins in the popular pastime of criticizing parents over much. It is easy to blame parents, but the parents have their hands full and in their defense it must be acknowledged they have had no more chance to 130 NaTIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION receive the right kind of instruction on how to adjust themselves to the rapid changes going on in their environment than have their children. The fact of the helplessness of parents and the futility of traditional methods of discipline were impressed upon me in very dramatic fashion by the attitude of the father and mother of a boy who, for a long time, had been stealing money from our cash drawer. Had the parents been permitted to carry out their idea in this case they would have beaten the boy and had him sent to the reformatory. They were not permitted to commit either crime against the lad. Today the man who was that juvenile cash-drawer thief is one of the most trusted young officials of the largest railroad system in America. We were not long in finding out that the teachers, like the parents, knew next to nothing of the personalities, the emotional, and the environmental causes contributing to the unsatisfactory behavior of the delinquent news- boys. In fact, one young fellow, recognized as a “problem pupil,” had been suspended and finally expelled from school; an offense against misunder- stood youth in which teachers, school-board members, principal, superin- tendent, and the community at large participated. The sympathetic service of a nonprofessional psychologist saved this mis- understood youth from the tragedy that might later have confronted him. Today, because this formerly delinquent pupil has made so much of his life and achieved such notable success, he is proudly admired by the school that misunderstood him in his boyhood to the extent of stupidly expelling him. The five processes through which we all must pass if we are to become somebody are self-analysis leading to self-discovery; after self-discovery a program of self-development; from self-development to self-expression; and from self-expression to self-realization. With our present institutionalized system of quantity production in edu- cation and our methods of herd instruction, what chance has the average young person properly to be understood and to receive the scientific per- sonal attention that will assist him in self-discovery, self-expression, and self-realization. It is essential that we understand the needs and challenges ahead of mod- ern youth, that we may adjust our educational objectives to meet realities and thus reduce the vast number of young people who are compelled to suc- ceed in life in spite of their education. It is the obligation of those of us who are interested in education to fix it so that more of our graduates will be able to succeed in life to a greater degree because of their education instead of in spite of their education. By success I do not mean merely making money or achieving distinction or getting into Who’s Who. By success I mean, through self-expression, getting out of life what there is in it and leaving the world better because of our having passed this way. The two most intimate urges with which we are endowed at birth are the urge to live and the urge to mate. GENERAL SESSIONS 131 To satisfy the urge to live it is necessary to find something to do—a voca- tion, a life work—something to live for through which we can express our creative impulses and thereby earn a living. To satisfy the urge to mate it is necessary to find the person to love who harmonizes with our own personality, the person who most satisfactorily helps us in expressing our gregarious and procreative impulses. With infinite variations, indirect or direct, most of the questions the young folks have asked your speaker have been prompted by these two God- given urges that have more to do with our personalities, our happiness, our achievement, and our destiny than any of the other impelling life urges. The millions of tragic matrimonial purgatories of the mismated indicate the degree in which the home, the church, the school, and the state, by their rule-of-thumb and guesswork, have failed in understanding and in helping the youth of yesterday to find the way toward the light. It is not surprising, then, that observing boys and girls of today, noting the failures and the unhappiness in the lives of so many grown-ups in their environment, should challenge the parents, the teachers, the preachers, the priests, and the statesmen now to give a more scientific answer to the ques- tion involving the most important factors in human life. I believe not in legislation forums but in the laboratories of the scientist will war eventually be abolished ; justice established; equity be realized in industry; and a government of the people, by the people, for the people be converted from a figure of speech into a reality. The problem of the misunderstood youth is of vital concern to the states: men because of the possibility of misunderstood youth developing into prob- lem adults with inferior morale and a tendency toward malcontent and antisocial behavior. We have with us almost a horde of mob-minded, conclusion jumpers who express opinions on everything and possess accurate knowledge of nothing. It is from this source that we most frequently hear the tiresome repeti- tion of bromidic opinion to the effect that the younger generation is wicked, devilish, incorrigible, going to the dogs, and on a greased toboggan hell-bent for perdition. The report of the elaborate survey recently completed by the Department of Labor giving the actual facts concerning juvenile conduct knocks the wind out of the arguments of those whose obsession is the defaming of the young. Since the human race began old people have knocked young people. The reasons they do it are partly unconscious jealousy of youth; sour grapes, a sense of inferiority, a feeling of having soon to step aside, and the aware- ness of approaching senility. It is amazing how many people advocate being good after they are no longer able to kick up their heels and be a little bad. If you analyze it you will find that much of the current criticism involves ° some disapproval of the liberties youngsters are supposed to take with one another in the social relation. When it comes to this kind of criticism in 132 NATIONAL EpucaTiONn AssocIATION which sex is the big idea it is astonishing how large a number of old folks doing the criticizing have bum memories. I hold no brief for the conduct of youngsters, but when it comes to their private conduct I stand up for them because after 17 years of crowd and personal contact with over a million of them and correspondence with thou- sands of them I am convinced the young people are just as good as the rest of us and certainly better than most of us were in our own adolescent days. You think back a little. Recall some of your own pranks and escapades. If we admit the truth, could the youngsters be any worse than we used to be or tried to be or would have been had we been able to get away with it? If your memory is in working order answer that and keep a straight face, will you? How grotesquely absurd to think that human nature changes in the pe- riod of one or two generations so that a generation ago the young folks were good little angels and now the young folks are bad little devils. A number who slander the young in the matter of personal relation are victims of repression, suppression, and not having lived normal lives emo- tionally have become neurotically and erotically lopsided. So, they continue constantly to denounce that which they have missed out on and un- consciously most desire. % You probably would be surprised at the great number of moralizing, nicy-nice folks who are having the immoral time of their lives imagining the young folks they see together must be immoral. It is easy for certain types of people to do all their dissipating in their imagination. If we do not watch out this thing we call civilization may get the best of us yet. Certainly we are producing an enormous number of day-dream- ing dissipators and cut-ups who develop into emotional cripples with un- staple personalities which is responsible for legislators having to increase appropriations to enlarge our insane asylums. A number of the defamers of the younger set need the attention of the psychiatrist. It is dangerous business to mood too much over what we imagine to be the shortcomings of other people. It is good mental hygiene to cultivate the habit of minding our own business. No small number of youth baiters who rave about the conduct of the young people now are doing so because in their own day they were rotten themselves. Much of this holier-than-thou virtuous attitude assumed by youth knock- ers is an unconscious middle-age attempt to substitute virtuous talk as sort of a palliation for unvirtuous conduct of years ago. Of course a percentage of our young people are going the limit, but is it much wonder when they see so many older people around them going the limit right before their eyes? We can not fool the youngsters. They are on to us. If half of the critics of the young would spend their energy setting the young a good example, it would help heaps. GENERAL SESSIONS 183 This I found to be true soon after I started to give prizes to the students for their essays on the subjects: “The citizen in your community you want to be like when you grow up and the reasons why.” It was from this material that I wrote the book entitled Who is Your Hero, which is a dis- cussion of the psychology of imitation or why we become like what we like. To understand youth we must ask the scientist to come to our aid. The day for the sentimentalist is past. To stop antisocial behavior and crime at its source as a first aid to teach- ers and parents there must be established a psychological clinic in every community. The psychologist and the biologist, if we give them their chance, can, by a scientific study of the adolescent personality, predict with fair ac- curacy the behavior and what we may expect from that personality when it becomes adult. Most of the good or the bad that motivates behavior is first in the con- sciousness of the child by its environment before it starts to school. There- fore parents, as well as teachers, must have the advantage of the psycholo- gist’s service. I need not remind you professional educators that long before the child starts to school the personality of thousands of children are almost ruined by the stupid efforts at discipline on the part of neurotic adults. It would be easy to fill a book with cases that have come within my own observation as one who has tried to find a way out for the youth who have come to me in the hope of receiving help that would assist them in groping their way out of the jungle of emotional and mental bewilderment toward the light. Summarizing briefly only a half dozen out of several hundred cases with which I have had personal experience, there is the mother who attempted to discipline her daughter by pouring hot sealing wax in her ears; the parents who made a stammerer of their boy by the misuse of suggestion; the woman who converted her daughter into an hysteric by locking her in the basement because the girl had difficulty with her algebra; the child who committed suicide because of her failure to pass the examination; the boy who hanged himself in the cellar because his mother humiliated him; the so-called smart alecks by the thousand who are the victims of an inferiority complex for which stupid adults are responsible and whose smart aleckness is merely a defense device of the subconscious. It is time we began employing the means at hand to reduce the number of tragedies of misunderstood youth who, without being properly under- stood, must go through life emotional cripples and with handicapped _per- sonalities. Even to a layman the need for a revolution in the field of education is startingly apparent. To illustrate: the present traditional method of examinations as a means for ascertaining a student’s qualifications for advancement is a shameful waste of the teacher’s time, an unreliable test of a student’s ability or reli- ability, and to many boys and girls so emotionally disturbing and terrifying 134 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION as to be dangerous to their personalities and therefore must be modernized by scientific technic. : This thing of putting boys and girls at the mercy of teachers who have never done anything in all their lives but go to school themselves, whose education has been obtained exclusively from books and the artificial atmos- phere of the schoolroom, and who, because of not having real practical con- tact with life, know next to nothing of reality is an educational crime and is one reason why so many dazed thousands of youngsters come out of school to meet the challenge of everyday experience book educated beyond their intelligence or with an unmarketable education of no use to them in the business of living. The disposition of the workers in the laboratory of the educator scientist to be intimately identified with and willing to learn from the laboratory of reality and practical everyday life is one hope of those who wish to eliminate the possibilities of tragedy for misunderstood youth. The legislators of all the nations of the world must somehow be made to understand that not the battleship but the schoolhouse is eventually to become our greatest means of national defense. The teachers who are training their students to develop international mindedness are doing more toward stopping the hell on earth we call war than all the battleship builders on the globe. If H. G. Wells knows what he is talking about when he says that civili- zation is a race between education and catastrophe, then the educator’s re- sponsibility is equalled only by his opportunity. Our first obligation in training the youth of today who are to be the citizens of tomorrow is to get into youth’s skin and through his young eyes look out upon the confused and jumbled world that we may see life as youth sees life. So, after all is said and done, to succeed in this business of lending a help- ing hand to modern youth we must ourselves become as little children in order to enter the realm of childhood’s understanding and thus fulfil the obligation this generation owes to the coming generation. THE FINAL TEST OF THE AMERICAN SCHOOL’S SUC: CESS—A BRIDGED RANDALL J. CONDON, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, CINCINNATI, OHIO AND PRESIDENT, DEPARTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENCE What is the final test of the success of the American school? The final test of the success of the American school is the success of America as a democracy. And having said that much I might as well quit and we could go home, for all I shall say after that is of little account and hardly perti- nent to the discussion, and yet, being expected to deyelop it to a certain extent, I will attempt to give a few tests of the success of the American school prior to reiterating that final test of the success of the American school, GENERAL SESSIONS 135 Our fathers, when they gathered in this city 150 years ago and enacted that report drawn up by the committee, and adopted it as their Declaration of Independence as we now speak of it, were thinking, as the utterances of that time show, that a democracy that was uneducated had no assurance of success, and that the public school, maintained at public expense, educating all the people to an understanding of the principles of democracy, and hav- ing the right to select their own rulers, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed—it was this that laid the foundation that has been secure during these years. Franklin and Jefferson and Washington and Lincoln and all the founders down through the years since, have been con- scious of the aid of the public school in interpreting for the people the ideals of America, for it was Franklin who said, “Good education of youth has been estimated by wise men in all ages as the surest foundation of the happi- ness both of private families and of commonwealths.”’ And Jefferson him- self said, ‘“A system of general instruction which shall reach every class of our citizens from the richest to the poorest, as it was the earliest so it will be the latest of all the public concerns in which I shall permit myself to take an interest.” Some two or three years ago I made a pilgrimage to Monticello so that I might visit the home where Jefferson had lived, that I might look on his grave and read the inscription on his monument that he himself had written, in which he wished to be remembered for three things: As the author of the Declaration of Independence and of the statute for religious freedom in Virginia, and as the founder of the University of Virginia, each making for freedom, freedom of conscience, freedom of government, freedom from ignorance, And tonight as we gather here on this one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, remembering that today has been designated ‘“Founder’s Day,” we come to pay our tribute to the men who laid this foundation upon which we have builded since, and they knew and we know that free public educa- tion is the only insurance that America has that as a democracy it shall continue to exist. And what is a democracy? I heard a definition a year ago that seems to me to be a little finer than any I have heard otherwise, ‘The speaker said it is not a system of government; democracy is not in itself a condition of society. Democracy is expecting great things of common people. And to- night we come here to dedicate ourselves to that proposition, that the public schools somehow are going to help us to realize these great things from all our people. When equal opportunity, an equal chance for all the children of all the people shall be realized, then democracy will be firmly established. And that was expressed not only in the Declaration of Independence, but a few years later when they came together to draw up that great instru- ment, the Constitution. ‘They knew, as we have known since, that only a government that rests upon a system of intelligence of a well-educated people shall be secure. And a word from Washington: “Knowledge is the surest basis of public happiness.” And Monroe speaking: ‘Let us by all wise and constitutional measures promote intelligence among the people as the best means of preserving our liberties.” 136 NaTIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION Two weeks ago I stood on the platform of our own music hall. It was a joint commencement of our high schools, and I stood there for a half hour while a thousand young people marched down the center aisle and up the steps and on to the platform, and as they reached it they paused to salute the flag. Then they passed on and seated themselves upon the rostrum and the thousand were behind me. When I came to present the diplomas to this thousand young people I said as they marched up the hall that evening, I was thinking not so much of them as I was of the 4000 who had started with them twelve years before in the first grade, children, some black and some white; some com- ing from homes where, on the previous Saturday their parents had gathered in the synagogue and worshipped God, and some from homes where on the Sunday before their parents had gathered in the cathedral or the church or the chapel. They were just children. Some of the parents were born across the sea. Some of them traced their ancestry straight back to Ply- mouth Rock, but they were the children of America, and now this thousand pupils received from my hands diplomas which certified that they had com- pleted in a satisfactory manner their course of four years in the high school and of eight years in the elementary school. Our work was done. Whether it had been good or ill, it could not be changed, and I was looking forward to the future years when these thousand young people should take their places in the great world of affairs, in industry and commerce and in the professions, and whether they should exhibit those qualities of character, whether they should exhibit that character of citizenship that made it worth while for them to have attended these schools for these twelve years. But I was much more concerned as I thought of the 4000 who were not there that night, and I said to the parents, “If they were here, you would need much additional space. Every seat in this hall would be filled by the chil- dren who have not gone on to the high school and completed the course, and some six or eight hundred would be standing in the aisles and about the rear.” And the thing I am concerned about is whether we have dis- charged our full duty to the 4000. I am not so concerned with this 1000 who have gone on to completion, for the most of them are headed straight towards college and toward the professions, but I am tremendously con- cerned about the 4000 who are not here, who have gone out to work. Are they prepared for work as well as we have prepared these 1000 for college, and have we prepared the 5000 equally for life? The American public school will never discharge its full obligation or meet its full measure of success until it takes full account of those who go to work, as well as of those who go to college. In Cincinnati we have built a high school that was formerly called the “East Side High School” and is now known as the “Winthrow High School.” It is an all-American school. We have taken our motive from Independence Hall, from Faneuil Hall, from New England, and from the south. We have cast it in the type of the old Colonial period, because we somehow believed that if we could catch the feeling and the look of that GENERAL SESSIONS 137 period of our fathers and bring it together and put up this structure, that within its. walls we might help these young people to a greater appreciation of what America has been and what our fathers have done for education, that they themselves might be better inspired to carry on the task which has been submitted to them. And in writing the inscriptions for the tower, which is crowned by the lantern from Independence Hall, on one side I selected that inscription from Ruskin, that success comes only from toil, only from work, and for the front of it I selected that inscription from the Holy Scriptures, from the Psalms, which says—and I wanted the teachers and the children to see that inscription as they cross the bridge from the street to the school each day—‘‘So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” And then as we undertook to express the spirit of what this school was and what it should stand for, upon one side we cut these words: “To reveal truth and beauty,” and on another, “To develop intelligence and skill,” and on another, “To inculcate social and civic ideals.” And then, thinking last of the individual, who must be thought of first and last, ‘For a broader and richer personal life.” And then for the inscription on the tower the architect said I might have just forty words, no more, no less, that I must say what I had to say about public education in forty words, and so I selected these forty words to express my conception of what shall be the final success of the American public school: All who will may enter and find within these walls equal and varied opportunity for a liberal education, based alike upon art and industry, with books and things, work and study combined, and where good health, the spirit of play, and joy in work well done shall abound. And this, I conceive, will be the final test—or one of the tests—first perhaps of the success of the American public school when it is conceived in such a way as to admit to its opportunities children who shall find there a liberal education which takes into account both work and study, art and industry, and which sends them out prepared in: health and in spirit and in joy for service. And the next test that I would like to give would be this: ‘That our public schools must make for national unity. When I hear the children recite their faith to the flag, which ends with these words which we all hear over and over again: “One nation, indivisible, with -liberty and justice for all,” I know they are not thinking, as we are not thinking, of the days of the Civil War. I know we are not thinking in terms of geography, but that we are thinking in terms of a national unity of spirit, where all conditions of men and women and children alike shall have the opportunity that makes for the unity of America. And I would apply as our second test this: Does the public school teach the fundamentals of education? Now, if this were not an audience of teachers, I can imagine how delighted the people would be to think that we are going to return to the days of reading and writing and 138 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION arithmetic, if we were to get rid of all the fads and frills and fancies that have grown up about the work of the public schools. But I am not thinking of these things, and I am going to read to you, if I may, my answer to the fundamentals of education under this expression “What shall we teach?” ‘Teach the fundamentals in education. Interpret life in terms of life. Confine books and things, work and study. “Teach honor, duty, truth, courage, faith, hope, love of home and of country, reverence for God, for each other, and for all his lowly creatures. Teach self-denial and self-reliance, kindness, helpfulness, sympathy, patience and persever- ance, obedience and punctuality, regularity, industry and application, love. of work, joy in service, satisfaction, and strength from difficulties overcome. Then for fear that some one might think that I did not realize that the tools of education had to be taught, I said: ‘Teach reading, writing, and arithmetic, of course, but not as fundamentals, except as in the learning one is taught to read fine things, to write beautiful thoughts, and to know that in the fundamentals of life the sum of one happiness can not be obtained by subtracting from others, and that the way to multiply the value of one’s possessions is to divide them with others, especially with those in need. Teach geography, but only that to world knowledge may be added world sympathy and understanding and fellowship. Teach history, that against its gray background of suffering and sorrow and struggle we may better understand the present and may project a fine future. Teach civics, to make strong the ideals of liberty and justice, and to make free, through obedience, the citizens of a republic. Teach science, but always as the handmate of religion, to reveal how the brooding spirit of God created the world and all that is therein, and set the stars in their courses, in accordance with the eternal laws that He Himself had ordained. Teach that which gives intelligence and skill, but forget not soul culture, for out of this comes the more abundant life bringing forth the fruits of the spirit. Teach music and art and literature. Reveal beauty and truth. Incul- cate social and civic ideals. These are the real fundamentals in education, for character is higher than intellect and the soul shall never die. And there has never been a time when school and college needed more than now to take account of what they are teaching and the way they are teaching, and to place the emphasis where it belongs, on the things that make for right and noble living. It is not enough to know and to be able to do; we must become, for knowledge and skill without character count for little. “So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom”; that we may look to the hills from whence cometh strength, and may climb the heights for a clearer view. GENERAL SESSIONS 139 _ And the third test which I would apply to the success of the American school would be this: Are they helping to give American ideals to the foreign born who are in our midst ? Several years ago I was riding west on the North Coast Limited and it was Christmas time, and I knew when Christmas Day came that our foreign born in Cincinnati would be gathered in the American House, our neighborhood house where friendship and fellowship abound, and I sent them this little message as they gathered about the Christmas tree on that day: “Peace and good will for the American House and for all who come within its gates, to those who come from afar seeking a new day, and to those who bring gifts of sacrifice and service, offer them to a new- born and finer American citizenship.” For I knew that they had come from many lands across every sea, seeking in this land of their adoption, the land of Washington and Lincoln and Jefferson and Adams and Franklin—seeking here the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness, denied them in the land of their birth and guaranteed them in America. And the public school shall not discharge its full duty unless it recognizes the obligation to implant in the hearts of these foreign born who have come to our shores the ideals of America and an appreciation of the work of our fathers and their contribution to this great democracy of the west. The next test of our American schools shall be whether .those who are sent out from its doors have within them the ideals of citizenship that expresses itself in terms of service. In the Cincinnati schools in our eighth grade and high schools we have clubs that are called parts of the civic and vocational league. Several years ago in addressing them, without very much thought, I gave them an expression which they have accepted as their slogan, and these are the words: “Know your city, love your city, serve your city,” And these young people are seeking to know their city of the past, to serve the city of today, that they may vision a finer city of tomorrow. Every time they gather they repeat from memory and from . their hearts the Athenian oath: We will revere and obey the city’s laws and do our best to incite a like respect and reverence in those above us, who are prone to annul or to set them at naught. We will strive unceasingly to quicken the public’s sense of civic duty. Thus in all these ways we will transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us. Not only service and preparation for life’s work but for living. Now I hear some one say, “But where does the culture come in? Is there any place for culture?” My reply is simply this, that culture comes not from a particular form of study but rather from a spirit awakening by study. For one the approach to the spirit and the opportunity for self-expression will be found in art; for another, in music; for another, in literature; another, in nature; for others, it will be found in the forge, the anvil, the carpenter’s bench, in the machine shop and the counting room, or in farm and household occupations. Culture is the ripening of life, the inner 140 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION self-enlargement, and the daily toil and the daily rest must supply the opportunity and the incentive for this enrichment of life. If it is not found here, it will be found elsewhere. There must be less study for study’s sake, and more study that expresses itself in terms of work, learning that becomes knowledge through its application, wisdom through its expression in terms of unselfish service. And this shall be one of the tests, the final test of the success of the public schools, the American school, whether it is giving that enrichment of life, that inner enlargement, that self-expression that finds the oppor- tunity through work and study. During the first two weeks of July, 1776, there was gathered in Boston a group of Indians who had been called into conference with the Colonial authorities to decide whether they would cast in their lot with America in its struggle for freedom, or whether they would maintain their allegiance to the old government of England. ‘They had been discussing this subject for two weeks and had not arrived at a decision, and on the evening of the 16th there had been delivered by horseback riders to Boston the first printed copy of the Declaration of Independence which had been adopted in this city on July 4th, and the presiding officer, Governor Bolton, read to the Indians. this Declaration of Independence, and when he was through, Ambrose, a Neva Scotia Indian, used few words but he expressed a great deal, for after the reading he simply said: ‘‘We like it well.” For 150 years, not only in America but throughout the world, wherever men have sought freedom and liberty and justice, wherever they have sought an opportunity for self-expression, the words of the Nova Scotia Indian have been expressed, if not in these words at least the sentiment, “We like it well.” In America 150 years after the Declaration was drafted, we can still say “We like it well,” and we are gathered here on this one hundred and fiftieth anniversary to pledge anew our devotion to the ideals of America and to the public schools as that which makes these ideals secure, and until we are able to express in terms of public education these ideals of America they shall not be secure. Give every child his right of school, Merge private greed in public good, And spare a treasury overfull The tax upon a poor man’s food. No lack was in thy primal stock, No weakling founders builded here; Thine were the men of Plymouth Rock, The Hugenot and Cavalier. And thine shall be the power of all To do the work which duty bids, And make the people’s council hall As lasting as the pyramids! ‘ GENERAL SESSIONS 14] Thy great world-lesson all shall learn, The nations in thy school shall sit, Earth’s farthest mountain tops shall burn With watch-fires from thy own uplift. Great, without seeking to be great By fraud or conquest; rich in gold, But richer in the large estate Of virtue which they children hold. With peace that comes of purity And strength to simple justice due, So runs our loyal dream of thee; God of our fathers! make it true. O Land of lands! to thee we give Our prayers, our hopes, our service free. My Flag—born in the days of Revolution, baptized in the days of civil strife, rededicated to the cause of human freedom in the great world conflict; in peace and in war it has ever floated as the symbol of liberty and justice. May its stars never grow dim, and its stripes never fade. And may the children in the schools over which it shall float be so taught to love justice, to hate evil, and to do good, that they may forever protect the flag and the ideals for which it stands. Just off the coast of Maine, near the little town where I was born and to which I have returned every year for forty years that I may drink in the spirit of peace and contentment which surrounds its woods and shores, a little group of islands known as “Georges Islands” rests on the bosom of the sea. Some ten years before the Mayflower came to Plymouth, Captain Wainwright from Archangel came to this group of islands, dropped anchor in the harbor and he named it Pentecost. Years have gone by and it since has become a simple little fishing harbor where the boats rock at noontime and where the men camp on the shore. As my little daughter was growing up as a child we talked about Georges Islands and she often said, “Will you take me to Georges Islands? And I said, “Yes, we will go to Georges Islands some day, child.” The years went by. Each year we talked in the summer time that some day we would go to Georges Islands, and in the winter time we promised ourselves that the next summer we would go to Georges Islands. But the years went by and she grew from childhood into girl- hood and into youth, and we had gone from Massachusetts to Montana and we still talked that some day we would go to Georges Islands. And one day when the wind was just right, over the sunlit sea we hoisted our white sail and in the mid-afternoon the keel of our boat grated on the shore. We climbed the rocks and stood on the highest point and looked back over the course we had come to the west. We looked to the north, where the mountains lifted above the ocean and to the south over the great expanse of ocean, and then returned to the east, toward the morning. 142 NaTIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION Far on the eastern horizon a bit of deeper blue joined the blue of the sea and sky and she said, “What is that?” I said, “That is the most eastern land of the United States. That is McKinicook,”’ and she said, “Will you take me to McKinicook?” And I said, “Some day we will come to McKinicook.”” And the years went by and one day we came into that harbor. We climbed the rocky shore. We came to the highest point on the island. There were fine homes well kept, surrounded by gardens, and the school house was the center of the island life. We looked through its windows. We saw the pictures of Washington and Jefferson and Lincoln on the wall. We saw the map of the United States hanging there. We saw the flag by the teacher’s desk, and we came away, but we knew that the people were secure, for the final test of their devotion to America centered in education and in the schools that gave all the children a chance to know of our fathers and to protect the ideals and the institutions that they had founded. — Tonight we have come to Founders’ Day. One hundred and fifty years we look back over the course of our national history and then we turn our vision toward the morning and we look ahead and we know that some day if we are sure to maintain the ideals of education that América stands for, we shall come to that far-off land of heart’s desire where social justice, where freedom and equality of opportunity, where liberty shall prevail and where our nation shall be secure. We stand tonight and we look back down the long years to Jefferson and Washington and Adams and Franklin and Hamilton and they call us to dedicate ourselves anew to the ideals of freedom and justice that they themselves died for. I came one day to the western coast of the United States and looked on the inscription that was carved in the city of San Francisco to the “Pioneer Mother”: Over rude paths Beset with hunger and risk She pressed on toward The vision of a better country. To an assemblage of men busied With the perishable rewards of today She brought the threefold leaven Of enduring society, Faith—Gentleness—Hope With the nurture of children. It is for us teachers of America to rededicate ourselves to these un- finished tasks, that government of the people, by the people, for the people, may not, shall not perish from the earth. GENERAL SESSIONS 143 ADDRESS J. A. C. CHANDLER, PRESIDENT OF COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY WILLIAMSBURG, PA. The National Education Association represents in round numbers 200,000 teachers, opt of about 900,000 teachers in the United States. Too many people in educational work are not affiliated with the National Education Association. We who believe in it should see that others join, and that through the National Education Association the teachers of the United States may present a solid front. The bar associations of the respectives states and the American Bar Association have a larger per- centage of lawyers in their respective organizations than we have of teach- ers in our organization. “The various state medical associations and the American Medical Association represent a larger percentage of physicians than the National Education Association represents of teachers. The trade unions of this country represent a larger percentage of skilled work- ers in their respective trades than the National Education Association represents of teachers. ‘This should not be. Are we awake to the fact that while we are claiming to be a profession we have not as a unit the same amount of professional zeal and spirit as displayed by other profes- sions? A mighty race is being conducted by all the professions for proper recognition. Have we entered into this race with heart and soul, or are we doing it in a lukewarm, half-hearted way? The teaching profession deals with practically one fourth of our popula- tion, when we include normal schools, colleges, and universities. “The colleges and universities alone have lands, buildings, and endowment the equivalent of about two billions of dollars. On normal schools, high schools, and elementary schools, the annual expenditure is about two bil- lions of dollars a year to take care of the instruction of approximately twenty-five millions of students. Fellow members of the National Edu- cation Association, considering the Herculean task that we have to per- form, or are attempting to perform, two billions of dollars annual ex- penditure to educate twenty-five millions of students is almost a bagatelle. We are therefore engaged in something at which we can not succeed thoroughly or in anything like a satisfactory way, because the financial support that is provided makes the task impossible. A stupendous task, therefore, lies ahead of us. It is two-fold. First, with the meager resources now at hand we must give the very best training possible, in spite of the discouragements and the difficulties that lie ahead of us, because of meager salaries in so many cases, scarcely enough upon which to eke out an existence. If we are conscientious we will give the best that is in us to this work, even though we do not have value received, so that what we do, may be recognized as work faithfully performed. The second great task is that the public must be educated to the fact that we are able to support education and will, ez masse, demand that 144 NationAL EpucaTion AssOclATION AEs rte ieee ssniniting MONI ISNA adequate support shall be given, and will see that it is given. Here, in- deed, is the rub. Every investigation shows that during the last twenty years there is no material difference in expenditures for schools in pro- portion to the amount of wealth in the states. Generally speaking, the same relative ratio has been maintained between school expenditures and economic values for the last twenty years, and yet during this period the percentage of enrolment has increased, the percentage of students remain- ing in school has increased, and the demands upon the educational institu- tions of all kinds from the public at large have more than doubled. In other words, when all the increases are considered, the relative support is smaller. This is a sad fact in American education and in American life. Herbert Hoover, in speaking before the Department of Superintend- ence in February, said: ‘‘Unless our educational system keeps pace with the growth of our material equipment we will slip also.” Can we get the public to grasp this idea? Why is it that taxpayers, legislative bodies, and our tax-raising bodies do not listen to the appeal of teachers? Frankly, it is because we are paid out of the public crib, and the revenue-raising bodies do not consider teachers as taxpayers. “They will listen only to tax- payers. If the National Education Association, if the state teachers associations, if the local teachers associations hope to accomplish any great reform through legislation it will have to be by cooperating with great lay organizations of wealth producers who pay the greater proportion of taxes. [The day has come when we must work indirectly with heart and soul, and with our whole mind and spirit we must convince the taxpayers of every community, and get them so filled with the idea of adequate support to public education that they will organize and they, themselves, will do the work of educating our tax raising bodies so that proper financial provisions for education are made. If today, therefore, I have any message to bring to you in the short time that has been allotted to me it is that in our teachers organizations from this time on we bend every effort to enlist the whole-hearted support of lay organizations, of men and women of trade and industry, with whom we will work, relying upon them to produce in those in authority in local, state, and federal affairs a real recognition of the dignity and necessity of universal education throughout this broad republic. More missionary work is to be done on our part in the communities in which we live. Education for education’s sake should be emphasized among all classes. Education is’ a costly jewel but when it is obtained it becomes priceless and does not depreciate with age and use. We must remove the impression that so often exists in our respective communities that the schools and the teachers are a necessary evil rather than a neces- sary good. No longer can we take for granted that the people do believe in the work of the teacher, and that throughout the nation the foremost thought of our people is how can we make it possible for the oncoming generations to be more useful and better than the present generation. We must have a declaration of principles which demand adequate support for schoals and which will give to the children an opportunity to face more ( GENERAL SESSIONS 145 ee ee successfully the problems of our complex civilization. Yea, I go further and say that the time has come when every organization, political or other- wise, should have more discussion of the rights of the child, and less dis- cussion of the rights of man. A STUDY OF THE PRESCHOOL AGE—ABSTRACT BIRD T. BALDWIN, DIRECTOR OF IOWA CHILD WELFARE RESEARCH STATION, STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, IOWA CITY, IOWA Today we are in a position to determine with a fairly high degree of accuracy the capacity of a child in a great many phases of his growth at any age in his development from six months to sixteen years. For example, we can predict from the child’s stature at birth what his adult stature is likely to be. At the age of two or three, we can determine certain phases of muscular control, a measure of intelligence and probable mental growth, his ability in the pronunciation and use of words and the size of his vocabulary, and his social attitude toward others. For his accomplish- ment in school we have many standard educational tests: In short, we have developed systematic methods for measuring his capacity at any age and the amount of training which he can profitably receive. And, after all, isn’t this the aim of education, to develop the capacity and abilities of each child to the maximum? ‘The important problem is the increase in the amount of growth of each individual, based on his present capacity. In our efforts to discover the native endowments, or capacity, of the children from birth to five years of age in our infant and preschool labora- tories from the standpoint of physical growth, muscular control, intelli- gence, language, emotions, and social attitudes, we have found that little children’s personalities can be tremendously modified and improved through modern methods of observation and training if the task is undertaken sufficiently early in their development. Physical growth can be increased or retarded, muscular control improved, new and permanent interests awakened, language habits completely modified and vocabularies enlarged, undesirable temperaments changed, and social aversion and extreme shyness overcome. Nature may furnish the basis for education, but environment, nurture, and training are the determining factors in producing the final product. In order to train or educate in any line we must always start with the child’s present capacity and change it from “what it is to what it ought to be.” My first interest in child psychology began with the mentally defective child, then centered in adolescence; today it is with the preschool child, for I see the beginning of a majority of problems of adolescence cropping out during the ages from birth to six years. These, I believe, are the most important years of childhood. Last Spring, by an act of the state board of education, the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station was officially designated the coordinating and directing center for all work in child study and present education at the 146 NaTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Ames, the State Teachers College at Cedar Falls, and the state at large. In addition to its extension work, the state college has its preschool laboratory and is training from 400 to 500 home economics senior students in child care and training. The State Teachers College is beginning its work with teachers. The university has many study groups that have been working for two years. , THE TRAINING OF THE VOLUNTEER IN EDUCATION— ABSTRACT SARAH LOUISE ARNOLD, PRESIDENT, GIRL SCOUTS OF AMERICA, LINCOLN, MASS. Schooling is not an end in itself but is part and parcel of the greater adventure called education. We, as teachers, must be clearly conscious of the vital processes in education which are going on in the world outside the schoolroom. With these our own teaching must be in harmony. As we consider the problems confronting youth today, we must challenge our own contribution and ask how future teaching can help youth to find clear guidance, accepted principles of action, and the willing, and all but instinctive choice of the good, the true, and the beautiful. The scout movement is making a remarkable contribution to education. It is worldwide in its reach. It is voluntarily chosen by youth. It is led by bodies of earnest, intelligent men and women. It was conceived by a rare mind, and it has been interpreted by a devoted band who are not wanting in the knowledge of educational principles. The movement appeals to youth itself. Boys and girls volunteer to take part in the movement; they join themselves to groups who desire to play the game. ‘They ask for leaders, and fine groups of young men and young women have answered the call. These volunteer choices affect three generations. Youth in the midst asks to be led—young men and young women volunteer as leaders—and maturer groups in the community become sponsors of the movement. All these groups—old and young—learn as they go. They are interpreting an educational experience. {n the scout movement the group controls the game. ‘Troops of scouts are divided into smaller groups known as Patrols. The captain leads the troop, but the patrol leader is chosen by the patrol. The recognized administration of the game, the choice of the work to be done, and the plans to be made, rest with the group. ‘The scout spirit expresses itself in the accepted laws and promises. In all of these the scout considers and respects the opinions of others. Here we have self-determination, the individual for himself, lost in group determination. A scout gives way to others as he learns to discern the needs and interests of others, or takes pride in the achievement of the group. This naturally develops a sense of comradeship and the will to share. GENERAL SESSIONS 147 Here is a distinct contribution to the solution of the problems which confront youth today. The fact that it has been accepted by youth proves its inherent strength and the validity of its guiding principles. The chief virtue of the scout movement can be maintained if it is rightly guided by trained volunteers and maintained as a volunteer move- ment. Let us hope that this can be done in genuine cooperation with the schools. THE CHALLENGING EPOCHS IN THE LIFE OF A CHILD— ABRIDGED EDWIN D. STARBUCK, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, IOWA CITY, IOWA Reformers and revolutionists there have always been in the world who have been driven by some divine urge to ‘declare their independence.” We, their admirers, erect sacred monuments to their memory and immor- talize their deeds by celebrations. But the reformer and the revolutionis¢t is doomed to disappear. We shall substitute intelligent leadership for reform and thoughtful development for revolution. Perhaps not yet. The causes of the upheavals in human development are deep seated. There is the tendency with us human beings just as with the earth crust towards stratification and changelessness. ‘There is the equally insistent tendency toward growth and change. “The urge, the struggle onwards and upwards against odds is irresistible. ‘There is no stopping a human being who has seen new light and has felt the divine restlessness within him. But usually, in religion, in statesmanship, in industry, he impinges against straint of dead traditions and is blocked by static institutional forms. Then a cataclysm. Change and changelessness refers to the childhood and youth of culture. With the advance of civilization, institutions, customs, moral dogmas, law, - become plastic expressions of the demands of growing life, and adapt them- selves to the changing need of an evolving society. (Witness the 18th amendment.) The reformer or revolutionist may go out of business, but not yet. In education there are always two or three constants and two variables playing against one another and demanding recognition. ‘There is, in the first place, the ¢ constant, (the Curriculum), the organized body of the wisdom of the race that must be put over into the minds of the rising generation; there is the constant (educational behavior) called the school system which represents the institutionalized expression of the motions of humanity about the proper mechanics of acquired knowledge; there is the a constant, (educational authority), the embodiment of the convention- alized doctrines and dogmas about educational aims and purposes and objectives, full of prescriptions concerning how to acquire informations and skills. Over against these constants are the variables. ‘There is the y variable (Youth), the growing type of an abstracted somewhat called 148 NaTIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION a SS SS eS the developing child, changing quantitatively from zero to potential infinity and qualitatively, as if passing through all the colors of the spectrum. There is also the x variable (Xenos, the stranger or alien or eccentric one), the individual child with a provoking capacity of almost indefinite varia- tion from the type, from genius towards idiocy and towards any one of a large number of variants. There is always trouble in our profession with the clashing consonants. Each variant, as in Algebra, is a problem, but worse, for there are so many of them and the “known” quantities are so few. The most serious conflicts, however, are between the constants— rigid and unyielding—and the variables, that never will stay put and are a distraction by day and a disturbance by night. While the constants and variables are equally essential, I wish today to have the privilege of being the partial pleader for one of the variables. I beg to pose not as a reformer, Heaven forbid, but as the advocate of the growing child who has never yet been really discovered. So far, we have been quite too fully occupied with the constants—doctrines, curriculums, systems. It is so in our profession, as always in the rise of any bit of culture, that the constants get the first innings. “They are concrete. They ‘come with observation.” They are useful in organizing and integrating our complex social life. ‘They give solid foundations on which our feet may rest in the midst of the swishing currents of progress. It is now high time that education be less the other half truth and hold before our thought that the curriculum is made for the child rather than that the child is made for the curriculum. . - The discovery of the child psychologically and educationally has been going on fitfully through a century and is to be the delightful task of these immediate years into which we are coming. Our interests are focused thereon, the technic is becoming sufficient, and we are now quite well launched upon this adventure into a science of childhood. The discovery of the child, like that of America, has been intermittent as to time and piecemeal as to locality. The first great explorers of this unknown country, the life of the growing child, make their excursions into the range of years from four to seven, the kindergarten years. These adventuresome souls—Froebel, Madam Montessori, Patty Hill, John Dewey—have felt and observed and thought their way into what is hap- pening during this period. ‘They have stopped and looked and listened; stopped their conventional rounds of pedagogical habits, looked the behavior of a real child in his natural estate, and listened with keen ears to what nature, who has been a long time on the job of evolving children, was trying to whisper. ‘They heard the voice, they devised ways of helping nature in her program. So well have they done their work that the kindergarten is now the brightest spot in school life. The plays, games, and occupations are in tune with child life. The youngsters are happy. They are growing naturally in a “child garden.” Strangely, the teachers are happy. They too are playing in nature’s garden. Written within the immense variety of growth processes during these years are these three, inscribed in luminous characters: The free play of fancy, the spontaneity GENERAL SESSIONS 149 tac Ne ee of the play impulse, and made out of these two, the dramatic impulse. Through the free self-expressiveness which runs through the dances and songs and projects of the kindergarten there comes, through controlled life in action, the first fine integration of personality; through the free use of the imagination, which has always been our deliverer, children begin their entrance into the world of higher values in song, in art, and in person- alities and other presences about them. Through their various occupations they enter sympathetically into the life of plants and animals, the thoughts and purposes of other people, even fairy presences. They are thus escap- ing in advance the prison walls of fact and circumstance which constitute the prosaic life of the average person. To enter actively and sympa- thetically the life of others, is that not the keynote to morality? No child can be cruel to an animal nor to a person, if it has lived in imagina- tion the life of that creature through the use of song, story, and drama, and has ministered to its wants. It is the imagination that leads not only into morality but likewise into science, art, and religion. The kinder- garten with all its appointments is the best school that has yet been devised. It is so because the kindergarten child has been discovered. The region within this expanse of years between babyhood and full maturity next opened up by great explorers, like G. Stanley Hall, is the period of adolescence, the high school age, from the years fourteen to eighteen. As we have begun to get our bearings and interpret the growth processes in this interesting stretch of years we find that the nature life is working out here three great changes: the birth of the sense of a new selfhood on higher levels of mentality; the awakening of social impulses and the recentering the self in the life of the group, and third, a rebirth into values, values that are more than personal. ‘The first of these has to do with the reconstruction of a selfhood on the levels of thought, of insight into fact and law, of the joy in achievement, and of appreciation of art and nature. ‘The second of these events, with its inception in such signs as pleasure in group games, the gang spirit, and the love impulse, witnesses the ripening of the social impulses into devotion to the group, satisfaction in high service, and deep down loyalty to the group, whether civic, national, or international. The third refers to the rebirth into a world of fact, of inviolable law, of beauty and truth that exist in their own right. Science has exalted this world of beings by the use of such names as universe or nature. Religion has idealized it with terms like the over-soul, God, Brama. This third rebirth has been hitherto left to luck and to religion. It is education that achieves this consummate end of life most successfully. These bits of knowledge concerning the dramatic movement during the high school period have come too suddenly upon us to allow as yet much of reconstruction of our educational technic. If the insight ripens and our methods and materials adapt themselyes to the fresh insight we shall help to realize among our pupils more initiative, more cooperation, and more respect and reverence when standing in the presence of the high and wonderful things of human life and of the world order, 150 NaTIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION A country as yet almost unexplored is that of the junior high school. Hitherto it has been called by the students of genetic psychology a “‘transi- tion period” which is a convenient word designating our ignorance of what is really going on. Hall designated it the period of “moral intergrim”’ as if the nature forces playing through child life had during these interesting years taken a rest or gone on a vacation. A few things are now beginning to come to light. During the years from eleven to thirteen there is a distinct increment in the power of children to reason and to think in abstract terms. There is sudden and sharp improvement in the power of right judgment when tackling a difficult problem; involving appreciation and insight. §. P. Franklin during the past two years has shown with objectively controlled observations that in comprehending the sayings and parables of Jesus there is more improvement during the two years from eleven to thirteen, mental age, than during all the years put together from eight to sixteen. Other studies are throwing light in the same direction. For a good while we were feeling the futility of the work we were doing with the last two years of the elementary school. Witness: The establishment about over the nation of special schools to take care of the 7th and 8th grade pupils who were now ready, we thought, for a different sort of régime. Later has come the establishment of the junior high school which begins the rather serious work of the high school with the seventh grade. For many years we were blinded by our limitation of the ways of the Prussian system in the Volk schule. We were using the seventh and eighth grades essentially to no purposes other than to continue still the improvement of our rigid disciplines concerning the formal aspect of education, the mere mechanics of culture through these two precious years. If the facts indicated are better realized we are destined to see still further progress in the direction of really deepening the insight of pupils from every angle of culture—grammar moving in the direction ot the beginnings of philology, nature study passing over into geological, botanical, and biological insight, a profounder hold upon the significant movements in history, a keener appreciation of the life of art, and so on through a long list of categories. If all goes well better use of this earlier period will make possible the release of new powers during adolescences and a safer and profounder integration of personality during the high school life. I would make a few observations finally concerning the development of the periods of child life during the years of seven to eleven. This is the darkest Africa of child life, the great American desert of the public school system. It is so because we never as yet have had much wisdom to guide us in interpreting the mentality of boys and girls during this period. We have for most part been doing, for reasons that are clear to every stu- dent of the history of public schools, those things which are directly at variance with the facts and laws of child nature. The lads and lassies have been full of the passion for self-expressiveness. We have forced them into passivity. GENERAL SESSIONS 151 EE SS SEE a ee Fortunately highly disciplined experiments have been made to demon- Strate to us this simple truth. J. A. Gilbert some years ago showed by experiments on school children that about all the improvement human beings make in their ability to discriminate and choose among fine differ- ences in sense experience happens during the years from seven to eleven. For example, it requires about a third of tone difference between a standard tone and a later presented comparison at six or seven years of age before it can be distinguished. Children of ten can discriminate under similar circumstances about one eighth of a tone and there is not much improve- ment after that throughout the whole stretch of years. The same is true with slight differences of color, of distance, and of magnitude. Experi- ments carried on by my own students in San Jose under my own direction have demonstrated the same fact. These years are in the first instance marked by great increment in the sensory-motor-thought functions. We should have known this law had we stopped to observe the taste and behavior of normal children. They love to run and play and climb and swim; they are eager to collect specimens, to classify them and to interpret them intelligently. ‘They are sense-hungry and muscle-hungry as Hall and others have taught us to believe. They are also thought-hungry. but have taste only for thought that is vitalized by contact with meaning- ful things. “They crave the bread of intelligent contacts with a rich and varied world of objects, and we have given them instead the stones of the mechanics of former training. We are all, let us say, builders of the pyramid of life. We must start with its deepest foundations. First of all there are the problems of right procreation through which healthy life is to be brought into the world. The schools must accept their share of the responsibility for race culture through right breeding. One must feel profound sympathy with the appeal of Sir Francis Galton for a religion of eugenics, and with his notion con- cerning the impossibility of improving the human speakers through, the present methods of breathing. Through the school must come the better knowledge of the care and nutrition of tiny infants. During the earliest days and weeks must be realized the proper coordination of the reflexes and instinctive powers and functions that are predetermining elements of character. During the early weeks and months the school must help the homes in organizing in children a body of habits that govern bodily functions and mental attitudes. Through the earliest months and years there should arise a delicate respon- siveness to persons along with a sufficient complacency of the child in the absence of others. “Then comes in the second and third years the tidal wave of the use of spoken language, and the need of accuracy and grace in its use. Thereafter, comes the kindergarten period of which we have spoken—deliberation of thought mechanism and the emancipation of self through the playful use of the imagination and the release of higher values through the use of symbols. Later in the building of this pyramid should come the furnishing of consciousness with a stock of images which shall predispose the mind toward thoughtfulness and appreciation. In passing 152 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION by these boundaries one after another the work of the schools is made easier because of a fund of instinctive tendencies and hereditary predisposi- tions toward right adjustments. At the next stage, however, the beginning of the high school, there is fresh challenge; each new boundary ahead becomes a deadline difficult to cross. For most persons to pass over from thinking in terms of things to thinking in terms of ideas is next to impos- sible. It is a deadline that the majority of human beings do not cross. The army rating shows that the average mental age of healthy bodies, white Americans who were draftees, is only a shade more than 13 years. This staggering truth being interpreted means that most American men have not experienced a birth from thing-hood to thought-hood. When we understand the periods of child life we shall succeed in bringing a majority of boys and girls safely across this fatal boundary. Again the boundary line between complacent relatively irresponsible boyhood or girlhood and a socially recentered personality that loves and serves is a deadline that most persons never cross. A more difficult deadline still is that which should mark the rebirth of the self into a world of ideal and impersonal values that can be attained only through a sort of Copernician revolution of life until its loves and passions center in a truth or beauty or goodness that are relatively permanent. / Let us change the figure finally and borrow a symbol of the meaning of education from Socrates. When twitted by his friends as to his profes- sion or vocation he replied with his characteristic playfulness, remarking that his job was like that of his mother before him; then went around the merry laughter, because his friends recalled that his mother was a mid- wife. He maintained his stand and claimed that his task was to bring into full birth the best there was in the souls of the young men of Athens. He was trying to bring it about, he said, that there should not be born in their minds a wind-egg or a still birth. Shall we not say that the school with all its appointments and its attractive personalities as they play about the child is the womb of society in which the child may grow step by step, safely and surely through all the stages of its development? The teacher is the handmaid of nature in realizing the birth and ever fresh rebirth of human personality of higher levels of attainment. THE CLASSROOM TEACHER AS A DISCOVERER OF THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF CHILDHOOD—A BRIDGED JULIA E. SULLIVAN, PRESIDENT, DEPARTMENT OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS BOSTON, MASS. The school, in the sense of its education of the individual from the kindergarten through the university, and throughout all its range in the field of specialization, is a solidarity. The improvement and advancement of any special branch of education affects either directly or indirectly every other branch. ‘The idea is essentially the scriptural one that we are “mem- bers one of another,” the best results of the whole depending upon the soundness and service of each constituent part. GENERAL SESSIONS 153 cea = 2 ee It is a high conception, and accepting it, the classroom teacher must be progressive, a continuous student, in order to cope with the constantly in- creasing and additional requirements as well as to bring to a realization her vast responsibilities. It seems particularly fitting then that, at this convention of the National Education Association at which the teachers’ responses to America’s chal- lenge are under consideration, an opportunity be given to present the phase of the classroom teacher as a discoverer of the special needs of child- hood, It is a source of much satisfaction to note the increasing wholesome, cordial, intelligent spirit of cooperation between parents and_ teachers which the classroom teachers have helped to promote. No other instru- mentality contributes so much to a pupil’s success and all-around develop- ment as a feeling of confidence, cordiality, and sympathy between parent and teacher. One of the strongest features of our modern school system is the emphasis placed on the necessity of parent and teacher working together for the physical and moral as well as the intellectual development of the child. The solicitude of our wide awake teachers of kindergarten and first grade classes for the formation of good habits and a proper training of the emotions of those young children has resulted in an intensive study of the so-called “‘preschool years” of the child. In endeavoring to find methods that would give greater success to their teaching, experienced teachers of kindergartens and first grades have been giving attention to a study of the child in the home. In some places the outgrowth of this study has resulted in the establishment of schools for the training of the preschool child. Organized in 1917 by the psycholog- ical laboratory of the lowa Child Welfare Research Station the first pre- school in the United States was established. Four groups of eighty-five children, from sixteen months to five years, are in attendance. The laboratory for each group has a selected equipment, trained personnel, and an adjustable program. The work consists of story-telling, music, singing or skipping games, clay modelling, coloring and drawing pictures, and work along kindergarten lines, all dependent upon the children’s ages and inclinations. It is claimed that the children so trained enter school with greater resourcefulness and stand a better chance of preserving their in- dividuality. Modern sociology is constantly impressing us with the necessity of con- serving the strong as well as protecting the weak. The classroom teacher must never lose sight of her tremendous responsibility in faithful and judicious adherence to this principle. Reports of her observation and recommendation to principals, physicians, and other school officials, on sanitation, ventilation, length of recitation periods, noticeable fatigue of pupils during certain activities have resulted in many corrective measures designed to provide and establish the most favorable conditions possible to secure for the children opportunity for all-round development. 154 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION The classroom teacher’s plea for greater flexibility in the system of grading and promoting has at last a salutary effect. For years teachers have been focusing attention on the dangers resulting from prolonged re- tardation. They have been among the first to recognize the morbid effect upon children who are subjected to feelings of failure and consequently discouragement. They have recognized the sanity of placing value upon mastery up to and within the child’s limit as well as upon standard or ideal mastery. ‘They have contended that attitude toward duties and effort ex- pended in aiming to secure results should be considered in deciding the pupil’s claim for promotion rather than the mere conforming to certain standard requirements. It is not that the classroom teacher is indifferent to results and high attainments, but through his discovery of the needs of the child and through the human quality of his guidance he sees the per- spective of the partially developed boy or girl and makes reasonable allow- ances for limitations to which he has given careful study. “The recogni- tion of the fact that what is standard mastery in one child is only partial mastery in another and even ideal mastery in a third has had a marked influence in the provision for a differentiation of courses which is now a feature of almost all city school systems. Closely connected with the adoption of the differentiated program is the growing custom of supplying advice, direction, and guidance in the choice of occupation to which each student will be likely to devote his interest and powers and then to shape his training according to the inclination of his choice. The solution of a problem to which some classroom teachers in Boston may point with special pride and satisfaction is the perplexing one of pro- viding instruction for hospital children. The story of children absent from school on account of accident and thereby losing a promotion and re- peating the year’s work is familiar to all. Many attempts were made to provide sufficient instruction during the convalescent period so that these children would escape retardation. Volunteers among the teachers re- sponded cheerfully for the work. One of the difficulties resulted from the fact that the only time in which the volunteer teachers could assist the children (after regular school sessions) was not the part of the day in which the children were best fitted to receive instruction. However, recognizing the urgent need of these children, a committee of teachers conferred with the medical-social department of the Boston City Hospital and with the chairman of the Boston school committee. The result was the appointment of teachers by the Boston school committee who were assigned to hospital classes. The scheme has worked out most satis- factorily. When the child is sufficiently convalescent to receive instruc- tion in school work the hospital teacher communicates with the classroom teacher in regard to the work which will be most essential in order that he may retain his grade. ‘The hospital children are happier in feeling that, although they are handicapped in not being physically able to attend school, they are really keeping in touch with much of the work of their classmates. GENERAL SESSIONS 155 There need be no apprehension that these children will be overworked or allowed to study when physically unable. No child receives any form of instruction from the hospital teacher unless he is recommended by the physician for admission to the hospital class. The children who have been available for the teaching periods are almost entirely from the surgical service. [he establishment of hospital classes and of definite, school in- struction to individuals confined temporarily in hospitals breaks down a barrier of tradition, since it provides teaching apart from the classroom. But the teacher’s response to the needs of the child recognized no barrier. Instances of broadening the scope of the school system when the needs of childhood demand such departures are by no means rare. St. Louis has been to the forefront in this work by the establishment of a school connected with a convalescent hospital. Special equipment with every modern device to promote the comfort of the sick child may be found here, with a classroom teacher who is adapted for the work. A school specially constructed for the crippled children, also schools for all types of handicapped children may be found there, functioning under the board of education. The plea of the classroom teacher in his effort to convince parents of the urgency of allowing their children to remain in school after the com- pulsory school age has been reached, is familiar to all. Illustrations of unusually successful men and women whose opportunity for secondary education was made possible by the persuasive efforts of a certain teacher may be multiplied. “They exist in every city in our country. Compulsory education is everywhere acknowledged as necessary. In- sistence upon school attendance for all children has contributed either directly or indirectly to the organization of schools and courses to meet the needs of individual children. It has been found necessary to organize special classes for groups of children. As these opportunities have been provided for the mentally backward, the delinquent, the physically handi- capped, there has come to be a greater realization of the needs of differen- tiation in those who vary less extremely. Progress made in this field of organization has contributed toward eliminating the record of retardation. Educational surveys have resulted in the establishment of departments of educational research. The measurement of educational achievements through intelligence tests has provided a means by which the classroom teacher may check up her estimate of a pupil’s ability. It helps to prevent erroneous estimates. If the results coincide with the teacher’s estimate of the child’s mastery within his limit, the teacher may be reasonably sure that there has been no error made in her judgment. ‘These tests have helped in classifying the pupils according to abilities. This has led to the recognition and talents of the gifted child and the modern school systems through rapid advancement classes are giving this type of child special at- tention. Those of inferior intellect are especially provided for through opportunity classes. 156 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION The most powerful influence in education is the recognition of the differences that exist among individuals and the belief that these differ- ences must be respected and the programs of education both in their matter and method must be shaped to give each child his chance. The result of this has been the establishment of the junior high school which offers op- portunity for exploration and for some degree of specialization. In these schools pupil interest is the keynote of progress for we are educating the child by preparing for a right attitude toward his civic and social relations so that he may fit in his place as a member of society. “The knowledge gained by him should be closely related with his future interest. Our country’s growth is dependent upon the education of all rather than upon the education of a few. Much attention is being given, and rightly so, to the physical welfare of the individual, but we must not lose sight of our responsibility for the moral development, too. As teachers, we have been made aware of our responsibility in this matter and we are attempting to meet our share of this responsibility. We have ever been attempting to develop definite concepts of right and wrong, definite high ideals of thought and action. Intelligent, healthy, sturdy, self-supporting, self-controlling patriotic citi- zens are the need of America today. ‘The nation looks to the public school to supply these. Education of the hand and the mind is receiving constant attention, as is also the care of the physical body. But the education of the heart which is fundamental to the happiness of the individual and to the progress and prosperity of the nation, is now striving for its proper place in the curriculum of our schools. Another point never to be lost sight of in treating of the teacher’s re- sponse to the needs of children is the guidance and protection of that class of well disposed but overworked children, whose very expressions are in- dicative of the absence of a tenderly protected childhood and whose ex- perience in contact with the world gives them a seriousness far beyond their years. “They sometimes read newspaper articles or listen to speeches which arouse their antagonism to existing laws and customs. Here the teacher must show strength, sympathy, and tact. He realizes, to be sure, that the social problems, the solution of which some of these children attempt, are beyond their mental grasp; but he is aware also, that they, and possibly their parents, are easy victims and their minds, without his explanations and corrective influence, would furnish breeding ground for some of the evils which infest our social organism. The fact that many of these boys, who had chafed and manifested dis- content at their interpretation of some of our industrial and immigration regulations, later develop into splendid examples of law abiding citizens is directly traceable to daily contact with teachers of broad sympathy, largeness of humanity who are not only the discoverers of the needs of the different types of children but equally alive to the necessity of providing for these needs. GENERAL SESSIONS 157 THE SCHOOLS OF TOMORROW—ABRIDGED JOHN J. TIGERT, UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION WASHINGTON, D. C. It is evident that the presentation of this subject might take the form of a prophecy, in which one would undertake to forecast the character and nature of the coming school, or it might assume the aspects of an educa- tional program such as the speaker might prefer. I am inclined to think that most speakers would take the latter course and attempt to present a picture of the schools of tomorrow as they would like to have them, or in line with the popular desires of educational leaders at the present time. I shall take the unusual course of undertaking to indicate what appears to me to be likely to happen, regardless of my own preferences, popular expectations, or current educational thinking. Let me say frankly, at the outset, that I doubt very much if the experi- ments which are being worked out so skillfully in some of these schools will determine in their entirety, or in a very large measure, what the schools of tomorrow, speaking generally, will be. History readily indicates that reform and liberal movements usually issue in compromise. It is rare that the conservative or the liberal is able to consummate his desires. What we usually find is a middle ground between the two extremes. I can not bring myself to the conclusion that the conventional school of today is all wrong in every detail. If one takes the trouble to survey the criticisms that are being made on the schools of today he will find that, apparently, there is nothing satisfactory about them. We find authori- ties questioning the present procedure at practically all points, and these strictures are inconsistent, conflicting, and self-destructive. The schools of today are criticized by educational authorities with reference to organiza- tion, administration, supervision, instruction, objectives, curriculum ma- terials, financing, and so on through the whole catalog of educational par- ticulars. It is asserted that the administration of the schools of today is not only inefficient, but that there is too much of it; that we have not yet developed professional supervision, and that there is too much supervision ; that the curriculum needs enlargement with new things, and that it is overloaded and contains everything; that we spend too much money on the schools, and that there is not enough adequately to support them; that the courses of study should be vitalized, and that so much of what goes on in the schools of today is like life that we hardly need school; that formal instruction is undertaken too early in life, and that we need nursery schools; that children are kept in school too long, and that the schools should run all the year around; that education is undemocratic, and that it is adapted for mass instruction; that there shall be equality of opportunity for everybody, and individualized instruction. These are only a few of the criticisms and paradoxes with which we are being regaled from day to day. It is difficult to comprehend how the traditional school could suffer from all of these maladies and defects and at the same time produce 158 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION the men and women who have been capable of discovering so many of its weaknesses. The school of today is a vast improvement on the school of yesterday. There is not the slightest doubt that we have made more progress in the past decade, since the appearance of Dewey’s Schools of Tomorrow than in any similar period of our educational history. In fact, the trends indicated in that volumn have been realized in a very considerable measure through- out the schools generally. We must be alert to prevent some of the tendencies, which were needed and wholesome a decade ago, from going to such extremes that a reaction will overtake the schools of tomorrow. Nor is there any doubt in my mind that the American school has more than kept pace with the schools in other countries. Even the most serene internationalist would hardly contend that any nation has prospered more or enjoys today a more favored position than the United States. I am confident that the splendid position which we occupy today in the family of nations is due more to the success of our experiment in universal free schools and the efficiency of this program than to any other consideration whatsoever. For the best interests of the schools of tomorrow what we need today is a clearer exposition and analysis of the constructive forward steps which we have taken in the eventful years that are just behind us and through which we are passing now. What I am trying to say is that life is complex and varied and filled with obstacles and difficulties. There is no one so able, so high, so wealthy, or so favored who does not meet difficulties and obstacles and who is not compelled to bow to circumstances which he can not control. The child who is permitted to develop without this realization is going to face life with a severe handicap. “[There-comes to my mind the recollection of a pedagog who placed two mottoes on the walls of his school: Nzhil sine labore and “I need thee every hour.” Under the latter he hung his ferrule. We may condemn this act, and we may have become wiser than Solomon who, with barbaric inappreciation of modern democracy and freedom, said “He that spareth the rod hateth his son,’ but we can never contravene the supreme law of natural progress Nihil sine labore. The same principles which govern the pupil in this regard must govern the teacher. If the child can not grow without some restraint, without some difficulties and without some discipline, and without subjecting his will at times to others, neither can the teacher perform his function without these limitations. I am glad to see a larger participation on the part of the teacher in the formulation of the educational program and in the conduct of the school. In organizing materials of instruction, in planning the management of the school, and in many essential ways, the teacher can make a large and needed contribution to educational progress, but I must confess that I see considerable peril lurking in a disposition now quite evident on the part of some teachers to participate in the formulation of the administrative policies of the school. I believe that this tendency is going to increase, but inevitably it will result in reaction, because it is not based upon sound principle or practice. Freedom and responsibility must go hand in hand. Unlimited participation in public affairs by an irre- GENERAL SESSIONS . 159 sponsible individual may upset the constructive efforts of a thousand intel- ligent, responsible citizen. By the same token, the teacher who is irresponsible may not only retard and injure an administrative program, but may even wreck it. Responsibility for the administrative program rests squarely upon the school board, whose members are elected or appointed by the people, and upon the administrative officers, who always carry the burden of direct or indirect responsibility. Officials who are charged with the responsibility should be free to discharge their obliga- tions to the public without interference on the part of those who do not share their responsibility. A violation of this principle is essentially detri- mental to social progress. Carried to its logical consequences this move- ment would eventually sovietize our schools. No trend of education, noted by the Deweys in their volume, was advo- cated with more emphasis than that which is called motivation, pupil activity, or, what we now call, “learning by doing.’”’ Since that time, the project method has been employed generally and successfully in all kinds of subjects. The value of this method is unquestioned and it was essen- tial to bring about a proper balance between practical and theoretical education. ‘The traditional school was far too formal and its objectives centered too largely in abstract thinking. I believe that this tremendous movement, originating with Froebel and Pestalozzi, is susceptible of an even richer application in the schools of tomorrow. I have been particu- larly enthusiastic about all forms of education which depend upon action, and have stressed as best I could the need of healthful development of the body, together with acquisition of skill with the hands. When these pur- poses can be outlined with the teaching of abstract subjects, we have modern education at its best. To attempt to teach everything by doing would amount, in its last analysis, to a denial of the need or existence of abstract or reflective think- ing. Simple problems in numbering and arithmetic can well be taught through sensation by employment of the project method and pupil activity, but to undertake to teach a very considerable portion of mathematics in this way would be clumsy and eventually impossible. After all, mathe- matics is an abstract science. “The concepts of mathematics are not per- ceptible through the senses. A mathematical point is defined as having no length, breadth or thickness. For the purpose of sensation we employ something which has all three. In a like manner, a line, a circle, and other mathematical entities can not be truly presented to sensation. If the geometrical proposition, the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to 180 degrees, had to be taught by doing or through sensation, the pupil would have to try every possible form of triangle to discover the truth of this proposition through experience. “This would be impossible, as the number of triangles is infinite. I need not go further. The principle of learning through doing, when applied completely to the process of learning, is a reductio ad absurdum. If we should succeed in completely vitalizing the curriculum and making school children live naturally the school would become a useless expense. Let life take the place of the school and let us avoid the useless multipl- 160 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION cation of buildings, equipment, and teachers. This objective of education could be accomplished by letting the children live under observation. _With it the raison d’etre for the school perishes. One other comment on the schools of tomorrow and I am done. It has often’ been suggested that our system of grades, rewards, promotions and certificates is a pernicious device and that these things should be abandoned. Boys and girls should learn to apprize knowledge for the sake of knowl- edge and the happiness that it affords. No one should be motivated by a selfish or sinister lure. This is a form of idealism which I confess appeals strongly to me, but as often as I turn my attention to human nature I am forced back into the troughs of realism. I am unable to believe that boys and girls, in general, could be stimulated as effectively without these devices. True, there are exceptional children who hunger and thirst after knowledge, but unfortunately as yet they do not compose the vast majority. When we contemplate American women who marry titles instead of men, the annual conferring of honorary degrees, and the general enthusiasm which many display in the pursuit of honors, offices, decorations, and all manner of things, we are forced to conclude that a great many grown ups have not yet been educated to the point of living merely for the sake of life. How then can we expect children to learn merely for the sake of learning? A system of stimulating learning without these conventional rewards may some day be discovered but that time will only come when human nature has changed. Under present conditions this proposal would be like a prepetual motion machine of education. It is beautiful, it is ideal, it looks fine on paper, but I am afraid it will not work. Kipling contem- plated that as a “far-off divine event” but not for tomorrow when he wrote: When Earth’s last picture is painted, and the tubes are twisted and dried, When the eldest colors have faded, and the youngest critic has died, We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it—lie down for an £on or two, Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall set us to work anew! And those who were good shall be happy; they shall sit in a golden chair; They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets’ hair; They shall find real saints to draw from—Mag‘a- lene, Peter, and Paul; They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all! And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame; And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame; But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star, Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They Are! GENERAL SESSIONS 161 I HEAR THE CHILDREN SINGING A. E. WINSHIP, EDITOR, JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON, MASS. There are three highly important suggestions in the statement, “I hear the children singing.” The keystone in the arch is children. The arch rests on one side on hearing children. The other side of it rests on the children singing. All future industrial and commercial, social and civic, educational and religious functioning in America will rest upon children in school this year and upon those who will be in school for the next twelve years. Those in school now and those who will be in school in the next twelve years will be active men and women from eighteen to forty-two years of age in 1950. With those who are in school today and those who are to be in school in the next twelve years will be the fate for good or ill, for hope or fear, for success or failure, for virtue or vice in America, for they will swing along and sweep along as the controlling factor in city and county, in state and nation. They will largely determine what will be done, when it will be done, and how it will be done. And yet, strange to say, as children they receive slight attention when any issue is raised between the importance of children and of grown-ups. A man prominent enough to have won a nomination as a candidate for the governorship in one of our large states in 1926 publishes an appeal for votes on the ground that he will ignore the importance of school children in order to save the taxes of old folks. Among other great financial achievements for grown-ups he has promised to make public school children use school books that will cost not more than four cents each. If parents want good books for their children, books that will cost more than four cents, they can send them to private schools, but four-cent books will be good enough for public school children, when bought out of tax money. This seems too absurd to be possible, but it is not one whit more ridiculous than for men and women—not in insane asylums—to vote against the Child Labor Amendment on the ground that children should not have any school books at all, or be in school, if grown-ups want the children in mills and factories in order to increase dividends or work in beet fields to enhance profits. Nor is it any more absurd to insist that a four-cent school book is good enough for a public school child in order to save the taxes of millionaires and other folks than it is to oppose a Federal Depart- ment of Education with a Secretary in the Cabinet on the ground that such a Department and such a Cabinet Secretary may upset the political plans, financial schemes, or institutional ambitions of some grown-ups in some one or more of the forty-eight states in the union. No one opposes child labor laws or a Department of Education in order to provide better education for children, but purely and selfishly because it interferes with plans and interests of grown-ups. Why mortgage the efficiency, the intelligence, the comfort, the usefulness of the manhood and womanhood of America in 1950 for a puttering divi- 162 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION dend in taxes, in political power or in institutional influence of grown-ups today ? With infant damnation in theology, past or present, we have naught to do, but we do protest against any footprints thereof in education. It is always in evidence when we measure or test children by what they don’t -know that adults know rather than by what they know that they should know. Thomas A. Edison won world fame by knowing what no one else knew, by doing what no one else could do, but when he slopped over into pedagogy and insisted that other people should be tested by what they did not know, by what they could not do, and asserted that that principle should dominate the schools, he adopted the pedagogical theology of infant damnation. “T hear the children singing.” It has been of no avail that children had music or art, genius or science in their soul, for no educator would hear the sound thereof in children. ‘There is no sound unless there is an ear to hear. “Thunder is noiseless unless its waves strike some ear. Within the last twelve months an educator, by the use of large appropria- tions by a benevolent foundation, has investigated ten thousand of the ten million elementary school children of America, and knows what some school people have been saying for a third of a century, that while four out of five children can wisely ‘‘drill” on any regulation scheme of educa- tion, about one in five should not be harnessed with an ox to a plow. There are Percheron minds that should be trained to pull heavy loads and thoroughbreds that should be trained in speed. While there is no appreciable relation between the ‘‘horsepower” of a Percheron and of a thoroughbred the world estimates all its power by “horsepower,” meaning neither Percheron nor thoroughbred, but the ordi- nary horse on farm or track. A clever story is going the rounds in the funny columns of the press. A lad saw a Percheron pulling a vast load, and asked his father how many horsepower the Percheron had. Educa- tors have refused to credit any child with any power except the traditional “drill” power in things that he did not want to know, did not want to do. They have hitched a thoroughbred with a Percheron and credited the thoroughbred with being a moron in team work, while specialists in speed have mated a Percheron with a thoroughbred and rated the Percheron as a moron in speed, “T hear the children singing.’ ‘This carries us forward to the glowing suggestion, ‘Suffer little children to come unto Me and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Isn’t it strange that theological infant damnation survived for two thousand years after it was clearly said that Heaven, and not the other place, was the natural abode of children? Music alone takes rhythm, melody, and harmony into the school. It alone gives the thrill that makes minds throb and hearts glow. Is there GENERAL SESSIONS 163 any public school course of study that provides, more than fifteen minutes a day, the thrill of rhythm, melody, and harmony? Is there any public school that does not require at least half of the day on drill that is useless and worse than useless for one fifth of thé children? Experts on the dia- mond say that no man has ever learned to be an artist at the bat or behind the bat, at skilful pitching or artistic base guarding who did not love to practice his specialty when a boy. The national league managers select their talent at sandlot games and from school leagues. It is universally known that a musician must have musical freedom as a child. Not to hear the children singing, not to free them from tedious drill on things worse than useless for them, not inspiring practice with voice and ear, is one of the great pedogogical crimes. To thrill the soul of a child with high art, to make a school throb with some master emotion will be remembered for life. A school boy leader of a chorus, an orchestra or a band has an influence far above traditional scholarship. A brilliant soloist, vocal or instrumental, stirs the pride of a whole community as well as of the school. An artistic accompanist makes every schoolmate’s whole being tingle with rhythm, melody, and harmony. A race horse in his first colt’s year is stabled at a race track where he hears the winning horses calling to one another, is always seeing the horses racing. Before the pure-bred racing colt ever has a boy on his back he gets all the excitement of the race, and every muscle quivers with aspira- tion for the track. When will the schools give the same thrill of aspira- tion and inspiration to boys and girls for high intellectual achievement? When will we hear the soul of children throbbing with the joy. of achievement ? In the summer of 1926 Richard C. Cabot of Boston and Clarence Gamble of Philadelphia demonstrated the achievement of medical science in their creation of an instrument that will hear every heart beat and every living movement, and record it on a cylinder as a record so that there can be in every hospital in the world, yes, in every physician’s office, ready for hearing at a moment's notice, the action of heart and lungs in every serious irregularity. When will educators hear the children sing- ing, yes, hear the rhythm, melody, and harmony of their inmost beings instead of thinking first, last, and all the time of “subject-method,” of the artistic aspiration and inspiration instead of drill in technic? When a child wants the result of technic he will practice indefinitely for it, but when he cares nothing for it he will never get it through forced drilling. The test of musical talent is hearing one practice for perfection. There is no talent lurking in the soul of one who has to be driven to a task. Hear the children! Let them lead the teacher instead of being driven by the teacher. Hear ye the children, for of them is the Kingdom of Heaven. 164 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION THE CHILD’S BIRTHRIGHT IN ART HENRY TURNER BAILEY, DIRECTOR, THE CLEVELAND SCHOOL OF ART, AND OF THE JOHN HUNTINGTON POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE CLEVELAND, OHIO In Susan Ertz’s last book After Noon her hero has this to say about art in England: All this to-do that’s made about art is out of all proportion to its value. It is made, as a rule, by people who are merely sentimental hangers on. The very word art moves them in some sickly way. I would like all things that are for daily use made pleasdnt to handle and to look upon, and let art exist in that way, domesti- cated, like the horse. It’s ludicrous and paradoxical to have this craze for art flourishing in a world that’s as full of sordid ugliness as this is. Ugly streets, ugly houses, ugly towns, ugly people, ugly morals. Art, under such conditions, is a mere growth, an excrescence. It might almost be called a disease. It’s as unhealthy as the flush on the cheek of a consumptive. I know towns that are the very abomina- tion of sordid hideousness, and yet possess deserted art galleries full of treasures. It makes me think of a dirty slut wearing diamonds. Art, at the present moment, is merely the kept woman of the capitalist class. If this be true for England it is more pitifully true for the United States. What are we going to do about it? The answer is “educate.” The ills in a democracy may not all be curable through education, but they can be minimized, alleviated, transmuted into something less hampering to progress. The education that will banish ugliness must begin with nature study. Nature study freed the Greeks from Egyptian conventionalities; gave to Rome her portrait busts; enabled the Italians to throw off the shackles of Byzantine tradition; made Claude and “Turner, Millet and Monet the torch bearers in landscape painting. Nature study clears the eye, reveals the elements of beauty, fires the imagination. ‘Therefore all who believe in the coming of the Crowning Race of Tennyson should cooperate in every effort to give to all children the privilege of having fundamental experi- ences with Nature. All children ought to be familiar with the open country. “They should know the joy of playing in healthful mud, of paddling in clean water, of hearing the rooster call up the sun, and birds sing praises to God for the new day. They should have the vision of pure skies enriched at dawn and sunset with unspeakable glory; of dew drenched mornings flashing with priceless gems ; of grain fields and woodlands yielding to the feet of the wind; of the vast night sky “all throbbing and panting with stars.” They should feel the joy of seed time and harvest, of dazzling summer noons, and of creaking, glittering winter nights. They should live with flowers and butterflies, with the wild things that have made possible the world of fable. They should experience the thrill of going barefoot, of being out in the rain without umbrellas and rubber coats and buckled overshoes; of GENERAL SESSIONS 165 ~ sy h en ke e ala riding a white birch, of sliding down pine boughs, of climbing ledges and tall trees, of diving head first into a transparent pool. They ought to know the smell of wet earth, of new mown hay; of the blossoming wild grape and eglantine, of an apple orchard in May and of a pine forest in July; of the crushed leaves of wax myrtle, sweet fern, mint and fir; of the breath of cattle and of fog blown inland from the sea. They should hear the answer the trees make to the rain and to the wind; the sound of rippling and falling water, the muffled roar of the sea in a storm, and its lisping and laughing and clapping of hands in a stiff breeze. ‘They should know the sound of bees in a plum tree in May, of frogs in a bog in April, of grasshoppers along the roadsides in June, of crickets out in the dark in September. They should hear a leafless ash hum, a pine tree sigh, old trees groan in the forest, and the floating ice in a brook making its incomparable music beneath the frozen crystal roof of some flooded glade. They should have a chance to chase butterflies, to catch fish, to ride on a load of hay, to camp out, to cook over an open fire, to tramp through new country and to sleep under the open sky. ‘They should have the fun of driving a horse, paddling a canoe, and sailing a boat, and of discovering that nature will honor the humblest seed they plant. Things that children can do in cities are not to be compared with such country activities. Out of the country and its experiences has come and always will come the most stimulating and healthful art of the world. One can not appreciate and enjoy to the full nature books, novels, histories, poems, pictures, or even musical compositions, who has not had in his youth the blessed contact with that world upon the face of which our cities appear as stains that should be washed away. I do not forget what cities have done for us, and always must do; I do not forget that it is under the type of a city that the glories of the heavenly world are described to us. But I like to remember that that city is fifteen hundred miles square, according to the measuring of the angel, and that within its walls, therefore, there is plenty of room for a river of life as large as the Mississippi, and for gardens the size of whole states on either side, where the trees that yield their fruits every month have room enough to be full grown! One can get all the best a city has to yield by visiting it, but one can not reap all the harvests of the country except by living there and especially by living there in childhood. And I feel somehow that such a life in the country is the birthright of every child. There is truth in Cowper’s statement that God made the country and man made the town. I believe that every child has a right to see the country—the house his Heavenly Father made for him—unobstructed by brick walls, unspoiled by filth and undimmed by smoke. And one of these days, somehow, all children born into the world will be given a chance to enjoy to the full their inspiring patrimony. Perhaps in the golden future they may be required by law to serve the commonwealth by living in the country a few 166 NATIONAL ‘EDUCATION ASSOCIATION of their childhood years for their normal development, as later they may be required to live for a time in Government ‘Training Camps in prepara- tion for national and international public service. Meanwhile let us develop as rapidly as possible an educational system that will make use of the busses of the department of education, not to bring suburban children into city schools every day, but to carry city children out into the country at least every other day, where, upon selected farms or reservations they may come to know the great inexhaustible reservoir of suggestion for all forms of art. But in addition to nature at first hand—divine art, as Plato called it— the children have a right to orderly experience with human art. We have made a good beginning with our nursery rhymes and fairy stories, with our folk songs and national dances. ‘The teachers of music should be encouraged to continue the good work they have begun by familiarizing the children with the best music throughout their school life, following a carefully graded sequence from the Caissons Rolling Along to the Hallelujah Chorus of the Messiah, and from the Largo to the Fifth Symphony of Beethoven. The teachers of reading are following a similar plan, and must develop it still further. The insignificant selections with which our school readers used to be filled—selections good only to analyze and parse—must make room for the great literature of the world, again carefully graded to meet the growing ability to apprehend and appreciate. “The public libraries have been powerful allies in this field. ‘Their graded lists for reading have been of incalculable value to public school pupils. It is probable that the lists might in some cases be improved through conferences with the best teachers of language and literature. ‘The great classics, the Iliad, the Odyssey of Homer, the Edifus of Sophocles, the Aeneid of Virgil, some of the orations of Demosthenes, the poems of Theocritus, the Lives of Plutarch, and portions of some of the dialogues of Plato should be known, in English translation by every high school boy and girl. They ought also to know some of the calm philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, some of the reminiscent and aspiring passages in St. Augustine’s confessions, some of the thrilling visions in Dante’s great poem, that “‘medizval miracle in song,” as Longfellow called it. The great ballads of the Middle Ages, Sir Thomas Mallory’s masterpieces, and: the Shakespearian dramas, should have a chance with the eager adolescent mind, for which the best is none too good. History vitalized by means of works of literary Art—the great historical novels—will be thrilling and memorable. Who can forget such brilliant moving pictures as those presented by The Bride of The Nile, Salambo, Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, The Talisman, The Cloister and the Hearth, The Last of the Barons, St. George and St. Michael, Tale of Two Cities, or the Soul of Anne Rutledge—to mention only.a few almost at random! What an opportunity the teachers on manual arts have missed! They have ignored the thrilling history of craft. They. have displayed no master- GENERAL SESSIONS 167 pieces, hence their work has been mechanical rather than cultural. Few manual training men ever introduced their pupils to Imhotep, pioneer ar- chitect of pyramids, to Bezaleel, who cast the great bronze columns in the clay pits of the Jordan; to Duri, master potter of Athens; to Demetrius, famous craftsman of Ephesus; to Authemius of Tralles, who designed the most wonderful church in the world; Master Gerard, cathedral builder; Hans Sachs, shoemaker ;Stradavarius, violin maker ; Quenten Mateys, black- smith; Peter Vischer, bronze caster; Veit Stoss, wood carver; Benvenuts Cellini, jeweler; Bould, Chippendale, Adam, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton, furniture makers; Stevenson, Robeling, bridge builders; Gutenberg, Faust, Caxton, Plantin, printers; Paul Revere, silversmith; William Morris, master craftsman; Lehmann, Quarre, Laleque, Louis Tiffany, glassmakers ; Thomas A. Edison, American inventor. Few manual training students ever heard from their teachers of such masterpieces of handicraft as the Shield of Achilles, and the Vaphio Cup, the Portland Vase, the Chariot of the Vatican, the Hildesheim Treasure, the Bayeux Tapestry, the Book of Kells, the Schoener, Brunen of Nuremberg, or the Strasbourg Clock. Chil- dren need nourishing food, not sawdust and shavings. In the Cleveland School of Art we require all our pupils to make an illus- trated note book, the table of contents being given to them at the beginning of their freshman year. Here it is: Architecture The Great Pyramids Karnak Palace of Sargon Parthenon Colosseum Santa Sophia St. Mark’s (Venice) A Gothic Cathedral: Milan, Paris, Chartres, Amiens, Rheims, York, Durham, Lincoln, Ely, Winchester A Renaissance Church: St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s, The Pantheon, Paris A Colonial Building: Independence Hall, Faneuil Hall, Old Stone House A Sky Scraper: Woolworth Building, Tribune Building, Metropolitan Tower, American Radiator Building An American Home: Contemporary Ar- chitecture Sculpture The Sphinx The Wooden Schoolmaster A Lady of the Acropolis Victory of Samothrace Three Fates of the Parthenon Hermes of Olympia Apollo Belvedere Venus of Milo Loacoon Colleoni, by Verocchio Moses, by Michelangelo Wooden Madonna, of Nuremberg Joan of Arc, by Fremiet Houdon’s Washington St. Gauden’s Farragut Rodin’s Hand of God French’s Death of the Sculptor Representation The Book of the Dead The Aldrobrandini Marriage Victory of Alexander A Fayum Portrait A Mosaic Decoration from Ravenna Cimabue’s Madonna (carried in pro- cession) Fra Angelico’s Coronation of Virgin Giotto’s Mourning over the Dead Christ Masacios Peter Baptizing 168 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION Botticelli’s Allegory of Spring Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa Michelangelo’s Creation of Man Raphael’s Sistine Madonna Giorgione’s Concert Titian’s Assumption Vecchio’s St. Barbara -Tintoretto’s Ariadne and Bacchus Veronese’s Marriage of Cana Corregio’s Marriage of St. Catherine Reni’s Aurora Ruben’s Descent from the Cross Claude Lorraine’s Landing of Cleopatra Watteau’s Embarkation for Cythera David’s Rape of the Sabines Delacroix’s Barque of Dante Corot’s Dance of the Nymphs Millet’s The Gleaners Chavannes’ Sacred Grove—Sorbonne Dore’s Illustrations Dante’s Inferno A Monet Landscape Velasquez’s Portrait of Innocent X Murillo’s St. Anthony and Infant Jesus Van Dyck’s Adoration of the Lamb Van Dyck’s Children of Charles I. Rembrandt’s Night Watch A Van der Meer of Delft Interior Durer’s Four Pillars of the Church Holbein’s Portrait of a Man (Munich) A Lenbach Portrait Hoffmann’s Christ and the Rich Young Ruler Honkacsy’s Christ before Pilate Hogarth’s The Rake’s Progress Reynolds’ Age of Innocence West’s Death of General Wolfe Turner’s Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus Landseer’s Waiting for his Mistress Holman Hunt’s Triumph of Innocents Rosetti’s Annunciation Burne-Jones’ Star of Bethlehem Watt’s Mammon Stuart’s Washington (unfinished) Inness’ Peace and Plenty Hunt’s The Bathers Vedder’s The Cup of Death Whistler’s Portrait of his Mother Abbey’s The Round Table of King Ar- thur Homer’s Fog Warning Abbott Thayer’s Caritas Metcalf’s May Night Alexander’s Pot of Basil Duveneck’s Whistling Boy Sargent’s The Frieze of the Prophets But should such a list be reserved for Art Schools? Should it not be the basis for instruction in high schoo's? It is a catalog of a part of our vast wealth in the realm of the arts, laid up by the master minds of the past, for us all to enjoy. It is the heritage of the race. All should participate. This great National Education Association should use every means it can commend to bring to all the children of the United States the best the world has to offer for their instruction, their enrichment, their enjoyment and their inspiration, that they may help in the forward movement of the human spirit towards its shining goal. Every one of us should know by heart Emerson’s poem “Culture” as our ever present guide. Can rules or tutors educate The semi-god whom we await? He must be musical, Tremulous, impressional, Alive to gentle influence Of landscape and of sky, And tender to the spirit touch Of man’s or maiden’s eye; But to his native center fast, Shall into future fuse the past, And the worlds flowing fates In his own mold recast, Reports of Committees oui = 7 a, ote - . =f. 7 ‘avatata aac, f P © ; a x ior 2 : net bee ge Jag ; ¢¢ *t we 4 1 y-—e j a. & =) 20 , . ae - 4 a ~é oe. a » pe ° C2 ts eee a : * ; as « a ad . i . wee iv 7 ange if Ts). ea r + t , a exg = nt ve Ao iret cE ER. ea = 4 . ae. ; <4 iericcn 3, yore : ; 4 a, ‘A hw Ch Soa “aq ie # sage lars is Fats aor rath ~ ‘ no —_ i i : : irae ey watt at - * 1“ PBs bes ae 1 mary y . . P , 3 4 os ars A, WA Ts ‘ 7 i ~ i, a r tf bi RE, eS “9 pores i oe a : vee 7 ) - dee fey . | re) oot Sayer = ’ + = 78 ~~ =~, Aye — ‘ t aw - 5 a 1 ia Se REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE PROBLEM OF RETIREMENT ALLOWANCES—SUMMARY? E. RUTH PYRTLE, PRINCIPAL, McKINLEY SCHOOL, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA CHAIRMAN The 1926 report of the Committee on the Problem of Retirement Allow- ances of the National Education Association included these eleven sections: 1. A Critical Review of the Fundamental Principles of a Retirement System. Why Every State Should Enact a Sound Teacher Retirement Law. The Teacher’s Interest in Retirement Legislation. State and Local Retirement Systems Now in Effect. Where to Write Concerning Details of State and Local Retirement Systems. 6. Roll Call by States as to Plans Affecting Retirement Legislation. 7. Tabulation of Main Provisions of Eleven Teacher Retirement Sys- tems. 8. Income and Outgo for Representative State Teacher Retirement Sys- tems. 9. Controversial Issues in the Field of Retirement Legislation. 10. The Text of a State Teacher Retirement Law with Comments and Explanations. 11. Selected Annotated Bibliography. The following is a summary of five sections of the report: Se A critical review of the fundamental principles of a teachers’ retirement system—Eleven fundamental principles were set forth in the 1924 Report of the Committee of One Hundred of the National Education Association on the Problem of Retirement Allowances. ‘These principles were widely circulated, intensively studied, and critically reviewed by four groups of educators. These eleven fundamental principles are listed below, together with a statement as to the acceptability of each principle by the educators who reviewed them. Percent of People Fundamental Principles of a Sound Retirement System ee Accepted Each Principle IBerinnerssto. bexex em pt st. 1s%.« cau «ker weet asictel sce eco) eevee nya crete a 54 Depositslreturned’ in®é¢ase of early retirement: 22.5. .%2........:...- 72 Disabilitys provided stl nrc.52te aoe eee tea tian ae ets ee meet ene PA 94 Guatanties.to bothiteachers and. publicaeany ae cinie ects iiel 95 Déath benefits included), wk Sate nett: deeb eter cee tee. ee es 83 Individual accounts: kept. aniaueidseatei ee natn te taatia ome atest. oleae 92 Rights under previous annuity systems safeguarded.................... 95 Credit for past service allowed mutiirmanie cise sss sse ess ose 95 @osts shared: by teachers andspUDiCa@y rere ce re che ee stins 16 0. 95 Servicerandsd epositsucOnCUnient yr ast ittsr tiie fers ts v0 sie» o/6)s 016 +c 95 J Nereis Oe CE Yivelin ch bn odin coo wed odedcd ono od oD aUOUDDD AD OUDSe 96 The complete report is published in Vol. IV, No. 3, Research Bulletin of the National Education Association, Efficient Teaching and Retirement Legislation. [171] 172 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION Arguments for and against the above principles as well as suggested modifications are included in the Report. Why every state should enact a sound retirement law—These are the arguments set forth in the 1926 Report: 1. A sound teacher retirement law protects school children from teach- ers rendered incompetent by advanced age because: (a) It sets up a plan whereby every teacher upon attaining old age and in- firmity will have had some provision made for his retirement. (b) It frees school boards from the obligation of continuing to employ teachers formerly satisfactory, but who are now rendered incompe- tent by old age. (c) It removes the necessity for teachers to continue in service after their effectiveness has been seriously reduced by advanced age, or other disability. 2. A sound teacher retirement law tends to attract capable young peo- ple into the teaching profession because: (a) It partly compensates for the lower remuneration that teaching offers during active service. (b) It gives a better guarantee of promotion within the profession. (c) It increases the dignity of the teaching profession by keeping its ranks free of those incapacitated by old age. 3. A sound teacher retirement system tends to keep capable teachers in the classroom because: (a) It makes it unnecessary for capable people to seek other employment than teaching in order to provide for their old age. (b) It makes each year of teaching service a step toward independence in old age. 4. A sound teacher retirement system increases the efficiency of the teacher in the classroom because: (a) It lengthens the period of teaching efficiency by relieving the teacher’s mind of the fear of a destitute old age. (b) It makes it possible for a teacher to invest in study, training, and travel, without endangering the provision made for his later years. (c) It improves the morale of a teaching force by keeping open the paths of promotion. (d) It increases the child’s respect for the teacher and thereby makes his work more effective. 5. A sound teacher retirement system in the long run means a substantial saving to the general public because: (a) It makes possible the replacement of superannuated teachers, who re- ceive the maximum salaries, by younger teachers who begin at a smaller salary. (b) It protects the public from the waste of an expensive school plant manned by a superannuated teacher. (c) It guarantees the public a definite and valuable return for its share of the cost. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 173 see 2 EE ee eee (d) It prevents the enactment of ill-considered and costly “pension” sys- tems. (e) Its cost to the general public is small when compared with the benefits received. 6. The adoption of a sound teacher retirement system is in accord with the best thought of the day because: (a) Private industry has already recognized retirement plans as essential to good business. (b) A retirement plan has already been put in effect in all important pub- lic services. (c) The public in general contributes billions of dollars each year for the support of insurance companies that offer protection for the future. The teacher's interest in retirement legislation—These eight statements, together with facts which substantiate them are made relative to the teach- er’s interest in retirement legislation: 1. The form of teacher retirement legislation which promises most in benefits to the public also promises in benefits to the teacher. 2. The support of sound teacher retirement legislation on the part of all teach- ers is a professional duty. 3. Every teacher has a direct personal interest in the enactment of sound retire- ment legislation. 4. Sound teacher retirement legislation is based upon sound business principles, which may be freely accepted by all teachers without loss of self-respect. 5. A teacher retirement system exercises an important influence upon advance- ment and promotion within the profession. 6. Sound retirement legislation should be based only upon expert advice and technical data. 7. The enactment of sound legislation must be preceded by and be based upon a proper education of both the teaching profession and the public. 8. The enactment of sound legislation must be based upon united effort on the part of the teaching profession. State and local retirement systems now in effect—The extent of teacher retirement legislation throughout the United States is shown by the fol- lowing tabulations: Statewide teacher retirement laws are in effect in: Arizona, California, Connecti- cut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin. In the states just mentioned, the following cities and counties have local teacher retirement systems independent of the state systems: San Francisco, Calif. ; New Haven, Conn.; Chicago, III.; Peoria, Ill.; Terre Haute, Ind.; Indianapolis, Ind. ; Allegany County, Md.; Baltimore County, Md.; Boston, Mass.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Duluth, Minn.; St. Paul, Minn.; New York City, N. Y.; Bristol, R. L.; Newport, R. I.; Providence, R. I.; Milwaukee, Wis. State teacher retirement laws affecting certain cities are in effect in the follow- ing states: Cities operating retirement systems under such state laws are: Colo- rado—Canon City, Colorado Springs, Denver, Greeley, Pueblo; Ilowa—Des Moines; Kansas—Topeka, Atchison, Parsons; Kentucky—Lexington, Louisville, Newport; Lovisiana—New Orleans; Michigan—Detroit; Nebraska—Omaha; Oregon— Portland; Utah—Salt Lake City; Washington—Bellingham, Everett, Seattle, Spo- kane, Tacoma; West Virginia—Parkersburg, Wheeling. 174 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION Controversial issues in the field of teacher retirement legislation—T hese are the issues discussed under this section: 1. What Governmental Unit Can Best Administer a Teacher Retirement Sys- tem? 2. Who Shall Be Members of a Teacher Retirement System? 3. What Factors Determine the Amount of the Teachers’ Contributions to a Retirement Fund? 4. By What Method May Money Be Secured to Provide for the Deficiency in the Retirement Fund When Credit Is Given Teachers for Past Service Where No Retirement System Has Existed? 5. How Shall Teaching Service Performed in Another State Be Evaluated? REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION THOMAS D. WOOD, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY, CHAIRMAN The Committee on Health Problems in Education was created as a Committee of the National Council of Education at the meeting in San Francisco, in 1911, at the suggestion and request of the American Medical Association, which was in session at the same time in Los Angeles. During the fifteen years since the Committee was first appointed the cooperation of a corresponding Committee on Health Problems of the American Medical Association has been continuous and very satisfactory. The Joint Committee on Health Problems in Education has come to be considered quite naturally and logically as the name of these two co- operating committees. At the meeting of the National Education Association in Des Moines, in July, 1921, the Committee on Health Problems in Education of the National Council of Education was formally adopted as a committee of the National Education Association. ‘This Joint Health Committee has during these fifteen years issued the following reports: 1. Country Schoolhouses, prepared by Fletcher B. Dresslar, a member of our Committee. This report was printed and distributed in. 1912 by the U. S. Bureau of Education. Unfortunately this bulletin is out of print. The Committee bulletins and reports still being distributed in the original or repeated editions include the following: 2. Minimum Health Requirements for Rural Schools. Three editions of 800,000 copies of this report have been distributed. Evidence from many sources shows that this report has exerted a marked influence in the improvement in rural school sanitation in the United States during the last ten years. Several states have adopted this report as a standard for rural schools. 3. Health Essentials for Rural School Children was printed in 50,000 copies. A second revised edition is now being distributed. Most of the copies of this report have been used as supplementary texts on health in the REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 175 training of rural school teachers in the normal schools, and as practical hand books by rural school teachers and supervisors. 4. The Health Chart Report. The first edition of 10,000 copies of the illustrated Health Chart pamphlet was soon exhausted ‘and a second edition is now being distributed. This pamphlet not only serves to illustrate and explain the health charts, but is being extensively used for health instruction in both city and country schools, and also as a guide in making health posters and scrap books. 5. The Health Chart Set includes 58 charts, each 22 x 28 inches. The second edition of the Health Charts has been practically exhausted, and plans are now being made to reprint the charts. 6. The Teacher’s Part in Social Hygiene was published in 1921 with the cooperation of the American Social Hygiene Association, and this cooperating Association presented the Joint Health Committee with 5000 copies of this valuable bulletin. The first printing of this bulletin has been exhausted, and a second printing of 5000 copies has just been made available. This report contains a very carefully selected bibliography in social hygiene, and has supplied, and provides a valuable bulletin for teachers. Copies of this valuable report are available for free distribution. * 7, Health Improvement in Rural Schools, published in 1922, furnishes many descriptions of outstanding work that has been done by progressive rural schools in the field of health. 8. Health Service in City Schools of the United States is the report of a survey conducted by the Joint Health Committee in 1922, of the health work which is being done in the city school systems of this country. The report represents the tabulation of valuable information regarding current accomplishments in the field of health service received from 340 city school superintendents. 9. Daylight in the Schoolroom is the title of a valuable report on school lighting which was prepared in 1921 by a subcommittee under the chairmanship of Dr. Edward Jackson, eminent opthalmologist of Denver and a member of our Joint Committee. ‘This report has been printed in several scientific and educational magazines, and represents a very admirable forward looking plan for the better use of daylight in school rooms. 10. Health Education, a Program for Public Schools and Teacher- Training Institutions. A report of 160 pages is the most important bulle- tin which has been prepared by the Joint Health Committee. ‘This report was prepared with the constructive cooperation of a technical committee of twenty-seven experts, and has proven to be, as recognized by many specialists in the field of health education, the most authoritative and helpful publication ever issued in this field. Over 15,000 copies of this report have been sold and distributed, and the demand for it continues very steadily. 11. Conserving the Sight of School Children is the first report in a series planned to furnish standards of health norms and health defects in school 176 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION children. This report of 50 pages is based upon returns from question- naires sent to 200 eminent opthalmologists and has been prepared through the cooperation of the National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness with our Joint Health Committee. This is the first of eight reports which the Joint Committee hopes and plans to complete as a series in that special and much needed field. 12. Ventilation of School Buildings is a short report which has been prepared by a sub-committee of which the chairman is Mary E. Murphy, Director of the Eliabeth McCormick Memorial Fund, in Chicago. ‘This Fund also provided, without expense to our Committee, 2500 copies of this report on school ventilation. The last two reports mentioned were distributed at the meeting of the National Education Association in 1925, at Indianapolis. The following studies and reports are included within the present program of the Joint Health Committee: a. A report on the Conservation of Teeth in School Children. This is being prepared through the cooperation, with our Joint Health Committee, of the Ameri- can Dental Association. Already nearly a thousand questionnaires have been sent out to a selected list of dentists through the United States, and the work on this report is going forward as fast as time and the available resources will permit. b. A report on Conserving the Hearing of School Children, which is being pre- pared through the cooperation, with our Health Committee of the American Federation of Organizations for the Hard of Hearing. It is expected that both of these reports will be completed and made available within the coming year. c. An enlarged and continuing Subcommittee on Ventilation of Schools is being organized to proceed with the campaign. of education needed to promote the best ideas and standards regarding modern school ventilation. d. A study of, and preparation of a report upon, factors affecting posture in school children. e. A study of, and preparation of a report upon, the health of the preschool child. f. A study of, and preparation of a report upon the health aspects of games, athletics, and recreational activities of school children. g. A study of, and preparation of a report upon, mental hygiene, particularly as related to all children in the schools. h. The preparation of a report providing standards for the periodic health ex- amination of school children. It is of interest and importance for the members of the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association, and teachers in general, to learn that the reports of the Joint Health Committee are now being distributed from the headquarters of the National Education Association, 1201 Sixteenth Street, Washington, D. C. It is a cause of much gratifica- tion to our Committee that our reports will in the future be distributed from the National Education Association offices. Many important health problems in education still need careful investi- gation and call for reports which may be helpful to general and special workers in the educational field. These specific problems, proposed each year by the members of the Joint Health Committee, and by others to Reports oF CoMMITTEES 77 EEE ne kee them, seem actually to increase in number as the work of the Committee proceeds. s Constructive cooperation between organizations and committees is a prominent part of the policy of our Joint Health Committee. Through each year of the fifteen years of the life of our Committee, the appropri- ation of the National Education Association has been duplicated by equal amounts given by the American Medical Association. In addition to this cooperation and actual money contribution by the Elizabeth McCormick Memorial Fund, The American Social Hygiene Association, The National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness, and other organizations and individuals, have contributed altogether as much technical and financial support for the work of our Committee as has been made available by the generous appropriations of the National Education Association. The sale of the Health Committee reports by the National Education Association in Washington now provides a substantial source of revenue to the National Education Association. To continue the work of the Joint Health Committee with the interest and cooperation of the American Medical Association, and other organiza- tions, it is hoped that the Committee may receive an appropriation which will make possible the continuation of the Committee’s work. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS WILLIAM F. RUSSELL, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY, CHAIRMAN The first full meeting of the delegation was not held until the morning of the opening session in Edinburgh. The announcement of the names of the official delegates had come at the time of the winter meeting in Cincin- nati, and at that time it was possible only to assemble seven for a prelimi- nary session. ‘The chairman tried to compensate for this lack of previous preparation by sending all delegates as well as other members of the Na- tional Education Association who ‘were planning to go to Scotland a series of mimeographed bulletins giving items of general interest, information, and the like. The report of the work of your delegation will be considered under three heads, (1) Composition of the delegation, (2) Constitutional questions, and (3) Participation in the meetings. Composition of the delegation—The President of the National Education Association appointed three types of representatives, delegates, alternate delegates, and participating representatives. According to the instructions of July 3, 1925, the Association thought it desirable to limit the official representation to the twenty-five delegates, allowing them discretion to add to their number the alternates and such others as later might be deemed to be advisable. There were officially appointed 25 delegates, 18 alternate delegates, and 72 participating representatives. Three times this total aumber of Americans were present at the meeting. 1/8 NatTIonaL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION At the first meeting the 19 official delegates added to their number the 11 alternate delegates who were: present at the meeting, and in addition Mrs. Beers of Hawaii and Mr. Vizcarrondo of Porto Rico. This made an official delegation of 32. It was this delegation which represented you. However, no Americans were excluded from the majority of the sessions of the delegation and all members of the National Education Association were allowed the floor. At that time the Scotch group in charge of the meeting saw no distinction in those attending and anyone who appeared was considered as a delegate. Until the question of representation was decided there was no point in drawing too strict a line. Constitutional questions—As you know, the World Federation adjourned its preliminary meeting at San Francisco without any very definite consti- tution. Only the most general working basis was.agreed upon, most of the important questions being left for the Edinburgh meeting to settle. At its meeting in Indianapolis last July the National Education Association in- structed its delegation as to the stand to be taken on certain important ques- tions. The first of these was the question of membership. The National Edu- cation Association advised us to secure if possible a clause in the constitution restricting the membership to the chief or leading national education asso- ciation of each land and the representation to be limited to delegates from this association in each country. So far as the United States is concerned, this was an eminently proper request. We.have a national association. It includes all types of teachers. It extends throughout the length and breadth of our land. It is truly representative. But almost all the other countries of the world have a different situation. There are some 15 organizations of teachers in England, 11 in France, 2 in China which are equally strong, equally representative, and equally important. On the continent in par- ticular there is a sharp social distinction between teachers in elementary schools, teachers in secondary schools, and teachers in colleges. The one group has nothing to do with the other. Now, while it was right to phil- osophize about the matter, and show these other countries the benefits of one grand inclusive association, the World Federation was confronted with a condition, not a theory; and it was plain to your delegation that we as Americans could not force through our plan when it was so manifestly un- suited to the rest of the world. In addition the whole notion of the Na- tional Education Association as an association for the benefit of children and education in. general as contrasted with a union for the benefit of teachers themselves has been slow to develop elsewhere in the world. In some countries, it was pointed out, there were no national associations of teachers at all, nevertheless the best way to start one would be to admit some smaller group and assist it to grow. With these things in mind, the American delegation acceded to the re- quest of the other nations that membership be limited to (a) any national educational organization or association of persons directly connected with education whose application shall be approved by the Board of Directors, REpPoRTS OF COMMITTEES 179 and (b) any organization of educators in a country not possessing a nation- wide organization whose application shall be approved by the Board of Directors. It was further the wish of the National Education Association expressed in the instruction of July 3, 1925, that the principle of proportional repre- sentation be adhered to. This seemed a natural desire and justified by com- mon sense ; but it was interesting to see how little support for it there was present in Edinburgh. It was just like in our own Constitutional Conven- tion with Rhode Island wanting as much voice as Virginia. The argu- ments were persuasive ; the little countries needed the most help; the United States was great and did not need it. The other instructions of the National Education Association were car- ried out in full. Commissioner Thomas was reelected President; Pro- fessor Williams, Secretary, and Superintendents Siders and Bradford mem- bers of the Board of Directors. The World Federation of Education Associations has now a working constitution, the National Education Association of the United States has within it its proper place, and the American delegation to the next meeting will not need to devote so large a proportion of its efforts to matters of organization and constitution. With fifty delegates to the next meeting we shall be in a position to exercise whatever influence for good we are able to, and in addition have an opportunity to learn from other nations. Participation in the meetings—One can not attend a meeting like the one in Edinburgh without becoming impressed with one’s own smallness of vision. We had thought that we knew what a teacher’s association would be and what its meetings would be like. In accord with this, President Thomas, who had made a deal with the Scotch, made arrangements for five of the section meetings, preschool, primary, secondary, character, and illit- eracy. “The Scotch on the other hand had arranged for adolescent, adult, universities, health, teacher training, and international relations. We Americans had our meetings all fixed, a set program, and unity of ideas. The Scotch, on the other hand, had a chairman and a general topic and the rest was discussion. Anyone who wished to send up his card was heard. And lots of cards were sent up. Naturally the Americans didn’t like the Scotch program and the Scotch didn’t like the American. But each learned something and that was the important thing. You would have been proud of the Americans at the meeting I am sure. Almost without exception the American contribution was on a high level and was well received. ‘There were a few present who did us no good. Some gave an air of dissension among the Americans. ‘There were a few who attended primarily to advertise their own pet projects, but fortunately these were in the great minority. What we had to learn was that we were not the whole show; that there are educational ideas outside of America; that other countries have made much progress; and that we have as much as or more to learn than we have 180 NaTIONAL EpucATION AsSOCIATION to give. It is this that makes our membership in the World Federation a thing of value. There were all in all 233 names on the program, 71 from Scotland, 46 from the United States, 32 from England, 12 from Japan, 6 each from India, China, France, and Canada, 5 from Hungary, 4 from Belgium and Czechoslovakia, 3 from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, and Sweden, 2 from Austria, Chili, Greece, and Jugo Slavia, and one each from Bulgaria, Burma, Ceylon, Egypt, Finland, Indore, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, Russia, South Africa, and Siam. Most distinguished educators were present, Sir Michael Sander, Sir Charles Cleland, J. J. Findlay, George Kerschensteiner, Princess Radizwell, and Dr. Nitobe, Dr. P. W. Kwo, and Chancellor Tsai, Professor Beltette and Petit Dutaillis, Dr. Gennadius, and Sir Donald MacAllister, Ramsay MacDonald, and G. K. Chesterton, and a host of others. All told it was a great occasion and most worthwhile. As Chairman of the Committee on International Relationship I request the National Education Association formally to approve the action of your delegation. We further recommend the immediate appointment of the next delega- tion, fifty delegates, and as many alternates as thought best appointed in order so that vacancies may be filled automatically. This will enable the delegation to prepare for its work, learn its task, and thus become better able properly to represent before the rest of the world the National Educa- tion Association of the United States. