Schools of To-morrow
{"WorkMasterId":6305,"WpPageId":281292,"ParentWpPageId":193822,"Slug":"schools-of-tomorrow","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/john-dewey/schools-of-tomorrow/","RelativeUrl":"theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/john-dewey/schools-of-tomorrow/","HasFullText":true,"RawHtmlLength":521929,"CleanHtmlLength":465819,"Kicker":"Philosophy Work","Title":"Schools of To-morrow","Deck":"Dewey and Evelyn Dewey present experimental schools as laboratories for democratic social learning and educational reform.","BackLink":{"Text":"Back to John Dewey","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/john-dewey/"},"AuthorCard":{"Label":"Author","Title":"John Dewey","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/john-dewey/","MediaHref":"","ImageSrc":"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/john-dewey-01-portrait-by-underwood-underwood.jpg","ImageAlt":"Underwood and Underwood portrait of John Dewey","FilterTerra":"North America","ClickText":"John Dewey","ClickHref":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/john-dewey/","Copies":["1859 CE – 1952 CE","Burlington, Vermont","American pragmatist philosopher of instrumentalism, democratic experimentalism, progressive education, inquiry, experience, logic, ethics, aesthetics, public life, science, and naturalistic religion."]},"ContextCards":[{"Label":"Period","Key":"Period:4","Title":"Modern History","DateText":"1800 CE – 1944 CE","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/eras-of-thought/philosophers-of-modern-history/"},{"Label":"Era","Key":"Era:11","Title":"Long 19th Century","DateText":"1870 CE – 1913 CE","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/eras-of-thought/philosophers-of-modern-history/philosophers-of-the-long-19th-century/"},{"Label":"Composition","Title":"1915 CE","Url":"","DateText":""}],"DateNote":"Displayed as 1915 CE for the Dewey and Evelyn Dewey work.","GeoCards":[{"Label":"Region","Key":"Region:1"},{"Label":"Terra Avita","Key":"TerraAvita:6"},{"Label":"Terra Avita Region","Key":"TerraAvitaRegion:25"},{"Label":"Modern Country","Key":"Country:USA:6"}],"OriginalTitle":"Schools of To-morrow","Language":"English","DisciplineCards":[{"Label":"Primary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:political-philosophy"},{"Label":"Secondary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:ethics"}],"Tradition":"American pragmatism; instrumentalism; pragmatic naturalism; democratic experimentalism; progressive education","FullText":{"Title":"Full Text","Copy":"Public-domain full text from Project Gutenberg eBook #48906 .","Url":"","Label":"","Kicker":"","Cards":[]},"CoreThesis":["Dewey and Evelyn Dewey present experimental schools as laboratories for democratic social learning and educational reform."],"Classification":{"AlternateTitles":"Schools of Tomorrow","KeyConcepts":"schools; reform; democracy; education; experiment; social learning","Methodology":"Direct Dewey work-cluster record based on SEP, IEP, Britannica, Center for Dewey Studies, Dewey scholarship, catalog records, and public edition evidence. No full text is imported.","Structure":"One work-cluster page with explicit integer display year, date note, evidence note, discipline mapping, and public source evidence."},"Arguments":["Dewey and Evelyn Dewey present experimental schools as laboratories for democratic social learning and educational reform."],"Influence":{"InfluencedBy":"William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, G. W. F. Hegel, Darwinian naturalism, experimental science, Jane Addams and social reform, American democratic institutions, and educational practice.","InfluenceOn":""},"Significance":["Accepted as a direct Dewey work-cluster via bibliography, catalog, and education scholarship evidence.","Dewey remains central for inquiry, democratic life, public problem-solving, education, experience, habits, art, values, religion as human faith, and experimental social intelligence."],"EvidenceNote":["Accepted as a direct Dewey work-cluster via bibliography, catalog, and education scholarship evidence."],"MainSections":[{"Kind":"RawSection","Title":"Full Versions","BodyHtml":"\u003cdiv class=\"dz-philo__full-version-grid\"\u003e\n \u003carticle class=\"dz-philo__full-version-card\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"dz-philo__full-version-provider\"\u003eProject Gutenberg\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003ch3 class=\"dz-philo__full-version-title\"\u003eProject Gutenberg eBook #48906\u003c/h3\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"dz-philo__full-version-meta\"\u003eHtmlText · Imported\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003ca class=\"dz-philo__full-version-link\" href=\"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48906\"\u003eOpen full version\u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/article\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e"},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Core Thesis","Paragraphs":["Dewey and Evelyn Dewey present experimental schools as laboratories for democratic social learning and educational reform."]},{"Kind":"FieldSection","Title":"Classification","Fields":[{"Label":"Alternate Titles","Value":"Schools of Tomorrow"},{"Label":"Key Concepts","Value":"schools; reform; democracy; education; experiment; social learning"},{"Label":"Methodology","Value":"Direct Dewey work-cluster record based on SEP, IEP, Britannica, Center for Dewey Studies, Dewey scholarship, catalog records, and public edition evidence. No full text is imported."},{"Label":"Structure","Value":"One work-cluster page with explicit integer display year, date note, evidence note, discipline mapping, and public source evidence."}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Arguments","Paragraphs":["Dewey and Evelyn Dewey present experimental schools as laboratories for democratic social learning and educational reform."]},{"Kind":"FieldSection","Title":"Influence","Fields":[{"Label":"Influenced By","Value":"William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, G. W. F. Hegel, Darwinian naturalism, experimental science, Jane Addams and social reform, American democratic institutions, and educational practice."},{"Label":"Influence On","Value":"Pragmatism, analytic and continental social philosophy, democratic theory, progressive education, inquiry theory, aesthetics, public philosophy, deliberative democracy, philosophy of science, and American philosophy."}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Significance","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a direct Dewey work-cluster via bibliography, catalog, and education scholarship evidence.","Dewey remains central for inquiry, democratic life, public problem-solving, education, experience, habits, art, values, religion as human faith, and experimental social intelligence."]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Evidence Note","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a direct Dewey work-cluster via bibliography, catalog, and education scholarship evidence."]},{"Kind":"RawSection","Title":"Full Text","BodyHtml":"\u003cp class=\"dz-philo__section-copy dz-philo__full-text-source\"\u003ePublic-domain full text from \u003ca href=\"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48906\"\u003eProject Gutenberg eBook #48906\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003carticle class=\"dz-philo__full-text-body\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"i_frontis\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 569px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-001.jpg\" width=\"569\" height=\"320\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eA test with books open. (Fairhope, Alabama.) \u003ci\u003eFrontispiece\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"newpage p4 center-container\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"center-block\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv style=\"border: .5em double black; max-width: 25em; padding: 2em;\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch1 class=\"vspace gesperrt p0\"\u003eSCHOOLS OF\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nTO-MORROW\u003c/h1\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 center vspace\"\u003eBY\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"large\"\u003eJOHN DEWEY\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nAND\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"large\"\u003eEVELYN DEWEY\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"if_i_002\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 106px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-002.jpg\" width=\"106\" height=\"153\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 center vspace\"\u003eNEW YORK\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"larger\"\u003eE. P. DUTTON \u0026amp; COMPANY\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n681 FIFTH AVENUE\r\n\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"newpage p4 center vspace\"\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eCopyright\u003c/span\u003e, 1915\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"small\"\u003eBY\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nE. P. DUTTON \u0026amp; COMPANY\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"center-container\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"center-block\"\u003e\r\n\u003cul\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eFirst Printing, May, 1915.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eSecond Printing, August, 1915.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eThird Printing, March, 1916.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eFourth Printing, March, 1916.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eFifth Printing, July, 1916.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eSixth Printing, July, 1916.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eSeventh Printing, Jan’y, 1917.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eEighth Printing, Jan’y, 1917.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eNinth Printing, April, 1919.\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003c/ul\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"p2 center bold\"\u003eThe Knickerbocker Press, New York\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca name=\"PREFACE\" id=\"PREFACE\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003ePREFACE\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere has been no attempt in this book to\r\ndevelop a complete theory of education nor yet\r\nreview any “systems” or discuss the views of\r\nprominent educators. This is not a text book\r\nof education, nor yet an exposition of a new\r\nmethod of school teaching, aimed to show the\r\nweary teacher or the discontented parent how\r\neducation should be carried on. We have tried\r\nto show what actually happens when schools\r\nstart out to put into practice, each in its own\r\nway, some of the theories that have been pointed\r\nto as the soundest and best ever since Plato, to\r\nbe then laid politely away as precious portions\r\nof our “intellectual heritage.” Certain views\r\nare well known to every teacher who has studied\r\npedagogy, and portions of them form an accepted\r\npart of every theory of education. Yet\r\nwhen they are applied in a classroom the public\r\nin general and other teachers in particular cry\r\nout against that classroom as a place of fads\r\nand caprices; a place lacking in any far reaching\r\naim or guiding principle. We have hoped\r\nto suggest to the reader the practical meaning\r\nof some of the more widely recognized and accepted\r\nviews of educational reformers by showing\r\nwhat happens when a teacher applies these\r\nviews.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe schools we have used for purposes of\r\nillustration are all of them directed by sincere\r\nteachers trying earnestly to give their children\r\nthe best they have by working out concretely\r\nwhat they consider the fundamental principles\r\nof education. More and more schools are growing\r\nup all over the country that are trying to\r\nwork out definite educational ideas. It is the\r\nfunction of this book to point out how the applications\r\narise from their theories and the\r\ndirection that education in this country seems\r\nto be taking at the present time. We hope that\r\nthrough the description of classroom work we\r\nmay help to make some theories living realities\r\nto the reader. On the other hand, we have\r\ndwelt on theoretical aspects in order to point\r\nout some of the needs of modern education and\r\nthe way in which they are being met.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe schools that are used for illustration were\r\nchosen more or less at random; because we\r\nalready knew of them or because they were\r\nconveniently located. They do not begin to\r\nrepresent all that is being done to-day to vitalize\r\nthe school life of children. Schools with like\r\ntraits may be found in every part of the country.\r\nSpace has forced us to omit a very important\r\nmovement\u0026mdash;the reorganization of the rural\r\nschool and the utilization of agriculture in education.\r\nBut this movement shows the tendencies\r\nthat mark the schools we have described;\r\ntendencies towards greater freedom and an\r\nidentification of the child’s school life with his\r\nenvironment and outlook; and, even more important,\r\nthe recognition of the rôle education\r\nmust play in a democracy. These tendencies\r\nseem truly symptoms of the times, and with a\r\nsingle exception proved to be the most marked\r\ncharacteristics of all the schools visited.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWithout the very material help and interest\r\nof the teachers and principals of the schools\r\nvisited this book would not have been possible.\r\nWe thank them most sincerely for the unfailing\r\ncourtesy they have shown in placing their time\r\nand the material of their classrooms at our disposal.\r\nOur thanks are especially due to Mrs.\r\nJohnson of Fairhope and to Miss Georgia Alexander\r\nof Indianapolis for information and suggestions.\r\nThe visiting of the schools with one\r\nexception was done by Miss Dewey, who is also\r\nresponsible for the descriptive chapters of the\r\nbook.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp class=\"sigright\"\u003eJ.D.