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF ONE HUNDRED ON CLASSROOM TEACHERS PROBLEMS—A REPORT OF PROGRESS ANNA RIDDLE, ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, CHAIRMAN Introduction This committee was appointed in the fall of 1923 for the purpose of studying professional problems which apply specifically to teachers whose work is in the classroom. ‘The report for last year contained a brief summary of the work carried on by the first chairman, Mary C. C. Bradford, and also the result of a study on teacher rating, this subject having been suggested by the members of the Committee at the Washing- ton meeting in July, 1924. Because such problems as tenure, retirement allowances, rating, and ethics of the profession, all of which are of vital interest to teachers, are already receiving attention through other committees of the Association it was thought best to concentrate on a study of quite a different nature. Contributions of Classroom Teachers to the Solution of Special Problems Teachers everywhere are making outstanding contributions to the solu- tion of special problems outside of the curriculum. ‘These activities have Reports oF CoMMITTEES 181 a ee ee ee Ie IEEE i been rightly called the classroom teacher’s second mile. Early in the year the chairman decided that a study of such problems and the teacher’s share in solving them would be of interest to the Association. Accordingly a letter was sent to the one hundred members of the committee asking for their opinion on the work to be undertaken. The replies received voiced approval of the project and showed a keen interest in the plan outlined. Many expressed a willingness to send in a description of an unusual con- tribution a teacher or group of teachers had made to the solution of a special problem. Other correspondence followed, and much valuable material was contributed. So that all teachers who were interested might have an opportunity to know about the work of the Committee and to share in its activities a page was given to it in the February Journal. A meeting of the Committee was held in Washington, February 23, and the chairman was authorized to proceed with the work outlined. Following is the suggested list of special problems submitted to the committee: Interpreting the school to the public Successful American Education Week programs Interpreting home conditions of pupils to the school: (a) Personnel officer, a clear- inghouse for reports from individual teachers Helping promote a constructive parent-teacher program Meeting community wants, such as securing adequate playgrounds, organizing county extension library in rural community, organizing a junior park com- mission, fostering home garden contests, helping control epidemics, helping make the school a community center where one is needed Directing a school’s participation in a community celebration, such as music festival, founder’s day Effective Americanization work Personal problems—Helping pupils to succeed in spite of such obstacles as mal- adjustment, poverty, cruelty at home, language difficulties, personal difficul- ties, etc. Directing student activities, such as social service projects, junior trafic squad Providing for the developing of special talents in children Preventing pupil tardiness, absence, and delinquency Improving moral conditions in the school Developing respect for law Developing idealism and character education among pupils Developing successful health programs adapted to individual and community needs—Teaching cleanliness and health habits Developing good reading habits among pupils Training children in thrift habits Working out unique devices for safety instruction and traffic regulations Carrying on scientific research in field of methods, child study, and other lines Developing a better professional spirit among teachers. It will be seen that the above topics group themselves around the gen- eral problems; school activities, the school and the home, the school and community, moral training, health training, and personnel problems. We know that it is only through the closest relations between the school and the home that the child can be equipped to cope with the world about him. 182 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION What more effective work could be done by a teacher than to assist in promoting a constructive parent-teacher program? The parents can not do it alone. The teacher can not do it alone. It must be cooperative. The school is under obligation to exert its influence in behalf of better homes—to understand the parent’s task and to make it easier. The home is under obligation to support the school and to help the child maintain a right attitude toward it. No phase of education is demanding greater attention from the school today than moral training. No phase of education presents greater oppor- tunities to the individual teacher. In moral education or education for citizenship the school and the home are inseparably linked. “The home should be responsible for individual character training, then the school would have its definite task of supplementing that training by the teach- ing of group morality in classroom relationships and on the athletic field. The real teacher, however, does not wait for ideal conditions, but daily trains his pupils in habits of honesty, obedience, promptness, perseverance, contentment, justice, patriotism, resourcefulness, self-control and _ self- reliance. ’ The past ten years have witnessed remarkable changes in health train- ing in the schools. The inculcation of right living habits has supple- mented the study of physiology texts. From the standpoint of influencing the younger child or the child of adolescent years the teacher has a moral obligation to keep himself in such good health as to radiate a feeling of fitness. Many teachers are doing unusual work along health lines, and their influence is reflected in the llves of the boys and girls under their care. The number of personnel problems with which teachers are daily cop- ing are legion. ‘There are thousands of teachers helping pupils to succeed in spite of such obstacles as poverty, language difficulties, cruelty in the home, extreme nervousness, or an irascible temper, but this is one of the unwritten chapters in the history of the profession. ‘The chairman desires to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Committee and all those whom they interested in sending contribu- tions. ‘The response was most generous. Much more material was received than can be used in a report of this kind, but it has served to convince the chairman that the study has been very much worthwhile. This is simply a report of progress and if it is the desire of the committee the work will be carried on another year. The purpose of the list of problems submitted was simply to serve as a guide in suggesting others. Much valuable material was received which could not be classified under any of the topics suggested. So far as pos- sible the reports used have been grouped under general headings, but with others there has been no attempt to classify them. REportTS OF COMMITTEES 183 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON VISUAL EDUCATION THOMAS E. FINEGAN, HARRISBURG, PA., CHAIRMAN At the meeting of the Department of Superintendence of the National Education Association held in Washington in February this committee announced informally that the Eastman Kodak Company had decided to enter upon an experiment in the production of moving pictures to be used for illustrative and instructional purposes in the regular classroom work of the schools. The proposed experiment is one of such promise and en- couragement in the scientific development of this phase of visual instruction that the committee regards the movement to be one of such importance to the teachers and school authorities of the nation that it should make a complete report of the general scope of the plan and the methods of pro- cedure under which this company has announced the experiment will be conducted. When the company had decided definitely to enter upon this experiment last March, George Eastman, chairman of its board of directors, invited a number of educators to meet at his offices in Rochester, N. Y., for a general conference on the subject. The following were present: Howard Burdge, Principal of the Fredonia, N. Y., State Normal School. Otis Caldwell, Principal, Lincoln School, Teachers College, Columbia Uni- versity, New York City. Charles E. Finch, Director of Vocational Schools, Rochester, N. Y. John H. Finley, New York Times. William A. McAndrew, Superintendent of Schools, Chicago, Ill. Mary Pennell, Butler Hall, New York City. Mabel Simpson, Supervisor, Primary Grades, Rochester, N. Y. Payson Smith, Commissioner of Education of Massachusetts. Herbert S. Weet, Superintendent of Schools, Rochester, N. Y. » Thomas E. Finegan, Harrisburg, Pa., Chairman, Visual Education Com- mittee, National Education Association. Mr. Eastman, his business associates and members of the administrative and scientific staff of the company explained in much detail to this group of educators the plans and procedure under which the company proposed to conduct this experiment. “These plans revealed a careful, scientific con- sideration of every aspect of the enterprise and were cordially approved. Mr. Eastman requested information upon the particular portions of the curriculum best adapted to the use of moving pictures for teaching pur- poses and the divisions of school work where their introduction appeared most desirable and feasible. Much time was given to the discussion of this feature of the work and all present participated in it. It was the unani- mous opinion that in the experimental stages of the enterprise it was essen- tial to concentrate upon the most vital subjects of the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades and the junior high school. The company announces that it proposes to limit its first experiments to these divisions of the public schools and to the following subjects: 184 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION . Geography . Health and Hygiene . Civics . Fine and Practical Arts . General Science nPwNd The company has on its staff some of the ablest scientific men to be found, who will devote their talents to this experiment. It proposes to associate with them, in the employment of the company, trained experts in the field of public education and teachers of wide experience and suc- cessful achievement in each of the subjects and fields for which pictures will be produced. The pictures will be adapted to the needs of modern, scientifically constructed curriculums. It is not intended to make these pictures for entertainment purposes but solely to illustrate, to amplify, to make clear, to give a lasting impression of the very heart of the lesson to be taught. There will be frequent conferences with leading teachers and students of education so that the broadest professional judgment possible may be obtained. In order to give the experiment the benefit of varied. interests and view- points in education and to make it expressive of national interests and con- ditions, leading centers in various sections of the country will be invited to cooperate in the movement. ‘Ten cities have been selected. “The school authorities of some of these have already been approached and have cor- dially availed themselves of this opportunity. [he proposal will be pre- sented to the others promptly. The following cities have been chosen: Rochester; Detroit; Chicago; Kansas City; Denver; Los Angeles; New York; Springfield or Newton, Mass.; Atlanta; Winston-Salem. The company announces that it will devote about two years to these experiments and that during the experimental stages no sales whatever will be made to schools. ‘The company will loan to the selected school systems sets of films as they are produced and the necessary projection apparatus, screens, etc., without charge or obligation on the part of the school authorities. It is understood, of course, that the schools will make reasonable use of these films and cooperate with education committees to determine their value, their defects, and how they may be improved. ‘The use and tests of these films will be under a plan which will not interfere with the regular work and program of the school. The interests and con- veniences of teachers and the schools will be given every necessary consid- eration. The whole plan has been worked out on a basis compatible with the interests and purposes of the schools and the ethics of the profession of teaching. To make the moving picture a really effective educational agency a film library should be established in every school so that films may be available for daily use as occasion arises in the regular processes of instruction for service similar to that now afforded by maps, charts, textbooks, reference works, scientific apparatus, etc. The cost of production and distribution of films and necessary apparatus at the present time makes this type of moving picture service prohibitive. ' REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 185 a ed The development of moving pictures, therefore, as an aid to visual in- struction involves economic as well as educational or professional problems. This experiment is approached with a vision and spirit which should render it possible to determine whether either or both of these aspects of the gen- eral proposition may be solved. Is it possible to produce the character of teaching films which will yield a measurable result in classroom work of sufficient value to make their use of real service? If such films can be used and this result can be achieved, is it possible to produce and distribute or to sell these films to the schools at a price which will make it practical and feasible for the schools to provide them? ‘The development of moving pictures for general public school use is dependent upon the solution of these two problems. The fact that a corporation of the commercial stand- ing of the Eastman Company is willing to invest the large amount of funds essential to this experiment must be regarded as evidence that the company believes these results are attainable. Teachers and school officers should understand that the films made by the Eastman Company will be the narrow width safety film and will be projected hy a machine of the company’s own manufacture called the Kado- scope Projector. ‘There are several other projecting machines using this type of film now on the market. Since its organization in 1922 this committee has expressed a desire to cooperate with any organization financially competent to undertake the production of moving pictures on an adequate scale and under scientific and pedagogical principles for the definite purpose of aiding in the teaching of the public school curriculum. ‘The proposed experiment of the Eastman Company is the first movement instituted of sufficient importance and stability to warrant the serious consideration of the committee. The action of the company was upon its own initiative after surveying the possibilities of the field and a consideration of the expense involved in the experiment. The company has the capital to make the required expenditure, the neces- sary organization and plant and the prestige and public confidence to give the experiment a thorough trial. In undertaking such experiment the company is rendering an invaluable service to the educational interests of the nation. The general business in which the Eastman Company is engaged may be said to be akin to the business of making moving pictures available to the schools of the country. This committee was created by the National Education Association for the promotion of the very ends sought by this experiment. ‘The committee is gratified, therefore, to be able to present a detailed report of an experiment so full of promise to the interests repre- sented by our committee as the proposed Eastman experiment. ‘1 he com- mittee will cordially cooperate with the company in this undertaking and it recommends that teachers and school officers throughout the country extend every assistance and cooperation possible in the movement. Similar assistance and cooperation should be extended to any other or- ganization entering upon similar experiments in the development of an 186 NaTIONAL EpucaTion ASSOCIATION educational agency capable of such service in the sound education of the children of the nation as in the possibilities. of. moving pictures. At a session of the committee held in Washington last February at the time of the meeting of the Department of Superintendence the appointment of a subcommittee was authorized. for the purpose of formulating from available data a pronouncement as to what the motion picture should be expected to do in education and also as to the ideal content of teaching films of various types and that such pronouncement be made available to any producing organization proposing to make educational motion pictures. The chairman of this committee appointed the following subcommittee: Ernest L. Crandall, New York City, Chairman J. V. Ankeny, University of West Virginia, Morgantown, W. Va. Susan M., Dorsey, Superintendent of Schools, Los Angeles, Calif. Elizabeth Hall, Minneapolis, Minn. David Gibbs, Superintendent of Schools, Meriden, Conn. Edwin H, Reeder, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City Arthur G. Watkins, Washington, D. C. A report of this character to be serviceable should be prepared with much deliberation and careful research. It did not appear wise to attempt to prepare such a report within the short period of time between the Wash- ington midwinter meeting and this annual meeting. The chairman of the Visual Education Committee, therefore, instructed the subcommittee to take a full year, or more if necessary, and to present its report to the chair- man of the Visual Education for the ensuing year in time so that it may be presented to the annual meeting of this Association in 1927. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK THOMAS F. JOHNSON, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION LANSING, MICH., CHAIRMAN Your committee on American Education Week has had its. usual prob- lems. Conflicting interests which Democracy makes inevitable and which in turn produce those phenomena which a democratic government finds necessary to its existence have made themselves felt. In addition, it has seemed desirable to Commissioner Tigert that the Bureau of Education should no longer cooperate to the extent of acting as one of the functions of this week. The Americanization commission of the American Legion under the leadership of Frank Cross and your committee feel that we should con- tinue the observance of this week and should secure the cooperation of as many other groups as possible in securing the necessary publicity and in making the week as widely observed as possible. We have not attempted to prepare slogans for this report and we have endeavored to make the time as nearly satisfactory as is possible. We, therefore, recommend that the week beginning on Sunday, November 7th, be designated as the American Education Week with the following pro- gram: REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 187 Sunday, November 7 Our Nation’s Gop There is no-gainsaying the fact that the American Colonies were founded by groups of Christian people; that Christian ideals have always made themselves felt ; and that there is a national recognition of a Christian God. Monday, November 8 CONSTITUTIONAL RicHuTs’ Day The object of this day’s work should be to stress the fact that our Con- stitution gives us certain inalienable rights in the exercise of which we should ever be safe from question. Tuesday, November 9 EQuaL Opportunity Day The idea to be developed is that the American system of government which means an equal opportunity for all also demands in our educational system that every child should have that opportunity which is necessary to develop in him or her the best that nature has made possible. It further means health education, character education, in fact everything that can be said to properly minister to this end. ‘This day should also be used to stress adult education, keeping in mind our ambition to see illiteracy wiped out so far as the United States is concerned by 1930. Wednesday, November 10 OpEN Day Your commitee feels that one day should be left open for the develop- ment of local program. ‘This may be done either by state or local com- munity. If desired, this program might be transferred to Friday and Fri- day’s program substituted on Wednesday. Thursday, November 11 ARMISTICE Day GoopwiLL Day The World War was fought for an ideal and that that ideal is best represented by the spirit of international good will, freedom for all to work out their own salvation unhampered and untrammeled by the ambitions and desires of others. 188 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION SG tt ee ger Se eee Friday, November 12 Know Your ScHoo. Day The aim of this day should be an interpretation of the American school, its ideals, aims, standards and needs with particular emphasis upon your local conditions. Saturday, November 13 Community Day The program on this day should be built around the fact that the school is in many ways center of the community, and that education is the single biggest community problem. It is desirable that this program should be developed by the local com- munity in such manner that it becomes continuous. Fully cognizant of the fact that your committee is attempting the im- possible in that no program can be fully satisfactory to any community, if it is adapted to the needs of some widely differing location. “They never- theless present this to you with the hope that its general nature and its ex- . treme flexibility may make it of value to the schools and the communities of the entire country. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF ONE HUNDRED ON RURAL TEACHERS’ PROBLEMS HAROLD W. FOGHT, CHAIRMAN, NORTHERN STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE ABERDEEN, S. D. The Preliminary Program of the Committee Materially Changed The original plan of the Committee of One Hundred on Rural Teach- ers’ Problems included (1) a general campaign on rural education of a nationwide character, with emphasis on certain recognized needs of rural community life; and (2) a ten-year plan of school reorganization, center- ing in (a) the maintenance, through private or public aid, of model train- ing schools for rural teachers in connection with several of the outstanding teacher-training institutions in every section of the country; and (b) the reorganization of the course of study for rural schools in several specially organized rural laboratory schools, connected with teachers colleges and normal schools showing particular interest in this type of work. These laboratory schools would develop the subject matter of the course of study, as well as formulate the best methods of modern teaching practice. Unfortunately this ambitious plan of the committee has had to be post- poned, or it may have to be abandoned altogether for want of funds which had been expected from certain philanthropic sources. There is still reason to believe that the necessary funds may still be forthcoming, as negotiations which were dropped a few months ago have again been reopened. Reports OF ComMITTEES 189 The program of the committee as originally outlined was ambitious, and would probably have proved quite effective if adequate means had been placed at its disposal. Under the circumstances it was necessary to limit the work for the immediate future to a searching study of just what the teachers’ problems are in the several sections of the country, and to do all that can be done to place these needs effectively before the teachers them- selves, as well as their patrons, the state legislatures, and other organizations interested in rural education. Difficult to Study Teachers’ Problems Without Considering Present Day Rural Problems in their Several Other Aspects Everyone knows that teachers’ problems cannot well be considered apart from the general aspects of present day organization of American rural life in its economic and social settings. On this general background rests the all important problem of adequate financial support, satisfactory school unit organization, school administration, supervision, etc. It would prob- ably be beyond the province of the present Committee to make a particular study of all of these backgrounds, although it is impossible to get to the bottom of the teachers’ perplexing problems without touching many of them here and there. It has been, therefore, the policy of the Committee to emphasize this year the basic teachers’ problems particularly, and give somewhat less time to the problems of school organization, administration, supervision, etc. Work of the Past Year Limited to a Preliminary Survey of the Most Important of the Teachers’ Problems in the Different Geo- graphical Sections of the United States During the past year each member of the committee has made a survey of his own state and particular section of the country as regards the prob- lems of rural teachers by geographical divisions. It will be seen that these findings include both the immediate teachers’ problems and the more remote problems of the rural schools. The most significant of these are set forth below. The problems are ranked in ac- cordance with the importance placed upon them by the committee mem- bers reporting: 1. Adequate financial support as the basis of good schools—A large educational program which may eventually remedy the weaknesses in the rural schools must provide first sufficient financial support. Unless suff- cient revenues are secured and then distributed in a manner to secure results commensurate with expenditures, the rural schools will continue to remain the weakest link in the educational system. Just how this adequate support shall be obtained is largely an unsolved problem in many sections of the country. 2. Better rural teachers—A rural community might have a good school plant, well equipped with adequate playgrounds and good roads leading to it, and yet the community has no real school unless it has a teacher who 190 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION is properly qualified for his work before he undertakes it. The average American rural community sustains terrible losses because of inadequately prepared teachers. Minimum standards for the training of such teachers should be carefully studied and recommendations made to the proper authorities. Certain definite minimum standards for the training of rural teachers should be adopted by the teachers colleges and normal schools of the country, which standards should emphasize not alone a liberal sub- ject matter, but methods of presentation, rural attitude of mind, rural type of social development, as well as natural gifts and ability on the part of the teachers-in-training. 3. Minimum state certification requirements—Law-making bodies in the several states and teacher-training institutions must cooperate in rais- ing teaching standards. Legislatures and the general public must somehow come to realize the great losses due to poor teaching. But poor teaching will continue as long as certification standards remain low. A careful study must be made of the certification requirements in the several states and a campaign begun for minimum requirements, which probably should be set at not less than high school graduation, or its equivalent, plus at least two years of professional training in a teachers college, or its equiv- alent. 4. Closer supervision of rural schools with emphasis on the “helping teacher’—The supervision of the rural schools is with very few exceptions the county superintendent’s or inspector’s task. In a majority of cases these supervisors are burdened with many administrative problems and have neither the time nor ability to give the rural teachers the professional help which they need. Much of the time, money, and effort that is spent in preparing teachers is wasted because they do not have enough assistance in making definite application of their training, or relating what they have learned to their specific tasks in the schoolroom. There is accordingly an important field for study here—professional assistance for county superin- tendents, either under the name of deputy superintendents, helping teach- ers, or what not. 5. A vitalized rural school curriculum, content and method—It is impor- tant to realize that the general fundamentals of an education must be the same whether children live in city or country. However, children reared in rural communities must have the local coloring of the environment in which they live as fully as other children should have the local coloring of the city where they chance to live. The curriculum is not static and there is great and continuous need for a study of it, both in regard to content—which is of common interest to all children, regardless of where they live—and special application as it relates itself to the various types of localities. 6. School plant organized to meet rural community needs—It is time for the public to. realize that the school building is the laboratory in which the school education is acquired. A majority of our one-teacher school structures are wholly inadequate in this respect. There must be REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 191 a better physical conditions and better material equipment throughout. So far as possible the building should be planned for rural community pur- poses. There is also great need to study rural schools as to types, both consolidated and one-teacher. 7. Better salaries for rural teachers—“When a teacher teaching in the rural schools receives such a salary as will be adequate to the amount ex- pended for preparing for his work through several years of college prepara- tion, a superior class will be attracted to the work.’’ So reports one mem- ber of the committee. He continues: Hundreds of young men and women hopefully and happily take up the work of teaching in rural schools annually. They grow professionally, attend summer schools, and do a certain amount of traveling, but as the years come and go and they find themselves without anything laid by to support them in their declining years, they begin to walk in the shadow of a great fear, that at some future time, after their days of usefulness in the schools are over, they will not be able to maintain themselves in decency or comfort and that they will probably become a charge upon relatives or upon the state. This condition must be remedied. 8. Longer terms and secure teaching tenures—These are important ad- ditional problems. School terms in rural communities are, generally speak- ing,.too short. In addition, his teaching tenure is altogether too insecure. These problems need serious study in connection with the other problems set forth above. Specific Problems for 1926 The problems’ set forth below, on which a preliminary report was made at the Washington meeting of the Department of Superintendence in Feb- ruary of the present year, were chosen for study for 1926. Each committee had been allotted a problem with power to further enlarge the committee from the main committee, if deemed desirable. I. Immediate Teachers’ Problems 1. Basic considerations in teachers’ preparation to include: (a) the question of who shall be considered suitable candidates for admission to teacher-training institutions; (b) reasonable minimum scholastic standards for admission to teacher-training institutions; (c) just how to enlist stu- dents of good natural ability to prepare for rural teaching. Committee: Caroline S. Woodruff, Principal, Teacher Training School, St. Johnsbury, Vermont, Chairman. George W. Works, New York. Agnes Samuelson, Iowa. Margaret Sweet, Idaho. Louise B. Lynd, Arizona. 2. The study of reasonable academic and professional requirements for rural teachers may properly include: (a) uniform minimum standards to be recommended for all states, emphasizing the kind of teacher-training 192 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION institutions to be recognized and the amount of time devoted to study; (b) an analysis of the schools best adapted in which to prepare rural teachers. Committee: John F. Sims, President Teachers College, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Chairman. Irving C. Mitchell, Rhode Island. Marie IT. Harvey, Missouri. Grace M. Shepherd, Missouri. Roland Bower, Georgia. H. V. Holloway, Delaware. H. L. Turner, Arkansas. Norman Frost, Tennessee. Jose C. Rosario, Porto Rico. 3. The preparation of teachers (white) in county normal schools and teacher training high schools. Committee: Edith Lathrop, Assistant specialist in Rural Education, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C., Chairman. Gertrude McArthur, Florida. Lyle Guyer, Nebraska. H. E. Watson, Oklahoma. Alice M. Bacon, Oregon. C. C. Swain, North Dakota. W. McKinley Robinson, Washington, D. C. 4. Observation and practice teaching requirement for rural teachers. Committee: O. W. Neale, Head, Department Rural Education, Teachers College, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Chairman. J. D. Muldoon, Virginia. Minnie G. Bean, Washington. Lela M. McDowell, Michigan. T. J. Smart, Kansas. Cora Pearson, Alabama. 5. After school follow-up education for rural teachers. The study should include at least (a) extension service—group study, correspondence, etc. ; (b) continued education of new teachers under direction of “helping teachers” sent out from the teacher-training institutions. Committee: Florence M. Hale, State Agent for Rural Education, Augusta, Maine, Chairman. Florence Lowry, Nevada. H. M. Wells, Hawaii. Jennie Jessop, Maryland. Ruth Holgate, Maine. 6. Uniform certification requirements to standardize the profession and protect professional teachers from inroads of amateurs. Committee: A. G. Yawberg, County Superintendent of Schools, Cleveland, Ohio. Bessie Wells, Alabama. Hilda M. Hughes, Indiana. Olive Thompson, Kansas. Fred C. Fisher, Michigan. REPoRTS OF COMMITTEES 193 Mabel Hondo, Minnesota. A. A. Wood, Montana. J. M. Arnold, New Jersey. D. C. Brogden, North Carolina. E. O. McCowan, Ohio. A. S. Burroughs, Washington. Albert Earley, Delaware. Charl O. Williams, Consulting Member, Washington, D. C. II. Important Problems More Remote 1. How to get more money for rural education. Committee: Samuel H. Cohn, Deputy State Superintendent of Education, Sacra- mento, California, Chairman. W. G. Scott, Georgia. John Enright, New Jersey. Lillian E. Knowles, Rhode Island. M. E. Moore, Texas. Taylor Brockbank, Utah. Z. May Meighan, Washington. F. W. Stemple, West Virginia. Charl O. Williams, Consulting Member, Washington, D. C. 2. How to secure closer supervision in rural schools. Committee: Anna Swenson, State Rural School Supervisor, St. Paul, Minnesota, Chairman. A. B. Hill, Arkansas. N. S. Light, Kansas. Charles M. Fisher, Florida. Fannie Spaits, Illinois. 3. Longer terms and more secure tenures for rural teachers. Committee: W. E. Halbrook, State Agent of Rural Schools, Little Rock, Ar- kansas, Chairman. Walter B. Hill, Georgia. si F. C. Button, Kentucky. Evelyn Hodgdon, Maine. 4. School consolidation adapted to present economic conditions. Committee: Macy Campbell, Head, Rural Education Department, Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Iowa. C. G. Sargent, Colorado. Bertha Tyler, Iowa. Flora Guethlin, Kansas. J. V. Chapman, Kentucky. J. T. Calhoun, Mississippi. Bura Hilbun, Mississippi. W. T. Clopton, Missouri. Lee L. Driver, Pennsylvania. 5. The man and wife school and what it can do for the rural community. Committee: Jasper L. McBrien, Head, Rural Department, Central State Teachers College, Edmond, Oklahoma, Chairman. 194 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION Charles Dalzell, New Hampshire. A. Montoya, New Mexico. Ila Johnston, North Carolina. Mrs. F. C. Beverley, Virginia. 6. Better living conditions for rural teachers with emphasis on teachers’ cottages and boarding places. Committee: J. C. Muerman, Head, Rural Department, State Teachers College, Durant, Oklahoma. Victoria Lyles, Oklahoma. Robert M. Newton, Virginia. Sue M. Powers, Tennessee. Mrs. F. C. Beverley, Virginia. III. Pending such time as adequate funds may become available for the establishment of rural laboratory schools, the following have been desig- nated as a committee on rural school course of study, both for elementary schools and rural high schools. ‘They are at work making a preliminary study of educational objectives. Committee: L. B. Sipple, Head, Rural Department, Northern State Teachers College, Aberdeen, South Dakota, Chairman and in charge of Elementary Group. Lewis Tidball, Wyoming, Chairman Secondary Group. James Hurst, Virginia. Mae Hamilton, Wyoming. Luella M. King, Montana. G. H. Willman, Montana. William K. English, New Hampshire. N. W. Walker, North Carolina. Agnes Jones, North Dakota. Catherine Culletin, Ohio. Eva Ehrenfeld, Arizona. E. -C. Cash, Colorado. C. W. Maddocks, Connecticut. Russel F. Lund, Connecticut. Harriet Berninger, Illinois. Mary Milligan Stroud, Kansas. Ernest C. Burnham, Michigan. Margaret Briscoe, South Dakota. Richard Watson Cooper, Delaware. The Committee Reports Progress Since the committee conference, held in Washington last February, marked progress has been made by the several subcommittees. A final re- port can be prepared in time for the 1927 meeting of the National Educa- tion Association. I. The subcommittee on suitable candidates for admission to teacher- training institutions (Miss Woodruff, Chairman) is working in cooperation with the authorities at Columbia University and the United States Bureau of Education. The committee’s plan of study is based on the following outline: Reports OF COMMITTEES 195 1. A study of conditions today, with a view to determining their strength and their weaknesses. a. Sources and means of getting data b. Available bibliography c. A few type schools representative of latest thought and policy in student selection 2. A study of standards particularly desirable for teachers in rural schools, a. Personal characteristics—ideals, attitudes, social interests b. Scholastic background c. Professional equipment—attitudes, capacities, teaching ability, growing possibilities 3. From this study a recommendation for certain minimum standards to be adopted a. For admission to teacher-training institutions b. For retention in teacher-training institutions c. For graduation from teacher-training institutions. II. The subcommittee on the study of reasonable academic and profes- sional requirements for rural teachers (john Sims, chairman) is making a survey of the standards at the present time in use throughout the country as a basis for setting up the requirements which may likely approach as a minimum requirement high school graduation or its equivalent and two years of professional study for all rural teachers going into the profession after a given year. III. The committee on the preparation of teachers (white) in County Normal Schools and Teacher-Training High Schools (Edith Lathrop, chairman) has secured the cooperation of the United States Bureau of Education which ,is providing the committee with the necessary material dealing with the different phases of the problem for further study. This material is in the process of sifting and cataloging. A summary is likewise being prepared containing the opinions on the advisability of this type of teacher preparation. “This is sought mainly from state supervisors of rural teacher training and professors and instructors in charge of rural teacher- training departments in normal schools and teachers colleges. IV. Report of the subcommittee on observation and practice teaching requirements (O. W. Neale, chairman). The committee has made real progress in its study of practice teaching facilities in the normal schools and teachers colleges: which have well organized departments for the training of rural teachers. Steps have also been taken to make a similar study in connection with the county normal schools and classes in states which main- tain them. V. The subcommittee on in-service training (Florence M. Hale, chair- man) will soon be ready to make a report on how state departments of public. instruction, teacher training institutions and other agencies can be of greatest use to the teacher in advancing the teacher's spirit and scholar- ship while in actual teaching service in the field. VI. The subcommittee on uniform certification requirements (A, G. Yawberg, chairman) is at work on the very difficult task of making a na- tion-wide: study of. certification requirements on which the committee will 196 NaTIONAL EpucaTion AssOciATION make its recommendations for a uniform certification system for the nation at large. Without some such plan of uniformity, it will be exceedingly dificult to improve teaching in rural communities. Important Problems More Remote 1. The subcommittee on how to get more money for rural education (Samuel H. Cohn, chairman) has just begun a nation-wide study on the financing of the public schools with special emphasis on rural schools. A complete report may be expected one year hence. 2. The subcommittee on closer supervision in rural schools (Anna Swenson, chairman) is working on the following plan of procedure: The committee purposes considering two possible lines of study for obtaining closer supervision of rural schools: (1) The* improvement of service already in operation; (2) setting up new machinery for supervisory activities. There is much similarity in the detailed methods of work all over the country, but certain states have advanced much farther than others in the organization of the work, setting up objectives, and adopting specific methods of procedure in supervision. There is much to learn from these states—first from what has been accomplished and also from experimental work. Suggested procedure: 1. The committee will assemble and summarize information in regard to super- visory work which is being done effectively. 2. The best thought of leaders in rural education in regard to organization of the work in state departments and county or district supervisory units will be assembled, ) 3. The subcommittee trusts that this information can be made available to the entire committee of 100 and to others who are interested in the problem of super- vision in rural schools. 3. The committee on longer school terms and more secure tenure (W. E. Halbrook, chairman) has just been reorganized. It is making a study of the experiences of other states with longer school terms and more satis- factory tenure of office. The final recommendations have been promised a little later in the year. 4. The subcommittee on the man and wife school (Jasper L. McBrien, chairman) is making a nation-wide study of this important phase of rural school management. The committee will without question have a note- worthy report ready for 1927. _ 5. The subcommittee on the consolidation of schools (Macy Campbell, chairman) is planning for a thoroughgoing study with a view to making recommendations for the establishment of a type of consolidated school which shall meet in every respect the requirements of the average rural community without being the cause of too great a financial drain upon the school communities. 6. The subcommittee on better living conditions for rural teachers CF. C. Muerman, chairman) has its final report almost completed. The report will be based on a study covering the following points: (1) present status of living conditions for teachers in rural districts; (2) what has been done REPORTS OF CoMMITTEES 197 Sage cust eee re a Se a ee er to remedy these conditions; (3) the most effective means of providing suitable living conditions for our rural teachers. IX. The Committee on Rural School Curricula—elementary and sec- ondary (L. B. Sipple, chairman). The most difficult phase of the entire study is the course of study for rural elementary and secondary schools. The committee feels keenly the need of rural laboratory schools established in good rural environment wherein to develop through daily experience the course of study for rural people. Of schools founded solely for this pur- pose there are, unfortunately, none in existence in the United States. As the next best thing to do, the subcommittee has been availing itself of daily experience acquired in several of the best rural and practice schools attached to teachers colleges and normal schools in different parts of the country. The preliminary report of the subcommittee follows: The Curriculum for the Rural Elementary School 1. Some present characteristics-of the rural elementary curriculum—In most states an elementary school course of study is published for rural and town schools alike. The urban standards necessarily prevail in such courses. Little attempt is made at enrichment by requirements in music, nature study, ag- riculture, home economics, and recreation. There is usually no provision for special help for the slow or the bright pupil. Minimum and maximum standards are seldom set; only average. No provision is made for making certain contacts for the child which are neces- sary for a well-rounded citizen. Notably are the social and community contacts lacking. Often more thought i$ given to preparation for high school than for living. The unit (the entire state) served by the course of study is often too large to take into account local resoures or needs. A wholesome physical education program is often lacking or inadequate. Little attempt is made to combine and correlate related subject-matter or to group pupils into larger units, thus making many small classes, much repetition, and causing a waste of time for both teacher and pupil. The course is planned on a graded school basis. No account is taken of the peculiar organization of the one-teacher school. The great advantages which this type of school has for caring for individual pupils is not made the most of. Methods of teaching or helps for teachers are seldom given. 2. Aims and Objectives of the Rural Elementary Curriculum—From recent dis- cussions, a study of publication and a few notable experiments the following may be stated as approaching a consensus of opinion as to objectives and aims for the rural elementary school. A. CURRICULUM CONTENT OBJECTIVES The curriculum for the elementary rural school should give rural children a mastery of the tool subjects, a general education, such as all American children need, It should also give them a broad cultural or citizenship training to fit them for life in either city or country. It should make the rural child more efficient and his life more satisfying. J The principal difference between rural and urban curricula is one of environ- ment. The rural child lives in a rural environment. Therefore the rural curricu- lum should be built from that environment and should supply what that environ- 198 NATIONAL. EpuCATIONy ASSOCIATION ment Jacks. ) 10,841 Massachusetts....... 1, 714% 1,103* DEIN Se Michiganteets mirt ek (7%) Zig O18s Manneésotaner ory 4,285* (#*) 21,544 IMissouris reer ae 350* (#*) 2,390 * Number is approximated. ** Data were not available. 1A Survey of the Arizona Public School System, conducted by C. Ralph Tupper under the authority of the State Board of Education, and published January 1, 1925, shows these facts relative to teacher tenure: ‘Thirty-five per cent of the teachers are teaching their first year in Arizona. are teaching their first year in Arizona and have come from Arizona schools. Six per cent Arizona there- fore imported last year at least 29 per cent of her present teaching staff.’ ““The average Arizona teacher has had six years of teaching experience and has held three positions in that time. The average rate of moving from one position to another is shown below: Elementary Secondary Every year or oftener........... 6% “0 Every. twO:Veans. fiduwtenice was de 52% 50% Every three years. ............- 65% 56% “A tendency toward greater permanency in positions is evident, among secondary teachers, although some localities show a reverse tendency, having an average annual turnover of 30 per cent in the grades and 50 per cent in the high school.” 2 The population of this State is increasing so rapidly and teachers change positions so often that an exact statement as to teacher turnover is difficult to make. 3 Maine has made great headway in recent years in holding her teachers and the preparation of teachers, she usually had a turnover of about 1,200 to 1,400 each year out of 6,300 positions. Her normal schools graduated about 650: 4 Includes 697 teachers for the 23 counties of Maryland and 179 for the city of Baltimore. For the 23 counties the data were esitmated on basis of number of inexperienced teachers em- ployed in the case of the 127 new high school teachers employed, about 60 were for newly created Last year she required only 834 new teachers: positions. 5 This represented an increase of 1,200 over 1923. J eS EEE EEE How can the teaching profession be. stabilized?—Data such as those presented in the above table face us with such questions as these: 1. In no state does it seem reasonable that in any one year more than twenty percent of the teachers would be leaving the teaching profession hecausé of marriage, old age, or death. What then are the additional rea- sons why thousands of teachers leave the teaching profession annually? Is it because of poor salaries? ment? Incompatible surroundings? Lack of opportunity for personal advance- 208 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Oe ee ee eee eee TapuE 1.—TEACHER TURNOVER IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEAR 1924-1925 (Continued ) Total number of teach- ers (kindergarten to high school inclu- ~Total number of teach- ers (kindergarten to high school inclu- sive) for the school year 1924-1925 who left one teaching po- sition to accept an- other teaching posi- tion Total number of teach- ers (kindergarten to high school inclu- sive) employed in the public schools for the school year 1924-1925 sive) required for State the school year 1924- 1925 to fill positions vacated by teachers leaving the profes- sion i 2 Miantaniatnt eas % 6 re 768 6 Névadac Giinbe.. ueksie Not over 75* New Hampshire..... 443 New Mexico........ 300* North Carolina...... (F*) QOhiod seh ehactst 4,500 Oklahoman. ae cee 1,000 Oregon «fide 1,400 Pennsylvania........ 5,954 8 Rhode Island....... 300* South Dakota....... or 1,600 Tennessee)... 0.51065: 2,619 10% Texas Use ke sek so 5,000* Utah. Bates accion 344 2 Wermontinvctstes 1: 350* Wairginia 28a ee. pciere oe **) Washington......... 2,300* West Virginia....... 1,400 Wiscomsin'..aseiieciens Something less than 0 14 * Number is approximated. fession or not. 7474 teachers were teaching school in Nevada for the first time in 1924-1925. 8 This represents the number of teachers who withdrew from school service for the year 1924— 1925, as shown by records of the Pennsylvania School Employees’ Retirement System, of which 120 About 40% of total or 3,200 ek 10, 000* *w* 400* (#4) 4,600* 4,500 8, 000* ** Data were not available. 6 Based on a study by Dr. S. E. Davis, President, State Normal College, Dillon. of teachers were imported from other states into Montana during the school year 1924-1925. There is so large a percentage of Montana’s teaching population which belongs to the ‘‘floating”’ population that County and City Superintendents do not know whether teachers leave the pro- approximately 99 per cent of the teachers of the State are members. ® Data on 44,999 of the 53,696 regularly employed teachers for 1924-1925 indicate that 1,377 were in their present position less than one year; and that 11,378 were in their present position, The increase in the number of teachers in Pennsylvania of 1924-1925 but less than two years. over 1923-1924 was 1,993. 10 Tennessee has approximately 2,600 teachers without previous experience each year. 11 Tt is practically impossible to make even estimates of the number of teachers leaving the profession in Texas and those changing positions. the fact that the teachers are not compelled to report the fact of employment to keep their cer- tificates in force. 12 Represents number of teachers employed in Utah in 1924-1925 who had less than one year’s teaching experience; 404 teachers employed in*Utah in 1924-1925 had had only one year’s teaching experience; 358 teachers had had only two years’ teaching experience. approximately 36 per cent of the teachers in Utah in 1924-1925 had only two years’ or less teach- These data do not include Salt Lake City or Piute, San Juan and Alpine ing experience. districts. 13 It is estimated that the teacher turnover in Virginia would be approximately 12 per cent eachers and 18 per cent of the elementary teachers. 14 About 3,000 new teachers are needed each year. “There is no way of determining whether of the high schoo! this number is leaving the field or not. The difficulty is enhanced in this state by This number In other words, 2. Is it the untrained teacher who drops out of the profession, and who has merely used teaching as a “stepping stone”? 3. What are the occupations into which these former teachers go? 4. Should not the married teacher, if she desires, be permitted to con- tinue teaching, and thus help in the reduction of teacher turnover ?- 5. Why should thousands of teachers shift from one teaching position to another every year? How much of this turnover is due to the “spoils REPoRTS OF COMMITTEES 209 system”? Would a single salary schedule as well as tenure legislation tend to reduce teacher turnover? How many teachers change from elementary to junior or senior high school work each year—not because they are more fitted for that work, but because it offers a larger salary? 6. How much has lack of training to do with teacher turnover? 7. Teacher turnover is greatest in rural communities. Will consolida- tion of schools, better salaries, and better living conditions for teachers help to reduce teacher turnover? None of these questions can be answered with the data now at hand. They are questions which merit extensive study. One thing, however, does seem certain that where tenure legislation is in force, teacher turnover, due to political dismissals is reduced. Furthermore teachers are more apt to continue in a particular position if certainty of tenure during efficient service is assured them. The following section presents the viewpoints of foremost writers in the field of teacher tenure on the subjects of teachér turnover, tenure legisla- tion, and court decisions relative to teacher tenure. A Review of Recent Literature on Teacher Tenure (Facts and impressions gained from a review of books and magazine articles on the subject of teacher tenure published since 1920.) The following statements represent a listing of opinion affecting teacher tenure which appears in recent literature on the subject. The inclusion of these statements does not, in every instance, mean that they are officially approved by the Committee on Tenure or by the National Education Association. 1. Teacher tenure is a subject of vital interest, judged from the large number of articles that have been published on this subject within the past six years. yeh 2. In many sections of the country, teaching is a procession rather than a profession. a. The Federal Commissioner of Education estimated the number of recruits needed for the rural teaching service in a single year (1918-19) as 130,000—an annual turnover of more than one in three. b. In 1921, in rural schools only 30 percent of the teachers are re-elected annually. In Oregon, from 1900-1920, 70-90 percent of the rural teachers were new to the districts where they served; the average total teaching Service was three years. c. About 68 percent of the rural teachers of Wisconsin remain in the same school less than 1.5 years. d. In New York State the average amount of service rendered on a teacher's certificate is 6.75 years. e. Data for 1900-1910, relative to ten one-teacher schools in the foremost counties of Kentucky show that no teacher taught in any school during four consecutive sessions; only one teacher remained with a school during three consecutive years. ’ The average consecutive tenure was 1.41 years ; f. In 1925 the percentage of annual teacher replacement in Arizona was reported as 16 percent. 210 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION g. Teacher turnover is greater among elementary teachers than among secondary teachers. One writer questions, however, whether high-school teaching may be called a life-career when the average high-school teacher gives only six years’ service. h. A report published in 1923 gave the median tenure for city school superin- tendents in the United States as five years; in cities of less than 10,000 population, three years. The results of frequent change in superintendents are often waste and a confused teaching staff. 7 3. Very different from the “hire and fire” system existing in the United States is the protection afforded teachers in foreign countries. 4. A transient teacher contributes less to a community than one who stays long enough to appreciate community needs and builds his life into the life of the community. The manufacturer is able to estimate the financial loss to his business due to labor turnover because his output is a tangible product. The school’s product is changes in the lives of boys and girls—a more intangible product which it is difficult to measure. ‘There is no question, however, but that there is an inestimable loss in school efficiency each year due to teacher turnover. ‘The first requisite in teaching is that the teacher shall really know the pupil. He cannot do this and change schools every year or two. In rapid teacher turnover it is the child who suffers. When teaching is a procession rather than a profession, the developing ideas, ideals, and atti- tudes of children are trampled underfoot. These have been suggested as means of solving the tenure problem: a. Minimum training for entrance to the teaching profession, four years of high school and at least two years of professional training. b. A probation period of two or three years, following which teachers should have permanent tenure. ; This makes tenure a reward, for faithful and efficient service, rather than a guaranteed legislative right for all. During the probationary period unsuccessful and incompetent teachers may be “weeded out.” c. Causes for dismissal clearly stated in writing. The efficient teacher must be protected and the inefficient teacher eliminated. d. The right of dismissal in the hands of the appointing power. e. Due notice given the teacher in a case of dismissal. f. Teachers granted right of hearing, counsel, and appeal. g. In the case of permanent tenure, a system devised to insure improvement of the teaching staff. This means that following the probationary period each teacher’s services should be re-evaluated every 5 or 6 years, Teacher tenure should insure protection to both the teacher and the community. The community has a right to be protected against teachers who do not keep themselves intellectually alive and who do not carry on the duties of their office with an ever-increasing efficiency. 5. A practice of indefinite appointment protects teachers from political intrigue. It renders dismissal for petty, partisan, or personal reasons much more difficult. The movement for teacher tenure legislation is the result of the invasion by the “spoils system” of the teaching profession. 6. Systems of salary increases or retirement allowances are often ren- dered ineffective by the existing turnover in the teaching profession, REPoRTS OF CoMMITTEES Ral fe alana cet ete Ses on Ss a cl 7. The tenure problem is closely allied with the matter of pensions, salaries, and the preparation of teachers. 8. In many instances teacher turnover is the result of one or more of these causes: a. Poor living conditions to which teachers are subjected. b. Absence of competent supervision. c. The difficulty of securing professional advancement among grade school teachers. d. Uncertainty of tenure. 9. Annual elections do not help in attracting first-class talent to the teaching profession. ‘During annual elections some of our best teachers have been blackmailed for insignificant reasons.” 10. A survey of court cases shows that the verdict usually refers mainly to principles involved rather that the action of superintendent, school board, or teacher. The court’s inquiry is based mostly upon the justice of the pro- cedure in dismissal. 11. Decisions rendered in the courts of Oregon and West Virginia state that marriage does not constitute a legal cause for the dismissal of women teachers. Some writers do not consider marriage even when it involves a period of absence from the profession as being a hindrance to a woman continuing in the profession. 12. State teacher tenure laws have been enacted in California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Wisconsin. 13. The general intent of all these laws seems to be to guarantee to teachers security of positions during good behavior and efficiency. The principal features in the present tenure laws are: (1) Probationary period of one to three years; (2) Specific cause for dismissal (in writing) ; a. mis- conduct; b. incompetence; c. evident unfitness for teaching; d. persistent violation of or refusal to obey State laws; e. insubordination; f. neglect of duty; g. malfeasance; (3) Hearing before the employing board; (4) Right of counsel for teacher; and (5) Reasonable notice of hearing or in- tention to prefer charges. 14. State-wide tenure legislation in all the States would do much to stabilize the teaching profession and make it more effective. For a more complete discussion of many of these points see the care- fully annotated bibliography which appears on pages 212 to 220 of this Re- port. A Selected Annotated Bibliography on the Subject of Teacher Tenure This bibliography has been prepared with extensive annotations, so that the busy educator or layman who does not find it possible to go back to the original articles will gain a clear notion of the facts and opinions relative to teacher tenure which have been published from 1920 to 1926. 212 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION The purpose of this bibliography is to present viewpoints of foremost writers in the field of teacher tenure and recent facts as to teacher turn- over, tenure legislation, and court decisions in the various states. It repre- sents a careful survey of literature on the subject of teacher tenure, pub- lished since 1920. The material is organized under these four headings: (1) General discussion of the Problem of Teacher Tenure; (2) Statistics Relative to Teacher Turnover; (3) Legislation and Court Decisions re Teacher Tenure; and (4) The Tenure Situation in Universities and Col- leges. General Discussion of the Problem of Teacher Tenure Baker, R. H. “Lack of Tenure of Office a Factor in School Expenses.” American Board Journal, Volume 72, May, 1926, p. 48. Believes that the cost of teacher turnover devolves ultimately upon the public in the maintenance of employment agencies and the fact that much of a teacher’s salary is given over to the cost of application for new positions. Argues that additional expense is incurred when the removal of a school official causes 2 change in the administrative program, and that a transient teacher contributes little to the wealth of the community. Benson, Charles E. The Output of Professional Schools for Teachers, 1922. War- wick and York, Baltimore, Maryland, p. 88. A study for evaluating the work of the teacher training institutions. Data obtained for approximately 100,000 graduates of 26 teacher training institu- tions gave the following results: 1. Whereas over one-half of the school children in the United States were enrolled in rural schools, only 8 percent of teacher training school gradu- ates entered one-room rural school service. 2. Term of service for the general teaching population was from 4-5 years Median term of service for two-year graduates was 9.5 years. 3. 84.6 percent of the graduates enter teaching the first year. Bryant, W. M. Report of Committee on Teachers’ Salaries and Term of Offte Alabama School Journal, Volume 42, May, 1925, pp. 17-18. Recommends the encouragement of continued teacher tenure where satisfac- tory work is given in order that an element of permanence may be given to the term of office. Cubberley, Ellwood P. Public School Administration. Chicago, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1922, pp. 210-221. Bases the cause of shortened teacher tenure on the plan of annual election, which renders the teaching position one of great uncertainty. Believes that the problem could be remedied by using more scientific means of appointment. “This condition is in part a tradition from early times and in part the result of a board of rapidly changing laymen attempting to exercise professional functions. They have not the professional insight to enable them to see far enough to plan and to carry out a consistent educational policy for the school.” The tenure movement took its beginning from this situation. Takes stand that, “Life tenure for all efficient teachers there should be, but it should come as a deserved reward for faithful and efficient service, and not as a guaranteed legislative right to all.” “Indefinite tenure suggested as the solution, in order that consideration may be given to the welfare of the children as well as that of the teacher.’ Due notice should be given the teacher and the matter should rest entirely with the Board of Education. Reports oF COMMITTEES 213 Some method of protection is especially needed for the supervisory officers who direct the administration in order that they may give effective service: Educational Review, The Effect of Permanent Tenure Upon School Efficiency. Vol- ume 66, December, 1923, pp. 285-286. (Editorial.) Believes that in the case of permanent tenure some system must be devised to insure continued improvement of the teaching staff. “This lies in a period- ical taking account of stock. If after the first few years of probation, the teachers should be subject to re-evaluation of their services every five or six years, they would have all the advantages of permanency without being tempted to settle back on their oars and drift with the tide.” Estenson, Emil. “The Importance of Tenure of Teaching Positions.” North Dakota Teacher. Vol. 4, pp. 4-5, May, i925. Reports existing conditions regarding tenure, with particular reference to rural and small city schools, and declares large teacher turnover prevents both teacher and community from “realizing the increased returns on increased efficiency due to continuous employment,’ and hinders advancement of the teaching profession. Ferguson, James. “The Tenure of Teachers.” National Education Association Addresses and Proceedings, 1920. Volume 58, pp. 158-160. Considers any system of salary increases or retirement allowances as rendered ineffective by the existing turnover in the teaching profession. Points out as two main defects of the present school system, the failure to protect the efficient teacher and the absence of means of eliminating the inefficient. Suggests as a remedy, the raising of standards for appointment of teachers, a program of competent and effective supervision, and the awarding of perma- nent certificates only after a perod of probation has been served. Hunter, Fred M. Report of the Committee of One Hundred on the Problem of Tenure. National Education Association, Washington, D. C., 1924. States the following objectives of the Committee of One Hundred on the Problem of Tenure: 1. To ascertain the need for greater permanency of tenure. 2. To study legislation already enacted and rules and regulations estab- lished regarding teacher tenure. 3. To ascertain the results of such legislation and rules and regulations. 4. To ascertain the attitude of the teaching body and lay public in regard to the problem. : 5. To develop a statement of standards existing within the profession and on the part of the lay public for merit in the teaching profession. ‘ 6. To make recommendations upon basis of findings as to desirable legisla- tion and rules and regulations for boards of education. Presents a comprehensive treatment of the tenure problem in the United States. A survey shows that approximately 110,560 teachers are needed an- nually in the United States to fill positions vacated. In many states this situa- tion seems to be aggravated by political intrigue. State tenure laws have been enacted for California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Wisconsin. “The general intent of all the laws seems to be to guarantee to teachers a security in their positions during good behavior and efficiency. The princi- pal features in the present tenure laws are: 1. A probationary period—1 to 3 years. 2. A hearing before the employing board, 3, Right of counsel for teachers, 214 NaTIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION 4. Specific cause for dismissal (in writing). a. Misconduct. ; b. Incompetence. c. Evident unfitness for teaching. d. Persistent violation of or refusal to obey State Laws. e. Insubordination. f. Neglect of duty. g. Malfeasance. 5. Reasonable notice of hearing or intention to prefer charges. The customary requirements for granting of permanent employment are: Certification, definite standards of professional attainment, length of service, and efficiency. Hunter, Fred M. “Tenure for Teachers.” Journal of the National Education Association, Vol. XIV, December, 1925, pp. 271-273. Favors the principle of definite teacher tenure during efficiency and good behavior because of the benefit resulting to the teaching profession, and the efficiency of the respective school systems. Believes that a practice of in- definite appointment will protect the teachers from political intrigue. Com- mends the tenure law operating in New Jersey. Contrasts the “hire and fire” system existing in the United States with the protection afforded teachers in foreign countries, Indiana Teacher. What is Tenure? Vol. 70, p. 17. February, 1920. Brief editorial on tenure as a protection to the school system, because it provides for a probationary period during which incompetent and unsuc- cessful teachers may be “weeded out’; and protection to the teacher who has passed the probationary period, because it renders dismissal for petty, par- tisan or personal reasons much more difficult. Type of tenure law favored by which teacher is entitled to a written statement of alleged reasons for, and public hearing prior to proposed discharge, discharge becoming auto- matically effective on failure of teacher to appear at such hearing. Kandel, Issac L. “Tenure of Service of Teachers.” Teachers College Record, Volume XXVI, October, 1924, pp. 127-144. General practice leaves the appointment and dismissal of teachers in the hands of local school authorities. This has laid the profession open to the “spoils system.” Careful selection of teachers rather than reliance upon some means of dismissing those incompetent seems the basis for building up a stable efficient staff. Objects to permanent tenure as making the teacher’s position too strong. Believes that the real problem is that of deciding “by what standards in- competency or conduct unbecoming a teacher shall be measured.” Does not consider that tenure protection can be extended to superintendents. The situation in cities shows a practice of one-year appointment. Teachers in cities of Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey are protected by state tenure laws. Only 22 out of 295 cities throughout the United States covered in a survey had a tenure law in effect. Suggest principles of appointment, term of probation, rating of teachers, etc., as related to the tenure problem. fi National Education Association, “Facts on the Cost of Public Education and What They Mean.” Bulletin One of the Research Department, June, 1922: “Tenure of Office for Teachers.” pp. 60-62. Two tables showing status of tenure legislation. One table gives summary of tenure laws. Another table lists 74 cities, grouped according to popula- tion and shows whether or not they haye tenure laws, REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 215 A National Education Association. “Facts on State Educational Needs.” Research Bulletin, Vol. I, No. 1, January, 1923, pp. 54-57. Suggests that enactment by states of sound teacher tenure legislation in- creases public school efficiency and protects the welfare of children of the state by providing for the “weeding out” of the incompetent teacher and by encouraging the continuance in the profession of the competent teacher. Con- tains tables giving digest of state tenure laws and results of survey of tenure and transiency of teachers in Oregon. Presents Pennsylvania Tenure Bill as an example of tenure legislation. National Education Association, First Yearbook of the Department of Superin- tendence. February, 1923. “The Tenure of Office of the Superintendent of Schools.” pp. 110. A study of tenure conditions among superintendents based on information obtained from educational directories of the U. S. Bureau of Education. Range in tenure of office found to be from one to forty years with median tenure of five years in cities of less than 10,000 population, reported as only three years. Includes tables on length of terms, and length of contracts of superintendents. Recommends that selection of superintendents be made on basis of adequate personal qualifications, preparation, and educational ex- perience; that original employment be for three years, to be followed, if concluded satisfactorily, by term of three to five additional years; that recall of superintendents may be voted by board of education to become effective six months after notification and that a release may be voted by board in re- sponse to petition of the superintendent. National Education Association, “Five questions for American Education Week.” Research Bulletin, Vol. I, No. 4, September, 1923, p. 292. Recommends adoption of tenure measures in order that school systems may be strengthened by guaranteeing continued employment to capable teachers. In relation to the tenure of school superintendents, this Bulletin suggests that lack of continuity, waste and a confused teaching staff are probably results of frequent change in superintendents; and that school boards do all in their power to retain the services of successful superintendents for a reasonable period of time. National Education Association. Research Bulletin of the National Education As- sociation. The Problem of Teacher Tenure. Volume II, No. 5, November, 1924, pp. 137-178. ; A reprint of the 1924 Report of the Committee of One Hundred on the Prob- lem of Teacher Tenure, Fred M. Hunter, chairman, together with additional material on the subject of teacher tenure. New Republic. “Extending the Teachers’ Tenure,” Volume 37, January 9, 1924, pp. 163-164. : Believes that a reform in tenure will handle the serious problem of securing economy and efficiency in the teaching profession. Does not consider marriage even when it envolves a period of absence from the profession as being a hindrance to a woman continuing in the profession. Seerley, Homer H. The American Teacher. United States Bureau of Education, Department of Interior, Washington, D. C., Bulletin 44, 1922, pp. 3-4, Believes that a system of permanent tenure cannot be established where there is necessary a continued adjustment of demands and services. The in- stability of the profession believed to be a result of the constant struggle for promotion and the attempt to eliminate the inefficient teachers who have gained entrance to the school systems, 216 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION Spooner, Julia A. “The Classroom Teacher—Tenure.” Christian Science Monitor, April 19, 1926. i q Suggests these as reasons why the annual teacher turnover is so great: 1. Many enter the profession with no definite intention of remaining in it. 2. Some are drifters and finding teaching arduous, go into other lines of work. 3. Others are the victims of neighborhood criticism and the spoils system of local school boards. The first requests for tenure aid down these four points as the basis for a solution of the problem: 1. Probationary period for beginning teachers. 2. Written and signed statement of the complaint upon which dismissal is based. . 3. Notice of dismissal given long enough before the end of the term to make it possible for the teacher to secure another position. 4. The teacher given a chance to be heard in her own defense upon the complaint made. Tenure legislation protects both the teacher and the school board. More unfit teachers have been held in service through personal friendships, political influence, family prestige or supervisory negligence than tenure will ever be used to protect. Many unfit teaches remain on the pay rolls in cities where tenure laws are in operation, but they are there in spite of tenure, not because of tenure. Swain, Joseph. “Preliminary Report on the Tenure of Teachers.” National Edu- cation Association Addresses and Proceedings, 1922, Volume 60, pp. 147-154. Considers the tenure problem closely allied with the matter of pensions, sal-: aries and the professional preparation of teachers. Shows that the problem extends beyond the classroom teacher, as the median tenure of superintendents is less than three years, and as two thirds of the principalships in some states are vacant each year. While only five states—California, Massachusetts, Mon- tana, New Jersey, and Oregon recognize the principle of permanent teacher tenure, the uncertainty caused by the one-term appointment practiced among the states decreases the possibility of stabilizing the teaching profession. Van de Water, Marjorie. “Why Teachers are Transients.” American School Board Journal. Volume 72, May, 1926, p. 42. A discussion of teacher turnover as caused by living conditions, absence of competent supervision, and the difficulty of securing professional advancement among grade school teachers. Suggests that the consolidated school might provide opportunity for teacher apprenticeship. Watkins, Isabel. “Tenure of Principals and Superintendents in South Carolina.” South Carolina Education. Vol. 6, pp. 9-11, March 1, 1925. A study of tenure of 1335 principals and superintendents in relation to size of salary, size of school, and location in counties. Significant correlation be- tween tenure and size of salary found only in five counties ranking highest and five ranking lowest with regard to tenure. Greater correlation discovered between tenure and size of school. Conditions in the small rural school, pro- motion from smaller to larger schools, and uncertainty of tenure are causes assigned for large turnover. Williams, Charl O. “Report of the Committee on Tenure.” National Education Association Addresses and Proceedings, 1921. Volume 59, pp. 145-155. Recognizes teacher tenure as a factor in the question of salaries, certification, and pensions. An inquiry of 1920 showed that only in 22 cities out of 295 REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 217 ee ERO UTA ee having a population of over 8000 were the teachers protected by state tenure laws. Early dissatisfaction with a system of annual elections appear: “Annual elections do not attract first class talent to the profession.” “During annual elections some of our best teachers have been black-balled for insignificant reasons.” Article concludes: 1. Schools may guard against incompetency by requiring a three-year pro- bationary period before giving indefinite appointment. 2. Power of dismissal should be in the hands of the Board. 3. The first hearing of a teacher’s cause should be private, with the appeal private, or public, as desired by the teacher. 4. Suggested plans for insuring continued professional improvement such as: sabbatical leave, requirement by law, salary increase for academic attendance, etc. Statistics Relative to Teacher Turnover Almack, John C. “The Problem of Teacher Tenure.” American School Board Journal, Volume 63, November, 1921, pp. 29-30. Points out the relation of the tenure problem to the matter of supervision, rating, improvement in service, salary schedules and living conditions. “In rural schools in the United States only 30 percent of the teachers are re- elected annually. In Oregon, from 1900-1920, 70-90 percent of the rural teachers were new to the districts where they served; the average total teaching service was three years.” Groups the causes for turnover as economic, political, professional, in- dividual and social. Suggests as means of solving the tenure problem: 1, The minimum training for entrance to the teaching profession should be four years of high school and at least two years of professional training. 2. Two to three year probation period with chance for work under dif- ferent principals. Permanent appointment for teachers, principals, and supervisors. . Requirements as to improvement in service. Clear, definite statement of causes for dismissal. Right of dismissal should be with the appointing power. Right of hearing, counsel and appeal. Adoption of standards of rating. 3? 4 5s 6 th 8. Anderson, C. I. The Status of Teachers in Wisconsin, 1923, 156 p., Dept. of Public Instruction, Madison, Wisconsin. A detailed report of the training, experience and compensation of Wisconsin teachers, with the tenure situation in the several groups discussed« Presents data showing that about 68 percent of rural teachers in Wis- consin remained in the same school less than 15 years. “This is a serious handicap to the rural schools of the state. The rural child with his eight months of the school year and in attendance only three-fourths of the time; with his poor surroundings, taught by an immature girl not old enough to vote, with a meager academic and professional training, is under a serious enough handicap without adding to it the necessity of becoming acquainted with a new teacher each year, one not only strange to the pupil, but un- acquainted with the school and the community.” 218 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION Chapter 40, Sec. 41 of the Wisconsin school law attempted to remedy this situation by granting state aid to school districts retaining a teacher for more than one year. (“If such teacher shall be retained for and shall have suc- cessfully taught such school during a second year, $2.00 per month for each month of such year during which the school maintained in such district is taught by such teacher; if for a third year, four dollars for each such month; and if for a fourth, or any succeeding year, $8.00 for each such month.” ) The statute had little or no effect, although $42,000 was paid out to teachers in premiums under a sub-section. For elementary teachers the median of tenure was below two years, and for high schools, the median tenure is two years for schools with less than ten teachers. “This is a situation that merits the serious attention of those who plan school policies. Teachers should be retained in the same communities for longer periods. Their restlessness is no doubt due in some measure to the fact that in any given school they reach the maximum of the salary schedule in a relatively short time. They reach the maximum in salary much earlier than they reach the maximum in efficiency. Schedules should provide for smaller increases during the apprenticeship period. Statutes pro- viding for permanency of tenure after a probationary period would also aid.” Bonner, H. R, “Salary Outlook for High School Teachers.” School Review, Volume 30, June, 1922, p. 414-423. Questions as to whether high-school teaching may be called a life career when the average high school teacher gives only six-years service. The average teacher receives a beginning annual salary of $1297, and the outlook is less than a 30 percent increase, as the average salary of 69,358 high school teachers in 1921 was $1678. The outlook for men was for an increase of 29.3 percent and for women 27 percent. Cooper, H. E. Cost of Teacher Training. 1924 Baltimore, Warwick and York, 112 pp. Chapter VI discusses the number of teachers needed annually, and ‘he amount of service rendered by certificated teachers. Found that the State of New York filled 53,000 different positions and issued 8000 certificates annually. The average amount of service rendered on a - certificate is 6.75 years. Crabbe, A. L. “A Study in Teacher Transiency.” Peabody Journal of Education, Volume 1, May, 1924, pp. 295-300. Gives data for 1900-1910 relative to ten one-teacher schools in the foremost counties of Kentucky. Tables show with regard to tenure: that no teacher taught in any school during four consecutive sessions; only one teacher re- mained with a school during three consecutive years. The average consecu- tive tenure was 1.41 years. Did not discover any special influence of salary upon teacher tenure. “Twenty-five cases of successive tenure existed at an average yearly increase of $25.12. There were fifteen cases of transfer to another school at an average increase of $35.73. It is hardly probable that ten dollars a year would cause such a pronounced nomadic tendency. To cure these defects, three things are necessary: Public opinion, money, and training.” Deffenbaugh, W. S. Administration of Schools in the Smaller Cities, U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 2, 1922, pp. 50-53. Annual election seems to be the custom. In 121 of 528 cities, election is for a probationary term of from 1-3 years. In 109 of these 121, permanent tenure follows the apprenticeship. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 219 TESA eR po pence eet Sh A ae a a ary In the 528 cities, 975 teachers or 3.25 percent of the 30,000 employed for 1921 were not reelected. i Suggests that election be made for three years. Each teacher should re- ceive notice of unsatisfactory work, and be given a time in which to demon- strate improvement. Removal should be in the hands of the board of edu- cation and should be possible at the end of a school year for teachers on proba- tion; for those on permanent tenure, dismissal should be for cause. Preference seems to be given private hearings. Hansen, G. S. “The Teachers’ Procession.” The Arizona Teacher and Home Journal, Volume XIII, January, 1925, pp. 24-25. Gives the percentage of annual teacher replacement in Arizona as 16 percent. Believes that the “Teachers can go far toward creating greater permanency [in the profession] by not becoming ‘tramp teachers,’” i. e. those who are constantly shifting their location to secure the novelty afforded by change. Hunter, Fred M. “Teacher Tenure in Colleges and Normal Schools,” National Education Association, Addresses and Proceedings, 1925, Volume 63, pp. 220- 237. A report of an inquiry sent to presidents of all State public normal schools and teachers’ colleges in the United States. The summary of the prevailing practice shows that: 1. In the majority of teachers colleges and state public normal schools, teachers are appointed for one year terms. 2. Of the teachers colleges and state public normal schools reporting, in practically none are teachers protected by a state law relative to tenure, and in only a few instances are they protected by a ruling of the state Board of Education. 3. The teacher turnover in the colleges reporting for 1922 was 14 percent of the number employed, 11 percent in 1923, and 8.5 percent in 1924. 4. The teacher turnover in the state public normal schools reporting for 1922 was 19 percent, for 1923, 17 percent, and 12 percent for 1924. Keith, John A. H., and Bagley, W. C. The Nation and the Schools. Macmillan Company, 1920, 323 pp. A chapter “The Weakest Links” treats the problem of the rural school teacher and the attitude of the public toward the service of the public schools. Finds that “The rural school teachers are transient in their calling.” The Federal Commissioner of Education estimated the number of recruits needed for this service (rural teaching) in a single year (1918-19) as 130,000, an annual “turnover” of more than one in three. In one of the most prosperous of the middle western states, the Bureau of Education reports the average term of service of the rural school teacher not to be more than two years. Believes that many of the problems, such as inadequate salary and low professional standards, are a result of the tradition that “the actual work of classroom teaching is not a serious and permanent occupation.” Legislation and Court Decisions re Teacher Tenure Edwards, I. N. “Marriage as a Legal Cause for Dismissal of Women Teachers.” The Elementary School Journal, Volume XXV, May, 1925, pp. 692-695. According to decisions rendered in the courts of Oregon and West Virginia, marriage does not constitute a legal cause for the dismissal of women teachers, providing that the teacher did not obtain her contract with misrepresentation of her status, The grounds for dismissal enumerated (such as inefficiency, 220 NatTIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION immorality, neglect of duty) in teachers’ contracts were interpreted as not being applicable in the case of marriage. An interesting view of the matter appears in one statement: “Courts refuse to enforce or recognize certain classes of acts because against public policy on the grounds that they are injurious to the interests of the State. A contract in restraint of marriage is of this nature.” There is not yet sufficient evidence on record to render decisions authorita- tive concerning the absence of married teachers for the purpose of giving birth to a child. In one case in court, this act was considered a “neglect of duty,” therefore “due grounds for dismissal.” Hall, William. ‘The Tenure of Teachers.” American School Board Journal, Volume 65, October, 1922, pp. 106, 117-118. ~ A discussion of tenure with reference to a bill presented to the Minnesota State Legislature. Length of tenure considered necessary to an efficient school system. Some permanence of service is necessary for a teacher to increase his efficiency. Believes that the teacher might reduce his efforts toward improve- ment after the period of his probation is over. Considers the charge of in- efficiency indefinite, and discusses critically the causes for dismissal presented in the bill. Believes that were the teaching profession made attractive by salaries offered the tenure problem would be solved. Housman, Ida E. “Tenure Once More.” Educational Review, Volume 68, Octo- ber, 1924, pp. 118-122. The movement for teacher tenure legislation is the result of the invasion by the spoils system of the teaching profession. Requisites of good tenure laws are these: indefinite tenure; state-wide operation; presence of a system of effective certification; a three-year probationary period; scientific rating sys- tems; salary and promotion schedules based on experience and professional improvement; a fair dismissal procedure; 60 days’ notice when teacher is dismissed or resigns; long terms of office for superintendents. Survey of court cases show that the verdict refers mainly to principle in- volved rather than the action of superintendent, school board, or teacher. Indiana Teacher, Should the Indiana Legislature Favor Teacher Tenure? Volume 69, No. 6, p. 20, Feb., 1925. Cites random cases to illustrate the possibilities under the present plan of teacher employment and urges that the Legislature give a careful consideration to the question of teacher tenure from the standpoint of its effect upon the efh- ciency of teaching. Contains chart showing states which have no teacher tenure law, those which have a law of state wide application, and states having a law ap- plicable to three or less large cities. Indiana Teacher, Benefits of Tenure, Volume 70, No. 2, p 24, October, 1925. An editorial giving a brief history of teacher tenure legislation in the state of Indiana. Contains summary of benefits of school tenure listed by the tenure committee of the National Education Association. Indiana Teacher, Superintendents for Tenure, Volume 70, No 5, p. 17, January, 1926. Reports a resolution adopted by Illinois City Superintendents’ Association, favoring the enactment of a law providing a more permanent tenure for teachers and superintendents, REPORTS OF COMMITTEES ZaN REPORT OF LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION GEORGE D. STRAYER, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY, CHAIRMAN The legislative program of the National Education Association has been advanced during the past year. We command today a larger measure of support for our cause, both in Congress and in the several states and localities throughout the nation than we have ever had before. In her report of the work of the Legislative Division, Charl Ormond Williams, Field Secretary of the National Education Association, records the fact that the national organizations supporting the Education Bill have again registered their overwhelming approval of our program for the creation of a Department of Education with a Secretary in the Presi- dent’s Cabinet. It is most encouraging to report this consistent support of our Bill by these lay organizations. It is a pleasure to commend the work of our Field Secretary, who has so ably presented our program to the organizations supporting the Bill. Never before in the history of this movement have we had so adequate an expression for the need of the establishment of a Department of Educa- tion as was recorded before the Committees of the House and of the Senate at the joint hearing held in Washington during the latter part of February. The record of this hearing has been so much in demand throughout the United States that the Committees of Congress have had a maximum number of copies printed in order that they might supply their constituents with the record that was there made. The Chairman of the House Committee, Congressman Daniel A. Reed, in a statement made on May 5th, indicated clearly the work which lies ahead of us when he said: It is evident that sentiment is much stronger for the bill in its present form than it was as originally introduced and, in my opinion, it will be increasingly stronger as its provisions are studied and better understood. Between now and December, 1926, each member of the House will have an opportunity to ascertain the senti- ment in his district and he will be in a position to register accurately the will of his constituents when he returns. In another communication to our Field Secretary, Congressman Reed said: After talking with many members of Congress, including some of the leaders, I am satisfied that there is more favorable sentiment for the Curtis-Reed Bill than at any time since this measure has been before Congress. It is perfectly evident 222 NaTtIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION that there is a growing sentiment in favor of this legislation, and the one thing that will have to be demonstrated in order to insure early and favorable con- sideration of the bill is a sentiment “back home” favorable to it. It is our job to see that our representatives are informed. They must be made to understand why the profession is supporting the Curtis-Reed Bill. Nothing less than a personal discussion of the matter with Senators and Representatives can be counted upon to do the job. We must go over its provisions with them section by section. When this is done there can be no doubt with respect to our purpose to serve the children of the United States through the work to be accomplished by the Department. It will be equally certain that a review of the measure will make it clear to our representatives that the Bill does not in any of its provisions make possible any interference with the control, administration or supervision of our schools by the duly constituted state and local education authorities. In order to accomplish the results which Congressman Reed has proposed it will be necessary to have the full cooperation of state and local education associations throughout the nation. It is only as you teachers, principals, and superintendents of schools, thoroughly believing in the importance of our cause, present it for the consideration of laymen and in cooperation with them bring the matter to the attention of our representatives, that the campaign can be won. ‘The Legislative Commission is asking that addi- tional help be provided in our Washington office in order to cooperate with state and local associations in developing the organization which will carry on the campaign of education. We recommend as well that this program of education be further developed by furnishing to the press of the United States an adequate discussion of the Bill before Congress and of the pur- poses which we seek to accomplish. Education is the most important of all governmental functions of Democ- racy. ‘The federal government is already engaged in many activities which are intended to improve and develop our system of public schools. Eff- ciency and economy demand that these activities be coordinated in a single department, under the leadership of one who will sit at the Cabinet table. There is no matter of domestic concern or of foreign policy that is not, in the last analysis, dependent upon the work of the-schools. No one of less than Cabinet rank is in position to represent education in the Councils of the Nation. Our Government has long been committed to the policy of promoting the welfare of the people through the conduct of research and the dissem- ination of information. Scientific inquiry, as conducted by the Depart- REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 223 ments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, have added greatly to our material prosperity. Research in education is essential to the development of public education throughout the United States. Our practice constantly lags behind our knowledge. The reason is easy to discover. We have no agency in the United States sufficiently supported to enable it to bring together the results of successful practice, of systematic experimentation and of scientific research. We seek to have the Depart- ment of Education supported by an annual appropriation of $1,500,000 in order that we may make available to Boards of Education, to superintend- ents of schools and to teachers the results of researches wherever they are conducted and of successful practice wherever developed. Every child in every school in the land will benefit by the work to be undertaken by the Department of Education operating as a fact-finding and fact-distrib- uting agency. Your Legislative Commission believes that the members of this repre- sentative assembly are convinced of the wisdom of and the necessity for the legislative program embodied in the Curtis-Reed Bill. We urge you and your colleagues in the local and state associations throughout the United States to organize a systematic campaign of education in order that the public may know our purposes as expressed in the Bill and in order that they may be disabused of the misconceptions which are so widely spread. The American people believe in their public schools. They will over- whelmingly support any program which they believe will increase the efficiency of this, the greatest of all of our public institutions. We have confidence in the outcome of our program because we know that our proposals are sound. We shall continue to work for the welfare of our schools and of the children enrolled in them until our program is enacted into law. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS, RE- QUIREMENTS AND CREDITS OF TEACHERS IN THE SERVICE JOSEPH ROSIER, PRESIDENT, STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, FAIRMONT, W. VA. CHAIRMAN This Committee has undertaken to make inquiry concerning the stand- ards which are set up for admission to the teaching profession in different parts of our country and to learn to what extent various requirements are made of teachers in the service to hold their positions and to secure 224 NatTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION advancement and also to find out what credits are granted to teachers in the service for experience in teaching, extension and correspondence courses, and committee and project work done under the direction of supervisory authorities. Standards For Teaching Taking our country as a whole, our inquiries show that it is quite easy for young men and women to secure admission to the ranks of the teaching profession. In practically all of the states there are systems of examina- tions provided by law through which applicants may be certificated to teach. It was probably true twenty-five years ago that a majority of the teachers in the elementary schools of the country were certificated to teach by this method. ‘There has been a gradual change in this respect in recent years and it is now provided by law in practically all of the states that applicants may be certificated on a basis of the completion of courses in normal schools and colleges. Short term certificates may be renewed by the completion of reading circle courses, correspondence and extens:on courses, and by attendance at accredited summer schools. This change in the method of certificating teachers has brought about a greater em-- phasis upon the whole system of credits which is used to estimate the progress of teachers either through work done while in service or by at- tendance at school or college in summer vacations, evening and Saturday classes and in various forms of extension work. Naturally, we have found a great variety of plans for encouraging and evaluating the many kinds of work which is required of teachers in the service. In most of the larger cities of the country the school authorities accept credits from all standard educational institutions at face value. When any doubt arises as to the value of credits the applicant is required to have such credits evaluated by the accrediting agencies of the state university. Very few of the school systems of the country or state departments of education act as accrediting agencies. In Kansas City the school authorities state that some years ago they were compelled to evaluate experience and certain types of exam’‘na- tion. In substance it amounted to this, that teachers who were in the system at the time the rule on scholarship was passed, were allowed cred't of three hours per year- for experience, not to exceed ten years, or a total of thirty hours. These grants of credit were temporary, applying to teach- ers in service in Kansas City at the time the rule was passed. They were evidently intended to apply only to teachers already employed in the sys- tem and did not apply to teachers that were coming into the system at the time this regulation was passed, or subsequently. This same school system reports an interesting plan by which credits are allowed for travel. This type of credit is not evaluated by standard accrediting institutions. The method of evaluating travel credits is briefly this: For travel in Amer- ica, fifteen hours is allowed. In order to obtain the maximum a teacher must have spent at least thirty weeks in travel; that is, travel credit does € Reports oF CoMMITTEES 225 not exceed one hour for two weeks of travel in America; also, the maximum credit that can be allowed for travel in any one state such as California or Colorado, etc., is five hours, so that travel may be fairly well distributed over the United States. At least three hours for six weeks must be done on the Pacific coast or in Pacific coast states and three hours for six weeks on the Atlantic coast or in Atlantic coast states. In regard to foreign travel, a credit of one hour per week is allowed for time actually spent in foreign countries, with the restriction that not more than five hours credit will be allowed for travel in any one country. There are a number of city school systems in the country where a good many teachers are admitted to the schools as cadet teachers following their graduation from high school. Many of these serve as cadets for a year or two at a low salary, or with no salary. These cadet teachers are encouraged to pursue courses of study in study clubs and extension classes and under private tutors and supervisors. They are allowed junior college credit for such work. Such credits are nominally based on entrance examinations. ‘The chief purpose of these grants is to enable teachers who have for a long time done excellent work in the system, to obtain at an earlier date the salary provided in the schedules in Kansas City. This junior college work includes all credits given tor experience, entrance examinations, professional examinations and also all examinations for any form of city certificate whether for high school, elementary school or prin- cipalship; all examinations for state life certificates; also, regular courses in state normal schdols and in state teachers colleges leading to a state life certificate. Our inquiries disclose the fact that a great many city and local school systems have their own regulations concerning the requirements of their teachers and also their own plan for estimating the work done by their teachers. In most parts of the country the state school department is the supreme authority in the matter of certification of teachers in all parts of the state school system. In many of the state departments, however, in the matter of evaluating, all forms of credit are either referred to the state university or the teachers colleges located in the state. The tendency seems to be in the direction of placing the responsibility for the standards of teaching in the hands of those institutions to which the state has in- trusted the responsibility for teacher training. It would appear that in a few years the national standards for teaching will be the completion of a four-year college course beyond the senior high school for junior and senior high school teaching, and the completion of a two-year training course beyond the completion of a senior high school course for elementary teaching. In many school systems a considerable percentage of teachers have not yet reached this standard of preparation. ‘This is especially true of rural teachers in most parts of the country. Your Committee is of the opinion that the establishing of the standards of teaching is one of the biggest problems confronting the directors of public education in our 226 NaTIONAL EpucaTion AsSsOocIATION sik ME emg Eee i oo he 8 country today. It is entirely too easy for young men and women to secure admission to the teaching ranks. We may well look forward to the time when there will not be an elementary teacher in the entire country who has not had two years of special preparation for teaching beyond gradua- tion from a senior high school, and there are those who confidently look forward to the time when all of the more progressive school systems of the country will require four years of training beyond the high school course for elementary teaching. The training for high school teaching is also a big problem in the high schools of the country and much atten- tion is being given to standards of preparation for such teaching. School administrators are finding that the mere completion of a college course 1s not an adequate preparation for high school teaching. In many parts of the country high school teachers are required either to have a specialized college course directed toward such teaching, or a special course of train- ing following the completion of the usual four-year college course. Much can be done toward advancing the standards of teaching by state departments of education, and state governing boards, and by normal schools and teachers colleges, and by the administrators of city school sys- tems, and by local school authorities. But, there ought to be a general movement among the masses of classroom teachers throughout the country for the elevation of teaching standards. If we are to have a teaching pro- fession in this country it must be based upon the adequate training and professional knowledge and skill of those who do the actual classroom teaching. The great majority of elementary and high school teachers of the country are ambitious and willing to meet the requirements which are imposed upon them. ‘These requirements will be accepted with greater willingness and there would be a much broader cooperation in meeting them if there is a widespread feeling that such standards have been set up by the teachers themselves. ‘Teachers should realize the fact that we cannot have a real teaching profession as long as such a large proportion of teachers as we now have is below the reasonable standards which are now fixed by the more progressive communities. Credits For Experience In Teaching A wide inquiry concerning the matter of credits for experience in teach- ing discloses the fact that most of the accrediting institutions of the country are opposed to this form of recognition. In many parts of the country salary increases are based upon length of service and a certain amount of credit evaluation by local school authorities is granted for ex- perience in fixing salaries. In many normal schools and teachers colleges a certain amount of credit towards admission is allowed for teaching experi- ence and teachers’ certificates and reading circle work. The registrar of one of the state universities states that his university does not give any ad- vanced credit toward graduation for teaching experience and he says fur- ther, that this is true of all of the state universities. Three or four years Reports oF CoMMITTEES Des ago a study of this subject was made by the Iowa State Teachers College. It showed what schools were giving credit for teaching experience and what schools were not. At that time two state universities were giving a small amount of credit for experience which was carefully safeguarded. It was found that in a number of institutions candidates for degrees or diplomas may be excused from certain required courses on account of ‘their experience in teaching. The registrar of a state normal school writes that his institution now grants ten term hours of credit for experience in teaching and will probably continue to do so for a time. He assigns as a reason for discontinuing this practice that the work outlined in the normal schools is none too much for the thorough preparation of the student, and in granting credit for ex- perience desirable courses are eliminated. ‘The representative of one of the leading institutions in the country for the training of teachers says that any question of credit for teaching ex- perience is a sore one. He says further, that in eight years of experience in handling college credits and transcripts, he is led to the conclusion that this sort of credit cannot be safely and fairly allowed. ‘The representative of another prominent teacher training institution says that the problem of giving recognition in the way of credits for work done in the profession, is one of the most troublesome questions that confront accrediting agencies. He does not think that much can be accomplished at the present time in dealing in a constructive way with this problem. He says that it is diffi- cult enough to develop approved lists of institutions, let alone to develop approved cities or city superintendents, which would almost be necessary if credits toward graduation were given for work done under supervision by teachers in the service. A dean of a state university in answer to an inquiry about this problem says that it might well receive careful considera- tion. In some cases he says this credit would be entirely justifiable and desirable, but in others it would seem to be very undesirable. If a teacher learns by experience he says he would be glad to grant him credit for what he has learned, but in some cases the teacher merely gets into a rut from which it is almost impossible to pull him. Teachers, he says, have the feeling that we should give them credit in proportion to the number of years they have taught. He does not believe that this can be done with success. He says, further, if there is any way of finding out what the teacher has learned by his experience, that he would be glad to give him credit for it. This dean also states that it is the practice of his university to allow credit on experience for admission to the institution. He does not know that this is the best practice but he is in favor of continuing it until he can learn some better way of evaluating teaching experience. The director of elementary education in one of the leading state univer- sities states that he does not think it is possible to do much concerning the criticism that credit shall be allowed for successful teaching under super- vision. That question, he says, was studied in detail a little while ago by 228 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION the universities and it was generally agreed as a result of this study, that no such credit be granted, There are two elements in the case which make it dificult to do anything about it. In the first place such teachers are receiving presumably a satisfactory wage for the service. In the second place it is almost impossible to discover any standards by which the meas- uring of the work can be done. Rating of teachers and supervisors are both too unscientific at the present moment to evaluate such credits. The state board of education in one of the states reporting, authorizes the normal schools and teachers colleges under its supervision to grant a certain amount of admission credit on experience, reading circle work, and teachers’ certificates granted on the basis of examinations. And this same board also authorizes these teacher training institutions to grant as much as ten semester hours of credit on the college courses for successful teach- ing experience. The data rendered on this subject is by no means complete and does not represent all parts of the country but it shows rather conclusively that the universities and higher institutions of the country are opposed to allow- ing any college credit for teaching experience of any sort and that they are not kindly disposed toward any plan for allowing credit towards degrees- for any sort of committee work or school project enterprises that may be carried on by teachers under the direction of educational supervisors. Pretty generally the normal schools and teachers colleges of the country which have been allowing some of this sort of credit, are seeking to elim- inate it. ‘There are a few states and institutions, the inquiry shows, that are still allowing a small amount of advanced credit for teaching experience. There are a good many normal schools and teachers colleges which allow such credit as a basis for admission. Requirements of Teachers in the Service Our investigation brings out the fact that owing to the low standards which prevail in practically all parts of the country for admission to the work of teaching, the administrative authorities in states and cities have devised all sorts of requirements to be imposed upon teachers for the purpose of making up deficiencies in training and preparation. This ap- pears to be one of the most vexatious problems in our school systems as it affects the relation of classroom teachers and administrative authorities. Teachers are granted certificates on the basis of uniform state examina- tions or upon examinations given by the educational authorities in local communities without any regard to the background of academic and pro- fessional attainments. Most of the school systems of the country are strug- gling with measures for the improvement of teachers who have come into the service by various routes other than that of scholarly and adequate prev- aration. A majority of the states in the union have outlined professional reading circle courses for teachers and such courses are impressed upon teachers who are lacking in professional knowledge. The summer courses in REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 229 the teachers colleges and universities are crowded with thousands of teach- ers who are being required by administrative authorities to pursue such courses of study to supplement their original meager training. Many of the educational institutions are giving correspondence courses which are taken largely by teachers who are striving to meet requirements that are being made of them. In many parts of the country evening and Saturday classes carried on under the direction of the teachers colleges and univer- sities, are largely attended by teachers who, under supervisional compul- sion are seeking to earn degrees or to reach certain professional and aca- demic standards that have been fixed. It is the opinion of your committee that those who have the responsibility for certificating teachers would bet- ter serve the profession by fixing higher standards of scholarship and pro- fessional skill for those who make their first entrance into the work of teaching, rather than to devise so many plans for the enforced improve- ment of inadequately prepared teachers who have been permitted to enter upon teaching without the preparation that they should have had. Reciprocity Among the States An interesting problem connected with the requirements for the certifica- tion of teachers came out as a result of this inquiry in connection with the difficulties that are encountered by teachers who go from one state to another where they apply for certification. “This inquiry discloses the fact that there are practically no reciprocal relations among the states of the union in regard to,this matter. It is frankly stated by those reporting from some of the states that the certificating authorities intentionally make it difficult for teachers coming from others states to secure teaching certifi- cates. This attitude grows out of the feeling among teachers in some sec- tions that they do not welcome the competition of teachers from other parts of the country. In some states there is an open and avowed policy of giving preference to state teachers even though they may be inferior in training and preparation. Characteristic of the statements received is that of a prominent state superintendent of public instruction who says that there is no arrangement in his state whereby certificates may be issued based upon certificates secured in other states or whereby certificates may be issued through endorsement. He states further, that his department gives consideration to the applicant’s preparation as a basis for certification and that a graduate from a two-year course in a standard normal school is made the basis for certification without examination for teaching in the elementary grades and in the one-year, two-year, and three-year high schools. A graduate fsom a standard college or university with fifteen semester hours in the department of education will secure the applicant a high school certificate. Another state department reports that the other states of the union accept diplomas from the institutions within its state and that it, in turn, accepts diplomas from the institutions which the various states recognize as standard. Another state department says that it is 230 NaTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION their practice to grant certificates upon a certain amount of work accom- plished in schools outside the state if their work is recognized by the state department of education in the state in which they are situated. For this purpose the work in normal schools and colleges must cover two or four years above high school in order to be recognized as the basis for the is- suance of certificates by endorsement. In this connection it seems to be a growing practice for state departments of education to refer all matters concerning certification which are based upon credits to the teacher train- ing institutions of the state. ‘There is still a considerable variety in the basis for the evaluation of professional credits in different parts of the country. The dean of one of the state universities writes that he does not suppose ‘** is possible, and he doubts if it is advisable, to have entirely uniform laws in regard to certification, but he is of the opinion that we could im- prove very much upon our present methods of rating certificates issued in different states. Your committee has not been able to make any wide or exhaustive study of the problems that have been submitted to it. To do more than suggest lines of study would not be possible without extensive research and the wide collection of a great deal of data bearing upon the topics’ that have been mentioned. ‘The chairman of your committee would sug- gest and recommend that the consideration of standards and requirements for teachers in the service, be made a special subject for investigation and study by the Department of Classroom Teachers, and it is suggested that the United States Bureau of Education be requested to gather information from all of the state departments of education concerning the reciprocal relations regarding the certification of teachers and the basis on which the various state departments grant certificates to teachers coming from other states. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ETHICS OF THE PROFESSION SARAH T. MUIR, HEAD OF ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, CHAIRMAN: The committee on ethics of the profession appointed in November, 1924, by the president of the National Education Association, Jesse H. Newlon, made its first report in July, 1925, at Indianapolis before the Representa- tive Assembly which voted to continue the committe. Mary McSkimmon, the incoming president, reafirmed the committee appointment. Because of the distance between the members of the committee, the business of the committee has been largely conducted through correspond- ence, until February, 1926, when a representative group met in Wash- ington, D. C., and planned future procedure. At that time a sub-com- REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 231 mittee was empowered to outline further plans of the committee and to prepare the report for the Philadelphia meeting. The sub-committee? has held two meetings, one in Washington, D. C., and one in Lincoln, Nebraska, with part of the membership present each time. In addition, the members of the sub-committee have carried on extensive correspondence. “The report to be presented before this Repre- sentative Assembly is, therefore, a statement of the findings of the com- mittee which has been endeavoring to carry out the wishes expressed by the teachers of the United States for a study of the ethics of the profession. Starting with a survey of what has been done in code-making in the teaching profession and in other professions and trades, the committee at first looked forward to the possibility that a tentative code might be drafted and presented in this, its second report. The conviction is grow- ing, however, in the minds of the members of the committee that the teachers of the whole nation will have to lend assistance if this code is to be vital. Proof of this lies in the dissatisfaction which is felt with nearly all the codes formulated. Valuable as they are as evidence that the profession feels the need of a code of ethics, they are not usable as a national code because they lack the note of reality that would be evident if they had been the work of a mass of teachers, or the result of extensive and painstaking research. One of the main tasks of the committee so far has been to gather information as to such professional policies and standards as are prevalent and desirable. Its members have contributed their time and energy toward this task by exchanging their experiences and those of others through correspondence and in the meetings of the committee. The com- mittee thus offers itself as a source of information, available to the National Education Association and to such state and city teachers associations as may care to avail themselves of a “clearinghouse” of such information. For those who are interested in teachers’ codes now extant, the appended report,” initiated and worked out by Ward G. Reeder, read and approved by the members of the committee, with the sanction and cooperation of the chairman of the committee, will provide a useful body of information. As the principles, rules, and standards of the teaching profession become crystallized, through such investigations, through suggestions and criti- cisms of members of the Association, and through such codes and practice committees as are instituted—some thirty state teachers associations now have a code of ethics—the committee will endeavor to work out a tenta- tive code of ethics for the guidance of the profession as a national body and for the clearing up of matters that may be causing unnecessary friction within its ranks. It is the sense of the committee, however, th.t the in- ra Member, of the oubcommites: Chairman, Sarat, Muir, bead of Znglsh department tion, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, C. F. Taeusch, associate professor of philosophy, Univ w w i i f schools, Denver i ity Towa City, Iowa, Jesse H. Newlon, superintendent of | Is, Cr Bens fic se Cohan head of English department, Washington Irving High School, » SB eas of the Teaching Profession,” Report of the Committee on Ethics of the Profession, National Education Association, 232 NaTIONAL EpuCcATION ASSOCIATION fe ee Se ee formation which is at present available does not warrant the immediate drafting of such a code for the National Education Association. In order to work out more thoroughly and effectively the problems of professional ethics for teachers, a sub-committee of five members has been appointed, with the chairman of the committee as chairman of the sub- committee. The sub-committee consists of two classroom teachers, one superintendent of schools, and two college teachers whose work has been largely in the field of professional ethics. It is the function of this sub- committee to expedite the work of the principal committee, by formulating policies and procedure, by gathering further information, especially in the form of concrete cases of professional conduct, and by furthering the development of a keener sense of professional consciousness among teachers ; all such activities of the sub-committee are being referred to the committee and to the National Education Association for endorsement or rejection. The committee regards the case method of approach to the problem of professional ethics among teachers as a valuable method. It was in this way that the common law arose; and so also did its later tributaries, the merchant law, canon law, and marine law, contribute to its de- velopment. The New York County Bar Association has made consider- able progress in the sanctioning of professional conduct by entertaining, through its practice committee, debatable and questionable cases of pro- fessional conduct. Some two hundred and seventy cases have been passed on by this committee. Its decisions, which are merely advisory, are so valuable that they are being recognized by the American Bar Association and by judges in their decisions as the most effective work so far done toward cleansing the profession of its abuses and malpractices and toward clarifying its standards and ideals. Similar success has met the efforts of the American Association of Engineers, whose code of ethics was drafted only after a considerable number of practice cases had accumulated; the code when written has been constantly subject to revision as more con- crete cases arise among engineers and are interpreted by those who are in a position to determine the expediency and morality involved in profes- sional problems. Some sixty cases have been formulated by this associa- tion. Rotary International has similarly been interested in the gathering of trade practices, and has proved to be a powerful force for social good merely through clarifying issues and attitudes, the misunderstanding of which leads to unfair and harmful trade activities. The committee proposes to proceed with a similar method tentatively in view. It holds that the teaching profession has reached a sufficient degree of maturity and dignity to warrant the clarification of certain ethical problems which are more and more forcing themselves on the profession, and which can and must be dealt with by the organized intelli- gence and administrative capacities of the Association. Such a procedure activated by the committee, and sanctioned by the Association, will go far to develop the proper professional attitude of teachers, and to secure to teachers, the nation over, those intangible rewards—service to the child REPorRTS OF COMMITTEES 233 and to the community, professional dignity, and the freedom to pursue a valuable and enjoyable vocation and to secure its best interests and purposes. In its work the committee appeals to the members of the Association for help and cooperation. ‘The membership of the committee is sufficiently large to be representative of the various geographic areas of the country, and also of the several groups included in the comprehensive term “teacher” —classroom, research, critic, normal training, and administrative. ‘Teach- ers are urged to communicate with the most accessible member of the committee and to aid in some of the fields of research which the com- mittee is pursuing. Among these fields of research are the following: 1. How do codes of ethics function in the teaching profession and in other professions and trades? 2. What principles of ethical procedure have been and are being vio- lated in the teaching profession? (A collection of cases; the committee is very anxious to have as many as possible of available cases.) 3. Should a practice committee or commission be constituted to consider the cases thus collected? If so, how should it be constituted ? 4. Should a code be built up from these cases of violation of pro- fessional conduct, and what things should go into a code of ethics for the National Education Association ? The committee respectfully urges, since its work is only well begun, that it be continued by the National Education Association. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMUNITY d RELATIONS GEORGE E. CARROTHERS, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, OHIO UNIVERSITY ATHENS, OHIO, CHAIRMAN In pursuance of the program outlined in its report of July, 1925, the Committee held its second formal meeting at Indianapolis during the annual convention of the National Education Association. ‘The chief business accomplished at this time was the crystallization of the views of the Committee upon one highly important question. That is, the matter of the teacher’s relation to after-class activities. Has the regular teacher a professional duty in the field of community relations? Should he be willing to give time to parent-teacher organizations and similar activ- ities ? The Attitude of the Teacher Toward Wider Use The preliminary discussion among the members of the Committee developed fairly general agreement upon the following main points: 1. Parent-teacher associations are valuable and important assets of an educational system and they cannot be developed and successfully carried on without the aid of teachers. 2. Teachers, like all other professional people, require leisure for recrea- tion and personal development, 234 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 3. It is good administrative policy to respect the teachers’ right to a proper margin of leisure. 4. Enterprise and initiative on the part of the teacher in the development of wider-use activities is a laudable method of professional advance and should be encouraged by school authorities. 5. It is difficult to make suitable budgetary provision for new and ex- perimental activities. At the same time new activities do not start full- blown and mature. Such were the main aspects of the problem before the Committee. Its solution required a method in which these opposing claims could be rec- onciled. It was found that an advance had been made just as soon as all sides of the situation had been defined and faced. Another step forward was made when it was recognized that the teachers’ attitude is largely determined by the attitude of the school board as expressed in its acts and requirements. Accordingly, the Committee set about the task of formulat- ing a forward-looking stand for a board of education to take regarding the endeavors of its teaching staff in the community-use sphere. ‘This is expressed in the following set of resolutions which were laid before the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association at its Indianapolis meeting. ; Suggested School Board Policy in Regard to Staffing “Wider-Use” Activities Resolutions offered by the Committee on Community Relations: (a) Whereas, progressive educational thought recognizes that participa- tion in parent-teacher associations and other forms of community activity contributes to the smooth running of the school and to the teacher’s ability to prepare pupils for future social and civic relations, (b) Whereas, “wider-use’’ activities, whether physical, recreational or cultural, for both youth and adults, represent an important extension of the character developing influence of thé school, (c) Whereas, bringing parents, citizens and the public generally into direct use and enjoyment of school facilities contributes to a better under- standing of, and a more generous community financial support for, public education, (d) Whereas, a school plant designed and equipped for community-use gives the school a better plant for its primary educational purpose, (e) Whereas, wise administrative policy requires that all use by the community of school grounds, buildings and equipment be under the con- trol and supervision of school officials, and (£) Whereas, the professional development, the physical welfare, and spiritual needs’ of both principals and teachers require sufficient leisure to permit a reasonable pursuit of personal interests and avocations, Therefore, be it resolved, that it is the sense of this body (1) that all public school governing boards should formulate a definite, fact-based, REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 235 community-use policy and make adequate provision for its practical realiza- tion, however modest the beginning in any school system may of neces- sity be, (2) That the community-use department of public school systems be staffed by persons having the qualifications required for their special duties, (3) That all regular services and activities in the field of community relations be adequately budgeted at the same time and in connection with the annual budgeting of other school activities, and that a special appropria- tion be made to provide, so far as can be anticipated, for new community activities which may arise and become standardized during the fiscal year, (4) That regular teachers may with advantage to the school and to themselves professionally take the initiative in the development of new community relations and give their services to such activities without remuneration during their formative period, (5) That voluntary undertakings in the community-use field be stim- ulated by the dissemination of information concerning developments in other school systems, and that these voluntary activities be encouraged by the notation upon service records of both principals and teachers of all definite community activities thus performed, (6) That school administrators should neither demand or expect reg- ular and continued out-of-school service from teachers in connection with community activities without compensation for the extra service performed. It will be observed that the above resolutions apply more particularly to the large class of cities in which there are as yet no school center de- partments and no definite programs of activity in the community relations field. “They refer to the common situation in which the school board stands between a group of conservative citizens who are content with the traditional ways and a group of other people who are keen to try new measures. [hey take cognizance of the fact that a school system is an organic body and one which is therefore constantly troubled with “grow- ~ ing pains.” ‘The urge to take on new functions before structural adapta- tions have been perfected to carry them on is a clear symptom of healthy growth. School activity cannot keep away from new relationships even if it would. Modern educational thought is driving it to a closer and closer contact with the immediate community. These resolutions outline a method for making this adaptation so far as the personnel of a school system is concerned. Action upon the above resolutions was not called for at Indianapolis. They were simply presented and are being held over for consideration by the members of the National Education Association at the Philadelphia meeting, at which time their adoption will be moved. It is hoped that all delegate members will study the proposed resolutions and be prepared to enter into the discussion and action upon them at the forthcoming annual meeting, 236 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The Regulation of Schoolhouse Lettings With a view to ascertaining and giving attention to those problems in the community relations field which are most acute, several score of school superintendents were circularized last fall by the Committee. The replies received showed that the regulation of schoolhouse lettings was occasioning considerable trouble and that subject was therefore made the main topic for discussion at the third meeting of the Committee in Washington, February 22, 1926, during the- sessions of the Department of Superin- tendence. The discussion revealed that there exists a wide diversity of practice and attitude on the part of school authorities in the utilization of school plants during the marginal periods. That the community is entitled to a use of its educational equipment over and above the period devoted to formal class work is now a generally accepted principle. The school systems of the country vary greatly, however, in the degree to which this principle is put into practice. The stages of progress can be roughly described in the terms of the lettings procedure set up by the various systems. “They include: 1. Regulations barely permitting use of facilities by outside groups but fashioned mainly to prevent misuse and damage 2. Regulations encouraging use of facilities in principle but surrounded with a procedure making such use difficult in practice 3. More practical regulations with a carefully elaborated routine for obtaining school privileges 4. Practical regulations and procedure plus personnel deputed to facili- tate and promote extensive “wider-use.”’ A part of the difficulty exists in the confusion as to what constitutes the school board’s obligation in the matter. Should it let buildings just to give the taxpayer more value for his money? Or does “‘wider-use” constitute an extension of the board’s educational function? When it permits a local society to use a school auditorium for a fee, is it discharg- ing an educational function or merely cutting down expenses? If the activities of some societies are educational, how shall this class of societv be distinguished? ‘These are the questions about which there is confusion and the clearing up of which constitutes an important objective for the Committee. The Elements of the “Regulations” Question The discussion at the Washington meeting accomplished the important result of breaking up the question into its constituent parts. There were many reports upon the local practice as respects various points and some discussion of general principles, but it was of course seldom that general agreement could be obtained. That could hardly be hoped for until there had been further thought upon the subject and a closer examination af all its aspects. The only practical method is that of first breaking up the Reports oF CoMMITTEES 237 subject into its elemental parts and considering them one at a time. An analysis of this question which was presented at the meeting shows the following elements: 1. Classification of fees 2. Classification and description of groups which seek school privileges on the basis of their purposes 3. Definition of attitude to be taken by school authorities toward the various purposes exemplified ~ 4. Methods of supervising groups to whom facilities are let. The Classification of Fees The significance of the fee that is exacted by a school board for the use of a building, lies in the fact that its amount reveals the attitude of the board toward the user and the use. When the board charges no fee it is doing a favor to the group. It is making what is tantamount to a financial donation to the group and to its cause. Naturally the board must be in a position to justify such action and its justification can be based only upon the value of the activity which was aided. When a board grants the use of facilities for a sum which just covers the actual wear and tear, con- sumption of heat and light, and compensation of custodian, it is not making an economic contribution but it may be considered nevertheless to be giving the group and its activity public moral support. When a board charges a fee that includes an excess above all costs, it can take the position that it is extending no faworitism and is giving no moral support. It is simply securing for the taxpayer the fullest economic return possible from his investment. The most useful classification of fees for the purposes of this discussion is obviously, therefore, the following: 1. No fee, meaning that the actual expense of the use is borne by the board 2. Cost fee, which is considered equal to actual expense occasioned 3. Profit fee, a sum covering the actual cost plus an additional amount In applying this classification, actual cost figures would be the soundest basis but where these are lacking, the intention of the board in fixing the fee should be the guide. If it was intended merely to cover the cost, then, so far as the board’s purpose goes—which is the really significant fact— that is a cost fee. The Problem of Classifying Groups Which Use School Facilities The action of a board in letting school facilities derives its significance then from the purpose of the activity which is accommedated. For this reason a classification of the groups seeking school privileges will be most useful if it is based on purpose or aims. In fixing classes of organizations from the standpoint of purpose, great care must be taken to steer clear of subjective terms. The debating club and the civic association both give satisfaction to their members. But to 238 NationaL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION take “give satisfaction to members” as the characteristic of a certain class of organizations would be futile since it applies equally well to all vol- untary groups. Any helpful description of a class must have an objective reference and at the same time specify characteristics of purpose or ob- jective which apply only to a certain considerable number of organizations. The making of such a classification in terms which would command general agreement is obviously a difficult task whether undertaken by an individual or a committee. It can be accomplished finally only by making trials, collecting criticisms, and then making further trials until a satis- factory statement is produced. As a first step in this process there is being offered a tentative classifica- tion together with illustrative examples. No pretense is made that the lists include all the groups which properly belong to the class. A Tentative Classification of Groups Together with Examples EXAMPLES Community Center Association Local Community Service Committee Social Settlement YM. C3pA° Art Association CLASS a. Voluntary associations providing rec- reational, social or cultural op- portunities for other than their own members b. Public welfare organizations devoted to ends going beyond the indi- vidual advantage of members Parent-teacher Association Taxpayers Association Ward Improvement Organization Civic Association c. Groups devoted to personal culture Music Club or self-improvement Debating Society Radio Club Little ‘Theater Group Boy Scout Troop . Groups organized for recreational or social enjoyment Two classes: 1. Adults 2. Juniors . Partisan political groups . Economic groups . Propagandistic groups, organizations working for or against changes in laws, institutions or customs . Religious bodies i. Secret Societies Athletic Club Basketball Club Bridge Club Dancing Club Democratic Party Socialist-Labor Party Republican County Committee Labor Union Manufacturers Association Grange Single Tax Association Child Labor Association Anti-Saloon League League Against Prohibition National Security League Methodist Church Congregational Church Roman Catholic Church Masons Odd Fellows Greek letter societies Reports OF COMMITTEES 239 “The Committee submits this classification for the purpose of securing constructive criticisms. It will be glad to receive suggestions as to the phrasing of the classes and additional examples. It would be especially helped by inquiries as to the placing of specific groups which do not seem to be comprehended in the classes listed. In such cases the work and purpose of the group should be rather fully and definitely described. After a satisfactory classification has been worked out and the social and educational significance of the various classes has been fully explored, the Committee will then turn to the consideration of the relation to these groups which should be taken by public education systems. After that will come the subject of the best methods of supervising the groups to whom facilities are let. “This topic and several others were dis- cussed at the Washington meeting but the material thus obtained is not sufficiently comprehensive as yet to report. Reference to the list of problems in the Committee’s 1925 report will show that there are many of a fundamental character which still need attention. Its members are busy people and they are obliged to work slowly. They are striving, nevertheless, to produce sound and worth- while results in this important field of public education and they hope that the Committee may be continued with its present allowance for postage and stationery. Communications may be addressed to Clarence A. Perry, the secretary of the Committee, at 130 East 22nd Street, New York City. REPORT OF THE EDITORIAL COUNCIL WILLIAM C. BAGLEY, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY The Editorial Council, as usual, has held two meetings during the year. The members of the Representative Assembly will recall that this body acts as a committee of advice and counsel with reference to the editorial policies of the Association’s Journal. The Council wishes to convey to the Assembly its hearty approval of the general policies which are determining the contents and character of the Journal, and its recommendation that these policies be continued. The Journal aims to serve the entire membership of the Association. To this end, the articles that it publishes must in the main concern themselves with the broader problems of the profession as a whole. As the Council has reported to you at preceding meetings, the statement of this basic policy answers many of the questions that come from the members of the Associa- tion regarding what the Journal includes, and more particularly, what it excludes. ; To deal with the exclusions first, it is clear that the Journal can not, in a large way, contribute to the specialized interests of the many highly spe- cialized groups that comprise our profession. ‘It is only as these specialized interests have a distinct and important bearing upon the profession as a 240 NatTIONAL EpucaTIon ASSOCIATION whole that the limited space of the Journal’s pages can be devoted to them. Happily, the problem that this limitation involves is coming to be solved in what is, I think, a most effective way. Our specialized departments are themselves financing or helping to finance publications—journals, quarter- lies, yearbooks—which provide ample means of dealing with these special interests. As to what the Journal includes and emphasizes, a few statements may well be made. There is, of course, a certain amount of material to be pub- lished informing our members of the two annual meetings, both in the way of preliminary programs and announcements and in the way of summarizing the addresses and proceedings. Certain of the addresses, too, are included in full because they deal with the larger problems that I have already re- ferred to. The most significant recent development in the educational policy of the Journal is the careful preparation of at least two series of related articles which will run through the year and which will treat, in a way that we hope will appeal to all of our members, topics or problems that are of out- standing significance. ‘This has been Mr. Morgan’s plan for some time, but he has only recently reached the point in the development of his office and its staff where it has been possible to look ahead for a full year, arrange for a series of articles, and have them all in hand at the beginning of the year. Mr. Morgan has now ready for the coming year two important series of articles. The first deals with what is perhaps the most serious of the larger prob- lems confronting American education today. “This is the problem that is coming to be called “character education.”” We have, in our profession, an interesting custom of giving a new name every now and again to our prob- lems and our processes. For example, we used to speak of discipline, but now we speak of “social control.” Once a child was just naughty, but now he has a “behavioristic complex.” In the far past some pupils were dis- obedient, now they are merely “lacking in docility.” And I take it that “character’’-education in the past was known by another name. ; It is likely, however, that its objectives have not changed very much. A decent regard on the part of the individual for the rights and feelings, the lives and the property of other people is still apparently essential to civiliza- tion. And in this connection, it is pretty generally agreed that our Ameri- can civilization is not what we should like it to be. It is scarcely a matter of pride to us that, among the civilized nations, we have by far the highest ratios of serious crime. It is still less a matter of pride—indeed it should be a matter of the deepest concern—that these ratios are apparently increas- ing year by year and have been increasing for at least a generation, while in most of the other great nations the crime-curves have consistently fallen with the enlightenment of their people. Whether character education, as present-day experts in this field conceive of it, will concern itself with this serious problem, I do not know. I be Reports oF ComMItTEEs 241 cea i cS EOE Se rr lieve that it is well, however, to get from these experts all of the informa- tion and suggestion and inspiration that they have to offer. It would be rather unfortunate for the reputation of the present generation of Americar teachers if the future historian should look at our appalling record of mur- der, assault, robbery, and other serious crimes, and then examine the filee of our official professional journal and find that we had not even concerned ourselves with the situation. Personally, I am pleased, then, that Mr. Morgan has chosen character- education as one of the first problems to be attacked in this rather extended and systematic way. You will be glad to learn, also, that he has secured some outstanding articles from members of our profession who are well qualified to give us helpful advice. The second series of articles likewise deals with a phase of civilization in which the American brand of civilization is apparently not so strong as it should be. It may be, too, that the solution of this second problem will contribute something to the solution of the first. To recognize the need of art in life is to recognize something that has far more than a sentimental value—far more than what we sometimes call a leisure-time value. The ideals of fine workmanship, which are in the narrower sense so sharply demands, are no less needed in the work-a-day life. Nor is a keen sensi- tiveness to what is truly beautiful in the world of the fine arts without the possibilities of a wider spread. One can scarcely deny that there are certain phases of our collective life that are sordid and other phases that are ugly. When a sufficient number of people rebel against sordidness and ugliness, these elements will disappear. And to this end an educational program that seeks consistently to raise the general level of taste and appreciation should make a substantial contribution. It was with especial pleasure, then, that the Editorial Council learned that Mr. Morgan has had prepared a series of articles under the general caption, “Building Beauty into Everyday Life.” ; Mr. Morgan is now looking forward to the year 1927-28. The topic. that has been provisionally selected for that year is the professional educa- tion of teachers. The past decade has witnessed a marked development in this field. The growth of the normal schools and teachers colleges; the expansion outward and the extension upward of their curricula, and the marked improvement in their standards; all these have been outstanding features of this development. The consolidation and extension of these gains will depend in large part upon the vigor and earnestness with which the profession stands back of these schools which not only prepare its re- cruits but are also rendering an increasing service to the teachers already “on the job.” : : In spite of the recent advances, the schools preparing for our profession still lack the public support that they need. Other state-supported institu- tions of the same grade are supported far more generously. In making a study of a state system of normal schools a few years ago, I found ae the state in question was each year appropriating mo1e money for a single agri- 242 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION cultural college enroling 600 students. than it was spending for ten state normal schools enroling 3000 students. A similar discrepancy will be found in almost every state. The contrasts with other publicly-supported profes- sional schools are almost equally striking. Now, in a very real sense, the support that technical and professional schools receive from the public is determined very largely by the occupa- tional groups for which they train recruits. One of the most important bits of collective service that we, as a profession, can render to our cause is to work in season and out of season for the betterment of those institutions that are in a peculiar sense our proteges. To make these institutions legiti- mately attractive to the capable young men and young women of each gen- eration will mean the continual upgrading of our professional personnel. This means not only a generous public support but it also means breadth and depth rather than narrowness and shallowness in the professional cur- ricula. It means strong faculties who will carry on, under favorable con- ditions, the finest of our professional traditions. It must mean a type of professional school to which every member of our professional group can point with pride. A full and frank discussion of this problem, then, has a clear justification in the Journal. It is distinctly a problem, not alone of the specialist in this field, but of the profession as a whole. The Council hopes that Mr. Morgan will meet with success in his efforts to set this problem before our members in a way that will both interest them and stimulate them to action. It is needless to say that these series of special articles to which I have referred will in no sense monopolize the space of the Journal. Other broad and fundamental issues will receive attention. For example, the continued and ever-growing interest of teachers everywhere in the curriculum-prob- lem not only justifies but demands frequent articles summarizing the results of the curriculum-investigations and keeping our members in close touch with the latest developments. There has been a great deal of discussion in our Council meetings re- garding the attitude that the Journal should take toward our rapidly-grow- ing professional literature and toward the world of books in general. From the outset it has seemed unwise to attempt to review books, except under rare special conditions. From month to month, however, book-lists are pre- sented which are intended to give to our members a suggestion of what is probably the best material appearing in various fields. Once each year a list of the forty best books in the whole education field, published during the preceding year, is presented. There have been some complaints about these lists on the ground that certain books are omitted. Such complaints are likely to occur under any conditions, and in some cases are probably justified. I know myself how a writer feels when the children of his brain are either passed by unnoticed or distinctly rated as less robust or less beautiful or less brilliant than are the children of other writers’ brains. At the same time, a rather prolonged experience and perhaps the materialism of advancing years has led me to be Reports or ComMMItTTEES 243 somewhat more interested in the sales-reports than in the book reviews or the book-lists. I think that most of my fellow-writers take the same view, for Mr. Morgan tells me that the complaints about the book-lists come chiefly from the publishers and not from the authors. However that may be, you will be glad to know that Mr. Morgan is taking steps to make these lists just as free from justified criticism as pos- sible. He is, indeed, devising a plan whereby each year’s professional books will be rated and ranked by a number of competent judges to the end that our readers may be sure that the lists present what is in all probability the very cream of each year’s offerings. In concluding this report, the Council wishes again to commend to the Association the broad vision and the keen insight that Mr. Morgan has brought to the conduct of the Journal, as well as his untiring efforts toward its improvement. ‘The editorship of such a publication involves a multitude of detailed duties which would in themselves constitute a man’s full job. For him, however, these are only a fraction of his total responsibilities. Be- cause he discharges them all so well, he clearly deserves both the gratitude and the continued confidence of the Association. It is the recommendation of the Council, that adequate financial support be given to the Department of Publications of which Mr. Morgan is the chief. REPORT OF FHE JOINT COMMITTEE ON BETTER GO- OPERATION BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND MUSEUMS HENRY TURNER BAILEY, DIRECTOR, CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, CLEVE- LAND, OHIO, CHAIRMAN The Joint Committee of the National Education Association and the American Association of Museums on Better Cooperation Between Schools and Museums submits the following recommendations which were presented to the American Association of Museums and approved by that organiza- tion: 1. The public schools and the museums should cooperate to enrich pro- gressively the intellectual and emotional life of the people. 2. Such enrichment will come to the individual as the result of experiences with Nature at first hand, with works of art, with museum speci- mens and with other original objects having human interest. 3. The public schools should lead in placing emphasis on nature study in the great outdoor museum, where everything is alive. T'o promote such activity provision should be made for generous school gardens, or for public parks within walking distance of every school building, or for free transportation to some observational area. 4. These primary experiences should be supplemented by contact with the material gathered in museums of science, history, and art, whose contents should be placed freely at the service of the public schools. 244 NATIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION 5. The public schools should make use of this material to the fullest pos- sible extent. 6. To promote such mutual service normal schools and teachers colleges should train their students in observation and exposition, through excursions into the open, and trips to the museums. 7. The expenses of providing the materials, required for observation and for circulating and keeping in proper condition the traveling ma- terials should be shared between the museums and the boards of edu- cation, upon some mutually satisfactory basis. 8. A representative of the public schools should be selected to cooperate with the supervisors and teachers and with the museum authorities in selecting the loan material. He should also be charged with the re- sponsibility of assembling, caring for and circulating from a dis- tributing center all the material supplied by the museums. 9. Circulating material should not be considered as an adequate substi- tute for occasional visits to the central museums. Such visits should be made to acquaint the children with the great educational institu- tions other than their schools, and should yield perennial delight and inspiration, and insure more generous support for museum activities in the next generation. 10. Wherever museums are not established, local, county, or state school boards should provide for carrying on visual education by the best available means. 11. At the present time, available material for visual education throughout the United States is inadequate. “The joint committee of the Na- tional Education Association and the American Association of Mu- seums should be instructed to secure the cooperation of the museums and of American publishing companies to supply a part of what the schools need. Some of the material may be summarized briefly, as follows: a. Actual objects, such as mammals, birds, insects, specimens of sea life, food products, tree products, materials for clothing, materials for shel- ter, raw materials in the different stages of manufacture, etc.; actual specimens from the fields of biology, geology, botany, anthropology and the other various branches of science. : b. Lists of available educational films and slides showing growing and moving things, and industrial processes, in short, the activities of nature and men. c. Facsimile reproductions of historical documents, pictures and objects in the historical museums of the country, of special value in the teaching of American history and literature. d. Reproductions in color of the finest pictures, textiles, and other decora- tive material in American museums. e. Photographs and reproductions in color of objects in natural history museums having unusual cultural values. f. Reprints of illustrations in black and white and color from the best work of artists modern and ancient. Reports or ComMITrrEes 245 a ey g. Photographs of the finest sculpture, the finest architecture, and the finest handicraft produced in the United States and in other countries. h. Reproductions in color of the finest mural decorations in American buildings and elsewhere. i. Illustrations of the finest products of American industry. j. Pamphlets made up of sample pages of the finest work of American designers and printers. k. Illustrated pamphlets descriptive of the scenery, institutions, occupations, a9 resources of cities and countries, such as are published by boards of trade. 12. A joint committee of the National Education Association and of the American Association of Museums should be appointed to secure a prominent place for the discussion of visual education upon the pro- gram of every county, state, and national gathering of public school teachers and museum workers. 13. Representatives of the National Education Association and of the American Association of Museums should endeavor to secure the appointment of local committees in every school district in the United States to promote an interest in visual education, and to se- cure means for its development. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMES FOR RETIRED TEACHERS PRESENTED JULY,* 1926, AT THE PHILADELPHIA MEETING OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION BY OLIVE M. JONES, PRINCIPAL, PUBLIC SCHOOL 120 AND ANNEXES, NEW YORK CITY, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE SECTION A—Incidents and Conditions Which Aroused My Per- sonal Interest During Term of Office as President of the National Education Association In August of 1923, I happened to be present at a meeting where teachers were receiving their assignments for the new school year. I saw two women of over sixty left without contracts. Both had given forty years of satis- factory service. The state has no proper pension law. Both told me that they were without homes or funds, except the charity of uncongenial distant relatives. One had provided for an invalided father and brought up and educated his two children by a second marriage. The president of the board of education in a southern city told me that a large number of old teachers had been discovered in poorhouses and insane asylums of her state. ‘The discovery was made during a legislative inves- tigation of state and county institutions. She did not know of my interest in the old-age conditions of teachers, but was citing the instances in connec- tion with the struggle to prevent salary decreases in that state. Among my personal acquaintances are several horribly lonely old women, to whom a few of us give as much attention as our busy lives permit. They 246 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Sw a have pensions, so that they are in no need of food or clothing or room, but they have outlived all upon whom they might rightfully depend for com- panionship. Many National Education Association members have told me of former teachers similarly situated in their own towns. The need of a home in old age is particularly the problem of the unmar- ried woman teacher. The large majority of men have families and look to the grateful care of sons and daughters. The unmarried woman teacher has no such future hope. In addition, her salary has usually been smaller, her opportunities for making “extra” money have been few, and she usually has the support and care of her own parents and aged relatives, being the last one left in the family home. In the Park Avenue Hotel, New York, while I myself lived there, the principal of my own childhood’s school lived a most lonely life. Once a popular, handsome woman, she had grown very old and had outlived all her relatives and contemporaries. She was so deaf one had to scream to make her hear and people avoided her as a bore. She was taken ill and was found dead in her bed by a chambermaid, no one else having happened to enter her room to call assistance. Actors, sailors, Masons, and other groups provide for the old age and for the comfort of retired members of their oganizations. Many benefit organizations maintain such homes. Homes for the aged poor have long replaced the old-time almshouse in many localities. To few of those homes is the retired teacher eligible. If she has a pension, its amount is too small for the weekly or monthly payments required, or the receipt of a fixed income renders her ineligible for admission to homes that require a sum to be paid in its entirety upon admission. The education, experience, and social life of a teacher make the home for the aged poor a harsh return for her years of service, yet the salary of the average teacher does not permit of saving in amounts sufficient to warrant any other home and care in old age. Neither is financial need the only, or even the saddest, part of the retired teacher’s need. Companionship to prevent loneliness and grief—this is the need the old teacher feels most and says least about. Among people of similar age and with similar experience, as at a teachers home, they would not lack companionship. SECTION B—Plans Proposed to the Committee as Substitutes for the “Home” Plan 1. Old-age insurance and boarding-out in families—While I cannot claim to have thoroughly investigated these plans, I have done enough to know that they are inadequate and utterly fail to meet the teacher’s need. Both these ideas fail extraordinarily to consider the culture, education, and ideals of living the average teacher now has and should be required to have. It is bad enough to make her maintain such ideals on an inadequate salary during her teaching career without throwing her in old age into the A Reports or CoMMITTEES 247 type of uncongenial home that would “take a boarder” at the figure allowed by old age insurance. The “boarding-out” plan, admirable for children and the aged laborer, is a tragedy for the professional worker. 2. The group insurance plan—I do not see how this can be applied to the needs of the aged teacher. The retirement allowance systems, gradually being adopted by the states, are excellent, notably New York City, but they do not meet the needs I have outlined in section A of this report. The group insurance plan has even less value in such needs. The group insurance plan presupposes several conditions which are not and never can be true for teachers. To cite only a few: The officials of the school systems cannot be held responsible for the payment of premiums. The turnover among the teaching body as a whole is yery great and the turnover in a given locality is even greater. The teacher who continues to old age may be a part of several groups during her career and may have only very small claim, if any, on the last one. 3. Adequate salaries which would permit saving for old age—It is argued that instead of establishing homes, effort should be made towards providing adequate salaries for the most notoriously underpaid worker in the country. If it were not so serious, this would be a joke. ‘Ihe cost of public educa- tion is already so high that every state is screaming about its debt limit and real estate is squealing like the proverbial stuck pig. I am a member of Governor Smith’s commission on school finance and administration. I can speak authoritatively from the studies the commis- sion has made. Many generations of teachers will have passed away and will have suffered from need of care in old age, before teachers’ salaries will be adequate for living, let alone saving. New means of taxation must be discovered and when discovered, poli- ticians must be induced to pass the legislation making the new taxes law. Practical experience with legislation for teachers’ salaries is all the proof one needs that there is no hope for old age in the provision of adequate salaries. 4. Adequate retirement allowances—It is also argued that if the states were urged to pass laws providing adequate retirement allowances, homes would not be needed. It has even been feared that activity on behalf of establishing homes for aged teachers might be prejudicial to the enactment of retirement allowance laws for teachers. No one believes more enthusias- tically than I in laws providing retirement allowances for teachers or has worked harder for their passage. Retirement allowance, actuarily com- puted and professionally porportioned with due attention to the questions of promotional opportunity, merciful provision for the aged, and recruit- ing for new teachers,—this is an essential among the conditions for hon- ored living for the worker. ; But pension alone does not meet the problem I put before you today. Money alone, no matter how liberal the pension allowance may be, cannot 248 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION “Ne Ne ee eee buy companionship and can secure only mercenaries as caretakers. Fur- thermore, only a very small minority of the states have pension laws and some of the existing laws are either actuarily unsound or pitifully small in the allowance made. Many generations of teachers will have passed before any satisfactory change in this condition can be hoped for. Meantime—what ? SECTION C—Specimen Appeals for Admission to Home for Retired Teachers DeAR Miss JONES: I wrote you, addressed letter to New York City. Was returned, couldn't find you so will try addressing you at Washington, D. C. Read in some paper, National Education Association had given endorsement and would support “Teachers Home.” Can you give me any information concerning the home. I’ve been a teacher many years and if I live longer must plan on what to do. You know the older teachers only received a meager salary. I taught my first year, $19.50, then for 5 years, $25 a month, then $35 another five years and so on, so couldn’t save anything as I’ve had the care of an old mother for thirty- six years. I’ve insured my life for $1000 and in five years more will have that, so thought I’d better apply to Teachers Home as soon as it was finished. Amr a primary teacher and have been for years. ‘This home will need an endowment so will have to ask some of our good friends to help us. Please write me if you receive this and let me know. I met you at our conven- tion four years ago. I believe you were interested then in this home. Sincerely, (Signed) So DEAR FRIEND: I received your letter directed to my former residence at ; . I am now staying at my brother’s residence in I wish that you would keep my name and address, and with the interest of some of my former teacher friends who are interested in me, and who knew me the eight and one-half years when I taught here in this city, if I am eligible to go into a home for retired teachers of the United States, I would feel greatly honored. It would be so pleasant and con- genial to me to be in such a home for aged teachers, where I could enjoy educated and refined ladies for home companions. I have taught 16% years, and have also spent 21 years teaching children and some adults in piano lessons. I do wish that some time in the future I could succeed in getting into such a home. Yours truly, (Signed) SECTION D—Providing Authorization for Relief July, 1924—A motion was passed at the Washington meeting of the National Education Association, accepting the gift of Marilla Parker, of Chicago, which upon her death is to be used by the Board of Trustees of the National Education Association as part of a fund for a Retired Teachers Home. A second motion was passed authorizing the preparation of plans for the establishment of this home, subject to the approval of the Execu- tive Committee of the National Education Association. REportTs OF CoMMITTEES 249 ee ee eee ee July, 1925—At the Indianapolis meeting of the National Education As- sociation, the plan for organizing homes for retired teachers was presented to the Representative Assembly and accepted, the agreement being that all contributions were to be cared for by the Board of Trustees as a separate fund and that the details and legal protection were to be planned for by the Executive Committee of the National Education Association. October, 1925—At a meeting in Colorado Springs, the Executive Com- mittee of the National Education Association appointed the following com- mittee on Homes for Retired Teachers with power to act: Olive M. Jones, principal, Public School 120 and Annexes, New York City, and past presi- dent of the National Education Association, Chairman; Mary McSkimmon, principal, Pierce School, Brookline, Mass., and president of the National Education Association for 1925-26; Walter R. Siders, superintendent of schools, Pocatello, Idaho, and chairman of National Education Association board of trustees; Henry Lester Smith, dean, School of Education, Indiana University, and treasurer of National Education Association. February, 1926—In accordance with resolutions previously passed, the following resolution was passed by the Executive Committee of the National Education Association at its meeting in Washington, D. C.: The National Education Association has seriously undertaken the consideration of the plans for establishing homes for aged and retired teachers. The need has been demonstrated, but there are other problems involved, including the financing of such an undertaking, the location of the homes, methods of conducting homes hap- pily and successfully, eligibility for admission, and the relationship of the manage- ment of the homes to the official boards of the National Education colleges who have entered teaching have gone into high schools. For this reason, the question of the relative value of “‘professionalized” subject- matter and “academic” subject-matter, has usually been concerned with the preparation of high school teachers even though the issue is equally pertinent to the preparation of elementary teachers. As is easily apparent, this question has frequently taken the form of the fifth problem. 5. Should teachers colleges prepare teachers for the high schools, and if so, how will their courses differ from those now offered in the liberal arts colleges? Regardless of the discussions which this question has aroused, prevailing practice is saying in no uncertain manner that teachers colleges should prepare high school teachers, and that their preparation should have more of the “professional subjects’ and less of the “academic” than is usually given in liberal arts colleges. It is impossible for the same student to obtain in a given period, say four years, all the elements which are usually given in a liberal arts college, and in addition, all the elements which are usually given in a teachers college. Until we can know which is the bet- ter, we must take one type or the other cr make a compromise and select some elements from each. Ardent exponents of the liberal arts type of training for high school teachers insist upon the paramount importance of subject matter per se and the relative unimportance of methods of instruction, educational psychology, and other courses in education and practice teaching. ‘The two over-used expressions ‘““You cannot teach a thing that you do not know” and “If you know a thing you can teach it” have furnished the advocates of the liberal arts college type of training high school teachers with all the defense and justification which they have needed. Unfortu- nately, they have secured little else in support of their claims. The sponsors for the professional schools as the places for training high school teachers have been equally dependent upon such partial truisms as ‘“‘Not every one who knows a thing can teach it to others’ and “A teacher had better know a few things which he can teach than many which he will not use.”’ High school teachers will continue to be trained in both of these types of schools until, as a result of carefully conducted experiments over a period of years, we know which elements are most valuable in a teacher’s acquired equipment. “Then we can determine the best method of providing him with these elements in any given period of time. Until these experiments can be made on a scale large enough to convince the most obdurate defenders of this or that plan, little progress will be made in the adequate preparation of teachers. For the same reason we shall gain but little in pinning our faith to any set of principles for constructing curricula for the training of “unknown quantities.” In the meantime, teachers must be prepared, and curricula for the schools preparing them must be made and put in operation. ‘These cur- 290 Nationa, Epucation AssocIATION ricula must be made as effective as is consistent with as widely accepted criteria as possible. “These “best” curricula should then become the start- ing points for the comprehensive testing program which, it aS hoped, will result in validated principles for future revisions of curricula for schools which professionally prepare teachers. hearts The following principles of curriculum making for teacher-training in- stitutions are presented here in order that they may serve to bring certain issues clearly into view and in order that they may serve as bases for some of the needed experiments in this field. ‘These statements represent a composite of present modes of practice, advanced practice and expert judg- ments.” The first, and possibly the most important principle of curriculum con- struction, is that the internal character of the curriculum and the con- stituent courses thereof must be determined by the nature and require- ments of the future position to be filled by the student pursuing the cur- riculum. The second principle of curriculum making for teachers is that the curricula must be differentiated and specialized. The third principle of curriculum making is that no teacher can be said to be adequately trained, whose preparation is not well grounded in practically all of the better known fields of human knowledge—language, literature, social science, natural and physical science, mathematics, music, fine and industrial arts, and health. The fourth principle of curriculum making is that the courses of study making up each curriculum must be continuous in thought organization and must be inherently sequential. Courses should extend not only for- ward but laterally to other subjects related in content. The fifth principle of curriculum making is that relatively little ‘free election” should be allowed, once the student has selected the type of teach- ing for which preparation is to be made. The sixth principle is that the constituent courses should be professional in character. The seventh principle of curriculum making in teacher training insti- tutions is that the curriculum must be extensive enough to give the young teacher the controls and skills necessary for the work he must do. The eighth principle is that the curriculum must provide materials and activities for the purpose of strengthening and developing the personal and social equipment of the teacher. The ninth principle of curriculum making is that all the courses should be integrated around the actual work of teaching. . C. Bagley in the Survey of the The first draft in their pres- Nationat Councit or EpucatioN 291 SS In planning curricula for normal schools and teachers colleges, or in planning any extensive experiments to test curricular elements in such schools, there are a number of tendencies and practical difficulties which must be kept in mind as factors affecting these curricula. These factors should be recognized as impermanent and not made subjects for extensive study except as they may directly or indirectly affect some of the more important and more pressing professional problems of curriculum con- struction, Some of the most obvious and also the most troublesome of these tendencies and difficulties are listed in order that they may be more easily distinguished from the principles just presented. 1. Inadequate as the time may seem to be, the majority of teachers for the ele- mentary schools will, for several decades, receive not more than two years of professional preservice training beyond the completion of a standard high school. 2. Provisions for inservice training of all kinds will have to be continued and arrangements perfected for enabling teachers to take advantage of such training. 3. Teachers colleges will be compelled to make provisions for an increasing number of “two year graduates” to return, after a few years’ experience, to con- tinue their work toward a degree. 4. Present tendencies toward the certification of teachers for specific fields of work will demand specialized courses for the preparation of teachers. This in turn will demand a greater degree of differentiation in professional subject-matter courses. 5. The growing conviction that teachers, as a group, need more general informa- tional and cultural background will have at least two very definite effects upon the curricula of teachers colleges. It will certainly tend to lengthen the course, and it will put upon the numerous professional courses in education the responsibility for proving their practical value. 6. Rural districts for a good many years will continue to be satisfied with teachers below the standards of preparation accepted by the cities. These teachers, often graduates of high schools only, and sometimes with even less training, after a year or two of desultory experience, become competitive applicants for positions in the city school systems. Because of their smaller investments in preparation, their competition tends to lower salaries as well as standards of preparation. A few states are making commendable efforts to equalize the financial inequalities existing between the urban and the rural school districts. As these efforts are extended, the differences in standards for teachers between these districts will be very largely removed. 7, State normal schools and teachers colleges must be more consistently and more generously supported in order that better trained faculties may be secured and their service loads reduced. 8. When school organizations accept the principles involved in the “single salary schedule” method of paying teachers on the basis of preparation, experience and, eventually, merit, instead of the grades taught, the present retarding competition between the professionally prepared teacher and the unprepared will be rapidly eliminated. As was previously stated, cognizance of these practical considerations must be taken by all who are in any way responsible for the building of curricula for schools which prepare teachers, even though some of them are but temporary conditions for which remedies have been proposed and in some instances successfully applied. In spite of the handicaps just listed, and of others not mentioned, one of the most urgent needs now before the school-men of this country is 292 NatioNnaL EpucaTIon ASSOCIATION to secure more better-prepared teachers. This need must be met at once and met under existing conditions and by means of the most efficient and economical curricula which may now be devised. bain of The next step is to isolate the controversial elements and practices in these curricula, as well as others not controversial, for which there exists no known supporting evidence. When these disputed and unsupported élements are isolated, they should be made the subjects for thorough and conclusive investigation. The following suggestions for the conduct of these experimental verifications are made with the hope that they may arouse interest in the possibilities of such studies and be of suggestive value to any who may undertake them. In the first place there must be a clear understanding by all concerned that a long-time experiment is being undertaken. In the second place, results of any such experimentation should be made available to other institutions as soon as is consistent, with a complete account and an accurate evaluation. In this way, further experiments may profit by any known results from previous studies. In the publication of such studies, care should be taken to give credit to all who contributed in any way to them. ‘This helps to increase the accuracy of reporting and also furnishes an effective incentive for participation in such under- takings. Any studies which involve the staff members of the schools will usually prove of great value for the promotion of professional growth, not only of the members who actually participate, but of the entire faculty. Because nearly every curricular problem in schools for the preparation of teachers will directly or indirectly involve the entire school, most of the experiments suggested will necessitate participation by several schools in order to set up “controls.” For this reason the third suggestion is that some of these experiments should be undertaken by states in which the several teachers colleges may cooperate with the state educational author- ities in outlining an experimental study. Such studies should involve some or all of the schools and should extend over a period of several years. Several states already have organizations which would make such studies possible and profitable. For example, both Massachusetts and Pennsyl- vania have made distinct beginnings in differentiation of courses and in specialization between schools. It would be a simple matter for the exist- ing organizations of normal schools in either state to set up one or more experiments which would extend over a period long enough to follow the graduates of the schools out into the field in order to make the real measures of the success of any plan under investigation. Such an experiment was recommended by W. C. Bagley in his report on the survey of the normal schools of Missouri nearly ten years ago. Inasmuch as certain normal schools are now engaged in the preparation of high school teachers, it would seem advisable to emphasize clearly in some of these n ‘ mal schools the principle of differentiation referred to above—that is deaniene modifying all courses with reference to their bearing upon the problem of high school teaching. The products of these schools could then be compared with th products of the liberal arts colleges and of other normal schools in which the sae 1The Professional Preparati Teacher . r fee Wo. ge ree aie) Teachers for American Public Schools, by William S. Carnegie Foundation, 1920, page 152. NATIONAL Councin oF EDUCATION 293 matter courses are replicas of those offered in the liberal arts colleges. How far the present organization of subject-matter courses in the Missouri normal schools will serve the purposes of such a test is a question that will be considered in a later section of this report. Had this suggestion been followed at that time, we would now have three or four groups of graduates of the three types of schools whose work as teachers in the field could be studied. If certain strong points or weaknesses were discovered as characteristics of the graduates of one or another of the schools, we would certainly have information which would be extremely valuable in planning future development of these schools. Even if many of the states should undertake systematic experiments with various arrangements of the curricula of normal schools and _ teachers colleges, there are still left at least two very important and necessary ele- ments in order to assure the success and value of these studies. The first of these necessary elements is a central organization which can assist in planning the needed experiments, prevent unnecessary dupli- cations, aid in measuring the results, and act as a central clearinghouse to distribute the established results to all interested schools. The organ- ization which renders this service must be one that will be nationally recognized as having a vital and unselfish interest in the welfare of our American schools, and also as having professional prestige enough to com- mand both the respect and the hearty cooperation of all schools for the professional preparation of teachers. “The American Council of Edu- cation and the American Association of Teachers Colleges are very ob- viously two of our national organizations which could do this service. The second of the essential elements at this time is the securing of a sub- stantial sum of money to be used for the threefold purpose of: (1) inter- esting normal schools and teachers colleges in such extended experimenta- tion; (2) providing the various services which should come from the cen- tral organization; and (3) making the wealth of valuable material which would result from the experiments available through a series of publica- tions. Unless enough money can be secured to do this testing on prac- tically a nation-wide basis, we will have to be content for many years to come with our present sporadic inconclusive attempts to show that this or that plan of curricular organization is best because this or that school is satisfied with its results. No one questions the important and strategic position which normal schools and teachers colleges have in our American systems of public education. ‘The efficiency of these schools in preparing the country’s teachers depends largely upon the curricula which are offered. These curricula have been prepared and are now being remodeled and reorganized on the basis of: “I think,” “It is my opinion,” “The present practice seems to be,” “President A. B. C. of the X. Y. Z. Teachers College has just done such and so,” and similar reasons. ‘These will continue to be the guiding “principles” for constructing the curricula of teachers colleges until we can put some of our present practices to the test of carefully planned experiments which involve many schools and which are continued over a period of at least ten years, 294 Nationa, EpucaTion ASSOCIATION EXTENSION WORK IN TEACHERS COLLEGES CHARLES MC KENNY, PRESIDENT, STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, YPSILANTI, MICH. The reason for the interest in the question of extension courses in teachers colleges is obvious. The educational procedure centers in the contact of teacher with child. ‘The teacher is the instrumentality by which the money ‘nvested in education becomes effective in building the intellectual and moral character of the childhood of the nation. That this fact is painfully overlooked is clear when we consider that fifty percent of our teachers have had no special preparation for their work. A comparatively small fraction of the whole have had preparation which may be called adequate for the responsibility which they assume. Because of the low standards required for entering the profession and because of economic situations a very large percent of the teachers of America go into the schools untrained for their jobs. The problem then is how to help these teachers to improve them- selves while they are actually in service. The two opportunities for academic and professional improvement while in service are summer schools and extension study. A study of summer schools was reported to this Council two years ago by the committee on teachers colleges, and today we are submitting through this committee a report on extension courses. An inquiry sent to 193 teacher training insti- tutions listed as colleges or normal schools by the Bureau of Education yielded replies from 125. The reports received were from 42 states. ‘The states that did not report were Wyoming, Delaware, Florida, Montana, Nevada, Utah. Of the 125 institutions reporting, 84 offered some form of extension work, and of the 84, 68 offered work for credit. Extension work for credit is of two types—extension classes, the nature of which we are all familiar with, and correspondence study. Twenty-five offered ex- tension work only and 10 offered correspondence study only. In addition to the credit extension work, many institutions offer extension lectures and consultative service. For this work no credit is given. Naturally, extension classes would be confined to a district fairly contigu- ous to the institution, for there is a limit to the distance teachers and faculty can travel while carrying on their work on the campus. ‘The great advantage of correspondence work is that it can be pursued by anybody anywhere and at almost any time. Fifty-nine of the institutions reported submitted fig- ures as to the number of resident students and the number of students doing extension work of the two varieties. In these 59 institutions there were in residence 51,999 students. There were enrolled in extension courses 23,928 students. In other words, there were 46.3 as many students en- rolled in extension work as were in attendance on the campus. These figures are eloquent of the desire and purpose on the part of teachers to broaden their preparation for their work. ; A special study was made of ten institutions in ten different states. These institutions were Greeley, Colo.; Macomb, Ill.; Terre Haute, Ind.; Cedar NaTIonaL Councit oF EpucATION 295 Falls, Iowa; Emporia, Kans.; Natchitoches, La.; Ypsilanti, Mich.; Kear- ney, Nebr.; Albany, N. Y.; Talequah, Okla. These ten institutions were studied with a view to determining the method of administration of the de- partments in which extension work was conducted and by whom the exten- sion work was done. Other items of interest were also included. In these ten institutions, nine have separate extension departments or divisions rank with the academic departments in honor and importance. ‘These institu- tions offer a very large variety of extension courses and classes, but pre- dominantly the work was given in the departments of education, English, history, geography, and mathematics. From the very nature of the case laboratory sciences cannot be effectively studied by correspondence, and only under exceptional situations in extension classes. Of the ten institutions reporting, in two the extension work is done by members of the resident faculty only. Six have regularly employed extension instructors and three utilize as occasion may demand other instructors, such as city superin- tendents and principals of high schools. In nine of the ten institutions the extension work is carried on by the regular faculty in addition to the regular teaching load. ‘This practice has its pros and cons. Without doubt it is a fine thing for the college teacher to get out into the field and meet under different conditions teachers who are directly engaged in service. Speaking personally, my own experience is that teachers have felt a stimulation from such contact and have come back to the campus with a great deal more insight into educational problems and with greater enthusiasm for their work. On the other hand it will be readily conceded that there is danger of over- working the teachers and of dissipating their interests. While no data was gathered on this particular subject, it is my own personal view that teachers on the faculty should not carry extension classes more than two years in succession. ‘Teachers have confessed to me that their private study had to be sacrificed in carrying on extension work. ‘The question is how to balance the gains in contact with teachers in the field with the loss of private reading and study which must be sacrified. In the ten institutions under consideraton, the compensation for teachers carrying on extension work ranged from 42.50 per credit hour to 55 pet credit hour. For correspondence study the compensation ranged from 1.85 to 4.72 per credit hour. Regular compensation per credit hour for a teacher on the campus, based on an average salary of $3000, is $53.56. Financially, students are greatly advantaged by taking extension work. The cost per credit hour of extension work is approximately 31.3 percent of the cost in residence. And if we take into consideration the salary a teacher might earn, and which he must give up in order to do resident work, the cost of a credit hour by extension is only 8 percent of the cost in resi- dence. Some students might be tempted to do all of their work by extension or correspondence if the institutions permitted, but as a general rule only 25 percent of the work required for graduation in any curriculum may be done by extension. ‘The number of hours credit which may be earned in a single year is generally twelve, or one fourth of a year’s work. 296 NaTIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION eee Extension departments are agreed that the attitude of extension students toward the work is very good. You must recall that many of them are working with immature minds, and it is an intellectual stimulation to under- take the study of some collegiate subject in companionship with others of similar intellectual tastes and under the leadership of a competent teacher. It is further reported that the attitude of the faculty toward extension work is fair. Naturally, some do not believe in it and others do not care to do it for the limited compensation. It is a relatively new thing with many faculties. That the general feeling toward it could be marked fair is re- assuring. The attitude of superintendents and boards of education is gen- erally very favorable. These officials like to be assured that their teachers are intellectually and professionally awake. The custom is growing for boards of education to pay teachers for summer work and for additional units of credit earned in reputable institutions through extension and cor- respondence. To sum up the situation, it is about this: In practically all of the states extension classes are offered which may be utilized by teachers within a reasonable radius of the institution. Extension work by correspondence may be had by any teacher anywhere in the United States, since many of the institutions admit to correspondence work students wherever located. Many of them are reaching a considerable number out- side their own state. “That teachers in service are responding to these educu- tional opportunities is evidenced by the fact that there are practically one half as many teachers taking extension work with teachers colleges as there are students enrolled on the campus and to this number we should add those who are taking work through colleges and universities. While there is good cheer in these figures, it remains true that the great body of teachers have not awakened to their opportunities. “Teachers colleges and other types of colleges should aggressively push extension work and superintendents and supervisory officers generally should stimulate all teachers under their direc- tion to extend their preparation through this measure. PRELIMINARY REPORT ON EXTENSION ACTIVITIES IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Vv. A. C. HENMON, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON, WIS. The subcommittee on extension activities in colleges and universities has only recently been fully organized. The lack of budgetary provisions has prevented any detailed inquiries or a meeting of the committee. It is pro- posed to hold one at the spring meeting of the National University Exten- sion Association. No other educational development in the last two decades Surpasses In magnitude that of educational extension. The problems of establishing sound traditions as to function, administration, methods, and standards is so complex and important that it seems very desirable that the Extension Association be asked to appoint a committee to cooperate with the NaTIONAL CouNcIL oF EDUCATION 297 National Council on Education. In the preparation of this preliminary report which is concerned with formulating the major problems in need of study, I have had the advice and counsel of Messrs. Reber and Lighty of Wisconsin, Bittner of Indiana, and Mallory of Chicago, but the report has not been submitted to them for approval or revision. Educational extension has become, in twenty years, a major university enterprise, serving two distinct functions: (1) to provide instruction through extension classes and correspondence study in credit and non-credit courses tor those who cannot attend the university, and (2) to transmit to the peo- ple, in usable form, the accumulating results of experimentation and research in any field which may be useful in the conduct of life. In the exercise of its first and older function formal instruction in extra mural courses is given to upwards of 300,000 students by 75 or more non-commercial insti- tutions in 39 states of the union. In the exercise of its second and newer function informal instruction through semi-popular lectures, institutes, and conferences, through motion pictures, lantern slides, and radio broadcast- ing, through outlines, bibliographies, pamphlets, and package libraries, and through bulletins and circulars, reaches many millions each year. Educa- tional extension has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last decade, but even in those state universities where it has been most highly developed it has been an institution more or less apart from the university and inde- pendent instead of an integral part of it. It has likewise been developing in local communities more or less independent of established educational authorities—boards of ¢ducation, superintendents, and principals—instead of being in close cooperation with them. When university extension, both in its formal and in its informal instructional work, was in the experimental stage, seeking new fields for possible service, testing out community inter- ests and needs, and finding ways and means of ministering to them, a con- siderable measure of independence from existing organized educational efforts was probably very desirable. Now that. it is a well recognized form of service of demonstrated worth, the proper integration of it with the uni- versity or college as a whole, on the one hand, and with the public educa- tional system in local communities, on the other hand, is a problem of first rate importance. A recognition of this fact, is, I take it, what prompted the establishment of this committee. State organization—The state university has been, in most states, the chief agency for general extension service. Now that state normal schools and teachers colleges, agricultural colleges, and an increasing number of institutions on private foundations are entering this field, the organization of state educational extension programs to avoid duplication, overlapping, and competition, and to secure cooperation of all extension agencies is im- perative. The correlation of extension activities with the well established educational order and the clarifying of the relations between the institutional groups represented by the threefold division of this committee are problems more easily formulated than solved. Should all state supported extension work be centered in the state department of public instruction, as in Massa- 298 NaTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION eon: he it i ae a ee ee chusetts? Should it be directed for all state institutions by the state uni- versity, as in Florida and other states? Should the correlation be secured by an extension board or council, as in Colorado and Iowa? Should the state be subdivided into districts, and the extension activities of any institution limited to certain areas, as in Virginia? Or, should each institution be free to undertake any activity for which there is demand and in which it has the facilities to serve, with the resulting competition and confusion? From the point of view of the superintendent who wishes to supplement the formal educational opportunities offered in his city by drawing on an extension division, or who wishes to provide informal instructional programs for the citizens of his community, some type of centralization is necessary or de- sirable, instead of the loose competitive organization toward which we are drifting in many states. Cooperative relations with a great variety of insti- tutions, agencies and organizations for business, charitable, general welfare, and educational purposes are a prominent characteristic of extension di- visions. For these organizations to establish cooperative relations with many independent extension divisions will make for intolerable confusion and ineffectiveness. The superintendent who wishes to arrange a health program for his community or avail himself of the services of a bureau of public dis- cussion and information will insist that these matters be handled through some central agency. It would be idle for this committee to speculate as to the type of state organization that will evolve out of the diverse forms that now prevail, or to make specific recommendations, even if it could agree upon them, but it can insist on a centralized cooperative organization with a definite delimitation of functions in state institutions. Local administration—A second problem of importance is the avenue of communication from the extension division to the local community and the method of cooperation with local agencies. The city library, the vocational or continuation school, local centers or branch offices, district headquarters with district representatives, and local committees have all been suggested or used as the agencies through which extension divisions might reach the community. Curiously enough, the logical center or clearinghouse from the point of view of administration, the superintendent’s office, has rarely been used. or suggested. As the administrative head of the public educa- tional interests of his city, he and the local board of education might be expected to have general supervision over all public educational work, both formal and informal for youth and adults. The maintenance in the super- intendent’s office of an extension secretary, or, in the larger systems, of an assistant superintendent who would be in touch with the school and com- munity interests and needs which an extension division might serve, who would have ready at hand information concerning all phases of extension work available in the state, who could organize classes and arrange for in- struction through extension divisions, who could plan, under the direction of the superintendent, for lecture series, health programs, or any other activity, would be in the interest of sound administration. and states superintendents now encourage attendance at e as a means of improvement of teachers in service, and accep In many cities xtension classes t credits earned NaTIONAL CounciL oF EDUCATION 299 in such classes for promotions and salary advancements. Here and there, in accordance with their needs, they come in contact with extension divisions, but a systematic incorporation of extension opportunities as a part of the pub- lic educational program is nowhere in evidence. Superintendents, almost to a man, deplore a dual administration and control in respect to the con- tinuation or vocational school and insist on unit control. Why does not the same principle apply to extension work? Field agents or organizers, working with a large measure of independence in the school system and in the community at large, ought to be unnecessary in the larger well organ- ized systems. ‘Their function should be to submit to the superintendent, annually or semi-annually, the programs of formal or informal instruction which the extension division can offer, and to establish contacts with organi- zations which the public educational system can not well reach. ‘Their main functions would be to find ways and means of ministering to com- munities where local initiative needs stimulation and where a good avenue of communication is not provided. A centralization of local administration would widen the sphere of influence of both an extension division and of the local school system and there seems to be no good and sufficient reason why it should not be done. Extension classes—A third problem arises in connection with university or college extension classes. “The demand for credit courses is increasing rapidly because of their value in meeting entrance or graduation require- ments, promotions and salary advances, and various licenses and certificates. Budget limitations, distarice and transportation difficulties, and lack of avail- able instructors are the only checks to greater increases in many institutions. At the University of Wisconsin, for example, the number of extension classes in education is limited only by the willingness of instructors to engage in extension work, the time available from resident instruction, the necessary limitations of class size to make the class self supporting, and the distance from the campus. “he demands grow more numerous and more insistent, each year, for the same courses as are given in residence and by the same instructors. To meet the situation very large increases in university facul- ties would be necessary. Even so, classes would necessarily be limited to the larger cities where a sufficient enrolment can be secured to be financially successful, and where standard for credit courses can be maintained. Ex- tension classes cannot be provided for smaller cities, towns, and communi- ties without an impossibly large expenditure of money. Moreover, uni- versity faculties are justifiably conservative in giving credit courses where library and laboratory facilities are necessarily inadequate and where the previous preparation of students is highly variable. University extension of this type suffers, therefore, from limitations, essentially financial, which prevent it from extending educational opportunities very widely. Most institutions have pursued and are pursuing a temporizing and opportunistic policy of meeting situations and demands for extension classes as they arise without a clear conception as to what courses can be successfully given off the campus and what cannot, and how far a university is justified in going in diverting its energies from research and the advancement of knowledge. 300 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION — — ———_—- The college or university that recognizes its primary obligation Soe ae increasing resident student body and to the demands of scholarship and re- search, but also is conscious of its obligation to convey learning to the people is facing a difficult situation. Correspondence courses—Correspondence study as the second method of extension teaching provides instruction for 100,000 students, exclusive of the large numbers in commercial institutions. An increasing number of students offer correspondence credit for admission to or for graduation from college. Institutions vary greatly in the acceptance of credits for gradua- tion. In some institutions of standing, no correspondence credits are ac- cepted at all, while others, of good standing, permit upwards of one half of the credits required for graduation to be taken in correspondence. “The correspondence method would seem to be, by its nature, adapted to individual research for graduate credit, but few institutions accept correspondence credits for graduate work even while they are quite ready to accept it for elementary and advanced undergraduate requirements. Such a state of affairs indicates that we are not clear as to the relative values of correspond- ence, extra mural class, and resident instruction. It should be possible to secure convincing evidence of the adequacy or inadequacy of the preparation of students taking elementary courses by correspondence for advanced work and the comparative performances of students in comparable courses by the three methods. A limited amount of rather unsatisfactory evidence goes to show the adequacy of the correspondence method, but the general opinion still prevails that it is, at best, an unsatisfactory substitute for residence in- struction. ‘The result is that credit regulations vary so widely in different institutions. ‘Testing technics have developed to the point where definite experimental evidence could be secured and it should be secured. Systematic study of the technic of instruction by correspondence, of the content of the courses, and the results achieved is a field almost untouched by scientific students of education. Correspondence study is so fundamental to the whole extension movement as a teaching agency that universities should give the matter fuller consideration, in all its aspects, than it has received here- tofore. The content of courses, the technics employed, and the results achieved can be pretty definitely checked, which is not the case in extension classes, and the possibilities of development are almost unlimited. Interrelations of extension agencies—A fifth problem concerns the de- limitations of functions of the several agencies in adult education and the proper functions of the college or university in extension work. The gen- eral principle may be accepted that the primary responsibility of each institu- tion is for work of the kind which it can give best, but as a guide in practice it does not help much. Should the university, in its extension activities, limit itself strictly to work which falls within the scope of the university proper and adhere closely to its traditional field? If it is the duty of a university to reinterpret knowledge for the ends of practice and to convey learning so reinterpreted to the people, the scope of university extension becomes very much wider, requires an organization which is distinct from that of the primary work of the university, and courses on a secondary or even elemen- NATIONAL CounciL oF Epucation 301 tary level. This would bring it into contact, and even conflict, with voca- tional schools where such exist. About non-credit courses for professional men, such as the post graduate medical extension courses on recent develop- ments in medicine, bacteriology, sanitation, and health, there will be no ques- tion. About courses in making income tax returns, the slide rule and its uses, advertising and retail selling, or heating and lighting for janitors, there would be much discussion, not as to the value and need of the courses, but as to the responsibility of a university for them. It may be true, as Dean Reber holds, that ‘““The greatest service of a university certainly cannot be realized if the field of so-called ‘practical’ instruction to practical men is not entered. The so-called ‘practical’ applications should not be outside the grasp of the modern university scholar and professor, and the world of busi- ness and industry certainly has great need for practical assistance based upon the most fundamental achievements of learned men of our universities.” But it ought to be possible to find a border line somewhere. In actual prac- tice university extension now covers a range of work from the most elemen- tary practical courses to the most advanced. “The determination of the legitimate field of extension work by colleges and universities is a subject ripe for study. Informal or public welfare extension work—The sixth problem or set of problems center about the informal educational and public welfare services of extension divisions which vary widely in the different states. Certain types of service are well established, such as package libraries, discussion and debate service, bureaus of visual instruction, lyceum bureaus, bureaus of municipal information and general information service, Others, such as community center service, community music and drama, post graduate medical instruction, child welfare, engineering extension service, are less widespread but are found in a goodly number of universities. Still others are experiments in service peculiar to a single state. The forms of service and organization are so varied from state to state, and even from year to year, as to resist classification or standardization. In some states only a few lines have been developed ; in others, many ; in none has extension work been developed in all phases of the work of a university. Ultimately, we may expect that every department or division of a university will have its con- tributions to make, through an extension division, to the intellectual, esthetic and spiritual needs of those who are outside the walls of a university. ‘This field is so large and varied that attempts at standardization or limitation would be unwise; the more experimentation and exploration the better. The possibilities are limited only by three factors: financial support for university extension; cooperative linkage of the university with state volun- tary and public agencies, and the development of local community integra- tion with the university, especially through the schools and their officers. Community leaders need most of all some knowledge and vision of the great possibilities for community development which inhere in the peculiar nature of such an institution as a university which fosters the ideal and prac- tice of public service. 302 NaTIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS IN SERVICE THOMAS W. BUTCHER, PRESIDENT, KANSAS STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, EMPORIA, KANS. In the consideration of this subject, two facts seem to be very funda- mental: First, institutions and parts of institutions set up for the training of teachers supply but a small fraction of the group of young people who enter, annually, the teaching profession in the United States. In a typical middle west state, approximately 4000 young people appear in the schoolroom each September for the first time. Of this number ap- proximately 1200 have had as much as one year of preparation above high school, a part only of this year being devoted to the professional subjects. Second, the demands of present day education are such that however well the teacher is prepared when he enters the profession, he must continue his preparation if he is to remain fit. Indeed the adequacy of the prepara- tion which these trained teachers have received is often questioned by superintendents of schools into whose school systems they go. One of them makes this statement in a recent number of the Elementary School Journal: - “The novice comes out of the normal school or the college far from a finished product.” The men who train this novice do not pronounce him a finished product. The graduate of the law school is not a finished product and surely the graduate of the medical school is not a finished product. The most that is claimed for the product of a school designed to train teachers is that he is ready to begin. His knowledge of schoolroom pro- cedure is based upon observation, or, if he has had the advantages of practice or cade teaching, upon a situation which only approximates the real. Left to himself he fails, hence he must not be left to himself. The whole expense system of school supervision in a modern city is justi- fied in part by the importance of uniformity but in the main by the necessity of supplying subject-matter and giving intelligent direction to the work of a schoolroom which would fail without such supervision. The product of the teacher training institution has this at least to his credit—he is prepared to assimilate and intelligently use the instruction he receives from his supervisors and he grows from the bumps he gets in a situation which is as real as life itself. He does have something which the untrained novice does not have but his training must be con- tinued. ; The tragedy of the situation as a whole is that the product of the teacher-training school goes, in the main, into systems of schools which are adequately supplied with supervisors and where conditions are con- ducive to growth, while the untrained teacher goes into small systems of schools or into the one-teacher school where supervision is inadequate and Nationa, Councit oF EpucaTIion 303 inferior and where growth on the part of the teacher must come out of the lives of the children in his room. In this connection let me say as a kind of marginal note that the problem of equal educational opportunity in America vouchsafed by im- plication of the fathers, after more than a century remains unsolved— almost untouched. In the absence of a federal system of education, leaving the whole task of educating the citizenship of the nation in the hands of the states, we may expect legal enactment of standards to train behind the standards set up and maintained by the local communities. As long as this condition prevails, it will be possible to draw public money for services in the pub- lic schools on attainments less than those set up as standards by the com- munity. And here we find additional reasons for training teachers in service. ‘The ideal to be attained is legal enactment, but sympathy, fear of increase in taxes resulting from higher salaries, and too often a lack of vision make impossible the enactment into law of high standards of attainment for teachers. And yet laws passed in certain states raising standards for teachers have not produced the above results. Teachers have met the requirements and the state is securing a good grade of teachers. There is little at this time to indicate that America proposes at any early date to take measures which will prohibit the annual intake of a horde of untrained teachers at the bottom of the system. Since it is inevitable that these teachers will come into the schools there is but one thing to be done and that is to train them in service. Since most of these untrained teachers go into the village and rural schools the responsibility for training them falls, in the main, upon the county superintendent. Unfortunately this official is chosen in most of our states by popular ballot and from among the teachers of the county in which he is to serve. He is too often a man who is unfitted to undertake the training of those teach- ers—unfitted to set up a plan for training them if indeed he recognizes the importance of their further preparation. In most of the counties of the United States his effort in this field consists of a requirement that the adopted reading circle books be read. Even if he is qualified to undertake the task of supervision the number of teachers in his county is so great and their schools so widely scattered that he can accomplish little. Extension courses conducted for credit by members of the faculties of teachers colleges and other institutions of college rank offer one means of improving these untrained teachers who are in service. Another method of improvement of this same group is through supervisors who are attached to the county superintendent’s office and who under his direction do work comparable to the work done by supervisors in city systems. At this point appears again the need of adequately trained county superintendents. Probably the first approach to the solution of this problem is through a nation-wide movement sponsored by the National Education Association 304 NarionaL Epucation ASSOCIATION or some other organization to remove the office of county superintendent from politics by vesting a county board of education with the power to go into the educational world and select an expert for this important piece of work. . But if all this were accomplished, and if only adequately trained teachers were permitted to enter the profession—and some day this dream will come true—the need for training teachers in service would still exist. We live in a changing world. Certain groups of human activities can be reduced to standards and fixed rules prescribed for their administration. Not so in education. Change is its very life. ‘The moment it becomes static it dies. That which was good last year must be re-examined to ascertain if it still be worthy. This means that every teacher in the land—university president, college teacher, superintendent, supervisor, classroom teacher—must train while in service if youth is to drink from a flowing stream and not from a stagnant pool. Content, method, objec- tive, procedure must ever be under suspicion. Additions and eliminations must forever be the portion of the curriculum, for the spirit of American education neither slumbers nor sleeps. In the years through which we have passed, the largest contribution to the training of teachers in service has been made by the superintendent of schools and his supervisors. But we have come upon a period when the teacher is demanding college credits for the effort he makes to better fit himself for the work of the social room. He realizes that the time is fast approaching when degrees and other evidences of attainment will be required of him. ‘To meet this new demand the superintendent finds it necessary to establish connection with some institution of higher learning where credit can be had for the self-improvement work his teachers do. This places squarely upon these hitherto over-cloistered institutions of higher learning the obligation of getting off the campus and becoming in a real democratic sense a part of the life of the state. Of the many types of work which an extension worker may conduct with a group of teachers none is more productive of interest and growth than curriculum building. Few teachers in the elementary school and until recently few in the secondary school have done any curriculum thinking. Under the leadership of an expert a course in curriculum building makes every subject in the curriculum new and purposeful. One type of teacher training, or teacher development, for which the superintendent must always be responsible comes through the creation of a proper atmosphere about the teacher. The teacher is just as human as the child in his room. He does better work under encouragement. Criticism there must be, but always constructive and always friendly. Every year hundreds of teachers leave the American school forever who might have been saved to it if somebody had concerned himself with the problem of creating a proper atmosphere for their growth. Ideally every teacher would be adequately trained before entering the Nationat Councit or EpucaTIon 305 schoolroom. ‘There is, however, something to be said for the training of teachers in service in that training is given in an actual situation, and hence related very closely to the practical work of the schoolroom. Not only so, but the teacher who takes his training within the system, other things being equal, will fit into the system better than if he had had his training outside. But on the other hand, it should be pointed out that an excess.of uniformity is dangerous. Certain systems of schools are so highly organized that the teacher who receives any considerable part of his training within the system is liable to find that in gaining his training he has lost his initative and sacrificed whatever originally he possessed. Classroom teachers—who after all are the only teachers—are everywhere complaining of an excess of supervision and soulless organization. ‘To be sure, the men who set up these organizations and the supervisors who assist them have some arguments on their side. “They maintain that the only way in which an untrained teacher can be used is to mechanize every- thing he does. For a certain type of teacher this statement holds, but there is another type of teacher—one who, if opportunity were offered, could produce results which are impossible so long as he is compelled to conform to the requirements of the system. I would not discredit all of the training in service given by the system. Many teachers have grown to full stature under the sympathetic guidance of a superintendent or a supervisor. But the superintendent and the supervisor do not teach boys and girls. Mechanics there must be, but the system of schools or the class- room which loses the human touch might better close its doors and in so doing write an emancipation proclamation for the children whom it was set up to serve. ‘There are some things in life worse than a lack of school- room knowledge. Freedom which a wider connotation than we are accus- tomed to give it, is still sacred to the human heart. Possibly after all there is too much organization, too many officers and too few soldiers who ac- tually fight in the trenches. But to come back to our point of departure, training in services has until recent years, taken the form chiefly of the reading circle or teachers’ meeting conducted by the superintendent of schools or by some member of his staff. Practically no summer work was offered and few teachers felt able to improve themselves through travel. Beginning with the pres- ent century, we have developed a wide range of educational opportunity for the teacher who is in service. “These opportunities fall in the main under two heads; training inside the school system and training outside the system. Some of the forms of training within the system are: Visitation and conference Classroom supervision Required professional readings Demonstration lessons by subjects or grades Faculty or group discussions Teachers’ meetings of various kinds Reading circle 306 Nationa Epucation AssOcIATION Afternoon and evening classes Intervisitation Direct observation Rating Lectures by experts Community contacts Participation in policy making ah Clubs and teachers associations Experiments and investigations Educational exhibits Measuring of teaching results and use of such results Encouragement of contribution to magazine and other periodicals Systematic interchange of good professional literature Use of detailed course of study Extra supervision of new teachers Selection of text and provision of teachers’ manuals Scientific grouping of children Providing of high grade equipment Carefully planned use of reports Medical supervision for teachers Adjustment of teachers’ load Providing of professional library Intercession of principal between teacher and parent Tactful publicity for good work Controlled experimentation: 1. Directing study 2. Project level of teaching Outside Activities: Correspondence courses Extension courses Summer school Teachers’ courses in college Travel District, state, and national meetings Institutes Obviously these methods or devices for training teachers in service are not all of equal importance. Some of them cannot be undertaken in a small school system. Others are desirable only when conditions favor- able to their use obtain in the local situation. Of all the methods I have listed for improving teachers in service, summer school attendance is probably the most important. The summer school offers the teacher an opportunity for training in residence without interrupting the practice of his profession. - Next to the summer school should be listed extension classes. On this form of training, I quote from W. C. Bagley, who is a member of this committee : Personally I believe that the professional education of teachers in service should be closely related to the specific problems that the work of teaching involves, and that perhaps the most promising field is that represented by extension comics in which competent instructors from teachers colleges work with group of teachers in the solution of such specific problems. I should consequently be disposed to empha- NationaL Councit or Epucation 307 size (for example) courses in geography given by specialists in the field to groups of elementary teachers in this subject, and dealing largely with the problems that these teachers face in the actual work of the classroom; or courses in English similarly taking their “cue” from teaching problems; or courses in psychology and measurements conceived of and organized on the practical basis. These two forms of training in service; namely the summer school and extension courses stand out above the other forms—important as some of them are—because they permit the teacher to accumulate college credits and ultimate academic recognition which will give him a new rating in the field of education and bring to whatever scholarship he possesses recognition in the form of remuneration which skill in class room technic alone could never bring. In closing, again let me quote from Doctor Bagley: In my judgment the “in-service” education of teachers should fulfill two very important functions: (1) it should promote continuous growth in the teaching- personnel; and (2) it should make for stability or relative permanence of service in the various fields of teaching, not by making the teacher, say, of the intermedi- ate grades “contented” with his or her lot, but by revealing the limitless responsi- bilities that inhere in every phase of teaching. The members of the committee who have worked with me in preparing this preliminary report, and to whom I am indebted for valuable sugges- tion are as follows: W. C. BAGcLey . H. L. Miter Teachers College, Columbia University of Wisconsin ; University ; E. E. OBERHOLTZER Joun A. H. KEITH Houston, Texas; State Normal School, Indiana, JEREMIAH RHODES Pennsylvania ; Until recently San Antonio, Texas ADOT EDUCATION ASYTHE NEXT BATTLEVINVOUR DEMOCRACY’S FIGHT FOR EXISTENCE—ABSTRACT DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER, ARLINGTON, VT. The foundation of any democracy are of course its people; and its only defense is the training given to the hearts and brains and bodies of its people. This means that democracy can last on just one condition—that it get everybody in the democracy educated. ‘This problem makes the one pro- pounded by the Sphinx look like a sum ‘in second-grade arithmetic. Prob- ably if the founders of our American democracy had had any notion that the country they were founding depended for its very life on everybody’s being educated, they would have withheld their hands in terror. But they did not, and we are in for it. If everybody can’t learn to swim at least passably, we will all sink. ‘That is the sort of country founded for us by our revered elders. We may like it or we may lump it. It remains the country we have 308 Nationa, Epucation AssOciaTION to live in. Our first attempt to meet this condition of universal education has been to create universal schooling for the young. We have now spent about a century in the effort to make literate every single person in a large country. Such an attempt (even the idea of such an attempt, ) was, a hun- dred years ago, new in the history of the world. To say that any idea what- ever is new in the history of the world sounds like a monstrous statement. But I don’t see that this one isn’t literally true. Well, we have done it, or near enough to call it done. We have strug- eled over that long dusty stretch of our national journey, and perceive that we have not in the least arrived at the destination which was our aim— namely, an educated citizenry... The road makes one of its unexpected turns before us, and we find ourselves looking down another long stretch. We now see that “making the masses literate’ does not at all mean “educating the people.” We have only succeeded in forcing upon the young of our race, quite universally, the tools by which modern education may be ob- tained. A whole new conception of what education is, what mass education must be, opens before us, daunting, discouraging, difficult . . . in- finitely inspiriting to courageous souls. THE PLACE OF THE SCHOOL IN THE SOCIAL ORDER GEORGE S. COUNTS, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, CONN. “Popular education and certain faiths about popular education are in the mores of our time. We regard illiteracy as an abomination. We ascribe to elementary book learning power to form character, make good citizens, keep family mores pure, elevate morals, establish individual character, civi- lize barbarians, and cure social vice and disease. We apply schooling to every social phenomenon which we do not like. ‘The information given by schools and colleges, the attendant drill in manners, the ritual of the mores practiced in schools, and the mental dexterity produced by school exer- cises fit individuals to carry on the struggle for existence better. A literate man can produce wealth better than an illiterate man. Avenues are also opened by school work through which influences may be brought to bear on the reason and conscience which will mold character. Our faith in the power of book learning is excessive and unfounded. It is a superstition of the age.’* Thus wrote William Graham Sumner in his Folkways just twenty years ago. In the meantime the school, particularly at the higher levels, has expanded at an unprecedented rate. With the passing of the years, the superstition, if such it is, regarding the power of the school has apparently gained strength. It is not the object of this paper to pass judgment on Sumner’s estimate of the work of formal education. Probably most of us would agree with him that the popular faith in book learning is somewhat exaggerated. We 1 Sumner, William Graham, Folkways, pp. 628-29, NATIONAL CouNcIL or EpucATION 309 shall therefore assume that the materials and methods of the school have been wisely ordered and are calculated effectively to achieve its purposes, whatever they may be. Our task here is to consider the place of the school in the social order, the functions which it is supposed to perform, and the limitations under which it operated. Only as the school is seen in relation to other social institutions, only as the forces which condition it are under- stood, can it hope to reach its highest level of achievement. Specialists are notoriously prone to overrate their own labors and the institutions through which they function. For a member of a professional fraternity even to question openly the validity of its more extreme claims on public favor is commonly regarded by colleagues as an act of treason or infidelity. Yet, if the procedures of the school are to be refined, fearless criticism of its claims from both within and without the profession must be welcomed. While educational institutions in the form of initiation ceremonies and tribal: ritual must have existed in the most primitive times, the true school is of very recent origin. Although education as a social process has existed since the very beginning of the evolution of human culture, this process has been carried on for the most part without the aid of the school. ‘The major educational burdens have been borne by other institutions. For all but a small fraction of a period of almost incalculable length, a period embracing hundreds of thousands of years, as each generation of men appropriated and added to the experience of preceding generations, the school was unknown. The true school cannot be more than three or four thousand years old; and during this brief period it has appeared but fitfully here and there and has seldom touched the lives of any important proportion of the members of society. Previous to the nineteenth century anything approaching universal attendance at school or at classes lay outside the field of human experience. The great masses of men who have dwelt on the earth in the past have not gone to school. Until the most recent times the school, where it has existed at all, has been a distinctly minor social institution. Not only is the school a product of the later stages of social evolution; it is confined today to the more advanced or complex cultures. , Beyond the Vistula lies a vast area reaching to the Pacific which perhaps includes the cradle of the human race, which has been the mother of numerous and great civilizations, which supports today more than one half of the population of the earth. As one enters this region one enters a region where the school either hardly exists or confines its ministrations to certain favored or special classes. In the great continent of Africa, in a large part of South America, in the islands of the Pacific, except where western civilization has penetrated, the school is practically unknown. The great masses of living men have not attended school. For the majority of mankind today the school is an in- stitution of only secondary importance. The experience of recent generations in the western world, however, suggests that the school is an institution which will bear increasing burdens in the future. The growth of the school in America and throughout the western world since the opening of the nineteenth century is one of the 310 NationaL Epucation AssociATION striking characteristics of a revolutionary age. While certain of the older institutions, such as the home and the church, have been forced to surrender functions which they have discharged in the past, the school has been assum- ing additional responsibilities in each succeeding decade. In our own coun- try during this period we have witnessed the development of great state sys- tems of education supported by public taxation and comprising elementary, secondary, and higher institutions ; we have witnessed the passing of compul- sory education laws and the gradual universalizing of elementary education ; we have witnessed the establishment of an elaborate system of institutions through which teachers are being trained; we have witnessed the growth of an endless variety of institutions designed to train for the vocations; we are witnessing an unprecedented and unheralded expansion of the secondary school which is giving birth to an altogether new conception of secondary education; we are witnessing the downward extension of formal education into the preschool period and the organization of nursery schools which are invading yet further the ancient dominion of the home; we are witnessing the upward extension of formal education and the launching of various movements for the extension of the facilities of formal education to adults; we are witnessing the development of an interest in the scientific study of education and the accumulation of a body of knowledge which may be ex- pected to provide superior guidance in the solution of educational problems. While certain other institutions have been much more intimately associated with the human struggle in the past, the school is apparently an institution of the future. It has already assumed the status of a major social institu- tion, and it is constantly reaching out for new responsibilities. This expansion of the school makes a careful consideration of its func- tions peculiarly imperative. So long as the school played a minor role in society, what it did or what it was supposed to do was a matter of little con- sequence. But today this institution absorbs so much of the social energy and touches the lives of so many of the members of society that the nature of its special functions and limitations under which it seeks to achieve its purpose must be clearly discerned. What is the function of the school ? While the function of the school must change in detail as society changes, that function remains in principle much the same from age to age. It is the application of the principle which reflects the characteristics of a particular time and place. In general we may say that the function of the school is to facilitate the Process of education. And the great underlying purpose of education is to induct the child into the life of society and to train him in the use of the instrumentalities of civilization. But the school does not, and rot acre wl Ba ude aloe "hee of stn se le 1 justs himself to his environment. All forms a Re a Apia! institutions besides the school, cational functions Tie eas es a bee Sons erousyy discharge edu- towards the indeecon f th adr a oe albipaiees ies care es new members into the life of the group must . ct the function of the school appears to be two- NaTIONAL CounciL or EpucaTION 311 fold: it is residual and normative. Each of these two aspects of its function requires elaboration. In the first place, the function of the school is residual. The school should perform those tasks which other institutions cannot, do not, or will not per- form. ‘This principle can hardly be overemphasized. Yet in certain quar- ters today there seems to be a tendency to disregard it. Owing to the extra- ordinary growth of the school during recent generations the notion has gained currency that the school is no longer a specialized educational agency, that is, an agency for performing only a part of the educational task. A moment’s reflection, however, is sufficient to disabuse the mind of any such notion. In spite of its recent expansion it remains but one among many edu- cational agencies. Except where the nursery school has appeared, the first six years perhaps the most important six years of life, are spent under the guardianship of the home. Even after the child enters the public elemen- tary school powerful outside forces continue to play upon him. If during the eight years of the conventional elementary education he attends school every day and hour the school is in session, he spends but one sixth of his waking time in the school. Before and after school hours, on Saturday and Sunday, and during the longer vacation periods his education proceeds under the influence of home, playground, community, church, theatre, farm, shop, and factory. During the years of secondary education the situation is much the same except that the great majority of children are altogether beyond the influence of the school. During the later years of adolescence and the years that follow the school plays a rapidly diminishing role in the lives of the members of each generation, and the other social institutions gradually take over the full burden of education. Not only is the school not the sole educational agency in modern society; it may not even be the most got single educational institution. The residual character of the function of the school is revealed by a con- sideration of the central principle upon which the school is founded. It is dedicated to the guidance of the learning process. ‘This distinguishes it from practically all other institutions. The home, the church, the theatre, the state, and industry are expected to render services and produce goods in unmediated response to human wants. ‘They aim to satisfy directly the needs of men. The school, on the other hand, subordinates the principle of producing goods and services to that of equipping members of the younger generation for future production. As soon as an individual enters the school he enters an institution where the promotion of education is the concern of paramount importance. The laws of effective learning rather than the laws of effective production should govern the work of the school. The function of the school is not unlike the function of those industries which devote their energies to the production of producer’s rather than consumer’s goods. In a certain sense the school is parasitical on the generation that supports it. As a consequence the greatest care must be taken lest the school duplicate the work of other institutions. Since the school renders no other service, the education which it provides is a more expensive charge upon the com- 54 NatIonAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION a a ern munity than is the education provided incidentally by those institutions which render additional services. The school came into existence because, as society grew more complex and as the social heritage expanded, certain types of learning appeared which were so important or so difficult that they required the services of an institution specially organized for the purpose of guiding and facilitating the learning process. pane Until the school assumes the entire burden of education, until it is given sole charge of the individual from birth to maturity, the function of the school will remain residual. And so long as it remains residual the school cannot formulate its program without making the most careful study of the work of other institutions. Today the function of the school is so highly residual that such a study is peculiarly imperative. We who are charged with the responsibility of administering the institution must strive to avoid the fallacy of the specialist. Because of our long years of training and our subsequent intimate association with the school, we have come under its in- fluence to a much larger degree than have the other members of our genera- tion. As a consequence we are inclined to exaggerate the importance of the school and are rendered almost incapable of seeing it in proper perspective. A balanced view of the work of this institution can come only through a study of its relations to the rest of society. “The task of education is a joint task; its successful and effective accomplishment requires the cooperation of many forces and agencies. The second great function which the school performs is the normative function. Although this function might logically be included under the residual function, it is of sufficient importance to merit separate considera- tion. ‘The school should do those things which other institutions cannot or will not do; but it should go further and, in accordance with some set of standards or criteria derived in one way or another, seek to correct the func- tioning of these other institutions. In terms of a given social philosophy or system of values there is much in any society that is not worthy of perpetua- tion, there are many products of social life which may be described as false, narrow, ugly, or vicious. In a certain sense the school is a censor, a critic, a judge of society and other educational agencies. ‘This function of the school may be observed in its efforts to teach what is called correct speech, respect for property, or sound political doctrine. It is represented by those who speak of the school as a “mighty bulwark against those dangerous forces which are undermining the established institutions,” or by those who regard the schools as a “powerful instrument through which society may promote and direct the course of progress.” Although this function at any particular time may not fall under the direct scrutiny of educators, it apparently can- not be altogether escaped. Whether we desire it or not the school, or any other educational agency, will order its procedures in harmony with some set of norms, standards, or scale of values. And in so doing it will pass judgment on the activities of other institutions and seek to control both the direction and the extent of social change. This analysis brings us to one of the most difficult, and at the same time Nationa Counciy oF Epucation 313 one of the most important, problems in the whole field of education. It also shows us that in a very real sense the school is a social institution, that it is an instrument through which social forces work. In the discharge of its normative function what scale of values should the school adopt? In the teaching of English speech this question can perhaps be answered with a minimum of difficulty and of controversy. But in the fields of economics, politics, morals, and religion the possible courses to be followed are so many and diverse that no positive answer can be given which to all parties will seem reasonable, wise, and proper. The course which is actually followed therefore will ordinarily be one which is not generally defensible but rather one which conforms to the interests or beliefs of some one or some combination of the parties. The school cannot move in all directions at once. In the last analysis what determines the direction in which the school does move at a particular time and place? The answer to this ques- tion is to be found in the forces that control the school. The writer has recently completed a study of the social composition of the boards that control public education in the United States. This study includes district boards, county boards, state boards, city boards, and the boards of the state colleges and universities. Except the district and county boards on which the farming population is strongly represented these boards are composed for the most part of members of the favored economic classes. In 507 cities covered by the investigation all grades and varieties of manual labor contribute but eight percent of the board members; on forty state boards of education there are but four farmers and but one representative of the laboring classes; and on forty-five state college and university boards of control there is not a single member drawn from the ranks of manual labor. ‘Those who are directly responsible for determining the policies of the public school are engaged in the proprietorial, financial, professional, managerial, and commercial occupations. In a word, except where the farming population retains power, the control of education rests in the hands of the capitalist and closely associated classes. It is interesting to observe that the clergy are almost without representation on boards of education. They are in fact outnumbered by the dentists. “Thus in both England and the United States during the past century the control of education has passed from the great landholders and the clergy to the bankers, manufacturers, merchants, and lawyers. This situation does not lack apologists. Students of school administra- tion, often more concerned with the efficient organization and management of the school than with the wider social implications of the policy executed, have commonly looked with favor upon business men as members of school boards. Such men being familiar with the function of the executive, so the argument runs, are willing to delegate the tasks of administration to the administrator and readily recognize their true function to be that of formulating general policies. This reasoning is sound no doubt, but it fails to take into account the fundamental question of this character of the policies formulated. Nor is the situation altered by observing that mem- 314 NatIOoNAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION Oe ee ea bers of school boards derive their power ordinarily either directly or in- directly from the people, or by claiming that the members of one class may represent the interests of another. Individuals and classes must always look at life through their own experiences, and within the limits set by their understanding and power they will.as a general rule guard and pro- mote what they conceive to be their own interests. In so far as the school is thought to touch those interests their special bias may be expected to reveal itself in educational policy. The primary object of this paper, however, is neither to attack nor to defend the existing arrangement, but rather to show what it means. The main fact to be observed is that the forces which control the school today are the dominant forces of our time. ‘The forces which controlled the school three centuries ago were the dominant forces of that time. Those forces lost their control over the school because they were compelled to abdicate the seat of power in society in favor of a new set of forces. While any set of forces, because of the operation of the factor of social inertia, may continue to determine educational policy for a brief period following the actual accession to power of a new set of forces, education is quite generally under the control of the dominant forces of the age. At least we may say that except in the rarest instances the educational system is controlled by the dominant forces of the present or of some preceding period. Individual schools here and there and for brief moments may break away and serve strange gods, but as an institution the school will serve the gods of the age. If this analysis is correct, it throws considerable light upon the direction which the school will take in exercising its nominative function. That function will ordinarily assume a conservative rather than a progressive aspect. The school will tend to conserve the existing social order rather than further the birth of another. The explanation is to be found in the fact that the school is controlled by the dominant, and, let us say, privileged forces of the time. ‘These forces represent the past and the present rather than the future. The forces which stand for the future exist today only in embryo. They consequently do not appear significant, and they are significant only in potentiality. What they are cannot even be discerned with certainty by the most penetrating observer, because the potentiality of a movement is not to be measured by its present vitality nor by any mark of identification. This fact has made rough the way of the prophet. But whether the forces of the future can be recognized or not, other forces control the school. ‘These other forces will normally use the school as a powerful instrument either to prevent social change or to realize their own limited purposes. And their purposes are limited because by defini- tion they have reached a position of ascendancy. Their creative work is therefore already largely completed. The task which remains to them is that of filling the details and conserving the fruits of past struggles. While the school is essentially a conservative institution, therefore, we should not fail to note that it may and probably will serve as an instru- NaTIONAL Councit oF EpucaTIon S15 ment for bringing about social changes on a limited but important scale. In giving reality to the ideals of the time or of the dominant forces of the period the school may be an effective instrument. But its activities are clearly circumscribed by the scope of those ideals and by the factors which condition the present distribution of power in society. Consequently unless new methods of controlling the school are adopted or unless the school is given a freer hand in determining its policies, it can hardly be expected to become a great creative agent in society. It will be forced to operate within the limits of the existing system. Until capitalism or political democracy begins to crumble the school will probably be used as an instru- ment for supporting it. But let either give way to some other organization of society, and the school will be brought into the service of the new order. The general situation is the less promising today because our age lacks any great faith which might be expected to unify and integrate social life and give meaning to the struggles of men. The flippant cynicism of the day is the product of the disillusioned mind, of the mind that has found itself forced to abandon the faiths it has been taught, of the mind that having been driven from one defense after another at last contemplates an unconditional spiritual surrender, of the mind that endeavors to hide its _ spiritual poverty and nakedness in an exaggerated assertion of the futility of all faiths, of the mind that seeks as a last refuge from despair the uncer- tain shelter of a faith of negation. If there is any philosophy which char- acterizes our age it is that of individual success and material prosperity. The graduates of our greatest universities become bond salesmen, real estate agents, and money changers. The age in which we live is the product of the ages that precede us. And it is by examining these preceding ages that our own can be under- stood. ‘The agencies to which society has delegated the task of providing an integrating social principle have failed conspiciously to discharge their function. The church, unable to cope with the realities of life after that life had been transformed by the revolutions in thought, industry, politics, and morals of the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth cen- turies, gradually gave ground to various special interests and finally with- drew from the field of battle. It has failed to answer satisfactorily for the modern age the question which men must always ask: Why should men live, and towards the achievement of what ends should they direct their energies? Instead of wrestling with the world as it is, the church re- peats old formulas, clings to ancient creeds, grudgingly gives ground to advancing thought, and dissipates its energies in repairing the dikes behind which it seeks shelter from the storms of the world. If the school is to take its proper place in the social order, those who shape its policies must within the limits set by the forces which control them seek the potentialities of modern life and fashion the school into an instrument for their achieve- ment. We may find our activities severely circumscribed by the forces which we have considered earlier in this paper; but that. possibility does not relieve us of the responsibility of making the school the most effective possible agent in social progress. 316 NationaL EpucATION ASSOCIATION WHAT CAN EDUCATION DO TO INTEGRATE THE PROBLEMS OF LIFE—ABSTRACT FRANCIS G. BLAIR, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, SPRINGFIELD, ILL. John G. Saxe, in his six blind men of Hindoostan, illustrates the view of the ignorant man who sees things out of their relations. Each of these six blind men, touching only a part of the elephant with his hands, began to protest that the elephant was just like the part which he had come in contact with. The ignorant man, the fool, is always seeing things out of relations. He does not see the aching tooth in its relationship to the lack of care of his teeth. He does not see the pain of indigestion as related to the proper preparation and the proper eating of the food. He does not see the relationship of the dull headache to the stagnant air he breathes. He sees through a glass darkly. He knows only in the most fragmentary way. The purpose of education is to show the network of integration which runs through the natural and social worlds. The elephant of life is not made up, as the six blind men would have us to believe, of isolated parts. The problems of science, the problems of the physical body, the problems of daily life, of vocation, of religious faith, are all capable of being brought together in a vital, functioning relationship. It is the business of education to create within the individual the power and the means of seeing the cosmic world, the biologic world, the social and ethical worlds, in their relations one to the other. It should be the object and result of education that every man and woman should be able to see the relations which exist between those problems which affect the physical body, which affect the social relations, which affect ethic and religious relations as a part of a great life philosophy. THE NEED FOR RESEARCH IN EDUCATION HENRY LESTER SMITH, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATION AND DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON, IND. There are two problems that every generation of people must face. The first is that of getting a working hold on the things that past genera- tions have learned to know, do, and appreciate. The second is that of adding to the world’s store of knowledge. The first of these tasks is that of education. The second is that of research. Research is of two kinds, first that which discovers new knowledge and second, that which applies this new knowledge. Or, to put it another way, pure research discovers new and isolated facts and principles, while practical research integrates these new and previously isolated facts and principles. Re- search then is the looking into the future, with a vision that creates Nationat Councit or Epucation 317 new theory and with a common sense that translates the new theory into practical action. Consequently, research is significant for fullness of life, for without new knowledge and new applications thereof life would become dull and monotonous, and more and more pointless. The quality and quantity of research has varied with the periods of past time. “The methods of research have likewise varied, though ordinarily falling under one of the three heads, philosophical, historical, and ex- perimental. It is the latter, or so called scientific method of research, that has been so fruitful of results during recent centuries and particularly during the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth. Some one has said that the old dawn of the scientific method was the museum of Alexandria. “The method was revived under Roger Bacon, but came, only fairly recently, to its present prestige and promise. Thus far the contribution of scientific research has been largely in the field of the discovery of new knowledge and its applications, rather than in the field of the propagation of this information through formal educa- tion. Research has spent itself in the field of the discovery of valuable information rather than in developing economical and effective ways of bringing its discoveries into the possession of the whole of mankind. In other words, research has not concerned itself largely with the field of education. A continued piling up of new discoveries without a correspond- ing development of the means of propagating general enlightenment in regard to them is to a large degree futile. My plea, however, is not for less emphasis upon research for the discovery of new information and its applications, but for a further development of the method of research in the field of education; for a discovery, in other words, of better and more effective ways of selecting the best of all knowledge and of dis- covering better and more effective ways of giving the present generation full possession thereof. Much progress has been made in this latter field, especially during the last twenty-five years, yet, considering its importance, this field is still woefully neglected. Many more people of ability with constantly increasing funds and facilities at their command should be encouraged to enter this field of investigation and be amply supported in their endeavors therein. Scientific experiment and research has made of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the present century a period of unprecedented re- adjustments. Because of the results of scientific research, whole industries have gone down, some of them to arise in modified form on the old site and some of them to be gone forever. Old occupations have been abandoned and new ones have been created to take their places. Sometimes the work- ers in the old positions were able to adjust to the new positions in the altered field of activity. Sometimes they were not able to do so. Con- sequently despair and hope were intermingled in the changes. The family circle of former years, such a complete unit for both occupa- tional and leisure pursuits, has in more recent years been broken up by new 318 Nationa, Epucation AssociATION discoveries which transferred the workers’ activities from under the home- stead roof to the broad floor of the factory, with masses of humanity in close proximity and with perpetually humming machinery on every side. From the home fireside or the neighborhood yard or the community picnic ground, has been removed the site of recreational activities. The motion picture show, the dance floor, the speedway, the municipal park, have drawn people into crowds for play and leisure occupation. Besides all this, new conceptions of the organization of matter and of the relationships of various portions of the universe to each other have been injected into our thinking. Modifications of views as to the origin, significance, and destiny of life and matter have resulted. Different notions of what con- stitutes truth, beauty, morals, right conduct, have grown up. Myriads of new facts about the operation of the laws of nature and of mind have evolved. These new facts and conceptions have added materially to the bulk of human knowledge to be conquered by the present generation, and to the complication of individual, community, national, and even world relationships that have to be solved. The task of education has, therefore, multiplied proportionately. “These new facts about food, health, occupation, communication, transportation, have to be learned. “These new relationships, individual and mass, must be conquered. With the old educational organizations and methods, these tasks could be accomplished only by a noticeable increase of time devoted to the task. This increase in time is costly to the individual, who has to spend it in learning, and it is costly to the community, that has to support the individual in school at the same time that it is deprived of the contribution that his services would otherwise give. It is uneconomical to permit the rising generation to grow up ignorant of this new knowledge of facts and relationship; and it is uneconomical to have the youth spend- ing time unnecessarily in gaining a working command of each. It be- hooves our people, therefore, to apply to education, even more diligently than ever before, some of these scientific methods, whose application to other fields has been so fruitful of results, many of them most beneficial . to mankind. ‘That these new and valuable heritages may the more per- fectly and swiftly come into the possession of the present day youth, im- provement in our educational system must keep pace with the advance in general knowledge. Up to the present time, money has been much more easily available for the discovery of new facts and principles than for their dissemination, ex- cept where dissemination was related to the material prosperity of those in possession of the knowledge. In the past, it has seemed more spec- tacular to make the discovery or even to pay for making the discovery of a method of controlling some dreaded disease or of conquering transporta- tion in the air, than to contribute to the dissemination of such new knowl- edge among the people. Dissemination tends to be left to commercial in- terests and therefore it is made only where it promises financial returns ‘NatiowaL Councit or Epucation 319 to the disseminators. In reality spectacular results are awaiting in the field of improved learning, which would quickly make a common possession out of the recently new. With the improvement of instruction, an other- wise relatively dormant but potentially powerful fact, could be immediately and extensively operative. When this truth is generally grasped, money should be most generously available, not only through taxation but also through individual and corporate gifts, not alone for the support of our present educational institutions and educational practices, through which the old and the new facts of importance are disseminated, but, most espe- cially, for investigations into ways of improving our present educational practices. In the elementary and high schools of the United States we had enrolled in 1924 more than twenty-four million pupils. Nearly three quar- ters of a million more students were in the higher institutions of learning of our country. Gradually adult education is being extended and thus additions are rapidly being made to this vast multitude of learners. For the accommodation of this mass of people, hundreds of school buildings are — being erected annually. An army of more than 700,000 teachers is employed for instruction and administrative purposes. For financing this educational program more than two billion dollars are spent annually. Education is, with us, a nation wide occupation, bulking large indeed in comparison with any other activity even considering those of greatest extent and importance. ‘There is great need, therefore, for investigations that will throw new and better light upon the problem of the proper selection of material to teach to children and of the best projects through which to further their individual development and individual acquisition. There is need for further knowledge about the pupils to be taught than we now have. Formerly it was thought that all should be treated alike. This thought assumed that all were equal in ability and characteristics. It was evident to the eye that not all were of the same height, weight, physical strength, and endurance but it was not so evident that they differed in native intellectual capacity and moral traits and ideals. Such differ- ences do exist, and they call for differences in treatment. Just what these differences are, and just what treatment best serves each type, we do not yet know in full. Much progress has been made in recent years in analyzing individual differences and in applying the instruction appropriate to these differences. But only a beginning has been made along this line. Much further research needs to be made and it takes laboratories, money, and workers to bring about such investigations. The need for such research may be illustrated by the recent discoveries of the length of the eye span in reading, and the consequently rapid development in the speed of reading, due to studies as to the proper length of the line on the printed page and as to the development of proper habits of eye movement in reading. Again it has been discovered that many slow reading adults are slow because, even in their silent reading, they uncon- sciously move the muscles of the throat as they would do in reading aloud 320 NatIoNAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION ON aE eee and are thus held down in the silent reading to the same speed used in oral reading. It is readily seen that such a person is maimed as far as future efficiency is concerned, just as effectively as if he had lost an arm or a leg. He is only half a man in the field of reading. Every year are being made discoveries as significant as the above to education, but these discoveries are not coming rapidly enough to keep pace with the increasing demand for more information and for the development of an increasing number of habits and ideals as a control to conduct. Again I say there is great need for the development of an improved machinery for teaching the youth more in the same length of time than we have in the past; for, with the increased amount to be learned, a lifetime would otherwise have to be spent in formal education before competency in the control of facts and relationships could be effected. Research must discover for us the better way, and thus economize, not only for the individual under instruc- tion, but also for the society at large that finances this instruction primarily in the hope that the instructed individual may thereby be better prepared ~ to render service to the whole group. But research is needed just as much in the field of the selection of sub- ject-matter to be taught. The spelling books of a generation ago were encumbered with many words that the child would rarely if ever have an occasion to use in writing. “Today the spelling books tend to be made up wholly of words which children and adults use in their daily written work. Not so fortunate have we been in selecting subject-matter in other sub- jects. By research we could do for these other subjects what has been done for spelling. Just as much progress has been made in the teaching of spelling words as in the selection of the proper words to teach, bur still further progress is possible and necessary. It will take money and time and study however to unearth the proper avenues for such improve- ment. We need further studies to show us how to teach so that some- thing more than a memorization of facts may result. The teaching should carry over into conduct. It is of little value to teach children in the physiology class the care of the teeth and the finger nails if the teaching results not in clean finger nails and clean teeth. It matters little that we teach maxims embodying fundamental statements as to proper conduct on the part of children if we still produce a generation that fails to embody these maxims in practice. There is need for the discovery, not only of the best things to teach the modern youth, but of the best time at which to teach it, the best methods to use to insure that the thing taught will stick in the memory, and, above all, that it will work itself out in every day conduct. It will take much research to push our frontier lines materially farther in these directions. But again I say there is not proper economy in a procedure that encourages the discovery of new information and develops new relationships for an adequate way in whic possession of both. , and does not, at the same time, provide h to put the rising generation in effective NaTIONAL CounciL oF EDUCATION 321 CSAS There has been too much willingness in the past to determine upon the educational needs and methods purely on the basis of opinion rather than upon the basis of investigation. Consequently both the teaching profession and laymen have been led to make rather freely certain broad but unproved claims for education, trusting that these claims would prove to be just ones. People have such general faith in education that they have been willing to accept these unproved claims on faith. The time has come for testing out all claims made for education, in order to determine which ones are valid and which ones are not. Some money, time, and brains spent along this line would doubtless effect a marked economy. Mankind was for a long time without the knowledge that infections were at the basis of many of our dread diseases. We were likewise without the information that the injection of the right kind of enemy bacilli into the system would in many cases prevent the develop- ment of the disease and in other cases lighten the attack. Inevitably through our school system we are indoctrinating children. We are introducing conceptions of individual conduct, family conduct, community conduct; assuming, in the first place that this indoctrination is of the right kind and assuming in the second place that it brings about the result anticipated. Very little effective testing, however, has been done to de- termine the actual results. In order, therefore, for education to do most effectively and economically what it should do, further research must be made leading to additional knowledge about the youth of the land who are to receive the instruction. Principles must be studied governing the processes of learning and con- cerning the immediate and ultimate effects of present day stimuli to which the youth of the land is exposed—such stimuli, for instance, as emulation, hope, fear, and kindred others. Investigations should be made to determine under what environment proper mental, moral, and physical growth is best assured. The science of biology holds out some promise of results along such lines of investigation, inasmuch as it has already revealed that, in plant and animal life, the medium, in which the growth takes place, modifies materially the character and form of that growth. Investigations should further be made concerning the qualifications, both personal and of a training nature, that the teachers of the youth of the land should have. Investigations should be made concerning the type of school build- ings in which the children should be housed. Investigations should be made along the line of measuring the results of education, the immediate results and the ultimate results. Investigations should be made to deter- mine both the favorable and unfavorable by-products that accompany edu- cation. My plea is for a careful consideration of the need for research in edu- cation, and my hope is that individuals of ability will be stimulated to give of their time in furthering such research and that men and women, 8 322 NatioNaAL Epucation AssociaTION financially able, may see their way clear to contribute generously for the support ‘of further investigations in this field. ‘May I re- -emphasize the fact, therefore, that'much of ‘our money, ‘time, ‘and effort spent in research in pure science and in the applications of science ‘to the ordinary activities ‘of life, is largely lost, unless a way is found to ‘develop, through research iprocedure, a better method ‘of determining how ito pass this information on, not:simply to the few for a limited time, but to the many -for all time. SSECRETARY’S MINUTES Washington Meeting First Session, Tuesday afternoon, February 23, 1926—The meeting was called to order by the president at 2:15 p.m. at the Powhatan Hotel. ‘The president then gave a short address in which he summed up the work and purpose of the National Council of Education, pointing out that there was opportunity for the Council to function in the field of integration of knowledge and practice, and asked for the opinion of members of the Council on the best method of procedure. A motion was made by Edward F. Buchner of Johns Hopkins University, that the president of the Council be authorized to appoint a coordinating committee to develop plans for the future work of the Council in line with the recommendations of the president in his address. ‘This motion was seconded by H. H. Seerley, president, State ’ Teachers College, Cedar Falls, lowa. Charles McKenny, president, State Normal College, Ypsilanti, Michigan, suggested that the executive committee of the Na- tional Council constitute this coordinating committee. This suggestion was modi- fied to*provide that in addition to the executive committee other members might be placed on the coordinating committee by the president. This suggestion was made an amendment to Doctor Buchner’s motion, which was then carried as amended. The president appointed W. C. Bagley, Columbia University, and W. B. Owen, Chicago, Illinois, to serve with the executive committee as a coordinating committee. The Council also voted to discontinue all standing committees with the understanding that any committee thus discontinued could be revived in whole or in part at the discretion of the president. Thomas D. Wood, Teachers College, Columbia University, chairman of the Joint Committee on Health Problems in Education, stated that there was no formal report for his committee to make as the report made at the summer meet- ing was now in printed form. He announced that the Joint Committee on Health Problems expected to publish shortly reports of the various activities being carried on by the committee in cooperation with other organizations. He then introduced speakers with topics as follows: FresH AIR IN THE SCHOOL RoomMs—C. E. A. Winslow, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. A New APPRECIATION OF DEAFNESS IN SCHOOL CHILDREN—Harold Fletcher, Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York City. AN ADMINISTRATIVE APPRECIATION OF HEALTH IN THE ScHOoLs—Mary McSkim- mon, President, National Education Association, Principal, Pierce School, Brook- line, Mass. DENTAL HYGIENE FOR CHILDREN IN THE ScHOoLs—Evelyn C. Schmidt, American Dental Association, Chicago, IIl. LIGHTING THE SCHOOLROOM—John A. Hoeveler, National Committee for the Preven- tion of Blindness, New York City. Nationat Councit or Epucation 323 Charles McKenny, president, State Normal College, Ypsilanti, Michigan, and Chairman of the Committee on Teachers Colleges, stated that the scheduled report on “The Present Status of the Registrar in Teachers Colleges” by F. B. O’Rear, Southwestern State Teachers College, Springfield, Missouri, would not be given, but that E. S. Evenden, Teachers College, Columbia University, would report on “Some Criteria for the Construction of Teacher College Curricula” as scheduled. This report was followed by discussion in which a number of questions were raised as to the different types of teachers colleges that should be required, and different courses that should be offered in the different colleges training elementary and high school teachers. Second Session, Wednesday afternoon, February 24, 1926—The meeting was called to order by the president at 2:15 p.m. at the Powhatan Hotel. Charles S. Meek, chairman of the committee, announced that E. L. Heusch, scheduled to report on “Extension Activities in Connection with Public Schools” could not be present and that no report would be made as there had been great difficulty in collecting material. He then introduced speakers with topics as fol- lows: EXTENSION ACTIVITIES IN NORMAL SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS COLLEGES—Charles Mc- Kenny, president, State Normal School, Ypsilanti, Michigan. EXTENSION ACTIVITIES IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES—Vivian Allen Charles Hen- mon, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. Mary McSkimmon, president of the National Education Association, gave an address on the “Place of Biography in Schools” in which she described the in- terest shown by the children in the Pierce School, Brookline, Massachusetts, in the biographies of Americans of the present day who had climbed from obscurity to positions of great service apd usefulness. The preliminary report of the Committee on Training Teachers in Service was presented by the chairman, Thomas W. Butcher, president, Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia, Kansas. Opportunity was given for discussion in which the question was raised as to how to stimulate the desire of teachers for improvement through extension educa- tion. It was suggested that the most practical way of getting teachers to take ex- tension courses was (1) the right sort of supervision, and (2) advance in salaries to those who took such courses. Methods were discussed as to how teachers could take extension courses and at the same time avoid neglecting their classroom duties. Organizing extension classes for teachers convenient to their schools and limiting the number of credits secured each year, were some of the remedies offered as a solution to this problem. Adjourned. Philadelphia Meeting First Session, Saturday evening, June 26, 1926—The meeting was called to order by the president at 8:15 p.M. in the auditorium of Drexel Institute. The president summed up briefly the new plan of work for the Council, stating that research or analytic methods of attacking educational problems would be continued in a limited way for the purpose of seeking new knowledge, but an additional work of the Council would be that of attempting to bring together facts now known, but known in isolation. Synthesis rather than analysis would be emphasized in the work for wo years. pana ier then introduced Dorothy Canfield Fisher, of dslington; Vt, well known as a writer and lecturer, who gave a splendid address on Adult Education as the Next Battle in Our Democracy’s Fight for Existence.” Mrs, Fisher traced the development of education from its beginning in this country to the present 324 NationaL EpucaTIoNn ASSOCIATION tremendous problem of educating the adult. She said that the battle for the privilege of a university education for the youth had been fought and won, and now the battle must be fought again for the “education-hungry” older generation. Adults in this country pay out $75,000,000 annually in a fumbling attempt to get an education, to gain something of culture through correspondence courses. The promoters of these schools garner huge returns from the mind-hunger of the Amer- ican adult public. In these schools are enrolled more than four times as many students as are registered in the colleges and universities in the country. The money spent is as great a sum as the combined budgets of fourteen states. Ac- cording to Mrs. Fisher, we may speak of our nation as a literate one, but we can by no means call it an educated nation. We have forced the tools of an edu- cation on our people but will not help them to use these. Mrs. Fisher pointed out the great significance of the growth of women’s clubs in the country. Three millions are now members of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, a growth that has come in answer to a desire for intellectual life. She also indicated the great possibilities and usefulness of the library in this movement for universal adult education. Announcements of time and place of the meeting for the Council for Monday and Tuesday were made by the president, and attention of members called to re- visions in the constitution to provide for the increase in membership created by the action of the National Education Association. Copies of the revised constitution were distributed to members of the Council for consideration prior to the vote on revision at the business meeting on Monday afternoon. Adjourned. Second Session, Monday afternoon, June 28, 1926—The meeting was called to order by the president at 2:00 P.M. in the auditorium of the Chamber of Commerce. As chairman of the Committee on Vocational Education, the president presented the report of that committee, on part-time education, explaining the questionnaire from which returns had been compiled, and calling attention to such points in the report, as follows: 1, Age and grade at which part-time pupils leave full-time school 2. Reasons for leaving full-time school 3. General intelligence of part-time pupils 4. Occupational interests, activities, and weekly wages of part-time pupils 5. Attitude of parents, part-time school pupils, and employers toward part-time schools Printed copies of the report were placed in the hands of those present. Some questions were raised concerning this study, especially relative to the cost of part- time instruction. The chairman of the committee advised that this question would be dealt with in the second division of the study, which would have to do with a study of objectives, organization, and progress of part-time schools for minors. For the information of members of the National Council of Education, Jesse H. Newlon, Chairman of the Committee on Committees for the National Education Association, explained the origin and purpose of the Committee on Committees, which he interpreted as a temporary committee for the purpose of meeting a present emergency arising from much duplication of work in the National Educa- tion Association, its various departments, and the National Council of Education. Mr. Newlon stated that the guiding principles to avoid such duplication should be— 1. The initiation of no new work that is already being done by other sections. ° 2. The completion by the committees of their work within a limited length of time. The committees should not allow their work to extend over too many years. 