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca name=\"CONTENTS\" id=\"CONTENTS\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCONTENTS\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003ctable summary=\"Contents\"\u003e\r\n \u003ctr class=\"small\"\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\" colspan=\"2\"\u003eCHAPTER\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003ePAGE\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eI\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eEducation as Natural Development\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_I\"\u003e1\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eII\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eAn Experiment in Education as Natural Development\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_II\"\u003e17\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eIII\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eFour Factors in Natural Growth\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_III\"\u003e41\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eIV\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eThe Reorganization of the Curriculum\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_IV\"\u003e60\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eV\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003ePlay\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_V\"\u003e103\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eVI\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eFreedom and Individuality\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_VI\"\u003e132\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eVII\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eThe Relation of the School to the Community\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_VII\"\u003e164\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eVIII\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eThe School as a Social Settlement\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_VIII\"\u003e205\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eIX\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eIndustry and Educational Readjustment\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_IX\"\u003e229\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eX\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eEducation Through Industry\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_X\"\u003e251\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr top\"\u003eXI\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eDemocracy and Education\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#CHAPTER_XI\"\u003e287\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n\u003c/table\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca name=\"LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS\" id=\"LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003ctable id=\"loi\" summary=\"List of Illustrations\"\u003e\r\n \u003ctr class=\"small\"\u003e\r\n \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003eFACING\u003cbr /\u003ePAGE \u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eA Test with Books Open. (Fairhope, Ala.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#i_frontis\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrontispiece\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(1) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eNature would Have Children Be Children before They Are Men.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_9\"\u003e8\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(2) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eTeach the Child What Is of Use to Him as a Child. (Teachers’ College, N.\u0026nbsp;Y. City)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_9b\"\u003e8\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eTo Learn to Think, We must Exercise Our Limbs. (Francis Parker School, Chicago)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_14\"\u003e15\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(1) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eAn Hour a Day Spent in the “Gym.”\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_31\"\u003e30\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(2) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eThe Gully Is a Favorite Textbook. (Fairhope, Ala.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_31b\"\u003e30\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eGames often Require Muscular Skill, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. (University School, Columbia, Mo.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_44\"\u003e45\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(1) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eThe Basis of the Year’s Work. (Indianapolis)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_58\"\u003e58\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(2) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003ePrinting Teaches English. (Francis Parker School, Chicago)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_58b\"\u003e58\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eSongs and Games Help Arithmetic. (Public School 45, Indianapolis)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_74\"\u003e75\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eThe Pupils Build the School-Houses. (Interlaken School, Ind.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_86\"\u003e87\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eReal Gardens for City Nature Study. (Public School 45, Indianapolis)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_95\"\u003e97\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(1) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eMaking a Town, instead of Doing Gymnastic Exercises. (Teachers’ College Playground, N.\u0026nbsp;Y. City)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_108\"\u003e109\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(2) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eGymnasium Dances in Sewing-Class Costumes. (Howland School, Chicago)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_108b\"\u003e109\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eConstructing in Miniature the Things They See around Them. (Play School, New York City)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_118\"\u003e118\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eUsing the Child’s Dramatic Instinct to Teach History. (Cottage School, Riverside, Ill.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_129\"\u003e129\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eLearning to Live through Situations That Are Typical of Social Life. (Teachers’ College, N.\u0026nbsp;Y. City)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_140\"\u003e140\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eSolving Problems in School as They would Have to be Met out of School. (Francis Parker School, Chicago)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_158\"\u003e159\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eThe Pupil Stays in the Same Building from Day Nursery Through High School. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_176\"\u003e177\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eSpecial Teachers for Special Subjects from the Very Beginning. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_192\"\u003e193\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(1) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eThe Boys Like Cooking More than the Girls Do.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_218\"\u003e218\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(2) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eMending Their Own Shoes, to Learn Cobbling. (Public School 26, Indianapolis)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_218b\"\u003e218\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eLearning Moulding, and Manufacturing School Equipment. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_254\"\u003e255\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eReal Work in a Real Shop Begins in the Fifth Grade. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_268\"\u003e269\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(1) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eChildren Are Interested in the Things They Need to Know About. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_284\"\u003e284\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e(2) \u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eMaking Their Own Clothes in Sewing Class. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_284b\"\u003e284\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n \u003ctr\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"smcap\"\u003eTraining the Hand, Eye, and Brain by Doing Useful Work. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n \u003ctd class=\"tdr\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ip_296\"\u003e297\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n\u003c/table\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_1\" id=\"Page_1\"\u003e1\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003ca name=\"SCHOOLS_OF_TO-MORROW\" id=\"SCHOOLS_OF_TO-MORROW\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class=\"larger\"\u003eSCHOOLS OF TO-MORROW\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_I\" id=\"CHAPTER_I\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER I\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eEDUCATION AS NATURAL DEVELOPMENT\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e“We know nothing of childhood, and with\r\nour mistaken notions of it the further we go\r\nin education the more we go astray. The\r\nwisest writers devote themselves to what a man\r\nought to know without asking what a child is\r\ncapable of learning.” These sentences are\r\ntypical of the “Émile” of Rousseau. He insists\r\nthat existing education is bad because parents\r\nand teachers are always thinking of the accomplishments\r\nof adults, and that all reform depends\r\nupon centering attention upon the powers\r\nand weaknesses of children. Rousseau said,\r\nas well as did, many foolish things. But his\r\ninsistence that education be based upon the native\r\ncapacities of those to be taught and upon\r\nthe need of studying children in order to discover\r\nwhat these native powers are, sounded\r\nthe key-note of all modern efforts for educational\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_2\" id=\"Page_2\"\u003e2\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nprogress. It meant that education is not\r\nsomething to be forced upon children and youth\r\nfrom without, but is the growth of capacities\r\nwith which human beings are endowed at birth.\r\nFrom this conception flow the various considerations\r\nwhich educational reformers since\r\nhis day have most emphasized.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt calls attention, in the first place, to a fact\r\nwhich professional educators are always forgetting:\r\nWhat is learned in school is at the\r\nbest only a small part of education, a relatively\r\nsuperficial part; and yet what is learned\r\nin school makes artificial distinctions in society\r\nand marks persons off from one another.\r\nConsequently we exaggerate school learning\r\ncompared with what is gained in the ordinary\r\ncourse of living. We are, however, to correct\r\nthis exaggeration, not by despising school learning,\r\nbut by looking into that extensive and more\r\nefficient training given by the ordinary course\r\nof events for light upon the best ways of teaching\r\nwithin school walls. The first years of\r\nlearning proceed rapidly and securely before\r\nchildren go to school, because that learning is\r\nso closely related with the motives that are\r\nfurnished by their own powers and the needs\r\nthat are dictated by their own conditions.\r\nRousseau was almost the first to see that learning\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_3\" id=\"Page_3\"\u003e3\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nis a matter of necessity; it is a part of the\r\nprocess of self-preservation and of growth. If\r\nwe want, then, to find out how education takes\r\nplace most successfully, let us go to the experiences\r\nof children where learning is a necessity,\r\nand not to the practices of the schools where it\r\nis largely an adornment, a superfluity and even\r\nan unwelcome imposition.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut schools are always proceeding in a direction\r\nopposed to this principle. They take the\r\naccumulated learning of adults, material that\r\nis quite unrelated to the exigencies of growth,\r\nand try to force it upon children, instead of\r\nfinding out what these children need as they\r\ngo along. “A man must indeed know many\r\nthings which seem useless to a child. Must\r\nthe child learn, can he learn, all that the man\r\nmust know? Try to teach a child what is of use\r\nto him as a child, and you will find that it takes\r\nall his time. Why urge him to the studies of\r\nan age he may never reach, to the neglect of\r\nthose studies which meet his present needs?\r\nBut, you ask, will it not be too late to learn\r\nwhat he ought to know when the time comes to\r\nuse it? I cannot tell. But this I know; it is\r\nimpossible to teach it sooner, for our real\r\nteachers are experience and emotion, and adult\r\nman will never learn what befits \u003ci\u003ehim\u003c/i\u003e except\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_4\" id=\"Page_4\"\u003e4\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nunder his own conditions. A child knows he\r\nmust become a man; all the ideas he may have\r\nas to man’s estate are so many opportunities\r\nfor his instruction, but he should remain in\r\ncomplete ignorance of those ideas that are beyond\r\nhis grasp. My whole book is one continued\r\nargument in support of this fundamental\r\nprinciple of education.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eProbably the greatest and commonest mistake\r\nthat we all make is to forget that learning\r\nis a necessary incident of dealing with real\r\nsituations. We even go so far as to assume\r\nthat the mind is naturally averse to learning\u0026mdash;which\r\nis like assuming that the digestive organs\r\nare averse to food and have either to be coaxed\r\nor bullied into having anything to do with it.\r\nExisting methods of instruction give plenty of\r\nevidence in support of a belief that minds are\r\nopposed to learning\u0026mdash;to their own exercise.\r\nWe fail to see that such aversion is in reality a\r\ncondemnation of our methods; a sign that we\r\nare presenting material for which the mind in its\r\nexisting state of growth has no need, or else\r\npresenting it in such ways as to cover up the\r\nreal need. Let us go further. We say only an\r\nadult can really learn the things needed by the\r\nadult. Surely the adult is much more likely to\r\nlearn the things befitting him when his hunger\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_5\" id=\"Page_5\"\u003e5\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfor learning has been kept alive continuously\r\nthan after a premature diet of adult nutriment\r\nhas deadened desire to know. We are of little\r\nfaith and slow to believe. We are continually\r\nuneasy about the things we adults know, and\r\nare afraid the child will never learn them unless\r\nthey are drilled into him by instruction before\r\nhe has any intellectual or practical use for them.\r\nIf we could really believe that attending to the\r\nneeds of present growth would keep the child\r\nand teacher alike busy, and would also provide\r\nthe best possible guarantee of the learning\r\nneeded in the future, transformation of educational\r\nideals might soon be accomplished, and\r\nother desirable changes would largely take care\r\nof themselves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is no wonder, then, that Rousseau preaches\r\nthe necessity of being willing to lose time.\r\n“The greatest, the most important, the most\r\nuseful rule of education is: Do not save time,\r\nbut lose it. If the infant sprang at one bound\r\nfrom its mother’s breast to the age of reason,\r\nthe present education would be quite suitable;\r\nbut its natural growth calls for quite a different\r\ntraining.” And he says, again, “The whole of\r\nour present method is cruel, for it consists in\r\nsacrificing the present to the remote and uncertain\r\nfuture. I hear from afar the shouts of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_6\" id=\"Page_6\"\u003e6\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe false wisdom that is ever dragging us on,\r\ncounting the present as nothing, and breathlessly\r\npursuing a future that flies as we pursue;\r\na false wisdom that takes us away from the only\r\nplace we ever have and never takes us anywhere\r\nelse.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn short, if education is the proper growth\r\nof tendencies and powers, attention to the process\r\nof growing \u003ci\u003ein the particular form in which\r\nit goes on from day to day\u003c/i\u003e is the only way of\r\nmaking secure the accomplishments of adult\r\nlife. Maturity is the result of the slow growth\r\nof powers. Ripening takes time; it cannot be\r\nhurried without harm. The very meaning of\r\nchildhood is that it is the time of growth, of\r\ndeveloping. To despise the powers and needs\r\nof childhood, in behalf of the attainments of\r\nadult life, is therefore suicidal. Hence “Hold\r\nchildhood in reverence, and do not be in any\r\nhurry to judge it for good or ill. Give nature\r\ntime to work before you take upon yourself her\r\nbusiness, lest you interfere with her dealings.\r\nYou assert that you know the value of time and\r\nare afraid to waste it. You fail to perceive that\r\nit is a greater waste of time to use it ill than\r\nto do nothing, and that a child ill taught is further\r\nfrom excellence than a child who has\r\nlearned nothing at all. You are afraid to see\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_7\" id=\"Page_7\"\u003e7\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhim spending his early years doing nothing.\r\nWhat! Is it nothing to be happy, nothing to\r\njump and run all day? He will never be so busy\r\nagain all his life long…. What would you\r\nthink of a man who refused to sleep lest he\r\nshould waste part of his life?” Reverence for\r\nchildhood is identical with reverence for the\r\nneeds and opportunities of growth. Our tragic\r\nerror is that we are so anxious for the results\r\nof growth that we neglect the process of growing.\r\n“Nature would have children be children\r\nbefore they are men. If we try to invert this\r\norder we shall produce a forced fruit, immature\r\nand flavorless, fruit that rots before it can\r\nripen…. Childhood has its own ways of thinking,\r\nseeing, and feeling.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePhysical growth is not identical with mental\r\ngrowth but the two coincide in time, and\r\nnormally the latter is impossible without the\r\nformer. If we have reverence for childhood,\r\nour first specific rule is to make sure of a healthy\r\nbodily development. Even apart from its intrinsic\r\nvalue as a source of efficient action and\r\nof happiness, the proper development of the\r\nmind directly depends upon the proper use of\r\nthe muscles and the senses. The organs of\r\naction and of reception are indispensable for\r\ngetting into relation with the materials of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_8\" id=\"Page_8\"\u003e8\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nknowledge. The child’s first business is self-preservation.\r\nThis does not mean barely keeping\r\nhimself alive, but preservation of himself\r\nas a growing, developing being. Consequently,\r\nthe activities of a child are not so aimless as\r\nthey seem to adults, but are the means by which\r\nhe becomes acquainted with his world and by\r\nwhich he also learns the use and limits of his\r\nown powers. The constant restless activities\r\nof children seem senseless to grown-up people,\r\nsimply because grown-up people have got used\r\nto the world around them and hence do not feel\r\nthe need of continual experimentation. But\r\nwhen they are irritated by the ceaseless movements\r\nof a child and try to reduce him to a\r\nstate of quiescence, they both interfere with the\r\nchild’s happiness and health, and cut him off\r\nfrom his chief means of real knowledge. Many\r\ninvestigators have seen how a sound bodily\r\nstate is a \u003ci\u003enegative\u003c/i\u003e condition of normal mental\r\ndevelopment; but Rousseau anticipated our\r\npresent psychology as to the extent in which the\r\naction of the organs of sense and movement is\r\na positive cause of the unfolding of intelligence.\r\n“If you follow rules that are the opposite of the\r\nestablished practice and instead of taking your\r\npupil far afield, wandering to distant places,\r\nfar-off lands, remote centuries, the ends of the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_9\" id=\"Page_9\"\u003e9\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nworld and to heavens themselves, you keep him\r\nto himself, to his own concerns, he will be able\r\nto perceive, to remember, and to reason in nature’s\r\norder of development. As the sentient\r\ninfant grows into an active being, his discernment\r\nkeeps pace with his increase in strength.\r\nNot till strength is developed beyond the needs\r\nof self-preservation is the faculty of speculation\r\nmanifested, for this is the faculty of employing\r\nsuperfluous strength for other than\r\nnecessary purposes. Hence, if you would cultivate\r\nyour pupil’s intelligence, \u003ci\u003ecultivate the\r\nstrength it is meant to control\u003c/i\u003e. Give his body\r\nconstant exercise, make it strong and healthy\r\nin order to make him good and wise; let him\r\nwork, let him do things; let him run and shout;\r\nlet him be on the go…. It is a lamentable\r\nmistake to imagine that bodily activity hinders\r\nthe working of the mind, as if the two kinds of\r\nactivity ought not to advance hand in hand, and\r\nas if the one were not \u003ci\u003eintended to act as guide\r\nto the other\u003c/i\u003e.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_9\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 324px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-008.jpg\" width=\"324\" height=\"244\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e(1) Nature would have children be children before they are\r\nmen.\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_9b\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 322px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-008a.jpg\" width=\"322\" height=\"247\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e(2) Teach the child what is of use to him as a child.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n(Teachers College, N.\u0026nbsp;Y. City.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the following passage Rousseau is more\r\nspecific as to the way in which the physical\r\nactivities which conduce to health and the\r\ngrowth of mind reinforce each other. “Physical\r\nexercise teaches us to use our strength, to\r\nperceive the relation between our own and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_10\" id=\"Page_10\"\u003e10\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nneighboring bodies, to use natural tools which\r\nare within our reach and adapted to our senses…. At\r\neighteen we are taught in our schools\r\nthe use of the lever; every village boy of twelve\r\nknows how to use a lever better than the cleverest\r\nmechanician in the academy. The lessons\r\nthe scholars give one another on the playground\r\nare worth a hundredfold more than what\r\nthey learn in the classroom. Watch a cat when\r\nshe first comes into a room. She goes from\r\nplace to place; she sniffs about and examines\r\neverything. She is not still for a moment. It\r\nis the same with a child when he begins to walk\r\nand enters, as it were, the room of the world\r\nabout him. Both use sight, and the child uses\r\nhis hands as the cat her nose.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e“As man’s first natural impulse is to measure\r\nhimself upon his environment, to find in\r\nevery object he sees the qualities that may concern\r\nhimself, so his first study is a kind of experimental\r\nphysics for his own preservation.\r\nHe is turned away from this, and sent to speculative\r\nstudies before he has found his own place\r\nin the world. While his delicate and flexible\r\nlimbs and keen senses can adjust themselves to\r\nthe bodies upon which they intended to act is\r\nthe time to exercise senses and limbs in their\r\nproper business\u0026mdash;the time to learn the relation\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_11\" id=\"Page_11\"\u003e11\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbetween themselves and things. Our first\r\nteachers in natural philosophy are our feet,\r\nhands, and eyes. To substitute books for them\r\ndoes not teach us to reason; it teaches us to use\r\nthe reason of others rather than our own; it\r\nteaches us to believe much and to know little.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e“Before you can get an art, you must first\r\nget your tools; and if you are to make good use\r\nof your tools, they must be fashioned sufficiently\r\nstrong to stand use. To learn to think, we must\r\naccordingly exercise our limbs, our senses, and\r\nour bodily organs, for these are the tools of\r\nintellect. To get the best use of these tools, the\r\nbody that supplies us with these tools must be\r\nkept strong and healthy. Not only is it a mistake\r\nthat true reason is developed apart from\r\nthe body, but it is a good bodily constitution\r\nthat makes the workings of the mind easy and\r\ncorrect.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe passage shows how far Rousseau was\r\nfrom considering bodily development as a complete\r\nend in itself. It also indicates how far\r\nahead he was of the psychology of his own day\r\nin his conception of the relation of the senses to\r\nknowledge. The current idea (and one that\r\nprevails too much even in our own time) was\r\nthat the senses were a sort of gateway and\r\navenue through which impressions traveled and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_12\" id=\"Page_12\"\u003e12\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthen built up knowledge pictures of the world.\r\nRousseau saw that they are a part of the apparatus\r\nof action by which we adjust ourselves to\r\nour environment, and that instead of being passive\r\nreceptacles they are directly connected\r\nwith motor activities\u0026mdash;with the use of hands\r\nand legs. In this respect he was more advanced\r\nthan some of his successors who emphasized the\r\nimportance of sense contact with objects, for\r\nthe latter thought of the senses simply as purveyors\r\nof information about objects instead of\r\ninstruments of the necessary adjustments of\r\nhuman beings to the world around them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eConsequently, while he makes much of the\r\nsenses and suggests many games for cultivating\r\nthem, he never makes the mere training of the\r\nsenses an object on its own account. “It is not\r\nenough,” he says, “to use the senses in order to\r\ntrain them; we must learn to judge by their\r\nmeans\u0026mdash;we cannot really see, hear, or touch except\r\nas we have learned. A merely mechanical\r\nuse of the senses may strengthen the body without\r\nimproving the judgment. It is all very well\r\nto swim, run, jump, whip a top, throw stones.\r\nBut we have eyes and ears as well as arms and\r\nlegs, and these organs are necessary for learning\r\nthe use of the rest. Do not, then, merely\r\nexercise strength, but exercise the senses as the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_13\" id=\"Page_13\"\u003e13\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npowers by which strength is guided. Make the\r\nbest use of every one of them, and check the\r\nresults of one by another. Measure, count,\r\nweigh, compare. Do not use force till you have\r\nestimated the resistance; let estimation of the\r\neffect always precede application of the means.\r\nGet the child interested in avoiding superfluous\r\nand insufficient efforts. If you train him to calculate\r\nthe consequences of what he does and\r\nthen to correct the errors of his prevision by\r\nexperience, the more he does, the wiser he will\r\nbecome.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eOne more contrast between teaching which\r\nguides natural growth and teaching which imposes\r\nadult accomplishments should be noticed.\r\nThe latter method puts a premium upon accumulating\r\ninformation in the form of symbols.\r\nQuantity rather than quality of knowledge is\r\nemphasized; results that may be exhibited when\r\nasked for rather than personal attitude and\r\nmethod are demanded. Development emphasizes\r\nthe need of intimate and extensive personal\r\nacquaintance with a small number of\r\ntypical situations with a view to mastering the\r\nway of dealing with the problems of experience,\r\nnot the piling up of information. As Rousseau\r\npoints out, the facility with which children lend\r\nthemselves to our false methods is a constant\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_14\" id=\"Page_14\"\u003e14\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsource of deception to us. We know\u0026mdash;or fancy\r\nwe know\u0026mdash;what statements mean, and so when\r\nthe child uses the proper form of words, we\r\nattribute the same understanding to him. “The\r\napparent ease with which children learn is their\r\nruin. We fail to see that this very ease proves\r\nthat they are not learning. Their shining, polished\r\nbrain merely reflects, as in a mirror, the\r\nthings we show them.” Rousseau describes in\r\na phrase the defect of teaching \u003ci\u003eabout\u003c/i\u003e things instead\r\nof bringing to pass an acquaintance with\r\nthe relations of the things themselves. “You\r\nthink you are teaching him what the world is\r\nlike; he is only learning the map.” Extend the\r\nillustration from geography to the whole wide\r\nrealm of knowledge, and you have the gist of\r\nmuch of our teaching from the elementary\r\nschool through the college.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_14\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 570px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-015.jpg\" width=\"570\" height=\"322\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eTo learn to think, we must exercise our limbs. (Francis Parker School, Chicago.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eRousseau has the opposite method in mind\r\nwhen he says, “Among the many short cuts to\r\nscience we badly need one to teach us the art of\r\nlearning with difficulty.” Of course his idea\r\nis not to make things difficult for the sake of\r\nhaving them difficult, but to avoid the simulation\r\nof learning found in repeating the formulas\r\nof learning, and to substitute for it the slow and\r\nsure process of personal discovery. Textbooks\r\nand lectures give the results of other\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_15\" id=\"Page_15\"\u003e15\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmen’s discoveries, and thus seem to provide a\r\nshort cut to knowledge; but the outcome is just\r\na meaningless reflecting back of symbols with\r\nno understanding of the facts themselves. The\r\nfurther result is mental confusion; the pupil\r\nloses his original mental sure-footedness; his\r\nsense of reality is undermined. “The first\r\nmeaningless phrase, the first thing taken for\r\ngranted on the authority of another without the\r\npupil’s seeing its meaning for himself, is the\r\nbeginning of the ruin of judgment.” And\r\nagain: “What would you have him think\r\nabout, when you do all the thinking for him?”