3. The avoidance of too many committees working at the same time. 4. The definite reference by the Representative Assembly, of certain committees and responsibilities, to the National Council of Education. NationaL Councit or Epucation 325 5. The placing of more responsibility upon the Board of Directors of the National Education Association and providing for at least four meetings of this body during the year, even if expense of those in attendance must be defrayed. 6. Conservation of time and energy of the Representative Assembly by referring to it the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the committees, set up in terse, definite terms and in printed form. 7. Omitting special treatment of such general fields as health and moral educa- tion and dealing with these problems in other studies of which they are an essen- tial part. Some questions were raised as to how far different sections would be able to initiate studies of their own, and whether the National Education Association or sections would have precedence in continuing work in lines where there was evi- dent duplication. It was felt that plans could be developed through the coopera- tion of the Representative Assembly, Board of Directors, and National Council of Education that would be satisfactory to both sections and the National Education Association in such a situation. For the enlightenment of members of the National Council of Education relative to finances of the National Education Association, Walter A. Siders, chairman of the National Education Association Budget Committee, presented certain items of the report of the Budget Committee, which he stated, had just gone to the printers and would not be ready for distribution for at least two days. Mr. Siders stated that the fiscal year of the National Education Association closes May 31st and the new year opens June ist. He described the three funds of the National Education Association, (1) Permanent. (2) Regular. (3) Re- volving. He listed the budget items, stating that the budget was built on last year’s cash receipts, and the expenses for the current year had not been permitted to extend beyond that amqunt. The Budget Committee had voted to put into a permanent fund $2500 and one fourth of the increased receipts from membership dues. According to this report, there are now 161,000 members of the National Edu- cation Association. The resources of the last year exceeded expenditures by $45,627.65. In other words, an account of all the National Education Association owns and owes indicates a balance of $45,627.65 on the credit side for 1926. The president then called the attention of members to the revised constitution of the National Council of Education and read the italicized portions of the printed copy, which indicated changes, as follows: ARTICLE I.—Membership a. The National Council of Education shall consist of tavo groups of members. The first group shall consist of one hundred twenty members selected at large from the membership of the National Education Association. b. The second group shall consist of members elected from the departments of the National Education Association, three from each department, who shall servé for a term of six years. c. The departments shall elect their quota of members biennially at their regular annual meetings. To the motions of T. E. Johnson of Michigan for the acceptance of each revision, respectively, the vote of the Council gave unanimous approval. A meeting of the Committee on Membership was called at the close of the session for the purpose of nominating officers and members to supply vacancies in the National Council of Education. Adjourned. Third Session, Tuesday afternoon, June 29, 1926—The meeting was called to order by the president at 2:00 p.M. in the auditorium of the Chamber of Commerce. The president introduced speakers who presented topics, as follows: 326 Nationa, EpucaTION ASSOCIATION Is AMERICAN EDUCATION PERPETUATING A SOCIAL ORDER THAT SHOULD BE CHANGED? —William C. Bagley, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. THE PLACE OF THE SCHOOL IN THE SOCIAL OrpEr—George S. Counts, Department of Education, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. Wuart Can EpucaTion Do To INTEGRATE THE ProsLeMs oF Lire?—Francis G. Blair, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Springfield, Ill. The report of the Membership Committee, in which recommendations were made for the filling of vacancies both in offices and membership, was presented by the chairman, Carroll G. Pearse, and on motion of S. L. Smith, of Tennessee, was unanimously approved. The following are newly elected officers and members: Secretary—Adelaide Steele Baylor. Term to expire 1929. Member, Executive Committee—Arthur J. Matthews, President, State Normal School, Tempe, Ariz. Reelected with term to expire 1929. Members, Committee on Membership: John R. Kirk, State Teachers College, Kirksville, Mo., and William B. Owen, President, Chicago Normal College, Chicago, IIl., both reelected with terms to expire 1929. Robert H. Wright, President, East Carolina Teachers College, Greenville, North Carolina, elected to fill unexpired term (ending 1927) of J. Stanley Brown, De Kalb, Ill., whose membership in the Council had lapsed through absence. Members of the Council: Terms to Expire 1932 Katherine D. Blake, 101 W. 85th St., New York City. Edward Buchner, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Charles P. Cary, Madison, Wisconsin. William M. Davidson, Superintendent City Schools, Pittsburgh, Pa. Frank P. Graves, State Commissioner of Education, Albany, N. Y. Olive M. Jones, Principal Public School, No. 120, New York City. Homer H. Seerley, President, State Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Iowa. Cora Wilson Stewart, Frankfort, Ky. Caroline Woodruff, President, Vermont State Teachers College, St., Johnsburg, We Flected to succeed themselves—John A. H. Keith, President, State Normal School, Indiana, Pa., elected to succeed Harlan Updegraff, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, member- ship lapsed through absence. ’ Terms to Expire 1927 Annie Webb Blanton, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, elected to succeed herself, membership lapsed through absence. Grace Abott, Chief U. S. Childrens Bureau, Washington, D. C., elected to suc- ceed J. E. Burke, Boston, Mass., membership lapsed through absence. Terms to Expire 1928 Rose Pesta, Principal, public school, Chicago, Ill., elected to succeed J. Stanley Brown, membership lapsed through absence. Clarence H. Dempsey, State Commissioner of Education, Montpelier, Vt., elected to succeed James H. Van Sickle, Orlando, Fla., deceased. _ NationaL Councit oF EpucaTion 327 see pe ee eee Terms to Expire 1929 Thomas R. Cole, Seattle, Wash., elected to succeed Thomas W. Palmer, Monte- vallo, Ala., deceased. Terms to Expire 1930 Sarah Louise Arnold, Lincoln, Mass., elected to succeed herself, membership having lapsed through absence. John W. Abercrombie, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Montgomery, Ala., elected to succeed J. K. Dwyer, Anconda, Mont. Membership lapsed through absence. Terms to Expire 1931 Randall J. Condon, Cincinnati, Ohio, elected to succeed John F. Simms, Stearn Point, Wis., deceased. John K. Norton, Washington, D. C., elected to fill vacancy left by non-acceptance of Wm. McAndrew, Chicago, IIl., elected to membership at the last annual meeting of the Council. Adjourned. Note I—The following were reelected or elected to membership in the National Council of Education, by the Board of Directors of the National Education Asso- ciation: a. Reelected with terms expiring in 1932: : Mary C. C. Bradford, State Superintendent of Public Schools, Denver, Colo. Arthur Chamberlain, Editor, Sierra Educational News, San Francisco, Calif. J. W. Crabtree, Secretary, National Education Association, Washington, D. C. David B. Felmley, President, State Normal School, Normal, Ill. Elizabeth Hall, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Minneapolis, Minn, David B. Johnson, President, Winthrop College, Rock Hill, S. C. John R. Kirk, State Teachers College, Kirksville, Mo. Charles McKenny, President State Normal College, Ypsilanti, Mich. Joseph Rosier, President, State Normal School, Fairmont, W. Va. Henry Lester Smith, Dean of School of Education, Indiana University, Bloom- ington, Ind. b. Reelected with term expiring in 1931: Mary D. Bradford (Mrs.), Wilmington, Delaware, membership lapsed through absence. c. Elected with term expiring in 1930: W. F. Webster, City Schools, Minneapolis, Minn., to succeed Helen C. Putnam, membership lapsed through absence. The following were elected to membership under the Amended Constitution of the National Council of Education, by the Department of the National Education Association. Department of School Health and Physical Education 1. Melville Stewart, State Supervisor of Physical Education, Charleston, W. Va., term to expire in 1932. 2. William Burdick, State Supervisor of Physical Education, No. 7 East Mul- berry St., Baltimore, Md., with term to expire in 1930. F 3. Ethel Perrin, Associate Director, Health Education Division, American Child Health Association, 370 Seventh Ave., New York City, with term to expire in 1928. No reports of election of members have been made by other Departments. f , 7" af os F e 4 Lals4 | dan ristereeahet " rer? , = 4 if 4 Bgl oney inahée nbih/ aed cceppvek bet er 4 : ae! =, ake he = ete ah Uae / Wik wea "aA i. ip 'rs : , ha 2 c e) Pregl pe sa asr ard 23 tal Sites » Hag > Sod he ~~ : er ah Pop git wand a . A pide = ¥ wes , * 7 7 : we |e ae gL i ¥ ists ii uF tadpraie Vr o Fotings lager as ol > " Mis Ss es M ae Wise , na ~ eae ah ~ it, alabliag iy : Sie Eaten AD it - aN _ . J fT S00 Samat} eat 4 , f ‘oft, seats ot i: or Fos) ; She siya) i, 7 its iy. ges F ¥ ; 7 a Bi. a fe pete fas x riba 9) bh eth he fain ott abt 3 w lieits? ti isd ebtind reel, sai teyid I a tae ve ly = ate a oe *h ( ‘ > TERS as ante nt ae A r, yasz Siem) | 4 rralaty aihmiaily f vith) he he Tees 6 is “9 ° Are OS a OLY. Viale & nent wee anil at Ste 4, att ee ste ’ e a, UY iw 2 1 talie a oe 727 asteds ve a mages (iene t i Oba 1 aieiodensah ee ~ a = - ' : 7 s ' i ' 543.3% fads ; —— ‘ae - —' - ais iy ; mM Gt S77Slie gee: aivla’: ott BO : - - rs OGL Th 2&1 a 37 © iniviesy | tk inausD hive Re}: ¥ wuciall ; Ss a < + Deheoeeh fie indi 8 ; : S ' HOU e ‘ o li ous “ > ( >», ¢m™ Department of Adult Education lished by vote of the Representative Assembly, July 8, 1921, as the Department of Immigrant Edueation. The first meeting was held in 1922 in Boston. See Proceedings 1922: 905. In 1924 the name of the Department was changed to the Depart- ment of Adult Education. See Proceedings 1924: 566, sate a The officers of the Department for the year 1926-27 are:-President, Robert C. Deming, State Director of Americanization, State Board of Education, Hart- ford, Conn.; Vice-President, Wil Lou Gray, Super- - visor of Adult Education, State Department of Edu- cation, Columbia, 8. C.; Secretary, Willie Lawson, Deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Little Rock, Arkansas; Treasurer, Ethel Richardson, Assistant State Superintendent in Charge of Im- migrant Education, Los Angeles, Calif. This De- partment meets once each year in June. Facts re- lating to the establishment of this Department and the record of meetings are found in earlier Proceed- ings as follows: 1921 :460 1922 :905-968 1923 669-703 1924 565-582 1925 :337-353 Pie DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION was estab- [330] THE NATIVE ILLITERATE—THE PROGRESS AND PECULIAR PROBLEMS IN HIS INSTRUCTION— ABRIDGED MISS WILLIE LAWSON, DEPUTY STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. HE NATIVE illiterate—what manner of man is he that he should be so set apart from all other peoples, that he should be given a special place on a nation’s program, that councils should be held in his name, and that soldiers of the printed page should launch a crusade for him? There is a division in some state departments of education called civilian rehabilitation. Not long since, there was discovered and brought to the attention of the Arkansas division of civilian rehabilitation the case of a young man crippled from infantile paralysis. His body was distorted and he walked on his hands and feet as a baby would crawl. He was operated on and the operation was successful. Pictures of “before” and “after” were exhibited. ‘Marvelous reclamation,” “Wonderful surgical victory,” etc., came from every side. Janitors, stenographers, teachers, lawyers, doctors stopped to express their amazement. And there arose before me a picture— a man stalwart and straight, honest and upright, as clean and pure as a new-born babe. Pictures of him before and after had not been shown, but there was a story. Before, he was an older son with smaller brothers and sisters to look after. “They went to school while he worked. When his case was called to our attention he was on the united charities list as a worthy recipient. His operation was an opportunity school and his surgeon was a conscientious school teacher. His, too, was successful, for he now is working for a big ice plant, has been promoted, and takes care of wife and babies. A marvelous cure, but the world passes it by without an exclama- tion, Hugh Magill said, ‘“There lie sleeping under the white crosses in France thousands of boys who gave their lives to defend a constitution which they could not read.” “They were the native illiterates and the sons of native illiterates in many, many instances. Their forefathers were the fighters who gave us the freedom of a new country. It was their ancestors who threw off the yoke of oppression and pushed into undiscovered territory that their children and children’s children might live in unmolested freedom. The native illiterate—alone in the midst of a crowd, and what a loneli- ness that is! So much like those around him that the casual observer thinks he belongs there, but so different that every moment is torture fou fear of being discovered and pointed out. A social outcast because social life in America ranges from the com- munity sing in the country to the bridge club in the town and in neither of these can he feel at home. In many places the social life revolves around the school and he has nothing in common with schools. [331] SBY NaTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION —__—__—_—__» A warped religious outlook because the Bible is to him a closed volume and his knowledge of its truths must depend upon the interpretation of his preacher—often more illiterate than the man himself. He has no financial status, for his income is small and his family large. All money matters must be transacted by another who, he thinks in his ignorant suspicion, is ever trying to cheat him out of what little he has. His old shoe is his bank, because what the cashier puts on the piece of paper as being his doesn’t look like dollars and cents to him, and how is he to know that he gets out what he puts in? Living with us, yet not of us. Here a lawyer, there a college professor, and next door an illiterate is his fate. The foreigner lives with and socializes with his own people—each nationally segregated, so that while he may be harder to teach he is not so hard to find nor is he so unhappy where he is. To the majority of people he is just the native illiterate, but to those of us who know he is the man who, as he says, ‘‘ain’t had no chance.” All that he does for the world is to populate it and all that the world has done for him is to grind him slowly but surely under the gigantic wheels of industry. i Where does the native illiterate live? In your mind, there is the invari- able answer, “In the south,” which is only partially correct. He is ours and we do not deny that a large portion of his family lives with us. But he is as innumerable as the stars and as migratory as the robins. Hither and yon upon the face of the earth he has wandered, leaving a part of his family wherever he went. ‘Today he lives not in the south alone, but in every single state in the union. I would like to say to you, “The work of teaching the native illiterate is going forward by leaps and bounds,” but the facts show that it isn’t. All authentic addresses begin ‘‘a questionnaire was sent” and the rule was not broken with regard to the man ‘“‘who hasn’t had a chance.” Questionnaires were sent to all of the states and the replies varied. Eighteen states were interested enough in adult education to return the questionnaire. Of this eighteen, eight were attempting no adult education program at all; four had an extensive (and expensive) program for the foreign-born; four others had a program for both foreign-born and native adults, and two had a program primarily for the native illiterate. In addition to these there was reported one county or local program for the native illiterate. In the thirty states which failed to reply there are approximately 683,210 native illiterates; in the eight states reporting no adult program of any kind there are 20,944 native illiterates; in the four states reporting a pro- gram for both, there are 109,942 native illiterates; and in the two states reporting a program primarily for the native illiterates, there are 80,153 native illiterates. With the southern states is the bulk of the responsibility, but if they responded 100 percent in each southern state and taught every single DrEpPaRTMENT OF ApuLT EpucaTion 333 + native illiterate within their bounds to read and write, there would be more than 400,000 native illiterates in the western, northern, and eastern states who would not have a chance. ; The rescue party in this case is not bound by sectional lines. The Mason and Dixon line separates us no longer. We are working in the National Education Association and not in a Regional Conference; the recently commandeered Illiteracy Crusade is a National Illiteracy Crusade and not a state nor local move. Last year in the states doing adult work for both foreign born and native, there were reported 48,586 adults enrolled in school; in the states doing work primarily for natives (but, of course, including both) there were 14,185 adults enrolled in school. In the several separate states there is progress being made. Delaware, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, and Ohio report much work done; Delaware, South Carolina, and Alabama report annual appropria- tions from $12,000 to $50,000 and definite, organized, permanent state programs. Arkansas reports a small state appropriation, continued volun- teer work on the part of the day school teachers and two counties and one city now financing their own programs and working under the supervision of the state director. North Carolina reports Buncombe county work for native illiterates as its only attempt. Buncombe county itself reports a $10,000 county appropriation, 19 schools taught 956 adults enrolled, 4 clubs cooperating financially, a working course of study and 4 trained field workers. Such a county program will sell the work to the state soon—to any state for that matter. Our problem as the Adult Education Department of the National Edu- cation Association is how to reach those native illiterates who live within the bounds of those states not offering them anything in the way of educa- tional opportunity. When this has been done, then progress will have been made. Why hasn’t the native illiterate been taught? Why are there so many in his huge family? In other words, what are the peculiar problems in the instruction of the native illiterate? One of the big problems with the native illiterate is that they don’t segregate. In one county there may be twenty-five and in an adjoining county there may be fifteen hundred. In many towns there may be found only one or two native illiterates. That is the reason that many states at- tack the foreign problem and leave the native illiterate problem untouched. They are there admittedly, but hidden in among the other natives so suc- cessfully that to find and teach them is a seeming impossibility. Even in the states where there are the largest numbers of native illiterates this same peculiar problem is evident in various communities. We find it most easily solved through contact with the children in the day school, though in several instances the children themselves did not know of their parents’ lack of education. Legislation requiring the names and addresses of illiter- ates to be taken with the school census would help this situation, too. 334 NationaL Epucation AssociaTION The sensitiveness of the native illiterate is far more of a hindrance than one would imagine. Alike in color, alike in dress, alike in language, alike in so many customs and habits—he rather resents the fact that because of this one great difference, he stands apart from the crowd. ‘The greatest ar- gument against this is that he should take this belated opportunity in order that his children may no longer be different, but may be unhampered and free in their association with others. Probably the best remedy for this “difference” is a course of study for the native illiterate which definitely does three things: | 1. Establishes close contact between him and all city, county, state, and federal agencies. 2. Gives the adult ‘in theory and practice high standards in health, thrift, recrea- tion, and citizenship. 3. Grades his work so that he may pass from grade to grade and see definite pieces of work done, specific subjects mastered. Another problem is that the census gives such erroneous ideas to his real rating. Many times a suspicious, untaught person approached by a brusque census taker, will state that he can’t sign his name because he is afraid to place it on the dotted line (due to past experience with shrewd, unscrupu- lous book agents and enlarged-picture salesmen). He is probably a third- grade pupil. Again there is one who awkwardly signs his name, but could not write a single other word nor add two and two. He is rated as out of the illiterate class. In most places the census is used as a basis for locating illiterates. “There are probably three or four times as many who really are eligible to adult school work. Legislation for.proper illiteracy census would remedy that problem—has already done so in many localities. Too, the native illiterate is more or less indifferent. The foreigner comes to this country in search of some intangible something which he be- lieves to be here. He soon learns that it will be more easily gotten if he has some knowledge of the English language, so he either goes in search of a chance to go to school or receives it gladly when the chance comes to him. Not so with the native. He is in search of nothing but a mere living. Having lived so all his life he sees no reason for a change now. Before he can be given a chance he must be shown why he needs it and what specific benefits it will bring him when he gets it. The only way which has been discovered so far to combat that problem is the right approach of the person who carries him the message. THE ADULT EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES OF OUR FOREIGN LANGUAGE ORGANIZATIONS— ABRIDGED READ LEWIS, DIRECTOR, FOREIGN LANGUAGE INFORMATION, NEW YORK CITY Side by side with our schools there exists a vast network of organiza- tions which touch every phase of the immigrant’s life. Foreign language benefit societies provide for sickness, death, and burial. In his own church DepartMENT oF ApuLT EpucaTIon 335 SSS EE EEE the immigrant may participate in the traditional ritual and listen to the old songs. Singing, musical, and dramatic societies express his artistic interests. Clubs and lodges reflect his social needs. ~ Educational and po- litical organizations respond to his desire for education and his interest in the native country. This variety of organizations, as natural as they are inevitable, the immigrant has brought with him or has created here to meet the fundamental human needs which are common to us all. ‘The importance of these foreign language organizations in the life of the immigrant, and their potentialities as a part of our social machinery are sug- gested by the briefest glance. A recent survey of sixteen immigrant groups enumerated 300 national societies and more than 20,000 local and branch organizations. If all religious associations—the oldest immigrant organi- zations in America—had been included the numbers would have been even larger since the last federal census lists 14,573 churches conducting services in foreign languages. “The two American orders of the Sons of Italy have over 1600 lodges. The Polish National Alliance alone has a membership of over 170,000 adults. The fifteen Jugoslav benevolent organizations have some 1800 local branches. Even in so comparatively small a group as the Ukrainians, four fraternal organizations have some 700 local societies. Among so many different nationalities and organizations, generalization is not easy. Yet it is safe to say that instead of being a bar to assimila- tion, these foreign language organizations are one of the immigrant’s surest stepping stones to American life. ‘This is evidenced by two outstanding facts. First, the organizations which prosper and endure are those which are primarily concerned with the economic, social, and educational aspects of life in America, whereas organizations which direct the immigrant’s energies and sympathies to problems in his native country have a compara- tively temporary existence. Second, there is on the part of these organi- zations a desire, expressed in terms of concrete effort, to promote the gen- eral education of their members and to encourage their citizenship and participation in American life. “These facts are sometimes obscured by our own impatience. Naturally among immigrants who have arrived only recently, we must expect a greater interest in the homeland. Yet the logic of events is carrying such groups to the position of the Czech Sokols whose membership is today limited to American citizens or declarants or of the German Turnvereins where English is already one of the official languages and is gradually supplanting German. In the Polish group, the more important benefit organizations all have special departments of education. The Polish National Alliance maintains its own school of industrial arts at Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. It is furnishing some fifty libraries in Polish communities with books. It conducts each year through its dif- ferent locals a large number of citizenship classes. It has just published a manual for the use of such classes. ‘The Polish Roman Catholic Union carries on similar activities. Each of its 100,000 members is charged one cent over his monthly dues for educational work. Stipends are paid to 336 NationaL Epucation AssociaTION poor students. Many of the local societies hold lecture courses or citizen- ship classes. In practically all the large Polish centers there are also inde- pendent educational enterprises. The Polish Circle in Cleveland, this last year, had a series of 36 Sunday lectures, on history, philosophy, literature, Polish affairs, medicine and hygiene. This fall a course on the history of the United States is planned. Among the Swedes, religious organizations are the most important type and have exercised a dominating influence in educational matters. Thus the Swedish Lutheran Church in the United States owns and sup- ports nine well-established colleges, chiefly. in the middle west. In addition to their regular academic work, most of them have extension departments which offer facilities for the Swedish immigrant. Among the Russians, the so-called people’s universities are far less se- curely organized. Most of the first efforts were started by groups of laborers wishing to utilize their leisure time for education and recreation, but of late the large number of refugees have taken a prominent part. In New York the Mutual Aid Society “Nauka,” organized in 1905, has con- ducted classes for teaching English and a comparatively large number of lectures for Russian immigrants. During two winter terms it gives general elementary courses and several short technical and vocational courses. * Its Sunday lectures on popular science are always well attended. “The New York Society “Prosveshchenie”’ (or Enlightenment) has conducted seven English classes, a 42-hour course in paperhanging and painting with a fee of $35 and a 100 hour course in plastering for which a $75 tuition fee was charged. Some 200 were registered in these vocational courses. Many of them were able to pass the required examination and joined the labor union. Twice a week general lectures are given. Of some 70 during the year about a dozen under the title of “Knowledge of America” dealt with our laws, industries, and economics. Among the Jugoslavs the characteristic singing societies—there are 65 cf them in the United States—have done much to encourage cultural activity and stimulate general educational interests. The Danes have established in this country some six or seven of their folk high schools. These are boarding schools for adults, chiefly from rural districts, and utilize the slack season—the winter for men and early summer for women. Instruction is cultural rather than vocational. The Jewish immigrant has not only made use of American libraries and evening classes but has established his own educational institutions. This is especially true of Jewish labor groups. The workmen’s circle, organ- nized in 1892 by a small group of Jewish cloak and cap makers in New York, now number 700 branches and 85,000 members. A certain part of the quarterly dues are devoted to educational work. ‘The circle has a number of well known lecturers who devote their entire time to lecturing in the different branches throughout the country. American history and civics, the history of civilization, Jewish history, political economy, and the natural sciences are the subjects usually covered. Systematic study DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION 337 courses have been organized in twenty-eight cities. Artistic activities also find a place, there being at present six choruses, five dramatic groups, and five orchestras. Women’s clubs and mothers’ leagues have also been or- ganized, and devote time to questions of child training. The circle has printed a number of educational books and pamphlets and also established a teacher’s seminary. With the Ukrainians the mass lecture is the most popular educational enterprise. Most of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian workingmen scattered throughout our cities and industrial centers, landed in this coun- try with little if any schooling—usually no more than to enable them to read in their own language—and with no education of any kind to help them to get over the strangeness of being in America. After a day’s labor in the shop or mine, intensive or concentrated study cannot be looked for. In spite of this, however, the demand for Ukrainian lectures far exceeds the supply. The range of subjects is wide. It may be history, or economics, or science, or literature, or health, or the old country or the new. [t is easy for us to forget that the immigrant rarely thinks of himself as an “immigrant’”—any more than an American abroad thinks of him- self as a foreigner—and that his interests are as general as our own. The immigrant, even if uneducated, has necessarily accumulated from ex- perience and hearsay a multitude of facts and impressions and ideas. He wants someone to relate this mass of disarranged facts and contradictory opinions. He wants history or economics or human civilization. Thus Ukrainian lectures have found their most popular subjects: the history of civilization, problems of political economy, the theory of. evolution, current events such as the great war and contemporary labor movements, the history of science, and the theory and practice of cooperation. One record of over 200 lectures showed an average attendance of 80 to 200 Ukrainian workers. For the longer courses of twenty lectures a fee of $10 or $15 was charged. On a Sunday afternoon in Newark 300 men remained a full five hours listening to a talk and subsequent discussion on forms of government. A series of four lectures on the theory of evo- lution attracted an audience of between one and two hundred who crowded the workers’ club room for two hours on four consecutive even- ings, in spite of midsummer heat. The immigrant’s American experience is reflected in an increased inter- est in economics and health. It is inevitable that his new industrial ex- perience should prompt an interest in labor problems and the economic system under which he lives. Again our many hospitals, the great num- bers of doctors and druggists, our profuse medical advertising and un- accustomed industrial conditions stimulate an interest in personal and in- dustrial hygiene and the problems of anatomy and physiology. American government and politics on the other hand seem remote and quite outside the experience of the more recent immigrant. The native country, how- ever, is always a popular theme of study and discussion. ‘This is not to be explained by racial attachment alone or anxiety for the kinsfolk at 338 NationaL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION rr re home. As a foreigner and as a laborer, the immigrant has to sustain a double burden of inferiority. He looks for compensation and he finds it in his own race, its history, culture, and political aspirations. If he is a nobody in America, he may become a somebody within the group of his tellow-countrymen. Typical of the older immigration are the Czechs and Germans. Their most characteristic educational activities are naturally different from the mass lecture so popular with the Ukrainians. The Sokols, the best known of the Czech organizations, are far more than societies for gymnastic training. Many of them serve as community centers for their groups with gymnasiums, reading rooms, libraries, and assembly halls for theatri- cal entertainments and lectures. Singing societies and debating clubs are frequently a feature of their work. Of 108 Sokol associations in the American Sokol Union, one of the four national associations, twenty-seven own their own gymnasiums and halls and all but seven have more or less extensive libraries. [he educational department of the central committee in Chicago plans programs, readings, and lectures, for the entire Union each year and sends out its field secretary of education to those districts needing assistance. As the Sokols limit their membership to American citi- zens, or declarants, they make provision for citizenship training and en- courage the participation of their members in American life. Similarly the Turners, the best known German immigrant organization, though founded for physical training, have a very much broader program. While the 169 Turner societies have recently increased their membership due to recent German immigration, one judges from the latest message of the national president that their problem is not so much to learn English as to preserve a knowledge of German. “Every Turnverein,” he writes, “should have a German school or reading circle to keep the knowledge of German alive,” and again “those who wish to become better acquainted with the Turner principles of liberty and progress should (if they under- stand German) read the Turnzeitung every week. ‘Those who do not understand German, should take some other liberal and progressive publi- cation.” And he then recommends: The Nation, The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly, The Living Age, The American Mercury, The Century Magazine, The Forum, The Progressive. Fragmentary as this survey is, it would be entirely inadequate without some referencce to the foreign language press. While we may ordinarily think of the press as something distinct from foreign language organiza- tions, yet it is true that many such organizations issue their own news- papers or periodicals and that these publications are in a real sense one of the most important of their educational activities. The foreign language newspaper is the only printed matter which is readily accepted and well understood by the immigrant mass. A large majority of them, wearied by DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EpucATION 339 the day’s work, do not have the necessary mental energy for any systematic educational work. Even if an immigrant worker learns to speak English, he is not likely to read with ease an English newspaper editorial or a popular magazine article. The foreign language newspaper, on the other hand, is written in his own language, and moreover this language is simple and common. ‘The newspaper may not aim to educate. But while bringing news about the homeland, America and the world, and while discussing European affairs, American politics, nationalism, socialism, religion, and what not, it offers its readers a multitude of things: new names, new facts, new ideas, the first rudiments of geography, history, politics, and economics. The immi- grant who was a peasant or villager in southern or eastern Europe had probably not acquired the habit of newspaper reading. A newspaper was too expensive to subscribe to and was written only for the educated. Here it is written for him, and it gives him the first inklings of the world’s knowledge. ‘The average publication in such language groups is not only a newspaper but also a journal of opinion, a magazine of popular science and a political forum. Its political discussions may be vague or prejudiced, its fiction cheap, and its presentation of scientific facts careless and inade- quate, but to an uneducated mind anything that is new is news, and any news is apt to incrcease the knowledge of the reader and to stimulate a desire for further knowledge. There is no single place where one can turn for a catalog of foreign language organizations or for a description of their educational activities. Such knowledge must for the most part be a matter of first hand investiga- tion in each of our communities. How important this information and the resulting contacts and cooperation might be, is evident as we come to realize that these foreign language organizations represent the natural associations of the immigrant, that they, and the foreign language press, offer the most direct and hence the most effective approach to him, and that because they are his own creation, they are nearest to his psychology. How can our public schools succeed in reaching the immigrant group as a whole unless they are in touch with these organizations and are working at least in part, through them? How can they hold the immigrant’s interest, unless they understand what he wants and needs as expressed in his own efforts? Each foreign language organization is a potential educational nucleus. Through mutual contact and discussion of current events, its members learn about the broader aspects of life about them, and become aware of their own deficiencies. Because our foreign language organizations awaken this desire for education and because they are conducting many activities to realize it, they are, for all their deficiencies, rendering a double educa- tional service, both to their own groups and to America. 340 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION TRAINING TEACHERS IN SERVICE AND THE ENROL- MENT PROBLEM—ABRIDGED WIL LOU GRAY, STATE DIRECTOR OF ADULT EDUCATION. SOUTH CAROLINA Probably the casual reader of this subject will feel that the subject in- volves two distinct problems and as such each should be discussed sep- arately. Indeed an entire program could profitably be devoted to either topic but for lack of time these two problems of adult work are included under one discussion. “The enrolment problem is largely solved by the efficiency of the teachers, which in turn, is chiefly determined by their training in service because the majority of them do the work as an avoca- tion rather than as a vocation. What I shall have to say in reference to my subject is not drawn from generalized facts but from eight years of accrued experience in adult work in South Carolina where, according to the census of 1920, the percentage decrease of illiteracy led the union. In no field of educational effort must the teacher be so sympathetic, so resourceful, so capable of distinguishing the essential from the non-essential so able to give to the individual his specific needs or so much the interpreter between classes—the learned and the unlearned—the rich and the poor— as in this, the field of elementary instruction of adults. The reasons are not hard to find: 1. The field is pioneer and so far little suitable material has been prepared. It is the teacher who must translate the material in terms of the pupils’ own ex- periences. 2. There never seems an opportune time for work: in the summer it is company, hot weather and, with us in the south, protracted meetings; in the winter it is cold weather and bad roads. 3. The literate public has not always awakened to its responsiblity or share in furthering the success of the work. 4. Classification of pupils is nearly impossible: a. Everything will apparently be getting along all right when the baby gets sick, the wife decides ‘she doesn’t like to be left alone, company comes, the mill runs at night, a patent medicine show giving away prizes or a protracted meeting causes first one, then another pupil to be absent, thus making group work practically impossible. b. In a group of twenty pupils there are found many varying abilities and learning accomplishments. One teacher often has pupils ranging from the first grade through the fifth, pupils who can work fractions but who cannot read, pupils who can read well but cannot write. 5. The adult pupil, denied in childhood the opportunity for attending school, now at a real sacrifice of time and strength, attends school on his own initiative prompted by a keen consciousness of definite shortcomings. Unlike the child he can stop once he realizes the school is teaching unrelated facts rather than sup- plying his concrete needs. Many other drawbacks could be enumerated but these outstanding facts are sufficient to show that because of these inherent difficulties the teacher must not only know the technic of teaching the elementary branches but he must know how to present them in the vocabulary and experiences of DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EpuCATION 341 —, the adult, as well as through a study of adult psychology, know how to win and maintain the confidence of the illiterate pupils and the illiterate public without whose cooperation the work could not be done. The history of adult elementary education in South Carolina has been similar to that in other states, starting in 1912 with volunteer teachers enroling a few hundred pupils the work has developed until this year wit- nessed the enrolment of over 12,000 pupils taught only by certified teachers paid by legislative and local appropriations amounting to $65,000. This growth has been persistent and steady because the state depart- ment of education immediately recognized the teaching of adults to be different from the teaching of children, requiring a peculiar skill and special training. In the early stages many earnest persons resented the requirement demanding that teachers of adults hold either a first or second grade certificate. “I may not have a certificate,” wrote one teacher from a distance, “but I certainly know enough to teach an illiterate.’ The very comment showed absolute ignorance of the magnitude of the task. The South Carolina policy has been to limit the work only to counties and communities where teachers could be trained and properly supervised rather than to scatter energy over a large area doing the work in an un- professional and indifferent manner. ‘The program for training teachers in service has been definite and specific and is done through the following channels: . State and local institutes. . Personal visits by state and local supervisor. . Follow-up letters from state and local supervisor. . Check-up state, county, and local contests. SwWN & 1. State and local institutes—According to our organization schools are organized during the summer in rural communities—called lay-by schools, and at two colleges—called opportunity schools while in the winter the continuation schools are pushed in mill communities. Since a superior type of work is accomplished by specially trained teachers, appointment for teaching now depends on institute attendance. This regulation is made possible because such training is provided to the teachers at prac- tically no expense save that of transportation. Night schools are only encouraged in communities where there is proper supervision and the supervisors or principals of the schools are responsible for getting the teachers to attend. A week’s institute is included in the program of the summer school at Winthrop college, the state college for women where one of the largest summer schools of the south is held. D. B. Johnson feeling that the best contribution the college can make to this phase of education is to aid in training an efficient teaching force, entertains the teachers as guests of the college during this institute. Each local organizer reports to the state supervisor the number of teachers to be employed in his county. The state supervisor in turn notifies the teachers of this institute and the regula- tion that only teachers attending can draw salary from state funds. 342 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION This institute is held from six to eight weeks before actual teaching begins. Here, for one week, these teachers with their state supervisor and county organizers spend from six to eight hours per day studying problems peculiar to adult teaching. The course of study is the same that was at one time given as a regular credit summer school course but because so many teachers needed to take this course who did not need other courses, the change from a credit course to an institute was made. During the institute the teachers are lodged together and the six hours spent in class discussion represents only a small part of the time devoted to study. At the table, in the halls, and during recreation periods this group of teachers assembled for one purpose only, are found exchanging experiences and making out definite plans for further work. All are learn- ers and all are teachers. In this way an esprit de corps is created which could come in no other way. Experienced teachers tell of their successes and failures, of the hardships encountered, of pupil accomplishments, and of the resultant satisfaction which follows such teaching. New teachers thus catch the spirit and are given a vision of real service. They determine that they, too, will go and do likewise. The course of study is most practical and to the point. Good method teachers often fail because they have not the background for the work, and do not understand the group they are to serve. For this reason a study is made in illiteracy in United States, its causes and effects, as well as what is being done to combat it. In a very concrete manner subjects are dis- cussed as: How to study a community. How to take a census. How to enlist assistance of cooperating agencies. How to convince an illiterate of the need for schooling. How to organize a school. How to classify pupils. How to arrange a program. How to secure enrolment and maintain attendance. How to have a worth while community meeting. What texts to use. The organizer and her task. Methods in each subject essential for succesful teaching of adults. How to make commencement of real educational value. Demonstration lessons are given. Exhibits of all materials to be used are on display as well as specimen materials from many schools. It is at this institute that standards for attainment are set by the teachers themselves and thus there is no feeling that orders come down from above. After a week of intensive study and professional companionship, there comes to this body a group consciousness rarely found among teachers. They have studied their problems as one specific case group, they have found the definite pupil needs, have gained a technic of approach. They realize their work will be measured by many associates and they have determined to make good. DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EpucATION 343 This institute is followed by a one-day local institute in each county or community just prior to the opening of schools. Here again the teachers are entertained by a Chamber of Commerce, a college, or some public spirited organization. The program consists of high-spotting the state institute, of distributing material, and of establishing county standards and aims. One of the greatest factors in training teachers in service and in en- couraging enrolment is the personal oversight of the individual teacher by the supervisor. When the right contacts have been established between supervisor and teachers, the visits of the supervisor become most valuable for they give the teacher an opportunity to share his successes and failures with the supervisor who, instead of being an inspector, becomes a real trainer of teacher and inspirer of pupils. ‘The teacher by his tact and en- couragement uses the expected visits of the supervisor as an incentive to the pupils for more thorough work and more definite accomplishment. Since the supervisor and teachers have previously at the institute mapped out the general plan of work this visit acts as a check-up. After observa- tion the supervisor has an opportunity to analyze with the teacher and often with the pupils strong and weak points. The superior teacher needs this assistance just as much as the inefficient teacher for without recogni- tion of his work he might drift into mechanical teaching of unrelated facts. Often the supervisor on his visit can revolutionize the indifferent classroom by asking teacher and pupils to cooperate in working out some definite project, for example, ““What my county does for me and what I can do for my county.” Definite assignments are given, definite plans are worked out with pupils, definite standards are set, and definite exhibits and reports are requested. Definite acknowledgements and commenda- tions are made by the supervisor. Once such a project has been success- fully worked out, the teachers and pupils feel the joy which comes from vitalized teaching and the classroom becomes really an institution of learning. Again when the supervisor sees indifferent work he can ask the school to join him in an experiment which requires the teaching to be done in a certain way stating, that after a limited time, if learning isn’t easier and more rapid they may go back to the old way. And further by aid of certain simple tests the supervisor can show pupils and teachers how they rank in relation to other schools and thus encourage more pointed teaching. Circular and follow-up letters can be made of valuable assistance in the training of teachers. Such letters are sometimes written to teachers, some- times to pupils. ‘They are always encouraging in tone and suggestive in content. It is our custom to send a mimeographed synopsis of the monthly report of the all-time special teachers to each school engaged in this work. These have added materially in creating a wholesome rivalry among teachers and pupils and have aided in building up an adult school consciousness. Where term rather than monthly reports are used the 344 NationaL EpucATION ASSOCIATION newspapers perform this service. Pupils will work very hard to see their names among the list of perfect attendance. At certain times the teachers forward specimens of pupils’ work to the supervisor who sometimes grades and returns these specimens with a school letter to the pupils. At stated times the supervisor sends a check-up letter which in a way compels systematic stock taking. Such letters also keep teachers and pupils from falling into an indifferent attitude, feeling that no one is interested. A fourth factor which can be made of incalculable aid in training teach- ers in service is the local, county, and state contests held at the close of each term. At the beginning of the term the supervisors agree to con- centrate on certain lines of work. The supervisor with a group of teachers prepares an outline of the subject matter to be covered and the best methods of presentation. ‘This is immediately given to the teachers and pupils with the instruction that at the close of the school there will be first a local, then a county, and sometimes a state contest. “The teachers know the judges use the committee’s instructions as guiding principles, therefore, this tends to give a uniformity to our work which otherwise might be haphazard. ‘The wise supervisor and the wise teacher can use these con- tests as a real motivating power for group accomplishment by appealing to pride of pupils to bring honor to school and community. In conclusion, it is the duty of the public schools to insist upon such training and equipment of teachers that the adult shall have every facility and encouragement in his belated search for that knowledge which shall open to him the gates of opportunity. AN ARTICULATED PROGRAM IN ELEMENTARY ADULT EDUCA TION—ABRIDGED ROBERT T. HILL, SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL ON IMMIGRANT EDUCATION, NEW YORK CITY During recent years the extension and development of various forms of education among adults-has produced finally a nation-wide ‘““movement”’ in adult education. Within recent months a national association for adult education has been organized. ‘This association is designed in part to cor- relate and coordinate, if possible, many activities and interests which fall within a decidedly undefined and indefinite field. Many leaders have come to believe that there are certain common denominators in adult edu- cation which may and should be emphasized and that many profitable lines of articulated, cooperative effort may be developed. On the other hand, many are uncertain as to what adult education is and what it should include. At a preliminary organization meeting of the new national asso- ciation in New York during the winter I was impressed by the fact that many leaders who are quite at home in their own field of education service among adults were distinctly uncertain what relation their work might have DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION 345 to other forms of adult education and in what ways appropriate forms of articulated local or broader than local effort might be developed. Obviously it is difficult but not impossible to articulate interest and effort in two fields of adult education so apparently unlike but not necessarily different in principle as elementary education among adult illiterates and the non- English-speaking foreign-born and various forms of university extension service of higher grade. For some time, those engaged in adult education, particularly among adult immigrants, have perceived increasingly that their work impinges upon and is related to other forms of adult education. They have gradually come to believe that it is unwise and educationally unsound to work alone ene eletasiels in efoiee es shale eet = 3.00 $172.18 Balance in the Treasury this 18th day of June, 1926...........0.eeesees $281.82 Respectfully submitted, ETHEL RICHARDSON, Treasurer, Adult Education Department. The Secretary’s report was read and accepted. The report from the Committee on Resolutions was called for, but as it was unfinished a motion was made to defer the reading until Thursday. 362 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Motion carried. On Thursday, the Resolutions Committee reported as follows: Report of Resolutions Committee The following report of the Committee on Resolutions is hereby re- spectfully submitted: Lewis R. Alderman, Chairman, Catherine Finnegan, and Alfred Rejall. 1. Be it resolved, That this department extend a vote of gratitude to the people and local organizations in Philadelphia, who by their interest and support have done so much toward making our meeting a success. 2. Be it resolved that special thanks be extended to Edwin Bach of the Phila- delphia Chamber of Commerce for his most generous assistance at all times and in every manner to the department collectively and to the members in- dividually; we recommend that the Secretary of the Department be instructed to transmit a copy of this resolution to the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia. 3. Be it resolved that special thanks be extended to the Philadelphia Central Y. M. C. A., particularly to Mr. William MacNair and the educational depart- ment for use of the building, the regular “Y” privileges and the many courtesies shown us throughout the entire meeting; we recommend that a copy of this resolu- tion be transmitted to the General Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. of Philadelphia, Mr. Walter Wood. . 4. Be it resolved that we extend our thanks, congratulations, and admiration to our associates from the state of Delaware for the excellent and inspiring demon- stration of the operation of the final steps in the naturalization process to which we were invited. We feel certain that the entire Department has gained strength and aspiration as a result of witnessing this unusual event. 5. Whereas the United States of America stands in the eyes of the civilized world as committed to a policy of universal education, and whereas, it has been repeatedly stated by competent persons in this Department that the importance of elementary education does not vary with the age of the student, that the op- portunity for education is the right of each and every person, regardless of age, creed, race, or place of birth, that the opportunity for education should not be limited to any special time of the day or year, and that the offering of the op- portunity for adult elementary education is the responsibility of the public schools of this nation: Be it therefore resolved, That this Department commits itself to the proposi- tion, that education, for adults who voluntarily seek it should be an organic part of free universal public education, that the opportunity for such education should be offered by the public schools, at such times and in such places as meet the needs and convenience of the students. ‘That elementary education for children and elementary education for adults are not two separate independent units, but are only two phases of the same unit, that the major objectives in education do not vary between the education of children and the education of adults. That in a local school system the teachers of children and the teachers of adults should have a definite understanding of their common major objectives in education, and, that all administrative officers, supervisors, and teachers in elementary education for adults must maintain the high professional standard and the scientific methods of research which have been established by the teaching profession of the nation. 6. Whereas the success of the adult education movement depends upon the active cooperation of all agencies, both public and private, interested in the wel- fare and education of adults. Be it resolved, That this Department requests cooperation on the part of all DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EpuCATION 363 such agencies, to utilize every means at their disposal to help reduce illiteracy before the year 1930, when the next federal census is to be taken. 7. Whereas there is urgent need for greater uniformity in the execution of the Naturalization Law. Be it resolved, That this Department requests Congress to give most careful consideration to this matter. We recommend that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Chairman of the appropriate committee in both the Senate and the House of. Representatives. 8. Whereas experience clearly shows that state aid is necessary for a successful program of adult education. Be it resolved, That this Department recommend to our state legislators that they provide adequate funds and take such necessary steps that will promote the cause of adult education in their respective states. 9. Whereas experience shows that the education of inmates in both prison and reform institutions who are to be returned to society is generally neglected. Be it resolved, That this department recommend the establishment of a definite state policy looking toward the education in English and other subjects leading toward vocational and civic efficiency in every state of the union. 10. Whereas this department has officially created a medium of information and exchange known as the Interstate Bulletin we recommend it to all workers in this field and urge fullest support thereof. 11. Whereas the continuation school movement throughout the country is one of growing importance to the welfare of the students at a most critical period of life we urge the strengthening and developing of this type of school and educa- tion, and strongly recommend that steps be generally taken to coordinate this type of education with the adult education program throughout the land. 12. Whereas we believe that the reading and writing of English understand- ingly should be a qualification for citizenship, and also a qualification for voting. Be it resolved that we urge upon Congress and the President the wisdom of adding the ability to read and write English understandingly as an additional qualification for citizenship, and that such a test be administered by the federal agencies already in existence in conjunction with the Bureau of Education. We further recommend to such states as are not already provided with literacy test for voting that they adopt such a test of reading and writing English understand- ingly, to be administered by the educational authorities of the state. 13. Whereas the present figures on illiteracy obtained by the United States Census Bureau represent only the number of those over ten years of age who cannot write their name in any language, and Whereas the progress of education is retarded by the lack of adequate statistical information in the census and Whereas it is unwise to classify as literate those able to pass the present test and Whereas the Secretary of Commerce has stated that he would welcome any move on the part of the National Education Association to determine their policy and specific recommendations in this method and Whereas a test for such literacy will give valuable information relative to our native and foreign-born, to our national system of education and to the better functioning of our democracy, Be it resolved, That a test be formulated for literacy in English that will give the nation statistics as to the number of those unable to read a simple paragraph in English understandingly, and that it be presented to the Secretary of Com- merce with a request that it be included in the 1930 United States census. 14. That this Department urge Resolutions Committee of the National Educa- tion Association to give most careful consideration to Resolutions 12 and 13 above 364 NaTIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION respectively with a view to their adoption in the general recommendations of the entire Association. 15. Resolved that this Department believes in the principle contained in H. J. Res. 283 of June 24, 1926, which has for its purpose the reuniting of the families of declarents who apply for citizenship between the years July 1, 1921, and July. 1, 1924, and that a telegram be sent to Congressman Jacobstein, author of the joint cesolution now before Congress to this effect. Respectfully submitted, ALFRED REJALL L. R. ALDERMAN CATHERINE FINNEGAN. Motion was made that the Department of Adult Education go on record as denouncing the situation that existed in New York with regard to the number of adults required to be taught by one teacher. It was the consensus of opinion that under ordinary circumstances the number should range between twelve to twenty. Motion carried. A motion was made that several months before the annual meeting of the National Education Association the secretary should send an invitation to all states to have a representative at this meeting. Motion carried. A motion was made that W. C. Smith, of New York, and those who have faith- fully assisted him in publishing the Interstate Bulletin be given a vote of thanks and that the secretary write these people letters of appreciation. Motion carried. The following motions with regard to financing the Interstate Bulletin were made and carried: That W. C. Smith, State Board of Education, Albany, New York, be author- ized as business manager to write, sign, and endorse checks for the Interstate Bulletin on Adult Education, which is the authorized publication of the Department of Adult Education of the National Education Association. That the business manager of the Interstate Bulletin may draw upon the treasury of the Department of Adult Education, upon the authorization of the president, for a sum not exceeding at any time more than half the balance in the treasury from the previous fiscal year plus the subscriptions for the fiscal year, and that the annual financial report of the Interstate Bulletin be turned over to the Auditing Committee for their report at the annual meeting. The following report from the Committee on Posters was made by Mr. Alderman in the absence of Mrs. B. C. Jones, chairman: The Delaware poster is to be adopted now. The work for the future to be placed on a basis of competition. Report accepted. The report of the Committee on Naturalization was read by Mr. Deming in the absence of Miss Burnett, the chairman, in California. It was as follows: “This committee is composed of extremely busy people living great distances apart. For that reason its business has been conducted largely through corre- spondence, since no more than three of its members have been able to come together at any time. Following is a brief summary of what has been accomplished: “1. Agreed that in view of the steadily increasing number of aliens applying’ each year for citizenship, naturalization was of sufficient importance to the welfare of the country to have the law regulating its standards and method of procedure as nearly perfect as it is possible to make it. That the standards and procedure in the present law are inadequate and permit of practices that fail to dignify and properly evaluate American citizenship. “2. Tested the reaction of a sufficient number of organizations to feel sure that there would be no difficulty in securing nation-wide support of legislation providing more satisfactory standards and procedure for naturalization. Resolved, that it was the duty of this committee to work for such a law and to make recommendations for such parts of it as workers in the field of immigrant education who were DEPARTMENT OF ApULT EDUCATION 365 qualified by training and experience to do so believed would secure such standards and procedure. “Investigated the content and status of pending legislation and found that Senate Bill 4255, making it discretionary for United States District Court Judges to make examination of petitioners for naturalization in open court, had been passed by both houses and had been signed by the President. This was done to relieve the congestion of court calendars in large cities. It has been suggested that it was in the nature of a temporary relief measure and may not be permanent. “It was also found that H. R. 11518, a comprehensive bill affecting several aspects of naturalization, including educational qualifications for petitioners, had been introduced into the House by Mr. Johnson, of Washington, but is not likely to be acted upon by both houses at this session of Congress. “3. In cooperation with a committee on naturalization acting at a meeting called by L. R. Alderman, Specialist in Adult Education of the U. S. Bureau of Education, in February, 1926, secured from the chairman of the Joint Committee on Immigra- tion and Naturalization the assurance that recommendations from workers in the field of immigrant education would be welcomed and be given careful consideration in the revision of naturalization laws that would probably be made at the next session of Congress. ; “4. Has tabulated and summarized the recommendations received by the chair- man, regarding educational qualifications for petitioners for naturalization in a nation-wide study of the situation last year. With this as a basis has begun the consideration of what should be included in recommendations submitted by this committee for incorporation in the new law. “5, With the approval of prominent officers of the American Bar Association and through the effort of one of its active members, is requesting that association at its next meeting to consider the question of naturalization with the idea of taking any action that it may deem necessary for the naturalization the recognition it deserves in the courts of the country and to make such recommendations as may seem desirable for incorporation in any new legislation affecting naturalization. “Inasmuch as the committee is in the midst of a piece of work that could not be turned over to a new committee without considerable loss of momentum, it recom- mends that it be continued for the purpose of completing the work now under way with any additions or changes in its personnel that the President of the Department might care to consider. “Respectfully submitted, MARGUERITE H. BURNETT ETHEL RICHARDSON RAYMOND MOLEY CHARLES FINCH JoHn J. MAHONEY Howarp BRADSTREET.” The last report to be accepted was that of the Committee on a 1930 United States Census Test for Literacy-in-English. Mr. Rejall made this report as follows: “The Committee on a 1930 U. S. Census Test for Literacy-in-English is com- posed of Wil Lou Gray, South Carolina; William C. Smith, New Yorks! BAe Blair, Illinois; D. M. Herlihy, Massachusetts; A. W. Castle, Pennsylvania; L. R. Alderman, Washington, D. C.; A. E. Rejall, New York; R. C. Deming, Connecticut. “Its purpose is to obtain the inclusion in the 1930 Census of a test for Literacy- in-English that would give the nation figures on those unable to read a simple paragraph in English with understanding, a test that would mean something in terms of a functioning citizenship. “In terms of education the present test for illiteracy represents an irreducible minimum. Any less education would mean absolutely no education. The present figures are interesting and valuable as indicating the number of those absolutely without schooling. They may even through shame stimulate public educational activity. Public educators, however, violently object to classifying as “literate” those able to pass this test. 366 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION “This is a test for real literacy to give valuable information relating to our native and foreign-born, to our national system of education, and to the function- ing of our democracy. It will be a 1930 Census on the nation’s education in citi- zenship. It will determine that point at which literacy in English begins. “The committee has agreed upon the instructions to be given the census enumera- tors, the form, and method of administering the test, and the minimum word list of 319 words. It has listed twenty sentences in question form to be printed each upon a card for the examiner’s use. It has estimated the time of administering the test as of 30 seconds, the cost in printing material by the government as at $1,000 for the nation. “Thus far has the committee gone in its conclusions. It has yet to meet the withering blasts from the Census Bureau, but it hopes to proceed, serenely conscious of the value of its project and its faith in its own judgment. “We hope that the committee will be continued for even greater efficiency, particularly in the light of a paragraph in Mr. Hoover’s letter of June 14, 1926: “ «J should judge that an appropriate time for such hearings and discussion would be at least two years off. In the meantime, of course, we welcome any moves on the part of the National Education Association or any other interested body to determine their own policy and formulate their own specific recommendations.’ “A copy of the word list and instructions to the examiner is attached to this report, which is herewith respectfully submitted.” Instructions to the Examiner “Column 17. Literacy-in-English test. Write “no” for any person 10 years of age or over who declares himself unable to read simple English understandingly. To all others, 10 years of age or over, administer the test. “The purpose of this test is to ascertain the number of those over 10 years of age who are unable to read a simple sentence in the English language with under- standing of what they read. To prove this, the sentence printed on each of the literacy-test cards herewith given you, requires some act, or reply from the one examined. “The one examined may read and write one or more languages other than English, but if he is unable to read understandingly the test sentences given him, he is to be marked “no” in this column. “Select one card and hand it to the one examined for him to read without aid. Ask him to read it. If at the end of 30 seconds the one examined fails to respond correctly to the written question or command, offer another card for another trial for 30 seconds, if you think it advisable. Take back the cards. Do not use the same card more than once in any one home.” “Each of the following sentences wil be printed on a separate card 3 x2 inches. (Printed instructions are thought superfluous as distracting and unnecessary for one able to read the sentences.) Where did you go to school? In what country were you born? About how old were you when you left school? Are you married or single? How long have you been living in this house? What is the name of the street you live on? How many fingers has your right hand? Is it now morning, afternoon, evening or night? DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EpUCATION 367 What day of the week is today? What month of the year is this? What newspaper do you read? Where do you work? What kind of a job have you? Where does the nearest doctor live? Which do you like better, spring or fall? Is it now winter or summer? Are you an alien or a citizen?” The report of the Nominating Committee was made by Mr. Rejall in the absence of the Chairman, Mr. Herlihy. It was as follows: President, Robert C. Deming; Vice-President, Wil Lou Gray; Secretary, Willie Lawson; Treasurer, Ethel Rich- ardson. “The report of the Nominating Committee was accepted and the secretary was instructed to cast one ballot for the election of the above officers. It was so voted and the officers declared elected.” In view of the fact that the Department of Adult Education is a national body and desires to cooperate with all agencies in the teaching of the adult, a motion was made and passed by this body that a Committee of three be appointed by the president to consider carefully the organization of this Department as it relates to all fields of adult education and to work out an articulate program by which this body may cooperate with all agencies interested in the education of the adult. The motion was amended to read, “Three, with power to add to their number as they see fit, and to use any necessary funds from the treasury of the Depart- ment of Adult education.” Amendment passed. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 6:10 P.M., June 29, The report accepted from the Committee on Legislation was made by Mr. John W. Lewis, of Baltimore, and was as follows: “Four laws relating to immigration and naturalization have passed both houses. 1. H. R. 3859 (Public Law No. 289) approved May 25, 1926 makes it possible to take out a Declaration of Intention during the 30 days before election. It further provides that Declarations of Intention already issued within such a 30-day period shall not be invalid on that account. 2. H. R. 9761—carrying text of H. R. 11208—(Public Law No. 294), approved May 26, 1926 extends the privileges of “soldiers naturalization” to veterans of the World War for a period of two years from date of passing of the Act. It also provides non-quota privileges for alien veterans of the World War (also their wives or husbands and unmarried children under 18 if accompanying or following within six months to join them.) The non-quota status applies only to aliens securing immigration visas within one year after the passage of the Act. It exempts the alien veteran also from some of the requirements of the Immigration Act of 1917. 3. S 4251 passed the Senate on May 20 and the House on June 2, and by the time this is in print will probably be approved. It provides that the judge of any U. S. District Court may in his discretion designate one or more examiners or officers of the Bureau of Naturalization to take testimony, etc., on naturalization cases and report findings to the judge with recommendations. The judge may in his discretion and shall upon the demand of the petitioner, require the examina- tion of the petitioner and the witnesses in court but in other cases it is not manda- tory that they appear in open court. 4. H: R. 11204 (Public Law No. 296) exempts from provisions of Immigration Act of 1924 certain Spanish subjects residents of Porto Rico on April 11, 1899. 368 NaTIONAL EpucaTion ASSOCIATION BYLAWS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION ARTICLE I Objects The objects of the Department of Adult Education shall be: I. To promote the establishment of classes and schools wherein all people above the compulsory school age may learn to speak, read and write the English language, and prepare to become intelligent, loyal, and law- abiding citizens of the United States. II. To promote such attitudes and activities through the medium of the public school and other agencies as will most expeditiously and most thoroughly instruct all adults in the fundamentals of education, such as the reading, writing and speaking of English, geography, history, and civics and bring about unity of feeling and ideals among all the people of the United States, both native and foreign born. III. To work for the adequate training of teachers, supervisers and directors to carry on this work. IV. To urge the appointment of state directors of adult education in all states. t V. To facilitate every cooperation between the various states and the tederal government, whereby the state departments of education and the departments of the federal government which deal particularly with the education and naturalization of adults, may each understand their re- spective functions and work in harmony and to one purpose. VI. To encourage adequate financial support and effective direction, supervision, and instruction in this field in all states in which the need exists. ARTICLE II Members Section I. Active members of the National Education Association who are engaged for full time or part time in the work of teaching, super- vising, or administering adult education of students above the compulsory day school age in the use of the English language, in American history and government, or in preparation for naturalization, and all persons who are engaged in preparing persons to do this work, are entitled to become active members of the Department of Adult Education upon the payment of the annual fee of one dollar. Everyone who is interested in the educa- tion of the native or foreign born adult in the reading, writing, and speak- ing of English, geography, history, and civics, will be welcomed to all meetings of the department, but only active members may participate in the business of the department. Section II. Members of the Department of Adult Education shall be entitled to receive a free copy of the proceedings when issued and will be DepartMENT OF ApuLT EpucaTion 369 entitled to such other consideration as may be decided upon by the Depart- ment. ARTICLE III Officers Section I. The officers of the Department of Adult Education shall consist of a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. They shall be elected annually at the last formal session of the Depart- ment to serve for one year, or until their successors are duly elected. No one shall be eligible to any office in the Department who is not an active member of the National Education Association, and no person shall hold the same office in the Department for more ‘than two years in succession. ‘These four officers shall constitute the executive com- mittee. Section II. In case of the resignation or death of the President of the Department, the’ office shall be filled by the Vice-President. Any other vacancy in the Department shall be filled by appointment by the President of the Department. Section III. The Treasurer shall, on the first of each month, send to the Secretary of the National Education Association the amount re- ceived for dues during the preceding month. ‘This is to be credited to the Department of Adult Education and added to the amount allowed the Department by the: National Education Association for expenses. This money can be expended only for the Department of Adult Educa- tion and under its direction. Section IV. The Executive Committee shall hold a meeting imme- diately following the last session of the annual meeting of the Department. ARTICLE IV Election of Officers Section I. A committee on nominations shall be appointed by the Presi- dent of the Department and notified in writing of their appointment to such committees at least three months prior to the date of the meeting at which their report is to be submitted. Section If. The Committee on Nominations shall consist of seven mem- bers of the Department who shall represent both the native and foreign born problem. At least three members shall reside east and three west of the Mississippi river and no two shall reside in the same state. Section III. Ihe Committee on Nominations shall report at the annual meeting in which they shall present to the Convention the name of at least one person for election to each of the four following offices: Presi- dent, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Additional nominations may be made from the floor. Section IV. The election shall be by individual written ballot or by one ballot cast by the Secretary, as the members present shall decide. 370 NatTionaL EpucatTion ASSOCIATION ARTICLE V Meetings and Sessions Section I. The annual meeting of the Department shall be held at the same time and place as the annual meeting of the National Education Association. However, if not otherwise instructed at the annual meeting, the President may also arrange a meeting in connection with the Depart- ment of Superintendence if he thinks it advisable. Section II. Two regular sessions wath formal programs shall be held at the annual meeting. Section III. In addition, an informal conference of state directors of adult education shall be held at the time of the annual convention, and the President of the Department is expected to make every effort to have a representative from every state in attendance at this conference. If a state does not have a state director of adult education, the President of the Department may invite some other public school official to attend from that state. Section IV. At the annual convention, and at the mid-winter meeting if held, dinner discussions and exhibits may be arranged for, if the Presi- dent of the Department thinks it advisable. ; Section V. No paper, lecture, nor address shall be read before the De- partment in the absence of the author, without the unanimous approval of the members present. ' ARTICLE VI Program The program of the Department shall be prepared by the President after consultation with the President of the National Education Association, and shall be arranged to conform with his ideas. ‘The President of the Department shall also confer with the other officers of the Department. ARTICLE VII Committees Section I. A Committee on Nominations shall be appointed as provided for in Article IV of these by-laws. Section II. An Auditing Committee, to consist of three members of the Deparment, shall be appointed by the Department at the first session of the annual meeting, all nominations being made from the floor. No member of the Executive Committee shall be eligible for membership on the Auditing Committee. The Auditing Committee shall audit the books of the Treasurer and shall make a report to the Department. Section III. A committee on Resolutions to consist of three members of the Department shall be appointed by the President at the first session of the annual meeting, and except by unanimous consent, all resolutions shall be referred to said committee without discussion. This committee DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION 371 shall receive and consider all resolutions proposed by active members, or referred to it by the President. Immediately at the close of the first ses- sion, the Committee on Resolutions shall hold a meeting at a place to be announced by the President, for the purpose of receiving proposed resolu- tions and hearing those who may wish to advocate them. All resolutions shall be presented in written form. Section IV. The President of the Department shall appoint all com- mittees except when otherwise provided for by the bylaws or otherwise ordered by the Department. Section V. No committee shall be continued beyond the time of the meeting at which it was to report unless so ordered by the Department. ARTICLE VIII Amendments These bylaws may be amended at any annual meeting by a two thirds vote of those present and voting, provided a written notice of the proposed amendment or amendments has been presented to the members of the De- partment two weeks before such action is taken. >a apy ajaet at eisie lids! nowy aha A] : thanlr owt. 6, ta bapggouq oil? Rage ‘bb ti oCfeads. tn aiglenyin sit ag.datees i: ald! ince e Wi ieans: me at. a9 rte }" ‘re regen © Sie is a Vek ; 7 . Fr (= a Vis ENE WA Oy We cee oe ths Aasatltd eRe vi iakinpar teic'’ he Pyentear al le Maton Pewisdey aa od Olt Bevartanied te Aoalnee Sth ‘os ideks, Cl te Piesgeaes ti ouatetenl stall a= worse | tyke hic ‘mies Offe BF =i ligrevutipe *¢ tagh aig en iyt ~ etgiase tart: oa lerstiga ad a . Re A WEAR Conran hee. Phe aitiny: Cfwiaiere Rf Sted! the 6 ; 5} - he TD pee tad “itl sigh yf dete ora. Cigar ley > Mt pei A Risen e tere Gee lek Supe ay &pad-vsl Lutes ee 1 eodd 4 inti, sea! * upeadoted, seth > Pret Any ow ro ae “ne siren, ae Gal enw wiktepyt, sarod y << ' fw +s 4 Department of Business Education created in response to a petition read at the meeting at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., July 12, 1892, from the Business Educators’ ‘Association, re- questing admission as a department of the National Education Association. See Proceedings 1892: 31. The Business Educators’ Association was organized in New York City, in 1878. Its constitution was re- vised for acceptance by the Department of Business Education and may be found on page 958 of the Pro- ceedings of 1894. The officers of the Department for the year 1926-27 are: President, John G. Kirk, Director of Com- mercial Education, Philadelphia Public Schools, 17 - and Pine Streets, Philadelphia, Pa.; Vice-President, EK. G. Blackstone, Commercial Teacher Training, State University of Iowa, Iowa City, lowa; Secre- tary, Elizabeth Baker, Teacher, Commercial High School, Atlanta, Ga. This Department meets once each year in June. Facts relating to the establish- ment of this Department and the record of meetings are found in earlier Proceedings as follows: y i (HE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS EDUCATION Was 1893 :787-807 1894 :957-990 1895 :862-891 1896 :791-836 1897 :792-285 1898 :856-893 1899 :998-1031 1900 :542-582 1901 :721-758 1902 :644-702 1903 :719-753 1904 :709-737 1905 :669-707 1907 :877-905 1908: 871-907 1909: 701-719 1910: 833-873 1911: 827-869 1912 :1031-1095 1913: 619-637 [374] 1914 649-663 1915 :883-941 1916 :361-397 1917 :315-345 1918 :235-249 1919 :259-271 1920 :263-271 1921 :369-377 1922 :575-591 1923 :553-568 1924 :429-439 1925 :354-365 ATTITUDE OF WORKER TOWARD INCREASING HIS BODIES OF KNOWLEDGE AND IMPROVING HIS SKILL—ABSTRACT R. H. LANDSBURGH, SECRETARY OF LABOR AND INDUSTRY HARRISBURG, PA. AGERNESS of the individual worker for his own development through further education has been increasing constantly through the last few years. This is true because time has allowed individual workers to see the results which have been achieved by others through additional education along the specific lines of their interests. The increase in evening and correspondence education is sufficient to prove this. Evening instruction is not only carried on as a regular part of the public school system of cities of any considerable size, but it has now formed for some years a regular portion of the activities of many of the leading universities of the country. So important has this branch of educa- tion become that it is now carried on by many of our colleges, not only in the cities in which they are located, but through extension courses in other surrounding cities. “Thus the University of Pennsylvania has for some years been conducting evening courses in Philadelphia, which enrol several thou- sand students yearly and in addition has been conducting extension schools in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Reading, Harrisburg, and Williamsport. Prac- tically all of the students in those university evening and extension schools are workers whose eagerness to learn and to develop is constantly the subject of comment on the part of those who instruct in these schools. Time has shown that such evening school instruction not only betters the opportunities tor the individual in the business with which he may happen to be connected, but broadens his horizon and his field of opportunity elsewhere. However, there are certain influences working to dampen the ardor of the worker to increase his knowledge. One occurs when an individual employer sponsors further education of a group of workers and then does not recognize their additional value to him resulting from such education. This makes for dissatisfaction in the individual, and tends to retard the progress of other workers who are told by those affected that additional specific education does not necessarily bring results. ‘Therefore, educa- tional programs, worked out in cooperation with individual employers must never be over-sold to the workers. In commercial education the increase in the teaching of accountancy has led to some difficulties because sufficient accounting positions for those who qualify are not available. This has caused many trained men and women to remain on strictly bookkeeping work and to spend their additional efforts and their money without corresponding return. Of course, much of the reason for the influx into accounting training during the past ten years has been development of the new field of income tax accountancy. Hearing of the large fees paid in certain cases for expert advice on the income tax, many office workers have directed their attention to accountancy training [375] 376 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION eee because of the field which they have felt to have existed in income tax work. This problem of office workers has become acute in recent years through sudden increase in compensation to the skilled tradesman, whose increased wages have ordinarily not been the result of any educational work. The opportunities afforded to skilled tradesmen in this generation are such that an ever increasing amount of educational effort must be directed toward replacing, through our educational system, the old-time apprentice, who, because of present social and industrial conditions, has largely been elimi- nated from our social fabric. Numerous plans are on foot in many cities to replace, through the educa- tion system, the skilled tradesman of the present for the skilled tradesman of the future. Of course, wherever feasible the whole educational effort of an individual youth should be directed early toward the trades, if that is to be his field. However, there will always be thousands of cases of young men who have felt that they desire the life of the white collar job, as it is usually called, who later find themselves unfitted to this type of work. Surely there must be educational means to provide for their desires. I feel that if such educational means were now generally available some of the surplus of office workers would be quickly made over into mechanics so badly needed by many of our industries. y The worker has been somewhat over-sold on the possibilities that are his or hers through education for executive and managerial positions. Too often we have attempted to make executives by teaching executive problems. when the workers being taught have not had the fundamental ground work or experience to either absorb the instruction or, if able to absorb the in- struction theoretically, to place it into practice. It is a general complaint of industry that a large percent of graduates of our universities are thinking only of executive positions. Executive is usually interpreted in this connection as meaning an absence of detail, the direction of others, flat top desk in one room, and an ante-chamber in which visitors may wait. Although the picture a college graduate has is doubtless frequently over-drawn, it is a fact that not only in our colleges but in all of our schools there has been recently too much attention paid to outlining the advantages that accrue in executive positions without calling to the attention of the students the fact that the number of such positions is neces- sarily limited and that equal opportunities probably exist elsewhere. The enthusiasm of the workers toward increasing his bodies of knowledge and skill should not be dampened by over-selling the opportunities of executive positions. Rather his or her enthusiasm should be stimulated in the direc- tions in which real opportunity actually is to be found. The attitude of the worker toward improving his skill combines an ex- treme eagerness to learn and to widen his abilities, with proper caution that he see the opportunity to reap financial benefits from his efforts. Those who are giving the instruction should be careful to see that this instruction is of the character that will not only bring results to the individ- ual but will encourage others to develop themselves. DEPARTMENT OF Business EpucaTION 377 THE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS OF WORKERS IN BUSINESS—A BRIDGED R. HELEN STEVENSON, EMPLOYMENT SUPERVISOR, BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA, PA. The social relationships of workers in business are inextricably merged with the readily recognized business relationships, but they have not been given their real position of importance in their influence upon the business relationship until recent years, and the fact that a preparation, by training and study, for these relationships is of real and material value not only to the employer but to the employee is at last appreciated by all who have seriously considered the situation. ‘These social relationships in business are the contacts between the worker and employer, the worker with the co-worker and that of the whole organi- zation as well as every worker unit in it with the public. Goodwill so often valued and placed among business assets, is the mone- tary value of the social relationship of the business with the public. And the social relationship of a business organization as a whole with the public is largely influenced and is dependent upon the social relationship of each individual in that organization, who reaches the public in a business way. So also do the social relationships within the organization, those be- tween co-workers, and those between supervising authority and workers, affect not only the internal welfare of the organization but also its social relationship with the public. It is manifestly impossible for a business organization to fulfil in full measure, its public business obligations, if its internal mechanism is corroded by a social relationship which is below par. This social relationship in business is a state of internal business health and is good or bad as those attributes which make it apparent are present in greater or less degree. These are confidence in those employed with one, confidence in ability— confidence in business honesty—confidence in the fellow employees desire to play fair. But confidence is not all; that is the foundation and like all foundations is deep below the surface. But the manifestation of goodwill by one to an- other breeds kindliness of'thought and action, and this is true within a busi- ness organization and in the social relations of any business with the public, and nothing perhaps better exemplifies the confidence referred to than the ability at all times to conduct oneself with serenity and kindliness of manner. Why not start the child in school upon a course of study embracing good manners, business etiquette, general courtesy, as soon as he can understand the significance of every act and by the time the technical training is taken up the good manners will have become an established habit, a lifelong asset in business. And this training would be an asset to the employer, to the business organization, just as it would be to the worker. 378 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION a The early training in business manners tends to establish a fixed habit of good business etiquette and when that training shall have become a usual precedent to the entry of the individual into business life, it will go far toward immunizing the business organization against any epidemic of bad manners, and will in itself automatically bring into existence a good social relationship between the individuals who have been so trained, and, through them, between the organization of which they are members and the public. The training of the individual advocated here is not the only means at our hands of establishing and improving the social relationship in business. It must be remembered that business, as we look upon it, from the view- point of our various commercial organizations, cannot exist without the public, the community—they need commercial organizations and they are the cause of existence, the reason for continuance and the hope and means of success of the commercial enterprise, of which commercial business organi- zations are the operating machines. It is, therefore, of the highest importance to the commercial organiza- tion that it establish and maintain a good social relationship with the pub- lic, and this social relationship must necessarily be one in business, for the contact of the commercial with the public is a business relationship. This existence of this good social relationship depends primarily on con- fidence. We must have confidence as a foundation and for the bedrock upon which that confidence can be established and maintained there must be service—and then as the structure is raised we add good mannets, the result of training either before or after the beginning of the business ven- ture, willingness to play fair, desire to learn, and loyalty to the army in which one is enrolled and the good social relationship in business, in the case of the individual or the organization, is easily recognized. Where all these fundamental elements are present the result is a sure, certain, efficient, friendly cheerfulness, the cheerfulness of success. It is one of the rewards for merit of this good social relationship in business, and it and these deep rooted and firmly established virtues of business are the reasons why. The voice with the smile wins! ATTITUDES AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN BUSIN ESS—A BST RACT G. S. CHILDS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF OFFICE MANAGERS, AND OFFICE MANAGER, ALEXANDER HAMILTON INSTITUTE, NEW YORK CITY The subject of my talk necessarily divides itself into two’ considerations: Attitude which, to my mind, is your great responsibility and character. de- velopment in business which is our task. ‘The combined efforts of you and of us open the way to producing a living soul—a personality—rather than a more or less imperfect machine. Let us forget appearances and concern ourselves with realities. We want people to amount to something, to have ideals, to add something vital to DEPARTMENT oF Business Eptvcation 379 SE cael yew net thie t atE ae R E the life of things around them. As a matter of fact, appearances are most discouraging. Realities are most inspiring. It is true that in the real of realities, we seldom know what enthusiasm, interest, and effort on our part actually produce. As teachers you may feel that in many instances you are accomplishing little because the students do not seem to show any marked response to your efforts. What business wants is to make money to be successful. But, this goal is reached only by service rendered and effectiveness in rendering it. You know from your own experience that there are certain stores where you dis- like to deal because of the discourtesy and attitudes of the clerks. Con- sidering the factors of competition, such establishments are seriously handi- capped. Let us consider your part in this great responsibility. ‘There are certain basic moral qualities which the home and school influence must establish. I have in mind such principles as honesty, morality, and the development of the actual working attitude. Another important point in the establishment of attitude lies in what you do to bring about what might be called mental stimulation. “There are many other important factors, including loyalty, enthusiasm, stick-to-it-iveness and that people shall have a purpose prag- matic enough to guide them. A person without any definite purpose is like a ship without a rudder. Our side of the problem is character development in business. The con- scientious business man must assume a real responsibility in the fact that the best part of the waking time of his people is spent in business. Failure on our part to give anything to our people aside from the pay envelope is certainly falling far short of our responsibilities, because our people are entitled to gain such guidance and help as will result in development of their character. It is beyond argument that, if a business wants to get something worthwhile from its people, it must maintain an attitude of help- fulness and interest that will result in bringing to the front the higher qualities of the individual. ‘The success of a business is materially limited or eliminated by its failure to get its people to give something of their real selves to the business. We do not know the possibilities of people that pass through our hands. Edison was an errand boy and Schwab a peddler. We have a privilege and a responsibility. Anyone would be thrilled to know that he had played a material part in the development of an Edison, a Schwab, or a Roosevelt, or a Lincoln. COMMERCIAL EDUCATION FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE DEPARTMENT STORE—ABSTRACT W. PATTERSON ATKINSON, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Too often products of business schools are really open to charges of fraud by reason of false pretenses. This is because they too often approach actual occupation with the thinnest veneer of knowledge. 380 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION lee nS ip De a eg cae Iota te TB NS ing Sr a en Se Commercial education—what is it? It may not mean business adminis- tration or secretarial training or the old fashioned ‘‘business course,” but from the standpoint of a department store, it may include all now taught in schools of business and more, or it should contain a great deal less. We find in the curricula of business schools twenty or more subjects listed, for example: business English, bookkeeping, accounting, corre- spondence, arithmetic, salesmanship. Now a department store organiza- tion includes sections concerned with transportation, auditing, bookkeeping, accounting, selling, managing, inspecting, delivering, adjusting. So it looks as if the school opened a beautiful vista with a rose-strewn path down to the welcoming door of the department store. But does instruction in any of these subjects help an individual in a de- partment store? Yes, it is undoubtedly helpful in such things as sten- ography, typewriting, punctuation, grammar, spelling, simple arithmetic, penmanship. In others, such as accounting, business management, business forms, possibly—and that possibly is faint. In still others, such as business correspondence, business English, and bookkeeping, the answer is “No.’”’ Can there be such a thing as business English? It sounds like a foreign language. Does it mean terminology? Can there be such a thing as business correspondence? Real offices in real department stores are, we trust, grammatically correct, civilized, and some- what cultured. So a letter written from such an office should conform to correctness and the points of excellence found in all letters. Furthermore, that letter should be couched in the words, phrases, and sentences used by gentlemen everywhere. As for bookkeeping, the new mechanical system has practically done away with the old method. And finally one great consideration must be considered as operative in many stores: that is the old system of apprenticeship. Many large organiza- tions prefer to train their own people in their own way, provided they can do a little arithmetic correctly and not murder the king’s English too cruelly, and make themselves understood by visible signs. The conclusion of the whole matter is as the poet feelingly explained, a little learning is a dangerous thing, and we may add a smattering of much is worse. THE PRINCIPLES OF COMMERCIAL EDUCATION ABSTRACT PAUL S. LOMAX, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY NEW YORK CITY The number of students enrolled in commercial subjects represents one of the major groups in our secondary school population, and the same thing is becoming rapidly true of our colleges-and universities. The commercial subjects that are offered these students have greatly increased in number and have become diversified in character. DreaARTMENT OF Business EpUCATION 381 This situation suggests an all-important question. What is the con- tribution that commercial education should make in the complete, well- rounded education of American youth who are to be equipped, as members of the business world, to render a business service that will result in best self-realization consistent with best social progress? This is a far more fundamental question than merely to determine what business men say they want or what surveys of business situations reveal to be true. ‘This major question in turn suggests the need of a set of guiding prin- ciples of commercial education that will square with best educational theory and practice. What are some of these principles that are needed to evaluate our present-day commercial education in common with all education? Here are two illustrations. First, a philosophy of commercial education—lf{ education is the deciding factor in the improvement of business as a social institution, what philosophy of life is to guide the business man and the commercial educator in their cooperative enterprise? “To what ends and along what lines and with what methods would they seek to improve business through education? Second, a unity of education embodied in the commercial curriculum— Every high school curriculum, commercial or otherwise, pursued by a stu- dent, should enable him to cope successfully with his personal physical life, family life, civic life, recreational life, character life, and vocational life. Leave out any one of these major elements and the child is crippled for life, for he has not had a unity of education to harmonize with the unity of life. Hence so-called academic and commercial education should become comple- mentary to one another. “They should be a unity in terms of the many- sided experience of life, each the richer, broader, and more educative be- cause of the other. Commercial educators will not be able to make their best contribution to American education in behalf of the social progress of business and of the great army of young men and women who annually enter the business world to endeavor to contribute to that progress, until such educators are guided by a philosophy, sociology, psychology, research, and leadership of the highest order. RELATION OF COMMERCIAL EDUCATION TO THE PUBLIC'S ATTITUDE TOWARD BUSINESS ABSTRACT HERBERT P. SHEETS, SECRETARY-TREASURER, NATIONAL RETAIL HARDWARE ASSOCIATION, INDIANAPOLIS, IND. For many generations most of the school texts have been filled with business examples presenting erroneous profit theories, and students have been taught that the difference between merchandise cost and selling price is profit or gross profit. Because of such texts and such teaching the boy who in his first business venture bought a pig for $1 and later sold the shoat for $6, figured he had 382 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION ~~ + made a profit of $5, no thought being given to the cost of the feed con- sumed by the porker nor to the risk involved in its raising. On the same theory merchants are often thought of as making enormous profits from their business when as a matter of fact operating and other costs involved in getting goods to the consumer are such that there is often no profit whatever on certain items. It is an unfortunate circumstance also that many people go into business believing profits are large and easy, only to learn their error by experience, often when too late to save their investment; and if, perchance, they realize their mistake in time they must unlearn a lot of misinformation taught in the schools and get a new understanding of the problems, complexities, and compensation of business as found in actual practice. The campaign for correct terminology has appealed to every thinking teacher who knows that the examples used in school work should be a re- flection of the problems of real business rather than a repetition of the faulty concepts of the past. Believing it to be in the public interest as well as the business interest to have correct profit terminology taught in our schools, the National Retail Hardware Association has made a thorough study of the arithmetic texts most commonly used for school purposes, and found that 96 of the 100 books studied contained 4560 business examples erroneously stated in respect to profit, percentages, and otherwise. Each of these examples was rewritten so as to conform to modern termi- nology and reports were made to 26 publishers with the recommendation that such corrected terminology be adopted for future issues. Some of these publishers have already issued new arithmetic series in which the recommendations have been followed, margin taking the place of gross profit and profit, where erroneously used, and profit being used only in its true sense of actual profit. This has been counted as an outstanding accomplishment by educational authorities and business organizations, and as a marked step of progress towards the training of school children to think correctly in respect to busi- ness transactions. It is recognized that it profits the public little to think of and call profit that which is not profit, and that the public is not bene- fitted by the high business mortality and resultant economic loss so often ea by the misinformation and unpreparedness of those who go into usiness. COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL—ABSTRACT JAMES M. GLASS, DIRECTOR OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, HARRISBURG, PA. The junior high school is a clearinghouse where long-standing obligations to adapt secondary education to the social and vocational needs of modern society are being liquidated. DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS EDUCATION 383 Each early adolescent pupil of the junior high school has an inherited right to be informed upon the common practices of the business world. A new general course of junior business training acquaints the pupils with accounts, bills, invoices, receipts, filing systems, budgets, banking, insurance, and the established customs of business with which everyday life is asso- ciated. Any plan of education which omits these actual life needs fails to discharge a long-standing debt to modern life and is, to this extent, in- complete. A general introductory course of business education similar to the course in Junior Business Training should be adopted. The new course should be a logical progression from general educational values of business education made obligatory upon all pupils to the introductory vocational values of business and office practice made elective to pupils who enter the business world. Business education in the junior high school is comprised of a required general course in one semester of the eighth year, followed by an elective general course of vocational commercial training and typewriting in the second semester of the eighth year, and completed in the ninth year by an advanced general course of unified elementary bookkeeping, business prac- tice, and typewriting. The junior high school initiates and the senior high school completes secondary education. Business education in the junior high school must be constituted on introductory courses which will lead naturally and gradually to the completion of the commercial curriculum of the senior high school. THE NEED FOR SUPERVISION IN COMMERCIAL EDUCA TION—ABSTRACT EARL W. BARNHART, CHIEF, COMMERCIAL EDUCATION SERVICE, FEDERAL BOARD FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. Experience has shown that supervision is as necessary in education as in productive industry. Employers of large numbers of workers have found that group production is increased by the activities of foremen, heads of departments, and other minor executives in guiding groups of workers to- wards the goal sought by the management. In the same way public school officials are finding out that the goal they seek is more nearly reached when through supervision teachers are given leadership in professional improve- ment and assistance and guidance in selecting objectives and methods. If a group of teachers waste through misdirected effort, 10 percent of the school time, then 10 percent of the salary cost of the group is wasted. If a supervisor of several hundred commercial teachers, such as are found in a state or large city school system, can reduce this waste but half, he will save the taxpayers several times his own salary without counting the value of the increased efficiency from other outcomes of his work. The cost of supervision is thus apparent rather than real for the expenditure brings a 384 NationaL Epucation AssocIATION many-fold return. When those in charge of a large state or city school system wherein practically 40-50 percent of all the high school pupils are enrolled in commercial courses, do not provide professional leadership through expert supervision, they are apparently as indifferent to the waste of public money and of precious human opportunities as factory executives who employ no foreman. The fundamental problems in commercial education center about what to teach the youth who are preparing for employment in offices and stores. Business men are quite emphatic in pointing out that our commercial courses are not teaching what is required for success in modern business offices. Thus, the National Retail Hardware Association, for instance, reports that they found in 100 textbooks over +500 arithmetic problems which were not based upon a correct use of the word “profit.” ‘The waste of school time in this topic in arithmetic alone would seem to be somewhat more than 10 per cent to say nothing of the additional waste resulting from the errone- ous ideas gained by the pupils. Similar waste in much of the instruction in all commercial subjects would seem to be preventable through supervision which brings into the classroom the practices and standards of business. The ultimate purpose of supervision is commonly considered to be the improvement of teaching. As teaching has for its general objective certain desirable changes in the thinking and activities of those being taught, behind every judgment as to what constitutes good teaching lies an idea of the nature of the changes considered desirable. In those commercial subjects which are intended to give preparation for employment in offices and stores the desirable changes are those which contribute towards developing the knowledge, attitudes, and skills required for satisfactory service in office and store work. What abilities beginners in business need to have must be learned from a study of what beginners are required to do both for satisfac- tory service as beginners and for promotion within the first few years. One of the primary responsibilities of a supervisor, therefore, is to act as a leader in making these studies. When the information about occupational require- ments is available, he then sees that the teachers make such changes in the content they teach and the method they use as will develop as far as possible the abilities. found to be desirable. In this way the supervisor brings about more effective teaching, and increased efficiency in the work of the com- mercial teachers. ARTICULATION IN. THE TEACHING OF BOOKKEEPING . AND ACCOUNTING—ABSTRACT CONNER T. JONES, WEST PHILADELPHIA HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS PHILADELPHIA, PA: Bookkeeping and accounting are very closely related subjects, one being more or less a continuation of the other. In fact, authorities disagree re- garding the point of demarcation, and as one investigates the matter he js forced to the conclusion that no sharp line of distinction really exists but DEPARTMENT OF BusinEss EDUCATION 385 rather that there is a twilight zone in which bookkeeping blends into accounting. There are several lines of activity which the students of the secondary school may enter upon completion of their course. Some accept positions as bookkeepers, some enter more general lines of business occupations, while others attend the university schools of commerce. The secondary schools are faced with the task of acceptably preparing young people to fill any of these occupations. The university schools of commerce are likewise asked to prepare students for widely varied work. On the one hand, some of the students find em- ployment as technical accountants, while others enter fields in which a knowledge of accounting is used in an interpretative way. _ One of the problems of the university is the unequal technical prepara- tion of the students who ask to study accounting. Some may present up to three years of bookkeeping and are consequently well grounded. Others, graduates of the academic or general high school courses, lack even the simplest knowledge of bookkeeping. Some universities are meeting this condition by offering intensive courses in bookkeeping, often catalogued as “preparatory accounting,” to students who cannot demonstrate the posses- sion of a good working knowledge of bookkeeping. Observation discloses that there is a wide variety in the scope, content, and quality of bookkeeping instruction in the secondary school. ‘The same statement may be made regarding the instruction in accounting in the university, where too frequently the courses are shaped by the personal interest and limited knowledge of the instructors rather than upon the needs. Employment surveys show that but a small percent of former commercial students are actually keeping books, but that they are rather scattered through all branches of business and industry. “This condition clearly indi- cates that it is the obligation of the teachers in the secondary school com- mercial course and in the university school of commerce to prepare their students to become business men and women and not merely bookkeepers. Bookkeeping and accounting, however, form the most direct avenues to a knowledge of a business. The accountant in his capacity of fiscal historian of a business acquires a most intimate and comprehensive knowledge of the affairs of the business. And so I may well emphasize that after the state- ments and balance sheet have been prepared by the bookkeeper or accountant they should be used in interpreting the condition of the business. It seems that at present the efforts of the secondary school and the university may best be coordinated if the secondary school will drill in accuracy until accuracy becomes a habit; offer sufficient routine drill to prepare students for bookkeeping positions, which are mostly routine in character; acquaint students with business technic and practice, thus pre- paring for the office and at the same time clearing the path for the more profound discussion of accounting principles in the university; and encour- age those students with mental characteristics which make for success in accounting to continue their studies in university schools of business, 386 NaTIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION IMPROVEMENT OF INSTRUCTION IN SHORTHAND— ABSTRACT JUVENILIA CASEMAN, BUFFALO, N. Y. Since learning is reacting and is never a passive process, the reactions to which we give birth result in learning. Thus shorthand teaching should follow a procedure based on precise practice and presented in life situations. The procedure outlined is: The pupil must be made to appreciate the need to learn the shorthand. This need is presented in the form of a problem to write and read short- hand symbols. The teacher sets the model of the shorthand outlines on the board. Then the pupil imitates this model. He evaluates and criticizes his own work. Drill is given on the outlines to be mastered and the entire sentence is then practiced. The teacher tests the pupil to show teaching results in the pupil learning. The shorthand lesson is presented to the class following the above steps and each new consonant, vowel, or rule learned is given in the form of a sentence situation, however simple, and the need for the new skill is shown the pupil. The pupil is led to solve the problem by his knowledge of the shorthand symbols. General and specific objectives have been set up for the teaching of short- hand. They are: To acquaint students with stenographic requirements and with the oppor- tunities in the stenographic, secretarial, and reporting fields. To develop stenographic or secretarial power by an effective correlation of technical skill, with a knowledge of business procedure. To develop in the pupils a thorough knowledge of the principles of short- hand and to build that degree of skill in the use of these principles which is essential in taking dictation and transcribing on the typewriter. To inculcate in the pupils specific workmanship standards, attitudes, and appreciations to serve as standards of conduct in the use of specific short- hand knowledges and skills in business situations. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RECENT STUDIES IN TYPEWRIT- ING—A BST RACT CLYDE E. ROWE, HEAD OF THE COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT, CARRICK HIGH SCHOOL, PITTSBURG, PA. Hundreds of dollars and hours, to say nothing of mental energy and agony can eventually be saved by the further development of research in typewriting. Research in this field is now in comparative infancy, but several recent studies based on psychology with analyses of time, motions, and copy point to a great increase in efficiency of instruction in typewriting. We can DEPARTMENT OF Bustingss EpuCATION 387 scarcely expect to improve instruction in typewriting until we know more about the mental, muscular, and mechanical factors involved and their co- ordination. Every teacher may become a self-appointed research worker, and keep in touch with what is being done through magazines and univer- sities. ‘The time may then be not far distant when typewriting instruction and textbooks might become so efficient that typewriting could be learned in half the time and with half the present effort. As commercial teachers, we must be practical, for our work is tested by no general academic standard, but by a practical one. The way to more practical instruction is through the gate of research. TEACHING TRANSCRIPTION—ABSTRACT ESTHER E. HANNA, WEST NEW YORK, N. J. It should be the aim of every shorthand teacher to have pupils turn out perfect transcripts in the shortest possible time, rather than to teach a few shorthand principles, then transcription, then accuracy, and finally speed with accuracy. Transcription is certainly more than the ability to read shorthand notes and the ability to type that which is read back. Of course these two abili- ties are absolutely essential; but so also are the abilities to estimate the length of the letter, arrange the letter in correct form, spell, divide words into syllables, punctuate, paragraph, supply an appropriate word when an outline has been omitted or is illegible, recognize quotations, etc. These abilities may all be inculcated in the mind of the student by much practice. In fact they should all become habits, With the very first lesson the work of transcription should begin. First “mixed drills” should be used. By ‘‘mixed drills’ I mean work written partly in longhand and partly in shorthand. Paragraph work as used in graded readings is far more effective than isolated sentences because it creates more interest. It has been said, and rightly so, that if a student can write accurately and without hesitation the first thousand words he need not worry about the less frequently used words. As a part of the work in one of Mr. Barnhart’s classes at Columbia University last summer a committee of three attempted to show how the shorthand teacher can correlate short- hand, typewriting, and business English. We used Thorndike’s thousand word list and composed eight types of letters, each illustrating a different construction or arrangement of letter. We also attempted to’ show how one letter could be varied so that the same letter need néver be used a second time. Every letter which is transcribed should be arranged in correct business style as taught in the typewriting class, which by the way, should be taught by the same teacher. Every transcript should be carefully checked either by the teacher in charge or by some student-checking plan, 288 NatioNaL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION METHODS AND VALUES IN THE TEACHING OF SALES- MANSHIP—ABSTRACT HELEN HAYNES, EMMERICH MANUAL TRAINING HIGH SCHOOL INDIANAPOLIS, IND. ‘Too many students are finishing high school with no vocational aim and drifting into the first vacant position with no thought of their real fitness for the position or their opportunities for growth in it. One of the chief values of the course in retail selling, which is the most desirable course for a high school, is that it offers the student an opportunity to try out an occupation under the best possible conditions without loss of time. The student’s program of studies is arranged so that it includes the required academic studies, a class in the theory of retail management and salesman- ship, and time for practical work in a cooperating store. As the store is cooperating with the school, the conditions for work are more favorable for the student than for the ordinary new worker. The classroom work in salesmanship enables the student to interpret his store experience and make the necessary adjustments. The follow-up of the student on the job makes the adjustment to the business world easier for the student. The stores are glad to cooperate, for many of the students enter their employ. “Those who enter the permanent employ of the store do so because their experience has shown them it is the kind of work they really care for and not because it is an easy job. The assisting of the salesmanship classes in the promotion of various school enterprises is also a very desirable adjunct. Planning devices that will make appeals to their fellow students, and organizing campaigns give invaluable training in clear thinking. Such experience obtained from in- tiuencing the thoughts and actions of people is as valuable as any other acquisition that an education gives. SIGNIFICANCE OF RECENT RESEARCHES IN BOOKKEEP- ING—ABSTRACT LLOYD L. JONES, VOCATIONAL COUNSELOR, WEST COMMERCE HIGH SCHOOL CLEVELAND, OHIO The Cleveland bookkeeping committee has just completed a piece of work which is indicative of what teachers might do and can do out in the field. The following questions or problems came up before the bookkeeping committee for consideration: - Has bookkeeping a place in high school? . In what year or years of high school should it be taught? Tile Re 2 i 2 , : { 3 phat do you, as a banker, want the financial records of your customers to show? we be vat What does the revenue department of federal and state governments want financial records to show? DEPARTMENT OF Business EpucaTion 389 ———_—_______.. = = rer 5. What do you, as a business man, want your financial records to show? 6. What do you, as a public accountant or auditor, want financial records to show ? 