\r\n(And we must not forget that the organized material\r\nof our texts and set lessons represents\r\nthe thinking of others.) “You then complete\r\nthe task of discrediting reason in his mind by\r\nmaking him use such reason as he has upon the\r\nthings which seem of the least use to him.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf it was true in Rousseau’s day that information,\r\nknowledge, as an end in itself, is an “unfathomable\r\nand shoreless ocean,” it is much\r\nmore certain that the increase of science since\r\nhis day has made absurd the identification of\r\neducation with the mere accumulation of knowledge.\r\nThe frequent criticism of existing education\r\non the ground that it gives a smattering\r\nand superficial impression of a large and miscellaneous\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_16\" id=\"Page_16\"\u003e16\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nnumber of subjects, is just. But the\r\ndesired remedy will not be found in a return\r\nto mechanical and meager teaching of the three\r\nR’s, but rather in a surrender of our feverish\r\ndesire to lay out the whole field of knowledge\r\ninto various studies, in order to “cover the\r\nground.” We must substitute for this futile\r\nand harmful aim the better ideal of dealing\r\nthoroughly with a small number of typical experiences\r\nin such a way as to master the tools\r\nof learning, and present situations that make\r\npupils hungry to acquire additional knowledge.\r\nBy the conventional method of teaching, the\r\npupil learns maps instead of the world\u0026mdash;the\r\nsymbol instead of the fact. What the pupil\r\nreally needs is not exact information about topography,\r\nbut how to find out for himself.\r\n“See what a difference there is between the\r\nknowledge of your pupils and the ignorance of\r\nmine. They learn maps; he makes them.” \u003ci\u003eTo\r\nfind out how to make knowledge when it is\r\nneeded\u003c/i\u003e is the true end of the acquisition of information\r\nin school, not the information itself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_17\" id=\"Page_17\"\u003e17\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_II\" id=\"CHAPTER_II\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER II\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eAN EXPERIMENT IN EDUCATION AS NATURAL DEVELOPMENT\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eRousseau’s teaching that education is a\r\nprocess of natural growth has influenced most\r\ntheorizing upon education since his time. It\r\nhas influenced the practical details of school\r\nwork to a less degree. Occasionally, however,\r\nexperimenters have based their plans upon his\r\nprinciples. Among these experiments is one\r\nconducted by Mrs. Johnson at Fairhope, Alabama.\r\nTo this spot during the past few years\r\nstudents and experts have made pilgrimages,\r\nand the influence of Mrs. Johnson’s model has\r\nled to the starting of similar schools in different\r\nparts of the United States. Mrs. Johnson carries\r\non a summer course for training teachers\r\nby giving a working object lesson in her ideas\r\nat Greenwich, Connecticut, where a school for\r\nchildren has been conducted as a model.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHer main underlying principle is Rousseau’s\r\ncentral idea; namely: The child is best prepared\r\nfor life as an adult by experiencing in\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_18\" id=\"Page_18\"\u003e18\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nchildhood what has meaning to him as a child;\r\nand, further, the child has a right to enjoy his\r\nchildhood. Because he is a growing animal who\r\nmust develop so as to live successfully in the\r\ngrown-up world, nothing should be done to interfere\r\nwith growth, and everything should be\r\ndone to further the full and free development\r\nof his body and his mind. These two developments\r\ngo on together; they are inseparable\r\nprocesses and must both be constantly borne in\r\nmind as of equal importance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMrs. Johnson criticizes the conventional\r\nschool of to-day. She says it is arranged to\r\nmake things easy for the teacher who wishes\r\nquick and tangible results; that it disregards\r\nthe full development of the pupils. It is arranged\r\non the fatal plan of a hothouse, forcing\r\nto a sterile show, rather than fostering all-around\r\ngrowth. It does not foster an individuality\r\ncapable of an enduring resistance and of\r\ncreative activities. It disregards the \u003ci\u003epresent\u003c/i\u003e\r\nneeds of the child; the fact that he is living a\r\nfull life each year and hour, not waiting to live\r\nin some period defined by his elders, when school\r\nis a thing of the past. The distaste of children\r\nfor school is a natural and necessary result of\r\nsuch mistakes as these. Nature has not\r\nadapted the young animal to the narrow desk,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_19\" id=\"Page_19\"\u003e19\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe crowded curriculum, the silent absorption of\r\ncomplicated facts. His very life and growth depend\r\nupon motion, yet the school forces him into\r\na cramped position for hours at a time, so that\r\nthe teacher may be sure he is listening or studying\r\nbooks. Short periods of exercise are\r\nallowed as a bribe to keep him quiet the rest of\r\nthe time, but these relaxations do not compensate\r\nfor the efforts which he must make. The\r\nchild is eager to move both mentally and physically.\r\nJust as the physical growth must progress\r\ntogether with the mental, so it is in the\r\nseparate acts of a child. His bodily movements\r\nand his mental awakening are mutually\r\ndependent upon each other.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not enough to state this principle without\r\ncarrying its proof into practice, says Mrs.\r\nJohnson. The child with the well-nourished,\r\nactive body is the child who is most anxious to\r\ndo and to know things. The need of activity\r\nmust be met in the exercise of the school, hour\r\nby hour; the child must be allowed to move\r\nabout both in work and in play, to imitate and to\r\ndiscover for himself. The world of objects\r\naround him is an unexplored hemisphere to the\r\nchild even at the age of six years, a world constantly\r\nenlarging to his small vision as his\r\nactivities carry him further and further in his\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_20\" id=\"Page_20\"\u003e20\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ninvestigations, a world by no means so commonplace\r\nto him as to the adult. Therefore,\r\nlet the child, while his muscles are soft and his\r\nmind susceptible, look for himself at the world\r\nof things both natural and artificial, which is\r\nfor him the source of knowledge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eInstead of providing this chance for growth\r\nand discovery, the ordinary school impresses\r\nthe little one into a narrow area, into a melancholy\r\nsilence, into a forced attitude of mind and\r\nbody, till his curiosity is dulled into surprise\r\nat the strange things happening to him. Very\r\nsoon his body is tired of his task and he begins\r\nto find ways of evading his teacher, to look about\r\nhim for an escape from his little prison. This\r\nmeans that he becomes restless and impatient,\r\nin the language of the school, that he loses interest\r\nin the small tasks set for him and consequently\r\nin that new world so alluring a little\r\nwhile ago. The disease of indifference has attacked\r\nhis sensitive soul, before he is fairly\r\nstarted on the road to knowledge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe reason for having a school where children\r\nwork together is that the child must learn to\r\nwork with others. Granting this, Mrs. Johnson\r\nhas tried to find a plan giving the utmost liberty\r\nof individual development. Because the\r\nyoung child is unfitted by reason of his soft\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_21\" id=\"Page_21\"\u003e21\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmuscles and his immature senses to the hard\r\ntask of settling down to fine work on the details\r\nof things, he should not begin school life by\r\nlearning to read and write, nor by learning to\r\nhandle small playthings or tools. He must\r\ncontinue the natural course he began at home\r\nof running from one interesting object to another,\r\nof inquiring into the meaning of these\r\nobjects, and above all of tracing the relation\r\nbetween the different objects. All this must\r\nbe done in a large way so that he gets the names\r\nand bearings of the obvious facts as they appear\r\nin their order. Thus the obscure and difficult\r\nfacts come to light one after another without\r\nbeing forced upon the child’s attention by the\r\nteacher. One discovery leads to another, and\r\nthe interest of pursuit leads the child of his own\r\naccord into investigations that often amount to\r\nsevere intellectual discipline.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing this path of natural growth,\r\nthe child is led into reading, writing, arithmetic,\r\ngeography, etc., by his own desire\r\nto know. We must wait for the desire of\r\nthe child, for the consciousness of need, says\r\nMrs. Johnson; then we must promptly supply\r\nthe means to satisfy the child’s desire.\r\nTherefore, the age of learning to read\r\nis put off until the child is well grounded in his\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_22\" id=\"Page_22\"\u003e22\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nexperience and knowledge of the larger relations\r\nof things. Mrs. Johnson goes so far as\r\nto prevent children from learning to read at\r\ntoo early an age. At eight or nine years, she\r\nthinks they are keen to explore books just as\r\nthey have previously explored things. By this\r\ntime they recognize the need and use of the information\r\ncontained in books; they have found\r\nout they can get this information in no other\r\nway. Hence, the actual learning to read is\r\nhardly a problem; children teach themselves.\r\nUnder the stimulus of interest in arriving at\r\nthe knowledge of some particular subject, they\r\novercome the mechanical difficulty of reading\r\nwith ease and rapidity. Reading is not to them\r\nan isolated exercise; it is a means of acquiring\r\na much-desired object. Like climbing the\r\npantry shelves, its difficulties and dangers are\r\nlost sight of in the absorbing desire to satisfy\r\nthe mental appetite.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eEach of the subjects of the curriculum should\r\nbe given to the child to meet a demand on his\r\npart for a greater knowledge of relations than\r\nhe can get from studying objects. Arithmetic\r\nand abstract notions represented by figures are\r\nmeaningless to the child of six, but numbers as\r\na part of the things he is playing with or using\r\nevery day are so full of meaning that he soon\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_23\" id=\"Page_23\"\u003e23\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfinds he cannot get along without a knowledge\r\nof them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMrs. Johnson is trying an experiment under\r\nconditions which hold in public schools, and she\r\nbelieves that her methods are feasible for any\r\npublic school system. She charges practically\r\nno tuition, and any child is welcome. She calls\r\nher methods of education “organic” because\r\nthey follow the natural growth of the pupil.\r\nThe school aims to provide for the child the\r\noccupations and activities necessary at each\r\nstage of development for his unfolding at that\r\nstage. Therefore, she insists that general development\r\ninstead of the amount of information\r\nacquired, shall control the classification of the\r\npupils. Division into groups is made where it\r\nis found that the children naturally divide\r\nthemselves. These groups are called “Life\r\nClasses” instead of grades. The first life class\r\nends between the eighth and ninth years; the\r\nsecond between the eleventh and twelfth, and\r\nsince an even more marked change of interests\r\nand tastes occurs at the period of adolescence,\r\nthere are distinct high-school classes. The\r\nwork within the group is then arranged to give\r\nthe pupils the experiences which are needed at\r\nthat age for the development of their bodies,\r\nminds, and spirits.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_24\" id=\"Page_24\"\u003e24\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eDoing forced tasks, assignment of lessons to\r\nstudy, and ordinary examinations have no share\r\nin the Fairhope curriculum. Hence, the children\r\ndo not acquire that dislike of learning and\r\nmistrust of what a teacher or text-book says,\r\nwhich are unfortunately so common among\r\nscholars in the ordinary school. They exercise\r\ntheir instincts to learn naturally, without that\r\nself-consciousness which comes from having\r\nbeen forced to keep their minds on examinations\r\nand promotions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBright and intelligent children often acquire\r\na distaste for the schoolroom and what comes\r\nout of it, which they not only never wholly outgrow\r\nbut which is a real handicap to them as\r\nthey grow up, often preventing them from taking\r\ntheir college work seriously, and making\r\nthem suspicious of all ideas not actually deduced\r\nfrom their own experience outside the classroom.\r\nPerhaps they grow so docile they acquiesce\r\nin all authoritative statements whatsoever,\r\nand lose their sense of reality. We tell\r\nour children that books are the storehouses of\r\nthe world, and that they contain the heritage of\r\nthe past without which we would be savages;\r\nthen we teach them so that they hate books of\r\ninformation and discount what a teacher tells\r\nthem. Incompetency is general not because\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_25\" id=\"Page_25\"\u003e25\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npeople are not instructed enough as children,\r\nbut because they cannot and do not make any\r\nuse of what they learn. The extent to which\r\nthis is due to an early mistrust of school and the\r\nlearning associated with it cannot be overstated.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe students at Fairhope will never have this\r\nhandicap to contend with. They are uniformly\r\nhappy in school, and enthusiastically proclaim\r\ntheir “love” for it. Not only is the work interesting\r\nto the group as a whole, but no individual\r\nchild is forced to a task that does not\r\nappeal; each pupil may do as he pleases as long\r\nas he does not interfere with any one else. The\r\nchildren are not freed, however, from all discipline.\r\nThey must keep at work while they are\r\nin school, and learn not to bother their neighbors,\r\nas well as to help them when necessary.\r\nCaprice or laziness does not excuse a child from\r\nfollowing a healthy or useful régime.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMrs. Johnson feels that children in their early\r\nyears are neither moral nor immoral, but simply\r\nunmoral; their sense of right and wrong has\r\nnot yet begun to develop. Therefore, they\r\nshould be allowed as much freedom as possible;\r\nprohibitions and commands, the result of which\r\neither upon themselves or their companions\r\nthey cannot understand, are bound to be meaningless;\r\ntheir tendency is to make the child\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_26\" id=\"Page_26\"\u003e26\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsecretive and deceitful. Give a child plenty of\r\nhealthy activity. When he must be disciplined,\r\ndo not appeal to a sense which he has not got,\r\nbut show him by a little pain if necessary what\r\nhis naughty act meant to his playmate. If he\r\nis to share in fun and good things with his family\r\nand friends, he must behave so that they will\r\nwant his company. This is a motive which a\r\nyoung child can understand, for he knows when\r\nhis friends are agreeable or disagreeable to him.\r\nThere is less in such a scheme of discipline that\r\nimpels the child to shirk or conceal, to lie or to\r\nbecome too conscious of his acts, than in a discipline\r\nbased on moral grounds, which seems to\r\nthe child to be a mere excuse for forcing him to\r\ndo something simply because some grown person\r\nwants it done.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLack of self-consciousness is a positive gain\r\non the side of happiness. Mrs. Johnson’s\r\nscheme of discipline contributes toward that\r\nlove of school and work which all teaching aims\r\nto establish. When work is interesting, it is\r\nnot necessary to hamper children in their performance\r\nof it by meaningless restrictions and\r\npetty prohibitions. When children work willingly\r\nthey come to associate learning with the\r\ndoing of what is congenial. This is undoubtedly\r\nof positive moral value. It helps develop a confident,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_27\" id=\"Page_27\"\u003e27\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ncheerful attitude toward work; an ability\r\nto face a task without dislike or repulsion, which\r\nis of more real value in character building than\r\ndoing hard, distasteful tasks, or forcing attention\r\nand obedience.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe division into age groups or “life classes”\r\ntakes away that emphasis upon the pupils’ failures\r\nand shortcomings which is bound to be\r\nmore or less evident where pupils are graded\r\naccording to their proficiency in books. The\r\nchild who is slow mentally is not made to feel\r\nthat he is disgraced. Attention is not called to\r\nhim and he is not prodded, scolded, or\r\n“flunked.” Unaware of his own weaknesses,\r\nhe retains the moral support of confidence in\r\nhimself; and his hand work and physical accomplishments\r\nfrequently give him prestige\r\namong his fellows. Mrs. Johnson believes that\r\nthe recitations and examination of the ordinary\r\nschoolroom are merely devices to make the work\r\neasier for the teacher; while the consciousness\r\nof what he does or does not “know,” resulting\r\nfrom marks and grades, is harmful to the child\r\njust as an emphasis of his failures is harmful.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eEspecially marked is the contrast of the classroom\r\nexercises at Fairhope with recitations\r\nwhere, sitting still with their books closed, the\r\nchildren are subject to a fire of questions from\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_28\" id=\"Page_28\"\u003e28\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe teacher to find out how much they remember\r\nof a lesson they are supposed to have “studied”\r\nalone. To quote again from Rousseau: “He\r\n(the teacher) makes a point of showing that no\r\ntime has been wasted; he provides his pupils\r\nwith goods that can be readily displayed in the\r\nshop windows, accomplishments which can be\r\nshown off at will…. If the child is to be examined,\r\nhe is set to display his wares; he\r\nspreads them out; satisfies those who behold\r\nthem, packs up his bundle, and goes his way.\r\nToo many questions are tedious and revolting\r\nto most of us and especially to children. After\r\na few minutes their attention flags; they cease\r\nto listen to your everlasting questions and they\r\nanswer at random.” At Fairhope the children\r\ndo the work, and the teacher is there to help\r\nthem to know, not to have them give back what\r\nthey have memorized. Tests are often conducted\r\nwith books open, since they are not to\r\nshow the teacher what the child can remember,\r\nbut rather to discover his progress in ability\r\nto use books. Lessons are not assigned, but\r\nthe books are open in the hands of the pupils\r\nand with the teacher they discuss the text, getting\r\nout of it all the joy and information possible.\r\nThis stimulates a real love of books, so\r\nthat these children who have never been assigned\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_29\" id=\"Page_29\"\u003e29\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\na lesson to study, voluntarily study the\r\ntext after the class work. They are not tempted\r\nto cheat, for they are not put in the position of\r\nhaving to show off.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe result of this system of discipline and\r\nstudy over and above satisfactory progress in\r\nthe “three R’s,” is freedom from self-consciousness\r\non the mental and moral side; the\r\nability of a child to put all his native initiative\r\nand enthusiasm into his work; the power to indulge\r\nhis natural desire to learn; thus preserving\r\njoy in life and a confidence in himself which\r\nliberates all his energies for his work. He\r\nlikes school and forgets that he is “learning”;\r\nfor learning comes unconsciously as a by-product\r\nof experiences which he recognizes as worth\r\nwhile on their own account.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe following activities have been worked out\r\nat Fairhope as a substitute for the usual curriculum:\r\nphysical exercise, nature study, music,\r\nhand work, field geography, story telling,\r\nsense culture, fundamental conceptions of\r\nnumber, dramatizations, and games. In the\r\nsecond class map drawing and descriptive geography\r\nare added, for reading is acquired, and\r\nthe number work is modified by the knowledge\r\nof figures. Each lesson is planned as a concrete\r\nexperience with a definite end in view, appealing\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_30\" id=\"Page_30\"\u003e30\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto the child as desirable. As would be\r\nexpected from the emphasis put upon following\r\nthe development of the child, physical\r\nexercise plays an important part in the day’s\r\nwork. It comes every day, during the regular\r\nschool hours and usually in the first part of the\r\nmorning while the children are fresh and energetic.\r\nFor an hour the school is outdoors in\r\na field the children call “the gym.” Bars,\r\nhorses, etc., are scattered about, and there is\r\nsome one there to help them try new things and\r\nsee that the work is well balanced, but formal\r\ngymnastics in the accepted meaning of the term\r\ndo not exist. Mrs. Johnson believes that the\r\ndistaste of children is sufficient reason for doing\r\naway with them, and that, since the growing\r\nchild is constantly seeking of his own accord\r\nopportunities to stretch and exercise his muscles,\r\nall the school needs to do is to supply the\r\nopportunity, seeing to it that this is not indulged\r\nto the point of harming the child. The\r\nchildren fall naturally into groups; those who\r\nwant to swing on the bars and rings, those who\r\nwant to climb, to jump, or run, or throw, etc.\r\nRunning usually takes the form of races; a tree\r\nis used as a target in the stone throwing contests.\r\nThe children themselves have invented\r\ngames to use on the apparatus, and the hour in\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_31\" id=\"Page_31\"\u003e31\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe “gym” is one of the busiest in the day. It\r\nleaves the children eager and stimulated for\r\ntheir mental work, since it has meant no overworking\r\nof one set of muscles, no dull repetition\r\nof meaningless movements at some one else’s\r\ncommand. Besides this regular time for exercise,\r\nthe children may study outdoors, and many\r\nof the classes are conducted in the open air.\r\nIndoors there are games, handwork, and dramatizations,\r\nall of which contribute to the physical\r\nwell-being of the children. There are no\r\ncramping desks, the pupil may sit where or\r\nhow he pleases, or even move from place to\r\nplace if he does not disturb his fellows. The\r\nclasses go on in a room in which two groups,\r\neach of fifteen or more children, are working,\r\nand the necessary quiet and order exist.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_31\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 324px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-030.jpg\" width=\"324\" height=\"247\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e(1) An hour a day spent in the “Gym.”\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_31b\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 323px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-030a.jpg\" width=\"323\" height=\"247\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e(2) The Gully is a favorite textbook.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n(Fairhope, Ala.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eNature study and field geography are conducted\r\nalmost entirely out of doors. The children\r\ngo into the fields and woods and look at\r\nthe trees and flowers, ask questions about them,\r\nexamine the differences in bark, leaves, and\r\nflowers, tell each other what they think, and\r\nuse their books to answer questions that the\r\ntrees and plants have suggested to them. They\r\nlearn the meaning of the words pistils, stamens,\r\nand petals with flowers they have gathered, or\r\nwatch a bee carrying pollen from plant to plant.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_32\" id=\"Page_32\"\u003e32\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nIndividual pupils are encouraged to tell the class\r\nwhat they may have learned at home, to bring\r\nflowers from their gardens, or to tell of things\r\nthey have seen. The class visit a neighboring\r\ntruck farm, recognize as many vegetables as\r\nthey can, and learn the names and characteristics\r\nof the new ones. When they are back in\r\nthe schoolroom those that can write make a list\r\nof all the vegetables they can remember, thus\r\ncombining with their nature lesson a lesson in\r\nwriting. There is a garden in the school\r\ngrounds where the pupils learn to plow, rake,\r\nand plant, watch their seeds come up and grow\r\nand flower. In a little plot of ground that is\r\ntheir own, they observe all the phases in the\r\ncycle of plant life, and besides get the benefits\r\nof the moral training that comes from carrying\r\nthrough a piece of work that lasts several\r\nmonths and demands constant thought and care.\r\nThis sort of work plays a large part in the curriculum\r\nof the younger children, for it seems\r\nto belong particularly to their world; to the\r\nworld of definite concrete objects which they\r\nsee about them every day, which they can\r\nhandle and play with, and which consequently\r\narouse their curiosity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe field geography is conducted in much the\r\nsame way. Even the very young children acquire\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_33\" id=\"Page_33\"\u003e33\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\na good idea of the different sorts of rock\r\nformations, of the action of the wind and rain,\r\nof river currents, by direct observation; if text-books\r\nare used they come afterwards, to explain\r\nor amplify something the pupils have seen.\r\nThe soil about the school is clay and after a\r\nrain the smallest stream furnishes excellent examples\r\nof the ways of rivers, erosions, watersheds,\r\nfloods, or changing currents, while an explanation\r\nof tides or the Gulf Stream is made\r\nvital by a little trip to the Bay. A gully near\r\nthe school building not only furnishes a splendid\r\nplace for play but serves as a text-book in\r\nmountain ranges, valleys, and soil and rock\r\nformation. All this serves as an excellent\r\nfoundation and illustration for the descriptive\r\ngeography which comes later. The more advanced\r\ngeography is principally commercial\r\ngeography; and with the scientific background\r\nthat the pupils have already obtained, the real\r\nsignificance of the relations between climates\r\nand crops, industries, exports and imports, and\r\nsocial conditions is much more likely to be\r\nunderstood.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe value of handwork is strongly emphasized\r\nat Fairhope, consistently with the emphasis\r\nput on physical growth. The little child\r\nmust go on learning to coördinate with more and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_34\" id=\"Page_34\"\u003e34\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmore skill his muscular movements if his body\r\nis to be developed to the highest standards of\r\nhealth and efficiency, and nothing contributes to\r\nthis better than the controlled and rather delicate\r\nmotions necessary for making things with\r\nthe hands. The fact that he is making things\r\ngives just the stimulus the child needs to enable\r\nhim to keep on at the task, to repeat over and\r\nover the same efforts of mind, hand, and eye,\r\nto give him real control of himself in the process.\r\nThe benefits of handwork on the utilitarian\r\nside are just as great. The child learns\r\nhow to use the ordinary tools of life, the scissors,\r\nknife, needle, plane, and saw, and gets an\r\nappreciation of the artists’ tools, paint and\r\nclays, which lasts the rest of his life. If he is\r\na child with initiative and inventiveness he finds\r\na natural and pleasant outlet for his energies.\r\nIf he is dreamy or unpractical, he learns a respect\r\nfor manual work, and gains something toward\r\nbecoming a well-rounded human being.\r\nBoys and girls alike do cooking and carpentry\r\nwork, for the object of the work is not to train\r\nthem for any trade or profession, but to train\r\nthem to be capable, happy members of society.\r\nPainting or clay modeling play quite as large\r\na rôle, even with the little ones, as carpentry or\r\nsewing, providing they serve a purpose or are\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_35\" id=\"Page_35\"\u003e35\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsufficiently connected with other work to hold\r\nthe pupil’s interest. A sense of the beautiful\r\nis not consciously present in small children and\r\nmust be developed through their handling of\r\nevery-day objects if it is to become a real force\r\nin their lives. Therefore “art” is taught as\r\npart of the handwork, the story telling, the\r\ndramatization, or the nature study. The youngest\r\nchildren in clay modeling, painting, weaving\r\npaper mats, making paper or wooden toys, etc.,\r\nare asked as much as possible to suggest things\r\nthey want to make. With the acquisition of\r\nskill, they go on making more and more difficult\r\nobjects; pupils of nine or ten make raffia baskets,\r\nboats, and dolls’ furniture.