7. What do you, as an accountant, bookkeeper or bookkeeper’s assistant, do? 8. What do you, as a citizen, or as an officer charged with the duty of enforcing the law, want financial records to show? 9. What traits of character do you, as a business man, want your bookkeeper to possess? : 10. What historical or social information can be used to dignify the bookkeeper’s job and assist in bringing about realization of these objectives? The first two of these questions were answered in general by E. W. Barn- hart in “Senior Commercial Occupations Survey.” These same questions were answered specifically for Cleveland by Wm. L. Connor, research specialist, in his ““Community Background for the Commercial Course.” The members of the Cleveland bookkeeping committee went into offices, factories, and stores in order to find the answers to the remaining eight questions. Graduates and former pupils of Cleveland schools, employees, employers, bookkeepers, accountants, and business men were interviewed and lists of duties made. “These duties of the bookkeeper as the objectives of knowledges and skills together with traits of character important to the worker have been set up as objectives of the bookkeeping course. Cleveland bookkeeping teachers, bookkeeping teachers from different parts of the country, accountants, commercial education specialists, and school executives have been asked to cooperate in helping to locate the elements of the course in their correct place in each semester. ‘These opinions are coming in and they are being used statistically. “he result ought to be a course of study located in the proper place in the curriculum. THE SIGNIFIGANCE OF THE LATEST RESEARCHES IN THE ORGANIZATION OF COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS—ABSTRACT HAROLD B. BUCKLEY, SUPERVISOR OF COMMERCIAL EDUCATION, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PHILADELPHIA, PA. That promotion is more a matter of individual ability and the quality of work done than it is of the kind of position held, is one of the most remarkable conclusions from a commercial occupations survey made in 28 cities, large and small, in 23 states, with Massachusetts on the east and California on the west. A capable person may secure promotion by rendering superior service in any position, however, humble it may be. Good work always attracts attention. He who can do his job better than anyone else often dem- onstrates his ability to handle a better job. ‘Therefore, it is of little con- sequence what the job is so long as the worker “shines” in it. The greatest danger is that boys and girls will be trained for bigger jobs than they can 390 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION handle and thus be unable to attract attention to themselves by super- latively good work. The modern school realizes that success in life depends upon direct emphasis on the personal and social qualities quite as much as on educa- tional facts. The educated person must not be taught the content of a certain number of books but must know how to live as well as how to earn his own living—in a democracy the ability to earn a living is essential to good citizenship. It is the personal qualities that are fundamental in any position : Our personality—appearance, voice, and courtesy—“gets” the position. Our character—habits of accuracy, neatness, and_ self-reliance—“holds” the position. The development of our aptitudes—doing work we like—“wins” promotion. Today, the only public school commercial training which most boys and girls receive is from the junior high school since most dropouts occur in the eighth and ninth grades. Of all who enter the ninth grade 53 percent go no further. Therefore, the junior high school gives training in pre-em- ployment subjects, with emphasis on immediate placement and on promo- tional possibilities. WHAT RESEARCH CAN DO FOR COMMERCIAL EDUCA- TION—ABSTRACT FE. G. BLACKSTONE, COMMERCIAL LEADER TRAINING DIVISION, STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, IOWA CITY, IOWA If the business world is no longer run on the basis of prejudice and of opinion, the commercial teacher must likewise abandon that method of instructing his pupils and adopt a policy of measuring methods and results. Hundreds of research studies have been made in the field of commercial education within the past few years, and the teacher who is unacquainted with their findings is far behind the times and may well be apprehensive of his right to assume the responsibilities of teaching. Because of the many studies, some of which duplicate others, there is need for a central organization devoted to the control of research and to the establishment of a long-term program of research in commercial edu- cation, covering the establishment of experimental schools, the development of standardized tests for each business subject, and the like. The experimental school at the State University of Iowa offers its facili- ties to further the movement for measurement and it is likely that other experimental schools will offer their facilities likewise in order that such a central organization may begin immediately the working out of its research program, even before the necessary funds and plans can be completed for the contemplated long-term program. DEPARTMENT OF Bustness EpucaTION 391 fogged te Tr sae ST nS en SECRETARY’S MINUTES Regarding the session devoted to what business wants, it was believed that the representatives of business gave a most worthy and helpful analysis for com- mercial teachers. While the department felt more attention should be given to social relations, attitudes, and character development, it felt, also, that commercial teachers had perhaps made greater strides than other groups toward objectively determining content, organization, and methods, and that it would still be possible to accomplish more in commercial education than in other phases of education toward making contributions in the former. It was believed that Mr. Glass had given a most excellent statement of the objectives of commercial education in the junior high schools and that all junior high school students should be required to take a general business information course which would contain the common elements of business. It was the con- sensus of opinion that Mr. Barnhart had properly stated the responsibility that rests on administrators in providing for adequate supervision of commercial edu- cation and that he had excellently stated the need 23 better trained commercial teachers to take supervisory positions. In the absence of Mr. Edgeworth, Mr. Barnhart led the discussion on Thursday. Following this program devoted to research in commercial education, proposals were made regarding initiating a movement toward obtaining a fund for research in our field. In this connection C. W. D. Coffin stated that commercial education had done more for business than business had ever done for commercial educa- tion. It was pointed out that a large sum for research in commercial education would soon save many times the amount expended. Although the group were unanimously in favor of seeking the fund and believed that it should be made available, no action was taken. Mr. Malott, President of the Department, an- nounced that he had gathered from all over the United States and in a few in- stances from Europe statements setting forth the need of research and experimental schools to attack problems characteristic of commercial education regardless of size of community concerned, and to attack problems of the content, organization and presentation in communities of different sizes and types. Because of the re- searches that have been carried on in Europe regarding commercial education, an international research committee in commercial education was proposed, but not acted upon. Mr. Malott, Specialist in Commercial Education, Bureau of Educa- tion, Washington, D. C., announced that the Bureau of Education was organizing a committee on research in commercial education. The report on research, given by Mr. Blackstone, was accepted and it was believed that each of the speakers had made a contribution in estimating the significance of completed researches and in analyzing and setting forth the need of future studies regarding the sub- jects which they discussed. . Resolutions were unanimously passed regretting the absence of John J. Tigert, United States Commissioner of Education; thanking the President of the Depart- ment for his untiring efforts in arranging for the most excellent program and getting out the largest attendance that the Department had ever experienced; and extending the appreciation of the Department to the local committee, the chairman of the meetings, the speakers, and those who led the discussions for their excellent contributions to the success of the meetings. Th oe ar o. , & -~ Aan a teat i y 7 ; “J Sh Foem 3 en Kepetere dite lle Wiqhtd. hae vitrorersy ‘isin Monte sen mT? Igtmammins s81, wale, 317% 2 ayal J Frynvid> * etre is voce Tih eh insues 4 Meet, Yor evget ie ie2a Sortin, ri Fd Wire Alves ti eae RE bs Ya vend lien aT cee, . . IS lw eter sanctryih 6h a fo. ininitiets jasilooes wom & oxy bad eal? ( Ve rest bie eloosze gid, iefiy ody Sioa i mis ; tesgaen he Maal Vt veawpas a9 ae oh eve SL / “ei es Mae pOnigarn . pet Login satedt yillidinaw ah iasaae hen Soedasns, A ie ' ho pbs isipemmny), ig, a oma 12), mail iblymg . New (cite obit Yat : 5 Ries lan =A A z ok Seal a er Erie 1 Jae it bieyat oer f a6 phtennelt ade bal tts , Geo nig WotR SH ies. _{niiroaiteree. tt Hoes7 24? balk we ‘hiffnictds he i nenenubs lcigtamaregands pene a oopitha, /kiat omens wt nGom Lay getal > Rattan bre I piayseIGTOD fit Oi osesr sist aye. a payer at: wry aa fytodtt bsbasgxs type ; nteniri od bloady 1 ted) fapsiion. oho tim “Ne inamizedsll so} to inahiess"L. jal nan Hi fst @ at bbe asin Hosin? (adi oe fenaataly sq, Tig ot esa Vote lt MS “Ya ealhveno nolseghs fsinecities toy r ; AaiteS Tint ZT wishin oAl te ere tel Dey | , mri ast gat fo sen etotk © Jeorpes hie enaip oes yale Pa lSenrerws he quiies ae Nuiteribe Ieiniomimnon ghibangiy sqoiwl at Gy Kokries ased bend bn told aeons toa ist Rowe, iekusasrcarph sa ttsom, gh ovetety., ‘mba Ao hese eeomieng hi * ra i. pbiptenne Wha ve - “Rint HLA we #f Alte a fe HEDy ' hs sanlionak oor ‘i a rer wee" 2 ay’ ; vane set bro iaeroetad sed Iv tedoracue | Sadienidboeen pial are rods: Laven geineonr abate Tee ascot) neon Wis iiponerd tara eis F » - en” id 7 + Shy > « ' : 5 . ™ So Pia \ Department of Deans of Women HE DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN (National Association of Deans of Women) associated it- self with the National Education Association in 1918. Its meeting is first reported in Proceedings 1918: 391-417. The officers of the Department for the year 1926-27 are: President, Dorothy Stimson, Dean of Women, Goucher College, Baltimore, Md.; Secretary, Eliza- beth M. Hause, Dean of Girls, West Chester High School, West Chester, Pa. This Department meets once a year, in February. Facts relating to the estab- lishment of this Department and the record of meet- ings are found in earlier volumes of Proceedings as follows: 1918: 391-417 1920: 357-364 1922:693-793 1924:500-536 1925: 403-449 1919: 393-426 1921:407-420 1923: 621-636 [426] PERSONNEL WORK RELATING TO STUDIES IN COLLEGE. ABSTRACT L. B. HOPKINS, DIRECTOR OF PERSONNEL, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY ‘view emphasizes the problems of education in terms of the individual. Insofar as it exerts an influence, it affects the thinking and procedure in such matters as the content of the curriculum, the basis for the selection of instructors, methods of teaching, the basis of selection of students, the personal assistance of students in their college work and in their prepara- tion for life, including educational, vocational, and personal counseling and health and hygiene service, both mental and physical, and in the promotion and utilization of the methods of science in research in order that we may know and evaluate better the significance of individual differences. Personnel work is not a new thing in colleges, for any administrator or faculty member who has been led into helpful personal contacts with in- dividual students is, in a very real sense, a personnel worker. Some presi- dents, deans of colleges, deans of men and of women, and faculty advisers have given a major portion of their time to this type of individual service. With the increase in the number of those seeking and obtaining admis- sion to college, there has arisen the need for coordinating these efforts both in service and research and the supplementing of the work so that we may deal with the individual as a whole rather than in parts. The sympathetic appreciation and cooperation of the deans of women is essential to satisfactory progress in this work. ees WORK is not a system, but a point of view. This point of WHAT SHOULD BE DETERMINING FACTORS IN RE- QUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION TO COLLEGE EXAMINATIONS HELEN SANDISON, SECRETARY, COMMITTEE ON ADMISSIONS, VASSAR COLLEGE, POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. The subject of this conference, I take it, is to be interpreted to mean “what are the determining factors in our selection of candidates for college?” Selection is forced on us. This is true in varying degrees of every college here represented. And immediately something further is forced on us: the determination of the qualities we desire in the college freshmen whom we select. These freshmen are to come together as students to study, to learn to interpret life, past and present, in a com- munity organized for the purposes of study. It is essential then that they have intelligence; intellectual interests manifesting themselves in aggressive curiosity and independent pursuit rather than passive recep- tivity; adequate preparation both in content and in method of study for the more mature intellectual work before them; health, bodily and mental [427] 428 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION ee ESS Ge a adequate to the demands of life in the organized group. These, I believe, are the qualities we wish. How shall we find out which candidates possess then, and in what degree? The group of colleges which I represent have since 1919 made this selection by a balancing of school record, examination results, personal and health records, and the impression made in personal conference (when- ever that has been possible). Next June we shall employ for the first time as an additional feature, the scholastic aptitude tests (psychological tests) of the college board. The balance among these factors is variable; it is established separately for each individual case, one factor checking another as each personal situation seems to justify. Evidence of a less subjective nature is at hand in the decreasing number of students dropped for poor work; in the four years before the change the freshmen dropped for low standing at mid-year (out of about 300) numbered 23, 26, 11, 13; in the three years of transition, 9, 10, 4; in the four years since the change was completely effected, influencing all the students in college, 3, 2, 0, 1. In the last five years it is true, part of the class has been chosen by competition; but two-thirds have been accepted in order of application, as at present. As Dean Thompson says in her annual report for 1924-25: For the last four years—the rate of academic mortality is remarkably low, a fraction over one percent, in a college which closes the year with 1120 students enrolled . . . failures arise from lack of purpose or from some difficulty in social adjustment, and almost never from lack of mental ability or of technical preparation in the student. Further objective evidence is furnished by studies of the comparative value of school and examination records in predicting the grade of work in college. Recently the English departments of four colleges, Smith, Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, and Vassar, have made such a study of the English grades. The comparison was informal because, whereas the English entrance examination grades for all of the 1198 freshmen entering the four colleges in 1924 were compared with the second semester English grades of these students in college, the final school grades in English in comparison with the second semester college grades were taken for only the 227 out of those 1198 who came from schools sending relatively large numbers to one at least of the faur institutions. But the results of the investigation were strongly suggestive of the conclusion that the examination grade at least in the upper registers is a more reliable index than the school grade of performance in college. In discussions of this problem an unpublished report made to a college board committee has been more than once publicly quoted as “indicating that the examinations given by the college entrance board are not so valuable as indications of probable success in college as are the school records in the same subjects.” It is only fair to add another portion of the unpublished report: that “no records were requested from schools DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 429 that sent fewer than five pupils to one of these colleges,” that “in cases of Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley no large group of students could be found who had prepared at any one school” (and Vassar would have been added if included in the study); finally that the list of schools whose grades were studied for Harvard, for instance, were these and these only: Andover, Boston Latin, Latin, St. George’s, St. Paul’s, St. Mark’s. Without offering the suggestion that conceivably the boys may have been affected in their school success by the very fact that they were working towards the board examinations, one can certainly question any conclusions on the general reliability of school records based on such a tried and trusty ten. Vassar College not only receives a small propor- tion of its students from schools already well represented on its registers, the value of whose grades is known from full experience, but it also has a special desire to receive students from schools new to it and in outlying districts. It feels therefore that it must rely on a uniform objective test as a check for the school record. As to the relative value of the intelligence test used for entrance, Vassar will not until next June have an opportunity to make observations; but the predictive value of the psychological tests which Vassar has given for some years to freshmen in the first week after entrance, seems decidedly lower than the predictive value of the entrance records, using Board examinations. I quote from the 1924 report of the Vassar Student Personnel Service to the National Research Council: ‘The correlations of our psychological tests' with academic achievement have not been high, and in but one year higher than the correlations of entrance record with academic achievement.” Correlation with freshman credit ratio: 1920-21 1921-22 1922-23 1923-24 1924-25 Psychological "test... 6 iss yi 30 37 a7 39 14038 Entrances record see es cicero oes 48 45 48 37 38 The written examination therefore has proved its distinct value, we believe, in determining fitness for college. Undoubtedly it stands in need of the improvement that will come out of the study now being made of the new type of examinations—with the result, I should hope, of greater objectivity and reliability and comprehensiveness, and at the same time the preservation of the test of skill, imaginative response, individual methods of approach, and power to organize and correlate, which certain of the comprehensive papers of the board. now offer. ‘The tendency to “teach towards” examinations is definitely discouraged by the compre- hensive type. The growing satisfaction with the comprehensive type as compared with the old restricted type is indicated by the recent recom- mendations of the conference on uniform entrance requirements in English, and of the school and college conference on English, looking towards the 1 The psychological tests used were the Thurstone through 1923, the Thorndike in 1923-24 and 1924-25, 430 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION en ener exclusive use of a comprehensive type of English paper; and also by the proposed definition of the requirement in Latin, just issued, which would offer only comprehensive papers in Latin. Undoubtedly, too, the results of the written examination in individual instances are misleading. It is also true that since school records and personal recommendations are so monotonously alike and when only one candidate out of two or three can be chosen, there is a tendency for baffled committees on admission to reach out for tangible examination records, to furnish a counting-in and counting-out formula, But the admission boards are awake to the danger. We do not guarantee admission to every candidate who has passed an examination in every subject under the old plan, or reached a minimum acceptable standard in each of the four comprehensives under the new. If she has barely made the grade, or tried and tried again and again before at last proverbially succeeding, she will have to present unusual strength in all her other credentials to be accepted. On the other hand, if her total record warrants, the committee may allow a candidate another trial under the old plan after a summer of study; and in one case this last fall, we allowed a freshman to enter with one examina- tion still not passed because we valued the other evidence she had to offer. Under the new plan the influence of the school and personal record operates much more freely than under the old; though here, too, the examination evidence must regularly be the deciding factor, since the school and other records are fairly uniform. It is searched for show of power, and strength at one point may offset weakness at another. There is no passing mark. ‘The comments of the readers as to qualities of mind and methods of work are scrutinized more eagerly than the mere grades; and the books themselves are at hand on the committee table to be reread by committee members in cases of conflicting evidence, for signs of ability rather than of information. The Vassar committee distinctly and unani- mously prefers this system of examination to the old system of restricted examinations in every subject or part of a subject, since the new plan seems fairer to the candidate and more surely predictive of success in college; and the Vassar faculty, following a proposal made at a recent conference of the four colleges, has this year voted to accept the new plan only beginning in 1929. This seems to us practically to attain the end hoped for by Headmaster Farrand, where the school record will be used to show the ground covered and one estimate of the methods and results of study, while the four examinations will supply a further uniform test, at selected points and in whole subjects, of how the work has been done. In other words, the new plan, in use since 1916—of which it would seem Morgan Barnes has never heard—fulfills his desire for the future, “a combination of written test and certification,’ with examina- tion evidence “supplemented, modified, or offset by first-hand favorable (or unfavorable) information from the candidate's teacher regarding his general ability and the probability of his profiting by college opportunity.” DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 431 THE CONSIDERATION GIVEN TO SCHOOL RECOMMEN- DATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO GOUCHER COLLEGE CARRIE MAE PROBST, REGISTRAR, GOUCHER COLLEGE, BALTIMORE, MD. It is the policy of Goucher College to admit desirable applicants who are well prepared and able to meet the full entrance requirements on the basis .of the school records and recommendations, without requiring entrance examinations. Contact is made with the applicant as early as possible in the preparatory course, and her progress during the remainder of the course is carefully watched. Due consideration is given to the personal qualifica- tions of the applicant. Unless there is every assurance that she will be a desirable member of the college community she is not carried on the lists, even though her academic record gives promise of being satisfactory. As the applicant is best known in the school where she has been in daily con- tact with teachers and principal, the responsibility of saying that she is ready for college is placed upon the school authorities. The principal or respon- sible officer of the school is requested to indicate frankly and unreservedly the attitude the applicant has had toward her classroom obligations, the influence she has exerted in the school community, the activities in which she has been interested. At the close of the course the principal is asked for his certification of the preparatory work satisfactorily completed and for his final recommendation and endorsement. The applicant whose personal qualifications -are found satisfactory, whose preparation is satisfactorily com- pleted under the guidance of the college, whose final credentials are satis- factory, is accepted without further test of entrance examinations. ‘This, then, is the Goucher policy of admission by recommendation. There are conditions under which examinations are required on all or part of the preparation. An applicant whose grade record is not entirely satisfactory but who is recommended by the principal is eligible for admis- sion upon passing four comprehensive entrance examinations. Examina- tions are required when the preparatory work has been done under irregular conditions. Subjects completed outside of school classes or in any irregular manner are credited only upon examination. An applicant who takes ex- aminations for admission to any other college either before or after making application for admission to Goucher College forfeits the privilege of enter- ing on the basis of her school record, and is eligible for admission only by making a satisfactory examination record. An applicant who takes June examinations for admission to another college is refused the privilege of repeating unsatisfactory examinations in September for admission to Goucher College. Far more than merely receiving the school record and the formal recom- mendation is involved in admitting an applicant under the Goucher method. An analysis of the entrance requirements and an explanation of the way in which they are administered will show the nature of the information secured and the consideration given to each applicant. The entrance requirements briefly stated are: 432 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION 1. College preparatory subjects that can be valued at fifteen units, } 2. A general average of 80 for all the grades of the college preparatory subjects. 3, Graduation from the college preparatory course of an accredited school. 4, Satisfactory recommendation and endorsement from the principal of the school, showing that the applicant’s influence in the school community has been good and that she is capable of profiting by a college education. Those subjects recognized by Goucher. College as preparatory subjects for which entrance credits will be given are English, history, languages, mathe-- matics, laboratory science. No applicant is admitted with any entrance deficiency. Entrance credit is granted only for those secondary school sub- jects that are recognized by Goucher College as college preparatory subjects and are so listed in the college catalogue. These two regulations are abso- lutely enforced in the case of every applicant. When an applicant has not so planned her preparatory course as to meet the requirement of fifteen units she is not admitted until she can complete necessary extra work, even though she may be very desirable and have met the requirements in all other respects. ; As soon as the first contact has been made with a possible applicant the preparatory school is supplied with the form known as the preliminary statement of preparation. There is a space on this form for a list of schools in which the preparatory work will be taken, with the time of entering-and leaving each. “Iwo questions are asked: whether the applicant will be graduated from the college preparatory course, and the probable date of graduation. The main part of the form calls for a statement of all the subjects the applicant expects to take during her preparatory course and offer for entrance credit. In addition to the usual information as to amount of time devoted to each subject the grade must be supplied for that part of each subject which has been completed when the statement is furnished. Particular attention is paid to the arrangement of the work of the third and fourth preparatory years, so that the preparation may be adequate and may make the best correlation with freshman subjects. The requirements as to amount of preparation and as to grades are absolutely insisted upon in the case of each applicant. The preliminary statement of preparation must be submitted before any report will be made upon the consideration that the application will receive. The insistence upon having this complete state- ment in the early years of the preparatory course has many advantages in addition to showing whether or not the preparation is going to be sufficient. The applicant is required to formulate a definite outline of her preparatory work; she is held to a plan at a time when she might be inclined to drift from one subject to another; she knows what is expected of her and what she will be held accountable for. Supplementing this statement of academic work, the principal is asked to furnish a personal statement concerning the applicant. A form is provided for this purpose, with space for the principal to give his opinion of the appli- cant as a college preparatory student, to state whether he expects to be able to recommend her for admission to college, and whether she will be grad- uated from the college preparatory course of the school. DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 433 This preliminary correspondence and information is often sufficient to show that the applicant is not going to be able to meet the requimements or is not desirable, and is used as a basis for refusing to give the application further consideration. The way in which a girl has entered into the life and work of her secondary school is a fairly good indication of what can be expected of her when she becomes a college student. If grades for com-— pleted work are low the applicant is dropped at once, for if the earlier part of the preparation is weak she is not considered a good risk for college. If a principal expresses doubt as to his ability to recommend an applicant something is wrong and further information is necessary before the appli- cant can be encouraged to complete her preparation. An applicant who is not doing the type of work of which she is capable will be warned that she must improve the quality of her work during the remainder of the course. Supplemental grade reports are secured from the school at the end of each year until the applicant has completed her preparation. In the doubtful cases grade reports are called for at the end of each term. Whenever the record of grades shows that the applicant is not keeping up the quality of her work, her application is dropped after due consultation with the prin- cipal. Applicants are dropped at any time during the preparatory course that the records show inability to meet the entrance standards. No appli- cant is permanently accepted until the preparatory course has been com- pleted and the final record of grades, with the principal’s recommendation and endorsement, has been received. Only those applicants are retained on the lists for whom there is every reason to believe satisfactory final creden- tials will be received. “Those who are carried through to the close of the preparatory course have the assurance that they will be permanently ac- cepted if they complete their preparation as planned, secure satisfactory grades, and merit the endorsement of the school authorities. Although no notifications of acceptance are sent out before the first of July, the applicants are not subjected to a period of great uncertainty and anxiety with the sub- sequent nervous tension and strain. As important as is the preparation of the applicant it is only one aspect of the preliminary consideration that must be given to her. Her personal qualifications must receive equal attention. It is not as easy to secure information in this regard, and the measure of standards is much more difficult to define. Each year greater effort is made to establish better methods of ascertaining the character, personality, and persona! traits of the individual applicants. In general, applicants may be put into two groups, those who come well introduced through connections with alumnae or former students or friends of the college, and those who are unknown to the college except through their application papers. It is this latter group that we endeavor to become as well acquainted with as possible. Before any consideration can be given to an applicant, she must file her formal application for admission. ‘This form covers the applicant's home address; her age; the name, titles, and occupation of the father or guardian: the colleges attended by the father and the mother; her religious affiliations ; 434 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION her relation to any Goucher graduate or former student. Every one of these items is immediately and carefully noted, and correspondence is begun at once in regard to any irregularity. This application form in itself furnishes enough information to give some idea of the standing of the family and the home environment. In connection with the application four letters of per- ‘sonal endorsement are required, two of which must be from teachers, other than the principal, and two from responsible persons, not relatives, to whom the applicant is known. The teachers usually write of the applicant more intimately than the principal, and their letters tell of her special interests in class or club work and particularly of her attitude in the classroom. Many letters come from persons who have been associated with the applicant in school or community activities and show an earnest desire to interpret the girl as they have known her and are therefore of real value. For the most part the other letters are from friends of the applicant’s parents and fre- quently reveal much that is helpful concerning family conditions, home life, and the social standing of the parents. ‘There has been a notable decrease in the number of letters from the pastors, who as a rule write only in the most complimentary terms and endorse without discrimination. Yet even these letters generally have some contribution to make, for it is of interest and of value to know the extent to which a girl has participated in the ac- tivities of her church. : It is usually at this point that the officer of admission takes the intiative in procuring further knowledge of the applicant. A student now in college who entered from the same preparatory school that the applicant is attend- ing is interviewed. For this purpose a student is selected who is apprecia- tive of the college standards. She is consequently responsive and helpful. If the applicant has indicated that she has any friends now in college, one of these is interviewed. Although the interviews are informal, so that in- formation is freely given, these questions are always covered. How well do you know the applicant? Do you know what interested her in Goucher and why she wants to come here? Is she the type of girl who would fit into the life at Goucher and whom you would like to see here as a student? Has she a forceful personality and would she enter into the worthwhile activities of the student body? ‘The type of the applicant can be fairly well estimated by learning who are her friends among the students or who in- terested her in Goucher. An alumna or former student living in the appli- cant’s home town or teaching in her school may be written to for an opinion and an estimate of the worth of the applicant. It is our policy to select the alumna whose opinion is desired and to write directly to her rather than to require that one of the designated letters of recommendation be from an alumna. The results are far more satisfactory and reliable. An effort is made to have a personal interview with as many of the appli- cants as possible, although the personal interview is not made a requirement for admission. An unusually large number of persons visit the college, due 1 Testimonials that praise the applicant too highly or give her too impeccable a character tend to put the college authorities on their guard. DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 435 probably to the fact that Baltimore is so accessible to persons traveling through the east. On this account interviews at the college are, to a large extent, with parents. Although this contact does not give all that is needed to be known in regard to the personality of the girl, it does furnish a back- ground for her and also affords an excellent opportunity to let the parents know something of the ideals and standards of the college and what is ex- pected in the way of cooperation on the part of both parents and students. There is a contract-application that must be signed by both the applicant and her parent or guatdian. This contract sets forth certain specific con- ditions under which the applicant is accepted by the college. The applicant and the person responsible for her while she is in college are made to realize that they will be held for the charges of the whole session and for the stu- dent’s failure to observe all health, social, and academic regulations of the college. In the contract the statement is specifically made that the college reserves the right to ask a student to withdraw at any time on grounds of scholarship, health, or conduct, and that a student who is asked to withdraw. is still held responsible for the full charges. While an interview with the parent does not take the place of one with the applicant, yet it has a value that should not be underestimated. The officer of admission visits secondary schools and confers with principals, college advisers, and applicants. A written account of each interview with applicant, parent, school officer, or anyone acquainted with the applicant is made a part of the applicant’s rec: ord. In all interviews and conferences these are the questions to be an- swered: Has this applicant a serious purpose in her desire to go to college? What has interested her in Goucher College? Why has she selected Goucher rather than some other college? What has been her attitude to her school responsibilities? Has she the character that will enable her to develop self-control and good judgment when thrown on her own responsi- bility? Will she be a desirable member of the college community ? All of the foregoing has to do with the applicant while she is still com- pleting her preparatory work. At the close of the course a form is sent to the principals calling for the final school record, recommendations, and en- dorsements. ‘These items are given as follows: School record—The record of yearly grades is given for each preparatory subject taken during the course. “This record is one of the most important factors in determining the final acceptance of the applicant, as it shows the accomplishment year by year during the entire preparatory course. The recommendation of the principal—‘I hereby certify that the ahove applicant is a suitable person to be admitted to Goucher College. (By suitable person is meant a pupil who has shown the necessary scholastic qualifications, seriousness of purpose, and whose influences in the school community, on the whole, has been good.) I recommend her admission to Goucher College as a regular student on probation, due to ~-_-_-~-- I recommed her admission to Goucher College only by examination, for the MeCASOU tate ee I decline to furnish any recommendation for the above applicant.” 436 NaTIONAL EpucatTion ASSOCIATION The academic standing—‘Number in graduating class, rank of the appli- cant. Has she shown initiative, originality, or brilliancy? What intelli- gence test has she taken? The average score, the score of this applicant.” School activities—‘‘What class offices has this applicant held? What offices in the general student government? ‘To what extent has she par- ticipated in school activities, including literary and debating societies, dra- matics, athletics, school publications?” Confidential information—‘Information in regard to character and in- fluence is required in determining the admission of this applicant and in dealing wisely and justly with her after she has entered Goucher College. The principal is requested to give this information in the order indicated. Please give an estimate of the applicant’s character and personality, noting her regard for duty, sense of honor, self-restraint, and conscientiousness, or lack of these. Please mention any unusual talent or individual traits she may possess. Please indicate the influence she has had in her school com- munity, her regard for school authority, and her attitude toward recreation. If she at any time has been disciplined for conduct, please state the facts. Please give any other facts that should be known to the college authorities.” Granting that all preliminary credentials have been satisfactory, the data on the final record form become the determining factors in the final accept- ance of the applicant. The unfavorable character of any one of these items may disqualify the applicant. A satisfactory academic record alone does not constitute eligibility for admission. If the confidential information fur- nished by the principal is unsatisfactory the applicant is refused admission, even though her name may have been on the list for several years. “There must be the desirable personal qualifications as well as the fulfilling of the technical entrance requirements. No matter how high the school record may be, an applicant is refused admission if she is not given unqualified personal recommendations. On the other hand, an applicant with the high- est social and personal endorsements will not be admitted if the preparation is not adequate. It is of little purpose to secure knowledge of an applicant unless this knowledge is used. Goucher College does not hesitate to refuse to admit an applicant whose record does not meet the entrance requirements or whose personal qualifications do not give every assurance that she will become a desirable member of the college community. ‘The admission of students on the basis of school records and recommenda- tions necessitates an early contact with the applicant, very definite knowl- edge of the applicant as to her training and personality, and close coopera- tion with the secondary schools. With no entrance examinations as a final test of preparation, there must be constant watchfulness during the entire preparatory course and continual elimination of those who are falling below the set standards. ‘This method of admission allows the applicant to prove her worth by her attitude to her daily obligations and by her accomplish- ment in her actual school work from year to year. In considering what actual results are obtained in administering this method at Goucher College the first question that naturally arises is, to DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 437 what extent can the records and recommendations that are furnished by the school be relied upon. By sending the final record form direct to the prin- cipal of the school and refusing to accept it unless it is returned by him direct to the college, there is no doubt but that the school record thus obtained is a true and accurate account of the grades made by the applicant. There is every reason to believe that the principals are conscientious and honest in rating the applicant and in setting forth her attitude toward her school obligations. But they are honest according to the standards of their own particular school, and the real difficulty lies in the fact that the stand- ards of the schools differ. It is therefore necessary to know the schools or to judge of their standards by reliable accrediting agencies. We do not obligate ourselves to accept the work of a school even though it may be ‘accredited elsewhere, and we reserve the privilege of exercising our own judgment in determining the acceptance of work from any particular school. Goucher College has its own list of accredited schools, and no school is placed on this list until it has sent well prepared applicants who have made satisfactory records in freshman courses. Extreme caution and an exten- sive knowledge of secondary schools are necessary for a wise interpretation of school records. The privilege of recommending applicants for admission without examinations is withdrawn from a school when the records for the freshman year show that the preparation has been inadequate or that the student’s ability has been misrepresented. In general our experience has led us to believe that the principals give a frank opinion of the applicant and their real estimate of her character, even though the facts may be detrimental to her. Some unfavorable comments taken from recent appli- cation files will show that the principals are cooperative. ‘Applicant will be recommended unless her unreliability should result in some conduct problem. Shows nervous instability.” “Has been lacking in her regard for duty and sense of honor.” ‘Too popular.” ‘Her deportment was un- satisfactory.” ‘Has broken regulations and not cooperated with school authorities, has not responded in the right way to privileges that were given to her.’ ‘Failed in self-restraint, was not conscientious about her work.” “Did not regard school authority in the most favorable light, had to be reprimanded in the office a couple of times.” The elimination of applicants for admission to Goucher is very great. Only a comparatively small number of those interested in entering or mak- ing application are admitted. There were 1082 formal applications re- ceived for admission to the present session; of these 51 percent were re- fused, 15 percent were withdrawn voluntarily, 33 percent were accepted. In addition to those who filed applications there were some 400 who were discouraged from even making application. Personal knowledge of 70 per- cent of those who were admitted was gained through interviews and spe- cial inquiries. It is too soon to make any statement as to the number of these new stu- dents now in college who will not be able to do satisfactory work. Last year 4.3 percent of the new students were dropped by the end of the year 438 NaTIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION on account of unsatisfactory scholarship. These students were all endorsed by their principals and stood well in their respective schools, but in several cases the preparation was known to be only fair, and more than half of them entered on probation. After considering the preparatory and college records and the personalities of these dropped students, a general grouping of the causes of failure would be: mediocre ability with insufficient train- ing in proper study habits, lack of strength of character, of perseverance, and of application, and difficulty in making adjustments due to personal peculiarities. A study of 4.3 percent of the same group having the highest grades shows that in every case these students had been outstanding girls in the secondary schools, ranking first or among the first in scholarship. In a majority of the cases they had been the leaders in the school, holding class or student government offices and in the full participating in the activities of the school. The girl with limited experiences, meager background, un- developed or undisciplined character, will in all probability find college work and life difficult, even though she may have stood well in her prepara- tory school. The Goucher College policy, therefore, means absolute insist- ence upon preparation that in amount and quality meets the entrance stand- ard, a definite endeavor to determine the real character of the applicant, and an opportunity given to the satisfactory applicant to prove her ability and her worth. INTELLIGENCE TESTS AS ONE BASIS OF ADMISSION TO COLLEGE HERBERT E. HAWKES, DEAN OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVER- SITY, NEW YORK CITY This is an age of machinery when human processes are replaced as far as possible by mechanical devices. Rapidity, interchangeable parts, and standardized processes are the goals of the manufacturer nowadays. The analogy with our educational procedure is not very close, but near enough to be suggestive. In selecting boys for admission to college the old method of handpicking the boys through aj conference with the president is cer- tainly an illustration of piecework. Now we must use machinery even though the results may not be as sensitively adjusted to the work that we are doing as the method of exclusive human contact. The aim of our tests and examinations is to isolate the various qualities which we desire to estimate. For example, the old type content examina- tion affords a result which measures with considerable inaccuracy the com- plex consisting of native ability, ambition, industry, good teaching, and vari- ous other items. If a college is interested in knowing whether its candidates pass the content examinations largely because of native ability, rather than because of the qualities of character just enumerated, it is clear that a psy- chological examination will admirably serve the purpose, for such an exami- nation certainly isolates the native ability so that it is possible to determine whether the candidates who present the same level of entrance work do so DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 439 because of high ability and poor application, or low ability coupled with unusual application, or possibly a mediocre supply of both. No person in his senses would think of using the psychological exami- nation as the only criterion for admission to college. The school record, content examinations, and every means must be used to test the qualities that the psychological examination does not touch. Consequently the cor- relation between the psychological examination and college accomplishment may not be so very high, provided the psychological examination is used intelligently, that is to say, provided the information gained through other means is given proper weight so that a person with a low psychological examination may, on account of high accomplishment in other directions, seem to be a good candidate for admission. THE PERSONAL INTERVIEW AS ONE BASIS FOR ADMISSION TO COLLEGE RAYMOND WALTERS, DEAN OF SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, SWARTHMORE, PA. It seems to me impossible to obtain a proportional sense of my subject today, ““The Personal Interview as one Basis for Admission to College,” without some preliminary comment upon the whole problem of college entrance. I shall try to avoid in this comment a mere repetition of what the preceding speakers have so well set forth. Some review I regard neces- sary, for only thus can I indicate how relatively restricted is the application of the personal interview method and at the same time emphasize how use- ful the method may be for the small college or for the individual school of large universities. After four years of experience with the method at Swarthmore, where we have developed it concomitantly with our honors courses, we submit it as a modest contribution to educational technic in the hope that others having similar problems may find it similarly helpful. The general situation—A study of 1925-26 registration statistics by the present speaker (School and Society, Jan. 23, 1926) shows that, in 159 colleges and universities on the approved list of the Association of Amer- ican Universities, there is a 7 percent increase this year over 1924-25. In 29 typical universities the increase in the past five years was 18 percent. Facing the problem of accommodation which this expansion has brought, it is amusing to remember that twenty years ago, even ten years ago, there wasn’t any problem. No college then had applicants greatly in excess of its facilities ; many colleges used to have peripatetic philosophers who visited high schools and academies to suggest, by talks and lantern views, how salubrious the climate, how scholarly the professors, how impressive the buildings and campus at their particular abodes of light and learning. Gone now is the need for soliciting of this sort. With the still greater expansion of high school attendance the college supply of the future is bound to tax the college capacity to care properly for it. In a country of 110 million people, spread over a continent of varied climate, soil, and economic condition, there are logically diverse types of colleges and universities. Logically also there are diverse admission pro- 440 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION cedures to these varying colleges and universities. To trace how they have developed historically would be interesting, but would exceed the scope of this paper. Present Methods of Admission to College and University 1. The examination route—There are now approximately 200,000 fresh- men in the 700-odd American colleges and universities listed by the U. S. Bureau of Education. Of these probably 2500 young men and 2000 young women enter exclusively by examinations. Examinations are absolutely required by three men’s colleges and five women’s colleges, all in the east. Certain colleges call for examinations in individual cases. The total num- ber of freshmen meeting all or part of their entrance credits by examination of the College Entrance Examination Board is now about 10,000. 2. The certificate basis—It will thus be seen that 95 percent of the freshmen in American Colleges are admitted, so far as their scholastic work is concerned, upon the basis of their grades attained in high schools and independent schools and the endorsement of their school principals. Without exception the graduate schools of the universities waive exami- nations and accept from approved colleges holders of the bachelor’s degree, deciding which candidates to admit upon the merit of their college records and the endorsement of college teachers and administrators. é 3. Psychological tests—Psychological tests, as developed since the war, have been found useful in measuring classroom intelligence and are now employed by many colleges as a part of their admission procedure. No institution, so far as I can learn, makes psychological tests the sole basis of entrance. At Swarthmore we give psychological tests to freshmen after admission ; we are accumulating data to judge as to the wisdom of required tests in the future. 4. Character and personality reports—Character credentials are now de- manded by many colleges and a number require additional information as to general qualifications. At Swarthmore we worked out, three years ago, a personal rating scale which has proved effective in obtaining from school principals, teachers, and other persons valuable information about the candi- date. In a small coeducational college of Quaker founding and traditions it has been exceedingly important to be as careful in regard to character as in regard to scholarship. Being careful has made it possible to maintain a college family where the code of the men is not to drink and the code of the girls is not to smoke. This scale, which is printed on the reverse side of the school report blank, is called for after the candidate has covered three years or three and one- half years of preparatory study. Principals tell us that they appreciate the convenience of checking on a scale, thus presenting without omissions more material in a small space and in a few minutes than much writing would ordinarily supply. Additional comments are welcomed. Knowing that the information is confidential, principals and teachers have in general been candid in their quality ratings. 5. The personal interview method—Swarthmore College is a member of the College Entrance Examination Board and we believe that, where candi- DEPARTMENT OF DrEans oF WOMEN 44] dates have attended schools which prepare for the board examinations, they are a valuable test of scholastic ability and training. The large proportion of our students, however, enter upon certificate from secondary schools whose work we know. As a rule we refuse to consider candidates who rank lower than the highest fourth of their graduating class. Then, to make our process genuinely selective, we apply our personal interview method. With four times as many men and seven times as many girls applying as we can accept, it is not possible to interview all candidates. ‘Those whose school records place them in the highest group are invited to call at Swarthmore during their senior year at school. Members of our admission committee conduct a series of interviews at New York, Wash- ington, and other places. When candidates live at considerable distances we arrange for interviews with alumni of Swarthmore living in those sec- tions, and when this cannot be done we seek the help of other college alumni. It is our invariable rule that no candidate is admitted without an inter- view with members of our faculty admissions committee or some repre- sentative of the college. Just what is our aim? Well, our chief aim is to discover what is ordi- narily not revealed by the written examination, the school certificate, the psychological test: I mean the aspiration of the candidate toward the intel- lectual life, his concern for spiritual values. It is just this aspiration and this concern which would border on priggishness for a young person to write about in an examination paper or a letter of application. It is haz- ardous even to talk about them. ‘The main test of us as interviewers is the measure in which we can sense these things as we see and hear these youths and maidens. Another aim of these interviews is to find out how well the candidates know what they know best—not to discover gaps. Robert Louis Stevenson declared that the first tool in the kit of the writer is sympathy. ‘This is doubly true of an interviewer under this method. To make the candidate feel at home, to establish an atmosphere of friendliness is the initial requisite. I know of no other way to accom- plish this than sincerely and eagerly to desire friendliness and not to be afraid to show it. Once get the candidate talking about his affairs, school activities, the studies he likes and doesn’t like, and why—and you are making real progress in this delicate work. Of course we prefer modesty and reserve to forwardness and too much glibness. Sometimes candidates, girls particularly, think they haven’t made a favorable impression on this score, when they most decidedly have. But we do look for enthusiasm. We want our students to be keen about something. If the enthusiasm is all for dances and social climbing that is useful to learn. As a somewhat literary person myself, I am careful not to measure all candidates by the literary yardstick. After my own ques- tioning I sometimes arrange for talks by candidates interested in mathe- matics, astronomy, chemistry, and other branches with professors of those subjects. 442 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION ne cece re In our search for intellectual enthusiasm and the genuine spirit of serv- ice, we find the reading candidates have done or haven’t done to be a val- uable index. We make allowances for background and lack of guidance. For a girl to say she adores Gene Stratton Porter and Harold Bell Wright is not fatal, if we ascertain that she has been surrounded all her life by third rate influences. The difficulty is that we do not feel justified in tak- ing such applicants when we have many of equal mental caliber who already have done good fundamental reading and who have a sense of values. May I call to your attention several sentences from the recent annual report of President Aydelotte to the Swarthmore board of managers: Students who come from homes in which the talk is about books enter college well read. ‘Those who come from homes in which the talk is confined to the superficial routine of the day are much less likely to have learned to read for themselves or to possess any definitely intellectual interests or ambition. That handicap may be overcome only by extraordinary effort in college and in after life. But though, in general, we are not satisfied with the reading our candi- dates have done, we find splendid exceptions, where parents and teachers have clearly worked to counteract present-day distractions and where the candidates have a discriminating sense of values based on the reading of many books. ‘ We are on the alert constantly for signs of exceptional capacity and occa- sionally we experience the joy of discovery. Imagine the satisfaction of talking with a youth whose enthusiasm about surgery had led an eminent Philadelphia surgeon to permit him to witness his operations, whose eager- ness caused a physician to bequeath him a medical library of 600 books, and who won a state-wide prize for an essay in the contest of the American Chemical Society. Consider our pleasure in chatting with a girl from a small Pennsylvania city who showed she really knew Shelley and Keats and Rupert Brooke and who timidly said, when I asked her whether she tried verse herself, that she had just had five poems accepted by the Magazine World, the new journal of the Atlantic Monthly Company. In our interviews we inquire about the probable major subject in college and the candidate’s present thought as to a later career. Realizing how uncertain such choices often are, we don’t place too much stress upon the matter of a career. Indeed we feel the need here of being of more service than we now are, and welcome the study which a committee of university professors are taking up, with Dean Hawkes of Columbia as chairman, to develop scientific methods of guiding college students in their choice of a vocation. : Reasons for choice of college—Experience has taught us that it is essen- tial to talk with a candidate alone. We are glad to see parents and friends later. To have them present at an interview is embarrassing to the candi- date, and is unsatisfactory for other reasons. It is a part of our procedure to make it clear that, in the phrase of the magazine editors, rejection does not imply lack of merit. ‘This really is true at Swarthmore. Our limitation of numbers to approximately 500 DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 443 students—250 men and 250 women—compels us to say no each year to 500 or 600 girls and half as many men applicants. To enable those we can’t admit to make other plans, we try to have records in and interviews ar- ranged so as to give a decision early in the spring. As our official statement sets forth, preference is given to candidates who are children of members of the Society of Friends and of Alumni of the college provided their school records meet in all respects the standard set by the college for admission. These two elements combined do not consti- tute more than a fourth of our student body at present. A candidate who has been on our application list for many years (we now have applications for 1940, 1941, and 1942) is given a place as compared with a recent candi- date of equal qualifications. A reasonably wide geographical distribution of students is likewise sought, in order to prevent provincialism. I have dwelt upon the advantages of the personal interview method. What about its disadvantages, dangers, limitations? The disadvantages lie in the tedious and arduous work it imposes upon the faculty members who serve as interviewers. There are compensations, however. The dangers are the real dangers of subjective judgment as compared with objective results in written examinations, psychological tests, and school records. —The way to minimize the dangers is to have each candidate interviewed by several persons as we do at Swarthmore and to use the interview along with other evidences. The limitations are the impracticability of interviewing several thousand candidates, as would be necessary in large institutions. For small colleges and especially, it seems to me, for professional schools of medicine and law in the universities, the interview method is of real value. It is simply carrying into the academic world a method universally used in final selections for positions of responsibility in the professional, the scientific, and the business world. THE HIGH SCHOOL DEAN—HER VARIED OPPORTUNITY FOR SERVICE MARGARET M. ALLTUCKER, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH DIVISION NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. The individuality of the pupil can be respected and cared for even in mass instruction—To see that no student loses his identity in a student body of hundreds or even thousands is the high school dean’s first responsi- bility. The dean and her assistants must know each student as an indi- vidual—not merely his name, but his abilities, his accomplishments, his home environment, his associates, facts about his health, his strong points, his weaknesses, his interest, and his ambitions. Knowing all this, how can the dean help each student to get the most out of school and to make the most of himself? The dean uses no textbook, but her teaching is the most difficult of all the lessons taught in our high schools and colleges—namely the development of right attitudes and ideals. 444 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION a Business houses find it profitable to employ directors of personnel to meet the individual problems of their employes. If grown men and women need such assistance, how much more do high school boys and girls need guidance, and the help that comes from knowing that someone is personally interested in them and that this person’s specific job is helping individual students solve their particular problems. How can schools be administered to fit individual needs of pupils?— From the time the student is considering registering in high school, he needs the help of the dean’s or the school counselor’s office. Invariably he is faced with these questions: What course shall I take? What are the matriculation requirements for college? What electives shall I take this term? A daily schedule of classes in any one of our great cosmopolitan high schools is like a great educational cafeteria with so many educational viands set forth, that the incoming freshman needs guidance in the selection of a well-balanced menu. A school counseling program which provides for the sending of students’ records from the elementary to the junior high schools and from the junior high schools to the senior high schools in ad- vance of the students’ arrival gives the dean or counselor a basis for sec- tioning pupils into groups where they can work most advantageously. “The néed for grouping high school students is apparent when the measurement_ of such factors as age, height, weight, previous accomplishment, and mental capacity as measured by mental tests show variations such as these recently discovered in a large western high school. The ages of 500 incoming senior high school students varied from 13 years to 19 years; in weight these pupils varied from 70 pounds to 170 pounds; in height from 4 ft. 8 in. to 6 ft. 2 in.; in previous accomplishment from three units of school work all barely passing to seven units of school work, all of grade ‘excellent’; and in mental capacity these students, all ranking as low tenth grades, varied from 69 I. Q. to 143 I. Q. To put all of these students in classes of the same type and to expect the same degree of accomplishment is rank injustice. Pupil guidance based on facts rather than well-intentioned conjecture— High school work must be differentiated to fit the individual needs of pupils. By cooperating with the lower schools the dean or school counselor usually has opportunity to visit the lower schools, to meet prospective high school students, to secure in advance the list of subjects which each incom- ing student wishes to pursue during his first term in high school. With this list of subjects, and each pupil’s “case history,’ showing the age, physical development, health, previous scholastic accomplishment, former teachers’ estimates of pupil’s ability and industry, and records of subject- matter and mental tests, the dean or school counselor is able to plan each pupil’s program in advance. When he comes to the high schools he finds himself in a physical education class with pupils of the same or nearly the same size and degree of physical maturity as himself; he finds himself in ari English class with pupils who can make approximately the same progress as he can. He is not discouraged by continually being outstripped by stu- dents of far superior capacity; neither is he allowed to develop habits of DEPARTMENT OF DEANS oF WOMEN 445 laziness by working in a group which he can always outshine with little or no effort. Cumulative ‘‘case histories” of individual pupils are the only sane basis for programming students.. Even on this basis, some mistakes will be made. All maladjustments in classroom work reported by individual teachers should be carefully checked up by the dean or school counselor, and adjust- ments made which are fair both to the individual pupil and to the school as a whole. Cumulative case histories form the bases for constructive administrative policies—To encourage individual pupils who are failing in scholarship to do better work is commendable. It is an essential part of the high school dean’s work. ‘To discover the real causes of student’s failures is far more commendable. Are these failures due to poor preparation, lack of effort, ill health, lack of interest (and the cause lying back of this), low intelli- gence, too difficult a course of study, or poor teaching? The result of the case studies of pupils’ scholarship failure should enable the dean to make definite recommendations as to administrative policies at the end of each semester as to how these failures could be prevented in the future. To meet individual difficulties and not keep track of the number of them and the causes back of them, and study ways and means of preventing them is only doing a fraction of the dean’s job. “Too often it means that only palliative measures are being carried out. Educational diagnosis should in time result in prevention of educational ills. In time we may even hope to build courses of study to fit the capacities, interests, environment, and growth needs of children as well as adult social needs. The dean an educational diagnostician—In addition to the sectioning and programming of students, the prevention of scholarship failures, and the study and analysis of the causes of these failures when they occur, these are among the problems which constantly face the high school dean: How can the needs of individual pupils be discovered, not merely scholarship needs, but health needs, social needs, weaknesses in character, employment needs, etc.? It is not merely the mind of the boy or girl that comes to school and needs development—it is the whole child that comes—and an all around development must be achieved. How can maladjustments be foreseen and prevented? How can innate capacity be discovered and developed? The practical answer to all of these questions is a “case study” of each individual pupil. The more complete the study is, the more accurate will be the dean’s diagnosis of the pupil’s difficulties and the more applicable will be the plans which she makes for each pupil. ‘Too often only glaring instances of maladjustment which seriously effect the welfare of the school come to the dean’s attention. In reality every pupil is maladjusted who is not get- ting out of high school all that he is capable of getting. How often on commencement night as the graduates are passing off the stage the dean’s thought is: “How I wish that the school could have done more for that particular girl!” If a case study diagnosing her needs had been made when she first entered high school—and consistent effort had been made during 4.46 NaTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION the four years of the high school course to meet the needs discovered—a different personality with talents more completely developed might have resulted, Attitudes and ideals are caught more often than they are taughi—The dean comes in closer contact with pupils than any other administrative officer. The spirit with which she does her work—the unconscious over- flow and outflow of her personality, determines in a large way the spirit of the school. From the first day when the dean helps the incoming student register and explains the opportunities of the school, she is helping to form the pupil’s attitudes and ideals. That dean has taught a lesson that carries on indefinitely, who at the end of a busy week of registration greets with a smile of welcome the last pupil to register, and makes him feel that his welfare is her chief and one concern. Often his loyalty to the school and its ideals begins at that moment. The parent who visits the school and finds that the dean already knows his child and at least partially under- stands his particular difficulty and is eager to understand it more com- pletely, that the dean sympathizes but offers constructive suggestions rather than merely emotion—a parent after meeting such a dean comes to have respect and confidence in the school administration that results in mutual benefit. The social life of the school an educative force—A recent survey! of what 229 school systems are doing to promote character education brought out the fact that in the opinion of school superintendents extra-curricular activities were a tremendous force in the development of character. “These ten traits ranked in order of importance as to the character education out- comes were listed by superintendents of schools: Courtesy, honesty, co- operation, loyalty, conformity, responsibility, justice, industry, independ- ence, and service. Among the pupil activities other than classroom listed as contributing to character development were the following: Club activi- ties, physical education activities, school control activities, school assemblies activities involving individual pupil responsibilities, social activities, welfare activities, and journalistic, and forensic activities. The dean usually has a large share in formulating the policies relative to the extra-curricular program of the high school and in seeing that it is sufficiently varied so that every pupil takes part in it, The school’s social program can be made to contribute as directly to the pupil’s education as can a course in mathematics or English. It can develop attitudes as to social relationships which later crystallize into ideals as to conduct. It can train for leisure by creating permanent interests in wholesome recreation. Fortunately, we are learning that the social life of the school in order to be wholesome need not be tiresome. Education through friendship—The dean above all others on the high school faculty should have the character which draws students into the stream of her own great endeavor, whose influence over them should liber- See Chapter XIV, Fourth Yearbook of the Department of Superintendence, _ DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 447 ate the best forces in them, and guide them in the most difficult enterprises, the conduct of life. Friendship is more than a happy emotion. In its finest sense, it is a con- stant challenge to better living. George A. Gordon has pointed out that: “The great friend is first of all a standard to which we look, and by which we measure ourselves, a standard for character, aim, and passionate desire. The great friend is the great educator.” Doctor Gordon in writing on the subject, Education Through Friend- ship, said this of his three teachers, George H. Palmer, William James, William Watson Goodwin: “I had their sympathy but I had something better, their judgment upon the doings of my mind and spirit, unconsciously rendered, perhaps, but forever there, and this was the highest service which these great friends did or could do for me.” Each of us can think of some great personal friend whose influence upon us silently, invariably, unalterably has been that we must strive, in the best sense, to do our best, and thus to justify our friend’s great confidence in us. Every high school dean has had the joy of believing in a student, letting him know that she believed in him and thus helping him to overcome pos- sible indifferences at home, or temperamental difficulties until finally he was able to establish inner controls and achieve success. The high school dean’s opportunity for service is not only varied, it has no limit except the limitations of the dean, herself. “The job is as big as the deans are able to make it. DEAN TO DEAN HERBERT E. HAWKES, DEAN OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY It seems to me exceedingly appropriate that a paper like the one to which we have just listened should be read before this audience. Thirty years ago we were told that art could not be taught; it might be lived, but it could not be taught. Today we are learning better. And, I believe that one of the great movements in our college education in coming years will be to realize that not only do we have the responsibility for educating the logical faculties and the cold intellects of our students, but, their emotional life as well, and that the emotional life includes not merely the artistic field concerning which we have heard this after- noon, but also the religious life. I do not propose to give a formal paper this afternoon, for we are all deans together, and I wish to speak quite simply and informally about the dean’s function. There is no such a thing as the genus “Dean.” ‘There is dean of this and dean of that, dean here and dean there, but there is no such a thing as a “Dean.” Often deans who are supposed to do the same kind of work, must necessarily approach their duty from quite a different angle. 448 NatIonaL EpucaTIon ASSOCIATION Fe oe ig For instance, in so trivial an item as that of smoking. I am sure that the dean of Bryn Mawr would approach her problem from a certain point of view; they may smoke at Bryn Mawr; and, judging from what Dean Wallis told us this morning, the dean at Swarthmore would approach her duty from another angle; they don’t smoke at Swarthmore. I am certain, however, that the dean of women in the newly organized Duke University would require smoking of all their under-graduates. Conse- quently, it is hopeless for us to attempt to find a ground that is entirely common. What I want to do, then, in the time at my disposal, is in a very simple and informal and, probably homely way, to lay before you the results of certain experiences that I have had sitting in the dean’s office in conference with young men. Some of these problems, I suppose, are quite distinct from those that you deal with as deans of women, but on the other hand, I imagine that some of the angles of approach must be similar. In the first place, let me say that the college of about 2000 young men over which I happen to preside, is an urban institution, and, as many of you probably know, an urban institution has pretty much of everything except urbanity. That is one of the desiderata which we are seeking to overcome. I want specifically to mention a certain point of view which, during the last six or eight years, has become increasingly convincing to me. Stated in one sentence it is this: If one is to do one’s full duty to the students that are under one’s charge, one cannot work by rule. I can illustrate by the problem of discipline. In Columbia College, there is no committee on discipline. All discipline is administered through the dean’s office. “There is no appeal or report to the faculty regarding discipline. ‘That is a happy situation because I have known other institu- tions where discipline did come before the faculty and, in my humble judgment, there is nobody on the face of the earth so unfitted to exercise discipline as a college faculty. Consequently, the mistakes and the suc- cesses are all concentrated in the dean’s office. The advantage of this way of doing things is perhaps more clearly seen by the dean than anybody else, but at any rate, the method affords a certain benefit, which, it seems to me, is very important indeed. I can illustrate what I mean, more definitely perhaps, and more clearly, if I refer to one particular type of discipline. We will take up the ugly case of cheating in -examina- tions. Now, every instructor in college is urged to bring the facts, merely the facts, regarding any case of alleged cheating to the dean’s office, with such documents, or evidence as may have come to his attention. He does not consider himself in any sense the officer of discipline, but simply refers the facts to the dean’s office. The advantage of that procedure is two-fold. In the first place, it separates the function of teacher and specialist in a certain field of scholarship from that of disciplinarian, and, DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 449 in the second place, it does not place the discipline in the hands of a hundred different individuals who treat the same cases in various ways, according to their temperament, or their point of view. Now, the young man comes to the office for an interview. We make a ruling on the merits of each case instead of following in a slavish manner a rule. It seems to me to be the height of folly to say that if a student cheats he is automatically out of college. Such a position turns one’s back on the perfectly obvious fact that we are all poor sinners; a fact that each one of us knows in his own heart. Now, these cases fall into three classes and it is rather surprising that there are as many individuals in certain of these classes as it turned out to be the case. In the first place, there is the boy who has never had a moral awaken- ing. In regard to a question of this kind of dishonesty, he has never thought the thing through. He has floated along more or less like a cork on the water and been wafted this way and that, without ever havinz had the matter brought to his attention. He has not had what I like to call a moral awakening on that point. Then, there is the boy who is subjected to a temptation to which he gives way impulsively. ‘The act does not represent his better self, it represents his very worst, and he himself is just as humiliated and sorry for his error as anybody could be for him. In the third place, there is the boy who is naturally dishonest and who will get away with anything that he can at any time. If a boy is essentially dishonest, it seems to me that he ought to go. The college is too busy to entertain such a student any longer. But, in the other two cases, where the youth gives way to a sudden impulse, and where he has not had a moral awakening, it seems to me that a rule which auto- matically forces a young man out of college is an improper and inhuman rule. If you and I had always been taken at our worst, can you imagine where most of us would be at the present moment? Boys of the first two types must be labored with, they must get a moral awakening, and they must realize the fact that, on one occasion, at any rate, they were not strong enough to do the right thing. A very effective means of bringing this about is to make a memorandum of the entire incident from start to finish, and read it to the young man. This I always do. I tell him that the memorandum is being placed in my files with his permanent papers and that, when I am asked for a recommendation for him, I shall use my judgment about using the infor- mation on the memorandum. I shall always see it when I look at his papers and, if any similar lapse occurs later on in the course, I shall assume that I have given him more confidence than he deserves and he will be expected to go out without argument. ‘This has proved to be a very effective and sharp remedy, and there are few second offenses. It is very interesting to observe that if a mistake of this kind takes place in the freshman year, the chances are ten to one that in his senior. vear, 450 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION See eee eee ee along about a month before he is due to graduate, the young man comes to the office and stands first on one foot, and then on the other, and presently says, ““Now, Dean, do you remember that little incident that took place in my first year with Mr. So and So in History? You made a memorandum of it, didn’t you?” “Ves,” “What are you going to do with the memorandum?” “Well, it is in your folder where it was put at that time.” “Why can’t you give it to me? I have played the game, and I have played it squarely, ever since, and, I have thanked God again and again that I was found out in my freshman year since it has saved me from yielding to temptation many times since then. I am about to graduate, and I do not want to go out with that memorandum in my folder. I want to ask you if you will let me have it.” Now, when a boy comes across like that, you almost have to give him the memorandum, and I frequently do, to the great satisfaction of the youth. Now, a few words about another type of academic problem: the poor student. I do not mean poor in purse, but the student whose academic work is unsatisfactory. If the work of the department of admission is well done—and it is fairly well done in most of our institutions—then the fact that a boy is admitted to college, probably means that he has the ability to go through. In my judgment, the admission of a boy or a girl to college, imposes a solemn obligation on the part of the college to do its best in making a man or a woman of that boy or girl. It does not mean that the first opportunity should be taken to eliminate him, it means that an obliga- tion runs both ways. Not only is the student under obligation to do his work faithfully, but the college is under obligation to do its level best in bringing out the finest that is in the student. Now, if this is true, there is an implication which is not always recognized and still less frequently followed. It is very common to have a rule that if a student fails in a certain number of courses, recardless of the reason for that failure, the student is out. this is immoral! If the college has a solemn obligation to make the most of that young man, then it has a sacred obligation to go to the bottom of the reason for his failure. The fact that he is in co'leze means that he has the ability to go through, and, right at that point is where the function of a dean comes in. ‘Time and time again, a boy whose academic standing is unsatisfactory, turns out to be suffering from adenoids, or one of the many ailments that can lower one’s vitality. Such a situation merely needs a little intelligence to locate the physical difficulty and if it is remedial, to insist upon conditions being remedied; if it is not remedial, to admit that a mistake might have been made in the physical examina- tion, on the basis of which the boy was admitted to college. Perhaps the Now, in my judgment, DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 451 financial situation is causing the trouble. In that case, if the boy has to earn so much money to pay his college expenses that he cannot do his college work well, he ought to drop out for a while in order to get a little ahead in a financial way, rather than be continuously embarrassed. Frequently, a boy is just plain lazy. That, we all recognize and have to meet as best we can. Often, they do not know how to study. This is a situation which requires the utmost patience and care. Just because a boy has good intelligence and is admitted to college does not necessarily imply that he knows how to study subjects of the complexity that the college program presents. If a bright boy, he is frequently able to pull himself through preparatory school on his keenness, but as he goes to college and the studies become more complicated, he reaches a natural boundary where his keen- ness will not carry him through, and he has to do some real solid work in order to gain success. Boys have to learn this fact, and often must be shown how to get from a printed page, the material that is on it. There are also boys who are so mixed up in college activities that they do not give proper attention to their studies. Did you ever imagine that one reason why so many go out for athletics or dramatics and other student activities is because those things are frequently better done than some of us are doing our academic work and, that the young people are attracted by a good job. I do not know whether it is true of young ladies or not, but with boys I have found out much to my surprise, that falling in love some- times has something to do with academic success. I mentioned, in passing, in a recent report the fact that things of this kind sometimes effect academic standing. My office was full of reports for a week following the publication of this report, all concentrating on that one phrase, and, quite a bit of publicity followed. Since that time, I have found out, much to my surprise that the boys have been very much more ready to discuss those matters with me than they were before. I do not believe in throwing a boy out of college for any one of these remediable diffi- culties, nor do I believe in sending him off to some other institution which does not know him as well as we do. It seems to me, that we are bound to “burn our own smoke.” But, if we all do burn our own smoke— we cannot burn other people’s smoke, for if we did, we would do nothing but burn smoke. Sometimes with boys, a year more or less, at hard labor, is very useful. I was very much amused last fall to have a boy call at my office whom I had not seen for nearly a year. At that time he was doing no work at all and his head was completely turned by extra-curricular activities. He could not be brought down to earth. He was told to go out to work and to do something hard, something like working on a railroad, or laying bricks, where he would be compelled to be on the job from the time the whistle blew in the morning to the end of the day. I told him that if he took such a job he might come back in the fall, and I would discuss the matter 452 NatioNAL Epucation ASssocIATION a of admission with him. He came back after a year’s absence looking like a different person. His eye was bright, he stood up straight, and he looked like a man. I recognized him, and asked him what he had been doing since I had seen him last. He answered, “Why, sir, I have done exactly what you told me to do. I went out and got a job laying bricks, I joined the Union and am getting $14 a day, but I want to come back to college.” In cases of that kind, work is the salvation of the boy, and also helps the system. Now, the whole function of the American college, the relation of that function to the curriculum is something which seems to me very desirable to think through. Not all institutions are alike. Some questions are local and some of them are general. But, there are one or two funda- mental facts which we cannot get around. I do not know whether this is a physiological fact for young women or not, but I am sure it does hold for young men, that the time when the boy’s intellectuality matures comes a general thing along in the middle of his college course. He is a boy when he enters college and he is much more nearly a man when he graduates. On the continent, they arrange things differently, and the boy is engaged for a much longer time in his preparatory work so that the passing from the preparatory work to the university synchronizes fairly well with the natural maturing process. But, with us, as a general thing, maturity comes in the middle of our college course. I think that the problem indicates the necessity of an adjustment of curriculum in which all of us as deans must necessarily be interested. It involves a point of view which we must all take toward the relation between the first part of the college course and the last part which is very fundamental. In the first part of the course the main object must be to orient the boy and to introduce him into the world of ideas, to learn him, to teach him as well as we can, but chiefly to learn him. Doctor Wood of the faculty in Columbia College remarked to me the other day that if 25 percent of the time of our college teachers was spent in learning their students, the other 75 percent which they spend in teaching them would be ten times more effective. “The time when we should learn our students is in the first two years. We should find out what kind of people they are, and attempt to determine their interests and trends. Then, during the last two years with this understanding that is certain to be required, the educational material that is worthwhile seeking for each individual can be provided, so that the completion of the course may stand not merely for a college degree, but for discovering and culti- vating the mind of each. This whole problem of personnel work, to learn our individuals, reaches down to a very fundamental point in our whole system of American collegiate education. We frequently look-to England as the country where gentlemen of culture are bred. What has done it? In Oxford and in Cambridge, which are the homes where these wonderful English gentle- DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 453 men have been trained, they have their residence halls, and -they have their dining halls, and, what is more, they have their tutors. Now, that is education brought to the individual, that is individualized education. That I believe is the reason why it has been successful. The students learn to know themselves in their dormitories, in their dining halls, and through their tutors, and are treated as individuals and by this process have come to a finer flower of individual achievement than the gentle- men of any other nation. But, in this country we cannot do things in just that way. It may be that one or two institutions can introduce the English tutorial system and carry it through, but there are two reasons why that system cannot be introduced into this country in any extensive manner. ‘The first reason is because it would cost so much that there is not enough money in the world to pay for all of the tutors that would be required to teach all of the under-graduate students in our colleges and, in the second place, if that money existed the tutors do not. Can you imagine anything more dismal than to be assigned to a tutor who was the kind of a person that most of these tutors would be? It would be perfectly hopeless. Consequently, we cannot solve the problem by that means. But, we are attacking exactly the same problem of individual education that the English have solved in their Oxford and their Cambridge, through the work that this body stands for. And if the vision of the deans of men and the deans of women which is indicated by recent studies and the researches, comes to the fruition, in time and in our own way, we can turn out a body of men and women that are comparable with those that have been developed through hundreds of years by the English system. We must, however, do it by our own method. It seems to me that this vision is one which places the function of the dean of men and the dean of women in an absolutely central position in our scheme of education. If we continue to do our job as well as we have begun to do it in the last few years I believe that we can in time approximate the results of the finest education that has ever been known in the world. SECRETARY’S MINUTES Monday, February 22, 1926 The Department of Deans of Women (National Association of Deans of Women) convened in annual meeting on Monday afternoon, February twenty- second, at two o’clock, in the theater of the Wardman Park Hotel. The president, Florence Purington, opened the session with greetings. Announcements were made by the chairman of the Local Committee, Anna L. Rose, and the Secretary. The minutes of the meetings or the executive committee in Cincinnati, Febru- ary 28, 1925; in Butfalo, September 4, 1925, and in Washington, February 22, 1926 were read and accepted. Anna E. Pierce presented the report of the treasurer. It was moved by Miss Richards, seconded and voted, that the report be accepted and placed on file. Dean Blitz moved that the recommendation of the executive committee for the appointment of a Committee on Revision of the Bylaws be adopted. The motion was seconded by Miss Stimson and was carried. 454 NaTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION ee It was moved by Winifred J. Robinson, Women’s College, University of Dela- ware, seconded by Miss Amos and voted, that the proposed amendment to the By laws providing for the creation of a standing Committee on Qualifications and Preparation for the Work of Deans be referred to the special Committee on the Revision of the Bylaws. Miss Ross moved that the president appoint a committee to investigate the possibility of securing headquarters at the National Headquarters of the American Association of University Women and of the employment of a part time secretary. The motion was seconded by Miss Kerr and carried. Resolution providing for committee to raise funds for 1927. All year work on the Association’s national issues—In pursuance of the action taken by the execu- tive committee at its September, 1925, meeting with reference to securing funds to defray the expenses of a central office, the treasurer explained that an estimate had been made of the expense for the present year of carrying on throughout the year the work begun by the four committees entrusted with the prosecution of the association’s national activities and that it appeared that the amount required beyond what would be available from regular sources will be about $7000. Moved by Miss Pierce and seconded by Miss Newman and carried, that a committee of four consisting of the president, the secretary and Mrs. Ellis L. Phillips, a former president of the association, be and they are hereby appointed and authorized to raise a special fund of $7000 or more with which to carry on the national issues of the association for the year of 1926-27 with full power in the premises including the power of adding others to the committee, either members or non-members of the association. Evelyn Butler, chairman of the Committee on Luncheon for Deans at the Indianapolis meeting of the National Education Association, submitted the follow- ing report: Madam Chairman, Friends—I have the honor to submit the report of the luncheon meeting of the National Association of Deans of Women, June 29th, 1925. During the National Education Association Convention in Indianapolis last June one of the memorable features was the luncheon on June 29th when about sixty deans of women who were in attendance at the National Education Association gathered in the Florentine room of the Claypool Hotel for a noon meeting. We had as our guests on this occasion William Lowe Bryan, president of Indiana University, and Robert Judson Aley, president of Butler College. After’ a short welcome to the city to visiting deans from your local chairman on arrangements, Martha Doan, secretary of the state association of deans of women, extended the greetings of the state association to visiting deans and their guests. The program consisted of three addresses. The committee had worded the topics assigned to Doctor Bryan and Doctor Aley with the intention of allowing them to treat their subjects jocularly but they did not take advantage of the chance to escape from their customary responsibility of serious discussion. Doctor Bryan, whose topic was “Why Is a Dean,” gave a convincing address in which he gave as the four chief causes for appointments of deans, first, the necessity of safe- guarding young women under present day conditions; second, the fact that the home has practically in large part surrendered its responsibility to the school; third, the present day state of unrest among our young people; and lastly the student conditions in recent years that makes leadership a necessity. Doctor Bryan closed his remarks by saying that the function of a dean of women is to reconcile the struggle between those who would hold youth to outworn conventions and those who in the name of liberty mistakedly were urging young people to abandon convention proved wise by the experience of centuries. Doctor Aley was the next speaker, His subject was, “If I were a Dean of Women” and in the course of his address he gave some very practical and wise suggestions to deans, emphasizing first of all the importance of confidence between dean and girls—a dean should demonstrate her faith in her girls and should DEPARTMENT OF DEANS oF WOMEN 455 ees teach them to have faith in her. Among his suggestions for a dean’s work Doctor Aley mentioned the desirability of being conversant with the history and lives of women of other ages and other lands; of keeping in touch with one’s own youth; of refraining from needless specific regulations; and of bringing women students into contact with men and women of high achievement. “Build up the standards of our girls. Establish their ideals. Cultivate in them the deep abiding graces of gentleness, culture and self-control” were Doctor Aley’s parting words, Doctor Aley was followed by Dean Nardin of the University of Wisconsin, whose topic was, “Democracy in our Universities and Colleges.” In asking Miss Nardin to speak on this subject the committee had hoped for an analysis of the sorority system which seems I think to most of us the big organized non- democratic institution sanctioned by the authority of our colleges. Miss Nardin, however, treated the subject so diplomatically that the newspapers reported her as “defending the sorority system.” Both Dean Doan and I have tried to get notes from Dean Nardin that would enable us to present a report of her talk but have had no reply. As I have only a short newspaper report and my own memory to depend upon, I shall not try to make a report. The meeting was, I think, a very great success in excellency of the addresses, as social recreation and in number in attendance. The fact that the American Association of Univer- sity Women had met in Indianapolis earlier in the spring and that a very large number of university and college deans of women from distant points had already been to Indianapolis for that meeting, affected the attendance of deans at the National Education Association. The result was that a good percent of those present were deans and advisers of girls in secondary schools. It was voted that the report be accepted and placed on file. The meeting then turned from business to the addresses of the afternoon. “Personnel Work, Its Relation to the Student in College,” by L. B. Hopkins, Northwestern University, and “Personnel Work, Its Relation to the College Gradu- ate,” by Emma P. Hirth, Director of the Bureau of Vocational Information, New York City. Wednesday, February 24, 1926 The association met in business session at two o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, February 24, Miss Purington presiding. Lucy J. Newton, representative in attendance at the National Congress of Parents and Teachers held last May, presented her report which is published elsewhere in the Yearbook. On motion the report was adopted and the request for material, valuable for parents and for programs for meetings of parent teach- ers associations, was referred to the chairman of the Committee on Relation to Other Oranizations. Anna E. Pierce presented the report of the Committee on Health, a preprint of which was in the hands of members, under the title “The Dean’s Responsibility to Secure Ideal Health Conditions for Her Students.” On motion of Miss Verder, it was seconded and voted that the report be accepted with thanks. , Martha Tracy followed with an address on “A New Movement in Student Health.” There was enthusiastic, general participation in the discussion which followed. The report of the Committee on Relation to Other Organizations was presented by the chairman, Anne Dudley Blitz, with the heading, “How Can the Association Make Its Relation to Other Organizations More Vital.” ! On motion the report was accepted and the recommendation of the National Amateur Athletic Federation of America was referred to the Committee on Resolutions. The meeting then adjourned. 456 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION Thursday, February 25, 1926 The National Association of Deans of Women met in business session at 9:30 on Thursday morning, February 25, in the theater of the Wardman Park Hotel, Florence Purington presiding. Special committees created by action of the association to be appointed by the president were announced as follows: Committee on Intellectual Life of Women and General Educational Policy— Ethel Hampson Brewster, Swarthmore College; Frances Fenton Bernard, Smith College; Alice Hill Byrne, Western College for Women. Headquarters—Agnes E. Wells, Indiana University; Florence K. Root, College of Wooster; Anna L. Rose, George Washington University. Revision of Bylaws—Thyrsa W. Amos, University of Pittsburgh; Mary W. Sawyer, High School, Brookline, Massachusetts; Irma Hathorn, Teachers’ College, River Falls, Wisconsin. Reports were presented as follows: Commitee on Press and Publications, by Helen M. Smith, College for Women, Western Reserve University. It was moved, seconded, and carried that the report be accepted and placed on file. Commitiee on Membership, by Thyrsa W. Amos, University of Pittsburgh. On a motion by Miss Pierce, it was seconded and voted that the report of the committee be accepted, and its work heartily approved. Committee on Budget, by Katharine Rogers Adams, Mills College. It was moved © by Miss Newman, seconded by Miss Wells, and voted that the report be accepted. Committee on Audit. In the absence of the chairman, Mrs. Barbour Walker, William Smith College, the report was read by the Secretary. It was moved by Miss Alvord, seconded by Miss Stimson, and voted that the report be accepted. Committee on Study of Sororities, by Agnes E. Wells, Indiana University. After this, Louise Leonard, representing the National Panhellenic, spoke. It was moved by Miss Richards, seconded by Miss Alvord, and voted that the report be accepted. At this time the following communication was read: My dear Miss Doan:— I have been granted leave of absence for the first semester of next year for a trip around the world. In view of this fact it seems best for me to withdraw from the presidency of this association, and I hereby regretfully tender my resignation. FLORENCE PURINGTON. It was moved by Miss Simrall, seconded by Miss Dutton and passed by a rising vote, that the resignation of Miss Purington be accepted with regret and with much appreciation of her service as president of this association. The report of the Committee on Nominations was presented by Emily H. Dutton :— As President of the Association to complete the unexpired term of Dean Puring- ton—of one year—Dorothy Stimson, Goucher College, As First Vice-President—Margaret Shore Morriss, Women’s College of Brown University. As Secretary—Juliet J. Poynter, Science Hill School, Shelbyville, Kentucky. It was moved by Miss Crawford, seconded by Miss Wells and voted, that the report be accepted. On motion of Miss Potter it was voted that the secretary DEPARTMENT OF DEANS OF WOMEN 457 cast the unanimous ballot of the association for those nominated to fill the offices becoming vacant at this time. The ballot was cast and the election declared completed. The report of the Committee on Resolutions was presented by the chairman, Josephine P. Simrall. The articles were read and voted upon seriatim. It was moved by Miss Austin of Illinois College for Women, seconded by Doctor Tracy and voted, that the report as a whole with the alterations be accepted. An invitation was read from the National Student Council of the Young Women’s Christian Association asking that the National Association of Deans of Women send three or four representatives to the National Student Assembly, a section of the Ninth National Convention of the Y. W. C. A. to be held in Milwaukee, April 21-27, 1926. On motion of Miss Crawford of the University of Southern California, seconded by Miss Dutton of Sweetbriar College, it was voted that the matter of representatives be referred to the executive committee. The result of the election of officers for the sections was announced. The meeting then adjourned. a, ) sis * ; hg ite) aaah peer ; hud § mat may i i 7 _ Mga ’ ty a mae, 4 “ ge i tery “76 ny a7 \ a \ is ; ' Dorey 4 . ot seid Lt! guike ,. [ ; = 2 ais oR Oy BY ty ea > a, f owe 4 ‘Gy, hag Pi ‘xt Jw leer - 7 . > ad ’ pee el 2 Ge y ny = a Wi" ns i a | i t i ; wee ’ a je ES Ps 5 ho oie, eS ‘ ° “rena hy or cM 4 LG dye 7 AA te yg enti 4 ae yey Pm 5, Settee “e (Are te eas SAE is ee reaas vee Reger De qaeet iat . wt i Ma . pr ery ‘ if ae tea be = — x ae’ ita Abs yt be ah hy Ca, Sedan 0 pb pol [ee a aT niga rs ig } , : wat yew VG Se ae ree: ae ay tbs fog er A 4 4 a res re — r , , . IGN “ss Toe iP fay oo Gh ’ , > a a ae ie ne mssethy 4 a. Te ' : a “ ~ { ded e cv a ia) ve . has ibe idan ates . j ray J a ah? : ~ * o's i Bart, h4 phan” ih ve é « — 3 was Fag weedy by . ‘ 5 fa - eG ee J ot esa ¢t4Crrwm (5. he ) a ee — + = aly A . << : - 7 ‘ tis nie Tend anky” ve ad fi & ie tl ned ue f Department of Elementary School Principals HE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRIN- cIPALs, temporarily organized as the National Association of Elementary School Principals at the Atlantic City meeting of the Department of Superintendence in February, 1921, became a de- partment of the National Education Association at Des Moines, in July, 1921. The officers of the Department for the year 1926- 27 are: President, E. Ruth Pyrtle, Principal, Mc- Kinley School, Lincoln, Nebr.; First Vice-President, Herbert ©. Hanson, Principal, Talcott School, Chi- cago, Ill.; Second Vice-President, Julia M. White, Principal, Steele School, Beaver, Colo.; Third Vice- President, Eva G. Pinkston, Principal, Cumberland School, Dallas, Texas; Secretary, Warren A. Roe, Principal, Belmont Avenue School, Newark, N. J.; Treasurer, Courtland V. Davis, Principal, J. EK. B. Stuart School, Norfolk, Va.; Executive Committee: M. E. Peterson, Supervising Principal of Schools, Los Angeles, California; W. T. Longshore, Principal, Greenwood School, Kansas City, Mo.; Jesse M. Fink, Principal, Palmer School, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Ide G. Sargeant, Principal, School No. 10, Paterson, N. J. This Department meets twice each year—in February and in June. Facts relating to the estab- lishment of this Department and the record of meet- ings are found in earlier volumes of Proceedings as follows: 1921: 453 1922: 851-886 1923 : 653-666 1924: 545-564 1925: 450-477 [460] PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC EDUCATION—ABSTRACT WILLIAM H. ALLEN, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE, NEW YORK CITY DUCATION’S own spokesmen are closing more doors to educational publicity than are editors of newspapers and magazines. Official statements about education that are dashed off, drooled off in uncourteous disregard of readers and auditors are robbing schools of support and understanding which teachers earn and publics want to give. . The greatest obstruction to helpful school publicity is harmful school publicity because it mistakes noise and space for benefit; creates more opposition and indifference to adequate school support than it removes; miseducates worse than misrepresentation and repudiates through official action what it promises in publicity campaigns for support. Five specific defects in current school publicity must be remedied before education can gain the public support which it needs; there is too much halo over schooling and too little over education; too little variety and too much repeating of subjects, speakers, and actors; too little educa- tion about school work between emergency appeals; too little informing about the decreased purchasing power of the education dollar; and too little free speech with almost no open criticism respecting slovenly, dull, inaccurate and deceiving school publicity. Publics support what they enjoy. They can’t be as liberal about salaries as about stadiums until they enjoy teachers and teachers’ results. Being harangued for schools reduces capacity to be generous toward schools. Being agreeable news is better than begging or stunting news as a publicity policy for education. To help principals conduct self-surveys by and for their home schools, the speaker and President Ide Sargeant presented to the elementary prin- cipals association a checking publicity score card. Among questions affecting taxpayers and parents were these: Do most taxpayers and parents find the annual school report interesting, fairly readable, unread- able? Is school publicity chiefly about school politics, stunts, wrangles, gossip, or evidences of school progress? Are children taught the news value of important school work? Do taxpayers understand reasons for increased school costs well, fairly, badly? Does school publicity enter- tain, wheedle, scold or inform the public? Among publicity aids too little recognized were mentioned lay con- ventions, teacher contact with public, satisfied employers, currently informed parents, democratically conducted school agencies and faculty meetings, and radio programs. [461] 462 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION THE EDUCATIONAL FIELD MARY McSKIMMON, PRESIDENT OF NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, PRINCIPAL, PIERCE SCHOOL, BROOKLINE, MASS. This great field is bounded on the north by frozen tradition. This is what keeps the slow chill of frost holding back the harvest of advanc- ing knowledge. This is where the conservative spirit distrusts every- thing new; that holds to the belief that all new discoveries as to the needs of the development of the child are fads. From this region come the cartoonists who forever picture the teacher as an impossible termagant, the school boy as awaking in tears daily because the schoolhouse hasn’t burned down in the night. Here also dwell the authorities secure in their unbendable knowledge that the children of today know next to nothing of the reading, writing, and arithmetic fundamentals. They only warm up when fury seizes them at the mildest suggestion that the teachers’ salaries should be raised. "Their retort. never varies, “Teachers are paid too much now.” To the east of this field lies the land of sunrise. ‘hither our eyes have been turned often of late. We have now two great interests in that land. One is the World Court to which our hearts are sped. ‘This is the confession of the grown people of America that isolation is barren- ness and selfishness. We are committed now to the knowledge that what is ultimately for the good of all must concern all. Our great inheritance of legal truth and diplomacy from John Marshall, Daniel Webster, Rufus Choate, John Hay, and Walter Hines Page has given us noble ideals of what fine relationships with foreign peoples might be. And our newest educational interest, that of our International Relationships starting with the meeting at San Francisco and continuing at Edinburgh bids us wreathe our service to childhood with a great hope. If we can weld together the childhood of the world in a common interest in their games, and everyday experiences, we have razed to the ground the greates* barrier to their common friendship. The poet long ago knew how isola- tion of interest cultivates enmity when he wrote :— Lands intersected by a narrow firth abhor each other Mountains interposed make enemies of nations ‘ Who had else like kindred drops been melted into one. The southern boundary of the educational field has a characteristic common to every other side, inasmuch as so far as it comes in touch with professional education without fathers so far as any research has dis- covered. Public days, Education Week, graduations are all attended by mothers, so are reports signed, with mothers are school difficulties settled. I wonder if any other land harbors families of such interesting boys and girls where fathers know so little about their children’s schools. Who shall be the great personality in education able to win the fathers long eneough from business or pleasure to take the interest that would trans- form the boy’s schooling for him, making it alive with a dignity and DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 463 importance now lacking. American children need no one thing so much today as to get school interests out of No Man’s Land. The chief river in this field is Progress, and how. swift its current is! Even under our own eye we can almost see new interests take shape and color. It reminds one of the marvels of the moving picture where a sleeping seed breaks through its blanketing soil, growing before our eyes to leaf, stem, and flower. Our favorite tributary is National Prosperity, another is a newly swollen one, evidently fed by hidden springs, we might call it Passion-for-school. When we can change this one to Passion-for- Education, or must we despair of substitution and await a new fountain to spring into existence bearing a new wealth of power to our river Progress ? The mountain range is Cast-out-Fear, for from its noble peaks great visions of the future wellbeing of education may be seen, but by the fearless alone. The fog of doubt and prejudice make these mountains unsafe to the fearful because the great vision such might receive is hidden to them. The great dawn of the real appreciation of education can be seen from the twin peaks—Education Bill and Child Labor Amendment. This great vista has long been cut off from some approaches for they lie through Death Desert, caused by Public Indifference. But there are even in this desert land as in the greatly favored places great fertile oasis, for the blessed devotion of the teachers of the children are changing these deserts into gracious gardens where the barren ground is blossoming like the rose of Sharon. Here crooked places are being made straight and rough places plain, and the glory of the heritage of the founders is shining from the face of every child. In these shining regions they no longer talk vaguely about child study, but they set themselves to study every child’s native ability to learn, his need of the right hours of sleep, play, and work; they are learning how to protect the best of them from the clutch of disease. They are finding the best ways of training him into the mind and character of a citizen of no mean land. Some day it will be an unfailingly successful task that the people of this educational field have set themselves to do. For when public indif- ference has disappeared forever, the opportunities for childhood will have increased beyond our power to reckon and the teachers will all be able to give their entire energy and most courageous cheer into this great work, for they will no longer divide the strength that ought to be given to the work they love in vaguely trying to make one dollar do the work of two. THE ALL-YEAR SCHOOL—ABSTRACT WARREN A, ROE, PRINCIPAL OF BELMONT AVE. SCHOOL, NEWARK, N. J. Shall makeshift summer schools be continued or shall our schools be or- ganized upon a sane and practical all-year basis that will substitute for preventive, corrective, and sporadic summertime efforts a constructive, pro- gressive, and regular procedure that will contribute genuinely to advance- ment in the regular courses of the school? 464 NATIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION asi eet ee eS eee 0000808 SS The short term unit, if it be twelve weeks, reduces a penalty for disa- bility eight weeks over the customary twenty weeks. The adoption of the semi-annual term raised the country-wide educational level twenty years ago. The all-year school with its short term unit is as great a step toward the solution of retardation in our schools as the electric light is an improve- ment over the candles of our ancestors. By dividing a course of study into the smallest units that are adminis- tratively possible and educationally sound, there will be given to the largest numbers of pupils the greatest amount of education thereby reducing the costs, increasing the facilities and attaining toward the ultimate purpose of education, education for all the people capable.of receiving it. All-year schools are just a better means of showing common sense in using the available time, the money a community can spend, the plant it is able to maintain, and the trained ability of its teaching body so that the time is best utilized, the money secures the most it can buy, the plant is used to capacity, and the teaching ability is made available to the most pupils. All-year schools are progress with which fine leadership will face a new dawn in educational administration with courage, with skill, and the will to conquer. THE PRINCIPAL, THE LAW, AND THE EVIDENCE A. E. WINSHIP, EDITOR, JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON, MASS. The elementary school, years nine to eleven, is to be the promoter of social and industrial morale, the “safety zone” for educational speeders. The first three years—the babyhood—are the mother’s responsibility. The second three years, three to five,—the childhood—are the family re- sponsibility. “The third three years, six to eight—boyhood initiative—are the years in which he learns how to learn from books. The fourth three vears, nine to eleven—boyhood “‘selfstarter”—are the years in which op- portunity means responsibility. The elementary school is the school of the elements. Since 1800 we have known that elements were made of atoms, that the atoms had dis- tinctive characteristics in each of the elements. Since 1900 we have known that atoms were composed of electrons, that all electrons have the same size and weight, so to speak, but they are transformed when they create atoms. For instance, there are about two thousand electrons in an atom of hydro- gen, about twelve thousand in an atom of carbon, about a quarter of a million in a atom of radium. While no microscope has ever made it pos- sible to see an atom we know all about even the electrons of atoms of every element. For instance, the nucleus of every independent electron has a negative electric power, but when the electron has become an atom the atom of each element has a distinctive positive electric nucleus. So the “elements” of the years, nine to eleven have a distinctive positive character which they did not have at eight years of age. DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 465 In the six-to-eight-year period there is certain negative achievement as the children learn to read, to write, to spell, to know number, to think, and to learn. There is comparatively little need of different activities in mak- ing opportunities for children to learn from six to eight. It is chiefly a difference in the time required to attain certain abilities. Individuality is chiefly a question of the teacher’s patience and of exposure to opportunities. They are primary or primal opportunities. All this changes in the elemental years, nine to eleven. In the primary years he learned to read. In the elementary years he reads to learn. He learned to know number, now he uses number. He has to speak and write correctly, now he speaks and writes correctly to impress what he has to say by the skill with which he says it. He learned how to think, now he thinks what he has occasion to think about. Now everything is individual, emerges from the group. Like the elec- tron he has the two thousand positive power of hydrogen, or the quarter of a million positive power in radium. It is now a crime to limit him to the traditional course of study or to the modern ambitious curriculum. In these three years opportunities increase in arithmetical ratio and the respon- sibilities increase in geometrical ratio, so that when the boy or girl is twelve years of age the character as well as the scholarship may be established, may be social, civic, industrial hydrogen or radium. The elementary school teacher or principal who arrogantly claims the right to cramp the twelve year old stuntingly is only a little less criminal than the curricula expert who aristocratically straps him to a machine that standardizes the cramping and stunting. Character is always a character, is never the character. With ten num- ber characters we can measure eternity, but no one number character does the work of any other number character. Call four five, or five four and you wreck all computataion. Call John’s character William’s, and Mary’s Jane’s and you wreck the character of all of them. Until we make the school years nine to eleven the school of the elements of character as well as of intellect, we will continue to send into life terrible jungles of nitrogen and chlorine, of hydrogen and radium. THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF THE DEPART- MENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AS SEEN BY THE OLD GUARD IDE G. SARGEANT, PRINCIPAL, PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 10, PATERSON, N. J. During the summer and fall of 1920 and early winter of 1921, groups of principals in New Jersey, Texas, and the University of Chicago, inde- pendently of one another, gave serious consideration to the necessity for a national organization of principals. Representatives of these groups went to the winter meeting of the Department of Superintendence with the definite purpose to see what could be done to meet this need. When these men and women, together with principals like-minded from other states 466 NaTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION met in conference there was such unanimity of sentiment that a preliminary organization was formed, with Leonard Power of Texas, president, and John L. Bracken of Minnesota for secretary. This organization was made permanent at the annual meeting at Des Moines and became a department of the National Education Association. The Department of Elementary School Principals was organized at At- lantic City, in 1921, for the specific purpose of taking a promiscuous group of school workers called principals, in the main unorganized, timid, without knowledge of their rights and duties, and weld them into a trained group with sufficient class-consciousness, self-respect, and education to constitute a professional body capable of giving to the big modern school and its com- munity that quality of leadership which the involved conditions incident to the life of a wealthy and rapidly growing industrial nation demands. Outside of a limited number of our largest cities, there was no agreement among our communities as to what constituted the gist of a principal’s work. Superintendents and school boards did not know. No one knew whether he should be a statistical clerk, a supervisor or combination of the two. The scholastic training and salary of this so-called school official was but slightly in advance of the classroom teacher. “There were practically no books on school administration and supervision which would be of help to the principal. The increasing percent of urban dwellers had made much of the practical home training of former days impossible with the consequent heavier load to be carried by the school. “These conditions and the higher level of general education called for a new type of school executive who must traverse an uncharted sea in making the modern school one hundred percent effective. School superintendents could offer little personal help as the technic and difficulties brought about by the rapidly expanding duties of their own field so completely filled all their time as to leave neither op- portunity nor energy for the study of the specific problems of the principal. Colleges and universities had nothing to offer of substantial value in help- ing solve the difficult problem. College professors who had given some study to the problems of elementary education openly stated that they seri- ously questioned the probability of those now acting as principals, having the ability, training, and point of view necessary to meet the requirements demanded for the principalship of the new type of elementary school. An- other solution proposed was to make the principal chief executive clerk, or errand boy of the institution, at everybody’s beck and call, the real work of supervision to be done by special subject supervisors. Those of us with experience in the work of the principal knew this meant a balkanized school with its deplorable chain of over emphasis of subjects, vindictive rivalries, petty jealousies, and self-seeking flunkyism. ‘Those principals who were in attendance at the 1920 meeting of the Department of Superintendence, in Chicago, were thoroughly aroused to the danger confronting the elemen- tary schools. Its problems were prominent subjects for discussion, but were being handled almost entirely by those without practical experience in the DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 467 work under consideration. A more depressing situation could hardly be imagined. Everyone of us started for home with the determination to build an organization that would give us principals measuring up to the exigencies of our time or quit the business. When our organization had been completed at Des Moines for the pur- pose of providing thoroughly trained principals of first grade ability for the schools, a step had been taken in education ranking in importance with the campaigns of Horace Mann for the better training of teachers and the establishment of Normal Schools, and like the earlier movement both the teaching body and the general public must be educated to see the need. It was this situation that brought our department into being. In five years we have built up an aggressive membership that is becoming thor- oughly trained along cultural and professional lines. We have received the most cordial cooperation from normal schools, colleges, and universities in offering courses that would be helpful in giving to the schools the new type of principal required. Superintendents of the higher order have come unreservedly to our help. But let no one unfamiliar with what it has cost or its foundation principles imagine that bringing the department to its present strength and efficiency has been an easy task. It has required hard work, wise counsel, and close adherence to the sound traditions of its incep- tion. Further, our continued success means no deviation from the princi- ples and traditions of our early ideals. In order that we may put these principles and traditions in tangible form, I have asked some of the officials who have been most instrumental in building our structure for a brief summary. Our first secretary and editor of the second yearbook, John L. Bracken, refers to the situation among the principals at the University of Chicago as follows: The lack of definite literature for elementary school principals, lack of cohesion on the part of these keymen and women had given rise on several occasions during the course to suggestions, not original with the members of the group, that a national organization of elementary school principals should be consummated. The formation of the national association of elementary school principals at Atlantic City in February of the next year is history. The reception of this association into the National Education Association as one of its departments still stands as a temporal line of demarcation in the professionalization of the principalship. It was the determination to publish the yearbook of our department which definitely marked the Department of Elementary School Principals as a live productive organization. Worth McClure, Leonard Power, and I held one of the most dis- couraging meetings of the department at Chicago when we faced the seeming impossibility of securing funds with which to publish the first yearbook. It was a combination of Leonard Power’s enthusiasm and of Secretary Crabtree’s far- seeing wisdom which brought the National Education Association to guarantee to finance this publication. I am writing a few of the things which I remember and which I feel anyone who shared in this most successful task, in no matter how humble a capacity, has infinite cause for continued self-congratulation. Worth McClure, editor of the First Yearbook, and second president of the department sets forth our purpose with force and clearness when he states: 468 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION There are, I believe, three fundamental traditions which have made the Depart- ment of Elementary School Principals great. I mean, first of all the emphasis upon the principal’s viewpoint in the study of every problem. Not generalities, but “brass tacks.’ Not curriculum building in general, for example, but what specific things have principals had to do to courses of study in order to make them function in the classrooms? I mean, too, the insistence that the presidency of the organiza- tion shall be held only by those who have previously served the department, not only conspicuously, but by the sweat of the brow. The third, and perhaps the most vital of all three, is that of high professional qualifications for the editor of the yearbook. I was glad when I heard of the proposed honorarium for the editor. The editor earns it all, and more. But an honorarium and travelling expenses are attractive to the politically inclined, and for that reason extra safeguards should be thrown around the selection of the editor. The yearbook is the keystone of the departmental arch. If the yearbook collapses, the arch will crumble. The editor must not only be a leader, but he or she must always be a principal, with experience and training in practical research. We who have been through the flames know this, but it may not occur to the present generation, who are about to inherit a full-fledged department which is a “going concern.” Leonard Power, first president of the department, speaks of other phases of our work as follows: Please say for me that the principals must not forget their great purpose to tear down those artificial distinctions between elementary and high school. They should adhere to their determination to pursue the development of the technic of school supervision and administration to a point beyond that now reached. ‘They should stand with their teachers against the necessity of transfer to a high school in order to receive remunerative recognition of further professional training. The American people are for their public schools. They think more in terms of the elementary school than in terms of the secondary school. The situation which has arisen (and which results in a secondary system that sucks the best blood from the elementary system) is not yet fully understood by them. They do not realize that the best instruction is needed with the younger children, but we can show them. As a matter of fact, the elementary field of instructional technic has shown much more development than the secondary field. Say for me, that I hope the principals will bend their efforts to make it possible for any elementary principal to remain in his school and get as much pay as any other principal in the system, provided training and administrative responsibilities are equivalent. One of our present needs is well set forth by Jessie M. Fink, a former sec- retary and president of the department: Our present greatest need is that of increasing our membership. This will give us funds to carry on our program. Increased membership means ability to pro- ceed with the committee work already in progress. It also means acquainting the public with our activities and gaining a sympathetic and helpful support. In these days the layman as well as the educator has to be considered. To give our findings to the world at large increases our usefulness and gives us a desirable status. No member in the entire department has carried a greater load, done more constructive work or has a better knowledge of the members and their sentiments, than the editor of our yearbook, Arthur S. Gist. This is the future as he sees it. Future problems for the Department of Elementary School Principals: DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 469 ace a aie So a eC Rt ei a 1. One of the most important undertakings for our department is to study scientifically the most vital problems in elementary education and how the principal may best function in the solution of these problems. 2. Another important phase is the dissemination of valuable studies in ele- mentary education, especially those dealing with the principal’s aspects of these problems. Caution. 1. We should be most careful in guarding against the use of our depart- ment as a publication bureau for studies made by other organizations. Some of these studies might not be of vital interest to principals and none would likely be of much stimulus to principals if they had no part in such investigations, Results of such a program. 1. Such a program would stimulate all elementary school principals to the highest type of service. 2. It would result in a large, enthusiastic membership in our department. 3. It would mean the universal recognition of elementary school principals as experts in elementary education. In closing I wish to make certain definite suggestions based on my ob- servations and experience after five and one half years of service for the department. First—That the editor of the yearbook, after a satisfactory probationary term otf one year, be appointed for a term of two years, making the term of service a period of three years; such official to be nominated by the presi- dent, and approved by a majority of the executive committee at the winter meeting; such editor to receive adequate compensation, the amount of which to be determined by the executive committee. From the beginning it has been felt that the appointment of the editor by the president, after the summer meeting, for a term of one year was a temporary expedient. But inasmuch as we were not in a position to pay for the work done, we felt we could not ask any one to assume this heavy burden for more than a year. This defect has been minimized largely through the fact that Mrs. Fink and myself were able to induce Mr. Gist to continue the work he had so ably carried on in Mr. Longshore’s administration. “The executive committee at the mid-winter meeting in Cleveland recognized the difficulty of the late summer appointment and elected the editor at the official break- fast. It was for the same reason, that the nominating commitee at Indian- apolis suggested that the editor of the Fourth Yearbook be retained for the Fifth. Of a like tenor was the action of the executive committee at the official breakfast in Washington in voting to retain Mr. Gist, as editor, for 1927, with an honorarium of $1000 for the present year if our finances will permit. The position of editor has never been created by action of this department. We are now strong enough financially and in member- ship to remove this vital position from the nebulous limbo in which it has been encumbered. It should be legitimately established and be given a definite status at our business session. 470 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Second—Our annual membership fee in the department is now $2. It should be increased to $3. Our income is wholly inadequate for the work in hand. Through vigorous effort during the past year we have been able to increase our membership by a little over 500, giving us an added revenue over last year of about $1000. We need to undertake an effective cam- paign for new members in the year ahead. We need to do much more effective publicity work that the benefits of our organization may be widely distributed. . The published reports of such students of research as Doctor Morrison, Doctor Norton, and Doctor Crouch tell a pathetic tale of the degradation of the principalship in thousands of communities with its con- sequent robbery of the nation’s children. Our Committee on Standards and Training is doing a splendid piece of constructive work. It plans during the coming year to publish its report, a volume of 250 pages, of highest professional value. This will involve an expense of from $2000 to $4000. It will be a source of pride to every principal in the land. Our department must finance it but to do it we must raise our dues. Annual dues of $3 will not deprive us of one worthwhile member which we now have nor will it keep one prospective member from joining our ranks. But it will give us funds to carry on the important projects which our department has undertaken. ; During the year the Committee on Educational Progress, under the chairmanship of F. H. Duffy, has fully organized with a live member in nearly every state. It is the work of this committee to be the eyes and ears of the department to keep us in touch with all the most progressive activi- ties in education throughout the nation. Our Committee on Enrolment, under the chairmanship of Jessie M. Fink, is now in the process of effective organization with a working mem- ber in each state and territory of the union. This committee has the large task to enrol the 50,000 principals of the country. A strong committee of this kind can do much more effective work than a field secretary, do it at much lower cost, and do better follow-up work. Our Committee on Cooperation with Civic Bodies, under the chairman- ship of M. H. Traphagen, is in the process of formation. This committee will be able to collect information on what is being done and suggest the best lines of operation for publicity, and building an intelligent, effective support for the schools. We have strong, well thought out committees. I wish to caution the department against creating new committees. We have enough. More mean added cost and confusion. All new lines of work should be referred to one of the standing committees, or if necessary, be conducted by a sub- committee of the standing committee. These were matters of little moment in the beginning but with the coming of a large membership, financial resources, and numerous activities, careful systematic order must be ob- served. Otherwise, we shall waste our resources, become involved in move- ments not germane to our work and harmful controversies. DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 471 Each department of the National Education Association should create a permanent fund at the earliest moment possible. For this a certain per- cent of our income should be set aside each year. To this could be added gifts and bequests to keep it growing. It would be a fine thing for our department to be the first to institute this sound financial procedure. I recommend that we make an appropriation of $500 to establish the fund at once. The income from this fund to be used for carrying on special lines of research work desired by principals in service. I do not approve of the policy of a large vitally important group like the principals going to a foundation or some other body, as supplicants asking for a dole to carry on necessary work. It means if such outside organization does aid us that we shall be handicapped to a considerable degree by restrictions and cir- cumstances which we cannot control. It is a humiliation to think that a great group like ours should be hampered by any such conditions. Let us not be the victims of an inferior complex any longer. Investigations and publications put out by this department must be completely under the con- trol of or the work of principals themselves with no hidden strings attached to discount our work. Let us begin now to put our work on a sound foundation by making a beginning of a permanent fund. Let us be leaders in this fine work as we were with our yearbook. The future is bright with the promise of a great educational calling known as the principalship, a calling offering an attractive and permanent career to the ablest and most ambitious of the land, a calling not based on selfishness but on ability to sense higher spiritual values and make them effective in the lives of our people through the instrumentality of the public school. THE VALUE OF AN EXPERIMENTAL SCHOOL ABBY PORTER LELAND, PRINCIPAL, JOHN HANCOCK SCHOOL NEW YORK CITY In this article I am using the term experimental rather than the word demonstration which appears on the program, for it seems to indicate better the topic assigned me. It is the term used in my city for the schools designated by the city superintendent as experimental. Those of us who are in charge of these schools are expected to demonstrate as well as experiment along such lines as the grading and classification of pupils, curriculum revision, methodology, etc. These schools are located in the boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, in various race and nationality communities, thereby representing a cross section of cos- mopolitan New York; the schools vary in size from a school of 23 classes with a register of 762 to a school of 66 classes with a register of 2454; they range from those in a static community as in certain Italian sections, where there are practically no transfers, to schools with an annual 50 percent “turnover” in school population as in the case of my present school ; they include in type the 6B school, the 8B school and the junior high school. 472 NaTIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION The assistant director of the bureau of reference, research, and statistics, William J. McGrath, in a recent report states that the principals of the experimental schools “have carried on during the last two years a series of experiments in the teaching of vocabulary, silent reading, fundamentals in arithmetics, dealing with the constancy of the I. Q., and growth in mental ages and subject ages based on a comparative study of the results of two batteries of mental and achievement tests, the first given in December, 1922, the second in May, 1924. Over 4000 children tested in December, 1922, by the national intelli- gence test, Scale A, Form 1, were retested in May, 1924. There was a correlation of .83. This indicated to the principals that on the whole the tests they had used for classification were valid. In general, children with I. Q.’s of 110 and above were placed in bright classes; with I. Q.’s of 90-109 in normal classes; and with I. Q.’s below 90 in slow classes. Classifying pupils in ability groups demonstrated such advantages as are usually given, as (1) helps to hold each group up to a standard com- mensurate with its ability, (2) helps to improve descipline, (3) helps to encourage the slow pupil, as for instance, by developing leadership in this group, etc., (4) helps to improve academic standards of the school and thereby increases promotion and reduces cost. The retests in May 1924 in- dicated that slow children profited sufficiently by the adjusted course of study and adjusted methods so that their increased progress and interest were reflected in higher I. Q.’s. 58.2 percent of the original (December, 1922) 80-89 I. Q. group, usually termed slow, rose on the May, 1924, retests above 90 I. Q. into the normal and bright groups; 18.8 percent of the 70-79 I. Q. group also rose on these retests into normal and bright groups. It would seem therefore that the experimental schools demonstrated that in classification of pupils the I. Q. though on the whole valid and reliable, should always be supplemented by all other available and pertinent information, as language handicap, physical defects, habits of industry, studiousness, persistence, etc. The schools further demon- strated that from time to time retests should be given to determine growth, if any, in mental age. Perhaps it would be well to refer briefly to the experimental study made of the teaching of vocabulary, silent reading, spelling, fundamentals in arithmetic, and reasoning in arithmetic. Each experimental school was asked to specialize in certain phases of the study. For instance public school 1 Bronx selected silent reading and public school 157 Manhattan. arithmetic. _The study has not only demonstrated objectively and statis- tically certain things that we have all known, as the fact that children are appallingly lacking in vocabulary building, but brought to light other things not so generally well known and has made a contribution along the line of methodology, etc. The bureau of reference, research, and statistics of New York Citv will be glad to send to members of the Department of Elementary School Principals, such reports on the study as they have already made and additional reports as they appear. DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 473 I give below an account of the arithmetic experiment in public school 157 Manhattan as reported by Mildred Innes, teacher in charge of this experiment: 1. Material provided—1. Class sets of drills in the fundamental operations with integers, fractions, and decimals. There are forty-two sets for each grade. 2. Detailed plan for daily remedial work in problems for each teacher. 3. Pupils’ record cards on which are recorded the results of previous diagnostic and reasoning tests. 2. Use of Material—The work in fundamentals prescribed for each day con- sists of from five to ten minute drills from the class drill sheets. The teacher consults the pupils’ record cards to determine where drill is most needed. An individual record is kept by each pupil and occasionally the work is timed to enable him to see how he is progressing. The daily work in problems consists of twenty minutes’ work following the directions on the problem sheet for the first four days of the week with a test on the fifth day. The teacher applies the suggestions for remedial work to the prob- lems of her own grade. The pupils’ cards show the ability of the pupil in solving problems. The record gives the number of problems in which the principle was correct, the number solved within a given time, and the number of correct answers. At the end of each term a formal test is given consisting of twenty-one types of examples in fundamentals and fifteen type problems. These tests are recorded on the cards and from them a report of the median in each type of test for each class is made. The progress made in my present school with a median I. Q. of only 93.03 is shown in the following excerpt of a report made this month to our district superintendent: In May, 1925, we gave Form 1 of the Monroe standardized reasoning test in arithmetic. In May, 1926, we gave Form 2 of this test to measure progress. We have translated the raw score for each class into a grade score. The results of the comparison are as follows: Grade forms obtained from the median scores for each class: Gain Above the Normal of 1 year Class Test, May, 1925 Retest, May, 1926 Expected 6B-1 8 yr. Syria eee ener ters 6B-2 5 yr. 6 mo. 8 yr. lyr. 6 mo. 6B-4 4 yr. 8 mo. 6 yr. 9 mo 1 yr. 1 mo. 6B-Opp. 5 yr. 4 mo. 6 yr. 8 mo. 4 mo. 6A-2 5 yr. 6 yr. 8 mo. 8 mo. 6A-5 4 yr. 3 mo. 6 yr. 2 mo. 11 mo. As indicated above, the 6B-1 children did so well that they were not measured by the tests except for the fact that it was shown that they ranked above the grade work. It will be noted that all other classes showed a gain of more than 12 months, the normal gain expected in a year. The purpose of this paper has been to picture rather concretely the value of an experimental school: 1. The experimental schools are serving more and more as a ‘proving ground,’ a laboratory to ‘test,’ as it were, present theory and practice as well as moot questions in administration and supervision. The schools present their findings concretely and statistically. I cite by way of illus- tration such a generally accepted procedure as classifying pupils in ability groups so as to enable each child to profit to the fullest extent of his 474 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION powers without hindrance of any other greatly deviating type. Tests in the experimental schools showed that in a period of 17 months from December, 1922, to May, 1924, dull normal children gained more than 17 months in arithmetic age, reading age, spelling age, educational age, and mental age. The experimental schools reached a rate of promo- tion of 96 percent as opposed to the city average of 88 percent largely under a nongrouping plan in re ability. 2. The experimental schools are serving more and more as a labora- tory for procedure that seems right as well as for moot questions in methodology. A district superintendent, for instance, has requested that the experimental schools test out the results of the Austrian method in subtraction as contrasted with the traditional ‘borrow’ method. It is a recognition that value of various methods can be tested in the experimental schools under controlled conditions and that at the end of a given time valid conclusions may be drawn. . 3. The experimental schools are serving more and more as a labora- tory for curriculum interpretation, curriculum revision, and curriculum making. In 1922-1923 a committee of principals of the experimental schoo!s, working with the teachers of these schools, prepared a modified course of study for the dull normal. This course was given to the teachers in m‘meographed form, to be used as a basis for further experimentation. A committee is now at work on an enriched course of study for bright children. My own school has been asked by the chairman of the fifteen teachers released in my city to work on the Committee on Curriculum revision, if we would be willing to try out in certain classes in Public School 157 Manhattan the grouping of geography, history, and civics materials under one course of study, social science. 