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe story telling and dramatization are very\r\nclosely connected and (up to the age of about\r\nten) take the place of the usual bookwork.\r\nStories of literary value, suited in subject matter\r\nto the age of the pupils, are told or read to\r\nthem, and they in turn are asked to tell stories\r\nthey have heard outside of school. After the\r\nninth or tenth year, when the children have\r\nlearned to read, they read stories from books,\r\neither to themselves or aloud, and then the\r\nwhole class discuss them. The Greek myths,\r\nthe Iliad, and the Odyssey are favorites at this\r\nage, and very frequently without directions\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_36\" id=\"Page_36\"\u003e36\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfrom the teacher, a class will act out a whole\r\nstory, such as the Fall of Troy, or any tale\r\nthat has appealed especially to their dramatic\r\nimagination. The school believes that this is\r\nthe true way for young people to approach\r\nliterature, if they are to learn to love and appreciate\r\nit, not simply to study the text for\r\nstrange words and figures of speech. The\r\npupils are not allowed to use books until the\r\neighth or ninth year, and by this time they have\r\nrealized so keenly their need, they beg for help\r\nin learning. The long, tiresome drill necessary\r\nfor six-year-old children is eliminated. Each\r\nchild is anxious to read some particular book,\r\nso there is little or no need to trap his attention,\r\nor to insist on an endless repetition. Mrs.\r\nJohnson believes also that it is better for the\r\nnatural physical and mental development of\r\nthe child, if learning to write and figure is put\r\noff as late as possible. Then pupils approach\r\nit with a consciousness of their real need for\r\nit, of the help it will be to them in their daily\r\nlife. Their background of knowledge of things\r\nand skill acquired through handwork renders\r\nthe actual processes of learning comparatively\r\nsimple. Mrs. Johnson is convinced that a child\r\nwho does not learn to read and write in her\r\nschool until he is ten years old, is as well read\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_37\" id=\"Page_37\"\u003e37\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nat fourteen, and writes and spells as well as a\r\nchild of fourteen in a school where the usual\r\ncurriculum is followed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe fundamental conception of number is\r\ntaught orally. The smallest children begin by\r\ncounting one another or the things about them.\r\nThen perhaps at the blackboard they will divide\r\na line in half, then into three parts, then quarters.\r\nBy means of objects or lines on the\r\nblackboard they next begin to add, to subtract,\r\nto take three-fourths, even to divide. The oral\r\ndrill in this kind of work is constant, and the\r\nchildren become thoroughly familiar with the\r\nfundamental processes of arithmetic, before\r\nthey can write a number or know the meaning\r\nof the addition or multiplication sign. Then\r\nwhen the time comes, at about the age of nine,\r\nto learn to write numbers, the drill is repeated\r\nby using the conventional signs instead of lines\r\nor objects. The school has found that this\r\nmethod does away with the usual struggles,\r\nespecially in learning fractions and their\r\nhandling. Long division and the other complicated\r\nprocesses are taught after the pupils\r\ncan write well and easily, and no emphasis is\r\nput on formal analysis until repeated drill has\r\nmade the children fairly familiar with, and proficient\r\nin, the process. Games and contests of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_38\" id=\"Page_38\"\u003e38\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nall sorts invented by the individual teacher are\r\nused to make this drill interesting to the pupils.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSense culture means the specific training of\r\nthe child’s body and muscles to respond accurately\r\nto the desire to perform definite muscular\r\nor other sense acts; or more technically\r\nit means motor-sensory coördination. Besides\r\nthe general training coming from handwork and\r\nphysical exercise, special games are arranged\r\nto exercise the different senses. The youngest\r\nclass does relatively most of this sense gymnastic.\r\nThe whole class sits motionless and in\r\nabsolute silence; some child tiptoes from his\r\nseat to another part of the room, and then with\r\nhis eyes shut every other child tries to tell\r\nwhere he is; or one child says something and\r\nthe others try to guess who it was, by the voice.\r\nTo train the sense of touch, a blindfolded child\r\nis given some ordinary objects, and by touching\r\nthem tries to recognize them. One of the favorite\r\ngames of the whole school was invented to\r\ntrain muscular accuracy. Children of different\r\nages, divided into groups, throw stones at a large\r\ntree in the yard. This game has all the zest of\r\ncompetition, while teaching the eye and hand\r\nto work together, and exercising the whole body.\r\nThe unusual physical control of the Fairhope\r\npupils is seen best in the carpenter shop, where\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_39\" id=\"Page_39\"\u003e39\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\neven the youngest children work and handle\r\nfull-sized tools, hammers, saws, and planes and\r\ndo not hurt themselves. There is a foot power\r\njig-saw in the shop and it is an instructive sight\r\nto see a child of seven, too small to work the\r\npedal, holding his piece of wood, turning and\r\nshaping it in the saw without hurting himself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Fairhope pupils compare favorably with\r\npupils in the ordinary public schools. When\r\nfor any reason they make a change, they have\r\nalways been able to work with other children\r\nof their age without extra effort; they are apt\r\nto be stronger physically and are much more\r\ncapable with their hands, while they have a real\r\nlove of books and study that makes them equally\r\nstrong on the purely cultural side of their work.\r\nThe organic curriculum has been worked out in\r\ndetail and in use longest for the younger children,\r\nbut Mrs. Johnson is convinced the principle\r\nof her work will apply equally well to high\r\nschool pupils and is beginning an experiment\r\nwith high school children. Under her direction\r\nthe school has proved a decided success. Time\r\nand larger opportunities will undoubtedly correct\r\nthe weak spots and discrepancies that are\r\nbound to appear while any school is in the experimental\r\nstage. The school has provided\r\nconditions for wholesome, natural growth in\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_40\" id=\"Page_40\"\u003e40\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsmall enough groups for the teacher (as a leader\r\nrather than an instructor) to become acquainted\r\nwith the weaknesses of each child individually\r\nand then to adapt the work to the individual\r\nneeds. It has demonstrated that it is possible\r\nfor children to lead the same natural lives in\r\nschool that they lead in good homes outside of\r\nschool hours; to progress bodily, mentally, and\r\nmorally in school without factitious pressure,\r\nrewards, examinations, grades, or promotions,\r\nwhile they acquire sufficient control of the conventional\r\ntools of learning and of study of books\u0026mdash;reading,\r\nwriting, and figuring\u0026mdash;to be able to\r\nuse them independently.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_41\" id=\"Page_41\"\u003e41\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_III\" id=\"CHAPTER_III\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER III\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eFOUR FACTORS IN NATURAL GROWTH\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Elementary School of the University of\r\nMissouri, at Columbia, under the direction of\r\nProf. J.\u0026nbsp;L. Meriam, has much in common with\r\nMrs. Johnson’s school at Fairhope. In its\r\nfundamental idea, that education shall follow\r\nthe natural development of the child, it is\r\nidentical, but its actual organization and operation\r\nare sufficiently different to make a description\r\nof it suggestive. In common with most\r\neducational reformers, Professor Meriam believes\r\nthe schools of the past have been too\r\nmuch concerned with teaching children adult\r\nfacts. In attempting to systematize and standardize,\r\nthe curriculum has ignored the needs\r\nof the individual child. He believes that the\r\nwork and play of the school should be children’s\r\nwork and play; that the children should enjoy\r\nschool. The life there should be like, only\r\nbetter than, the life of the children outside the\r\nschool; better because they are helped to know\r\nhow to play and work correctly and to do it with\r\nother children.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_42\" id=\"Page_42\"\u003e42\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e“Do children remember how they learned to\r\ntalk? No, but their parents remember for\r\nthem. Yet most of us, both children and adults,\r\nremember how we struggled in learning to read\r\nand write at school. We learned to talk simply\r\nby talking when we were in need or had something\r\nto say. We learned to say, ‘Please,\r\nMamma, give me a drink,’ when we wanted a\r\ndrink. We did not practice on such words at\r\nnine o’clock each morning. The pupils in the\r\nUniversity Elementary School learn to read,\r\nto write, to draw, and to do other things, just\r\nwhen they need to do so. The pupils do in this\r\nschool about what they would do at home, but\r\nthey learn to do it better. They work and play.\r\nAt home they are very active most of the time\r\ndoing many things; and so they are in this\r\nschool.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat would these children naturally be doing\r\nif there were no school? On the answer to this\r\nquestion Professor Meriam has based his curriculum,\r\nwhich contains but one subject that\r\nappears on the ordinary program; namely,\r\nhandwork. They would, he says, be playing\r\noutdoors, exercising their bodies by running,\r\njumping, or throwing; they would be talking\r\ntogether in groups, discussing what they had\r\nseen or heard; they would be making things to\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_43\" id=\"Page_43\"\u003e43\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nuse in their play: boats, bean bags, dolls, hammocks,\r\nor dresses; if they live in the country\r\nthey would be watching animals or plants, making\r\na garden or trying to fish. Every one recognizes\r\nthat the child develops quite as much\r\nthrough such activities as through what he\r\nlearns in school, and that what he learns\r\nout of school is much more apt to become\r\na part of his working knowledge, because\r\nit is entirely pleasurable and he recognizes the\r\nimmediate use of it. Again, these occupations\r\nare all closely connected with the business of\r\nliving; and we send our children to school to\r\nlearn this. What, then, could be more natural\r\nthan making the school’s curriculum of such\r\nmaterial? This is what Professor Meriam\r\ndoes. The day is divided into four periods,\r\nwhich are devoted to the following elements:\r\nplay, stories, observation, and handwork. For\r\nthe younger children the work is drawn almost\r\nentirely from the community in which they live;\r\nthey spend their time finding out more about the\r\nthings they are already familiar with. As they\r\ngrow older their interest naturally reaches out\r\nto remoter things and to the processes and reasons\r\nback of things; and they begin to study\r\nhistory, geography, and science.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe time of the first three grades is divided\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_44\" id=\"Page_44\"\u003e44\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin this way: From 9 to 10:30, observation;\r\n10:30 to 11, physical exercises; from 11 to 12,\r\nplay; 1:30 to 3, stories; and 3 to 4, handwork.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_44\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 566px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-045.jpg\" width=\"566\" height=\"320\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eGames often require muscular skill, reading, writing, and arithmetic.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n(University School, Columbia, Mo.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe observation period is devoted to the\r\nstudy of one topic, and this topic may take only\r\na single morning or it may take several weeks.\r\nWhile there is a general plan for the year’s\r\nwork, if the children bring up anything which\r\nseems of importance to them and which fits in,\r\nthe program is laid aside and the teacher helps\r\nthe pupils in their study of their own problem.\r\nThis might be true of any of the studies of the\r\nday; the program is flexible, the school aims to\r\nmeet the individual needs of the child and the\r\ngroup. The observation periods of the first\r\nthree grades are devoted to a study of flowers,\r\ntrees, and fruits; birds and animals, of the\r\nweather and the changing seasons, of holidays,\r\nof the town grocery store, or the neighborhood\r\ndwellings, and the clothing that the children see\r\nfor sale in the stores. The pupils learn to read\r\nand write and figure only as they feel the need\r\nof it to enlarge their work. The nature work\r\nis taught as much as possible out of doors; the\r\nchildren take walks with the teacher and talk\r\nabout the trees, plants, and animals they meet\r\non their way; they gather tadpoles and fish for\r\nthe school aquarium and pick out a tree to watch\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_45\" id=\"Page_45\"\u003e45\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand keep a record of for the whole year. Their\r\nstudy of the weather also lasts through the\r\nwhole year; they watch the changing seasons,\r\nwhat things look like in the fall and what happens\r\nas winter begins, what the plants and animals\r\ndo in winter, etc. In this way they watch\r\nthe whole cycle of the year, and learn unconsciously\r\nthe relation between their own climate\r\nand the vegetation and animal life about them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe study of their own food, shelter, and\r\nclothing is concentrated into a consecutive\r\nperiod, and as interest and time dictate it is\r\nadded to by a study of some phases of local life\r\nthat are not concerned with the actual necessities\r\nof life. They learn about their neighbors’\r\nrecreations and pleasures by studying the\r\njewelry store and the circus, or the community\r\ninterests of their parents by studying the local\r\nfire department and post-office.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe method of study is the same for all work.