4. The experimental schools are tending to develop even in the most reactionary teacher an experimental attitude, so essential if teachers are to have a share in the effort to realize more and more in the school's the fundamertal aim in education, the production of an individual with his special abilit‘es and aptitudes trained to the maximum to fit him for service in the complex society of today. Instead of a task, teaching becomes an adventure. THE PRINCIPAL AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF TEACHERS IN SERVICE—ABSTRACT FRANCIS G. BLAIR, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION SPRINGFIELD, ILL. During the Roman occupation of the Holy Land, it was a custom of th> Roman soldier in going about the city or into the country to compel a Jev to walk by his side for the purpose of protection. Out of this practice it is said came that great statement of the Master, ‘““Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” I am old-fashioned enough to believe that there is character and couraze and education in going some miles under compulsion. But I am more and DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 475 more convinced that real character, real courage, and real education depend upon the number of extra miles which we go on our own volition. In dealing with teachers the principal will have to decide how much of the improvement in service will be brought by compelling the teacher to follow certain definite rules and regulations. The management of every large institution requires the adoption of such rules. There may be differ- ence of opinion while they are under discussion, but as soon as they are adopted, then every teacher should follow those general rules and general orders. ‘There is no servitude, there is no self-denial in it, there is no slavery in it. It is one of the indications of high intelligence and social character. The law requires of principals and teachers many things that must be done. The principal and teacher who in their work can do these required things with relish, do them as if they chose themselves to do them, are the ones who will get the most growth and the most character out of this com- pulsory mile. In our dealing with teachers in service we can not avoid a kind of division of them into two groups. There are teachers who will render their best service to the children and to the district by having almost every detail of the school program outlined. They feel no sense of rectric- tion, they feel no sense of personal surrender, no loss of personal and indi- vidual character through following these rules. The work of the principal in this group should be suggestion and stimulation to’ arouse within this group a spirit of self-initiative, a spirit of wilfulness if necessary to do something beyond the requirements, to go an extra mile. Any principal or teacher who drops into the routine lock step habit of following rules and regulations misses all the growing pains, and pleasures of real progress. The principal will discover teachers who are resentful at restraints and at definite suggestions, but who excel in initiation and innovation. . They are the ones who keep the dead bodies of ancient practices in education from smothering out life and growth. In preparing a course of study the principal has the best means of im- proving teachers in service. Here every teacher should have the greatest freedom in discussing the materials to be used. But there will come a time when discussion must cease and something must be agreed upon. When that agreement is reached, then it becomes the plain duty of every teacher to follow the general provisions of the course in order that there may he a unified, cooperative effort. The two biggest words in school administra- tion today are independence and cooperation. We want our teachers to have independence, initiative, self-assertiveness. Any rule of the principal which strangles that kind of a spirit will not tend to improve the teachers in service. On the other hand, the teacher must understand that when the principal asks that every teacher shall conform herself to certain rules and regulations which have been agreed upon, that such conformance does not imply a surrender of individuality or of independence. It is possible for the best teachers in the system to go the mile under compulsion with just as much zest and interest as she goes the many miles of her own choosing. 476 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION PLAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRAINING FOR THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALSHIP W. T. LONGSHORE, GREENWOOD SCHOOL, KANSAS CITY, MO. The Department of Elementary School Principals of the National Edu- cation Association is attempting to raise the professional standard of its members. One of the first steps will be to break down the traditional attitude of administrators and principals themselves that there is a real distinction in degree of preparation or experience between the elementary school, the junior high school, and the high school principal. We must do away with the false lines that educators themselves have drawn between the various fields of their work. The idea that rank is somehow associated with the grade of the school is false and distasteful. We want to see the principal of each school rated as the equal of the prin- cipal of every other school. The elementary school principal is stepping out on a platform which includes qualifications equal to that of the high school principal. It differs in kind but not in quality or quantity. Our organization desires to see the elementary schools of the nation under as capable leadership as that now found in the high schools, junior or senior. We believe that the elementary school offers a splendid oppor- tunity for a life of service and that its duties require as high qualifications as the duties of the schools where older children are taught. We also be- lieve that the larger elementary will be found most satisfactory in the future. The elementary school plants should be as large and as completely equipped as are the plants of the junior and senior high schools. Its teachers should be as well trained as are the teachers in the high schools. With a single standard in mind, based upon training, experience, and merit, and limited of course by the amount of responsibility, we have de- cided to enlist the cooperation of responsibility, we have decided to enlist the cooperation of superintendents and boards of education. We, the members of the committee on “Standards and Training for the Elementary School Principalship,” believe most sincerely in the dignity of the position of the elementary school principal. It is not a stepping-stone to some other position and should not be so treated. It is a life work and deserves the same recognition and remuneration as if the life work were done in a high school or college. WHAT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS DO—ONE DAY WITH FIFTY-THREE PRINCIPALS J. CAYCE MORRISON, DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, COLUMBUS, OHIO When Rodin carved “The Thinker,” he paid a lasting tribute to the philosopher—whose end from age to age has been the gleaning, sifting, and interpretations of those ideas, ideals, and attitudes that elevate the creative potentialities of mankind. DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 477 Since it is a function of the public school to transmit such ideas, ideals, and attitudes from generation to generation, adapting them to an ever changing environment, any consideration of standards and training for the elementary school principalship calls for the reflective thinking of the edu- cational philosopher to determine to what extent the principal can direct the school toward the realization of the great aims passed on by the think- ers of the centuries. But since the days when the monastic philosophers spent their time de- bating the question as to the number of angels that could be encompassed on the point of a needle, there has been a more or less serious conflict of opinion between the philosopher and the individual actually confronted with a task to be done. Thus the maxim, “It is easier to teach twenty what were good to be done than to be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching,” is verified. The practical-minded man would start with the job in hand and make in it whatever changes or improvements would best shape it to his ends. The philosopher would think out his pattern in terms of the good he would achieve and then shape the job to fit his previously formed conception. Both viewpoints are fundamental. Both are essential to a fair determination of the standards and training that should be re- quired for the elementary school principalship. Most of the studies thus far made of the elementary school principalship have been fact-finding studies. It is the concern of this paper not so much to review what has been learned as to point out the larger meaning of the studies already achieved. In the Ohio study? the average elementary principal claimed that he spent 8 hours a day, exclusive of the lunch period, at his school building. Of this 8 hour day he devoted 12 percent to clerical duties, 16 percent to administrative and organizing duties, 52 percent to teaching, 15 percent to classroom supervision, and 5 percent to the duties pertaining to the school system as a whole. It will be pointed out later that this division of duties is largely influenced by a number of factors, chief of which is the size of building. Last year the Department of School Administration of the State Uni- versity secured from some 380 Ohio elementary school principals a state- ment of the administrative duties which they found most time consuming. Altogether 51 different administrative duties were named ; they were: 1. Discipline, including corporal punishment . Preparation of reports . Playground supervision . The details of attendance . Supervision of janitor service and building conditions . Carrying out superintendent’s instructions Mediator between teachers and parents Carrying messages 9. Care of children in basement 10. Health work CONAN PWN 1 Morrison, J. Cayce. The School Principalship in Ohio Cities and Exempted Villages. Contributions in School Administration, Vol. II, May 15, 1926. 478 11. 12. alee 14, iby, 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21, 22, 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 3a. 32. 33. 34, Sok: 36. Bi. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46, 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Preparing a Sunday School Census Doing janitorial work Promoting professional study among teachers Organizing activities of the school Overseeing the lunch period Securing the cooperation of parents Welfare work; e. g., procuring clothes for the needy, etc. Helping and conferring with teachers Supervision of corridors (regulating traffic) Ordering and distributing supplies Answering telephone Preparing for and presiding over teachers meetings Assisting in work of parent teachers associations Directing the school banking and handling school funds Care of equipment Supervision of physical education work Administering standard tests (including clerical work on tests) Directing extra-curricular activities (school paper, club work) Regulation of routine matters; e. g., period bells, etc. Registration and enrolling pupils, withdrawals, etc. Directing the distribution of milk to pupils Conducting fire drills Conferences with parents Conferences with superintendent and supervisor Committee work Preparing and distributing notices to teachers Schedule making Personal interviews with pupils Receiving callers Revision of curriculum Attending various meetings Civic duties Visiting rooms (not included in classroom supervision) Making plans and programs for special days Settling misunderstandings between pupils and teachers Securing data for research and health departments Library work Directing assembly periods Following the progress of individual pupils Working on moral problems of individuals and groups of pupils Planning work for the school Attempting to classify these duties is a most interesting pastime. For instance, answering the telephone, carrying messages, receiving callers, medi- ating between teachers and parents, preparing Sunday school census, regu- lating traffic in corridors, directing school banking, and working on mora! problems,—all these suggest something of the variety of experiences that are uppermost in a principal’s mind. Nor is it without significance to note that the administrative duty first in the mind of most principals, from the standpoint of time consumed, is that of discipline. What the implications of this statement are we have yet to learn. DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 479 Recently 53 elementary school principals in Ohio cities kept a detailed diary’ of all their activities for one day. The average enrolment of these schools was approximately 700 pupils and the average time spent at school by the principal was a few minutes over 7 hours. The work as listed by the 53 principals was analyzed in detail and was roughly classified under the following heads: instructional, clerical, administrative, duties pertain- ing to the community or the school system as a whole, and professional study. ; Thirty-three and one third percent of the total time expended was de- voted to the instructional group of duties. Classroom observation, which consumed 18 percent of the total day, ranked first of all the duties in the instructional list. Classroom teaching was second in the list with 8.5 per- cent of the day; it included both regular teaching duties and substitute teaching. Other items in this list were: conference with teachers concern- - ing instruction ; demonstration teaching, both before groups and individua's; teachers meetings and preparation for the same; preparation, giving, and rating of standard tests and examinations; examining pupils’ work; coach- ing pupils, both individually and in groups; and studying notes on obser- vation. Under the classification of clerical duties, the most time-consuming factor was the telephone. This included making calls, taking messages, delivering messages, and conversation with parents, school officials, and teachers. It is true, of course, that the telephone might be listed as an administrative duty. It was arbitrarily placed in the clerical column be- cause it is assumed that a great deal of the time consumed by the telephone can be cared for by an office clerk quite as well as by the principal himself. Other clerical duties, ranked in order of time devoted to them, were: preparation of reports for the central office; care of the correspondence, in- cluding dictation ; keeping of school records; care of the mail; and ordinary clerical work, types not specified. Administrative duties consumed 53 percent of the total time expended by the 53 principals during the day. By far the largest item of time in this division was given to conferences, that is, a total of 16 percent of the total day. One third of this conference time was spent with teachers in consideration of matters which had little if any direct bearing upon the process of teaching. This heading included such items as discipline, com- mittee work on curricula, community affairs, health of children, special programs, special pupil problems, text books and supplies. Under con- ferences with pupils were mentioned most frequently such subjects as athletics, failure in class, group projects, and special pupil problems. The remainder of the time spent in conference was with the architect, assistant principal, book men or salesmen, the janitor on questions not pertaining to building, parents, school nurse, and other health officials, parent teacher association workers, superintendent, supervisors, and visitors. Also the bus driver, and school workmen came in for a share of the principal’s time. 1The form used in keeping this diary was prepared by M. R. Trahue, Director of Educa- tional Research, University of North Carolina for a much more extensive study of the same problem. 480 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION Attendance took nearly 6 percent of the principal’s working day. This included the checking of daily attendance, conference with pupils who had been late or absent, conferences with parents either in person or by tele- phone, and reports to Board of Health and the Attendance Department either written or telephoned, to say nothing of searching the streets for truants. Playground supervision furnishes a school principal with an excuse for recreation. In one or two cases it seemed to be a specialty. On the aver- age, it consumed nearly 5 percent of the principal’s working day. Work directly with pupils, exclusive of conferences mentioned and coaching listed under “instructional activity,” occupied 4 percent of the principal’s time. Specified under this caption was time spent for discipline, enroling new pupils, first aid, guidance, and health inspection or super- vision. The elementary school principal has as yet little to do with extra- curricular activities outside of special programs. “The items mentioned most frequently were scouting, both for girls and boys, and the school assembly. The principal’s first job for the day invariably is a general inspection of the building and grounds. Occasionally he becomes so enamoured with this special phase of his vocation that he repeats the process at least 3 or 4 times a day. His responsibility for buildings and grounds does not end with inspection, but occasionally the principal is called upon to exercise highly specialized judgment concerning the school buildings. Among these functions listed were the supervision of landscape gardening, studying of plans for new buildings, listing of repairs needed, and inspection of troubles in the system of heating and ventilating. So much for the larger items under general administration. Were you to look in upon the principal you might find him preparing bulletins and placing them on the bulletin board; planning or supervising fire drills; inspecting the library or arranging its materials or furniture; helping in the lunch room either as cash girl, as chief police, or what not; busily absorbed in his office following the routine of the job or in day- dreaming that defies classification; sometimes working on a plan of or- ganization for the next term, preparing plans, working over his own plans or reviewing plans submitted by teachers; distributing, inventoring or requisitioning supplies. At almost every recess or dismissal period he would be found in the corridor supervising the passing of lines. When he is tired of work he walks through the corridor to see that everything is all right. Occasionally he is to be found in conference with a substitute teacher or making arrangements to care for the work of an absent teacher. He still considers administrative details: a suitable reason for teachers meeting. Directing and supervising schemes designed to make financiers of his pupils is not foreign to his program. In some respects he is a social welfare worker ; he supervises the collection of clothing and old shoes; now and then he goes into juvenile court; at any time he may be called from the DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 481 classroom, lunch, or office to talk with indigent parents or children con- cerning their problems of want or misfortune. In a miscellaneous grouping of duties performed we find the principal attending funeral services of deceased pupils, calling on parents, entertain- ing school guests, making announcements through the building, distributing milk to pupils, preparing publicity items, supervising the taking of class pictures, traveling back and forth between his schools or his own school and the central office, trying to find stolen articles, finding and punishing authors of immoral notes, collecting funds for National Education Associa- tion delegates, promoting the work of the teachers retirement association, furthering the community chest drive, and attending lectures with puni's. Preparation for and attendance at principals meetings constituted, on the day in question, his chief responsibility to the general svstem. Com- mittee organization came second, with the most important committees being in order, textbooks and supplies, courses of study, and buildings. Work in the interests of Parent Teachers Association and the lyceum course found a place in the record. Three principals listed time spent in professional study; one of these was working on a study of school banking that would be of direct concern to his own school ,while the two others were devoting themselves to an assign- ment obtained through an extension course. Of all the functions listed it was interesting to note that only two were mentioned by more than 50 percent of the principals. These functions and the number of principals performing each on the day recorded were, class- room observation 46 and general supervision of playground 47. Other items performed by one fourth or more of the principals on the day in question were conferences with parents 25, demonstration teaching 24, general inspection of buildings 24, pupil discipline 23, office routine 23, checking attendance 22, correspondence 18, regular teaching 18, enroling or assigning new pupils 17, supervision of passing of lines 16, conference with attendance officers 16, answering telephone 15, extra-curricular duties of some kind 15. Size of city and size, of school building are closelv interrelated factors which have a distinct bearing upon the principal’s dailv job. In Ohio the average elementary school principal of cities with 5000 to 10,000 in- habitants, supervises 8 teachers and 290 pupils, whereas the princival in cities over 100,000 supervises 20 teachers and over 700 pupils. This differ- ence in the size of buildings is reflected in the fact that the averaze vrin- cipal of the larger school gives 13 percent of the working day to teaching, as contrasted to 65 percent by the principal in the smaller cities. The latter group gives 7 percent to classroom supervision and 11 percent to administrtive and organizing dvties in contrast to 27 and 30 percent re- spectively, devoted to those two functions by the group in the larger schools. Further, the principals of the larger schools exercise a greater responsibility for coordinating the work of the general grade sunervisors, for the direct control of custodial service, and in the amount of time given 482 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION to general supervision. In cities above 100,000 the principal has more re- sponsibility for assignment of pupils to classes, for determining the class schedules and for rating teachers under his direction. A second factor influencing the principal’s work is sex. Women are usually inclined to give less time to clerical routine and prefer to do more classroom teaching. Frequently they assume less responsibility than do men for supervising janitorial service. The kind of building leaves its mark upon the principal’s job. A prin- cipal in a building without an auditorium or an assembly hall, without gymnasium, without a modern lunchroom, or with meager playground facilities is not apt to feel called upon to promote civic organization and responsibility among his pupils. The school principal with only a shabby office room containing no book- case, no typewriter, no mimegraph machine, it not apt to feel for long the thrill of professional leadership within his building. When we stop to consider that less than 10 percent of the e’ementary school princinals have any clerical assistance, it is not surprising that a principal should report that he spends a considerable part of h's day answering telephone calls, re- cording school marks, doing other clerical work, and distributing supplies. As one searches the field of educational literature for help in under- standing the school principa!ship, one is soon confronted with the fact that the chief available information is confined to the publications of the De- partment of Elementary School Principals. It is reasonable to expect that during the next few years this body will produce an exhaustive literature covering every detail of the work of its membership. One limitation of such studies of which cognizance should be taken is the fact that the mem- bership of this Department represents the elementary school principalship at its best. When we have found what the principal’s job really is, we shall stil! be confronted with determining what is good and what further should be done. ‘Two types of investigations are still needed. First, to secure from a small group of men and women who have given long and fruitful thought to the skills, attitudes, ideals, and iders the elementary school should trans- mit to each oncoming generation of childhood, their judgment as to what the elementary school principal may do toward realizing the function of the school. We need a new statement of the cardinal principles of the elemen- tary school. Second, to secure from superintendents and others a list of the most successful principals and then 'earn from them the procedures under- lying their success. By taking the best procedures from the most successful, we shall ultimately find a method or technic for attaining every principle that the first group may establish. No other position in American education is due for such rebirth of its vision and practice as is the elementary school principalship. _ DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 483 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AND RESEARCH JOHN K. NORTON, DIRECTOR, RESEARCH DIVISION, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. What should be the relation of the elementary school principal to educa- tional research? When this question has been correctly answered and principals have accepted the answer in actual practice, the teaching pro- fession will have found its “place in the sun.” In recent years much has been said about lifting the profession to a place of higher respect by adopting better schedules for salaries, plans for retirement, and curricula for the training of the nation’s teachers. We would not minimize the importance of these things. "The work that the research division of the National Education Association has already done and is planning to do in these fields is sufficient to prove our full recogni- tion of their importance in building a better profession. Better salaries, plans for retirement, and professional training are essential in any sound program whose objective is the improvement of the general status of the profession. “These measures alone, however, will not suffice. Before the rank and file of the teaching profession can enjoy economic compensation, social position, and general recognition more nearly equal to that of the successful physician, chemist, or engineer, they must deserve these things. “They must have lifted their work to a place where it com- mands greater respect. Educational procedure in the classroom must have become as sure, as careful, and as skilled as is that of the physician, the chemist, or the engineer. “This can be only when the results of scientific educational research have made teaching a far more certain procedure than it is today. When a body of exact knowledge exists in the field of education com- parable to that back of medicine and enginéering, and when that knowledge has become the guide of educational procedure—the place of the teaching profession in public respect will be equal to or greater than that enjoyed by any group of the nation’s professional groups. These statements are supported by some of the clearest thinkers in the field of educational research. A few years back Thorndike in his well- known article entitled “Education for Initiative and Originality” made this statement : I am convinced that just as soon as we develop men who are justly recognized as educational experts, policies, as well as their execution, will be left largely to them. The world is learning rapidly that when a man of ability has studied a topic scientifically and makes his judgments about that topic in the impartial, impersonal fashion of the expert, it is wise to put on him every responsibility in that limited field that he will take. A similar opinion has just been expressed by Buckingham in the preface of his book, entitled ‘“Research for Teachers.” He says: 484 NaTIONAL Epucation ASSOCIATION pk mea al fh al a ea lg It is my firm belief that the emancipation and professionalizing of the teacher’s calling rest far more upon the originality, insight, and expertness which the teacher evinces than upon any considerations having to do with salary, tenure, or legal status. Society cannot be compelled to respect anybody or anything. The surest way to win respect is to be respectable. , Some there are who doubt the possibility of making educational pro- cedure scientific. It is true that the field of education presents difficulties to the research worker probably greater than those of any other. ‘The material of the teacher is the human being—the most complicated structure on the face of the earth. This complicated material is played upon by a multitude of environmental forces difficult to evaluate and control. The chemist at the end of a day’s research puts away his comparatively simple elements and compounds. The next day he takes them down from the shelf and proceeds in his experiment. His H,SO, is H,SO, both on Monday and Tuesday. His test tubes do not change over night. His scales weigh as accurately in the afternoon as in the morning. He knows exactly what will happen if he pours hydrosulphuric acid on iron filings. The chemist’s materials are comparatively simple and relatively stable and controllable. The child is not so simple. He does not “stay put.” Johnny Jones on Monday at 9:00 A. M. may be a very different animal (if the fundamen- talists will allow the use of the word) than he was on Friday at 3:00 P. M. Every child is constantly changing. The environmental influ- ences which surround him are continually changing. Can a science even of approximate exactness come out of such a situation? It can. We have made enough progress in the last quarter of a century to justify faith in the ultimate possibility of a real science of education. Time and industry are but necessary to make educational: procedure as exact as medical practice is today. Medicine has become an exact science during the lifetime of men now living. Do not forget that the barber pole reminds us of the day when the doctor and the barber were the same person. Only in recent decades was the fact clearly established that cleanliness is a first essential to successful surgical operations. Let me read a paragraph from the life of Pasteur, that great pioneer in medical research, describing the conditions which existed in the army hospitals of 1870. The quotation reads: It was perpetual agony, the wounds of all the patients were suppurating, a horrible fetor pervaded the place, and infectious disease was everywhere. “Pus seemed to germinate as if it had been sown by the surgeon.” The medical officer who would allow such conditions to exist in a hospital today, even under the stress of war conditions, would be court- martialed and shot at sunrise for criminal negligence—and his fate would be deserved. Some day we will look back upon some of our present school practices with the same horror that we now regard the conditions described in the last quotation. DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 485 Every science in existence today has evolved from a lowly place. Alchemy preceded chemistry, the medicine man evolved into the physician. ‘These and other fields have been purged of the fanciful notions and individual opinions which formerly stood in the way of their progress toward becom- ing a science. No field of human activity to which has been applied the scientific method has failed to profit therefrom. Research, that is, systematic, purposeful, open-minded search for the truth, has yielded tremendous dividends in every field in which it has been employed. Why should we doubt that reseach will give us control of educational processes—particularly when we remember that education has already enjoyed some initial successes in this direction? It seems safe to assume that each year will bring increases in the body of exact knowledge upon which educational practice may be based—will increase education’s claim to be considered a science. What, then, is the relation that the principal should have to this development ? The principal will more and more be called upon to serve as the inter- mediary between research workers and classroom teachers. This function will involve the interpretation of research findings—and their application to classroom procedure. In the future, the principal who does not bring the practice of his school in accord with the knowledge research has re- vealed will find it increasingly difficult to keep the respect of his associates or the position that pays his salary. “The bungler in any field sticks out like a sore thumb when he works beside experts. In short, he who holds a position as a principal will be held responsible for knowledge of the results of scientific research that are applicable to everyday practice in the classroom, just as the modern physician is held responsible for shaping his procedure in accordance with the proved find- ings of medical research. Whether we like to admit it or not, typical schoolroom practice today often is not modified as fully as it should be by research findings. Educational practice probably lags further behind educational research than practice in other professions lags behind research in their fields. Let me give one or two illustrations: Over a year ago there appeared an excellent summary and evaluation of much of the research conducted in the last two decades concerning the teaching of reading. .What per- cent of elementary school principals during the last year have consciously modified their practice in supervising the teaching of reading because of the important pronouncements of this investigation ? Let me give another illustration: Two years ago there appeared a yearbook of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educa- tion Association entitled Research in Constructing the Elemen ary School Curriculum. This contains a summarization of much of the significant research that has been conducted which bears upon the development of the elementary school curriculum. Some seventy curriculum specialists co- operated in bringing together this important publication, What percent 486 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION of our elementary school principals are so familiar with the contents of this important summary that they are capable of exercising the leadership that should be expected from one in their positions in the re-shaping of the curriculum of the American public schools? Knowledge already exists in the field of education which if intelligently applied would modify existing school practice with great benefit. Each year will make this fact, if it continues to exist, more difficult for the principal to justify. Not only the individual but the profession as a whole will pay the price unless educational research and educational practice are drawn closer. together. A heavy responsibility rests upon the principal to interpret the significance of research findings. Teachers too often lack the training, or the time and energy, so that they may be expected to apply the results of research wholly upon their own initiative. It is the principal who must be the chief arbiter between the results of educational investigation and the application of these results in the classroom. The place that the elementary principal will occupy in public esteem, in fact, the position of the teaching profession as a whole in future years will largely depend upon the success with which elementary school principals come to discharge this important function. There are reasons that explain the lack of agreement between research findings and actual procedure in the classroom. Many of our principals lack training, and the salaries they have received have been too small so that adequate training could not be demanded. ‘The multitude of clerical and administrative duties, which many principals have been forced to handle without clerical assistance of any kind, has often made it impossible for them to be little more than high grade clerks. And then, we may as well face the fact, much of our educational re- search has not been worth a great deal—that is in immediate applicability to classroom practice. Worst of all, perhaps, has been the attitude of the public. A high type of service is not demanded of the principal in many communities. The public conscience too often does not set high standards for this office. But these are explanations—excuses. So long as we are willing to be content with explaining why the principal has not lived up to the highest ideals—progress will be slow. These obstacles must be surmounted. Compensation on a level that will justify more extended and careful training must be demanded. But if the demand is not fully met, the training must be obtained none the less, through summer school, extension groups, and careful use of professional reading time. Adequate office help and equipment must be striven for—but if it is not always striven for with success, this must not be a signal for settling into a routine rut, the edges of which obscure the view of an advancing science of education. If the public expects an. unskilled job in the classroom, its viewpoint must be corrected by using every resource to make it a skilled performance, If some college professors are academic and impractical, drive them out of ep DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 487 business by failing to enroll in their courses. Learn to select what can be applied from what cannot be applied in the classroom. Is it enough that the principal should use every reasonable means to bring the practice of his school into accord with the varified findings of educa- tional research? Should he go further and conduct some research on his own initiative? The principal should be listed among those who under- stand and use research methods. By this it is not. meant that he should undertake investigations merely as a means of assembling a certain amount of data which may be used as a basis for a magazine article. Rather, research should become the handmaiden of the principal in the intelligent administration of his school. Research is nothing more than an oven- minded, systematic, and intelligent attempt to collect data that aid in the solution of some important problem. It is to solve the everyday practical problems of the school that the principal should make use of research methods. Time will suffice for one illustration: A principal had this problem to deal with. One of his teachers found it impossible to maintain discipline. The class in which the most difficulty occurred was made up of two sec- tions—a high and a low seventh grade. It was the brighter pupils who caused most of the trouble. ‘Trouble began as soon as one section of the class was left to study while another section recited. The recitation on one side of the room would proceed for part of the period and then trouble would begin on the side supposedly studying. Principals will recognize the situation as a common one. ‘The principal in this instance gave the usual suggestions such as the necessity of definite assignments, sufficient work to occupy the attention of the study group during the full study period, etc. He suggested particularly that the brichter puvils be given special and additional work. The teacher did not take kindly to the sug- gestion. She believed that one assignment was enouch and that if the brighter pupils had extra time they should go over their lesson again so that they would not forget it so soon, and she added, ‘“Those who learn quickly soon forget.” ‘This remark suggested the possibility of an experi- ment in which this teacher could cooperate. The pupils of the class were assigned a definite piece of subject-matter of a character which could be readily and objectively tested. “They were told to study this until they were sure they had it and then were to begin work on a second assignment. Each of the pupils was asked to keep a record of the time when they finished the study of the first assignment. The next day a test was given covering the work of the first assignment. Taken as a whole the results were clear. Those who spent the least time on study generally made the highest scores. A test given on the same subject-matter a week later verified this finding. The results of this experiment, although probably of little value from a strictly scientific viewpoint, were sufficient to effect a change in the teacher’s viewpoint, so that she cooperated in the development of a new plan of school work 488 National EpucaTiIon ASSOCIATION assignment, which attempted roughly to adjust the amount of work re- quired to the ability of the pupils to learn. Through this and other devices the teaching technic was improved until much of the disciplinary trouble encountered disappeared. There are many practical problems which the principal encounters which may be solved through the application of research methods. In some cases the results of investigation will indicate their solution. In other cases the direction of soluticn will be indicated, and experimentation undertaken along the line iniicated will reveal the answer. We predict, therefore, ‘that in the future the principal will be not on'y a user of the results of research but will more and more produce research findings as a byproduct of successful school supervision. ‘The place the principalship, in fact, the place the whole teaching profession occupies in public esteem will largely bere upon the degree to which this prediction is fulfilled. A SINGLE SALARY SCHEDULE FOR PRINCIPALS W. F. WEBSTER, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. A single salary schedule for all principals immediately strikes the aver- age superintendent as impossible. And it may be so. Certainly it is hard for some to think that the principal of a sixth grade building should receive the same compensation as goes to the master of a large high school. It never has been so. A high school prepares youth for college; its prineipal must know much to be able to direct a school which gets boys and girls ready for this distinguished life. Whereas an elementary school is just teaching reading and arithmetic. Any person with a little gumption, abil- ity to do the rule of three, and pronounce words correctly is ready for such an elementary task. It is p'ain as a pike staff that little knowledge or skill is demanded, and for little skill there should be a corresponding reward. ‘The tenacity of tradition is always confounding. We claim to be reason- ing beings; yet we are in bondage’to yesterday and the day before. And it has taken us fifty years to get away from the old notion of the superior position of the high school, and we are not so far away yet that our vision is entirely cut off. However there are some who have come to the belief that to lead little chidren among the mysterious symbo!s of language and numbers—a region more magical than any traversed by Marco Polo, re- quires great wisdom and tact. I almost said that more mystery and more adventures for the growing mind are to be found in this region than it will ever find on a college campus. Some persons have only heard fabulous stories of this new land; and for many teachers or principals of fifty years ago the wonders and the legerdemain of modern instruction are as little understood as the tricks of Keller or Houdini. Yet for decades the traditional cleavage between high and elementary schoo!ls has persisted. Why disturb peaceful slumbers ? And many have never seen a modern elementary school. It is not alone a place where the fundamental skills are established, but it has widened DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 489 its sphere of influence to include the entire social life of a community. Wherever disease lurks, clean-handed nurses are there. They show a clear way to the land of health. Wherever poverty and hunger bar the progress of little feet, the visiting teacher comes to remove the obstacles, and put courage where dark failure has come to dwell. The elementary school watches John and Ruth as they start out into the troubled world to make their way; and at each turn in the road through the early years, some teacher is there to counsel and cheer. For many little folks, the elementary school is the only instructor in the eternal truths of life; whatever they know of the things which are right and pure and of good report, they have learned in the elementary school. In the kindergarten is the loveliest democracy the world can see. It makes no difference whether the child comes in a limousine or with toes breaking into the light, whether his breakfast was made of black bread or white, whether her clothing was of cotton or of silk, the only requisite for companionship is willingness to “play with me” or to help. A light that radiates to all the streets and alleys to bring tidings of cheer; a power that forces back the hosts of evil and fights ever for righteousness, a haven of comfort for distressed mothers, a throb- bing center of a better life for thousands is a modern elementary school in a great city. And he who leads such a school to the emancipation of the life of a community—who shall say his work shall not receive its reward? And shall it be less because he labors with little children who have not yet learned to read? A single salary schedule for teachers is based upon two premises: that with equal training and equal experience, teachers shall receive the same salary, without regard to the position they hold in a system of schools. That is, a person with a college degree shall be paid the same salary for teaching in a kindergarten as for teaching in a high school. This does not assume that a kindergarten position should be given to a college man; for there might be persons better fitted for kindergarten instructors than some brands of college men—probably than any college man. It is intended to say that besides holding a diploma, a person must place behind this exhibit some very definite record of fitness for a particular assignment. Physics instructors would scarcely qualify as second grade teachers, though they hold an accepted certificate to teach in any grade of school in a state. Be- cause teachers colleges center their efforts on the preparation of elementary teachers, and colleges of education are directing their energies toward prep- aration for high school instruction or administration, it rarely happens that a college woman is found teaching in elementary schools, and very few normal school graduates ever are found instructing in high schools. The law does not permit the latter. Though a single salary schedule exists, its application is really not so different from the ordinary schedule. Only the exceptional person gets out of the traditional position, either up or down. College degrees are held by high school instructors; teachers college di- plomas are the common possession of elementary school teachers. When we consider a salary schedule for principals, a third element enters into the composition: the size of the school. Should size of school be a 490 NaTIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION —~ Ae yee, OES 1) Mannie, Bs : ¥ y 2 . i Py fT ts oa (te haps bese «dghionely Pusga, op biel om pits 72M “att i 2) Te Sc ; « t@ptiegle sd-Sadhiclies Gans) Misha { vn + seh oT a 4q rad wh so) et’ baued a” et th = i iro ver ae Si, , - ea 3) Jie, wert Lia “pa ut ia f lV be oie ee ay fyi, “a : > nai Coan i oer, joi italy HQey amg 7] ; iP ake tin ch sy Waite, A wuts ? otter, " \rxeaepeas i wpiebe a ‘ iF / ‘ 1 tis Me Wiens yma sldiea. 5 he minihowe ad 4 ‘oir ee a on ine “ahnie 4 ort sees id ; 1 in oh shies! Shot voal-s! ~" ‘ebtida! 5s rk = _ 6 om soashiaie (A fis vert sliede “oulhwu , ab ee 9% vp ait sai lia ‘anatit “A Sd . ay by Et tiny e y arsed uo litte nb ni vittida’ % rewins hie WivArte 3 Rn 134 WIT veh) toe EE well eeelenE Wot wal * oy ean “Teo fails a Paral eareye ts.” Gait dort, | Li She iy WA cage Salis i, a es ' ae | iy HE Slob ae evieters SA hy ood! viggans ‘; elocyh i bits he 5" Hol. Goiangdly 99h eel ity ea a ead Dl petra % JH ’ STU rye” bated SPA FE aba? see ay agyys “S088: } ; tee ; ’ ’ ahF ou? hd AOioyh. £ “esiita ba au ‘ ; a eT he aaey Th - ‘ MTN eed < . Department of Music Education ated by the Board of Directors at the Madison, Wis., meeting in 1884. See Proceedings 1884: 23. This department cooperates with the Music Supervisors’ National Conference. ''he officers of the Department for the year 1926- 27 are: President, George L. Lindsay, Director of Music, Philadelphia Public Schools, Grant Building, 17th and Pine Streets, Philadelphia, Pa.; Vice-Pres- ident, C. A. Fullerton, Head of Department of Music, Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Lowa; Secretary, Agnes Benson, Supervisor of Music, Pub- lic Schools, 3819 Pine Grove Ave., Chicago, Ill. This Department meets once each year, in June. Facts relating to the establishment of this Department and the record of meetings are found in earlier Proceed- ings as follows: 1885 : 369-405 1894:925-957 1902: 614-644 1910: 789-833 1918: 315-323 - 1886: 563-599 1895: 765-807 1903: 683-719 1911: 787-827 1919: 291-303 1887: 607-653 1896: 718-754 1904: 675-709 1912: 1001-1031 1920: 309-311 1888: 625-665 1897: 772-792 1905: 627-706 1913: 601-619 1921: 507-515 1889: 665-703 1898: 832-856 1906: 703-706 1914: 625-649 1922: 1047-1063 1890: 811-827 1899:970-998 1907: 849-877 1915: 847-883 1923: 733-737 1891: 807-827 1900:531-542 1908: 835-862 1916: 575-613 1924: 597-613 Ae ase 1901; 704-721 1909: 673-701 1917: 473-491 1925: 504-522 Te DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC EDUCATION Was cre- [530] WHAT SCHOOL MUSIC MEANS TO AMERICA JAMES FRANCIS COOKE, EDITOR OF THE ETUDE, AND PRESIDENT OF THE PRESSER FOUNDATION, PHILADELPHIA, PA. the dynamic force of civilization. Because the teachers of America are the construction engineers of this great force, their work takes preeminence over all other forms of human endeavor. It makes little difference whether this is recognized by the public of the moment or not. The fact remains, and the public is being compelled to recognize it for the protection of civilization. The vast interest taken in music and musical education is one of the significant signs of the increase in general education. It has been esti- mated that from two to three million dollars a day are being spent by the American people upon music. A very large portion of this is being devoted to musical education. More and more, music is becoming a part of public school work. When Charles W. Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard University, proclaimed some fifteen years ago that ‘“Music is second to no other study in its educational value,’ he was merely emphasizing what labora- tory psychologists and educational clinics have scientifically ascertained, and what the great educators, from Plato to the present, know full well. America’s huge expenditure for music is, in the eyes of the experienced educator and the psychological experts, an investment which must bring rich dividends. Apart from the public, which looks upon music purely as an enter- tainment, those who know, realize that music has an immense value in industry, therapeutics, religion, ethics. It would be possible to spend hours in giving evidences of the mar- velous possibilities of music in each field of activity. As the editor of a musical magazine of international scope, it has been my good fortune during the last eighteen years to meet not only practically all of the great musicians of our time, but also the outstanding men and women in the phases of human activity where music is of the greatest service. My position has been that of the man in the conning tower overlooking the great seas of human endeavor in relation to music. In the field of industry, many of the foremost industrial leaders of the world have given me their personal assurances of their enormous valuation of the importance of music as a stimulant, an inspiration, and a refreshment from the terrific demands of daily life for the workers in the depths of the mines, in the puddling rooms, on the topmost girders of the steel skeleton, from the humblest worker to the highest executive. Charles M. Schwab, America’s great steel king, has long made music study a part of his daily program. In a conference with him, he said that he knew nothing in life to excel it for the great purposes of relieving the [531] EF AMERICA really at war without realizing it?—Thought energy is 532 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION strain of modern business. At least twenty other men of the front rank in business and in industry have told me the same thing in the most chauvenistic terms. In musical therapeutics, every month brings reports of the almost miracu- lous value of music in treating mental and nervous trouble. I doubted these reports, but I went personally to three of the most prominent psy- chiatrists in the state of Pennsylvania and found them thoroughly con- vinced of the practical value of musical therapeutics when applied by experts in cooperation with the brain doctors. It is unnecessary to comment upon the importance of music in religion. In education, it would require several volumes for me to recount the results of a vast number of conferences upon the value of music in edu- cation. From the first steps in music study, rote singing, dancing in rhythm, musical appreciation through the talking machines and the player piano, through the practical study of music, by means of musical instru- ments, there is nothing in the whole pedagogical field which leads to de- velop a higher degree of coordination between the mind and the body, nothing that demands more accurate thinking, nothing that promotes the musical memory to a larger capacity and a higher degree of responsive- ness, nothing that accelerates the mental processes to as great a speed, nothing that develops a finer sense of form and balance as does music. ° The pity is that my time is so limited that I cannot give you scores and scores of illustrations of the vast significance of music in this con- nection. “Take music from our schools and we would rob them of one of the most powerful and illuminating dynamos in the whole scheme. of mind development. If you look into the history of education, you will discover a whole chorus of the greatest pedagogs of the ages emphasizing this opinion. The value of music in connection with character building is largely that of putting the mind in tune, in proper mental condition, for the reception of great ethical principles. Music in itself is something quite apart from ethics, but when combined, the effect is like that of turning on a mighty electric current to a piece of idle machinery. Nothing has given me a greater inspiration than the widespread interest in public schools in what is known as the “Golden Hour Ideal,’ which was first announced through my editorials many years ago. Under vari- ous names, the Golden Hour Ideal, which is merely the title for an en- tirely non-promotive plan or program to teach ethics (character building) in the public schools, together with the inspiration of music, has been employed as a means to combat the total absence of any worthwhile ethical training in the cases of hundreds of thousands of children. By means of some such plan, the teachers of America have a work of the highest importance in fighting the most dangerous forces of distinction that face our beloved nation at this moment. In a period of unheard of crime of every imaginable description, our own police and courts have shown their impotence by the fleets of armored DEPARTMENT OF Music EpucatTion 533 motor cars in the street. We are really at war with an enemy and nobody seems to realize it. On one side are the most desperate crooks and drug fiends the world has ever known,—on the other side is the clergy, the home, and the school. The child in the school must have what ethical training he does not get from the church or his parents. Through regular study of character training and through the powerful inspiration of music at the same time, we can grow and train a new generation of young people whose stamina and character will not be ques- tioned in excelling the forces that would destroy the highest standards of modern civilization. MUSIC IN RURAL SCHOOLS C. A. FULLERTON, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC, IOWA STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, CEDAR FALLS, IOWA Probably one fourth of the school children in our country attend one- room rural schools, and in the main the musical training that they receive in these schools is extremely unsatisfactory. There are two outstanding needs in regard to music in the one-room rural schools. One is that the pupils and teachers have good ideals as to what music is; and the second is that they have adequate training in the re-creating of music. People who have technical skill but lack in worthy ideals in music are often a greater liability from a musical standpoint than those who have good ideals but are lacking in skill. My twenty-nine years in the music department of a teachers college have convinced me that the most effective way to develop satisfactory musical ideals in a one-room rural school and also develop technical skill, is to bring the music itself into contact with the children by means of a phonograph. The minutes available for teaching music in a one-room rural school are few and precious. It is highly important that false motions be eliminated and that only songs of the best quality be used, and so far as method is concerned a one-room rural school is certainly no place for bungling and ineffective methods of procedure. It took the world a long while to learn enough about children to be able to use efficient methods in teach- ing them, and music was one of the latest phases of education to get the benefit of the best educational ideals. I have spent some years in attempting to use in the musical educa- tion of children the same processes by which children educate themselves in language before they get into school. I realize that it is an ambitious attempt, for it is generally conceded that children make a better record in educating themselves up to the age of five than they ever make later with the aid of the teacher. The first need in the musical training of children is to develop an experience in music—both melody and rhythm that corresponds to the 534 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION —_ speaking vocabulary that the child brought to school with him at the age of five, and music obviously has one advantage over language in that children usually bring some bad habits in speech to school with them the first day, while most of them bring no habits in music the first day. Here is presented a wonderful opportunity for the schools to ‘‘get there first” with good habits and see that none but good habits are developed. If every one-room rural school in the country would supply itself with a phonograph and some records and proceed systematically to develop musical power in the children, both in rhythm and melody, it would be but a few years till coarse strident tones and drawling rhythm would be supplanted by musical tones and light, buoyant rhythm. It is easy to write about rural school music. There is something in it that appeals to the imagination. From the standpoint of the rural — children, however, the first step for those who are training rural teachers is to get acquainted with the rural schools; the second is to. work out a successful method for teaching music in the rural schools, and the third is to incorporate that method into the course of study for rural teachers in the teachers college, the normal training high school, the extension study centers, county institute, etc. The rural school music problem is clearly the rural teacher problem, and it will take some time to get ° them all well prepared to do the music work successfully, but “Here a little, and there a little’ will work wonders if persisted in. If in every county institute even one hour of effective work could be devoted to music in the rural section, a gradual transformation in rural school music would take place. During the remainder of my thirty minutes, with the assistance of Sims Song Slides and the Victor Talking Machine, I shall illustrate how I would use the time in the rural section of a county institute in preparing the teachers to get the beauty of music into the lives of the rural children and give them good musical training. Outline for Two Hours of Work with the Rural Teachers in a County Institute Material and Methods taken from “The One Book Course in Elemen- tary Music and Selected Songs for Schools,’ supplemented by Sims Song Slides and Victor Records. First Hour Singing: Song on screen. 1. “My Old Dan,” page 7, V. R. 19831. a. Listen while phonograph plays first stanza. b. Sing as indicated, page 7, and screen. Song on screen. 2. “The Fiddle,” page 16, V. R. 19831. a. Listen while phonograph plays first stanza. b. Sing as indicated. c. Class exchange parts with instrument. d, Class sing entire song with instrument, DEPARTMENT OF Music EpUCATION 585 Rhythm: (with V. R. 18017.) “Tenth Regiment.” (Also without phonograph.) 1. nn Te Slide hands upward alternately, palms touching. 2. Clap hands, touch shoulders. Sy, 4. Imitate marching, with hands moving downward and upward alternately, Clap rhythm (loud, soft). palms open and turned inward. (Like wooden soldiers.) Imitate marching with hands, mark time in place with feet at the same time. Mark time in place, beginning on accented beat with left foot. Say, “Left, right, left, right, class halt, one, two.” After the word “halt,” take one step forward (one) and bring the other foot forward to a parallel position (two). Step (marking time in place) quarter and eight notes in alternate measures: 1, 2, 3, 4; l-and, 2-and, 3-and, 4-and. Singing: Song on screen. il 2. 3. 4. “A Frog He would A-Wooing Go,” page 13, V. R. 19830, 3 stanzas. a. Listen to first stanza as instrument plays. b. Then class join with instrument on “Mm-mm.” Song on screen. “Stars of the Summer Night,’ page 66, V. R. 18627. a. First listen to entire stanza. b. Then sing as follows: Instrument alone: Class with instrument: Stars of the summer night, Far in yon azure deeps, Hide, hide your golden light She sleeps, my lady sleeps; She sleeps, She sleeps, my lady sleeps. c. Later, class sing entire song with piano accompaniment. “Good Morning,” page 44, V. R. 19830. a. Instrument play entire stanza. b. Class sing as indicated. “Soldier Boys,” page 11, V. R. 19831. a. Class listen while instrument plays first stanza. b. Class listen to entire song. Class join in “Tr-r-r-um,” ete. Class with instrument: Instrument alone: Forward, march, boys, brave and true, Ready, steady, bearing the flag along. and strong; Soldier boys, Soldier boys, singing a Tr-r-r-um, Tr-r-r-um, Tr-um, Tr-um, soldier song. Tr-um. c. Later, sing entire song with phonograph. d. Then sing entire song with piano. Second Hour Singing: 34s 2: “My Old Dan.” Song on screen. a. Review as in previous hour. b. Then class exchange parts with instrument. c. Later class try to sing entire song with instrument; then with piano accompaniment. “The Fiddle.” Song on screen. a. Review as in previous hour. b. Clap rhythm while violin plays melody. c. Sing syllables with instrument; commit. Rhythm: il 2. Review first hour. “Dancing Song,” page 35, V. R. 19891. Song on screen, 536 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION a. Listen while instrument plays first stanza. b. Clap rhythm (loud-soft-soft) to entire stanza. c. Clap rhythm as indicated on page 35. Singing: 1. “Bow-Wow,” page 16, V. R. 19830. Song on screen for all songs. a. Listen to first stanza. b. Sing as indicated on page 16. c. Class exchange parts with instrument. d. Later class sing entire song. e. Clap rhythm (loud-soft-soft-soft) as violin plays melody. ART OF ACCOMPANYING AS APPLIED TO SCHOOL MUSIC—ABSTRACT GEORGE H. GARTLAN, DIRECTOR OF MUSIC, PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF GREATER NEW YORK, N. yY. : It is generally understood that perhaps the most important element in school music today is the development of artistic songs of a high order of merit. To accomplish this, music material must be presented in a manner which is sufficiently artistic and cultured to make the necessary impression upon children in order that it might arouse in them a desire to learn more about music and to understand its true message. “The average assembly in the public school is after all a poor affair. Songs of patriotism and devo- tion are, or should be, a part of every assembly exercise. From this should be developed a degree of music appreciation which is not necessarily arrived at through listening lessons, but which grows out of the actual doing of music by the pupils themselves. “The assembly exercises should be the result of the music work which has been done in the grades, and not merely an added part of school activity which has no direct bearing upon the business of music teaching. There are two distinct elements in the conduct of assembly singing: First, the leader; second, the pianist. ‘There must be a thorough under- standing between the two in order that the accompaniment shall not only be in strict accord with the interpretation as given by the leader, but shall be an integral part of the singing, and not something which is merely added because it is a necessary requirement. An unsympathetic accompanist can destroy the work of the leader and practically nullify an artistic result. It is not the purpose of this article to go into any lengthy discussion on the technical requirements of a pianist, but it is important to note that no one should attempt this work unless there is a certain degree of digital skill combined with an artistic sense of interpretation which would ordinarily fit such a person for public appearance and performance as a pianist. It is not necessary to reach into the field of piano virtuosity as we understand it to develop a successful accompanist, but it is necessary that this particular pianist be at least able to play the prescribed scales, octaves, and interval progressions, together with certain standard rhythmic combinations which are a part of every good accompaniment, Department of Rural Education of the Department of Rural and Agricultural Edueation which was authorized by the Board of Directors in 1907. See Proceedings 1907: 44-45. At the Chicago meeting in 1919, the Department was reorganized with the three organized rural groups then existing—The National Association of State Supervisors and Inspectors of Rural Schools, the County Superintendent’s section of the National Edueation Association, and the National Association of Persons Engaged in the Preparation of Rural Teachers—under the name of the Department ,of Rural Education. See Proceedings 1920: 279. The Department meets twice each year, in Febru- ary and in June. The officers of the Department of Rural Educa- tion for the year 1926-27 are: President, Julian E. Butterworth, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.; Vice-president, May Trumper, State Department of Edueation, Helena, Mont.; Secretary, Katherine M. Cook, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C.; Treasurer, C. G. Cooper, County Superintendent, Towson, Md. . This Department sponsors the publication of a journal or bulletin, which is sent regularly to mem- bers thereof. Facts relating to the establishment of this Department and the record of meetings are found in earlier Proceedings as follows: 1906: 716 1911 :1365-1391 1915:1131-1161 1919: 281-289 1923:745 1908:1187-1217 1912:1365-1391 1916: 613-637 1920: 271-278 1924:651-715 1909: 953-993 1913: 801-812 1917: 599-615 1921: 523-617 1925:522-563 1910:1081-1108 1914: 877-909 1918: 271-295 1922:1099-1197 lees DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION grew out [538] ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING STANDARDS OF SUPERVISION—A BSTRACT I, JEWELL SIMPSON, ASSISTANT STATE SUPERINTENDENT IN MARYLAND the responsibility of organizing a teaching force for the study of its professional problems,” we must recognize the fact that such leader- ship calls for cértain standards of preparation and of accomplishment. In addition to high certification qualifications, successful supervision re- quires : [ WE ACCEPT the definition of a supervisor as “‘a leader charged with That the supervisor know good teaching and that he be a good teacher That he be able to secure the right attitude on the part of the teachers That he know how to measure, check, and test the results of teaching That he have tact, personality, and the ability to get on with people That he shall not spread himself out too thin. Experience has demonstrated that it is a valuable asset to a supervisor if he himself has had the opportunity of teaching and of developing in a good supervisory system—in other words, if he has had experience in re- ceiving supervision. After securing supervising teachers the school system has the responsibil- ity of promoting their growth and of maintaining high standards of super- vision. A state department of education may do this through four major activities: 1. By means of a summer-school course in the theory and practice of supervision, conducted in accordance with the ideals of the school system in which the super- visors are working. 2. By means of visits of the state supervisors to the local supervisors. 3. By means of state-wide conferences and regional conferences of supervisors and superintendents. 4. By publishing and distributing professional bulletins designed to give practical aid for the day’s work. Keeping its teachers and supervisors growing professionally is the acid test of a good school system. THE ADVANCEMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION WAITS ON TRAINED TEACHERS—ABSTRACT J. R. GRANT, STATE SUPERVISOR RURAL SCHOOLS, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Rural education is a broad term. In maintaining that rural education waits on trained teachers, one is covering a great deal of territory. It is putting a great responsibility on the rural teacher; it is saying that the advancement of rural people, intellectually, morally, socially, and eco- nomically, depends to a great extent on the work of the rural teacher. It is saying more than that: the advancement of a nation largely depends upon the advancement of its rural people. As a rule, the rural teacher [539] 540 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION ‘s not conscious of his far-reaching responsibility. In general, the people do not realize the big task that has-been assigned to the rural teacher. Because teachers and patrons have failed to see the real importance and bigness of rural education, the rural teacher, as a rule, is too young, too inexperienced, and too poorly trained to shoulder this great responsibility. Because more teachers and patrons still believe that the importance of the teacher’s position depends on the age and grade of the pupils taught, we still find teachers seeking “higher up” positions. Because most teachers and patrons still believe that when a teacher goes from the rural school to the urban school he has been promoted, we still find teachers seeking the urban positions. Most of us admit, regardless of where we live, that in rural communities where the one-room teacher is the superintendent, office help, principal, supervisor, specialist, nurse, truant officer, janitor, and so forth, we should have our very best teachers. We admit that the rural teacher who teaches all the grades should have a broader training. As we go abroad, even in our imagination, and study the educational systems of other nations and see that all the leading governments of the world pay their teachers for what they do regardless of where they do it, we return home with a little less enthusiasm for our forty-eight systems of education and especially for the many smaller unit systems within these forty-eight systems. We return home more convinced that a nation has no way to perpetuate itself except through the education of all its people. In order to get a national view of the teacher-training problem, informa- tion has been obtained from the forty-eight state departments of education. These departments answered the following five questions: 1. What education standard do you require of all teachers? 2. How are your teachers certificated ? 3. When your teachers go from the rural school to town or city schools, do they think of it as a promotion? 4. Has your state special “Rural Teacher-training Departments?” 5. In some states, most trained teachers go to towns and cities. How are you solving this problem? The replies to question one show that the tendency is toward a two-year college standard for all elementary teachers and a four-year college stand- ard for all secondary teachers. Replies to question two show that the ex- amination system is being replaced by certification on credentials, also that the states rather than the local authorities are issuing certificates. Replies to question three show that people in general consider it a promotion when teachers go from the rural school to the urban school. Replies to question four show that a majority of states have rural teacher training departments. The answers to question five show that the problem of keeping trained teachers in rural schools is not being solved. A few states, however, are doing a great deal toward solving it, | DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EpuCcATION 541 CAN RURAL SCHOOL FORCES AID IN SOLVING AGRICUL- TURAL PROBLEMS—ABSTRACT KARY C. DAVIS, PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION, PEABODY COLLEGE, NASHVILLE, TENN. Our national progress depends upon agricultural prosperity. Rural education should be for life, not life for education. The struggle in our schools between culture and utility should be ended by a close coalition of the two. The rural people are paying more for education, and receiv- ing less, than any other class. E. E. Windes, rural education specialist in the Federal Bureau, says: In no other field of educational endeavor are conditions so chaotic as in elemen- tary school agriculture, This Department of Rural Education at its Indianapolis meeting last July resolved to attack some of the agricultural problems. In 1922 this Department resolved that, ‘““The safety of society demands a new kind of rural school suited to the preparation of rural people for the new world situation.” : The conditions found among farmers at present may be briefly pictured as follows: 1. People are too often dissatisfied with the work of the rural schools. 2. Pupils are allowed to drop out at 10 or 12 years of age. 3. Truancy laws too often fail to remedy this. 4. Illiteracy of all those over 10 years of age is 8 to 12 percent of the rural population. 5. The average education is below fifth grade. 6. Schools give little time to living subjects and environments of rural people. 7. Teachers are not in sympathy with rural life. 8. Teachers are not trained for rural life. 9. There are too many “suitcase” teachers—not living in the communities where they “keep school.” 10. Schools are, too often, not social, literary, and recreational centers—no lead- ers, no organizations. 11. Taxes for schools are voted down or paid grudgingly. 12. Taxes in many regions equal or. closely approach the annual rental value of land. 13. The average farm income, including food, fuel, and shelter, was $17 per month for the great south central states during the years 1922 and 1923. 14. Farms are steadily passing into the hands of the landlord class—the per- cent of farm tenantry having greatly increased in the last census period. 15. A large proportion of supervisors of rural schools, superintendents and rural teachers, consider these matters as none of the business of the educational forces. The present problems are largely suggested by these fifteen statements of conditions. The aims of this Department should be and are to try to remedy many of these conditions; to try to save our rural people from becoming a peasant class; to unite in well directed efforts to allow the farmer to receive his just dues and be so trained as to be successful in his business and also enjoy 542 NaTIoNaL EpucaTIon ASSOCIATION a genuine rural culture with eyes open to the beauty and glory that sur- round him. It seems an almost inexcusable condition of affairs, that the great mass of rural school forces, with funds reaching almost a billion dollars annually, should so greatly miss the true purpose and aim in rural education. Devices and methods—America has, through experimentation of nearly 39 years, evolved a truly wonderful science of agriculture which is, even now, largely unavailable for farmers. Such an educational resource should be put into operation where it will do the farmers the most good. The recent experience of Denmark in training the rural classes through the teaching of agriculture in the schools, has shown that farmers can be lifted from among the poorest to the richest in the world; this in spite of natural adverse environment. The agricultural extension forces should be used by the rural schools. Men and women agents, cooperating with the schools in a few states, enlist vast numbers of boys and girls in club work. In many states little or no cooperation exists. “Teachers, supervisers, and county superintendents may assist county agents in formulating and pursuing annual programs of work for boys’ and girls’ clubs, schools, farm bureaus, and community or- ganizations. ‘The activities of all these movements should center at the schools and much of the school work and discussion should revolve about these activities. The Smith-Hughes forces should also be used by the rural schools. In one state at least, this is succesfully done. Each teacher of vocational agriculture coaches the agricultural teaching in several surrounding dis- tricts—through teacher-supervisor conferences, visitations, printed outlines, and mimeographed teaching plans. He also supervises the home projects of the rural school pupils. “The whole plan greatly improves rural teachers in service and makes the school work function at home. How rural supervisors and superintendents can help—At a regional rural supervisors’ conference held in December, 1925, the thought of having the schools suit their communities was not discussed. Home economics, agriculture, and rural health were not mentioned except by one speaker, and then parenthetically and apologetically. Too many of these supervisors and superintendents are showing decided indifference to rural conditions—or they seem to want to throw their burdens onto the “other fellow.” They are sorry that farming people show such indiffer- ence to the schools—taking children out with trivial or no real excuses; but why try to solve it? Why try to suit the schools to rural conditions? Is it not easier and better to transplant city methods, city subjects, city- minded teachers and city courses to the new consolidated rural districts? Perhaps all this happens because supervisors and superintendents are them- selves city-minded or have been blinded by the glare of city ideals. Why not reorganize the courses around the home and farm? Why not attack the problems of the poor, under-educated farmer struggling with too heavy a load? Why not make much of the school work center in the DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EpucaATION 543 farm life—offer farm shop work, improved agriculture, and home eco- nomics, including health and rural sanitation. Should not rural supervisors be expected to know the rudiments of these things themselves? Should not the composition, history, arithmetic, geography, spelling and drawing be founded upon agriculture—the home and farm life of the children? Herbert Quick has portrayed this plan vividly. The type of agriculture—The resolutions at the Indianapolis meeting last July very wisely stressed the importance of teaching the principles and methods of cooperative marketing. If the rural schools of America will earnestly attack this vital matter they can, in time, solve one of the greatest farm problems. The benefits of standardization, grading, packing, storing, holding, pooling, releasing, locating demands, and other features of good commodity marketing must become household terms in America as they are in Denmark. Farm management must be considered in connection with each farm project instead of abstractly. Managerial jobs are more easily solved when attention is focussed upon them, than are many of the operative jobs. Such matters can readily be handled by bright teachers without danger of big- boy criticisms. The modern investigations, scientific principles, soil, plant, and animal natures, economic phases, use of laboratory exercises, readings from texts and bulletins, problems and computations of rations, costs of equipment and cost of production, compositions on operations, records of production and sales, planning of fields, projects, buildings, rotations, etc.—these are leading the pupil beyond the ordinary daily humdrum, and cause his mind to delve deeper into the problems of life. The 57 varieties of losses on farms should be studied with remedies for each. Community competitions and contests are used very effectively in many places. The states of West Virginia and Oklahoma, and a few counties in some other states, as Kentucky, have some valuable community contests including agricultural features. Illinois has a good plan for stimulating rivalry among students in agricultural endeavors. Purposeful surveys have been and are being made in a number of places with the hope that the special problems of localities may be considered by the rural school forces, and by local drives and campaigns. Publicity—The agriculture, home economics, health, and allied subjects of the schools, should be given their due share of publicity. ‘The public can be kept in sympathy with school work when proper attention is given to letting people know that really rural life work is being done at the school. This also has its own reflex action. School forces should give far more attention to this. Far too many absolutely ignore it. Many forms of publicity are suited to different places. Home studies and investigations—Pupils should be given problems for investigation by observation and inquiry of successful neighbors and parents, 544 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION regarding the regular lessons in home economics, agriculture, marketing, and health conditions. Data brought from home should form the basis for compositions and arithmetic problems. Such daily exchange of in- formation will greatly help both the home and the school. Patrons will cease to criticise and begin to praise. The rotation plan—Agriculture is such a live subject that in schools having all the grammar grades together, pupils listen to the work in agri- culture in spite of all efforts to the contrary. This naturally suggests the method of allowing all of the upper grades to take this work together. The work is divided into a series of years (2, 3, or 4) to be taken by the upper grades, 2, 3, or 4. Thus a rotation of subject-matter is established for that school, or for the whole county or whole state. This plan reduces the number of classes to be taught. It answers the objection of over- crowded daily programs. It saves time of pupils. It avoids undue dupli- cation of subject-matter. It opens wider opportunity for correlation with other school subjects. State systems—lIt remains for the first state to thoroughly work out a system of instruction—a rural school curriculum—in which the common branches are thoroughly correlated with the farm and home life of the community. ‘This paper cannot go into the details of that. The state which first does this will set forth an example which all others will, im time, follow. This will mean real live schools. Children will strive to attend them. Parents will praise and support them. Agriculture problems will be solved by them. Farmers’ burdens will be lightened by them. Let us hasten the day when rural schools will be suited to rural condi- tions; when subjects will be taught less abstractly and will be linked with vital rural problems. Let the slogan be: “A well prepared rural teacher in every room cor- relating the school work with the lives of the people.” STANDARDIZATION OF RURAL HIGH SCHOOLS AWAITS DEFINITELY ACCEPTED OBJECTIVES OF RURAL EDUCATION W. L. SPENCER, DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, MONTGOMERY, ALA. All over the United States we hope the day is soon to come when it will be possible for practically all boys and girls of high school age to attend standard high schools without living away from home in dormi- tories or boarding-houses. We hope the number of high schools will be increased where necessary, and that roads and transportation will be de- veloped until practically every child can reach a high school of recognized standing each morning from his home and can return in the afternoon without serious hardship or undue loss of time. Not many serious persons DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EpucatIon 545 will refuse to join us in this wish for universal high school advantages for all our population, but not all of us have realized the enormity of the undertaking. The task is still far from complete, but already the number of small high schools is so great that a recent report from the Bureau of Education states that about three fourths of all the high schools in America enrol less than 100 pupils, while a majority of our high schools enrol less than 51 pupils. It seems that the average boy or girl is now entering high school, whereas, according to Inglis’ estimate, only one boy or girl in ten entered high school in 1890. We should remember, however, that while this growth has been extremely rapid in rural communities, city children still attend high school in larger proportions than do those from country homes. Parallel with this great growth in secondary education a change in emphasis in college entrance requirements has been developing in various parts of the country. Instead of definite quantitative requirements in various subjects for college entrance, the quality of work is now beginning to receive the greater attention. Gradually we seem to be approaching the time when college authorities will ask candidates for admission not “What subjects have you studied?” but “What is the quality of the high school from which you come, and how well did you do your work there ?” This has thrown a heavy burden upon the state authorities and university officers who are responsible for standardization. Fifteen years ago the movement for the accrediting of high schools was well established, but the value and importance of standardization has been increasing enormously since that time. Some of the most insistent questions which arise are as follows: Is it right to accredit rural high schools by the same standards as city high schools? Most of us seem convinced that considerable differences in stand- ards of accreditment must be made between the high schools for country children and those for our city boys and girls. Shall the rural high school try to induce all its pupils to spend their lives in the country? It would be undemocratic and unjust if we tried to keep all these pupils in the country. On the other hand, some of us feel that many rural high schools are sending a majority of their pupils into the city, thus robbing the coun- try of its finest and costliest resources and taking a large proportion of the children away from their best chance for a successful career and a satisfactory life. Should standardization attempt to correct these rural high schools which are in this way undermining and impoverishing country life? Shall the differences be only in interpretation of our standards? In this case the task is thrown upon the discretion of the accrediting officers. Discretion may often be the greater part of valor, but there are times, we fear, when expediency seems to be the greater part of discretion. If stand- ards for the two types of school are not to be alike, shall inferior standards be set up for the rural high schools? We believe it would be a catastrophe to accredit rural high schools on a basis of lower quality than that set in city high schools. What differences then in standards should be made? 546 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION Shall the teachers of a high school be expected to decide whether their high school is rural or urban? Just what is a rural high school ? Every day we men who work in the state supervision and standardization of high schools must use some answers to these questions—empirical, temporary, and. unsatisfactory as they often must be. ‘These answers cannot be made satisfactorily until the meaning and values of rural life have been clearly recognized, stated, and accepted, and the relation of high school education to rural life has been thoroughly formulated. Real standardization of rural high schools awaits definitely accepted objectives in rural education. The modern high school must give serious consideration to the following obligations: 1. The high school is primarily a community enterprise and must serve the community first of all. 2. The individual differences of high school pupils must be discovered, guided, developed and used for the service, growth, and enrichment of the community and as the basis of the happiest and most valuable careers of the pupils. 3. The urgent demands for reasonable standardization which are now prevalent all over the country must not be neglected. No one of these then can be disregarded without great danger. For a school to consider any one of them alone is fatal. : We believe that all high schools, whether rural or urban, should rec- ognize the vital importance of these obligations to serve the community welfare, to provide for individual differences and to make the organization and administration of the school conform to reasonable requirements of standardization. But when we consider the average rural high school with its enrolment of less than fifty pupils, its limited teaching force, meager building facilities and equipment, and restricted curricula we realize that much achievement in any of these directions is difficult. There are other special problems which the rural high school must con- sider seriously. Some of these are as follows: 1. A smaller proportion of rural children attend high school than of urban children. This seems to be true even where facilities for high school children are as convenient for the rural population as for that of the cities. 2. The ratio of boys to girls in the rural high schools is smaller than in those of the cities. 3. Farm children show a wide scattering of ability; rural high schools un- doubtedly have to serve a pupil group which exhibits wide individual differences. The claim has been made that rural children are inferior to urban chil- dren in mental ability. “The evidence for this claim is not conclusive or convincing to many of us. But there seems to be good ground for the belief that pupils in rural high schools show a wide scattering in ability and in individual differences. In our impatience we may ask why the rural high school seems so persistent in the neglect of the urgent needs of the community and its children. A part of the answer to this question is that the high school DEPARTMENT OF RurAL Epucation 547 in the country seems to be the last stronghold of the traditional philosophy of secondary education of three or four decades ago. So far as any ob- jectives at all are consciously held in mind, in many of these schools three of the main ones to be recognized are as follows: 1. To make the country high school an imitation of a reduced sort of the city high school of the last century. 2. To make the school a mental gymnasium for formal discipline of the type so largely abandoned by our best high schools. 3. To prepare pupils for college entrance requirements which were in large part abandoned years ago by many of our colleges. The correction of these conditions will be possible only when the mean- ing and values of rural life have been clearly formulated and stated, when life in the country presents as powerful and dignified an appeal to young people as city life now holds, and when the relation of the high school to the community and its future have been clearly defined and forcibly presented to the principals and teachers in rural high schools. The standardization of rural high schools awaits definitely accepted ob- jectives of rural education. RURAL EDUCATION IN THE STATE PROGRAM FRANCIS B. HAAS, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, HARRISBURG, PA. The basic nature of our government is such that the nation must rise or fall as its educational system supplies, or fails to supply, the process for the realization of its political ideals. The progressive realization of these ideals upon which our government is founded is conditioned, therefore, upon equalization of educational opportunity and upon the fostering and strengthening of those factors, which in their operation, tend to produce equalization of educational opportunity. It follows that the nature of the state’s interest in education is such that its various social programs must be developed so as to maintain relative values, and that underlying any specific educational interest must be a philosophy that has in mind the general welfare of the state. The state program of education, if the public schools are to perform their prime function as the interpreter and preserver of national ideals, must be developed, so that the interdependence of the various parts will be defined in terms of mutual interest, obligations, and responsibilities, with the so- called rural program clearly visioned as an integral part of the state pro- gram. The outstanding need in rural education is a crystal clear recogni- tion of the fact that the state is an entity and that every one of its parts las an equity in and a fundamental responsibility for all phases of educa- tion that have to do with the rural communities. As part of such a state program, the rural program must challenge the imagination and deserve the support not only of the rural community but 548 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION of the urban community as well. ‘The various types of communities have failed to realize that an important part of their own program is a clear understanding of its relative value to’ the general educational policy of the state. The point I wish to emphasize here is that the town dweller, contrary to a very common concept, has a vital concern in rural education and that the dweller in the “wide open spaces” has a vital interest in the urban situ- ation. An important phase of this interest on the part of the urban com- munity, and one which has not had great consideration to date, has to do with the educational aspects of the flow of population from the rural areas to the urban centers. Ina very real sense rural education appears to repre- sent the preliminary education for an appreciable proportion of our urban population. Here is an almost virgin field for research. What is the rate of flow in the population shift from the rural to the urban community ? What is the significance of this so far as the educational institution is con- cerned? Has it any significance so far as the course of study is concerned ? We need to study intensively the social fabric of the urban community and trace to the source those threads which come from the rural communities. It is significant that the large meaning of this interdependence is gradu- ally seeping into the urban consciousness. “The illustration of this is found in the domain of public health service. Large urban communities havé come to see that individual self-preservation, so far as health is concerned, is closely related to certain aspects of rural life. It is essential that the hogs be sound, and the milk be pure. It is not yet so readily apparent, however, that the most economical method in the long run to secure this, is to make sure that the rural dweller has high ideals and then adequate opportunity to approximate realization. The importance of the health situation is apparent and fairly easy to demonstrate, but it is just as true that in all of our social reactions there is an inseparable tie-up between the urban and rural interest. It is child’s play to quarantine against “‘hog cholera,” as compared with the maintenance of a quarantine against the ills that follow human ignorance and depravity. By the same token, rural education has some concern not only with those who presumably will remain in the rural community, and this, of course, is the large problem, but it has some concern with that percent which will change its habitat. ‘The philosophy that must be driven home is a simple realization that all groups are members of a large family with its perpetual problems of infancy, youth, old age, and dependency and the mutual obligations and responsi- bilities confronting the members of the family are always present. The interdependence of the various types of community life that go to make up a state must be clearly recognized in developing a modern educational pro- gram, and such a program from the very outset must realize that unequal opportunity for any part means undesirable results for every other part. Granting the interdependence of the various parts, it must be self-evident that a program will be sound and workable in direct proportion as it results DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 549 in cooperative effort upon the part of those having an equity in the result. Such a program must from the very first give to the rural communities the common inheritances of a great state as well as those things needed to meet the requirements of individual situations. The rural program must, there- fore, be professionally sound, financially feasible, administratively workable, and possible of interpretation to its beneficiaries. It is not my purpose to discuss at this time the status of education as a profession. I am assuming as an administrative officer of the state that education is a profession and that there is available in the great technical institutions and in the professions at large the necessary technical advice and assistance if state leadership has the vision to utilize such technical assist- ance. In other words, state leadership must insist that the accumulated experience of the profession be incorporated in the state program. The curriculum must be adapted to the varying needs of the children of all the people. The personnel must be progressively prepared with a full understanding of these needs. “This means adaptation of the normal school courses and provision for in-service training and inspiration. It compre- hends the professional use of the institute, the extension class, and the teacher conference for all purposes. It means that there must be first, an understanding of the necessity for support and, second, a reasonable plan for securing such support. ‘The assistance to the layman must be positive and constructive on these two vital points. The justification for financial support is one phase of the larger problem of interpreting the schools to the people. It is in my judgment one of the outstanding needs. “There must flow into our legislatures through the rep- resentatives of the people a sympathetic attitude and understanding and a faith in our profession. ‘This is a contribution that can be made only by the teacher in the first line trenches. Responsibility for reasonable plans for financial support is no doubt de- batable. In my judgment professional leadership can no longer take the position that ours is the business of spending money with the implication that it is the business of the local community and the legislature to supply it in limitless quantities. The whole problem of financial support is inextricably tied up with the ideals of the local community and the state, and as a profession we must assume responsibility for setting up and justifying sound adequate ideals not only in terms of desired educational results, but also of equalization of the burden of support. Here again the best professional technic is available for the state pro- gram. ‘The important problems of the size of the unit, the relative dis- tribution of the burden between the state and the local community and the character of the taxables become uppermost. Basically we can not escape the proposition that in our form of govern- ment, the power is with the people, but that the responsibility for education is a state function and that therefore in final analysis, progress rests with the faith of the people in their leaders, and that leadership in a democracy 550 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION must be achieved through the machinery of cooperation and coordination. Less than this means less than democracy. The leaders must not confuse the merely complex with the profound. Education is a social process. Our leaders must be students of social phenomena. Certification, supervision, curriculums, school plants and equipments, attendance, classification, insti- tutes, publicity, consolidation, centralization, standardization, legislation, etc., must be included in a professional perpetual inventory. In conclusion it must be obvious that if education is to achieve its primary function the profession must “clear the decks” so far as rural education is concerned, and set up a philosophy and immediately assume the responsi- bility that is implied in achieving the practical objectives. This means that: 1. The ideals of our Constitution must be written into our bylaws in the form of practical minimums as approved and tested by professional leadership. 2. Relative values must be maintained among the component parts. The state can not subsidize one type of community at the expense of another. 3. The achievement of our political ideals is inseparably intertwined with the realization of our educational ideals. 4. The question is not primarily the cost, but rather the quality and quantity of the value received for the money expended. 5. The form of our democracy necessarily implies dependence upon pees ers. Leadership implies as its outstanding qualification the ability to hold respect and confidence. Rural education needs more than anything else courageous, understanding and sympathetic leaders who vision the problem in its proper perspective in relation to the other important problems in the educational field. Finally, the ideals that characterize our nation and are essential to its growth and perpetuity can not be realized if we do not adequately care for the education in citizenship and economic efficiency of the girls and boys of our rural communities. THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF RURAL EDUCATION, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE LEADERSHIP OF THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT FLORENCE M. HALE, STATE SUPERVISOR OF RURAL EDUCATION, STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AUGUSTA, ME. The last phase of my topic first appeals to me because I well realize that the leadership of the county superintendent in the social aspect of rural edu- cation, as in all other lines of work, depends largely upon the opportunity that is given him to lead. In those parts of the country where the old method still holds of electing the county superintendent by popular vote, I must confess that it takes some imagination and optimism for me to put myself in the place of such a county superintendent who must spend con- siderable time paving his way toward the next successful election, as long as this election depends, not so much upon real educational achievement DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EpucaTION Hoi during a term of office as upon popular favor, and as long as the term of office is limited in time, just so long will it be the case that the community often leads the superintendent in social and every other kind of relation- ship. This is not always true but it takes unusual “back-bone” to stand firmly for progress when a superintendent sees his rival gaining the election on some such slogan as ‘““What was good enough for our fathers is good enough for us!” “Down with fads and fancies!” “Long live the little old red schoolhouse!” Those superintendents who are working under the county unit plan or in New England—under the union supervision idea—do not always realize their blessedness and sometimes do not take into account that at the start in this matter of social leadership they have, through the method of elec- tion, a psychological advantage over the one not so elected. ‘The first characteristic of a leader is strong personality but a certain amount of assurance that one’s efforts will avail something and not be wholly over- thrown at the next election—if that personality has proved to be a bit too strong for the “yes, yes’? communities—is necessary to that pose of at- titude and air of decision which we all admit to be prerequisite of a leader’s personality. The more the rural department can help, through every avenue, to take our rural schools out of politics over the country, the more we will make it possible at the start for the country superintendent to assume the leadership, socially and otherwise, which should be his. In other words, let us work that our county superintendents may be “leading educators” and not “leading politicians.” With the above in mind it is nevertheless true that the county super- intendent and his co-workers must recognize the fact that rural education has an increasing responsibility toward the social life of rural communities. Perhaps the ideal organization of a community for a healthy community life is typified by a splendid little rural town in Maine where the most impressive sight on the village street is a row of three buildings—the little consolidated school, the village church and the Grange hall, typical of the cooperation which should exist between these important agencies. The Rural Department of the National Education Association has already studied for some years the different recognized organizations for rural social life—the Four H Clubs, the various forms of service rendered by the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations, the Grange, the Parent-Teacher Association and the School Improvement League. In my own state the School Improvement League adapts itself particularly well to the superintendent with widely separated schools as he can identify himself with this work at a distance. He can act as a clearinghouse for suggestions, can supply materials and keep thus in touch with pupils, teachers, and citizens when it is not possible to be present in person. Kenyon Butterfield, in his book “Chapters in Rural Progress,” says: The best example of this work is a plan that is being used in the state of Maine, and is performed through the agency of what is called a school improvement 552 NaTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION league. The purposes of the league are: (1) to improve school grounds and buildings; (2) to furnish suitable reading-matter for pupils and people; (3) to provide works of art for schoolrooms. There may be three forms of the league: the local leagues organized in each school; the town leagues, whose membership consists of the officers of the local leagues; and a state league, whose members are delegates from the town leagues and members of the local leagues who hold school diplomas. Any pupil, teacher, school officer, or any other citizen may join the league on payment of the dues. The minimum dues are one cent a month for each pupil, for other members not less than ten cents a term. But these dues may be made larger by vote of the league. These leagues were first organized in 1898 and they have already accomplished much. They have induced school committees to name various rural schools for distinguished American citizens, as Washington, Lincoln, and others prominent in history. ‘They give exhibitions and entertain- ments for the purpose of raising funds. Sometimes they use these funds to buy books for the schoolroom. ‘The books are then loaned to the members of the league; at the end of the term this set of books is exchanged for another set of books from another school in the same township. In this way, ata slight ex- pense, each school may have the use of a large number of books every year. The same thing is done with pictures and works of art, these being purchased and exchanged in the same way. ‘Through the efforts of the league, schoolhouses have been improved inside and out, and the school grounds improved. It is not so much the doing of new things that has been attempted by this league. The important item is that the school has been organized for these definite purposes, and the work is carried on systematically from year to year. It needs no argument to show the value of this sort of cooperation to the pupil, to the teacher, to the school, to the parents, and ultimately to the community as a whole. In many rural communities and in many consolidated schools the parent- teacher organization is doing excellent work. ‘The several -current books on rural school management and rural community life each take up in helpful detail these definite organizations for securing and utilizing com- munity interest. . It is not, therefore, necessary to take the time in this somewhat brief discussion to review material, especially the personal lead- ership of the county superintendent. Rural workers who seek to become leaders in community life must first of all be “rural minded” and must know people better than they know books. Profound scholarship in rural problems and valuable results of research are often wasted if the superintendent does not know how to get them over to the people. It must be remembered that innovations— improvements—lasting progress of any kind in a community cannot go much faster than public opinion permits. A superintendent cannot have a permanent influence upon the life of a community until he becomes one of the community in the work of the church, the grange, the Rotary, or Kiwanis—or some recognized form of community enjoyment. The superintendent will find it greatly to his advantage to cultivate the ability to stand upon his feet and express himself clearly, briefly, and attractively. The impression made upon a community by an educator who can do this is favorable from the start. In speaking at community meet- ings the superintendent should not try to deliver a long, learned technical “speech,” nor should he “write a paper” filled with long quotations from leading educators. ‘Truly enough, these things should have a part in form- DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EDUCATION 553 ——$<<$<—<—$—— ing his own philosophy of education but a community meeting is much interested in the superintendent’s original and simple presentation of edu- cational procedure as applied to that community. “Dare to be yourselves and try to cultivate a power of ready and apt illustration. Study the address of Abraham Lincoln and the teachings of Christ to see how won- derfully impressive illustrations from common, simple events may become. The superintendent also may do much to create an impression that will result in his eventual leadership by going about to the homes of the com- munity and learning first hand what his constituency is thinking about, what they are choosing for their leisure hours—with what they are sur- rounding the children whose work during school days the superintendent must direct. In turn the educator may make it seem to the worried tax- payer more worthwhile. Above all the superintendent must be “rural minded.” People are con- stituted so that some are happy, even with discomforts, in certain environ- ments which are exceedingly depressing to those persons of opposite make- up. For example, in my own case, any prolonged stay in a large city is depressing. As I see myself, one of the million “ants” coming out of a New York subway, I realize as never elsewhere what is meant by “the futility of life.” The sense of nobody caring, people too busy to stop for a friendly word, the hectic struggle to get somewhere one is not, all take hope and ambition out of me. Neighbors to chat with in between times, somebody to notice enough to wonder how I can afford that new hat, somebody to reprove me for my absence from the bean supper last night are all as the breath of life to me. So may I not call myself rural minded? To be sure, sometimes I weary of the cold water in the ice pitcher, of too great comment upon my coming and going and the choice of my apparel. Sometimes I long right then and there to hear some wonderful music or a great orator’s voice, or to see a glorious scene reproduced on canvas by a great artist instead of the one daily painted by nature’s hand— but not more so than, any person in any walk of life occasionally longs for the sights and sounds foreign to his daily habitat. If, amidst these rural scenes, one constantly feels scornful, constantly makes mental reser- vations in his dealing with rural people, looks on his enforced stay in a country place as “the winter of his discontent,” then we may safely judge that he is not “rural minded.’ ‘That person should certainly not engage in rural work nor seek to be a leader in any rural community. The real “rural minded” person may see far lights beckon, may hear distant voices call, may be tempted by positions of greater ease and larger financial return but when it comes to giving up this rural work, to leaving his opportunity for service in a place where there are still friends and neighbors, he will reply as did Ruth to Naomi in the beautiful days of old: Entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest I will go and where thow lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me and more also, if aught but death part thee and me, 554 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION ew THE RELATION OF THE FACTORS IN EDUCATION—THE CHILD—THE LEARNING PROCESS—THE TEACHER WILLARD BEATTY, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, WINNETKA, ILL. There are two phases to our work in Winnetka—the individual and the social. Both aim at the same thing—the adaptation of the individual child to his membership in the social group. Because our individual work has been stressed so much in the past, I am going to emphasize our atti- tude toward social development. We are running our schools to fit children for life—and there is only one way to do that. It is to make the schools themselves the center and inspiration of all the child’s activities. Arithmetic, reading, spelling, and other subject-matter of our curriculum are only tools of living. They are necessary tools to be sure, but life itself is a complex social experience, of which activity is the keynote. Of equal importance with subject-matter is the child’s response to ethical situations within the school and in outside life. For instance, when Johnny cheats in a test, we are faced with a situation of greater importance than whether or not Johnny knows how to find the answers. We are faced with even a more important problem than punishing Johnny for his evil ways. How do the rest of his fellows regard Johnny’s act? If Johnny was knowingly dishonest, he expects the teacher to disapprove, if she catches him. But too often he knows that he will in all probability have the approval of his classmates in his attempt to outwit the teacher. Here is a situation which strikes deep at the root of his ethical responses. Here in the classroom are situations which will determine his own response to situa- tions of trust in after life—experiences which account for dishonesties in public life. And here in their tacit approval of outwitting authority, the rest of the class are receiving the training which will make them com- plaisant in the face of business and public chicanery in adult life. These are living issues with which the teacher must be prepared to deal. He must recognize them as social situations, and so direct the group re- sponse that such situations are seen in their real light and are condemned by the other pupils. An individual may defy authority while his fellows approve and sit complaisantly by, but few individuals will fly in the face of public opinion. In adult life we meet that situation in the present atti- tude of Americans toward the 18th Amendment. This attitude toward law has its origin in the schoolroom—and it is in the school that situations must be created which will bring public opinion to condemn the wrong-doer and disapprove his acts. The teacher should be guide and director of these activities and must abdicate the position of dictator. Public opinion can only be made effective when its strength is recognized and directed. As a stimulator and guide of his children in effective social living*the teacher will find a bigger and more influential job than as lawgiver and dictator of assignments, The ma- DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EDUCATION 555 ——3 terial and methods of instruction will be some of the tools which he will use in adapting the children to their environment—but they must be recog- nized as tools and not ends in themselves. When parental kickers descend on your schools, as they occasionally do upon ours, demanding that the schools limit themselves to training for pro- ficiency in the three R’s of the “‘little red schoolhouse,” let us remind them that society now demands of our schools that their products be prepared to live well, in their lives outside of school—and that training for such living is becoming increasingly the obligation of the school. The test of the school of the present and future is the manner in which its pupils re- spond to the ethical problems which they encounter in life. And the test of the good teacher is the extent to which he can turn the tools of educa- tion and the life contacts of his children into laboratory experiments in good living. To do this, to take a situation of unfairness on the playground, and make of it an experience in civic responsibility takes time. Today the job of teaching occupies so much time that we are forced to close our eyes to many of the social situations on playground and in schoolroom which are part of our job of ethical training, because we haven’t time to under- take their social solution. Our problem is many times increased by the fact that with class instruction the bright boys and girls find time on their hands in which to concoct mischief, while we labor with the slow ones. While on the other hand, the very slow ones, who find themselves unable to grasp what is going on, sit with bowed heads expecting and getting the caustic criticism of their teachers and the jibes and jeers of their classmates, because of their intellectual inferiority. But their minds must be engaged, and beneath many of those sluggish exteriors the human mind is struggling for some social compensation—and we find them breaking out at the most unexpected places with misbehavior which will win them the thoughtless plaudits of their brighter fellows. Our technic of individual instruction as developed in Winnetka aims to organize much of the school work so that there is always something new in advance for the bright pupil to do—and material so arranged that the slow pupil may reread and ponder, seeking for that point of the explana- tion which escaped him to begin with. What we are doing may be ex- pressed in three steps: First we are expressing the curriculum in concrete terms—eliminating all dead wood, in an attempt to retain in the general course only those things which every one needs to master equally well. This has meant cutting out a lot of material which you and I had to wade through when we were in school. Out goes shingling, papering the wall, laying carpet, and figur- ing board measure. Not one in a hundred of us have ever found occasion to do any one of these things—and when that one came to do it, he didn’t remember what his arithmetic text had taught him, but went by rule of thumb, general knowledge of how to measure, or the directions on the package. In the place of the dead wood thus eliminated, we demand a 556 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION greater accuracy and mastery of those fundamental processes and principles. which are retained. No longer do we promote on 60 percent or 70 percent, but we demand that each child do each unit of work with 100 percent accuracy—or as near that as is physically possible. Once we have determined what it is that all children must know, we try to express that in terms of concrete achievements—‘‘The ability to add so many columns, so many addends high, in three minutes,” “the ability to use capital letters in the correct places in the address of an envelope,” etc. j Second, it is necessary to provide some objective measure which will determine whether or not children have mastered each of these units of achievement. To do this we have developed a series of standardized and objective tests covering each “goal.’’ When a child completes the prac- tice work of any unit, he first tests himself on a “‘pupil’s practice test,” and if he finds himself 100 percent perfect on this test, he applies to his teacher for a final standardized test. Passing this test, he is ready for the next unit of work, and may proceed independently of his fellows. If he tails the test, it is in a majority of cases diagnostic and keyed in such a manner that it indicates to what portion of his practice work he should turn for additional explanation and drill. : Third, and perhaps most important for the smooth operation of the whole scheme, we are developing a series of self-teaching practice exercises, lead- ing up by graded steps to the complete mastery of each goal. ‘These self- instruction lessons may be placed directly in the hands of the children. ‘They are addressed directly to the children, in language carefully graded to the comprehension of the age-group, and they explain and illustrate each step of every process, and supply the necessary drill exercises. “These drill exercises are self-corrective—that is, the answers are provided and keyed in such a manner that the child may locate the sources of his own weakness, and by referring back to earlier sections of work, review his difficulties. As rate of progress is purely individual, and as advancement is controlled by standardized tests which are supervised and corrected by the teacher, a child soon discovers that there is no advantage to cheating himself while doing the practice work, if he is so inclined, and we find little tendency to such dishonesty. I think you can see at once the advantage of such material in an ungraded room, or small country school, where children in all stages of advance- ment are clamoring for attention and help from the teacher. By means of such materials, placed in the hands of each child, the child will have at all times definite explanatory materials from which he can secure the ex- planations for which he had formerly to depend on the teacher. If, while working arithmetic, he encounters a snag which will not resolve itself in spite of his most energetic endeavors, he can check that difficulty in the book, for future reference when it comes his turn to receive personal help from the teacher, and he can then turn to his spelling, his language or some other subject in which the material is also individualized, and devote his time to that—instead of wasting it waiting for explanations. DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 557 In all of the material which we are developing we are increasing ma- terially the amount of practice work provided. You teachers who have spent hours at night preparing sheets of additional examples for Tom Jones, in order to perfect him on some process that had escaped him in the ex- amples provided by the text, will appreciate what it means to have addi- tional units of practice material, organized in each case about a given step or difficulty and offering practice upon that particular type. This prac- tice material is divided into a, b, and c sections, each involving the same difficulties. ‘Che bright child usually masters the work in the drill offered by the “a” section—the slower children, or those encountering special difficulties using the “‘b’”’ or ‘‘c” sections. While we are preparing materials of instruction in the social studies which offer vastly richer readings, self-directed map location work, etc., which for a one-room school containing. all grades would be far superior te the usual text book in either history or geography, we ourselves consider the social studies as distinctly socializing material. Around the core of en- riched readings we are building a large amount of discussion, dramatiza- tion, debate, project work, etc., in which all children participate as mem- bers of a social group. Progress in the social studies is as a group, rather than individually. In conclusion, I would say that individualization of work, together with subject promotions when the work is complete, has resulted in great economies in time for both pupil and teacher. “This time has enabled us to develop hitherto untouched realms of social, civic and moral experi- ences—has in fact, enabled us to make the school in a very real sense the center of the child’s life experiences. Because we feel so keenly that one learns to live by living—that better living can come through growth and experience under wise direction—we believe that we are approximating a wiser relationship between the child, the teacher, and the learning process. THE ONE-TEACHER SCHOOL—SPECIAL FEATURES— ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURE U. J. HOFFMAN, STATE SUPERVISOR OF RURAL SCHOOLS, SPRINGFIELD, ILL. There are two processes which must be clearly differentiated in the discussion of this subject—the teaching process and management or pro- cedure. It is the program for procedure which will be discussed in this paper. Teaching—Teaching is the process of one person helping another to learn. The process must be guided by the nature of the learner and the experience which the learner has previously had. The nature of children is practically the same whether they live in the country or in a city. The previous experience of these two classes is quite different. The teaching process then need differ only because of their basal experience. Teaching of a subject is the same for both, due consideration being given the difference in experience. 558 NaTIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION il Procedure—The procedure, the manner of conducting the school, must be determined by the conditions under which the teaching is to be done. The determining conditions in a one-teacher school and a graded school require a decidedly different procedure. Grading the One-Teacher School—It was perfectly natural when the one-teacher school was graded that the methods used in the graded school were adopted by the teachers who were themselves educated in the graded school. It was a decided step in advance when the one-teacher school adopted a regular course of study and divided the course into year’s work in accordance with the advancement of the pupils. It was, however, a fatal mistake when the attempt was made to conduct the day’s work with each grade as it is conducted in a room where there is but one grade, when there are eight grades in the one-teacher school. i In the graded school exclusive, group or class instruction has been the rule from the first. Even in the graded school this method has been very unsatisfactory to thoughtful and forward-looking educators. Great efforts are being made to find a way to serve the needs of the individual pupil, for it has been found that all cannot be adequately served by group instruction only. They find it difficult to break away from the method to which every one has become accustomed. ‘Their problem is complicated in many ways. Our task is not so difficult for the situation is less compli- cated. In the one-teacher school there are really no classes. One or even five pupils do not constitute a class except in name. “They are so many individ- uals whose needs may be met either as individuals or in groups, as seems best. The school is a big family composed of children of all ages living with a teacher of mature mind and character. This is a decided advantage over a room full of children of the same age. As the school is now conducted, copying the graded school, the teacher has only a few minutes with the group; the rest of the time he serves only as policeman. ‘The situation is favorable. He can so organize and conduct his school that he will have ample time to serve the needs of every one of his pupils. It is only necessary to devise a program, being guided by pedagogical principles, instead of copying the graded school. A cor- rect program will not teach the school, but it will make conditions favor- able for good teaching. Guiding Principles A school defined—A school is a place where under the guidance of a teacher, children may learn those things which enable them now and in the future, to be and to do what will bring the greatest good to themselves and to others with whom they live. A school gives the children the oppor- tunity, under favorable conditions, to educate themselves. The children themselves must do the work. ‘The teacher and others can only make conditions favorable and help. DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 559 Lhe chief work performed in the school—The work of greatest im- portance in the school is learning, not teaching. Learning is brought about by the pupil applying his mind and will to the solution of problems which confront him; that is, by study. Without this effort on the part of the pupil, the Siool fails. The Teacher's Work—The work of ie teacher is to give the pupil the help he needs in his efforts to learn. First—The first step in helping the pupil is to get him to want to learn, arouse his curiosity, awaken interest in what is to be done, inspire him to make the nec- essary effort. Second—The second step is to show the pupil what to do (assign the lesson) how to begin, how to proceed, and keep him at it. Third—When the pupil is halted by difficulties which he cannot overcome, by suggestion and guidance the teacher shall help him over the difficulty that he may proceed. Fourth—The teacher should lead the pupils in their efforts to work together in the solution of the problem, the mastery of the lesson. In all class work there should be the sense of working together, not only pupils together, but teacher and pupils together. “We will” not “you must” should be the attitude, though “you must” may be necessary in exceptional cases. For what the program should provide—Ilf the foregoing principles are correct, the program should be primarily a pupil’s program, a program for study, and only secondarily a teacher’s program, a program for instruction. The great evil of the usual program under exclusive class instruction is a program for hearing recitations. If a study time is suggested, it is so inconspicuous in the minds of pupils and teacher that it counts for little. First—The program should provide for subject-matter and exercises suited to the needs of the learner; that is a well-planned course of study. Second—The program should provide for ample and uninterrupted time for the pupils to study each subject. Third—The program should provide for ample time for the teacher to help the pupils when they most need help; that is, while they are trying to study. Fourth—The program should provide ample time for the teacher and pupils to work together in helpful class and other group activities, class instruction, discussion, and testing. Fifth—The program should provide for two kinds of study, individual study and class study. That which pupils do at their desks is necessarily individual study. The learning process goes on while the pupils are at their desks. It should not stop when they go to class. ‘The class meeting should be for guidance, for con- ference, for stimulation of interest and effort. Kinds of Instruction There should be also two kinds of instruction: class instruction when the whole class may be advantageously served; individual, when the needs of each pupil may be served without embarrassing him or wasting the time of others. The class instruction period-—Suppose it is a class ready to begin long division. All are equal in that none can divide a large by a larger number. 560 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The teacher confronts them with the difficulty, arouses their curiosity as to how to overcome it. He shows them step by step, selects another prob- lem, requests them to tell him what to do step by step. Then he gives them an easy problem and asks them to solve it each for himself. Some -succeed. He now asks one of them to show those who failed how he did it. They try another and all succeed. He says, “you know how to do it. All you need is practice. "Tomorrow you may work problems and I will help those that need help. Let us see how soon we can do all the problems in the book.” Individual instruction—The day following class instruction the pupils begin to solve problems. Some have no trouble, others are “stuck” or are uncertain. The teacher should have time at the beginning of the study period to go to those who are in difficulty and help them out. ‘The others should keep right on with their work. Of the slow pupils he re- quires the minimum amount of practice that will enable them to advance to the next exercise. The gifted pupils are encouraged to do even more difficult problems than those assigned to prove to themselves that they can do them. The discussion period—The class should now meet to talk over what they have learned, the difficulties encountered and how overcome. Errors in thinking may be corrected, devices suggested to gain speed and accuracy. There should be no suggestion of a test to determine the rank of pupils. They should be encouraged to say they do not understand and to ask for help. The test—The exclusive class instruction method has driven teachers of one-teacher schools to make every class period a test. Yesterday he had time only to tell them what to do and maybe how to do it. Today he must find out whether they did what they were told to do. He has no other way of finding out. “This practice is not only of little use; it is positively injurious to the pupil by creating a wrong attitude toward the work and toward the teacher. Daily he is brought before the judgment seat and he comes to hate both the work and the teacher. _ The mastery of a problem, the learning, should partake of the nature ‘of a game. It may be harder than work but it nevertheless is a game and is enjoyed. After sufficient practice which is not unpleasant, has been undergone, comes the test. It is not dreaded; it is the culmination of the joy of the game. In working together to be ready for the test they have become friends, not judge and culprit. Even the less gifted pupil knows he can stand the test. He knows that the teacher thinks he can stand it. He undergoes it not to prove to the teacher or to get a high mark, but to prove to himself that he can do what he undertook to learn how to do. If the test proves that some pupils are not as proficient as they should be, they will admit it and be ready for additional practice and instruction. The gifted ones can go their pace without being held back by the less gifted. The reward of the test should not be the attainment of a mark but permission to advance or opportunity to make up deficiencies. 561 DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EDUCATION resstusiq | OT 00:4 ‘[ENprlAIpuUy savy 4OU PIp FVY} SOY} OF SSBIC) (8 ‘2) (9 ‘S) Aydeis00%) 02 OF: ‘[ENPIAIpU] savy JOU PIP FVY} Csoy} OF ssBTy (8 ‘2) (9 “¢) £10481 02 02: 9199 YOU T[LM yey} OsoYy 07 [ENPLATPUT (8 ‘2) (9 “¢) ‘Boon BP YSTH | 02 00:€ “ALE SsBIH (F ‘e) (% ‘T) | APMIG “YBN Y¥sU0H | ST CF: Avg popord wey | ST 0€:Z “podisop S¥ [BNPLATPUT 10 SseIH (8 *2) (9 ‘¢) SOIAT) PSA | GT Gh:Z ‘TENpPlAIpuU]T eAvy 4OU PIp 7BY} Vso} OF SSBIA) po ye Moy SG: ‘WRID) FY VSBNSUL'T 0g CFI “ALE Ssv[Q (F ‘8) asensuvy | OT ce:1 “APEC S801 git | aBensuey p pray | GT 0g: “OPLOGL YOU [ITAA VY} BSOY} OF [BNPIAIPUT 8 ‘2 “9 ‘¢ ieurMvIg | 0% 00:1 sourey) puv younT uoON, 09 00:21 ‘{ENPIATPU SAVY JOU PIP FY} eso} OF SSBI (8 ‘2) 9 ‘¢ oeuryyy | Ge eG: 11 ‘ATV SsBID ow “WINN 2 “PBoy 0Z GO: 1T ‘otOoI JOU [ILM YVY} SOSSBTH OF [BNPIATpUT RS Le 9 GLP oTOUNy TY 02 G01 Avg popelld yoy | ST O€:0T ‘sku oUIe}TV WO SsvI) TV TPedg PIM | ST ST:O1 ‘[BNPIAIPUL 9ABY OU PIP FEY} OsOl]} OF SST (8 ‘4) (9 °S) F surpeay | = GT 00:01 “ATE SSB Sel surpeoy | 08 08:6 ayTood YOU [ILM 7BY} Sassepo OF ‘[BNPIAIpPUT (8 ‘2) (9 ‘9) F Zurpeoy | 02 01:6 ‘ojo ‘SJUMAM JUALIN ‘ISNT IV OSIOIOX “Ws Or 00:6 asINOD UI sedBg WOTJONIYSUT JO puly SopBir qoatqng ouIL], ulseg SGaVUY) GHONVAGCY ao GHL NI das8—) ATIVEUNGY) SI NOILOGULSNT TVOGIAIGN] NAB AA NOILONULSNYT TVOGIAIGN] GNV SSVI) Yor WVADOUd 562 NatIoNnAL Epucation AssociATION eo ‘The day is made up of four sessions. Each session is devoted to a major study and during the session the pupil does his work in that subject and receives the necessary help from the teacher, either individually or in class. First session—9:00 to 10:30—90 minutes, Major subject, Reading. Second session—10:45 to 12:00—75 minutes, Major subject, Arithmetic. Third session—1:00 to 2:30—90 minutes, Major subject, Language. Fourth session—2:45 to 4:00—75 minutes, Major subject, Social Studies. Who should have class instruction daily—The first, second, and third grades should have class instruction every day in every subject. They learn chiefly from oral instruction by the teacher. Much drill is required and what individual direction any one needs can be given in a few minutes during the individual instruction period. The upper grades learn chiefly from books. The most valuable assistance that the teacher can give them is to guide them in the use of books as a means of learning. "To make them students should be one of the chief objectives. The first session is devoted to reading. In class exercises, the primary grades are taught how to read. Formal readers are chiefly used. The other grades are taught to read to use their power not by the use of formal readers except for drill purpose and appreciation, but by the use of library books which attract them and from which they learn something of value. During the second session the whole school is engaged in the study of arithmetic with the exception of the first and second grades. ‘There are four arithmetic classes, the seventh and eighth grades being combined and doing the seventh and eighth year’s work in alternate years. ‘Twenty minutes at the beginning of the session is devoted to individual instruction to the classes that will not receive class instruction that day. The other classes pursue their study unaided. Thirty minutes are next devoted to giving class instruction to the primary grades. ‘The time can be apportioned to the needs of the classes. : Thirty-five minutes are next devoted to giving class instruction to the classes that did not receive individual instruction at the beginning of the session. Every class receives the services of the teacher every day. The time for individual and class instruction is not arbitrarily fixed. The adjustment can be made to meet the needs of the classes. It may be found best to have class instruction several days in succession. Again, it may be best to give individual instruction several days in succession. Class periods may be reduced to sixteen a day, four in each session, and yet the teacher will have twenty minutes in each session to help those who need special help. One fourth of the day the ‘teacher is free to do real teaching where and when it is most needed, and the most effective. The average is fifteen minutes to the class, time enough to do real class work. The pupils have definite and ample time to study a subject and not be interrupted to go to class in another subject, yet he has all the help from the teacher that he needs. DEPARTMENT OF RurAL Epucation 563 Often the whole school may be the group to receive instruction when all can profit by it. A pupil or the teacher may have found something in reading that all can enjoy. Study may be laid aside while this is read by a pupil or the teacher. Some process in arithmetic or drill for speed may be engaged in by all classes above the third grade. A pupil may give a talk on a topic in geography or history that all will enjoy. A current event may be explained to the profit of all. The younger children will thus be interested in what is to come further along in their course. This program makes it possible for the pupil to study and the teacher .to teach the fundamental subjects which give the learner intellectual equip- ment and power. Not only this; the force of circumstances and procedure adjust the pupil and teacher so that right attitudes and character develop naturally. The pupil soon learns without being told that he is working for himself, not for the teacher. If he succeeds in getting the child inter- ested, he will want to do his. work because it is of value to himself. The teacher helps him when he feels that he needs help. He is his friend. These are attitudes absolutely essential. We make conditions favorable for effective instruction and study, and what is of even greater importance, favorable to exercise that influence through personality and management which will awaken aspirations and establish high ideals and make these dominant in the lives of his pupils. This procedure makes conditions favorable for the teacher to improve day by day. The best guide for a teacher to learn how to teach is a pupil eager to learn. All he needs to do is to find out what the pupil needs and do his best to help him. It gives him the opportunity to learn to teach by teaching; the only way it can be learned. SUPERVISION OF ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS VERA M. TELFER, HELPING TEACHER, WARREN COUNTY, BELVIDERE, N. J. Bepccmision means the training and direction of teachers both before and after beginning service. There are about 300,000 ree now employed in our one and two teacher schools, who are in immediate need of special direction. The 90,000 who will begin teaching next September and the following September should now be receiving special rural feats which will fit them for their important work. If we had the selection of all new teachers for our rural schools, what are some of the qualifications we would want each applicant to have? Because of the complexity of the position to be filled, it would be necessary for us to be more careful in the selection of a teacher for a rural school, than for a graded school. Some of the requirements would probably be these. 1. He should be normally intelligent. 2. He should show some native ability necessary for the success of a teacher such % 564 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION as love of children, pluck and perseverance, good judgment and initiative. He should have a kind of pleasing positiveness in his personality which demands the respect of children. 3. He should be unusually healthy. . 4. He should have had at least a four year high school academic course. 5. And should have had two years of special professional training in a normal school. What should be the minimum requirements with which to begin this process of development? How can this so-called supervision, administered both before and after beginning service, best help to build up this important leader of a one-teacher school ? 1. Intelligence—One very important factor in the make-up of a success- ful teacher is intelligence, and this is something which no amount of excel- lent training and direction can improve. A competent teacher cannot be developed from a less than competent human being, yet this is what super- visors are expected to do in a great many cases. Some people who are almost morons take up the teaching profession because they cannot do any- thing else. They have the idea that anybody can teach a country school, and the public too often acquiesces. 2. Personality—Some people never will make good teachers, no matter how intelligent they are. “They lack something very hard to define—some- thing, which for want of a better term, we call personality. It includes enthusiasm, tact, pluck, and initiative. Unless a teacher has the innate power to command the respect of children; the ability to inspire them to want to learn, his teaching will be worth nothing—worse than nothing, in fact, for boys and girls will be getting training in disobedience, laziness, and rowdyism. Something must be done to keep such people out of the teaching profession. But who is to be the judge of this personality? In New Jersey the high school principal is being asked to recommend as teach- ers, only those who seem fitted for the work. Let us pray for conscientious judges everywhere. 3. Health—Good health is an asset to every teacher, but to the teache of the one-room school it seems essential. He has, as a rule, so many more demands for physical strength than the town teacher has. Many teachers must travel long distances to their schools over rough country roads, and have full charge of janitor work when they get there. One teacher, whom I know, travels two miles and a half down a rough mountain road, and in winter wades through deep snow. She manages to get to school each morn- ing in time to have the schoolroom warm when the children arrive. The colder the morning, the earlier she gets there. Actual physical hardships are experienced by many rural teachers. The work is too hard for anyone who is not unusually strong. A certificate of physical fitness given only after a thorough examination should be required from every rural teacher. 4. Academic training—Another qualification which we all know should be demanded of a teacher is a four year high school course. Every state is working towards this goal, and many have already passed such legislation. Yet about 50 percent of our 300,000 rural teachers now in service have not DEPARIMENT OF RURAL EpUCATION 565 completed high school; about 10 percent or 30,000 have gone no farther than the 8th grade, and 15,000 have only finished the 6th grade. One of our special problems, then, is to work towards placing in our schools teach- ers who are equipped with at least a four year high school amount of sub- ject-matter. 5. Special professional training—Two years of special professional train- ing beyond a four year high school course should ultimately be the mini- mum requirement of teachers in every state. It will be a long time before this dream will come true, because of the great annual demand for teachers and the small number of normal schools. Very few teachers who now grad- uate from the normal schools enter rural schools. The high school train- ing schools and state summer schools are helping considerably, yet about 50,000 are entering our small schools each year without one day of pro- fessional preparation. Would it be too much to set as the next step towards our goal, a minimum requirement of at least one year of professional train- ing, whether it be in a normal school or high school training school? ‘This should, however, be followed by another year after two years of teaching. What special training should these teachers get in the professional schools, which will best fit them for their particular piece of work? a. The same general course including technic of teaching, psychology, etc., might be given to rural and town teachers alike. b. Courses in professionalized subject matter should be given by the regular teachers in these subjects, but it would be helpful if the rural students could be in special sections, so that some rural adaptation might be given to the work espe- cially in arithmetic, reading and health training, including physical training. Nature study, the kind which stimulates observation and love of nature should, also, be a part of the rural teacher’s training. c. A special course should be given to rural teachers in rural school organization and management, since this constitutes one of the greatest difficulties of rural school work and is entirely different from the situation in a graded school. Imagine the bewilderment of a young, untrained inexperienced city girl or boy trying to un- tangle the maze of teaching eight grades. He must have help, or hours and hours of pupils’ time will be wasted. d. Probably the most helpful part of this pre-service training is the actual prac- tice teaching in the one-teacher school under careful supervision. Rural supervision is quite new. It began in this country about ten years ago, and supervisors have had to learn by experience just how they can be of the greatest possible help. They have learned that the general prin- ciples of supervision are the same for country and city, but because of the greater difficulty and variety of problems to be solved, the teacher of the one-room school needs certain special direction. 1. Arranging study groups and making the daily program—When a new teacher arrives in his school for the first time, he is confronted with a heter- egeneous group of children all at different stages of development. In some way he must find out as quickly as possible an answer for certain questions: How much does each child know and what should he learn next? In what grade or study-group does he belong? What books should each child be 566 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION a5 given? How should the program be arranged in order to give each pupil the greatest possible help? ; If there is a rural supervisor in this county he has already anticipated some of these problems, and the new teacher finds in his desk a list of the pupils, the grade and study-group to which each belongs, and the subject- matter and books with which to begin work. There is, also, a copy of the program used the previous year. In order to give this help the supervisor must each year become acquainted with the ability and achievement of the individual pupils. This is where the standard test has proven to be of valuable service. Towards the end of each school year the teacher and super- visor consult the summary sheet of test results, take into consideration the child’s every day efforts and achievements, his age, health, etc., and they together decide into which group each boy and girl will be likely to develop most the following year. The supervisor arrives as soon as possible in the fall, he examines the situation and is able to give the teacher help in making any necessary changes. Some state departments send out very helpful suggestions on the grouping of grades and the making of daily programs, but no two schools are exactly alike, and the classification of pupils and program or work in a given school this year may not fit conditions in the same school next year. - This work of adaptation is a big problem and one in which the rural teacher is in great need of help. 2. Teaching children how to study—Special direction is needed by the one-room teacher in teaching his pupils how to study. The real test of a teacher’s success or failure lies in the answer to the question, “How much are the children learning?” ‘The amount of learning depends upon how well the pupils have acquired the art of studying. ‘Therefore, the teacher, who is a success has taught the children how to study. “This applies to the town teacher as well as to the rural teacher, but because of the greater amount of unsupervised study time given to pupils of a one-teacher school, the rural teacher has the greater task. Good assignments given by the teacher are the key to good study on the part of the pupils. Therefore, assignments which are more than mere page assignments are especially neces- sary in a one-teacher school. So-called seatwork, if educational, is nothing but independent study, and, therefore, should be carefully planned, assigned and tested by the teacher. The rural supervisor must help in this task of keeping the little children profitably employed at their seats for several hours every day. A good assignment means thoughtful planning. The work of the day should be so arranged that the teacher will not have too many assignments to make; hence the necessity of gathering the children into study groups. : To be successful, the rural teacher must learn to realize the importance of the class periods for these study groups as an aid in teaching children how to study. The so-called recitation period should not be simply an opportunity for the children to tell the teacher what they have learned, but it should be largely a study lesson. It should point the way to individual DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EpUCATION 567 study, by introducing the subject in such a way that the children will want to do independent work. Through study questions it should help the pupils to select the important parts. It is not always necessary to have a class period every day in the upper grades, but whenever there is one, the teacher has an opportunity to teach his pupils how to organize and summarize the ideas gained through independent study. All of these are important steps in the art of study, therefore, the rural teacher should receive special direc- tion in their use. 3. Selecting and adapting subject-matter—Another kind of help which the teacher of the one-room school is especially in need of, is in selecting and adapting subject-matter which best fits the needs of boys and girls. This is particularly necessary in the country school, because in most states there is no course of study for rural schools. “Teachers are given the state course of study which includes an amount of subject-matter which it is impossible to cover efficiently in a one-teacher school. The most important, worth while parts must be selected. Another reason why the selection of subject-matter is especially necessary in the country school is because of the lack of up-to-date and suitable text- books in many schools. The habit of literally teaching from the textbook is, therefore, especially harmful. 4. Keeping in mind the real purpose of education—the making of citi- zens—Because of the multitude of the every day duties of a rural teacher, it is easy for him to forget the big purpose of all of his efforts—the making of citizens. ‘Each visit of the supervisor should help him to develop that kind of democratic discipline which will establish in the boys and girls ideals of good citizenship; which will create habits of good citizenship through actual practice in fair play, industry, honesty, kindness, cheerfulness, etc., and in bearing responsibilities in citizenship in their own school; it should become the style to be good citizens because of pupil public opinion, rather than because of the teacher’s orders. The formation of good health habits is another important phase in the making of citizens, which needs special emphasis in the country. In many counties rural supervisors are helping the teachers to make use of health clubs, civic clubs, or young American clubs as a means of teaching citizen- ship. 5. Stimulation for growth—A teacher in an isolated one-room school is very apt to get into a rut. He doesn’t have the stimulation from daily contact with other teachers. Very few people come to the school unless it is to complain about something. Nobody seems to care, and he is apt to say, ‘“What’s the use of trying?” ‘There is need of a rural supervisor—one who will capitalize the teacher’s ability for growth—one who will stimulate and inspire him with enthusiasm and eagerness to improve. Good judgment, self-reliance, initiative are qualities which should be de- veloped especially in a rural teacher. The exercise of judgment has to be brought into play more frequently by a teacher in a one-room school than by one in a graded school, for he has to deal not only with the children, 568 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION but with parents and board members, and with the community at large. He has the entire school system to manage. Such an important individual must develop a certain intelligent independence and initiative, and his supervisor should find ways to help him. 6. Working for certain definite goals of attainment in classroom sub- jects—The rural supervisor is confronted each day with a great variety of problems. He must grow in the ability to quickly see the needs of each school, and give help where needed. ‘There should, however, be a certain clearcut county plan for improvement in some definite subject or subjects each year. The interest and cooperation of the rural teacher is best ob- tained if too much is not attempted at once. Let us say, for example, that reading is being stressed throughout the districts. Tests should be given at the beginning of the year and standards of attainment set up. Help and direction should then be given towards the attainment of the goals estab- lished. This should be followed by another test so that teachers and pupils may see the results of their efforts. This type of supervision is especially helpful in rural schools, because teachers then have an opportunity to compare their results with those of nearby schools and it makes them feel that they are a part of a county plan of improvement. 7. Friendly help and encouragement—The rural supervisor must be first and always a friend and helping teacher; not so much a superior but a co- worker in the carrying out of the plans which he, the county superintendent and the teachers themselves have agreed are for the best interests of the schools. His arrival at the school should not be a dreaded event, but a welcome one to the teacher and to the pupils. He should give tests and teach classes in such a way as to add an incentive for better school work. He should take an interest in the progress of individual pupils, and espe- cially of the eighth grade pupils. He should play games with the children. In fact he should show an interest in everything connected with the school. By consciously looking for and commending whatever is worthy of praise, the supervisor is able to give to the rural teacher one of the biggest possible helps—encouragement to “carry on.” He knows that he has a friend who cares and has faith in him. RURAL SUPERVISION IN MARYLAND M. THERESA WIEDEFELD, ASSISTANT STATE SUPERVISOR OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, BALTIMORE, MD. In Maryland we are so thoroughly convinced of the value of good school supervision that we believe that if a good supervisor is at work in a county all impediments in the way of good schools will be overcome. School boards are so sure of it as a means of improving all phases of school work that they are willing to bid against other counties for a good supervisor and to outbid a competing county should another position be offered to " supervisor whom they employ. Parents of children are so confident of its DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 569 value to the teachers and to their children that they frequently send special requests to the supervisor to visit their school. They try to keep informed on what the supervisor is doing and become dissatisfied with teachers who do not follow his suggestions. We believe also that the position of supervisor is one of the most difficult in the teaching profession, and we know that it is very hard to find people fully qualified to meet its many demands. ' The supervisor must above all be a teacher of teachers. We may call him a supervising teacher, or a helping teacher—he supervises and he helps—but he is above all a teaching teacher. If teachers are to improve they must learn and he who guides and directs learners is a teacher. His group is composed of teachers ranging from thirty in the smallest county to an average of fifty or sixty in the largest counties. ‘They are scattered about in one or two room schools at distances of four or five miles apart. They fall into as many groups as the children of a rural school. There are beginning teachers and teachers of experience, teachers who need a great deal of help and teachers who can progress with every opportunity, formal teachers, and teachers of the freedom type, teachers who are work- ers, and teachers who are shirkers, and the supervisor must help each one to become the best teacher he is capable of being. Like the teacher of a rural school he must do mass teaching, group teach- ing, and individual teaching. The rural supervisors of Maryland bring all of the teachers of their group together at least once a year, sometimes of- tener. here are policies, plans for improvement, suggestive procedures which are for every teacher and every child. In addition they hold small group meetings of teachers of the same locality, of the same experience, or having the same difficulties or similar problems. These meeting are judged by the same standards by which we judge classroom teaching. ‘Those are: ‘ 1. Purposes or objectives as evidenced by his organization of materials and ac- tivities, as evidenced by his distribution of time and emphasis. 2. The realization of purposes as evidenced by teacher participation, as measured by the knowledge, principles of education, devices, standards, inspiration, gained by each individual. 3. The supervisor’s technic as evidenced by his method of questioning, of han- dling teacher’s contributions, of organizing materials, of clinching and summariz- ing, of providing in his planning and in his executing for review and drill and for development and discussion of new problems and procedures, and for maintaining right balance between theory and practice, caring all the while for individual dif- ferences among the teachers, stimulating initiative, providing opportunities for de- veloping leadership, and assuring some help to every teacher in the group. 4. The supervisor’s philosophy of supervision as evidenced by his plan and method of conducting the meeting, by its tone or atmosphere, by the attitude of the teachers. The quality of teachers’ meetings has greatly improved in the last few years. All kinds and phases of teachers’ meetings have been discussed at our conferences of supervisors conducted by the assistant state superintend- ent, Miss Simpson. The bulletin, Worthwhile Teachers Meetings, was 570 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION given not only to the supervisors but to the teachers. Last year and this year we held sectional meetings of supervisors in various counties of the state for the purpose of observing a supervisor conduct a teachers’ meeting and evaluating it in the light of the standards mentioned previously. We face problems here and there which seem difficult to remedy. As meetings are lifted to a higher professional plane there is a danger of making them strained. ‘Teachers and supervisors work long and earnestly, the air becomes charged with tension, the supervisor becomes pitched too high, and teachers respond in a similar key. The expert leader who can play with thoughts upon a group, decrease restraint and stimulate responsiveness, must be a deep thinker if he would stimulate thinking, must be understanding and sympathetic if he would arouse confidence, must have a sense of wit if he would prevent tenseness, and must be artistic if he would be soothing to his hearers. Such a combination is hard to find in one individual; so, many meetings will continue to be all work, some will be more enjoyable than others, and some will be crude in the monotony of procedure or the colorless presenta- tion of the leader. All will be helpful to the teacher in proportion to the worthwhileness of the material presented in its relation to needs which are felt to be real by the teachers. We have found that the individual teaching, classroom visiting, is more difficult for some than the group teaching; for some it is the other way. The success of classroom visiting depends in the main upon the ability of the supervisor to adjust himself, his personality, his knowledge, his personal opinions, his tastes, his intelligence, to the classroom situation in which he finds himself. His work there is diagnosis and prescription. He needs to study the physical equipment; what the teacher has to work with, what he can improve and what he cannot, and how he uses what he has. He needs to study the personal equipment of the teacher; his training, knowledge of subject-matter, teaching aptitude, physical condition, daily preparation, temperament, attitude toward the supervisor. From a consideration of these he must judge just how much he can expect and with that in mind, he watches children to see if they are learn- ing, if they are working at maximum capacity; if they are improving along any line, if they are doing worthwhile things. He watches the teacher to discover why he is succeeding or failing. On the basis of this diagnosis he decides upon his line of procedure. If the teacher seems to have no grasp of how he ought to proceed, if he starts to teach a second lesson following the same poor procedure, if he seems to have the right principles but does not know how to put them into practice, or if he asks for teaching, the supervisor will teach for him. The supervisor who has not had sufficient teaching experience to enable him to plan a lesson which will help the teacher at the time when help is vital to the teacher and pupils in ten or fifteen minutes, cannot do the type of supervision we do in Maryland, Our experience has shown us that DEPARTMENT oF RuRAL EpucaTION 571 a rich teaching experience under good supervision is a far more necessary and valuable preparation for supervision than college courses in super- vision. It gives him standards by which he can evaluate teaching. It pro- vides a background of ready material from which he can recreate practical suggestions for the teachers. If the teacher shows preparation and ability to go on toward some goal, and a foundation for understanding, the supervisor holds a conference with him at a convenient time when he discusses the work seen. He may have found that the teacher needs subject-matter, help with planning, with ques- tioning, organizing, formulating problems, study assignments, adapting textbooks, etc. No matter what, all can be helped in a discussion in which teacher and supervisor work together, each with the confidence, good will, and sympathy of the other. His most important problem is to help the teacher realize his needs. Once the teacher presents a problem, is conscious of specific weaknesses, or asks for definite help, the rest is easy. For ability to decide upon the needs of the teacher and to determine a plan of action quickly, the supervisor must depend upon his training and experience. A growing system must be built upon a growing experience; sO, a supervisor needs to keep his theory and his practice up to date. His ability to adjust himself to each individual teacher, to be able to put himself into the place of the teacher and build from there, depends upon his own personality and his power over his own temperament. As a rule his policy should be to: Dominate, but not domineer. Advise, but not demand. Encourage, but not flatter or mislead. Analyze, but not criticize. Stimulate, but not intoxicate. Be sincere but not unnecessarily frank. Be diplomatic but not deceiving. Be kind but not too easy. Be firm but not harsh. Tear down only what can be rebuilt. Just as teachers meetings have greatly improved, so also has classroom visiting. Our plan is to train supervisors in the field just as we train teachers. They are supervised by the state supervisors, who observe them at their work of visiting schools and conducting teachers’ meetings, evalu- ate it and offer suggestions. “They are brought together for two-day con- ferences twice a year. During the past summer all helping teachers, and supervisors new to Maryland, pursued a three-hour course in the theory and practice of supervision for six weeks under the direction of the state supervisors and credited by the Johns Hopkins University. Our policy is not to dictate to any county its plans of supervision; it Is advisory in the main. Conditions vary greatly in the different counties; supervisors differ, and our purpose is to help each supervisor do better his own work in his own way. S12 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION SOME ADVANTAGES OF THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL C. G. SARGENT, DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION, FORT COLLINS, COLO. I see no reason why good consolidated schools should be radically dif- ferent from other good schools in the same locality, county, or state. With rural free delivery of mail at the farmer’s gate, the telephone, radio, mov- ing pictures, good roads and the auto, town and country people, and es- pecially their children, will mingle together much more freely in the near future than they have ever done in’ the past. On this account, and for the further reason that I believe that this is a good thing for both groups, such increased intercourse should be promoted and encouraged by all rural leaders. ‘The fact that all roads lead to the trading center is not a bad thing from any point of view, since the interest of these two groups of rural dwellers are inseparably bound up together and since neither can function efficiently without the other. A consolidated school in a rural setting, whether the school is located in the open country or in a village, town, or small city of from one to ten thousand population should plan its courses of study and place its emphasis so as to best suit the needs of the people it serves, and the best results are not obtained by taking either of the two possible extremes, and attempt to make the school either 100: per- cent rural or 100 percent urban. Every good rural village, small town, or city in Colorado is completely encircled by a fringe of rural school districts, unless they have already been consolidated, as many of them have. ‘This is the best field we have for consolidation, and if all such possible consolidations should be effected, most of the children in the open country in my state would be cared for in the best schools that it is possible to build and operate under our con- ditions. No doubt the same is true of many other states. In all such con- solidations with which I happen to be acquainted the country people have least to lose and most to gain by the union. In my opinion the educator who attempts to consolidate schools without first considering all of the children and all of the factors essential to a good school in the natural geographic unit, whether it be a neighborhood or community, just for the sake of locating the new school out in the open country, is, after all, not a leader, but a bungler who may do more harm than good. The larger unit brought about by consolidation gives opportunity for certain advantages not possible of attainment in the smaller school district. It at least gives the opportunity for greater specialization on the part of teachers. It makes possible an enriched curriculum better suited to the needs of the children, and provides wider and richer social contacts for both the children and their parents. We consolidate schools to create better schools, with larger and better grounds, new and better buildings, modern and adequate equipment, better trained teachers, local supervision, better gradation of pupils, longer terms, and other obvious advantages that have proven so successful in all of our best schools. That all of these demonstrated advantages have always been immediately realized in every DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EpUCATION 578 case is not claimed here, but that they are being realized in a constantly increasing degree in most cases has never been successfully disputed. What I regard as the greatest advantage of the strong consolidated school is the fact that it is a complete school unit, affording an unbroken course from the first grade through the twelfth. This type of consolidated school is a double blessing to country children. It not only provides a high school for all who are prepared to enter, but at the same time it has enough pull on the sixth, seventh and eighth grades to keep thousands of boys in school at this critical time when so many drop out of our small, weak schools. Consolidation is a forward-looking movement based upon the principle of cooperation of all concerned in the enterprise. “There are two impor- tant lessons that most farmers still have to learn—first, to cooperate with each other as producers, and, second, to cooperate with their immediate neighbors in their trading center. Consolidation is the farmer’s best les- son in cooperation thus far. Some 15,000 or 16,000 consolidated schools in all parts of the United States testify to the success of the movement to get farmers to work together in the education of their children. Succeeding in this, it is not so difficult to get them to cooperate in many other activities closely related to, or that may be made to grow out of, a good consolidated school, such as school and community athletic, recreation and health pro- grams, and a great variety of wholesome social contacts made possible through well directed school activities. Local vocational and economic problems may well be discussed at the schoolhouse with the school board, the superintendent, and the teachers of vocational agriculture and home making, present with the farmers and such outside specialists as may be secured to aid in the solution of local problems. The consolidated school is the best agency yet devised for adult education to improve farm and home practices in evening classes in charge of the local vocational teachers and such outside assistance as can be secured to assist them. The consolidated school district may also be the voting precinct, and this would seem to be a good thing. It gives the rural group an opportunity to discuss local, county, and state candidates and issues and gives them some chance at least to work and vote for their own interests. It promotes discussion, encourages the people to take new interest in political and civic affairs, and promotes community solidarity. The same area and the same group of people that make an efficient unit for one strong consolidated school, will for exactly the same reasons make an equally good unit for one strong community church whose creed is the essence of the Golden Rule instead of some half dozen or more weak and struggling and starving denominational efforts that make but a feeble appeal to a few of the faithful who still try to live on the husks of the gospel of real brotherhood. So, it is our opinion that the consolidated school district when wisely laid out and when it includes a national geographic area and all of the people included within it, forms the best neighborhood and community unit yet devised. 574 NationaL Epucati0n AssOctaTion a DEMOGRATIC ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION OF SCHOOLS W. J. AVERY, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS OF RAPIDES PARISH ALEXANDRIA, LA. As in other states, the basic principles of the public school system of Louisiana are found in the state constitution and in legislative acts. Much of authority, however, is vested directly in the state board of education, one member elected from each of the eight congressional districts, two at each two-year interval, for terms of eight years, and three appointed by the Governor for four-year terms. Further and more immediate authority is vested in the parish school board which is the governing authority in all matters pertaining to the business or financial affairs of the schools of the parish (county). The members of the parish board are elected, one third at each two-year interval for terms of six years, the elections being held at congressonial elections instead of at the time of the state primary and state general election in order to prevent political entanglements. ‘The members of the parish boards are elected by wards, at least one member from each ward, more from the more populous wards. Other authority and duties are vested by law in the parish superintendent. ° The parish superintendent is the executive officer of the parish school board. His qualifications are prescribed by the state board of education, and his duties to some extent by the same body. His term of office is four years, but he may be removed by the board from office for cause. Since the board is an overlapping one, not more than one third of the member- ship being new at any one time, the policies of the board and of the super- intendent are usually harmonious and continuous, the result being that in most cases the superintendent is several times reelected. ‘The superin- tendent must maintain his office at a point in the parish designated by the parish school board, usually at the courthouse, and shall keep his office open during the “usual office hours,” except when visting schools or attending to his duties elsewhere. As secretary of the school board, he is required to make quarterly reports upon the condition of the schools; make an annual report to the state superintendent of education and such other reports as the state superintendent may require; he must keep a record of all business transacted by the board and by himself as superintendent, secretary or treasurer ; and must publish the minutes of the board meetings in the official journal of the board and must perform all other duties pertaining to the office as secretary of the board, such as preparing all papers and documents pertaining to the holding of elections to vote bond issues, taxes for building school houses and for the maintenance of schools, and all papers pertaining to the issuance and sale of bonds when voted. As treasurer, he must receive and disburse all school funds and must ac- count to the parish board and the state supervisor of public accounts for them. In his capacity of superintendent, he must see that all teachers have the DEPARTMENT OF RurRAL EpucaATION 575 proper certificates; appoint all principals and teachers, subject to the ap- proval of the board, which may by a majority vote of the members present, reject any appointment, and by a majority vote of the entire membership of the board, appoint without the superintendent’s nomination. The super- intendent signs contracts with teachers (the president of the board signs all other contracts). He “‘shall visit as often as possible each school in the parish and shall exert his best endeavors in promoting the cause of public education; shall faithfully carry out the requirements of the state school laws and the rules and regulations made for the schools by the state board of education. While not enumerated in the laws, the duties and responsi- bilities of the parish superintendent are varied and numerous. Some of them are: Appoint and contract with teachers; appoint and contract with transfer drivers and janitors, determining their salaries; keep the school buildings and equipment in repair; purchase and distribute all equipment, fuel, school supplies, laboratory equipment, library books. In other words, he is the business manager for the school board, its secretary and treasurer and the superintendent of the schools, having final authority in cases of dis- cipline. He helps determine the kinds of school buildings to be constructed and has general supervision over their construction, very often not by au- thority directly placed in him, but by the very nature of his position. In practically all cases his authority is under that of the parish board, but since the board does not as a rule have frequent meetings nor for long sessions usually, the board determines upon general policies or plans and then re- lies upon the superintendent for results. Even though this assistance in securing funds (bonds or building taxes) for constructing school buildings and for the maintenance of schools is very necessary, the most valuable service that the superintendent can render is in the selection, appointment, and supervision of the teachers. In Louisiana, as already stated, all teach- ers are appointed by the superintendent subject to the approval of the board and on him must rest that responsibility. In most cases, I presume, the board ratifies his appointments without question and in many instances fails to pass upon the matter at all. In my own parish, Rapides, it is under- stood that the president of the board, the member or members of the board from each ward and the superintendent, compose a committee for the ap- pointment of teachers in the ward concerned so that the board may not need to concern itself as a whole about this matter. ‘The conclusion of this com- mittee concerning an appointment is considered the conclusion of the board. The committee, at least the member or members of the board in the ward in which it is to be made, discuss the appointment of the principal of the most important school, particularly the principal of a high school and oc- casionally it is necessary to discuss the reappointment of a teacher. As a matter of practice, all other appointments are in most cases made by the superintendent without consulting anybody. ‘The responsibility for the proper organization and successful operation of the schools is his and he is rather free and unhampered .in his activities. Much of his authority and responsibility depend upon the confidence he enjoys with his board. 576 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Since the board meets only a few times each year, the superintendent must very often take upon himself full responsibility. In all cases, however, the president is by law his adviser. The practices of the school board and superintendent vary in detail. The tone of this paper, therefore, necessarily conforms in a large measure to the practices and policies followed in Rapides parish, particularly from this point on. Supervision—Supervision of the schools is accomplished along several lines about as follows: 1. Prior to the opening of the schools in September the superintendent holds a conference, usually one evening, with the principals of the twelve large schools of the parish—one high school, four large elementary schools and seven combined high and elementary schools. At this conference the discussions are entirely in- formal, general policies usually being given the greater attention. Since these principals are employed by the calendar year, their programs for the year have already been worked out and approved. But such things as the testing program, admissions, classification, grading, promotions, keeping of records, transfers of pupils, transportation of pupils, making of regular and special reports, modifica- tions of the courses of study, receive attention. "These are conferences, not meet- ings for giving directions, though that feature has its place. II. One day before schools open these same principals and their assistant teachers meet with the superintendent and assistant superintendent to discuss the subjects taught in the several grades of the schools, the methods of teaching, giving and administering tests and measurements, the duties, responsibilities, and authority of the principals, the duties, responsibilities and authority of the teachers. This conference is usually subdivided for a part of the day into two groups (a) high school teachers, (b) elementary grade teachers. Generally one or two study subjects in each group receive special attention. It may be reading or arithmetic, spelling or writing in the group of teachers of elementary grades, and English or mathematics, foreign language or science in the high school group. One or two outside speakers, usually from the state department of education, are perhaps present by invitation, each formally presenting some one or more subjects. The major part of the discussions are as a rule by the teachers, principals and assist- ant superintendent. It is always understood that everybody present is invited to take a liberal part. III. Another day, the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, and probably a representative of the state department of education meet with the teachers of the rural schools. The teacher turnover is greatest in this group, thus necessitat- ing something similar to a reorganization each year. Here more detailed and specific instructions and information must be given. Much detailed information must be given concerning the opening day program; admission, grading, promo- tion, transfer of pupils; keeping of records; making monthly and annual reports; care of school buildings and equipment; building up, use and care of libraries; relations of teachers to pupils, parents, the communities in general; their relations to the superintendent and his assistant. This is the one time that the superintend- ent and the assistant superintendent have to make the teachers feel that when either visits a teacher in his school it is not for the purpose of inspection and adverse criticism, but that all visits are for the purpose of finding what the actual conditions in the school are and to give, if necessary, sympathetic advice and as- sistance. Methods of teaching, of giving and using tests and measurements are discussed. The results of the day are that teachers have a fairly good under- standing of the whole situation and of their duties, responsibilities, rights, and authority. IV. Conferences with the principals of the larger schools are held as occasion demands and time permits throughout the year, sometimes with all of them and DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 577 at other times with groups. Specific situations or conditions receive attention at these conferences. It seems impossible to find time to hold enough of these con- ferences. V. Regional institutes or conferences are held during the year as often as possible. These groups are sometimes of teachers of strictly rural schools; at other times the groups are of elementary teachers of the high-elementary schools, combinations of the two, including the principals, or of high school teachers. At such conferences or institutes a part of the program is formal but there is always opportunity for free discussion. Often a teacher of superior ability is selected to discuss methods of instruction, another to teach a demonstration lesson. Often, however, the teacher selected is young and inexperienced, with not much scholarship, one who knows little of methods. He is thereby required to give considerable work to the preparation of his lesson. He necessarily secures much help, but he likewise gains much in- formation and something of the technic of teaching that will be of value to him during the remainder of the year. Once a teacher actually writes a good lesson plan and teaches a lesson better than ever before, he has more self-confidence and has before him a higher standard of excellence. Some of our teachers who only a few years ago had little scholarship, no experience, and only indistinct ideas of method can and do now do excellent teaching. The regional meetings of small groups of teachers held on Saturday permit teachers to become rather well acquainted with one another, especially since they take their dinners and spend the day. This situation permits an ease and freedom that more formal meetings prohibit. Two or three such meetings are often held during each month of the fall and spring but since there is considerable other work to be done, the schedule is often broken into, especially by other meetings and by holidays during the winter season. It may AG the entire year for enough regional meetings to be held to reach every part of the parish, but during that time some of the teachers have been able to attend more than one meeting. These meetings are held by the assistant superintendent of schools, sometimes visited in the afternoon by the superintendent. This sort of meeting has many advantages, such as freedom of discussion, seeing demonstration lessons, giving demonstration lessons, some- times by teachers outside the group, by the assistant superintendent and occasionally by a state department of education representative. VI. As soon in the fall as the schools are well under way, the principals send to the office copies of all daily schedules. These are checked and filed in a book if satisfactorily made. If not, they are sent back to the teachers with suggestions for improvement and as soon as they are in acceptable form a complete office file is made. ‘These schedules are expected to be posted in all classrooms of the parish and are for the guidance of the visiting superintendent or assistant superintendent who expects to find each teacher following his schedule; also as soon as possible after the opening of the schools the assistant superintendent begins to visit the schools of the parish, particularly the rural schools. He makes the first round of visits as rapidly as possible, staying long enough, however, in each room to form a fairly accurate idea concerning the ability of the teacher to govern his school or room and to do his teaching correctly. Before leaving the school, it is customary to confer with the teacher or teachers about the course of study, the classification of the pupils, the preparation of the teacher, his methods, the arrangement of the daily schedule and any other matters that may be considered vital. It is not customary to try to point out all of the defects in the school at one time, but to help in some way to remedy the most glaring ones, having to do with essentials rather than minor details. In all cases, the visitor to the school, whether the superintendent or the assistant superintendent—generally the latter—makes notes in order that he may make a full report after returning to the office, which report is made in duplicate, the original filed in a book kept for that purpose and a carbon copy sent to the teacher. In the twelve large 578 Nationa Epuca'tion Association schools the principals attend to the classroom supervision, thus permitting the as- sistant superintendent to give practically all of his time to the rural schools. Since it is not possible for one person to visit more than one or two schools in one day, it takes a considerable time, especially considering interruptions, for one person to make a round of all of @he rural schools of the parish. As soon as the first visit is over, however, a second round is undertaken, not necessarily in the order of the first, as it is almost impossible to make and adhere to a schedule of visits. It is necessary to do otherwise, especially since the teachers in seme of the schools are fairly well trained and can be depended upon to follow advice, instructions and suggestions. In other schools the teachers have little scholarship, know very little of methods and therefore need more supervisory attention, ‘The afternoon visits probably prove to be of more value to the teachers since there is more time after school hours for conference. The written report has several distinct values: 1. The teacher has in permanent form a statement of observations, criticisms, suggestions, and advice of the visitor. There is nothing hazy about it. 2. The assistant superintendent, who is the supervisor, does not have to depend upon his memory concerning previous observations. 3. It gives the superintendent an opportunity to keep in touch with the situation throughout the entire parish. Succeeding reports usually show progressive improvement on the part of the teacher. If there is no improvement, the matter may be forcibly called to the attention of the teacher. Every teacher is given a real chance to improve while in service. Suggestions designed to be of assistance to him are given from time to time either orally or in written form, generally in both, the suggestions being given in a spirit of sympathy and cooperation and in this spirit they are usually accepted by the teacher. Circular letters, lesson plans, etc.: suggestions, outlines, information, lesson plans, methods of teaching or study, are used somewhat freely. Some of the lesson plans are written by young teachers after having had some training in service. Most of them are written by older, well trained, and experienced teachers. Credit is always given to the teacher whose outline of lesson plan is used and passed on. Occasionally stenographic reports of lessons taught are made and distributed. “These circular letters, lesson plans, stenographic reports, etc., secured from any source obtainable, are of value to the most of the teachers, particularly those with little scholarship and experience. DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION—HOW ACHIEVED J. W. HUFFINGTON, STATE SUPERVISOR OF COLORED SCHOOLS, BALTIMORE, MD. Administration of schools has to do with securing suitable laws for ad- vancement of a school system, ordering and defining policies which are permitted within legal limits, and securing funds for the effective execu- tion of policies of a system of schools. Our problem for consideration is—How may this inclusive type of administration be realized in a democratic rather than an autocratic way? Democracy in no sense precludes worthwhile leaders whether it per- tains to the several activities of a state, city, nation, or to a system of DEPARTMENT oF RugkAL Epucation 579 schools. According to records, Athens, which is reputed to have been one of the most thoroughly democratic of all nations, did not show contempt for its leaders even though it may have ostracized-one occasionally. Hence, the first requisite for the realization of democratic administration is—a leader as state superintendent (or by whatever official title he may be known), with professional and personal equipment to influence both the law-making and the school levying bodies, that satisfactory school laws may be secured and funds provided for the execution of policies; a leader with judgment to interpret needs as they exist and with vision to shape administrative policies to meet these needs; a leader with sufficient courage to fight for his policies, if combat be a necessity, in order to safeguard or to execute them; a leader with tact and a readiness to employ diplomacy when an administrative end will be served without the violation of any principle, in short, a real leader. Democracy in administration, I think, awaits such an official. Second—Given the leader, he should have the authority to nominate for election all members of the state department of education. In this department there will be, of course, his professional assistants who serve as supervisors or directors, as the case may be of respective divisions of work, high schools, elementary schools negro schools, compulsory attendance, special subjects, etc. “The necessity for this would seem to be obvious. It is a physical impossibility for any leader to direct in person every phase of his administration, hence he must depend somewhat on his professional assistants. “The qualification, the industry, the loyalty, of these will de- termine very largely the success or failure of the superintendent’s policies. As he is charged with leadership, he should be obliged to have no one in his department who will fail to follow in every detail his leadership. T hird—While the state superintendent is charged with initiating policies, he can beget democracy in his own department by requesting every super- visor or director of a division of work to submit for discussion of the entire department what objectives seem worthwhile to be undertaken during a specific period. ‘These may be modified, but none of them should be dis- carded unless the group led by the superintendent should decide them to be unattainable or impracticable for the time at hand. The effect of this scheme is that every member of the department realizes that when he works during a period he is not making an effort to realize just anybody’s, or even the department’s objectives, but his own objectives; and if he has any ambition at all to have his work honestly ap- praised, he will do his best to bring his undertakings to a successful con- clusion. Fourth—While the state superintendent may have certain prescribed au- thority throughout the state, yet democratic administration will be fur- thered if he never insists that his policy shall be the state’s policy, regardless. There are the heads of smaller units in the state as county superintendents, superintendents of a town, a township, or small city. ‘These officials should be summoned for conference once or twice a year. ‘They should be requested to suggest policies for discussion, salary scale, provisions for 580 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION supervision as such, bases for certification, etc. Such items that affect the system of an entire commonwealth should be mulled over by such a group before being put forward either for legislative enactment or for execution in the several subdivisions of a state’s system, for then they represent the policy of the entire group and not the policy of one individual only. Furthermore, such a procedure prevents any official of the system from apologizing for the policy with respect to his individual unit of administra- tion and charging up to the discredit of the state department every policy which may not be well understood and perhaps unpopular in his particular section. Fifth—Every member of the state department of education should do a similar thing with those officials in the several units of the state with whom he works. ‘To be specific—The high school supervisors should have frequent conferences with principals of high schools on administrative matters pertaining to their institutions. “The supervisors of elementary schools should have group conferences of county supervisors at which the group, not the state supervisor, sets up goals to be attained within a definite period and procedures mapped out for the realization of the objectives. From time to time, there should be conferences for checking progress or lack of it. The supervisor of colored schools should do some- thing of the same kind with the county supervisors with whom he works. The director of compulsory attendance should summon the county attend- ance officers for conference at which ways and means are devised for a more-and-more effective enforcement of a state compulsory attendance law. Such a procedure as described above places the responsibility for the carrying out of policies upon all of a group engaged in the particular line of work. Members of the group have a personal, as well as a professional obligation to put over policies because they have had a share in formulating them. Sixth—Visits to the several units of a state by members of the state de- partment should rarely be made for inspectional purposes only but should be made with the primary purpose of extending aid to the county author- ities in putting over policies whether they be purely administrative or purely supervisory. Visits made in a helpful and advisory spirit will never be resented, but will be welcomed by the county officials. If made in a dictatorial, fault-finding spirit, this phase of administration is autocratic, not democratic, and too soon the several units of a state system will begin to murmur about lack of democracy on the part of the state department of education. Seventh—One important piece of administrative work is the getting of school laws enacted to serve as a safeguard for policies. In addition, administration is concerned with securing money with which these policies, buttressed by statute, may be made dynamic. The legislative, as well as the tax-levying body, is amenable to public opinion. ‘Then, it would seem that the spirit of democracy may be realized in this regard by administration when it arouses masses of people in favor of a particular bill which has to do with school legislation or a levy suffi- ¢ DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EpuUCcATION 581 cient to care for the needs of schools. This attitude of the masses, trans- lated into action, becomes as public opinion a potent influence with both the legislative and the tax-levying body. The non-democratic procedure would be for administrative officials to say—“This thing is needed. We must have it. The people do not know what they need, etc.” Some of the means at our disposal for reaching masses of people are parent-teacher association, closing exercises and commencements of schools, farmers’ picnics, the grange, women’s clubs, chambers of commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions’ clubs. ‘These may be employed as an aid in realizing democracy in this phase of administration. May I conclude by saying that such procedures as I have described are those which are carried out by the state department of education of Mary- land, which has the good fortune of having at its head a real leader, in the person of its State Superintendent of Schools. One with a vision, one who does not hesitate to confer with and request policies from his own staft as well as from the heads of the several units in the state, one who holds himself primarily responsible for the. execution of all policies after they have been agreed upon. And further, the state is fortunate in having a thoroughly professional group of county superintendents, county supervis- ors—white and colored—who respond with the finest sort of spirit to the type of democratic leadership as practiced by the state superintendent. DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION OF SCHOOLS—HOW IT MAY BE REALIZED A. R. HALL, MEMBER OF CONGRESS, ELEVENTH DISTRICT, INDIANAPOLIS, IND. I was told that I was to be one of three to discuss this subject. I am supposed to be from the outside, yet my coming from the outside has been so recent it is impossible not to have an inside viewpoint. In discussing a democratic school administration, it is necessary to place a limit on the field which opens for our consideration. ‘The word “demo- cratic,” I feel, has been somewhat overworked recently. It has come to be looked upon as an end to be sought, when in reality it should be considered a means to an end. In the political world, we say all powers spring from the people and this is correct. It is when the same principle is applied to other organizations that trouble arises. Democracy implies self-govern- ment and self-government is only possible when the individuals which com- pose the government have reached a standard where intelligent cooperation is possible; where they submit peaceably their own interests to the will of the majority. To do this, selfish interests and little interests must give way to the larger. To state it differently, law which represents the majority will, is supreme to the will of the individual. That community organiza- tion, individual, or nation has reached the state where a democratic gov- ernment is possible when individual rights gives way to universal rights. 582 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION We have some interesting illustrations just now of governments failing in the supreme crisis. ‘The capacity of different nations for self-government is being tested. The test is coming in their capacity to meet a great moral or economic crisis. Today we see self-government failing in Europe with a dictator directing the governments of Spain, Italy, and Greece ; and almost daily we are expecting a like fate to befall the great nation of France. Our own capacity is being tested in the present discussion and the enforce- ment of the 18th Amendment. ; With this idea of democracy before us, I am constrained to the opinion that in the school democracy is an impossibility. ‘There is in the subject under discussion “How to Make Our Schools Efficient,’ an implied fault that today our schools are not efficient. This statement I would challenge ; further, “Yet Keep Them Democratic,” implies democratic administration is desirable and that we now have it, or else why attempt to keep it? It would appear that we have a democratic administration and that our schools are not efficient. This would lead us to believe that democracy is not conducive to efficiency, which is more nearly the truth. Therefore, what I have to say to you would be more along the line of proper results in a system which is a benevolent despotism—where the in-. dividuals comprising the organization have in mind not suppression of in- dividuals, but development. There are certain evils which every organization must face. In passing through a manufacturing plant where the buildings are good, machinery in place, order prevails and everything appears busy, one may expect that the business is prosperous. If, however, the true standing is to be found, we must look beneath the outside; within the books we must see the cost of the product, overhead expenses, the sales, and the profits. If we observe a school system, we may check over uptodate buildings and they are good; we may delve into intricate masses of statistics that may be good; a large percent of the faculty have college degrees and it is well; the organization runs smoothly; reports are on time and that is all fine. But we can have all this and yet not have efficiency. A small executive can gather statistics, read reports, maintain order, but it takes more to go beyond the system and permit the human element to express itself. Nature abhors uniformity in organized being. The scientist tells us that no two blades of grass are alike, that no two ears of corn are identical, that no two hairs upon our head are alike in every particular and, certainly, no human beings conform in every particular. Then in maintaining our organization, we must not expect conformity in every particular, but allow individuality to express itself. Much rests upon the type of the executive. He must clearly understand the purposes of school and school organization. He must be very much human to see beyond the records, forms, and standards and there find the child. Now in the relationship between the administrating power and the DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 583 teacher, he must allow that freedom of expression to the teacher for proper administration of the school. There is another quality which the successful administrator must possess. He must realize that the system does not exist for himself. Someone has said that if you would get along with people, get interested in their prob- lems, rather than trying to interest them in your problems. So the suc- cessful administrator who would maintain a democratic administration must interest himself in the human interests of the teachers of the community and the children. It has been my experience, also, that one of the greatest reasons for the development of the dictorial school system where the in- cividuality of the teacher has been subverted and all the initiative is de- stroyed has come from false standards in qualifications; namely, license, credits, and degrees. I say they are faults for the reason that no amount of training in itself can develop a true teacher; nor can all the degrees from the universities in themselves create a successful administrator. But so long as we have incapable or low standard hiring officials, false standards for teachers’ qualifications must continue. In my early experience as a teacher, soon after my graduation from col- lege, it was my belief that if one made himself successful that that would be the best argument for being hired to a better position. I have since re- vised those early idealistic views, revised them because of practical experi- ence. I learned that if an individual hired himself to the average school official, the thing that counts is not ability, but degrees. A school man has something for sale. It may be genuine ability of a high order, but if it is not wrapped in a beautiful package with tinsel cord, it will remain upon the shelf; dust will settle upon it, while an inferior brand of goods properly decorated will become the best seller. My solution to the problem involved of maintaining efficiency and democ- racy in the school is to eradicate false standards of qualifications and sub- stitute the human element; raise the standard of hiring officials to the place where they know the qualifications a teacher should possess; find that administrator who is big enough and human enough to see beyond system, cost and teacher, the child. THE STATE AND THE RURAL SCHOOL JOHN H. LOGAN, STATE COMMISSION OF EDUCATION, TRENTON, N. J. The first and most important problem in connection with the state’s re- lation to the rural schools is that of securing teachers. The state must train the ablest and best of its youth which can be brought into the teaching profession. To this end it should be tireless in the activity of persuading citizens that every classroom in city, town, and rural community should have a well trained teacher. Every teacher should have at least two years in the normal school, or the equivalent of this, in addition to four years of standard high school work. This should be the rule. Of course, here and 584 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION there is to be found an excellent teacher who has never been inside of a normal school or a college. A few good military leaders never attended a training school, but they are the exception. 4 This makes it necessary for the state to supply sufficient normal school facilities and to see to it that the normal schools are performing their function. While it is within the authority of the state to prescribe the qualifications for certification, it is not yet practically possible to secure for all the schools teachers who meet the requirements that are desired. Some teachers still have to be employed who have had much less than two years of normal training. In New Jersey we admit to the profession a limited number who have had only one summer-school session of special training. “They receive a limited license which may be made permanent after experience and further training. We are fully aware of how bad this practice is and steps are being taken to require in the very near future at least twice the training now required for beginners. It is our hope that by 1930, no one can begin teaching in New Jersey with less than two years of normal-school training following four years of high school work. Such a rule is now being con- sidered by the state board of examiners and it seems probable that a rule to that effect would successfully function. It is our plan to make an extensive survey of teacher training and teacher needs of the state during this school year, and if the study will justify a rule to the effect of requiring normal school graduation for entrance to the profession by 1930, I shall strongly urge its adoption. It is clearly the duty of the state to cooperate with the poorer and less attractive communities in working out a plan that will attract normal grad- uates to these places and keep them there until they have had time to ac- complish something. Better housing, with attractive surroundings, and a better scale of pay would help to solve the problem. Why shouldn’t the rural school have as good a teacher as the city or the private school? Is it less important to educate the country boys and girls? Have city children more brains and more character than rural children? The greatest obstacles to improvement in rural conditions are the natural conservatism of the population and the absence of wealth. In many places the people cannot understand why their local girls who have a little learn- ing, but practically no training, should not teach in the local school. In some cases they are downright obstinate on this point. When one of these girls has the ambition—and the other essentials—to go to the normal school for two years or longer, she can seldom be persuaded to return to the rural community to work. She can get better pay in the town or city, where there are better opportunities. Of course, we cannot blame her. It is a “job” with her and she seeks the best job to which her training will ad- mit her. The rural school has to get along without her. It is true that there are many normal graduates without employment, but they do not always seek employment where they are most needed. DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EpUCATION 585 The outstanding and principal fact is that, notwithstanding state aid of one sort or another, the rural community has far inferior educational op- portunities to those of the towns and cities and there is no way to cure this except by a large amount of financial assistance. Everything else is merely making the best of a situation which no one seems to be willing to cure in the only way in which it can be cured. The rich community pays for and gets very much that cannot be had in the rural place. I am not thinking so much of the one-room school, which under favorable conditions has com- pensations ; nor of the relatively poorer type of building, for a good school can be conducted in a comparatively inexpensive building. We could have as good schools in the country district as there are in the city, if we had any way of paying for them. And they need not cost nearly so much as they cost in the city. I am a believer in the rural school, in the learning and the inspiration the children get. There is no excuse for the great difference which too often exists between the rural school and the city school. One of the things I would like to see is more men in the rural schools. Not that there are too many men in the city elementary schools, but it is worse in the country district. “The number of women teachers as compared with the number of men teachers is a real and increasing peril, it seems to me. ‘There seems to be no natural reason why only girls can be secured to do this big and important work. I believe in the masculine hand and the masculine mind in the elementary school. All of us are grateful to the women who taught us in childhood, but some of us are also grateful that we had some men for our teachers. If I were a member of a rural school board I would insist upon having a male teacher now and then. I would even offer special inducements in order to get a man. In New Jersey, we are trying to attract men to the normal schools. All of our normal schools have a few men and this fall one school will have nearly a hundred men. In New Jersey we require at present about 2200 new teachers every year for our elementary schools. ‘The normal schools of the state give us about 1200 graduates and we get about 500 or 600 teachers from neighbor- ing states. This leaves about 500 teachers entering the profession without complete normal training. Nevertheless, I believe the demand could be met with normal graduates if conditions were as they should be and can be made to be. There are about 1500 teachers—some 8 percent of the elementary teachers of the state—under the supervision of helping teachers, who are appointed by the commissioner of education and who work in close coopera- tion with the county superintendents and with the assistant commissioner for elementary education. These helping teachers are capable and ex- perienced supervisors, and consequently it is very fortunate that 70 percent of the teachers, who enter the service with the minimum special training, work under their supervision, Every rural school in New Jersey which 586 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION does not have its own supervising principal is under the direction of a helping teacher. : There are thirty-six of these helping teachers in eighteen of the twenty- one counties of the state. They vary from one to four in each county, according to the rural school population. The state allows $500 per year for traveling expenses, enabling the helping teachers to devote the major part of their time to actual classroom supervision. They have salaries ranging from $2000 to $2850, with an allowance of $500 for expenses. The average pay during the present year is $2700, but most of them receive $2850, and we have set the maximum at $3000 for the present. _ This system has done much to improve rural education in New Jersey and to raise the actual standard of work done in rural schools. With all of the various administrative duties which devolve upon the county super- intendent, it is obvious that that officer would do very little actual super- vising. The helping teachers bring to the schools the point of view of people who are thoroughly acquainted with rural school conditions. All of them have had excellent training and have taught in rural schools them- selves. Their program of supervision is carried on by means of classroom visitation, demonstrations, organization, and promotion of club work, group and individual conferences, administration of intelligence and accomplish- ment tests, adaptation of the course of study, and so on. What makes their task particularly difficult is the amount of time which has to be given to the initial training of the inexperienced, untrained be- ginners. [hese beginners come to the rural schools having had only one summer of state summer school work. ‘The helping teachers must take them and attempt to train them in a knowledge of the course of study and in desirable technics and attitudes. Sometimes 50 percent of a helping teacher’s staff are new to the work. “Then in a year or two, as soon as these teachers acquire some ability, they go to larger schools or resign, and the helping teacher has his work to do over again. The complex organization of present-day schools and the demands of society for an efficient output has made it imperative to provide supervision and leadership for the classroom teacher. It should be apparent that this kind of activity is more necessary in the rural schools, where teachers are not trained, than for city schools, where on the whole, teachers have received adequate training. It is usually impossible for rural communities to provide supervision because of the financial difficulties involved. The state should, therefore, assume this responsibility and provide adequate supervision for the teachers in the rural schools of the state, in order to bring these schools up to proper level and to equalize to some-extent the educational opportunities of the children in the rural and city districts. ___ As special state aid to the rural counties our law provides that 10 percent, less certain deductions, which amount to about 1.5 percent of the thirteen million dollar state school tax, shall be apportioned among the counties in the discretion of the state Board of Education. This means that over DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EpUCATION 587 one million dollars is placed in the hands of the state Board of Education to be used for the equalization of educational opportunity in the state. Ten of the twenty-one counties in New Jersey were assisted last year with varying amounts, in accordance with their respective needs, to the extent of nearly one half million dollars. One percent of the total state school tax, or one tenth of the reserve fund, amounting to about $135,000, is placed in the hands of the Commissioner of Education who may apportion it direct to the districts which have low ratables in proportion to their school needs. This emergency fund was created by the legislature for the relief of a few very needy districts, and, so far, it has not found any extensive use, most of it going back into the reserve fund of 10 percent of the school tax, because not apportioned by the commissioner. We are trying to work out a plan by which the entire amount may be used, but on condition that certain improvements in teaching and teaching equipment be made by dis- tricts receiving assistance. Rural high schools—Under the plan of consolidation provided in our school code two or more districts may combine in order to provide better schools than single districts can afford. Consolidation is practicable in sparsely populated sections where large areas provide a sufficient number of children to make a satisfactory school. We are not committed to consolidation as necessary in all cases for good schools, but much consolida- tion has been made. In one county in the central part of the state where there were fifty-five one-room rural schools less than ten years ago, there are now only two. Consolidation has not gone nearly so far in other parts of the state, but each year the number of one-room schools decreases. Consolidation is not sufficiently inclusive to make districts large enough to support a high school, and the consolidation plan of the state is of no direct aid to secondary education. “The law authorizes two or more dis- tricts to appoint a board composed of members selected from the district boards, to provide a central high school. However, practical or imaginary difficulties are always in the way, so that no use has been made of this power and we have no rural consolidated high schools. Districts which cannot support a high school send their pupils to a neighboring high school, paying tuition, which usually does not exceed the cost of the service. Since the district having the high school generally has more ratables than the districts which do not have high schools, and since-a district maintaining a high school receives subsidies and attendance allowances from the state, the sending districts have to be reimbursed for a portion of the tuition charges. To meet this necessity, the county pays out of moneys apportioned by the state $40 towards the tuition of each pupil transported to another district and in addition three fourths of the cost of transportation. ‘The state department of public instruction, through its approval function, insists that pupils be transported to neighboring high schools where this is feasible, instead of being kept in small and inefficient district high schools. The result of this policy is seen from the following table: 588 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOLS ON A SCALE OF ENROLMENT Enrolment Number of Schools 4000-5000 1 3000-4000 1 2000-3000 5 1000-2000 13 900-1000 2 800-900 3 700-800 10 600-700 3 500-600 4 400-500 14 300-400 ily 200-300 23 100-200 ; 32)0(4 ryan: cml (3 kya) (2 hyra) 0-100 13,; (4 ,y2.) 16) (3eyz.) b4aC@eyr)) eae yrs) Total 1S Sig Fifty percent of the high school pupils of New Jersey are enroled in schools of over 1000 pupils each. Only 7 percent of the high school pupils of New Jersey are in schools having under 200 in attendance. Only 1 percent of the pupils are enroled in schools below 100 pupils, and that percent is too large. THE COUNTY AND THE RURAL SCHOOL JOHN C. LOCKHART, SUPERINTENDENT WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS, RALEIGH, N. C. Any program of education for country boys and girls is inadequate which does not provide for them opportunities approximately equal to those pro- vided for city children. Certain conditions in the cities and towns have been favorable to the development of school systems which offer advantages superior to those which the rural schools provide. “These superior advantages are due to: (1) larger schools which favor specialization on the part of teachers; (2) longer school terms; (3) better prepared teachers; (4) better buildings and equipment; (5) more adequate financial support. In order to improve the opportunities offered rural children it is necessary that these factors be made the bases of the plan for improvement. How can this be done? The answer is to be found in making the county the unit of support and organization. For example, the question of how large an area is to be served by one school must be answered, not in terms of district lines estab- lished a quarter or half century ago, but in terms of the needs of boys and girls of today. The school unit must be large enough to provide the con- ditions which have made possible the development of adequate city schools. Such school units can be provided for most advantageously by a county- wide plan of school organization and consolidation as distinguished from the small district type of organization. DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EpucATION ; 589 The responsibility for working out and putting into effect a county- wide plan of school organization should rest with the county board of edu- cation in the same way that the responsibility of organizing. city schools rests with city boards of education. ‘This is the principle underlying the reorganization of the schools of Wake county. In short, it is our purpose to put into effect a county-wide plan which will give to the rural boys and girls modern educational advantages under modern conditions. THE TEACHERS COLLEGE AND THE RURAL SCHOOL EUGENE FAIR, PRESIDENT, NORTHEASTERN MISSOURI STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, KIRKSVILLE, MO. If any of the education institutions of the United States have ‘“‘a charge to keep” in relation to rural schools it is the teachers college. “Teachers colleges have realized that they have such a charge and have sympathet- ically, in most cases, tried to work out the problem. In the enthusiasm of working out a problem and doing it as quickly as possible errors have been made, but some very definite things have been found out. ‘These findings should be known and made use of by all the teachers colleges. It may not be amiss to point out the more important of these findings. In the first place, there must be a thorough going acquaintanceship with people as individuals and communities. One of the best illustrations is seen in the work of the state teachers college at Hays, Kansas, under the presidency of W. A. Lewis and the leadership in rural education of C. E. Rarick. Mr. Rarick’s time is largely free from classroom responsibilities on the campus. He takes time to know not only the school board members and teachers in the communities where he is working, but the influential citizens. He knows them in a way that one good neighbor knows another. He is careful to waive aside his personal conveniences and minister to his people at any time when they feel themselves in need of him. This close acquaintanceship has led inevitably to a sympathetic under- standing of each other. People of the community seek, care for, and pay attention to the rural leader in especially the varied school activities of the community. “lo meet the exacting demands upon him he must not only be a man of very wide information but he must be able to apply it to a given situation. It may be that the rural leader desires consolidation in a given community with all his heart and that he knows that there are votes enough to put it over, but he may also observe that the result of such a vote would be a divided community for a long time to come. Hence, his advice will be against consolidation for the time being, at least. Such ad- vice is a fair illustration of a sympathetic understanding between the teachers college and the rural school. Acquaintanceship and understanding naturally open up an opportunity for leadership on the part of the teachers colleges. Few, if any, would dispute the unquestioned good which the teachers colleges are doing in 590 NatioNAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION this matter and the good which is being done for them. It was my pleasure to take a trip into the field recently with a rural school leader. He was asked to advise and help people on almost every conceivable matter. He was in fact in a similar position to one of our ministers abroad. You could see, however, that such contacts were the very breath of life to him per- sonally and also the real, substantial background for his class work on the campus. Another rapidly developing rural leader has told me that his work in rural schools, which is that of a cooperating teacher, has caused him to reorganize entirely his courses in rural education. Before his contacts in the field, his class work was dry and insipid, now it is living and to his generalizations are attached concrete experiences which stir the imagina- tions of the students and cause them to wish to help better rural conditions. Just now, too, there is no more important aspect of this leadership than that of heartening the rural communities and getting each one of them to have a firm belief in its capacity to have as good a school as any other. An “inferiority complex” is present in many rural communities who could do much more to help themselves than they are. Such communities need to turn their eyes toward the wonderful possibilities in boys and girls and to cultivate more dignity and self-respect. Another thing found out is that, taking the United States as a whole, there must be in rural communities a larger unit for taxation and admin- istration. Most of the one room rural schools should within a few years be- come a thing of the past. Hence, most of the constructive efforts of the teachers colleges in rural communities should be in connection with con- solidated school plants. Taking this position does not gainsay the fine influence which such schools as Porter rural school has been and will be. So long as we have the one room rural school, Porter and others may be used as models. ‘Then again the spirit which such schools have engendered should be of untold value in the development of consolidated schools. Every teachers college should have at least one faculty member who understands thoroughly the history of rural education in the United States and who knows even more thoroughly, if possible, all phases of rural consolidated schools. If the college can bear the expense, it would be well to have this faculty member engaged primarily in research work. His knowledge of the people the college serves should be intimate and far reaching. It is equally important to have a faculty member who can interpret this information to the people. They need to be told in press, pulpit, individually, what is the best thing to do in a given community. ‘ Furthermore, the teachers colleges have found that their work for rural schools is largely judged and should be by their products—the teachers who are sent into the rural communities—hence the need for a definite curric- ulum in the college for the rural teacher—one of scope, power, and dignity and one which cultivates versatility and resourcefulness; hence the need, too, to follow up the teachers sent out, cooperating with them, supervising them, and possibly above all, to keep going a pervading enthusiasm for and belief in rural people and their boys and girls. DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EpuUCATION 591 It has also been definitely found out that each teachers college whose constituency is largely rural, must have enough laboratory schools to rep- resent every typical phase of rural school work in the district or state which the college is serving. In other words, the college should demonstrate its spoken words so that all who come may see and learn. In these schools also experimentation and constant research should be going on. Teachers colleges are finding out rather clearly that the improvement of teaching everywhere and especially in the rural schools is bottomed on the personal equation, so personal in fact that each college may have an ex- cellent curriculum, expert research workers as teachers, very good dem- onstration schools, and still lack something which keeps each teacher in an attitude of desiring to do something just because he liked to do and not because he is duty bound. ‘The cooperating library work is a good example of an undertaking to reach the personal equation. One reads a book not for credit, but because it makes one joyous. Joyousness becomes infectious. With the above mentioned things found out and other information which will come, the teachers college and the rural schools may well press forward together in enthusiasm and good will. All that is done and will be done belongs to enthusiasm and good will because it belongs to youth. HOW MAY RURAL EDUCATION MEET AMERICA’S CHALLENGE TO HER TEACHERS? NANCY GRACE WRIGHT, WEST RIDGE SCHOOL, HIGHLAND PARK, ILL. A big question and one worthy of our most careful thought and con- sideration before attempting to answer. The greatest obstacle to any constructive progress in the rural school, is often due to the teacher’s attitude. If the position is accepted, not as a matter of choice, but merely as a lead to something better, there is likely to be that feeling of martyrdom, which will unconsciously react detrimentally in the daily work. If we are to be truly successful, our concern need not be about what particular position we hold, but rather about what we are doing in that particular position. Consequently, the greatest requisite is that the teacher believes not only in himself, but in his work. Many disadvantages are cited when rural school work is mentioned, but no place in the educational field of labor holds such wonderful op- portunities of getting the influence of the school into the home. ‘Guide the home and you guide the nation, for America is built around the family and the home.” Therefore, if we as rural teachers, are willing to forget self in generous enthusiasm; to believe that our school can be the best school; our com- munity the best community and to grasp every honorable opportunity to bring to our boys and girls experiences which shall produce for them sound bodies, clear minds, happy spirits, and worthy characters, surely rural education will meet America’s challenge to her teachers. 592 NatIonaL EpucaATIon ASSOCIATION A PRINCIPAL OF A CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL ANSWERS AMERICA’S CHALLENGE TO HER TEACHERS FLOYD C. FRETZ, SUPERVISING PRINCIPAL, UNIONVILLE JOINT CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL, UNIONVILLE, PA. Schools everywhere throughout this broad land of ours are charged with a definite responsibility, a sacred trust, which is the same in principle whether it be in the great metropolitan centers maintaining their large school buildings magnificently equipped or in the sparsely settled regions with their one-teacher schools supported by a very minimum amount of equipment. This responsibility is, as I see it, the challenge America makes to her teachers. Every citizen regardless as to where he may live has a right to expect that the school to which he is compelled to send his child will first of all develop within him power to deal effectively with social problems and, secondly, that he may be prepared for whatever vocational work his temperament and mentality will permit him to follow. “It is true that different schools must and do approach this problem in different ways. “This morning we are therefore privileged to consider for a time how certain types of rural schools and organizations are handling this problem as it presents itself to them in the form of a challenge. For my part I represent a joint consolidated and vocational school situ- ated in the center of four townships, or school districts, out in the open country, without a town of any size within its borders, strictly an agri- cultural community. “This community is dominated by the Friends, some- time known as Quakers, and always has been extremely conservative in all of its dealings. Prior to consolidation three years ago these districts maintained eighteen one-room, one two-room, and one four-room schools, nearly all of which were in a dilapidated condition. High-school facilities were available only to those who could afford to transport themselves to the nearest urban school. Finally these schools were closed and all children, both high and elementary, are now transported by busses owned and operated by the districts to the one central school. Here the first four grades are classified according to ability and are handled by teachers doing straight grade work. ‘The fifth and sixth grades form a separate unit with all work completely departmentalized. The high school then is of six years’ duration, a junior senior high school, with no breaking off point or line of demarcation anywhere between seventh and twelfth grades. In addition to this we have a vocational high school whereby all boys in grades 9 and 10 must spend half of each day on agricultural and other related work, while the girls in the same grades must spend a similar amount of time in home-making. In grades 11 and 12 an advanced course is offered in both departments for those who wish to elect it. Thereby we feel that we are meeting one phase of our challenge, in that all girls, many of whom sooner or later will become home makers, are given valuable instruction that will be of paramount importance to them when the time comes to exercise it. “The boys who expect to discontinue their scholastic DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 593 training at the end of their high school career and begin their life’s ac- tivity on the farm are definitely prepared for such work. In addi- tion to these activities, however, we offer sufficient academic work so that pupils capable of doing college and other advanced work are enabled to enter such institutions without exams or conditions. I have given you this brief outline of our school in order to impress upon you the fact that ours is a rural school dealing with typical rural chil- dren, and may I digress long enough to say that I believe that rural children should receive their elementary and high school education in the country where they are taught by teachers who understand and are in sympathy with rural life, rather than by compelling them, as is most frequently the case, to go to the more populous centers at a considerable expense and inconvenience to themselves to complete their secondary education where they are a minority group in a school that is organized for a group of children differing from them socially, psychologically, and tempera- mentally. In the remaining portion of time allotted to me I shall outline for you, hastily and very briefly, a few of the things we are doing for our boys and girls in addition to the regular content work we find in all schools. In order that I may not be misunderstood let me say that I am not at all lukewarm on content subjects and the value of the same, but believe that the first challenge every school must meet is to see to it that more rather than less emphasis is placed on the content subjects. When we come to discuss these extra-curricular activities, I am thinking about some- thing in addition to rather than in place of the regular routine work of the school. These activities as I see them mark the differentiation be- tween the school of yesterday where the 3 R’s were paramount and the school of today which should train boys and girls to live in a democracy by living in a democracy. This, my friends, is the first premise of such activities. "The second premise I should like to establish is the fact that nearly all extra-curricular activities should grow out of curricular ac- tivities and should return to enrich them. With these two thoughts in mind let us look at a few of these activities. Music—We have employed as one of the members of our faculty a young man who is capable of teaching not only vocal but also instrumental music as well. I have believed for a long time that it is just as important to teach a child to sing providing that is possible, and, if he desires it, how to play some musical instrument, as it is to teach him Latin, algebra, and many other content subjects of the high school. Two years ago we de- cided to try out this scheme of music in our school; remembering that our community is a Quaker conservative one, however, we put the proposition up to the students, that we would give them absolutely free of charge class instruction in any orchestral or band instrument they would select providing they would procure their own instrument and would spend a reasonable amount of time in practice at home. Nearly 100 boys and girls expressed a desire immediately for this work but when they realized 594 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION the price of the instrument and talked it over with their parents, many of whom said “It can’t be done,” it -finally narrowed down to about 30 boys and girls who ‘appeared with their instruments ready to take up this work which for them was entirely new. You of course appreciate the fact that in urban schools many boys and girls have had private instruc- tion in music, but here such training was practically negligible. I haven’t time to relate the progress made by these people except to say that before the year was out they had taken part in several entertainments much to the surprise and pleasure of the patrons of the school. ‘This year our instrumental classes doubled in size so that at the end of the year we had an orchestra and a band numbering over 60 pieces. Is it successful and worthwhile? Are we meeting America’s challenge in this regard? My answer would be, ask any patron of our school and suggest that we do away with it. A second element of our program that we are stressing is the matter of health. We believe we cannot have a healthy mind without a healthy body. We begin our consideration of this problem in the first grade and carry it through the high school. ‘This year we made out our own course particularly adapted to our own requirements. ‘This course has the fol- lowing aims and objectives: . Aim: To cause such desirable changes in the habits, attitudes, and knowledge of the children that they conserve and improve their own health. Objectives: 1. To establish habits of right living. 2. To maintain at all times a clean school environment. 3. To develop habits of wholesome recreation. 4. To cultivate enjoyment of physical health, satisfaction in the develop- ment of right personal habits, and a sense of responsibility for helping keep others well. In addition to our program of hygiene we are also stressing physical education. Each teacher in the elementary school, both morning and af- ternoon, raises all windows for a few minutes and has a form of calis- thenics suited to the particular grade. At recess time teachers all go to the play ground and supervise the play activities. Every child is required to take part in these activities unless for some reason his health will not warrant it. Another problem I shall touch briefly, is the matter of guidance. When one realizes how many mistakes are made by boys and girls in selecting their high school electives, and how many a little later drift into the vocations they are to follow with little realization whether they are fitted for such a vocation and what its future prospects are, then we can realize that a community has a right to challenge us to see to it that such infor- mation which is readily available is placed at the disposal of their children. In our school every boy and girl in the seventh and eighth grades are given such courses in educational and vocational guidance. These courses are intended to help these children make their proper selections in high school and to think about the vocation they will follow later in life. DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 595 There is, however, no choice or selection made at this time. In addition to this we secure during the high school career of each pupil definite infor- mation regarding himself, as to his habits, aptitudes, abilities, etc. This information is secured from the child himself, from his parents, and from his teachers. We then plan to consult with each child during his senior year, or earlier if required, to help him decide upon his proper vocation. This counciling will be done and conclusions arrived at through the above- mentioned information, his standing in school, and the results of the various tests that he may have taken. The next activity that I should like to mention is that of clubs. There is one fact we have to face and that is that boys and girls will form clubs whether we want them to or not. Many of us can recall certain clubs we belonged to while in school whether we called them by that name or not. ‘These clubs were unsupervised except for the natural leader of the group. If he stood for good, his club did likewise, but if he was interested in destruction or other things not so good his club was like- wise. “Today, however, realizing these facts, our community says to us: “Since these boys will form clubs whether we want them to or not, the only plausible solution is to replace the old gang by a modern supervised club such as the boy scout organization.” This we have done in our school. We employ a teacher for 12 months in the year with the un- derstanding that he will spend practically half of his time on scouting both during the regular school day, during the evening or Saturday, and dur- ing the summer vacation. ‘There is, as I see it, no club more important to stimulate proper attitudes among boys than a carefully planned scout program. Merely to read the oath tells in a way what it stands for: “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my Country and to obey the scout law; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight; to help other people at all times.” If these facts are as true in your community as they are in mine, then I believe America again has the right to challenge us to see to it that some program is worked out through the schools for this improvement. The various other clubs we have assist more in the way of providing means a little later for caring for leisure time. Few boys and girls, men and women go astray during their working hours or their sleeping hours ; the time most serious is that when they haven’t anything definite to do, commonly known as leisure time. Very few of us can refer back to our school days and find a solitary incident that prepared us for this important part of each day we have at our disposal. I am, however, thoroughly convinced that America has a right to demand of us that somewhere through our influence a better, more profitable and more wholesome leisure time may be at the disposal of the next generation. Student participation in government is a part of the school that I shall have time to merely mention. First of all let me say that the hardest way to manage a school is through student participation, but in spite of the fact that it is harder to handle, it gets results in a democratic manner 596 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION and at the same time has an educational effect on the pupils participating. If we are training boys and girls to live in a democracy, then why shouldn't their school life be a democracy? A feature of school work, especially rural school work, generally neglected is that pertaining to publicity, whether it be through the press or better still through the schools’ publications, the newspaper and the magazine. Every community has a right to know what is being done at school and why certain things are done. Furthermore, it is to the advantage of the school to have this information circulated throughout the community, because when parents learn of actual conditions and how best to remedy them, generally speaking, they are willing to go more than half way in improving them. The last activity that I shall have time to mention briefly is that of the home room. When a child enters the high school he has just left an organization where one teacher has been more or less interested in him and the work he has accomplished. He then enters this larger organization with every teacher interested in him in as far as his own subject is concerned, but no one definitely interested or apparently so in all of his activities of the school. The home room is the one organization that fills this gap. In our school they meet daily for a 10-minute period and then once a week for a full period where a definite program is put across. The teacher remains in the background but is ever ready with a guiding hand to help the progress of the meeting. Programs were posted in each home room and from these as suggestions the weekly discussions were drawn. In conclusion let me say that all of the above activities we are at- tempting to carry out in our own school at Unionville. We do this because we believe that in addition to the reasons given before it is the duty of the school to teach the child to do better the desirable things he will do anyway. AMERICA’S CHALLENGE TO. HER TEAGHER SUPERVISOR OF RURAL SCHOOLS ANSWERS A CORA PEARSON, SUPERVISOR OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MONTGOMERY, ALA. For supervision to be worthwhile it must include both ideals and activities. In other words, the supervisor must have dreams and visions and at the same time must be able to help them come true. In_ his ideals are involved the growth of teachers, a high level of attainment on the part of the children, an effective and broadened organization of subject-matter, best procedure in instruction, and a desirable attitude toward the work from the standpoint of the school and the community. On the activity side, that of attaining these goals, it must be said that no particular road can be selected, and no infallible pattern of procedure / DEPARTMENT OF RURAL EDUCATION 597 given. The supervisor’s function is to help teachers plant their feet firmly on the principles which must underlie all good teaching. Then he may point the way, but not prescribe the manner. The first thing to be considered in a supervising scheme is the selection of the right person for a leader. He should be possessed with that per- sonality which at the same time inspires respect and manifests a sym- pathetic understanding. There should have been that close personal contact with schoolroom problems—in other words, that rich experience in classroom work which gives one a basis for judgment and decision, and enables him to project himself into a situation, understand its dif- ficulties, and help the teacher to think through them. There should be that adaptability which makes him able to feel the thrill with those attaining the heights, and at the same time hold the hand of the one who is discouraged and afraid. Indeed he must be a student in the deepest sense, of books, of conditions, and of people. Why a student of books? In the first place, he cannot be the in- telligent leader which he should be unless he is continually drinking from the springs of educational thought. Neither McMurray’s stand- ards, nor Kilpatrick’s purposeful act is a cure-all for our school ills, but surely an understanding of them makes one more able to think for himself. A knowledge of psychology gives an interpretative basis, on this one can stand for working out solutions of many problems. In the second place he should be able to lead those who are under his direction to sources of knowledge and help. Not every teacher can sit at the feet of Dewey, Kilpatrick, Thorndike, Bagley, and others who have thrown so much light on the teaching situation; but this light can be made to shine through their books into the teacher’s work, thus revealing the deeper meanings and illuminating the path of pro- cedure. Not very many teachers read seriously unless directed—this is mainly because of two things. “The inexperienced teacher has a limited basis for interpretation, and most teachers are so absorbed in the de- tails of everyday work that the mind craves a diversion when that is finished. On the other hand most teachers will read more if material which is pertinent and definite relative to their own problems is brought to them.. An illustration is seen in the following: One big objective which has obtained throughout the time in which I have worked in Montgomery county has been that of improvement in the reading situa- tion. The organization in the county was new when I began and was necessarily disjointed. While some attempts were made to get an upward trend in the subject, during the first year not much prog- ress was made until the Thorndike-McCall reading test was given and graphs of results placed in each schoolroom. ‘This brought teachers to a consciousness of needs and they began to say, ““What can we do?” I had gathered all available material on the subject. They were di- rected to this, and it is needless for me to tell you that they read intelligently and that this reading influenced results materially. Good 598 NaTIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION reading on other subjects has resulted in the same way. Sometimes it has been found that a girl was merely following some pattern, and when this failed to work she would be lost. An instance of this kind was found in a young girl who had been teaching a year or two and had given very good satisfaction. However, the particular year of which I am speaking brought some problems different from the usual ones. I made some suggestions as to grouping and procedure with the different groups. I saw there were some questions in her mind so let her ex- press them. She said, “I don’t see how we can do that and finish the work. Will I have time for so many groups. What could a group do while I am working with others?” My main thought was to get her mind away from the subject-matter and on the children. I placed a copy of Scott’s Social Education and Wilson’s Motivation of School Work in her hands, and gave her certain passages in a copy of Child Psychology to read. I did not press her, but little by little I saw that some of the principles had taken root. One day much later when I was in the room, I said, “Well, you have found it! I could hardly have hoped to see so evident a change in work and atmosphere in this room.” She said, “I know now that I must study the child first, and then the subject-matter. “The whole thing means so much more to me.” Another instance which comes to my mind is that of a young woman who had recently come into the county system, and so had missed one beginning program on reading. I sat in her room and lis- tened to a recitation in which there was no life. The questions had nothing in them to provoke thought—in fact the whole thing was nothing more than memory work. [I laid before her two situations, one in which the teacher was merely “hearing” a lesson, the other in which she is leading the children to think through situations, guided by live ques- tioning and wise direction. I asked, “In which of these classes would your recitation be placed? She evaded by saying, “I know no other way to do it.” After giving her some suggestions, I asked her to come to the office and that we would find something which would help her. On my next visit she said, “I want you to see me try the same kind of lesson again.” I marveled at the difference between that and the former one. Many other instances could be given showing how the supervisor can func- tion in this way. Why a student of conditions? Can a physician hope for the best results unless he is a student at all times of both causes and results? Can a lawyer successfully plead his cause unless he knows not only the history of his case, but all connected circumstances? Just as truly, the supervisor must be able to diagnose the conditions which he may meet. In the first place, he should from his knowledge of standards acceptable in the educational world, know whether or not the physical situation is satisfactory ; whether cr not teachers are regarding the laws of health and sanitation; whether or not the work being done is merely the result of dictation on the part of DEPARTMENT OF RuRAL EDUCATION 599 the teacher, or of that character which insures the growth of the child— in other words that the child is stimulated, but not forced, directed but not circumscribed. Every schoolroom is a different situation, and therefore brings its own distinct challenge to the supervisor. He must make it his business to study the situation as he finds it, and know how to meet the needs in such a way as to encourage and help. This brings to my mind a number of situations which illustrate the function of supervision in this respect. Last September a young girl just out of normal school was placed in charge of the fifth and sixth grades in a consolidated school. I soon saw that the children were running away with her, and that almost nothing was being accomplished. It was difficult for her to see that she was failing. ‘This placed her continually on the defensive. I learned that a different approach was needed, so I talked to her about the advantages of team work at this age and asked her to be on the alert for some lead. This brought the desired results in the form of a school garden. It worked out from their studies in agriculture. It was a splendid illustration of purposeful activity. “They selected the ground, went to the woods and got posts, and put up the wire themselves. Investigation was made as to what kind of fertilizer was needed, and this was purchased. The work was done entirely by the children. “They sold sufficient vegetables not only to pay all expenses incurred, but to buy a beautiful picture for the walls of their schoolroom. Needless to say that the problem of discipline was solved in that room and that there was much live activity in the instructional work. In another schoolroom a young girl was teacher of first, second, and third grades. When I made the first visit I entered the room while she was teaching first grade reading. “This was early in the morning. As soon as they had finished she dismissed them and they were soon romping every- where. On being asked why they were sent out, she said it was her idea of freedom. She was a learner however, and it was not difficult for her to see that there can be freedom in the schoolroom while the children are doing something worthwhile. She hardly batted her eyes while I was talk- ing and on my next visit I found things quite different. At the end of the year she had one of the best prepared first grades in the county. Why a student of people? Because it is through people and for people that the whole work is done. The supervisor no less than the teacher must take into account individual differences. “The group with which he has to work will reach all the way from the young, inexperienced teacher to the mature one; all the way from the timid, shrinking, little girl to the one who is cocksure; all the way from the weakling to the superior teacher ; each with his own personality and his own needs. There are many other personalities which touch his work, who must be taken into account, but his direct work is with the teacher himself. “The importance of this close study can best be told by illustrations. Among the many which come to my mind is that of a girl who has now been teaching six years. She began after graduating from high school. She is very temperamental, and was in the beginning boisterous. However, being endowed with a high degree 600 NavrioNAL EpucaTion ASSOCIATION of intelligence, and having a burning ambition to succeed, she had at all times been a learner. ‘This has kept her alert for every opportunity for improvement. She is a tireless worker and only needs to have encourage- ment with a word of direction here and there. Her children have made high records in achievement, in fact have usually led in the county. Last year she fell heir to a group of children very poorly prepared, and became very much discouraged. She came to me and said, “I’ll have to give up, 1 can’t bring these children up to standard.” I said, “The good teacher is ene who takes the problem as she finds it, and solves it as best she can. Now, I believe in you, and believe you can do this job.” She brightened up and said, ‘“‘I’ll do it.’ It proved to be her best piece of work. Another case is that of a little woman who is of middle age. She is a person with a highly classical turn of mind. She belongs to the old type of teacher but has ambition to know and use new ideas. Whenever a suggestion of change or innovation has been mentioned to her it seemed to rather frighten her, and she would almost invariably say, “I don’t believe I can do it.” I would say, ‘All right Miss Mary, don’t worry if you can’t.” I knew what would happen. Many times before I left the building she would come and say, “I believe I can.” I knew that at least I would find her working at it when I returned. In the case of the timid little girl who feels that the supervisor is coming to criticise, it is difficult to know just how to approach. Many times I begin the conference by talking about things personal, entirely apart from the school work, then lead her to talk about her work. In this way the restraint is removed and she begins to feel the presence of a friend. Another situation in which there must be sympathetic and wise direction is that of the young girl just out of training. She comes bubbling over with enthusiasm over what she is going to do. She faces a situation so different from that which she knew in the training school, tries out her theories and they fail to work. She becomes dis- couraged and loses herself. An instance of the type described above was that of a little girl who came to us last year. She was placed in a three- teacher school in charge of two grades. The groups were very small and we did not dream that she would have trouble. To nmiy great surprise, on going to the school just a few days after it opened, I found her completely submerged. She met me with the statement, ‘““These are the meanest children I ever saw. Don’t you think I’d better quit?” I said, “Can you afford to quit?” This little girl could answer intelligently almost any question one might ask on theory, and she did not understand why it wouldn’t work. ‘The truth was that she had applied it from without in- stead of within, and, there had been no contact of souls between her and the children. She made a master effort, and really had improved decidedly when she was called home on account of the death of her father. There are many other instances which ‘could be given showing the necessity of understanding personalities. Suffice it to say that it must be a continual study on the part of anyone who is to succeed with the work. Department of School Health and Physical Education ICAL EDUCATION was known as the Department of Child Study until July 18, 1911. See Pro- ceedings, 1911: 870. The Department of Child Study was created at the Asbury Park meeting, July 10, 1894. See Proceedings, 1894: 40. In July, 1924, the department was merged with the Depart- ment of Physical and Health Education under the name of the Department of School Health and Phys- ical Education. See Proceedings, 1924: 96. The officers of the Department for the year 1926-27 are: President, Melville Stewart, State Supervisor of Physical Education, Charleston, W. Va.; Vzce- President, Mary E. Gross, Director, Department of Physical Education and Hygiene for Women, Uni- versity of Washington, Seattle, Wash.; Secretary- Treasurer, Florence D. Alden, Director, Department of Physical Education for Women, University of Oregon, Kugene, Ore. The Department meets once a year, in June. Facts relating to the establishment of this Department and the record of meetings are found in earlier volumes of Proceedings as follows: 1893: 615-678 1902:737-759 1908: 999-1047 1914:683-721 1920: 311-323 1895; 944-950 1903 :817-847 1909: 745-789 1915:971-995 1921: 517-523 1896: 893-937 1904:803-843 1910: 921-949 1916:681-699 1922:1085-1099 1897: 870-916 1905:755-781 1911: 905-939 1917:521-535 1923: 744-842 898: 929-959 1906:711-713 1912:1141-1153 1918:339-359 1924: 637-651 1898; 1899 :1064-1097 1907:925-951 1913: 667-695 1919:315-323 1925: 577-598 1901: 758-771 P i “HE DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH AND PHYS- [ 602 ] THE NEEDS OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLARK W. HETHERINGTON, PROFESSOR OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, NEW. YORK CITY satisfying human needs. New demands on a profession and the in- ability of a profession to render a service create problems and needs for the profession. Physical education considered as a profession that has a service to render has made great progress since the world war began. To date thirty-three states have passed laws requiring physical education in the public schools. Several great social movements are promoting its cause. "The opportu- nities for service are great; the needs for the service are greater. On the other hand, physical education is enormously handicapped by traditional conceptions of education, and by narrow prejudices about the “physical” and about “play” that are subtle survivals in American social psychology of ancient and discredited philosophies; viz, asceticism with its exaltation of the mind and its contempt for the body; scholasticism with its exaltation of the intellect and its neglect of the emotions; and puritanism with its exaltation of seriousness and its fear and ignorance of play. The “body,” the “emotions” and “play” give physical education its being. These prejudices, strange as it may seem, are strongest among the so-called cultured classes. . The prejudices and their products in educational organization have made many educators antagonistic or indifferent towards physical educa- tion. .They have confused public opinion. ‘They have enabled selfish workers to twist popular movements to selfish ends. They have hampered and discouraged practical workers. Physical education as a profession, both because of the new demands upon it and because of the prejudices that hamper it, has needs and prob- lems to solve if it is to render its service. These needs and problems are of four classes: Pi sesine Grow. ‘This growth is related usually to a service in 1. The need of an interpretation of physical education and a statement of its objectives ; 2. The need of a scientifically formulated program of physical education that school men and the public may recognize as standard; 3. The need of a standard university professional education that will produce an adequate supply of competent leaders who can organize and conduct the pro- gram; and 4. The need of a promotional campaign to develop a supporting public opinion that will make it possible for professional workers to execute the program and achieve its objectives. The first need of physical education is an interpretation of its nature and a formulation of its objectives. ‘The main items in such an interpreta- tion and statement of objectives may be suggested. Physical education is a part of education. It is a teaching profession and it has grown with the [603 ] 604 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION social need for an institutionally organized education, especially in the school. To interpret it, the first essential is to recognize that the concep- tions of both education and physical education have changed with social progress. Education as a whole has been completely revolutionized in fifty years. The original function of the school, as we know it today, was to give a narrow literacy and book cultural education. All the rest of educat‘on (life and the preparation for life) went on as a natural process in the home and community. Education in this larger sense was identical with life. But the school, on account of the social changes due to the introduc- tion of machinery into industry since 1860, and the practical elimination of educative activities from the home, has been compelled to assume many new functions and to incorporate into the curriculum many new “subjects of study.” Hence a curriculum of “subjects of study” has evolved which is complex, unscientific, difficult to administer, and economically wasteful. This unsatisfactory situation is compelling still further change in school organization. The new significant tendency in organization is the unification of old artificially separated “subjects of study” into natural teaching and adminis- trative divisions of activities which are similar to or identical with out-of- school natural life activities and which enable the school organization of activities or curriculum to carry over into the out-of-school life and control it. Note the tendencies to unification in the social science activities, the natural science activities, the manual activities, the musical activities, the linguistic communicative activities and the big muscle activities. “These are natural units of activities for teaching and educational administration. The school organization is drifting to this type of organization of a curric- ulum of activities and a total direction of child life. Physical education through its basic activities, the big muscle activities, has become one of the fundamental teaching and administrative divisions or units in the newer school organization. As a part of the larger change in education as a whole and because of the same social influences, physical education has had two histories. One is the history of “formal”’ activities or “gymnastic drills” in the schoolroom which are rapidly dwindling in influence because of exploded values; the other is the history of the natural play life of children and youth out of school in the home and community environment. The history of the play life shows two movements; first, the tendency, previous to 1906, to break down under the cramping influences of an adult organized industrial civilization, and then, after 1906, the reestab- lishment of the play life by an elaborate social propaganda. This propa- ganda was initiated and conducted by adults especially through the Play- ground and Recreation Association of America. It carried a new con- ception of an institutionally organized physical education and it established a new technic in the practical conduct of physical education. The new physical education is the racially old natural physical education DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH AND PuysicaL EpucaTion 605 through play but enormously elaborated and systematized to meet the educational needs of children and youth under present-day conditions of living and an institutionally organized education. ~ It is centered in the play activities of the play space, the playground, the athletic field, the track, the swimming pool, the dancing floor, the park, the road, and the open fields. This is the activity content of the new program in physical education that is being assimilated into the school organization, and into other institutional organizations of education. For brevity we will refer only to the school organization. Thus we conceive of physical education as one of the six fundamental teaching and administrative divisions or units of the total school organiza- tion of general education. We can hardly overemphasize this conception. One of the items in this conception that needs great emphasis is that phys- ical education is not concerned with “exercise” in the adult sense except for adults; but with a primary division of fundamental educative activities. As physical education is a part of education, its objectives, like those of any teaching and administrative division of education, can be stated or defined only as a part of the objectives of education as a whole; and the objectives of education as a whole must be defined in broad enough terms to include all the objectives of all the teaching and administrative units, else the statement is false or partial. A review of the literature shows that the objectives of education are stated from four points of view, all of which are interrelated. The first point of view in stating objectives is that of the organizing leadership of children or individuals in activities. All the objectives or values there are in education, whether in the school or out of the school, are resident in the activities and in the leadership of the activities. Hence, the first aim of physical education is to organize and lead children in one teaching and administrative unit of educative activities—the big muscle activities. Here, we deal directly with the individual’s own conscious active life. As compared with other units of activities, the big muscle activities, especially during childhood and youth, are the most generally interesting to all children, the most time consuming, the most dominantly social, and the most vigorous. ‘These are the educational characteristics of physical education activities. The second point of view in stating or defining objectives is that of the development of the powers of the organism in educative activities. Edu- cators and society as a whole are interested in the cumulative, remote or end results of educative activities in terms of the development of the personal powers of individuals and the adjustment of the developing powers to adult social ways of living. Development is primary. All the end re- sults as objectives are resident or inherent in the developmental changes in activities. All learned activities involve changes in the organism and in the adjustment of the organism to the environment. The cumulative results of the changes give development. The four aspects in considering the changes and the results in development are: 606 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION a. The primary changed meaning of the situation and the cumulative in- terpretive or intellectual development; b. The primary change in satisfaction or annoyance and the cumulative im- pulsive development (interests, drives, etc.) ; c. The primary change in neural connections and muscular contractions and the cumulative development of the nervous system or menti-motor strengths and skills; and : d. The primary change in the nutritive function and the cumulative develop- ment of nutritive or organic power, symbolized by endurance. These changes in the activities are the source of all learned activities and all acquired abilities. They are the source of all development of the organism as distinct from the growth due to heredity. ‘The changes are inherent in the learning responses; the development is inherent in the repetition of the responses or activities. All the aspects of change take place in every teaching and administrative unit of educative activity but in different degrees. Hence the values and developmental objectives of any teaching and administrative unit of ac- tivities, as distinct from any other educative activity, are inherent in the nature of the activity and the capacities it exercises. For this reason the big muscle activities are superior to any other unit of educative activities, (a) in the development of general organic power or vitality and endur- ance; (b) in the development of the general integrating function of the nervous system, of general nervous power illustrated by menti-motor strength and skill including the well recognized habits of posture and car- riage; and (c) in the development of the deeper and more powerful emo- tional mechanisms and thought processes in total-body overt responses to the material and human environment. ‘The development of organic power, nervous power, emotional power, and habits and interests is the develop- mental source of health. ‘The development of habits in the emotional mechanisms and thought processes in the intense social relationships of play is the basic laboratory source of character. ‘The realization of these fundamental results are the special developmental objectives of physical education. ; The third point of view in stating or defining objectives is that of so- cial adjustment to the adult functions of life: the vocational, civic, cul- tural, recreative, domestic. Adult adjustment to adult social ways of living in performing the func- tions of adult life arises from the specific development in the specific ac- tivities of adult life. The abilities, however, to enter into the specific ac- tivities of adult life are acquired slowly and they depend on development in the more general educative or developmental activities characteristic of child life. Adjustment depends on development. Each of the fundamental teaching and administrative units of educa- tive activities makes its distinctive contribution to the development necessary for efficiency in the adult functions. This contribution is according to the powers developed by the unit of activities. Physical education through the development inherent in big muscle activities makes its fundamental DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH AND PuysicaL Epucation 607 contribution, but this contribution is the same as that listed under the de- velopmental objectives, not in specific adult adjustments. All adult ad- justment is built on the powers outlined under the developmental objectives. Time prevents the amplifications of this significant relationship. The fourth point of view in defining objectives is that of standards or ideals. Standards as objectives are judgments of the quality of the activity, or of development or of adjustment or of the organism, derived from racial experience or science. Only two groups of standards as objectives can be considered here: moral character and health. Character is a system of action traits. The source of all the learned ways of acting or action traits is entirely in the developmental results of activities. Without activity there can be no development of character. But the moral quality of the responses and of the traits exercised in the activity is determined chiefly by leadership. This leadership is either social example or a positive directing companionship or teaching. Each unit of educative activity has inherent in its nature the exercise of certain tendencies, abilities or traits that, under a standardizing leader- ship, establishes standard character traits, as, for example, interests. Fur- ther, each activity because of its nature has characteristic moral situations arise in the social relationships of the activity which furnish the leader the opportunity to guide moral judgments, attitudes, and practices. Physical education or the big muscle play activities have inherent in them the exercise of the deepest and most powerful character forming emotional tendencies in human nature and they furnish the richest source of funda- mental moral situations in the social relationships of children and youth. Because of the universal interest in these big muscle play activities, their intensely social nature, the great amount of time they naturally consume, and their susceptibility to leadership, they are the fundamental laboratory activities of a school program in moral education. Moral education is one of the supereme objectives of physical education. Health is a condition of the organism. It is idealized as positive good health. ‘This is the social standard of health. It is the product of heredity, activity (or behavior) and the environment. ‘The school in its educative or teaching function, is concerned with the individual’s activity or behavior. It is also concerned with the protection of children from the results of the other two factors which will be considered later. ‘The health of the adult individual depends largely on his own conduct and this conduct requires the establishment of health practices, impelling interest and judgment. The difficulty with the school problem in teaching health (or “health education” properly defined) is that the most important health practices take place outside the school and away from the teacher’s personal direc- tion. Further, health practices are not generally interesting or satisfying in themselves and satisfaction is the primary guide to conduct. ‘This re- duces the school problem in teaching health to a central problem of develop- ing interests in health that will carry over to out-of-school health situations. This interest requires a purpose. The purpose that is psychologically valid 608 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION is found in the “keep fit” or “‘training” or conditioning ideal because of the relationship of condition to the enjoyment of activities or the achieve- ment of purposes in life activities. The primary purposes of children are resident in the developmental activities; the keep fit purposes are secondary and the drive in them is related to the primary purposes. Physical education, because of the teaching and administrative unit of activities it directs, furnishes the broadest and deepest setting for an effect- ive method in teaching health. It is the natural foundation for the build- ing of interests in health. Other units of activities may supplement the building of interests and expand the information but physical education is the natural correlating center for such efforts. The teaching of a habit- building, interest-driven, thought-controlled conduct is one of the chief objectives of physical education. So far we have considered the objectives only in bes educative function of the school or of any institutional organization of education. ‘Tradi- tionally, education has been concerned with the leadership and the results of activities; but when institutionally organized as in the school it must take over another of the two primary functions of parents and all adults in dealing with the immature, viz., the protective function. The purposes or objectives of this protective function are to free chil- dren and youth from the handicapping influences of crippling injuries, an unhygienic environment, growth defects, infections and communicable dis- eases. This is the old function of the home and part of the function of public health protection. Such protection by the school is necessary if chil- dren are to grow and develop normally, and profit by the educational pro- cedures of the school. Hence, education, in its institutional organization in the school, has been compelled in self-defense, to assume this protective attitude more and more. The protective function is a moral and usually a legal responsibility of the school. It is a moral responsibility of every teacher in personal charge of children and usually in administratively assigned function in some degree of every teacher in the elementary schools. — As the protective function is a moral responsibility of every teacher, it is a responsibility of every teacher in physical education. Where educative activities are departmentally organized as in large elementary schools, in junior and senior high schools, and in normal schools and colleges, this protective function becomes a special responsibility of the specialized di- rector of physical education. ‘This is a natural division of administrative responsibilities because of the physical educator’s special responsibilities in achieving health objectives in the educative functions of the school. The objectives in the protective function become special objectives of physical education. In the interpretation of education and the part of it called physical edu- cation it is important to emphasize the distinction between the educative and protective functions, otherwise there is a disastrous confusion in the administrative organization of these functions in the school. The chief DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH AND PuysicaL Epucation 609 point is that the protective function is an administrative function not a teaching function. It has primarily no necessary connection whatever with skill in teaching health. While some of the procedures in health protection may be used in the procedures in teaching health, the latter is a matter of skill in the educative function, not in the protective function. Health protection is purely an administrative function which is fulfilled by its organization as an administrative responsibility. Skill in this responsibility carries with it no skill in teaching. This distinction is vitally important for the unique, fundamental educa- tive functions of physical education because of the tendency to put medical men in charge of departments in schools including health and physical education who are by training totally incompetent to administer the educa- tive functions of physical education. ‘This tendency in administrative or- ganization is the logical result of the vicious, though usually unconscious, traditional habit of thinking of children’s big muscle activities in terms of exercise in the adult sense and therefore as a “health practice.” In this sense, children never “exercise” spontaneously. They play, and play is nature’s method of education. ‘The educator is the expert ally of nature in the organization of play, not the pathologist. Further, health is a con- dition of the organism and an ideal, not an activity. Health cannot be an administrative unit in the school organization, except for health protection, because it has no activity to administer. Health, as an ideal, sets standards for all life activities or right ways of carrying on the activities; it should saturate all activities. It is not a separate activity. Administration is resident in the teaching and administrative units of activites; the stand- ards are a function of the leadership of the activities. To set up health as an administrative unit in education, including health protection and one unit of educative activities, is as ridiculous as to set up morals as an admin- istrative unit based on moral protection and one unit of educative activities. To summarize this first need of physical education in an interpretation and statement of its objectives in relationship to education as a whole, two definitions may be presented. School education is, first, a leadership of in- dividuals in activities which give development and adjustment according to standards, and, second, a protection of individuals from handicapping influences so growth, development and adjustment according to standards may proceed naturally and normally. Physical education is that phase of education which is concerned, first, with the leadership of individuals in big muscle activities to gain the de- velopment and the adjustment inherent in the activities according to stand- ards, and, second, with the protection of individuals from handicapping in- fluences so that growth, development, and adjustment through the gen- eral educative function of the school may proceed naturally and normally. The second need of physical education in its professional service is a scientifically formulated program. ‘The word program in this sense, refers to the organization of the professional procedures used in any service in achieving results with the individuals being served. 610 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION The program is naturally based directly on the objectives in the functions of physical education. These functions and objectives of physical education give two broad di- visions to its program: (1) the educative program, and (2) the pro- tective program. I. The educative program because of the objectives it must realize has three natural sub-programs. These are: (a) the program in activities or the curricu- lum of activities; (b) the program in character education, and (c) the program in teaching health or health education. A. The activity program is the basic program. There can be no education without activity. In the scientific formulation of this activity program several principles are of fundamental importance. 1. The activities must be selected according to their values. Such a selection by criteria of the developmental and adjusting values of the activities puts the emphasis on the natural developmental or play activities. While the program must retain the artificial or formal activities for use, where such activities have a specific value, they are relegated, in a scientific process of evaluation, to a dis- tinctly subordinate place. 2. The activities must be adapted to the age, sex, and individual differences in mental tendencies and in motor and organic capacities and needs determined by tests. These principles give an age progression in activities by years with a differentiation in the activites for boys and for girls over ten years of age and an individual progression according to motor ability. The principles require further an adaptation to organic capacity and to special individual handicaps. 