\r\nFirst, with help from the teacher the children\r\ntell all they know about the subject they are beginning\r\nto study; if it is food, each child has an\r\nopportunity to say anything he can think of\r\nabout it; what his own family eats, where the\r\nfood comes from, how it is taken care of, what\r\nhe has noticed in the grocery stores, etc. Then\r\nthe whole class with the teacher make a visit to\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_46\" id=\"Page_46\"\u003e46\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe grocery store, spend perhaps all the morning\r\nthere, each child trying to see how much he\r\ncan find out for himself. Before they start the\r\nteacher has called their attention to the fact\r\nthat the things are sold by the quart, etc., for\r\nthe subject of weights and measures seems to be\r\nof absorbing interest to the children when approached\r\nfrom this side. Some first grade children\r\nhave proved to be remarkably keen detectives\r\nin noticing the grocer’s innumerable devices\r\nfor making quantities look greater than\r\nthey are. The pupils are also encouraged to\r\nnote and compare prices, and to bring food\r\nbudgets from home whenever their parents are\r\nwilling. When they return to their classroom\r\nthey again discuss what they have seen, and\r\nthose who can write make a list with prices of\r\nall the articles which they can remember, or\r\nwrite an account of their visit, which is dictated\r\nby the teacher from the oral accounts the children\r\nthemselves have given of it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe pupils who cannot read will draw a picture\r\nof the grocery store or perhaps have a\r\nreading lesson in the catalogue the grocer\r\nhas given them. Later they will study\r\nthe way the grocer delivers his goods to his\r\npatrons, and in a very general way where the\r\nthings come from. They will bring grocers’\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_47\" id=\"Page_47\"\u003e47\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbills from home, compare them, add them up,\r\nand discuss the question of economical and nutritious\r\nfood. Perhaps they will do the same\r\nthing with the milk and bakery business, before\r\nmoving on to the question of the houses in the\r\nneighborhood. This and the clothing and\r\nrecreation of the town will be studied in the\r\nsame way. Later the class will visit the fire\r\ndepartment and the post-office and find out what\r\neach is for and how they are conducted. This\r\nand the study of local amusements usually\r\ncome in the third grade. The opportunity for\r\nthe constant use of reading, writing, and arithmetic,\r\nand for drill in the correct use of spoken\r\nEnglish, is obvious. Professor Meriam is insistent\r\nupon the fact that this study of the community\r\nin which the child lives is made for the\r\neducational value of the work itself to the pupil,\r\nnever as a mere cloak for the teaching of “the\r\nthree R’s,” which must be done only as it contributes\r\ndirectly to the work the children are\r\ndoing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe period devoted to games by the first three\r\ngrades is of the same educational value. The\r\nchildren are exercising their bodies, learning\r\nto control them and to make skillful motions\r\naimed at some immediate result. Much variety\r\nand liberty is allowed in this work, and the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_48\" id=\"Page_48\"\u003e48\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nteacher is only an observer. Most of the games\r\nthe children play are competitive, for they have\r\nfound that the element of skill and chance is\r\nwhat the pupils need to make them work hard\r\nat the games. Bean bags and nine pins are\r\nfavorites; any game, in fact, where they can\r\nkeep score; the teacher acts as scorekeeper for\r\nthe little children, and when the game is over\r\nthey copy the score in a folder to refer to and\r\nsee how they progress. The better they play,\r\nthe more they enjoy the game; so they watch the\r\nbest player, studying how he moves and stands,\r\nand make drawings. The teacher also writes\r\non the board some of the things the pupils say\r\nas they play, and at the end of the game they\r\nfind a reading lesson which they have made\r\nthemselves and which gives an account of their\r\ngame; in copying this into their folders they\r\nhave a writing lesson. The children are allowed\r\nto talk and laugh as much as they please while\r\nthey are playing, and this is an English lesson.\r\nGreat variety is introduced into the games so\r\nas to encourage the pupils to talk freely, and\r\nadded stimulus is given by using interesting\r\nthings to play with, bright colored balls, dolls,\r\nand gaily painted “roly-polys.” The new\r\nwords and phrases the children use are written\r\ndown in the daily account of the game, and in\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_49\" id=\"Page_49\"\u003e49\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthis way their vocabulary is enlarged in a natural\r\nway.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe hour devoted to stories is no more a reading\r\nand writing lesson than all the rest of the\r\nday’s work. Children immensely enjoy good\r\nstories, therefore they ought to be given plenty\r\nof opportunity to become acquainted with them.\r\nDuring this period, the teacher and the children\r\ntell stories to each other; not stories they have\r\nstudied from their primers, but stories that they\r\nalready know, that they have listened to, or\r\nread because they enjoyed them. Every child\r\nlikes to be listened to, and they soon discover\r\nthey must tell their story well or they will get\r\nno audience. Some stories they tell by acting\r\nthem out, others by drawing. Soon they want\r\nto learn a new group of stories, and then, quite\r\nnaturally, they go to the school library, pick\r\nout a story book and read. It has been found\r\nthat the first grade pupils read from twelve to\r\nthirty books during the year; the second grade\r\npupils from twenty-five to fifty. In this way\r\nthey learn to read, to read good books\u0026mdash;for\r\nthere is nothing else in the library\u0026mdash;and to read\r\nthem well, for they always have the desire to\r\nfind a story to tell to their class, or one that\r\nthey can act. Appreciation of good literature\r\nbegins very early in this way, or rather, it is\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_50\" id=\"Page_50\"\u003e50\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nnever lost. Very small children always enjoy\r\nmost the best stories\u0026mdash;Mother Goose, Hans\r\nAndersen, or Kipling’s “Just So Stories.”\r\nThe dislike of books gained in school turns children\r\nfrom literature to trash. But if children\r\nare allowed and encouraged to hear, and read,\r\nand act out these stories in school just as they\r\nwould at home\u0026mdash;that is, for the sake of the fun\r\nthere is in it\u0026mdash;they will keep their good taste\r\nand enjoyment of good books. Songs, says\r\nProfessor Meriam, are another sort of story,\r\nand little children sing for the fun of it, for the\r\nstory of the song; so the singing at this school\r\nis part of the story work, and the children work\r\nand learn to sing better, in order to increase\r\ntheir enjoyment.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eChildren are always clamoring to “make\r\nsomething.” Professor Meriam takes this fact\r\nas sufficient grounds for making handwork a\r\nregular part of the curriculum and having it\r\noccupy an hour a day, a period which usually\r\nseems so short to the pupils that they take their\r\nwork home. The youngest children, boys and\r\ngirls alike, go into the carpenter shop and learn\r\nto handle tools and to make things: furniture for\r\ntheir dolls, a boat, or some present to take\r\nhome. Weaving and sewing interest both boys\r\nand girls alike and give scope to the young\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_51\" id=\"Page_51\"\u003e51\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nchild for beauty and utility, so they do a lot of\r\nit. The youngest begin usually with dolls’\r\nhammocks; then they learn to do coarse cross-stitching\r\nand crocheting. An entire class, especially\r\namong the youngest children, usually\r\nmake the same thing at the same time, but they\r\nmay suggest what they want to make, and the\r\nolder children are allowed a great deal of liberty.\r\nThe work naturally increases in variety\r\nand complexity as the pupils grow older, and\r\nas they acquire skill in the handling of tools.\r\nSome of the fifth and sixth grade boys have\r\nmade excellent pieces of furniture which are in\r\nconstant use in the school. The handwork furnishes\r\nanother opportunity for drawing and\r\ncolor work, in the making of drawings for patterns.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith the fourth grade there is a marked shift\r\nin the work, due to the widening interests that\r\nare coming to the child. The day is divided\r\nthen into three periods, which are devoted to\r\nindustries, stories, and handwork. Organized\r\ngames no longer appeal to the pupils; they want\r\ntheir play outdoors, or in the freedom of a big\r\ngymnasium, where they can play rougher,\r\nnoisier games, and they are big enough to keep\r\ntheir own scores in their heads. The “industries”\r\nperiod takes the place of the “observation”\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_52\" id=\"Page_52\"\u003e52\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the younger children, and continues the\r\nsame sort of work. The child has learned the\r\nmeaning of the immediate objects he sees about\r\nhim, their relation to himself and his friends,\r\nand he is ready to go on and enlarge this knowledge\r\nso as to take in the things he cannot see,\r\nprocesses and reasons, and relations that embrace\r\nthe whole community, or more communities,\r\nand finally the whole world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the same way that the younger children\r\nstudy their immediate environment, the fourth\r\ngrade studies the industries that go on in their\r\nown neighborhood: the shoe factory, the flour\r\nmill, the work in the wheat and corn fields.\r\nThey go on excursions to the factory and farm,\r\nand their work in the classroom is based on what\r\nthey see on their trips. Their writing and\r\ncomposition are the stories of their trips,\r\nwhich they write; their reading, the books that\r\ntell about farming or shoemaking; their arithmetic\r\nthe practical problems they find the\r\nfarmer or foreman doing; all done so that it\r\nwill contribute to the pupils’ understanding of\r\nthe industry he is studying. Geography too\r\ncomes from these trips. It answers the questions:\r\nWhy do they grow wheat? Where will\r\nit grow best in the neighborhood and why? etc.\r\nThis school happens to be situated in a small\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_53\" id=\"Page_53\"\u003e53\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntown where the industries are chiefly agricultural,\r\nbut obviously such a plan could easily be\r\nadapted to any community by substituting the\r\nindustries that are found in the immediate\r\nneighborhood.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the fifth and sixth years the study of industries\r\nis continued, but the scope is extended\r\nto include the principal industries of the world.\r\nHere, of course, pupils must learn to substitute\r\nmore and more the printed page for their former\r\nexcursions. This includes drill in reading,\r\nwriting, and mathematics, related to earlier\r\nstudies, and also more and more geography.\r\nThe use of the library becomes of great importance,\r\nfor the pupils are not given one text-book\r\nfrom which they study and recite. Work\r\nin geography begins with this question: What\r\nbecomes of the things made in this town, which\r\nwe do not use up? The next step is: Where\r\nelse are these same things made, and are they\r\nmade in the same way? What else is made in\r\nthat place and how is it done? Then, where and\r\nhow are the things made that we get from elsewhere?\r\nNo one text-book could suffice for this\r\nwork, and if it did it would contradict the idea\r\nof the school that the children should learn by\r\ninvestigation. They must find for themselves\r\nfrom among the books in the library the ones\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_54\" id=\"Page_54\"\u003e54\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthat tell about the particular industry they are\r\nstudying. Every child does not read the same\r\nbook, and as far as possible each pupil makes\r\nsome contribution to the discussion. Just as in\r\nthe lower grades, the older pupils all make\r\nfolders where they keep their descriptions of\r\nthe industries and illustrations of machines and\r\nprocesses.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the seventh and highest grade in the school,\r\nthe study of industries is continued as history;\r\nthat is, the history of the industries connected\r\nwith clothing, feeding, and housing is taken up.\r\nThe pupils study the history of shelter from the\r\nfirst beginnings with a cave or a brush thicket,\r\nthrough the tents of the wandering tribes and\r\nthe Greek and Roman house, to the steel skyscraper\r\nof to-day. They study the history of\r\nagriculture and learn to understand the development\r\nof the steam reaper and thresher\r\nfrom the wooden stick of the savage. The study\r\nof the industries in these four higher grades includes\r\na study of the institutions of government.\r\nThe fourth grade studies the local post-office,\r\nin the fifth and sixth they study the mail system\r\nof the United States, and then how letters are\r\ncarried to all parts of the world. The seventh\r\ngrade studies the history of some of these institutions.\r\nPart of their time during the past\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_55\" id=\"Page_55\"\u003e55\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nyear was devoted to finding out how the different\r\npeoples of the world have fought their\r\nbattles and organized their armies, first by\r\nmeans of reading and then by discussing what\r\nthey had read. Each pupil kept a record of this\r\nwork, writing a short paper on the army of each\r\ncountry he studied and illustrating it as he\r\ncared to.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe story period of the four highest grades\r\ncontinues the work begun in the lower grades.\r\nMusic and art become more and more concentrated\r\ninto it. The children continue reading\r\nand discussing what they have read. Each\r\npupil keeps a record of the books he reads with\r\na short account of the story and reasons why he\r\nliked it, and these records are kept on a shelf in\r\nthe library where any other pupil can consult\r\nthem for help in his choice of books. Even in\r\nhigh school, Professor Meriam does not believe\r\nin teaching composition for its own sake, nor\r\nliterature by the usual method of analysis. All\r\nthe work of the school is a constant drill in\r\nEnglish, and by helping the pupils to use and\r\nwrite good English during every school hour,\r\nmore is accomplished than by concentrating the\r\nwork into one hour of formal drill.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe teaching of French and German is also\r\nconsidered part of story work. It is a study\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_56\" id=\"Page_56\"\u003e56\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe pupils take for the pleasure they get from\r\ntalking and reading another language; for the\r\nsake of the literature they will be able to read.