3. The adapted and evaluated activities must be formulated for practical or- ganization and leadership under school conditions to meet the developmental needs for a large amount and a great variety of activity. This principle requires an organization to teach activities within school hours that will tend to go on by their inherent interest during out-of-school hours and it requires an extension of the school organization into the out-of-school leisure time. Such an activity program is a natural program that carries over into child life and on into later adult life. Its scientific validity is a guarantee that the develop- mental objectives of physical education may be achieved. B. The character education program is based on the activity program but has its own teaching procedure. Character, morals, and manners are developed in activities and only in activities under a standardizing leadership. But an instruc- tor may organize and teach the coordinations and the strategy in physical educa- tion activities perfectly and not consciously direct the character and disciplining responses in the activities. Such direction requires a knowledge of and skill in the special technic of leadership or teaching in the character training that is in- herent in the activities and in the moral situations that arise in the social relation- ships in the activities, Physical education must have a special program of teaching constructed by a scientific analysis of the character training and moral situations that arise in big muscle activities and by a scientifically tested technic in the leadership of the responses in the activities and situations. Sportsmanship, the Golden Rule applied to the ethics of play, is the popular keyword that suggests the nature of the pro- gram. The program is fundamental to all school efforts in moral education. C. The health teaching program is also based on the activity program. But an instructor may secure all the values for health in the development of organic, nervous, and emotional powers and in activity interests, without establishing an effective and abiding self-directing interest in health practices. On this self-im- pelling interest the stability of health practices depends. Such an interest and self-directed practice require a special program of leadership and teaching pro- DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH AND PuysicaL Epucation 611 cedures in which the physical educator must be as consciously skilled as in teach- ing the activities. Further, he must know the values of and methods in the other teaching units of activities. Because of the interest in the activities he directs, he is the correlating center in all school efforts to teach health. The program must be constructed by a scientific analysis of the psychology of health practices and of conditioning the self. Training or keeping-fit are the popular notions of this program. This program must be formulated as the foun- dation of all school efforts in teaching health, These three sub-programs of activities, character training and health teaching constitute the natural educative program due to the essential nature of the activities and the standardizing leadership of the activities in physical education as a teach- ing and administrative division of education as a whole. II. The protective program is built on the second function of the school and of the physical educator: the care and protection of children so all handicaps on the normal growth, development and the educational progress shall be removed. Traditionally this program has been referred to as health supervision, health in- spection, health work, medical inspection, etc., all of which are unsatisfactory titles because they do not suggest the function of this program. The function is distinctly one of protection. The principles in the scientific construction of the protective program are better understood than the principles in the educative program so time need not be de- voted to them. For clearness, however, because of the confusion due to the over- head administration of departments of physical education and of health, one point should be noted. Physical educators, or those who have specialized as health experts, must construct a protective program that they can administer in connec- tion with their educative functions. This is a necessity if there is to be a pro- tective service, especially in the supervision of teachers in rural and small city school systems and in consolidated high schools. This primary program should include the health inspection, the reference, and the follow-up. It should not in- clude any special clinical service. Special clinical service is a larger program requiring the employment of physicians. The third need of physical education is a standard and recognized pro- fessional education. The success of physical education depends ultimately upon the scholarly expertness of physical educators. The need for a broader and higher professional education in physical education has been in evidence for more than twenty years. During this time the need has been indicated by three demands; (a) the demand in new movements for a leadership or technical service that could not be met by available workers; (b) the demand by progressive school officers and others for advanced experts who were too scarce to meet the demand, and (c) the demand on the part of ambitious professional workers for advanced training of a type that was not offered anywhere. The efforts to meet these needs and demands have been totally inadequate. In this connection, a review of the history of professional education since the early nineties presents two conspicuous groups of facts. The first group of facts is that the schools of education in universities (the institutions that are supposed to train the leaders and experts in edu- cation) have, as'a rule, paid no attention to physical education or to a professional education in physical education. As a consequence (a) educa- tional leaders who are the graduates of these institutions have gone into 612 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION service without knowledge, insight, or criteria of judgment about physical education; and (b) earnest physical educators have not been able to secure the advanced professional education that prepared them specifically for the more difficult problems with which they have to deal. The second group of facts is that the men in physical education now passing off the stage, who assumed the leadership and dominated the leader- ship of physical education during the last generation, all advocated a medi- cal education for physical education. “The reason for this advocacy was that under contemporary public prejudices against the physical, the medical education gave a social and academic status, and it gave authority to make physical examinations and deal with health problems. But the results of this advocacy were disastrous for the progress of physi- cal education. It left physical education, unlike medicine or engineering or other learned professions, without an organized promotional development, supported by its leaders, of a distinctive professional education. It left physical education without a professional education that produced profes- sional experts progressively competent according to social needs to think and solve the educational problems of physical education. A medical edu- cation gives no competence to solve the educational problems of physical education. : The lack of such a distinctive university training in the past has left physical education today with a disastrously inadequate supply of educa- tionally trained experts of high ability who have the experience and the maturity in years of the forties and early fifties to step into positions of great responsibility. Frequently medical men are put into these positions who are not trained as physical educators. In either case physical educa- tion does not achieve its objectives. So the supreme need of physical education, in the interest of the unique and fundamentally important service it has to render, is a distinctive uni- versity program of professional education. Recently, especially since the war, the movement in universities for the establishment of a higher professional education has gained great momen- tum. But the past has left this movement without adequate criteria or precedent as the structural organization of a professional training curricu- lum. ‘The problem in the construction of such a curriculum is complex, yet its solution is mandatory if physical education is to render its service. The only scientific or valid method of formulating the nature and the content of a curriculum in professional education is, first, to determine the functions of experts and’ specialists in physical education, and then de- termine the training necessary to give competence to perform the functions. The method of determining the functions (the basic problem) is a con- structive job or vocational analysis. The word “constructive” refers to the necessity of determining not only what the physical educator is doing but what he must do. What he must do is determined by the needs of children, the objectives of physical education and the nature of institu- tionally organized education. This analysis reveals the fact that society DEPARTMENT OF ScHOoL HEALTH AND PuysicaL Epucation 613 and education must have in the physical educator an expert trained as the director of the normal growth and development of children with the direc- tion centered in education through physical activities. This requires the ability to examine and classify children according to their needs and adapt activities to the needs. The courses which give the training necessary to perform the functions revealed by the constructive job or vocational analysis fall into three divi- sions: I. General academic or “cultural” studies apart from sciences II. The foundation sciences III. The professional sciences in which the courses in personal technic in the activities and in methods of teaching are only one of several groups. Concerning the lists of courses under these headings, time permits only a passing comment on two points: first, the content of the training, and sec- ond, the degree of training. First as to the content of the training, we need to insist that an indi- vidual may have endless personal skill in physical education activities, and even great skill in coaching some of them, and know nothing about the science of physical education so he is a safe expert in the direction of chil- dren’s activities. The reverse proposition of ignorance of the activities also needs emphasis. Great personal skill and teaching skill in physical educa- tion activities are imperative for any individual who presumes to be an ex- pert in physical education. Without this knowledge and skill one cannot think the scientific problems in physical education, and, experience shows, cannot even administer physical education to achieve its objectives. To be competent, the physical educator must be a technical expert in the activities that determine his teaching and administrative division of education and he must know the sciences of physical education. These sciences require a deeper laboratory training in prerequisite foundation sciences than any other teaching and administrative division of education. The degree or amount of training required of the expert dictates a di- vision of the professional education into an undergraduate and a graduate curriculum. The problem becomes: at what point in the sequence of courses should the distinction be made between a standard four-year under- graduate curriculum and a standard three-year graduate curriculum. A practical and clear-cut distinction is possible. It is the distinction between the training necessary, on the one hand, for the personal skill and teaching skill to act as high class instructors in conducting the practical programs, and, on the other hand, the training necessary for competence to perform the full functions of the physical educator in»positions of large responsibility _or in positions requiring specialization in the sciences of physical education. With such distinctive professional training curricula in the many uni- versities now developing professional training programs, physical education will have in time an adequate supply of experts, and thus be able to render its unique service. 614 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION The fourth need of physical education is that the profession shall or- ganize a promotional development of physical education. Physical education cannot render its service and achieve its distinctive objectives without a supporting public opinion. Public opinion determines the kinds of positions open to physical educators and the kind of service they can render when in the positions. Public opinion as it works on, and through school men, is especially important. School officials need help. They must face the public with the mounting costs of education, and the costs of a real physical education are high. ‘The costs are due to the great space required for playgrounds, athletic fields, running tracks, swimming pools, gymnasium floors, and the further high cost of equipment for all these centers of activity. Yet physical educators can show that if physical education is properly organized, the costs are overbalanced by savings in other costs through a reduction in the inefficiency in education in general, in the wastage of character, in ill health, and in delinquency and crime. That there is no general public consciousness of such values is obvious. School men should be convinced of the facts so they can use them with the public. That the profession of physical education has not adequately met the need for a promotional development of public opinion to keep it abreast of the social need for the service of physical education, might be proved by many striking illustrations. Most striking among these is the number of social movements that have arisen and that have been established in public favor without at the same time any effective effort being made to establish the public recognition or conviction that the movements were physical edu- cation movements. For example, the playground movement is a physical education movement. The playground is a place for physical education. The activities on the playground are physical education activities. “The playground, as an institutionalized play center, has never been and never can be anything but a physical education establishment. Yet few citizens have any illuminating consciousness or conviction about these facts. Public education has been neglected. Other social movements that are in whole or in part physical education movements, might be presented with similar arguments, as, for example, the athletic movement, the Boy Scouts movement, the summer camp move- ment, the outdoor recreation and ‘exercise’? movement for adults, the health education movement, etc. Physical educators have been conspicuous figures in all these movements, but the organized profession has not inter- preted physical education through them so the public sees physical education in them, or sees them as physical education. The confusion of public opin- ion is the proof. The public, especially since the beginning of the war, has felt a need that is not satisfied by any past professional leadership or service. This need the public has not been able to interpret as a whole or to find a total method’ of satisfying. The public is conscious of a partial satisfaction through each of the social movements just listed. But physical education is the DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH AND PuysicaL Epucation 615 correlating center of a professionally organized service that satisfies the need as a whole. The profession should declare the fact. Among the items that should be promoted by a systematically organized educational campaign is a public understanding of the phrase “physical education.” The word “physical” has been a handicap to the service of physical education, but no one has been able to suggest a satisfactory sub- stitute. The phrase “health education” as a substitute name, it might be shown, would be a greater handicap. So it is with other names. “Physical education” is the traditional phrase that symbolized a dominant human need and it is a distinctive professional service under modern social con- ditions. What is needed is a proper public understanding of the meaning of the phrase. The source of the prejudice against the word “physical” has been suggested. The prejudice should be lifted. By proper promotion the attitude towards education through “‘physical” activities could be changed to a dynamic public approval just as the prejudice against the word “play” was lifted by the playground and recreation movement. The prejudice must be eliminated. It must be replaced by an intelligent public opinion. The progress of child welfare, health, and morality depends upon it. But the need for this change has greater social significance than the progress of physical education alone. ‘The stability or progress of civilization itself depends upon a sound organism or “physical” as a national trait. There can be no sane, wholesome, moral national life, in the long prospective, without a people with sound bodies. In the achieve- ment of a sound physical, as a racial ideal, eugenics holds the key to latent capacities, medicine holds the key to the elimination of diseases, physical education holds the key to the development of the fundamental latent ca- pacities as they function in activity or behavior. Thus, physical education as a profession has special professional needs and problems to solve in order that it may render its distinctive service. PUBLIC SCHOOL HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION GROVER W. MUELLER, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Folks are usually interested in what is actually being done, in what is being tried out, and in the practical application of some of the principles they have read and heard so much about. And so I decided to discuss some practical applications as they have been worked out in the city of Philadelphia. I shall do this rather briefly and in so doing will try pri- marily to show how we endeavor to gain the child’s interest and coopera- tion in health by correlating health education with a program of physical activities. Doctor Broome, our superintendent of schools, has very definitely adopted the policy that health education should be in the hands of the department of physical education in all of the grades, from the first to the twelfth. 616 NatrioNAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION Our supervisors supervise the instruction in health education in the sev- enth and eighth grades of the elementary schools, in all of the grades of the junior high schools, and have just begun in the senior high schools. Within a year or two the first six grades of the elementary schools will undoubtedly be included. We are not yet sure that the teaching of health education in the senior high schools should be limited to teachers of physical education. We are sure, however, that it should be directed and supervised by our people. During the past few months I have been visiting the senior high schools in this city in order to find out the amount and scope of health education which is offered in such courses as general science, biology, physiology, civics, social studies, and the domestic arts. I found that a considerable amount of information was being offered the pupils which requires but that a health slant be given it to make it valuable as health education. It is very possible that the best results may be obtained by spreading out the instruction over these several subjects, and giving the instruction in the required courses in physiology and hygiene over to teachers of physical education for the purpose of focusing the information gained in the other subjects more definitely upon health. And also for greater emphasis on the side of its practical application. We in Philadelphia are in enthusiastic agreement with the idea that health education and physical education should be very closely correlated. We recognize in them two intimately related factors in the process of physi- cal and social development. We believe that health education should con- sist primarily in the development of an intelligent and enthusiastic atti- tude toward health. Such an attitude as I have in mind can not be devel- oped by the mere dissemination of health information nor by the inculca- tion of certain health habits, important as these are. The desire for health must be vital in the child. The child must desire it if results are to be obtained. The behaviorists tell us that the only way we can educate or reform is thru the desires, the needs, and the interests of the individual. We try to carry out this idea in our program by means mainly of the correlation between health and physical education to which I have already referred. The course of study in health education which we have just completed for grades 7, 8, and 9 is arranged in four parallel columns which respec- tively embrace the following subject-matter : 1. Anatomy. 2. Physiology. 3. Conditions to be remedied or avoided. 4. Related health habits. Just enough anatomy and physiology is taught to provide a basis for and to make possible an understanding of the “conditions to be remedied and avoided” and, what is of greater importance, the “related health habits.” The effect and value of exercise is introduced in every possible relation- DEPARTMENT OF ScHOOL HEALTH AND PuysicaL Epucation. 617 ship. And the effect of the practice of the various health habits, such as resting, eating, sleeping, breathing fresh air, et cetera, upon proficiency in physical activities is strongly emphasized. In the program of physical activities we try to offer a large amount of interesting material much of which is accurately measurable. Thus, we have age-aims in track and field events and climbing for all pupils except those in the lowest grades. These aims are revised from time to time and are based upon the actual accomplishment of all the pupils in the city. That accomplishment which represents what 75 percent of the children at each age can do is taken as the minimum aim for that age. We believe that practically every healthy normal child should be able to at least meet this aim. Ifa child cannot, the chances are that he is not in normal health. In many cases the cause of the inability is undoubtedly traceable to a nonobservance of the laws of health. Teachers are urged to examine the child who cannot do physically what he should, to find the cause for this physical backwardness. The reason for retardation may be underweight caused by some fault in eating. It may be underheight caused by a lack of exercise, or a lack of sunshine. It may be some physical defect that demands attention of the family physician. During the last few years we have prepared a ‘“‘measuring stick’’ to help us understand our pupils. This is a chart showing the relation of height ~ and weight to age, and also to the physical type—tall and slender, average, stocky. This chart is now to be found in every school. If a child is placed in the doubtful class because of his inability to perform the physical work outlined for his age, the height-weight-type chart is used to find out how he compares with other children of his type and age, or his type and height. If according to this measurement he also is below normal, our teachers have additional evidence upon which they can give advice or base the special treatment necessary for the child. In these ways, both in the physical education activities and in the health education classes the intimate relation between the observance of health habits and physical efficiency is emphasized to the child. Athletic ability tests—For those who have accomplished the minimum aims, we have higher aims which are designated “good achievement.’ And beyond this we have six sets of athletic ability tests, three each for boys and girls, of increasing difficulty. Any child who has met his age-aim requirements may take these tests. ‘The tests exist not only on paper, but are actually and extensively carried on. Last year, 10,466 boys and 9041 girls took test No. 1; 4966 boys and 3807 girls took test No. 2; and 56d boys and 194 girls took test No. 3. This year a considerably larger num- ber took part. Such tests serve the purpose not only of providing interesting and health- ful activity but provide at the same time an incentive to all; and also, we hope, a strong motive for the practice of health habits. Competition—intra-school activities—We believe thoroughly in the value ‘of competition in the education of the child; not alone for its physical, 618 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION moral, and social values but also because it affords a powerful incentive to healthful living. We put much effort into attempts to organize after- school play and athletics in such manner that many boys and girls are given an opportunity to take part in these activities, and are thereby en- abled to derive the benefits of competition. The board of education has established 50 after-school playgrounds which are open daily for two hours after school and also for six hours on Saturday. These grounds are in the care of paid teachers who are selected from the teaching staff of the local school. The first hour of each day is devoted mainly to intra and inter class activity, most of which is in the form of organized competition. Besides the 50 organized playgrounds a great many of our elementary schools and also of our junior and senior high schools conduct organized | intra-school play and competition under voluntary supervision. During the past year, 92,478 junior high school boys and girls were participants in such competition. This figure, of course, embraces all of the participants during the year and therefore many pupils are counted more than once. In the same way, there were 44,578 senior high school participants. I have no exact figures to give for the elementary schools. Inter-school competition—Finally, for the physically superior boys and girls, we conduct an extensive program of inter-school competition. Care- fully selected men and women officiate in all of these contests. In the ele-" mentary and junior high schools they are paid by the board of education. The activities include the various games and athletics with which you are all familiar, and are suitable to the grade in which they are used. Let me quote a few more figures to show the extent of our interschool competition. This year 109 of our 199 elementary schools participated in this form of activity. Many of the schools which did not take part have only six grades. ‘The competition was organized into 67 sectional leagues. “Three hundred and three teams were entered, 737 games were played, and 10,109 boys and girls participated. “These figures do not include our annual sec- tional field meets. One hundred and forty teachers of physical education and 139 teachers of other subjects carried on this work. In our 12 junior high schools, 4918 boys and girls took part in 442 contests. Forty-four teachers of physical education and 53 teachers of other subjects were active in this work. In the senior high schools, 3626 participants engaged in 295 contests under the direction of 73 teachers of physical education and 30 teachers of other subjects. By means of all that I have mentioned we try to vitalize the desire for health by means of interesting and vigorous activity. We try, further- more, to use the accomplishment in many of these activities as definite measuring rods of the child’s health. That we have by no means a perfect program no one realizes better than we ourselves. But we do feel that we are on the right track. Vitalizing health education—I believe you will be interested in hearing DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH AND PuysicaL Epucation 619 of a plan which we have carried out during the past two years for vitaliz- ing health education in the junior high schools. We are quite satisfied with the results so far shown. The plan was made possible by the sincere cooperation of the health day committee of Philadelphia. Several conferences lead to the formation of definite principles that should underlie a plan to win the interest of that most impressionable group, the junior high school pupils, in the formation of definite health habits and to win these adolescents over to a constructive program for health education. The public health day committee donated a bronze trophy that annually should be presented to the junior high school that during the year did most among its pupils to promote the health habits included in the plan. The factors for awarding the trophy are as follows: I. Physical vigor of the pupils (weight, 50 points). II. Correction of remedial defects (weight, 20 points). III. Health habits (weight, 30 points). 1. The physical vigor of pupils is to be determined by the percent of pupils passing the jumping, throwing, running and apparatus aims. 2. The record of a school in “Proportion of Physical Defects Corrected,” as de- termined by the Division of Medical Inspection, is used in computing this score. 3. Health habits. Weight, 30 points, divided as follows: A. Proper weight for age, type and height. (Weight 10.) This factor is to be determined by the use of the age-type-height- charts of the division of physical and health education. Every over- weight and underweight pupil is starred (*) when the pupils are first weighed. Pupils weigh themselves frequently and if the proper weight is reached before the end of term the star (*) is removed. B. Cleanliness. Weight, 20, subdivided as follows: 1. Of pupils. (Weight, 10.) 2. Of building. (Weight, 10.) Note: Only those conditions for which the pupils are obviously responsible are considered. A committee of three supervisors make a sanitary inspection once a term using the following scale for rating the schools: Toilets, washrooms, shower baths, drinking fountains (4 points). Lunchrooms (3). Gymnasiums and play yard (1). . Hallways and locker rooms (1). Classrooms (1). goo cB As stated previously, we are satisfied with the results so far obtained. Character education—Another project in which you will probably be interested is one which has been named the “‘Merit Grouping Plan.” Recent years have seen many plans to unify all phases of school work and so make them contribute more toward the goal called “Character edu- cation.” , A like idea, several years ago, led to a reorganization of our physical education work and to a rearrangement of value-weights of some of this 620 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION work. After several years of experimentation the procedure that was found to be most advantageous was called a “Merit Grouping Plan.” The fundamental idea underlying the plan was to group and arrange those features now operating in our schools into an ideal that in the eyes of adolescents was worth striving for. The goal set before the pupils was to become a “Merit Pupil” by qualifying in definite worthwhile educa- tional standards. The plan places before the pupils an ideal embracing five factors. “The factors are physical ability, scholastic standing, a sound physique, personal hygiene, and sportsmanlike conduct. Pupils who receive a rating of “G” in all the five factors are classed as merit pupils and are awarded a ‘“‘Cer- tificate of Merit.” In order to have an ‘“‘accomplishment scale” for these factors, definite requirements had to be outlined by means of which a pupil could see where he stood in each factor. This rating scale is as follows for the five factors: 1. Physical quotient—G, represents 115 or more; F, 100 to 114 inclusive, and P, 99 or less. The procedure for calculating the physical quotient is found on our score sheet. 2. Scholastic standing—G represents a rating of “G” or better in five or more subjects, two of which must be in the following: English, mathematics, social studies and science. “F” represents promotion at the end of the term and “P” represents non-promotion. 3. Remedial physical defects—“G” indicates none, “F” indicates removal of at least one, and “P” indicates removal of none. 4. Personal Hygiene—‘G” signifies good attention, “F” fair attention, and ‘“P” poor attention. 5. Sportsmanslike conduct—‘G’ denotes good, “F” fair, and “P” poor. This project entails a considerable amount of work and must be under- taken with enthusiasm to be successful. For this reason no attempt has been made to push it into all of the schools at once. Only in those schools in which the supervisors felt it would receive support and encouragement was it introduced. Each year finds a few additional schools taking it up and without exception these schools seem well pleased with the results. One principal said a few days ago that if the department of physical educa- tion ever decided to discontinu the plan he would carry it on of his own accord. HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS—ABSTRACT CLIFFORD J. SCOTT, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, EAST ORANGE, N. J. To integrate an adequate, comprehensive program of health and physical activities with the total work of the schools raises problems not easy of solution by the administrator. The challenge is to both the specialist and the superintendent. The successful health program is one that permeates the whole of school DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL HEALTH AND PuysicaL Epucation 621 life and work. Health, stated separately as one of the objectives of educa- tion, is involved in nearly every other aim that is listed. Other aims are contingent upon its attainment. The reverse is equally true, its realiza- tion cannot be achieved should it stand alone. In fact, the movement of the whole educational process is toward a unified, coordinated, interrelated program of studies. The definitions of education in recent years have given a broader scope and a change of emphasis to our aims. The school’s general problem is how to produce the self-active, socially-minded individuals who can be trusted with the privileges of citizenship. The things we do in school are not ends in themselves but are society’s means of securing worthy members with developed individual capacity and a genius for cooperation. ‘The pur- pose, then, of education is to improve the quality of human living. Its process. is not one of putting into cold storage for some future use of cer- tain subject information. The process, consequently, in health and physi- cal education is one of securing the continuous living by individuals in a wholesome manner physically, mentally, and socially. There are those who believe that the education of the youth should minister to his present needs and that the curriculum should be built around his changing inter- ests. Others hold the traditional belief that the school’s chief end is to prepare for adult life and that the curriculum should give that which serves the pupil when an adult. In our physical education program, no such choice is necessary since it is so evident that both objectives should prevail. It is doubtful, however, if many of our actual programs do definitely seek to serve not only the wellbeing of the present boy and girl, but also to give interests and attitudes and activities that carry over into later life. The formal calisthenics and gymnastic exercises will not adequately serve this larger two-fold purpose. My plea is for a conscious, intelligent major endeavor on the part of our physical instructors to carry on a program which does not end with schooldays. In this connection it may be said that to narrow and confine the purpose of physical education to that of producing good health is to an extent defeating the desire that the pupil be given something that is lifelong in its satisfaction and use. ‘The life that finds joy in recreation, that has interest in games, and that seeks ac- tivities that call for physical prowess, is one from which health naturally flows. If we direct our efforts to the end of securing the child’s health and neglect the interests and pleasures that supply the permanent means of healthful living after instruction and direction end, we fail to realize the larger goal of physical education. Health education must eventuate in wise self-guidance. It is not necessary that all the aims of the school be discussed which physical education may serve, in order to make emphatic the need that this phase of our work be directed to the accepted educational goals. A list of them, however, would also include the wise use of leisure time, the building of character, the development of potential leadership, and the correction of unsocial attitudes. 622 NATIONAL EpuCcATION ASSOCIATION It is important that physical education leaders fully realize that the school administrator must count heavily on their understanding of these aims and clearly see the great significance of their work in the attainment of the objectives for which the present-day school must strive. TEACHING AND SUPERVISING HEALTH EDUCATION— ABSTRACT ELMA ROOD, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NURSING EDUCATION, GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS, NASHVILLE, TENN. Teaching and supervising health education involves a clear translation and analysis of the life situations and activities in order that the classroom teacher may appreciate all available factors which influence the health, behavior, and attitude of each child, excluding from the child’s experience those factors whose influence is unfavorable, and searching for and bring- ing into the child’s experience those which contribute to his fullest develop- ment. Every child in the country now has at hand thousands of these experi- ences which may be drawn from home, school, and community. The job of the health education supervisor is to bring these possibilities into the consciousness of the school administrator, teacher, and to help them become constructively critical of all the factors which come into the lives of their children. It then becomes the task of the school to see that these factors function in a positive way, thus serving as basic material for the teaching of positive health principles. The child should be the center of such a program—the efforts of everyone concentrating (1) the development of favorable attitude basis, these resulting, (2) healthful activities on a voluntary basis, crystalliz- ing into (3) health habits, which intelligently practiced are conductive to the highest development possible for each child in the school. THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF THE COMMON CONTAGIOUS DISEASES AMONG SCHOOL CHIL- DREN—ABSTRACT PHILIP M. STIMSON, CORNELL MEDICAL SCHOOL, NEW YORK CITY There are a number of questions about the common contagious diseases for which school health workers want and need to know the answers. These questions include: what constitutes exposure to disease; how long should an exposed child be isolated; when are the first evidences of the secondary cases ; and what can be done’to prevent a child from contracting these diseases. “These questions are applied to diphtheria and scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, mumps, and German measles. Stress is also laid on the subject of common colds. These are of special DEPARTMENT OF ScHOOL HEALTH AND PHysicaL Epucation 623 importance in any campaign against the spread of common contagious diseases, first, because colds reduce resistance to the common contagious diseases, second, colds aggravate the severity of the contagious disease, and third, colds tend to obscure the diagnosis of the onset of several of these diseases. Hence, any intelligent campaign aimed at preventing the spread of these diseases, should be primarily directed against common colds. All children should be immunized against diphtheria, scarlet fever, and smallpox. School health authorities should have records kept in their respective schools, which will show the percent of possible school at- tendance which is lost thru absence due to various causes, particularly due to respiratory infections, to contagion, and to quarantine. By a com- parison of methods used with results obtained, standardization of the best methods can be worked out. SECRETARY'S MINUTES Tuesday, June 29, 1926 The first session of the Department of School Health and Physical Education was held on Tuesday, June 29, in Room No. 400, William Penn High School. The program was as follows: THE ScHooL PROGRAM IN PuysicAL EpucaTion—Clark W. Hetherington, New York University, New York. Pusiic ScHOoL HEALTH AND PuysicAL EpucATionN—Grover W. Mueller, Special Assistant, Department of Physical Education, Philadelphia, Pa. THE SPORTSMANSHIP BROTHERHOOD—Captain Percy R. Creed, Secretary, National Association The Sportsmanship Brotherhood, Inc., New York City. A WorkING PLAN oF SPORTSMANSHIP—Daniel Chase, Chief, State Bureau of Phys- ical Education, Albany, N. Y. Agnes R. Wayman, Professor of Physical Education and Hygiene, Barnard College, New York City, was to speak on the subject Physical Education for the College Girl, but was unavoidably absent. Thursday, July 1, 1926 On Thursday, July 1, the following program was presented: HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THE PuBLic ScHoors—Clifford J. Scott, Super- intendent of Schools, East Orange, N. J. TEACHING AND SUPERVISING HEALTH EpucaTION—Elma Rood, Teacher Training Staff, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn. Tue PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF COMMON CONTAGIOUS DISEASES AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN—Philip M. Stimson, M. D., Cornell Medical School, New York City. Frankwood E. Williams, chairman, National Committee for Mental Hygiene, New York City, was to speak on the subject, “The Relation Between Recreational Activities and Mental Hygiene,’ but was not present owing to unavoidable cir- cumstances which prevented his attendance. Business meeting—A business session was held on Thursday, July 1. The following resolution presented by Sally Lucan Jean and seconded by Doctor Kahn was unanimously adopted: 624 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Whereas the superintendent’s section has declared that health is the first ob- jective in education, : Be it resolved, that a larger and more important place be given this topic in the program of the National Education Association. The officers elected for 1926-27 are: President—Melville Stewart, State Supervisor of Physical Education, Charleston, W. Va. Vice-president—Mary E. Gross, Director Department of Physical Education and Hygiene for Women, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. Secretary-treasurer—Florence D. Alden, Director Department of Physical Educa- tion, for Women, University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore. Doctor Herbert R. Stolz, State Supervisor of Physical Education, Sacramento, Calif., was elected to the executive committee for four years in place of Francis N. Maxfield whose term expired. The following representatives on the National Council of Education were elected: Melville Stewart, State Supervisor of Physical Education, Charleston, W. Va., six years. William Burdick, State Supervisor of Physical Education, 7 E. Mulberry Street, Baltimore, Md., four years. Ethel Perrin, Associate Director, Health Education Division, American Child Health Association, 370 Seventh Avenue, New York City, N. Y., two years. Department of Science Instruction outgrowth of a State Department of Natural Science Teachers which was organized at a meeting of the Colorado State Teachers Association in 1894. See Proceedings, 1895: 951. It was first known as the Department of Natural Science In- struction. The officers of the Department for the year 1926-27 are: President, Hanor D. Webb, Head of Chemical Department, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn.; Secretary, Francis D. Curtis, As- sistant Professor of Teaching of Science, School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. This Department meets once each year in June. Facts relating to the establishment of this Department and the record of meetings are found in earlier volumes of Proceedings, as follows: y i {HE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION is an 1895: 951-959 1902:759-790 1908: 965-999 1914:721-773 1920: 305-309 1896: 937-968 1903:847-897 1909: 789-829 1915:995-1029 1921: 663-667 1897: 916-959 1904:843-897 1910: 949-969 1916:699-751 1922:1239-1267 1898: 959-985 1905:781-827 1911: 939-993 1917:535-557 1923: 843-861 1899 :1097-1118 1906 :719 1912 :1153-1195 1918 :295 1924; 753-775 1900: 592-609 1907:951-959 1913: 695-717 1919 :289 1925: 598-609 1901: 771-803 - 1626] NATURE STUDY AND CITIZENSHIP ARTHUR NEWTON PACK, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN NATURE ASSOCIA- TION, PRINCETON, N. J. . -\ swings, shutes, ladders, and lattices is a wonderful starting point for play. Yet unless there is direction to the play, boys and girls miss the best fun of all and perhaps ruin the playground to boot. One can not successfully make a baseball diamond out of a garden and still have flowers to enjoy and fresh peas to eat. Once upon a time there were so many miles of forests, ponds, and meadows that a thousand trees cut, a thousand flowers picked, a thousand birds and animals shot or trapped made an im- pression on the great playground of the out of doors too small to be noticed. Some have never learned how to use nature’s gifts, and millions of people today still keep to the old destructive ideas as being the only form of true outdoor recreation. But sentiment is changing, and nowdays in our schools we mix the study of forests and of forest destruction with geography and history, and make it a lesson task to write compositions on trees and the things which come from them; about birds and the insects which they eat. If only we do not forget that nature study is not exclusively a textbook science and that actual experience and contact is a better teacher than a classroom. It is fun to plant a tree. It is fun to hike into the woods, to find and catch a tree frog or a newt and watch him jump for flies. ‘There are a thousand games, a thousand discoveries. The boy and girl scouts and similar organizations are continually developing new ideas of nature in play; the summer camps are sounding an urgent call for leaders and counselors who have been trained to find constructive play in forms of nature along every trailside; but our public schools, nevertheless, have a great function to perform in connection with nature study as a preparation for effective citizenship. What is this connection? I wish to suggest to you that it is two-fold. 1. Nature study engenders respect for public and private property, or in other words, the slogan now being widely adopted through the help of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, the American Automobile Association, and others—‘Roadside Good Manners.”’ ‘Thoughtless destruc- tion of flowering trees, shrubs, and wild flowers; the littering of beautiful spots chosen for camp or picnic with papers and refuse; the careless leaving of unextinguished camp fires; and, from all these causes, a callous attitude toward beauty and neatness, which permits highways to be shaded only by ugly and dangerous signboards—these are all contrary to the principles of good citizenship. 2. Nature study engenders participation in the active economic problems pertaining to natural resources, such as conservation of forests and water supplies, game protection, the importance of song birds in destroying in- sects, and that curious problem called the “balance of nature” which A PLAYGROUND equipped with every one of the fifty-seven varieties of [627] 628 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION — governs the fitness and place of all living things as the truest example of a greater wisdom and gigantic plan. So much for the need of nature study and its essential importance as a part of modern education. The question resolves itself into one of means and methods; and the surest means of helping the next generation to absorb these fundamental ideals is individual and personal leadership in school- room and playground, camp and field. To bring this about there must be active sources of practical inspiration; there must also be facilities for ex- change of ideas and methods. In the field of those two particular functions of good citizenship above referred to the American Nature Association operates. Organized to en- courage public interest in nature, it numbers nearly 100,000 members whose contributions are used solely to carry on the work of supplying popular and scientifically correct nature articles through the newspapers and through its publication, Nature Magazine. The American Nature Association was organized in the latter part of 1922 to publish the Nature Magazine and principally to stress inspirational help for nature teachers. As the association grew, the necessity of provid- ing facilities for exchange of ideas and methods continuously confronted us. We wished to be able to render not merely an inspirational, but also. a practical service to nature teachers; and, as we were unable to accomplish this with a purely editorial staff, we sought the aid of the American Nature Study Society whose publication—The Nature Study Review—had been merged with Nature Magazine. Anna Botsford Comstock of Cornell gave us much help and advice. Subsequently, with her inspiration in mind, the speaker made a trip across the continent, inquiring in educational circles as to how the American Nature Association could extend its usefulness in the nature study field. On the Atlantic Coast and in California alike he found that E. Laurence Palmer of Cornell seemed to be everywhere known and regarded as the coming leader in nature education. Accordingly, we subsequently arranged with Professor Palmer to associate himself with us and to continue the making of a survey of nature education which had already been started by the American Nature Study Society. We have already published and made available to nature leaders two sections of this survey in bulletin form. ‘The information therein collected is most signifi- cant, and the survey is still being continued, actually at the request of the various cooperators who have themselves become so interested in the value of the results obtained. On the completion of the survey next spring we shall publish a rather unique handbook for nature teachers and leaders, which will contain within its covers not only the complete survey of nature education in the public schools, above referred to, together with a survey of normal school and teachers college problems, but also a rather complete list of various helps to nature study. This list will comprise information covering a large number of national organizations who have helpful material, or conduct Nature Education work in some form or other. Their material will be DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION 629 ——S listed in brief form, and the address of the secretary of the organization will be given, thus enabling the teacher to have a reference book of real value. The same volume will also give in brief form a study of nature work in the organized camps and among groups such as the boy and girl scouts and so forth. Finally, one section will be devoted to an almanac or calendar of nature’s more important events, prepared by Professor Palmer in form similar to that in which it now appears monthly in Nature Magazine. Professor Palmer has been at work collecting his portion of the data for this publication for over a year, and to complete and render as practical as possible the results obtained, he will make a tour of the country this fall and winter under the auspices of the American Nature Association, at- tending teachers conventions and parents and teachers association meet- ings in New England, the middle Atlantic states, the south, middle west, and Pacific coast regions. I should also like to mention at this time that the American Nature Association is undertaking in connection with the publication of color plates in Nature Magazine, the preparation of nature study leaflet material in the fields of birds, mammals, insects, and probably other fields as well. It will be possible for us to distribute colored leaflets with accompanying outline drawings similar to those which have been furnished in the past by the National Association of Audubon Societies, but in smaller size, at very low cost, because of the fact that the plates are paid for by the publi- cation of Nature Magazine. Within the next year we thus expect to be able to publish leaflet material on seventy-two subjects. As far as our present plans go, these will comprise a set of twelve common insects—the plates of which appear in the July issue of Nature Magazine—twelve western birds, most of which have not heretofore been covered by any leaflets, and twelve mammals. ‘The size of each individual picture is such that it can be cut out and pasted on the ordinary field notebook page such as that of the notebook issued by the Comstock Publishing Company. ‘The description, or life history, appears upon the back of the colored plate, but can be copied by the child on the notebook page below the picture. This, we are informed, is a desirable plan from the point of view of making the child prepare his own notebook. The association will also furnish outline drawings to exactly match each color plate. These are for hand coloring by younger children. Suggestive questions and further material will appear on the back of the outline drawing for use by teachers or for copying by the child onto a second page of his notebook. The colored plates with accompanying outline drawings are being made available by the American Nature Association at less than one cent apiece. The American Nature Association has also recently undertaken to a certain degree the preparation and distribution of educational nature motion pictures. We have not yet, however, been able to work out a plan for lending these to individual schools. During the winter season we have three lecturers connected with the association continuously in the field—William L. Finley, Guy C. Caldwell, and Howard H. Cleaves. 630 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Motion pictures have also been used for educational purposes at the asso- ciation’s recent exhibit on Central Pier, Atlantic City, where continuous pictures have been shown with splendid results, judging by the number of teachers who have visited the exhibit with their classes. Other educa- tional exhibits of this character have been maintained by the association at the convention of the Department of Superintendence of the National Education Association in Washington; at the Educational Exposition in New York; at the recent Outdoor Life Exhibition in Chicago; and at other places. Through the American Tree Association, which is affiliated with the American Nature Association, there has been made available in the past year to teachers several publications having to do with trees and forestry. The most outstanding of these is the Forestry Primer which condenses into a few pages, illustrated with pen and ink cartoons, the whole story of forest destruction and forest use, with an outline of what forest conserva- tion means. Over four hundred thousand copies of the Forestry Primer have been distributed during the last few months. ‘The association hopes to get out in the near future a special school “‘project’”’ edition of the Forestry Primer. Other publications of the American Tree Association include a free bulletin on town forests and their application to local con- servation problems. NATURE STUDY IN OPEN AIR SCHOOLS—ABSTRACT JESSIE H. SICKELS, OPEN AIR SCHOOL, ROCHESTER, N. Y It is a self-evident fact that nature study is an essential part of the cur- riculum of every school, and if this is true of the normal school, how much more is it true of the school filled with children physically below par! The children in open air schools are not sick enough to be in bed, nor yet well enough to be in a regular grade room. It is not difficult to be very sick; it is when one is half sick or half-way well that time hangs heavily about his shoulders, and he worries about his imaginary ills, or he becomes listless and indifferent to life and’ living. The problem of the open air teacher is to avoid just these conditions. A child in the open air school must become physically strong, and strongly health-minded. His mind must be kept so occupied that he has no time to worry, and his days so filled that he has no time to miss the violent athletic games which are forbidden him. The three R’s fill a large place, but here is the opportunity tor the teacher who loves the great outdoors to inculcate that same love into the souls of his pupils. Parents willingly cooperate in anything which tends to make for health and happiness of their children, there is less anxiety about “making the grade,” and the teacher is practically free to make his own course of study. Here too is an opportunity to drive home the lesson in democracy, nature is a great leveler. These children represent all classes, and nature affords DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION 631 a common interest, a pleasant rivalry which unites them into the most wholesome kind of friendship. It is not unusual to see the bright, capable, intelligent child explaining insects to the timid, frightened child from a congested settlement district ; for we find it true that those whose lives are spent far from the open fields fear and distrust the simple things of nature which are sources of pure delight to the more fortunate children. In the open air school the relations between teacher and pupil become more intimate than anywhere else, thereby affording an excellent founda- tion whereby the child becomes acquainted with his own life-history. It is a very simple thing to tell a group of children that the eggs of that beautiful Promethea moth will probably not hatch, as there has been no male to fer- tilize the eggs. Is it immodest? No, it is just natural. Will those chil- dren ever make wrong use of knowledge thus gained, or pass it on in an unclean manner, or be betrayed into telling smutty stories? I doubt it. ‘Their interest is not in the sex of those moths, but in their development through their different stages. NATURE STUDY IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS—ABSTRACT EMMA DAVIS, TERRITORIAL NORMAL SCHOOL, HONOLULU, HAWAII We have in the islands 240 schools, with 2181 teachers and 64,916 pupils. Sixty-five of the schools with 462 teachers and 9872 pupils are private in- stitutions. “The other 175 schools are public and have a total of 1719 teachers and 55,044 pupils. ‘The nationality of the pupils is prevailingly Oriental as can be seen in the accompanying table. Race No. Pupils Race No. Pupils (anv aitans seem ake. teert ree ete Sh 8 iS) CHINCSE ce tear ns Ger ea eae s 55270 Part-Hiawatiian ones. n0.) ee 5,596 Japanese? VOL Aware nena 28,363 Anglo-Saxon aceite, oes 1,816 Koreanwug han. agai ease. oe: 1,032 Spamishterrts tie ac cee cies wees 315 Filipinos fa.eesten anand maneeee 1,945 IPOTtUS UCSC rae Gree «alesse 5,704 Other sts) asic Bg hoped eenae ad usec 582 POL OM IR I CAT) tener chers|ior obs ke bate ye te 1,043 MROta Incite. shores creators 55,044 Life in the Hawaiian Islands is essentially agricultural and rural. ‘The production of cane sugar and pineapples constitutes the occupation, either directly or indirectly, of the major part of the population. ‘The sugar and pineapple industries are owned and controlled by a very small proportion of the population and the bulk of the rural population is made up of plantation laborers, who live in the quarters called “plantation camps” that are provided for them by the plantation owners. The rural schools are the schools located in these camps for the most part. Relatively few of the rural schools are in localities independent of the plantations. I do not have the figures showing the proportion of enrolment in the rural and urban schools. Nature study is on the program of all the public schools both rural and 632 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION city in grades 1 to 4 inclusive; agriculture is taught in grades 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, and is elective in the high schools. The private schools, also, include nature study in their courses and sev- eral offer agriculture in the junior and senior high schools. While we have a rather comprehensive program of nature study we like- wise have many serious obstacles to carrying out that program. Naturally there are in the Hawaiian Islands considerable numbers of what are some- times spoken of as “tourist teachers’’—those who come to spend a year sight- seeing. Personally I think their influence on the schools is ultimately wholly good. They bring in new ideas and new methods, and their experiences are usually wider than those of teachers born and educated in the islands. But they find themselves distinctly handicapped when they are expected to teach nature study. The plants and animals of their new environment are entirely unfamiliar to them; weather conditions are different; the rocks and soils may even be unlike those they have been accustomed to. Under such conditions the trained teacher turns at once to the literature dealing with the thing he is unacquainted with. In Hawaii the literature of the natural environment is disappointingly meager and so technical that the average teacher is unable to make use of it when he has access to it. Of the teachers native to the islands many are familiar with the materials which constitute the stuff of nature study but their knowledge is in most cases unorganized and is often shot with superstition. As I see it the greatest need of those who are to teach nature study is a book written ex- pressly for the schools of the Hawaiian Islands and dealing with the ma- terial peculiar to that region. Nature study books are plentiful enough but none that I have seen are fitted to conditions in Hawaii. I am now engaged in collecting material which I hope to offer to the teachers of the Hawaiian Islands in printed form in the near future. I must acknowledge indebtedness to the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, the various experiment stations and to the University of Hawaii for ready and courteous assistance at all times. I have spoken of the differences between the flora and fauna of the islands and that of other parts of the United States. Lét me mention some of the outstanding instances. I might enumerate the plants and animals that are the common forms there but to most of you their names would be of little interest. Instead I shall speak briefly of those which are common here which do not occur there. It is interesting to note that the only amphibians which are found are introduced frogs. True, I have seen one individual toad during my five years’ stay but I have looked in vain for salamanders. There are no snakes of any kind, and no squirrels. Naturally the trees are practically all different from the trees of the greater part of the United States, as are the smaller plant forms. I miss the delicate wild flowers that mark the early spring in the east. Indeed, the change of seasons with all the attendant variations of plant and animal life, and all the changing activities which accompany them is almost wholly lacking. Consequently the nature study program is very much the same throughout the year. DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION 633 I would like to be able to report that provision is made for careful and adequate supervision of the nature work in all the schools of the islands but unfortunately we are in the same position as the majority of the schools in the United States. We lack the necessary funds. We do reach many of the schools through the normal school and we are gradually ex- tending our service to teachers out in the field through the medium of late afternoon classes and correspondence. We hope in the near future to have an appropriation which will enable us to make personal visits to the schools to organize extension classes among the teachers. We expect also te have published a series of nature study leaflets for use in the schools. Nature study is required of the students in the normal school who are training to be teachers in the primary grades. The work is offered in the junior year and is a three-hour course in both semesters. Emphasis is laid upon the methods of teaching nature study in the schools, the use of nature study materials and nature study literature. At present considerable atten- tion must be had to giving the students an acquaintance with the subject- matter of nature study but we hope to more and more get away from that phase and to deal more with the problems of teaching. We try to impress upon the girls in training that whether they teach in a fishing village or on a sugar plantation their part in the nature study field is to help the chil- dren to understand and appreciate their environment. Elementary agriculture, or school gardening is offered to the students in the normal school who elect to be teachers in the intermediate grades. There are also courses in agriculture for the students who will become vocational teachers. Much attention is given to school gardening through- out all the islands. On the whole, Hawaii’s nature study program compares very favorably with the programs of other parts of the United States. NATURE STUDY AS I SEE IT—ABSTRACT ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK, PROFESSOR OF NATURE STUDY, CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, N. Y. For a quarter of a century nature study has been a part of the curriculum in many schools; and now we are able to look over the field and see, at least in part, where this education in natural environments leads. It has many paths, and no one school with which we are acquainted has set the feet of its pupils marching along them all. First, nature study leads the child to a realization of the value of truth. The first experiences he has in observing living things is a training in see- ing the truth and in telling it. In this day of frenzied hurry and speeding autos there is the path that leads to the quiet fields and woods, and thus introduces them to the com- panionship of the birds, the little animals, the plants, and the trees in which they will find quiet and rest. 634 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION > One path leads to a true understanding of plant life, its adaptations, its struggles, and its means of success. A branching path leads to the trees. There is something in a tree that appeals to those who understand it. The study of animal life also has many bypaths. First of all there comes a knowledge of the adaptation of creatures: to their environment. ‘The study of animals in the circus or zoo creates paths that lead out to the geography of the world, from the arctic regions with its seals and bears ‘to the tropic jungle with its lions and tigers and monkeys. All the paths in the fields and woods will cultivate in the child an understanding of the laws of nature and the beauty of the universe. An appreciation of the beauty in the many pictures that nature paints for us everywhere is an asset to happiness, and to spiritual uplift. However, the path that leads to the stars most of all helps the growth of the spirit and widens the spiritual vision. THE USE OF THE QUESTION IN GENERAL SCIENCE TEACHING 0. E. UNDERHILL, EDITOR AND MANAGER OF SCIENCE QUARTERLY, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, SALEM, MASS. The question and answer method of presenting material is the most . useful in the teaching of general science to pupils of junior high school age and younger. ‘This type of teaching is the oldest known, but it still has its place for the development of new ideas through stimulating the pupil to original thinking. Its misuse is the using it solely as a means for deter- mining the amount of factual knowledge retained by the pupil of some previously assigned lesson. “The pupil should be led by means of question, from things about which he is familiar, to the new ideas. “This familiarity may be gained’ in three ways: (1) experience; (2) demonstrations by teacher or pupils, or by laboratory work; (3) assigned reading. By far the greater part of the questioning should be based on the pupil’s everyday experience. “The aim is to train the pupil to. ask questions of him- self, that is, he is taught to think. The scientific method of procedure is to gather facts, formulate a theory to explain these facts, and then test the theory with all other known facts. This is what we teach the child to do when we teach him to draw conclusions as to the principles and laws under- lying his environment by a study of the environment. By this means the pupil is led to his own conclusions, rather than made to learn scientific theories and rules, a process which often becomes mere memory work, with- out any real thinking. This method applies to the problems of life as well ac those of science classroom. The man who makes the most correct deci- sions based on the facts he has at hand makes the biggest success. We say he is a straight thinker. While the major object is to teach the pupil to think straight, he is at the same time given certain information about his environment which will DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION 635 be of use to him later in life either directly or through its cultural value, and through an appreciation of the part played by science in the develop- ment of our civilization. Various points in the effective use of the question were illustrated by extracts from a series of dialogs between teacher and pupils written by Mr. Underhill which have been published in the General Science Quarterly from time to time during the past two years. In illustration of a lesson time, a model clock was demonstrated, which can be assembled before a class to show the principles involved. THE PLACE OF CLASS EXPERIMENTS IN AN ELEMEN- TARY PHYSICS COURSE—ABSTRACT N. HENRY BLACK, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. By class experiments I mean lecture experiments or demonstration experi- ments as distinguished from individual laboratory experiments. What I have to say about physics instruction applies equally well to our elementary chemistry instruction in both schools and colleges. ‘This sort of experi- mental work in which both teacher and student cooperate to develop the subject by solving some real problems together is not novel but in recent years has been crowded out by laboratory experiments, by numerical prob- lems, and especially by the multiplicity of new topics demanding attention. If one judged the present status of such work by the number of demon- stration experiments which are described in our modern textbooks, we should conclude that the average physics teacher did at least 100 such ex- periments in the course of a year with apparatus which costs in toto from $500 to $1000. But from the reports of summer-school students, from survey reports, and from personal observation, I conclude that less than half this number of class experiments are attempted, that the high schools except in large cities lack equipment, and that the teachers are wofully lacking in the time and the experience needed to do this work successfully. What can we do about it? First, urge the apparatus dealers to make better, more modern apparatus and scrap their obsolete stuff. Second, urge teachers to take account of stock, repair the broken apparatus when worth- while, learn to use more effectively what apparatus they now have, and build up progressively their equipment. Third, urge our teachers colleges, schools of education, and the departments of education in our largest cities to offer training courses for science teachers in which to practice the tech- nic of class experiments, to test out thoroughly new apparatus, and to learn the use of simple tools in the construction and repair of apparatus. Fourth, send our most promising science teachers abroad to study in Germany, France, and Switzerland what facilities such as storerooms, apparatus, and books are needed for effective class experiments and, what is most difficult to describe, to observe the art of using this apparatus. My own experience and all the recent statistical studies in this field 636 NaTIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION show that class experiments are valuable and in fact necessary in our science teaching to arouse the pupil’s interest, to keep the teacher alert, and to give science its rightful place in the school curriculum. SECRETARY'S MINUTES Tuesday, June 29, 1926 Ha.or A. Webb, secretary of the Department, was unable to be present owing to sickness in his family, so C. E. Baer was elected secretary pro tem. S. R. Powers elected chairman of the nominating committee. Moved, seconded and carried that the officers for the coming year be instructed to bring in at the next meeting a plan for a more permanent form of organization for the Science Department. S. R. Powers, reporting for the nominating committee, placed the following names in nomination: President—Hanor A. Webb, Head of the Department of Chemistry, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn. Secretary—Francis D. Curtis, Assistant Professor of the Teaching of Science in the School of Education of the University of Michigan and Head of the Depart- ment of Science in the University High School at Ann Arbor, Michigan. The report of the nominating committee was accepted, and no further nomina- tions being made from the floor, the secretary was instructed to cast a unanimous ballot for the election of these officers. The secretary then declared these officers elected. Meeting adjourned at 4:20 P. M. Department of Secondary School Principals PALS was organized in Topeka, Kansas, in 1886 under the name of the Department of Sec- ondary Instruction. See Proceedings 1887: 395. Anticipating the proposed merger of the National Association of Secondary School Principals with the National Education Association, the name of the De- partment has been changed to the Department of Secondary School Principals. The officers of the Department of Secondary School Principals for the year 1926-27 are: President, Charles Edwin Keyes, Principal, Oakland High School, Oakland, Calif. ; Vice-President, Eugene Kile, Principal, High School, Oilton, Okla.; Secretary, Margaret Durkin, 1824 Pittston Avenue, Scranton, Pa. Facts relating to the establishment of this Department and the record of meetings are found in earlier volumes of Proceedings as follows: 1887: 395-442 1895:579-635 1903: 429-486 1911:555-657 1919: 195-204 1888: 403-433 1896:557-619 1904: 473-536 1912:663-765 1920: 209-230 1889: 499-533 1897:644-699 1905: 423-479 1913:469-499 1921: 667-678 1890: 615-655 1898:664-700 1906: 633-637 1914:445-488 1922: 1267-1293 1891: 617-687 1899:601-818 1907: 521-710 1915:723-753 1923: 861-880 1892: 332-373 1900:428-453 1908: 577-667, 1916:517-574 1924: 775-802 1893: 177-242 1901:565-604 1909: 479-522° 1917:253-284 1925: 450-477 1894: 743-794 1902:455-492 1910: 443-533 1918:177-189 Y \HE DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCI- 1633] PRACTICAL PROCEDURE IN CHARACTER EDUCATION IN HIGH SCHOOLS—ABSTRACT C. V. COURTER, PRINCIPAL, FLINT HIGH SCHOOL, FLINT, MICH. ae PARAMOUNT problem in public school administration today is the _ acquiring of a technic for the development of moral character in the nation’s future leaders. ‘The waning influence of the typically over- indulgent American home and the bald fact that statistics show an army of 27,000,000 Protestant youth uninfluenced by any church indicate just how vital the problem is and makes its solution increasingly imperative. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the very crude beginnings of character development technic in the field of high school administration. Character development as a school program requires the development in students of a state of mind appropriate to right conduct and the making habitual through the provision of proper living experiences a state of con- duct appropriate to right ideals. ‘The development of a mental state appro- priate to right conduct is the work of the morale technician. ‘The making habitual a state of conduct appropriate to right ideals is the real essence of character training. [The former, however, is prerequisite to the latter. In embarking upon a definite program of character development, there- fore, the school administrator needs to proceed along four lines. First, he must develop a technic of morale control. In other words, he must apply scientific principles to the development of a mental state appropriate to right conduct. Second, he.must formulate methods of disseminating moral concepts throughout his student body, which tested by the student in his school activities and found workable, become in the student’s mind moral convictions. ‘Third, he must furnish the student with practice in living types of experience that are real, not artificial, that present problems in group conduct that the student by his own efforts in cooperation with his fellows can at least partially solve and which appear to him desirable of solution. Fourth, he must provide a program of activities in which the student can make choices of conduct in keeping with his moral convictions. The foregoing sketches briefly the viewpoint upon which a program of character development is being carried forward in the Flint high school. What follows describes the nature of our activities under the four heads just enumerated. 1. As to the control of morale—For character development group morale is of especial significance. It results from the fusion of individual mental states into a group mental state vastly different from the mental state of any individual in its group, but at the same time it exercises a powerful influence upon the individual mental state. Key individuals exercise dis- proportionate amounts of influence upon the group. Self becomes sub- merged. Individual effort becomes cooperative effort, the individual’s de- termination to do his part culminates into a mass determination to carry through, individual understanding of self and self appreciation develop into [639] 640 NATIONAL EpUCATION ASSOCIATION unity of understanding and mutuality of appreciation and sympathy, the individual’s feeling of fitness for the task at hand gives rise to a sense of solidarity of strength and purpose in the group. Certain measures may be taken in every school to promote morale. Such measures are: 1. Stimulation of pride in the school. 2. Arousing interest in morale among teachers, 3. Development of enthusiasm, cooperation, unity, and good fellowship. 4, Increasing school contentment of students by careful attention to adjusting the student to his level of ability through proper grouping. 5. Correction of bad influences in the school as ascertained from teachers and key students. 6. Association of the principal with community organizations to secure their support of the school’s activities. 7. Relations with the press in complete cooperation with reporters to secure exploitation of incidents and facts helpful to morale and to prevent the publica- tion of distorted facts harmful to the school. 8. Interaction of the student with the community. 9. Special attention to: a. Freshmen; b. Foreign born students; c. Negro stu- dents; and d. Personal problems of boys and girls by dean of boys and dean of girls. It is absolutely essential that the student be in complete harmony with his school environment if the school is to have any measure of success in the training of his character. This is well illustrated by the following problem in moral control. For a number of years the senior class had been given wide privileges and numerous concessions in the raising of funds for a three days trip to the Niagara Falls. “This became the supreme interest and the one aim of all senior classes. It absorbed the energies, the best ability, and the leader- ship of the class. At the same time it was essentially a selfish project. The principal, therefore, with the approval of the majority of the faculty, as tactfully as possible, suggested to some of the leaders of the class that the practice ought to be discontinued. About fifty percent of the class were disturbed. The principal realized that here was a mental state that is highly contagious. In certain individ- uals the instinct of constructiveness which had begun to function in elabo- rate planning of the organization of the class for the raising of funds and the anticipatory conduct of arrangements preceding and during the trip, was interrupted in its operation. The difficulty is almost entirely the result of the interruption of the nat- ural operation of basic instincts and the exercise of traits peculiar to ado- lescence. Such interruption of instincts naturally results in a discontented state and puts the individual seriously out of harmony with his environment. The problem must be treated immediately to check the spread of the con- tagion. ‘The principal called a meeting of the senior class at the earliest possible moment. In addressing the class, since so many strong instincts were affected, he must, to be effective, arouse other instincts in the class, and sublimate those instincts that have been denied satisfaction. In other words, the strong feelings that had been attached to the instincts already DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 641 operating must be fastened to a new object and the instincts allowed to con- tinue operating toward satisfying new desires. If possible new instincts should be excited. 2. The development of moral convictions—Our problem is to present to the student the proper social concepts and allow him in contact with the opinion of his fellows and through his school experiences to formulate his own opinions. Our plan for doing this is the following: The school is administered upon a six sixty-minute period day. Each student has four periods of class work per day, one period in the library or study hall and one period in which he alternates between the gymnasium and special activities. “The special activities are organized into what we call a social arts department. Every student must be in an activity group of some kind in this department during his entire high school career. Each of these groups contain approximately fifty students. ‘They meet every other day, giving three sixty-minute meeting periods one week and two periods the next week. “I‘wenty minutes are devoted at each meeting of these groups to group discussion of moral topics. [hese topics are pre- sented in what have come to be known as auditorium lessons. One of these lessons is discussed by each group each week. ‘The teacher plays no part in the discussion except to stimulate it. He offers no personal opinions. He knows the conclusions that the students are expected to for- mulate because he is supplied with these conclusions in advance. He seeks merely to guide the discussion toward the correct conclusions. A high order of team work results. ‘The desire to be of service to the school de- velops rapidly and becomes practically universal. Lessons are developed around a general topic for each semester. “The range of topics for one semester will suffice to illustrate how the general topic for a semester is covered. ‘The following are the separate topics dis- cussed in the 10th grade, second semester, under the general head of ‘“The student’s relation to the school organization”’ (specific) The student’s contribution to the life of the school: 1. In the classroom 10. In the corridors 2. At the games 11. In the homeroom 3. As a member of a team 12. In special activities 4. At the parties 13. As a member of the Student Union 5. In the assemblies 14. As a member of a class 6. In the study hall 15. As a member of a club 7. In the library 16. In the 8th hour 8. In the gymnasium 17. At the inter-class sing 9. In the cafeteria 18. Before and after school ‘There is a moral idea in each lesson which when brought to the surface by the student in discussing phazes of his school life becomes to him his own idea. When it is held in common with his fellows it becomes a moral con- viction. ; Because this work has developed in the senior high school and has not yet found its way in the junior high schools of our city, it 1s, as yet, un- supported by the systematic teaching in the grades immediately below of 642 NATIONAL EpuUCATION ASSOCIATION —— ideals of a more elemental nature. ‘The emphasis in the senior high school is upon social ideals. My own conception of the nature of the ideals that should be taught in the junior high school in a fashion similar to what has been described is as follows: 7th grade—Ideals associated with one’s physical and material welfare, covering such matters as health, safety, thrift, etc. 8th grade—Ideals associated with one’s moral and spiritual welfare, covering such topics as honesty, truthfulness, industry, service, etc. 9th grade—Ideals associated with one’s personal relations with other students, teachers, and adults, covering such items as helpfulness, courtesy, consideration, respect for age, etc. 3. Practice in living types of experience—Having given attention to ad- justing the individual to his environment and maintaining him there in as complete harmony with his surroundings as possible, and having provided for his acquiring certain indispensible viewpoints and attitudes and a body of ideals, our next problem is to furnish him with experiences of a nature to give him practice in living. The high school must become a cooperative community of young Americans engaging in most of the activities of com- munity life. It must be a real community in the fullest sense of the term with real community activities which it conducts and real community prob- lems which it attempts to solve. “The modern progressive high school is rapidly becoming such a community. In keeping with this thought we have organized a student union as the basis upon which is built the community life of the school. Membership in this organization is voluntary.. Nevertheless it is almost universal. To participate in any of the activities of the school outside the classroom the student must be a member of the student union. ‘The dues are $1 per semester. All activities are activities of the school community free to all members of the community. ‘Thus the school community or student union member attends all athletic contests, school parties, plays, operettas, debates, etc. without charge. “The school community is governed by a set of school officers and a council which in turn is divided into special commissions each having charge of some phase of the school community’s activities. The council is made up of one representative from each group in the social arts department. ‘The following are typical activities of the school community: The conducting of assemblies, the maintenance of a system of corridor guards, the supervision of automobile parking and traffic on the school site, the direction of noon-day recreation, the sale of candy, hot-dogs, popcorn, the profits of which go into the school community’s treasury, the. control and supervision of social activities, etc. There are certain vital principles that must be operative in this type of community activity: 1, The idea must prevail that allegiance to the. school community and class and club allegiance secondary. i 2. The idea must prevail that all concessions are the property of the school community. When a special group sells anything at a football game for instance the group acts as agents for the student union. is primary DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 643 3. Students must be allowed to solve their community problems with a minimum of direction from teachers. 4. There must be a teacher advisor for every undertaking and in charge of every group. 5. Students must be made to feel that the school is their school to make or mar. The teachers are their co-workers. The whole is a strictly cooperative enterprise. 6. A school bank is a necessity. 7. The annual receipts and disbursements of such a community organization may aggregate in a large school as much as $50,000. First class business methods and excellent business management must prevail. 4. Activities for training in conduct—The setting up of a community organization for practice in living purposes does not in itself solve the prob- lem of training all students in proper conduct. It furnishes the medium through which all individuals may gain certain community attitudes and to some individuals endowed with initiative and capacities for leadership, it furnishes avenues for the development of these abilities, but just as in the adult community, there are large numbers of people who play no active part in the community life so in the school community large numbers will normally be passive spectators. We need a plan, therefore, that systemati- cally organizes as part of the required work of the school universal par- ticipation in activities designed to furnish training in conduct. To meet this phase of the total problem we have in the Flint high school activity groups organized in what for lack of a better term we have called the social arts department, mention of which has already been made. The thought behind the organization of these groups, since the purpose is train- ing in conduct, is community service. ‘The groups are self administrating. The teacher in charge of each group acts merely as advisor. The technic employed by the teacher is that of the successful executive secretary of com- munity associations. A program of work, standing committees, an executive committee, special committees, committee reports, is the general method of work, ‘The activities themselves are in the nature of school community projects all looking to the improvement of the life and tone of the com- munity. The following indicate the nature of the groups and the projects they participate in: There are two poster groups. “These groups make posters advertising activities, promoting the theme of special weeks by appropriate slogans, etc. There are four service groups, each performing some service such as the hall guard service, the traffic service, the library service, and miscellaneous service. “These groups are also promotional groups. There are four dramatic groups. “These groups concern themselves with furnishing good school community entertainment. 644 NationaL Epucation ASSOCIATION THE PROBLEM OF INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES—ABSTRACT H. M. CORNING, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, TRINIDAD, COLO. Within a comparatively few years our thinking along the lines of classifi- cations and pupil progress has been completely changed. Formerly we grouped children largely by age and we required all of them to follow a course of study which we had devised for them. We congratulated our- selves upon the justice and the thoroughness of our procedure. Our school organization was sound, indeed, we argued, for all were treated alike. The fact that many children failed to be promoted only strengthened our confidence, for these fatalities proved that the standards of our schools were high and that we were vigorously impartial in holding all children to those high standards. Gradually, however, our calm was disturbed by the realization that the number of these failures was overwhelmingly large. “The situation was carefully studied in many places and educators were amazed to learn that nearly half of the children were over age for their grade and that many dropped out of school each year because they were unable to keep up the pace. Almost simultaneously with this discovery came the realization that in every classroom there were some children who completed each day’s assignments with no apparent effort. They led the group, but they ac- complished this so easily that we began to fear that the tasks assigned them were not sufficiently difficult to require any real mental exertion. Then came the rather general use of intelligence tests in our schools. From the results of these tests we learned that by nature children differ in capacity to learn. Some could learn but little, others had unusual capacities, while the majority were of average ability. When this truth was established, education was confronted with the greatest challenge in its history. How shall we make the schools fit the child? How can we best accommodate these children of widely differing capacities ? It would be interesting, if time permitted, to review the various types of school organization which were presented to meet; this challenge. To prevent the continuance of the lock-step type of procedure by making school organizations more flexible, many devices and types of reclassification were tried. The semi-annual promotion plan, the Cambridge plan, the Batavia plan, the Pueblo plan, the Dalton plan, the Winnetka plan, the special promotion plan, the many flexible grouping plans all were devised to meet the need for differential education. While no one will claim that ‘any one of these plans fully and adequately provides for individual differ- ences in capacity, all will agree that each of them is an improvement over the old type of classification. They all mark the happy tendency in modern education to consider the needs of the individual instead of the group. Meritorious as all of these plans are, however, a weakness more or less common to all of them may be demonstrated. They all recognize in- dividual differences in that they permit children to progress through the DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 645 schools at varying rates of speed. They operate upon the theory that some work slowly while others work rapidly. This is splendid, but does it go far enough? The use of intelligence tests has taught us that some work more rapidly than others and, furthermore, that some can ultimately learn more than others. This paper argues, therefore, for a type of school organization which recognizes that some children by reason of native limitations can never complete successfully the normal course of study, while others are of such unusual capacity that they receive little stimulus and mental exertion by ,pursuing a curriculum which would be sufficiently difficult for children of average ability. If individual differences are to be adequately provided tor we must do more than recognize that some children can progress more rapidly than others. We must provide a course of study for those of less than average ability which will be so limited in scope and extent that the less fortunate can successfully perform the daily tasks assigned them, and that with reasonable effort they can progress normally through the schools year after year. On the other hand, we must so enrich the curriculum for the brilliant students that a degree of effort is required of them which is commensurate, at least, with that required of the average and dull groups. ‘There should be no quarrel over the type of organization which will best serve as a medium for carrying on this differential education. Some will argue for individual instruction, others for ability grouping. ‘The argu- ment is unnecessary, however, since the type of organization is of secondary importance. ‘The end should be to furnish differentiated courses of study, suited to the capacities of the individuals. It matters but little whether in- struction in these courses be furnished to individuals or to groups that are homogeneous as to ability. Because it is desired to present this paper from the standpoint of practical experience rather than from theory, the discussion which follows deals mainly with the ability grouping plan with differentiated courses of study. To avoid the theoretical also, it is necessary to refer to the experiences gained with this type of organization in the schools of Trinidad, Colorado. This is done with no thought of claiming that we have more skilfully handled the problem than have others. We are very mindful of the splendid work that has been done along this line elsewhere. We are keenly mindful, too, of imperfections in our plan. All we claim is that we are more definitely regarding the welfare of the individual than we did before our schools were reorganized. This group is more interested in the work as applied to high school students. However, the operation of the plan through the grades so definitely changes the high school problem that it is necessary to refer briefly to the grade school reorganization. The schools of Trinidad were reorganized four years ago with intelli- gence as the basis of all classifications. From the kindergarten through the high school there are three distinct tracks. Children were assigned 646 NATIONAL EpuCATION ASSOCIATION to these tracks on the basis of IQ, with mental age the basis of assignment to grades. The tracks are designated A, for the dull children, B, for the average children, and C, for the superior children. Although in theory the classifications are permanent, in practice they are not, since it is some- times necessary to change students to higher’ classifications. “The groupings are so flexible, however, that these transfers can be made with little difficulty. Generally, students who enter the first grade on the “A” track are promoted to the same division of the second grade and so on through. The widely differentiated courses of study for these tracks were devised not according to anyone’s theory but by the actual performance of the, groups. The first year no courses of study were followed but teachers of “A” divisions were instructed to limit the work and progress as slowly as was necessary. The “C” division teachers with the aid of supervisors pushed their brilliant students rapidly and supplied additional material of many sorts by way of enrichments. As a result of this year of experimen- tation, tentative minimum essentials were set for work in the various divisions of each grade. “Thus the minimum essentials of these courses, established by actual classroom procedure, provide work that dull chil- dren can do, and require sufficient additional material to keep the brilliant children busy in the performance of profitable tasks. The limitation of ‘‘A”’ division work and the enrichment of “C”’ division requirements start in the first and continue through the eighth grades. Students completing the eighth grades are promoted to the high school but in varying degrees of preparedness for high school work. For example, in the eighth grade the ‘“‘A”’ divisions in arithmetic complete the work ordinarily found in fifth and low sixth grade courses and are promoted to the high school on the completion of those simple requirements. The courses in the other subjects are similarly limited. On the other hand, the “C” divisions completely cover grade school arithmetic in the seventh grade and spend the time ordinarily given to arithmetic in the eighth grade studying general science. ‘Their preparation in the other subjects is similarly broadened and enriched. The ‘“B” divisions complete the usual course of study, but their work is more thorough and complete because they have not been obliged to wait for the dull ones nor to he constantly overshadowed by the brilliant ones. From these three tracks, then, students are entering the Trinidad high school each year. Obviously, the high school must adjust its courses to the individual differences in ability and preparation. THE PROBLEM OF INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES—ABSTRACT WILLIAM A. WETZEL, PRINCIPAL, SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, TRENTON, N. J. The problem of individual differences among secondary school pupils involves differences in aptitudes for different curriculums and differences in capacity to master subject-matter in the same curriculum. The solution of the problem of differences in aptitudes for different DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 647 curriculums is limited partly by the educational facilities furnished by the community. The problem of differences in capacity to master subject-matter in the same curriculum confronts every administrator regardless of the character cr the number of curriculums offered. The solution of this problem is theoretically simple, if one will take the trouble to resolve the problem into its elements. The first step is to get a measure of differences in ability to master subject matter. Since a book is the fundamental tool of instruction, it seems reasonable to suppose that a measure of reading ability is a good index to differences in capacity to master subject matter in the same curriculum. In the Trenton senior high school, the correlation between reading ability coefficients and academic ratings was found to be slightly higher than the correlation between I. Q.’s and academic ratings. ‘The chief advantages of reading ability coefficients are that they are easily determined and can be openly used. The second step in the solution of this problem is to arrange the course of study so as to make a differentiation according to ability possible. Teachers have been too apt to think that the solution of the problem of varying capacities begins with homegeneous grouping. Variation of work is possible even without homegeneous grouping, provided the course of study outlines such variation: The third step is to evaluate the parts of the course of study in terms of scores, so that progress in the achievement of the course of study may be readily measured. The fourth step is to place the rating of the pupils on a scientific basis, so that pupils themselves can see the relation between their ratings and their achievements. Finally a plan must be provided by which pupils will be inspired to their best efforts. The ratio between accomplishment and capacity becomes a measure of effort, best only when accomplishment and capacity are stated with some degree of scientific accuracy. When this ratio is unity, the pupil is making normal effort. It is possible to plot these ratios graphically, so that pupils may readily find their own effort rating. Such an effort chart has been used to advantage in the Trenton senior high school. The problem of differences in capacity involves not only an adjustment by which pupils with low capacity may “get by,” but also an adjustment by which pupils of high capacity may be held to high attainment, The public school has too long been a device to educate all to the common level of mediocrity. 648 NATIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION THE INDIVIDUAL METHOD : A. J. STODDARD, SUPERINTENDENT, BRONXVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BRONXVILLE, N. Y. Upon what fundamental principle is the individual method based?— A generation ago we knew that boys and girls differed widely in ability. Today, we realize, as a result of accurate measurement, just how wide is this variation. Among high school students of the same chronological age it is not at all unusual to find a range of six years in ability to acquire subject-matter. To complicate the matter further the same student often varies considerably in his ability among the different subjects. The individual method is based upon the fundamental principle that time of learning, on the one hand, and amount or quality of learning, on the other, cannot both be made constants for a group of high school students. “The class method makes time the constant for most of the students and neces- sarily varies amount and quality. If this variation were in addition to the minimum that should be required of all and did not result in “part- learning’ it would not be so objectionable. Moreover, this process of adjusting learning to varying ability is based upon the theory that each student will partake of what goes on in the class according to his ability, which is not borne out by the facts. “The individual method chooses the minimum amount or quality of learning as the constant for all, letting time be the variable. Under this plan, adjustment of additional requirements beyond the minimum essentials of the subject are made according to vary- ing ability and not left to chance absorption. What is the essential difference between the operation of the individual and class methods?—The essential feature of the individual method is that of the individual and personal check-up of each and every student. Even though he may study with a group, or acquire some of his facts, knowledge or skills from class conference or otherwise, the testing of what he has attained is an individual matter. The essential feature of the class method, as it is generally used, is the class recitation. ‘The following criticisms can be made legitimately of the usual class recitation: 1. As a testing device the recitation is ineficient because of lack of time to test adequately what every individual student has learned. Usually the students tested are those that didn’t need the testing. Testing the class as a whole has very little value. Moreover, testing in recitation provides little opportunity to remedy difficulties as revealed by the testing because this must be done individually if done efficiently. 2. As a teaching device the class recitation is inefficient. It is based upon a child’s acquiring knowledge through listening as a member of a group. We usually have no assurance that an individual student is giving attention as a member of a group—that he is “tuned in” to what is being broadcasted by either the teacher or a fellow-student. Education is in proportion to the amount of effort or energy that is expended by the learner and the best assurance that effort is being expended by the learner comes from his doing something himself. 7: DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 649 , Education is a matter of growth from within and does not come through a “pour- ing into” process. 3. The value that is claimed for the usual class discussion is not as great as it is said to be. Usually but a few take part in the discussion and it is so mixed with testing that but little is gained from it. Much of our class discussion under the Class Method is what it has been characterized, “Forensic exchanges of ignorant opinion”! One is led, frequently to doubt the forensic part! Whatever value there might be in class discussions is preserved in the group or class con- ferences that are held under the individual method. What is the relationship of the pupil to his work under the individual method?—Under the individual method every attempt is made to throw more responsibility onto the student and to make him feel that his school work is his and not the teacher’s job. A pupil soon finds out that unless he puts forth all the effort of which he is capable he makes very little progress. Unless he does his work day by day he does not succeed, but he is not brought face to face with the fact in just the same direct way and as constantly as he is under the individual method. If the schools of America can bring boys and girls to a realization that each one of them is responsible for his own progress and success, that unless he does his work day by day he will find his next day’s tasks “staring him in the face,” that no one else will do his work for him, and that he must actually complete one task before he goes on to another, perhaps the biggest lessons of all will have been taught. What is the function of the teacher under the individual method?— The individual method makes the progress of each and every student the measure of the efficiency of the work of the classroom. It changes the teaching process from that of pouring education into the student to that of providing a classroom situation and other materials that are favorable to the best learning on the part of the student. ‘Thus the teaching becomes a means to learning by the student, which is the end of all the process. It recognizes the principle that education is dependent not so much on how much the teacher does or says but how much the teacher can get the student to do that is worthwhile. ‘The student gets his own education—it is not given to him—which is more nearly in accordance with life as he will meet it. How is the progress of the pupil determined and what is the function of testing?—According to the individual method as it is used in Bronx- ville, subject-matter is divided into its larger parts constituting “goals” or “objectives.” Assignments are written, covering these goals or objectives. Different parts of the assignment are given one or more “unit” values. A “unit” is the part of an assignment that would be accomplished in the normal amount of time on that subject in a day by a normal pupil. When the student has completed an assignment he is given “practice tests” which are diagnostic in nature. “These tests are corrected by the student accord- ing to answer sheets that are so keyed as to indicate what he is to study if he has not fully completed the part of the assignment covered by the test, or are reviewed with the teacher who points out or assigns what 650 NATIONAL EpucATION ASSOCIATION further work must be done, as revealed by the test. He may take several different forms of practice tests on a particular part of the assignment before he completes it, although usually he takes a succeeding test over only the part that he missed on the preceding test. After the teacher and student are convinced that the student has qualified himself for the final test over the assignment, it is given to him. Just as with the practice tests, the whole or parts of the final test may have to be taken several times. Whenever the final test is passed completely, the student is given the next assignment in the subject. One subject is not made to carry any other subject and a student will progress in one subject as rapidly as he can if he does not slight his other subjects as far as proportion of time is con- cerned. If he does get behind schedule in a subject he is required to give it special time at the close of the day. W hat personal contact has the pupil with the teacher under the method?— During the time that the student is progressing through the assignment he may have one or more personal conferences with the teacher. ‘This de- vice of a personal conference has proved one of the most valuable in use with the method. ‘The student seeks the conference and the teacher talks over with him his problems, difficulties, and progress. Also, the personal conference offers excellent opportunity to test the student on what he has accomplished. It affords the teacher an opportunity to give the student’an appreciation for the subject that is not possible in the broadcasting class method. Do the class and the teacher meet together?—Class conferences are held at least twice a week in each subject, and may be held oftener if needed. ‘These conferences are quite different from the usual class recitation. All testing is omitted because it has been done so much more efficiently through the method outlined above. ‘They offer opportunity for review and sum- marizing and are used extensively for that purpose. Also they are used for special .reports, special discussions, oral English, and group matters that are of especial interest to the whole group and in which the whole group can participate. They are often economically employed for the purpose of anticipating processes that are to be involved in future assignments. lt is during these conferences that purposes may be initiated and projects carried on, giving rise to social values that might be lost during the more individual work on assignments. How does the pupil’s school day differ under this method?—According to the plan, students pass from one laboratory (a room where a pupil studies) to another at will, the only exception to this being when a par- ticular room is in use for a conference or is filled to capacity. A student may stay as long as he wishes in a particular laboratory, with the exception that he must meet his class conferences when they occur. Of course, the student is guided in all of these matters. Our students have shown surpris- ing progress in their ability to plan efficiently their day’s work. What means are employed to keep track of the use of a pupil’s time and his progress?—Each pupil has a time card on which he plans his work at DEPARTMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS 651 the beginning of each day. On this card he records the use of his time during the day, indicating where he studied each subject and how much time he put on it. His progress is recorded on a graph card which shows accurately to anyone just what has been accomplished. The method does not necessitate any extensive or complicated machinery but is quite simple in its operation. ‘The use of the time card enables the teacher to help the student grow in the use of his time and also to direct the use of his time if that is necessary. What phase of the use of the individual method sometimes causes stu- dents and parents to object to it?—It will be noted that a student is re- quired to complete one assignment before he goes on to another—not just “pass.” [his causes the progress of many of the students to seem to be quite a little bit slower than under the class method. But, really, it is just the opposite, Because all pupils are reciting together in a class does not signify by any means that all of them are up to that point. The fact that it is necessary for a student to really master his subject-matter as he goes along is one of the greatest significance and importance. It is this requirement that meets with most objection on the part of many students and their parents. They are so accustomed to the evils of the class method that they do not see them as such but rather look upon the attempt to correct these evils as constituting the only evil. Under the class method, the pupil sits with the same class day by day unless he fails at the end of the semester or the year. Only asmall percent of the pupils fail and then only when conditions are very serious. It is difficult to get parents and pupils to realize that, even though they all stay together and appear to be together, they are widely apart—far more widely apart than if some of them were allowed to “pass” on to the next grade while others were to fail. Under the in- dividual method a large number of the pupils seem to be “behind”’ and the parents of these pupils are constantly confronted with that fact. It is a source of discomfort to them and the issue is a daily one instead of once or twice a year. Parents and pupils must be slowly and patiently shown that when a pupil is doing the work of which he is capable there is no cause for complaint on the part of either parent or pupil and that it is only under such conditions that real progress is being made. Under the requirement of completion of work, a student may not al- ways be ready for regents’ or college board examinations when he or his parents think he should be. A student is certified as eligible for regents’ or college board examinations in a particular subject when he has com- pleted all of the assignments that make up that subject. While it may take many students a longer time to get ready for their particular examina- tions, the records they make are higher, and the mortality lower. What are the principal problems that confront us in the use of the method?—-The direct problem that has caused most of our work and study up to date has been that of the assignment. There is still a tendency for the assignments to be too complicated and to require as a minimum for all 652 NaTIONAL EpucaATION ASSOCIATION what should be the maximum for many. In other words, our assign- ments should require the minimum essentials for all with enriched and extended requirements for those that are capable of doing more. The individual method will not function really until both the rate of progress and the subject-matter required is adjusted to each individual’s capacity. We are not interested in students completing their high school courses in less than four years, but we are attempting to get each pupil to work more nearly to his capacity. Perhaps the biggest problem under the individual method is the biggest one under the class method—that of getting boys and girls to work each day according to their capacity. Under the individual method this problem absolutely must be solved or the method will fail to receive the support that it should. When it is evident to all that the student is making no progress something must be done about it. Under the class method this student could be “failed” but under the individual method something must be done, either to get the student to do what he is capable of doing, or, if he is already doing that, to adjust curriculum materials to him so that he can make progress. “The individual method makes it possible for us to deal directly with the fundamental problems that confront boys and girls in their development. After using the individual method for three years what are some of the results that are being attained?—Most of our students are studying harder and more earnestly than before. It is too early to tell definitely whether or not they are learning more than before, although results so far are encouraging. ‘There is no question but that many of our students are growing in their ability to plan their own time efficiently and in their willingness and desire to assume responsibility for their work. Both our students and our teachers, because of the assignments, know more definitely where they are going than they did before. Students work constantly with their subject purposes in mind—in fact, they cannot do their work unless they keep their purposes in mind, constantly. Teachers plan their work more carefully than ever before and know more about what each student is accomplishing. The teachers are beginning to assume, as the measure of the effectiveness of the work, the progress that each student makes— that is, how far he goes from where he is. The question is not so much as to where he is but as to how far he gets from there. It is surprising to learn that there is an immense, untapped source of motivation in the acquiring of facts, knowledge, and skills if the task is clearly, definitely and concisely set before the student in terms that he is able to understand and within the reaches of his ability to master. A great deal of our necessity for motivation of our school’ work has come about from the procedure by which we expected the student to learn. We have been doing too much for the student and not expecting enough of him. It is surprising how quickly he demonstrates that he is eager and willing to accept responsibility if he is asked to assume it. From the kindergarten through college, boys and girls have been told instead of being allowed to do for themselves. Department of Social Studies HE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCUDIES was formerly the National Council for the Social Studies and was created as a Department of the Na- tional Education Association by the Board of Direct- ors at the Indianapolis meeting of the Association in 1925. The officers of the Department of Social Stud- ies for the year 1926-27 are: President, Bessie L. Pierce, Associate Professor of History, Iowa State University, Iowa City, Iowa; Vice-president, R. O. Hughes, Vice-Principal, Peabody High School, Pitts- burgh, Pa.; Secretary-Treasurer, Edgar Dawson, Professor of History and Politics, Hunter College, New York City; Corresponding Secretary, Mary V. Carney, Teacher of History, Central High School, St. Paul, Minn. 1654] MAKING THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE SOCIAL STUDIES EFFECTIVE ANNA L. LINGELBACH, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, PHILADELPHIA, PA. M Y EXPERIENCE has been with three types of college students. For one year of the war I lectured to Bryn Mawr girls—probably as fine a group of young women intellectually as can be found in the country. Since then, at Temple University, I have come into contact with very different but no less interesting classes. In this great, live institution with its enrolment of over 10,000 students I have had on the one hand the students of teachers college, on the other, those of the school of commerce. The latter have been my especial problem. ‘These many young men and few young women, studying finance, business administration, journalism, and kindred subjects, most of them working their way through college either wholly or in part, looked askance at history when it was introduced into the curriculum. The Bryn Mawr girl gives her instructor a sense of responsibility in training for leadership ; the teacher, as a student, makes one feel the unlimited multiplication of one’s best efforts when passed on to others, but the students of the school of commerce have constituted a pe- culiar challenge. ‘To use their own terms, how could the social studies be sold to them? I believe that the first value of the social studies lies in the orientation afforded through these subjects. History provides that orientation in re- gard to the past; geography, economics, sociology, and political science in regard to the present. History is, indeed, as H. G. Wells has called it, “the great adventure of mankind.” Ages, races, and nations, have played their part in human development; each has contributed toward our heritage of today. What Carlyle called “the mighty tide of thought and action” has been rolling on its majestic course. “The details furnish the working material of the scholar; on the other hand the general laws of progress, the main lines of development, are what should concern the ordinary student, with limited time at his disposal. ‘Today it is scarcely necessary to add that in such a survey, political history should not be paramount. All the great streams of human progress should not be charted. ‘Thousands of years lie between the rude drawing on the cavern walls of Spain and southern France and the masterpieces of Michaelangelo and Raphael, years that marked man’s slow and painful evolution from the reindeer age to that of modern times. What is true of painting is just as true of architecture, religion, literature, commerce, the rise of universities, the growth of cities, the development of industry and the rise of nationality. All are part of man’s past experience and each has contributed to the accumulated culture of today. It is not enough, however, to give a student something of the historical background of the world in which he lives. ‘The other social studies are [655] 656 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION also essential to an understanding of the present. Geography explains the relationship between man and his environment. Economics teaches the process by which men make a living, whether individually or by group activity. Sociology deals with society as made up of interrelated groups, carrying on interdependent activities. Problems of population, immigra- tions, public health, poverty, and crime, even of education, come within the scope of this great subject. Finally political science deals with law, with eovernment, with all the manifold activities of organized states and with the international relationships of these states. Thus through the social sciences the student should understand clearly that the present has developed from the past through an unbroken line of historical continuity, and at the same time he should be brought into a closer and more conscious relationship with the community, the state, and the world within which he lives. Knowledge is not enough however. Our students should not only as- similate culture, but should also be ready to make their own contributions to life. The nature of these contributions, and their value, can be deter- mined largely by the teaching of the social studies. Vocational efficiency should be increased through the linking up of one’s particular work with life as a whole. ‘This is not only true of the teacher, the minister, the doctor, and the lawyer, but also of those who work with their hands. As a college girl I heard Robert Collyer, who had been a blacksmith in his younger days, but had come to be one of the most famous preachers of his day, tell of the honest pride he still had in the wrought iron gates he had made half a century before, and that would be standing long after he was gone. On at least one student’s mind an indelible impression was made of the dignity of labor. More and more, however, is the average person finding that a normal day’s work leaves a considerable margin of strength and leisure. ‘The use of this surplus energy and time, we are trying to teach through the social studies. There is a theory of education today that calls itself new, though it is as old as human history. It is that which insists upon self-expression and personal liberty regardless of the best interests of the community. ‘This was the spirit of the man with the club in prehistoric days, that has found form in more recent years in the supreme egotism of Artzibashev’s ‘“Sanine,” or of Nietsche’s “Superman.” There surely was never a time when the need was so great for a train- ing in citizenship that will combine the highest happiness of the individual, with the highest good of the community. Not only is democratic govern- ment imperilled by stupid indifference and selfish greed, but our civilization itself is in danger.” American institutions are not a mushroom growth. ‘They are a precious heritage, the slow result of long and difficult struggles for freedom. Yet one of the most experienced leaders of reform in Phila- delphia told me the other day that he believed it would be difficult to carry a closely contested election in Pennsylvania with the expenditure of less DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES 657 than a quarter of a million dollars and that this would be honestly spent, most of it in hiring so-called watchers to get out the vote! We have to be urged, and even led to the polls! The Russian government of today is frankly founded on class warfare and the brutal merciless extermination not only of so-called capitalists but of intellectuals as well, for, according to some of their leaders, intellectual supremacy is just as dangerous to the proletariate as is the capitalistic. Yet a distinguished European professor, a Communist leader, told me last summer that such extermination is a nec- essary step in the progress of civilization! Millions of lives were sacrificed in a so-called attempt to make the world safe for democracy. Yet one European nation after another has been establishing dictatorships. Even France has scarcely veiled her demand for a strong man. Selfishness, in- difference, and ignorance are everywhere the foes of democracy. Too often it has become a choice between despotism and misgovernment. Meanwhile few Americans return from Italy without praise for Mussolini. Why? American educators have gathered here this week from the entire nation to discuss our public school system and all possible means for its betterment, yet the current issue of one of our magazines has a leading article on “New Horrors in Warfare,” that includes in its discussion, not only the perils of the submarine and aviation, but also of the compounding of war gases that will make masks of no avail, and of the germ study for war uses that is going on night and day. Compare our own attempts to educate our young people with these hideous plans for their future destruction. Doesn’t it make us feel that we may not be fully facing our problems? Is it not plain that material things have too much prominence in life? “That me- chanical inventions, industrial exploitation, and commercial rivalries, have outrun the development of spiritual forces. We have multiplied our human contacts by overcrowding our cities and bringing together the peoples of the earth. Our papers tell us in never-ending editions of an outbreak in China yesterday, or of some French criticism of America, made a few hours ago. Meanwhile we are not taking enough trouble to get one another’s viewpoint, to develop the basis for better understanding, to instil and moti- vate the ideals that will make for a higher type of individual responsibility. 1 am therefore filled with a keen sense of responsibility as I face these students of mine in the school of commerce. Again and again they con- fess to me personally, a liking for history never experienced before. “That is something to the good, but it is not enough. When they graduate from college will they carry with them the knowledge, the training, and the ideals that will make them good citizens? Will they take with them into the business or professional world the enthusiasm and the desires that will lead them to give their best? The answers to these questions really lie with the teacher. If training for citizenship is the first duty of a democracy, then the best is none too good in the way of instruction. Money as spent is the finest type of in- surance. It is the teacher who not only strikes the keynote of the class- 1oom, but who also supplies much of the dynamic force that becomes trans- 658 NATIONAL EpucaTION ASSOCIATION routed into the mental images and spiritual concepts of the student. The teacher of social studies becomes a creator in a way, by taking the dry dust of facts and breathing into them the breath of life. Some of us are still convinced that teachers are born and not made, but we know that the born teacher is made better by training. Training not merely in pedagogy, if you please, but in general culture. Especially should the teacher of social studies not only specialize in one chosen field but also acquire as extensive a knowledge as possible of allied subjects. The teacher of history, for instance, should also know much of geography, and political science, and something at least of economics and sociology. Next to the teacher in importance comes the printed materials. Whether this be textbook, illustrative sources, or collateral reading. In following out the theory that the past should be made to live again, I have had great difficulty in finding desirable textbooks. In one course I actually changed textbooks every year in the attempt to get what I wanted—that. is good book making, accuracy, fairness, and proper emphasis, presented with life- like presentation. Some of the best collateral reading I have found in the Yale chronicles. Several of these I have used as texts, especially Farrand’s Fathers of the Constitution and Corwin’s John Marshall. Biography should have a large part in the teaching of the social studies. I have little sympathy with the recent tendency to besmirch and belittle great men. Let us not indulge in maudlin sentimentality. On the other hand let us admire and honor the noble traits that have led men onward in the march of human progress. Here again is the force of personality. Any young man is richer in experience, for instance after reading the life and letters of Walter Hines Page. The popularity that makes best sellers of biogra- phies in recent years is cause for congratulation to those interested in social studies. Knowledge is too apt to be bookish, cut and dried. Knowledge is of true value only when it is the tool of a trained mind and sound character and like other tools is only used effectively when it is used with a will. People are slightly moved by knowledge. On the other hand feelings and emotions are the guiding forces of most of the action of mankind. Is it not a special function of the social studies to train these feelings and arouse these emotions? Hugh Walpole has recently said that the present generation is too clever to believe in God, and too stupid to have heroes. For whatever of truth there may be in this statement the teacher of social studies is partially re- sponsible. We have life itself as our subject-matter, life in all its varied forms of human activity and human relationship. Normal youth turns instinctively to energy, action, and vitality. Why give a stone when we can give bread?) Why make of truth a poor drab creature when it has been vibrant and pulsating through the ages? The vanity box of a dancing girl of ancient Carthage, or the student life of. Medieval Pans show the same- ness of human nature yesterday and today. Self-sacrifice becomes a living presence in the person of a Livingtone or a Chinese Gordon; loyal devotion DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES 659 to country in Abraham Lincoln; and enthusiasm for civic righteousness in Theodore Roosevelt. It may be old fashioned to talk about faith and loyalty, devotion to duty, and courageous self-sacrifice. But these are the fundamentals of progress, the means by which the physical and material world has been dominated by the mental and spiritual in the past, and will have to be in the future. I believe that they can be taught through the social studies and that through these subjects we have today in the public schools the normal school and the college an extraordinary opportunity to teach the knowledge, to give the training, and to inculcate the ideals that develop the finest individual and community life. MAKING THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE SOCIAL STUDIES EFFECTIVE EDGAR C. BYE, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES, HIGH SCHOOL, COATESVILLE, PA. I am going to address myself chiefly to the third of the trio of questions which have been proposed for our consideration today. As to the first, “How should the social studies benefit our pupils?” I may reply with the assertion which is so pregnant with meaning to every teacher, “I know the answer, but I can’t say it.’’ As to the second, “Are they doing what they cought?” I am willing to admit, for the sake of argument and in order that I may continue my speech, that they are not. Mea culpa is a healthy state of mind for a teacher to be in—when he is not in the classroom. The third question, “How can they do their work better?” is a chal- lenge. It is a challenge to everybody from the state superintendent down to the classroom teacher and all may contribute to its solution. I am going to suggest five ways in which I think the social studies may become more effective. If I seem to deal too largely with the problem of curricu- lum construction in what follows, it is because I am interested in this field as a student of education and because the day-by-day work of the classroom teacher is so vitally interrelated with the curriculum. A curriculum, like a constitution, should not be merely a legal or historic document, but a live thing made alive by the constructive daily use of it by teachers in meeting concrete situations. The Constitution of the United States is not just so many pages of fundamental law struck off by the Constitutional Conven- tion, ratified by the states, and printed with notes in the back of the history books. It is that document as it has been constructively used by five gener- ations of statesmen, and others. My first suggestion is that we must have a more definite statement of objectives. This is no doubt a commonplace. It involves the first ques- tion on our program, to which I admitted I knew the answer. You know the answer, too. You know and I know what the social studies should do for our pupils, but we have been dodging the real difficulty too long by assuming omniscence. 660 NaTIONAL EpucaTIon ASSOCIATION We seem to be agreed that the ultimate object of the social studies is the development of social effectives; that is, of units in the social group who have a sense of responsibility for intelligent and adequate reactions to their social environment, in order that the environment may be pro- gressively modified while the unit is itself in process of objective realization through self-expression. To quote Spencer, “The ultimate man will be one whose private requirements coincide with public ones. He will be that manner of man who, in spontaneously fulfilling his own nature, incidentally performs the functions of a social unit; yet is only enabled so to fulfil his own nature by all others doing the like.” This statement of ultimate aim means that the social studies curriculum must be of such a character that the boy or girl who has finished the course will be prepared to participate intelligently and adequately in the social relationships and activities of life. But we are still dealing in generalities. Here let us begin the descent to the concrete. What are the social relation- ships and activities of life? A classification of these will obviously furnish us with a set of secondary objectives. We may begin with the cardinal principles or Bonser or Bobbitt or make our own classification of the ac- tivities of man. If we make our own, we may restate our major objective more definitely as follows: Fitness to participate in (1) domestic activi- ties, (2) vocational activities, (3) citizenship activities, (4) general social activities, (5) religious activities, (6) intellectual activities, (7) esthetic activities. We may now speak of the domestic objective, the vocational objective, the citizenship objective, the general social objective, the religious objective, the intellectual objective, and the esthetic objective. I shall not pause to defend this grouping, since I am not here trying to answer the question, “How should the social studies benefit our pupils?” but only attempting to suggest the need for a more careful analysis and a more precise statement of objectives. Whatever classification of human activities we begin with, we must next realize that fitness to participate in each of these activities will result from the building up of certain appreciations, attitudes, habits, and skills. These appreciations, attitudes, habits, and skills can be built up through certain controlled experiences and the acquisition of certain knowledges which make these experiences intelligible. Our problem is then twofold: (1) What are the necessary appreciations, attitudes, habits, and skills in each field? (2) What are the experiences and knowledges which will con- tribute most effectively to building up these appreciations, attitudes, habits, and skills in children? The solution for the first part of our problem must be arrived at through the cumulative efforts of state superintendents and supervisors, college pro- tessors and students of education, principals, and classroom teachers, pupils, and their parents. Much research is now going on. Professor Tryon in the May number of the Historical Outlook provides the latest summary for the high school. As the work proceeds, objectives must be stated and restated with increasing clearness not only by educational theorists but by DEPARTMENT OF SocraAL STUDIES 661 the classroom teacher for himself as he approaches each new year of work and each new day dedicated to the realization of some objectives, however vaguely discerned. My second suggestion, dealing with the second part of the problem just stated, is that the materials of instruction must be selected to satisfy the objectives. Too often elaborate statements of objectives have been made and equally elaborate courses of study appended to them, but the courses have been based on tradition and have had little or no relation to the pre- fixed objectives. Professor Tryon, in the recent article already referred to, expresses a doubt whether this method of setting up specific objectives and than seeking subject-matter to satisfy them is practical and sees certain handicaps which he says, “seem unovercomable.” However, the experience with this method now being gained by the various committees of the North Central Association which are using it will serve to demonstrate its prac- ticability or impracticability. There can be little doubt that if the method should prove practical, the work of the social studies will be greatly im- proved by having materials definitely selected for the purpose of realizing objectives. In the selection of materials, experiences should come first, and afterward such socially valuable information as may be needed to make the experiences intelligible and point the way to enlarged meanings and wider interests. In most curriculum making, the informational content, based upon tradi- tion or adult notions of what the child ought to know, has been chosen first and the activities or experiences introduced as a teaching device to make the dose more palatable. In witness whereof, examine any of the recent history texts with their predigested chapters followed by lists of exer- cises, problems or activities. The experiences of pupils may consist in (1) participation in home, school, and community life, (2) the solution of problems, (3) discussion. ‘The informational content may be acquired through (1) observation, (2) hearing, (3) reading. Since the social stud- ies cannot make the total and only contribution to the realization of many of the objectives, other than strictly social studies material will, of course, have to be included in the social studies curriculum content. Assuming that a method can be devised for selecting materials of instruc- tion so that they will satisfy the objectives, the next step is to organize the materials in such a way that the organization will contribute to the same ends. This is my third suggestion. I believe that the organization of materials is no less important than their selection. My main point here is that the objectives should not be lost sight of when the work of organi- zation begins. If our major objective is social fitness, and it can be anal- yzed into various types of fitness, each of which is to be developed through the acquisition of certain appreciations, attitudes, habits, and skills, which are the result of certain controlled experiences, supplemented by certain social valuable knowledges, then it follows that, in organizing these experi- ences and knowledges into a graded system, we must arrange our material so as to provide in each grade for an appropriate degree of progress toward 662 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION social fitness of the various types. As I see it, this means that formal or- ganization along traditional subject lines, from the point of view of the specialists, will be inadequate. The historian, for example, organizes his material with a major objective in view, but his major objective is not the major objective of the social studies teacher. The historian has accom- plished his purpose when he has achieved a faithful reconstruction of the past (perchance an interpretation). The social studies teacher has accom- plished his purpose when he has contributed adequately to the training of a socially effective individual. If we are really aiming at this objective, and not at that of the subject specialist, how can we teach history as his- tory, economics as economics or civics as a description of government or community? I am advocating, as you see, a unified social studies course. The fourth necessity, if the social studies are to do their work better, is a teaching technic definitely designed to realize the objectives. “Iwo points claim attention here. ‘The first is that a qualitative as well as a quantitative difference in technic is necessary for children of varying mental capacities, whether they be grouped according to ability or not. It is not enough to select and organize subject-matter, on the basis of the interests and needs of children, so that it will tend to increase their social fitness, but the subject-matter must be taught so that various types of children of varying mental ages and degrees of social maturity will be accelerated along the proper paths for them toward the degree and kind of fitness of which they are capable. ‘The second point is that the method must be adapted to the nature of the subject-matter being used, or to put it another way, the subject-matter must be so manipulated that the objectives will tend to be realized by the use of it. No particular method is here advocated as best. There are times for socialized recitations, projects, supervised study periods, lectures, textbook recitations, Dalton plans, laboratory methods, and all the rest. While the curriculum may suggest the best methods at certain points, here is where the classroom teacher has the greatest opportunity for crea- tive work—a chance really to be an educator and not merely a time-serving holder of classes. In order to be creative the teacher must at no time lose sight of the ultimate objectives. My fifth and final suggestion for improving the contribution of the social studies is that adequate methods need to be worked out for determining to what extent the objectives have been realized. In other words, we need tests and measures, formal and informal, which will show us objectively whether or not we have arrived, not merely at some goal, but at the goals toward which we were aiming. At present, no satisfactory answer can be given to the question, ‘‘Are the social studies doing what they ought ?” be- cause of the lack of such measures. j In short, to sum up, we do not know just how the social studies ought to benefit our pupils nor do we know whether they are doing it. We have been going forward on a great adventure of faith, trusting that the result will be “somehow good.” Perhaps it has been, perhaps not. We hear much talk today about the sickness of society and salvaging civilization. Not DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES 663 everyone is agreed that this is the best of all possible worlds nor even that, whatever may be wrong with Europe, the heart of the American people is sound. At least there is a difference of opinion on the subject. It has been said that the difference between learning golf and motoring is that at first in golf you hit nothing and in motoring you hit everything. . It is hard to say which we have been doing in the social studies. The one thing we can be sure of is, that whether the teaching of the social studies has as yet made any appreciable contribution to civilization or not, there is unquestionably still a possibility of doing our work better. May I remind you that I have suggested five avenues toward improvement ? A more definite statement of objectives. Selection of subject-matter to satisfy these objectives. Organization of subject-matter so as to satisfy these objectives. A teaching technic which will satisfy these objectives. Adequate methods of determining whether the objectives have been satisfied. Si OT My main point has been that the objectives must not be lost sight of at any point, either by the curriculum maker or by the classroom teacher. Work can be carried on simultaneously along all these avenues of improve- ment, the classroom teacher contributing creatively in his daily work and yearly planning. If teaching is to be a profession, all of us must feel a responsibility, not merely for improving our teaching technic, but also for cooperating, within the limits of our several abilities and opportunities, in the general improve- ment of our field. ‘This is the essence of the so-called “professional atti- tude,” without which, on the part of teachers, the social studies can never make an effective contribution. SECRETARY'S MINUTES The Department of Social Studies met in the Auditorium of the Philadelphia Normal School, Monday, June 28, 1926, at 2:15 Pp. M., with Vice-President R. O. Hughes in the chair. The program consisted of a series of discussions on the general theme, “Making the Contributions of the Social Studies Effective.” The speakers were A. B. Meredith, State Commissioner of Education, Hartford, Conn.; Anna L. Lingelbach, Professor of History, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa.; Principal Charles C. Tillinghast, Horace Mann School for Boys, New York City; and Edgar C. Bye, High School, Coatesville, Pa. Discussion following the ad- dresses was opened by J. Lynn Barnard, State Director of Social Studies, Harris- burg, Pa. Since Dr. Meredith and Dr. Barnard spoke from brief notes, a report of their remarks cannot be given; but the papers read, or outlines thereof, of the other speakers appear herewith. The officers of the Department for the current year, who serve in the same capacity for the National Council for the Social Studies, are as follows: President, Bessie L. Pierce, State University of Iowa, Iowa City, lowa; Vice-President, R. O. Hughes, Vice-Principal, Peabody High School, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Secretary-Treas- urer, Edgar Dawson, Hunter College, New York City; Corresponding Secretary, Mary V. Carney, Central High School, St. Paul, Minn. r¢ resti wos yi me a viel, or a "i bquee ag ina} ae peste ‘ a wer 4 he eT mi) Ma gt ute - rf telly a ) or - TT ch Cinta | TELE 28 UMA Oi 2i ae hy [ aera 1 “ a 4 : iW. 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