\r\nFor this reason it finds its place in the curriculum\r\namong the things that are purely cultural:\r\nfor recreation and pleasure. The studies\r\nthat come under the title of “stories” are\r\nthe only ones where homework is given. The\r\nchildren come to school to do their work, and it\r\nis not fair to ask them to do this same work at\r\nhome as well. They should look forward to\r\nschool as a pleasure, if they are to get the utmost\r\nbenefit out of it, but if the doing of set\r\ntasks becomes associated with school work, the\r\npupil’s interest in his work in school is bound\r\nto diminish. If, however, some of the school\r\nwork is regarded as appropriate to leisure and\r\nrecreation, it is natural that the children should\r\nkeep on with it out of school hours, in their\r\nhomes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe school has been working with this program\r\nfor eight years, and has about 120\r\npupils. The school building has few rooms and\r\nthese are connected with large folding doors.\r\nAt least two and usually three grades work in\r\nthe same room, and the pupils are allowed freedom\r\nto move about and talk to each other as\r\nlong as they do not disturb their classmates.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_57\" id=\"Page_57\"\u003e57\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nOne teacher takes charge of an entire room,\r\nabout thirty-five children, divided into several\r\ngroups, each doing a different thing. Individual\r\nteachers in some of the neighboring\r\ncountry public schools have also followed the\r\nprogram through one grade and have found\r\nthat the pupils were all ready for promotion\r\nat the end of the year and that they did their\r\nwork in the next grade with as much ease as if\r\nthey had followed the usual formal drill.\r\nRecords are being kept of the graduates of the\r\nelementary school. Most of them go into the\r\nhigh school of the university, where there is\r\nevery opportunity to watch them closely. They\r\nfind no unusual difficulty in keeping up with the\r\nregular college preparatory work, and their\r\nmarks and the age at which they enter college\r\nindicate that their elementary training has given\r\nthem some advantages over the public school\r\npupils in ability to do the hard formal studying.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eProfessor Meriam is also director of the high\r\nschool, but has not as yet changed the regular\r\ncollege preparatory curriculum, except in the\r\nEnglish. He expects to do so, however, and\r\nbelieves an equally radical reorganization of the\r\nwork will have beneficial results. In the high\r\nschool, English is not taught at all as a separate\r\nstudy, but work on it is continued along\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_58\" id=\"Page_58\"\u003e58\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe same lines followed in the elementary school.\r\nA study of a certain number of graduates from\r\nthe university schools and an equal number from\r\nthe town high school, has indicated that the\r\npupils who have received none of the usual\r\ntraining in English during their high school\r\ncourse do better work in their English courses\r\nin college than those who have followed the\r\nregular routine.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_58\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 325px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-058.jpg\" width=\"325\" height=\"249\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e(1) Printing teaches English. (Francis Parker School,\r\nChicago.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_58b\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 322px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-058a.jpg\" width=\"322\" height=\"249\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e(2) The basis of the year’s work. (Indianapolis.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf course, judging an educational experiment\r\nby the pupil’s ability to “keep up” with\r\nthe system the experiment is trying to improve,\r\nis of very little value. The purpose of\r\nthe experiment is not to devise a method by\r\nwhich the teacher can teach more to the child\r\nin the same length of time, or even prepare\r\nhim more pleasantly for his college course. It\r\nis rather to give the child an education which\r\nwill make him a better, happier, more efficient\r\nhuman being, by showing him what his capabilities\r\nare and how he can exercise them, both\r\nmaterially and socially, in the world he finds\r\nabout him. If, while a school is still learning\r\nhow best to do this for its pupils, it can at the\r\nsame time give them all they would have gained\r\nin a more conventional school, we can be sure\r\nthere has been no loss. Any manual skill or\r\nbodily strength that their schooling has given\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_59\" id=\"Page_59\"\u003e59\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthem, or any enjoyment of the tasks of their\r\ndaily life and the best that art and literature has\r\nto offer, are further definite gains that can be\r\nimmediately seen and measured. All contribute\r\nto the larger aim, but the lives of all the pupils\r\nwill furnish the only real test of the success or\r\nfailure of any educational experiment that aims\r\nto help the whole of society by helping the whole\r\nindividual.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_60\" id=\"Page_60\"\u003e60\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_IV\" id=\"CHAPTER_IV\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER IV\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eTHE REORGANIZATION OF THE CURRICULUM\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eRousseau, while he was writing his Émile,\r\nwas allowing his own children to grow up entirely\r\nneglected by their parents, abandoned in\r\na foundling asylum. It is not strange then that\r\nhis readers and students should center their interest\r\nin his theories, in his general contribution\r\nto education rather than in his account of the\r\nimpractical methods he used to create that exemplary\r\nprig\u0026mdash;Émile. If Rousseau himself\r\nhad ever tried to educate any real children he\r\nwould have found it necessary to crystallize his\r\nideas into some more or less fixed program. In\r\nhis anxiety to reach the ideal described in his\r\ntheories, the emphasis of his interest would have\r\nunconsciously shifted to the methods by which\r\nhe could achieve his ideal in the individual child.\r\nThe child should spend his time on things that\r\nare suited to his age. The teacher immediately\r\nasks what these things are? The child\r\nshould have an opportunity to develop naturally,\r\nmentally, spiritually, and physically.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_61\" id=\"Page_61\"\u003e61\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nHow is the teacher to offer this opportunity and\r\nwhat does it consist in? Only in the very simplest\r\nenvironment where one teacher is working\r\nout her own theories is it possible to get\r\nalong without a rather definite embodiment of\r\nthe ideal in specific materials and methods.\r\nTherefore in reviewing some of the modern attempts\r\nat educational reform, we quite naturally\r\nfind that emphasis has been put upon the\r\ncurriculum.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePestalozzi and Froebel were the two educators\r\nmost zealous in reducing inspiration got\r\nfrom Rousseau into the details of schoolroom\r\nwork. They took the vague idea of natural\r\ndevelopment and translated it into formulæ\r\nwhich teachers could use from day to day.\r\nBoth were theorists, Froebel by temperament,\r\nPestalozzi by necessity; but both made vigorous\r\nefforts to carry their theories into practice.\r\nThey not only popularized the newer ideas\r\nabout education, but influenced school practice\r\nmore than any other modern educators.\r\nPestalozzi substantially created the working\r\nmethods of elementary education; while, as\r\neverybody knows, Froebel created a new kind\r\nof school, the kindergarten, for children too\r\nyoung to attend regular primary classes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis combination of theoretical and practical\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_62\" id=\"Page_62\"\u003e62\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ninfluence makes it important to discriminate\r\nbetween the points where they carried the idea\r\nof education as growth forward, and the points\r\nwhere, in their anxiety to supply a school program\r\nto be followed by everybody, they fell\r\nback upon mechanical and external methods.\r\nPersonally, Pestalozzi was as heroic in life as\r\nRousseau was the reverse. Devotion to others\r\ntook with him the place occupied by a sentimental\r\negotism in Rousseau. For this very\r\nreason, perhaps, he had a firm grasp on a truth\r\nwhich Rousseau never perceived. He realized\r\nthat natural development for a man means a\r\nsocial development, since the individual’s vital\r\nconnections are with others even more than\r\nwith nature. In his own words: “Nature educated\r\nman for social relations, and by means of\r\nsocial relations. Things are important in the\r\neducation of man in proportion to the intimacies\r\nof social relations into which man enters.”\r\nFor this reason family life is the center of education,\r\nand, in a way, furnishes the model for\r\nevery educational institution. In family life\r\nphysical objects, tables, chairs, the trees in the\r\norchard, the stones of the fence, have a social\r\nmeaning. They are things which people use\r\ntogether and which influence their common actions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_63\" id=\"Page_63\"\u003e63\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eEducation in a medium where things have\r\nsocial uses is necessary for intellectual as well\r\nas for moral growth. The more closely and\r\nmore directly the child learns by entering into\r\nsocial situations, the more genuine and effective\r\nis the knowledge he gains. Since power for\r\ndealing with remoter things comes from power\r\ngained in managing things close to us, “the\r\ndirect sense of reality is formed only in narrow\r\nsocial circles, like those of family life. True\r\nhuman wisdom has for its bedrock an intimate\r\nknowledge of the immediate environment and\r\ntrained capacity for dealing with it. The\r\nquality of mind thus engendered is simple and\r\nclear-sighted, formed by having to do with uncompromising\r\nrealities and hence adapted to\r\nfuture situations. It is firm, sensitive and sure\r\nof itself.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e“The opposite education is scattering and\r\nconfused; it is superficial, hovering lightly over\r\nevery form of knowledge, without putting any\r\nof it to use: a medley, wavering and uncertain.”\r\nThe moral is plain: Knowledge that is worthy\r\nof being called knowledge, training of the intellect\r\nthat is sure to amount to anything, is obtained\r\nonly by participating intimately and actively\r\nin activities of social life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is Pestalozzi’s great positive contribution.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_64\" id=\"Page_64\"\u003e64\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nIt represents an insight gained in his own\r\npersonal experience; for as an abstract thinker\r\nhe was weak. It not only goes beyond Rousseau,\r\nbut it puts what is true in Rousseau upon\r\na sound basis. It is not, however, an idea that\r\nlends itself readily to formal statement or to\r\nmethods which can be handed from one to another.\r\nIts significance is illustrated in his own\r\nearly undertaking when he took twenty vagabond\r\nchildren into his own household and proceeded\r\nto teach them by means of farm pursuits\r\nin summer and cotton spinning and weaving\r\nin the winter, connecting, as far as possible,\r\nbook instruction with these active occupations.\r\nIt was illustrated, again later in his life, when\r\nhe was given charge of a Swiss village, where\r\nthe adults had been practically wiped out for\r\nresistance to an army of Napoleon. When a\r\nvisitor once remarked: “Why, this is not a\r\nschool; this is a household,” Pestalozzi felt he\r\nhad received his greatest compliment.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe other side of Pestalozzi is found in his\r\nmore official school teaching career. Here also\r\nhe attacked the purely verbal teaching of current\r\nelementary education and struggled to substitute\r\na natural development. But instead of\r\nrelying upon contact with objects used in active\r\nsocial pursuits (like those of the home), he fell\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_65\" id=\"Page_65\"\u003e65\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nback upon bare contact with the objects themselves.\r\nThe result was a shift in Pestalozzi’s\r\nfundamental idea. Presentation of objects by\r\nthe teacher seemed to take the place of growth\r\nby means of personal activities. He was dimly\r\nconscious of the inconsistency, and tried to overcome\r\nit by saying that there are certain fixed\r\nlaws of development which can be abstracted\r\nfrom the various experiences of particular human\r\nbeings. Education cannot follow the development\r\ngoing on in individual children at a\r\nparticular time; that would lead to confusion\r\nand chaos, anarchy and caprice. It must follow\r\ngeneral laws derived from the individual cases.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAt this point, the emphasis is taken from participation\r\nin social uses of things and goes over\r\nto dependence upon objects. In searching for\r\ngeneral laws which can be abstracted from particular\r\nexperiences, he found three constant\r\nthings: geometrical form, number, and language\u0026mdash;the\r\nlatter referring, of course, not to\r\nisolated verbal expressions but to the statement\r\nof the qualities of things. In this phase of his\r\nactivity as teacher, Pestalozzi was particularly\r\nzealous in building up schemes of object-lesson\r\nteaching in which children should learn the\r\nspatial and numerical relations of things and\r\nacquire a vocabulary for expressing all their\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_66\" id=\"Page_66\"\u003e66\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nqualities. The notion that object-lessons, by\r\nmeans of presentation of things to the senses, is\r\nthe staple of elementary education thus came\r\nfrom Pestalozzi. Since it was concerned with\r\nexternal things and their presentation to the\r\nsenses, this scheme of education lent itself to\r\ndefinite formulation of methods which could be\r\npassed on, almost mechanically, from one person\r\nto another.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn developing such methods, Pestalozzi hit\r\nupon the idea that the “order of nature” consists\r\nin going from the simple to the complex.\r\nIt became his endeavor to find out in every subject\r\nthe A B C (as he called it) of observation\r\nin that topic\u0026mdash;the simplest elements that can be\r\nput before the senses. When these were mastered,\r\nthe pupils were to pass on to various complications\r\nof these elements. Thus, in learning\r\nto read, children were to begin with combinations\r\nlike A B, E B, I B, O B; then take up the\r\nreverse combinations B A, B E, B I, B O, etc.,\r\nuntil having mastered all the elements, they\r\ncould go on to complex syllables and finally to\r\nwords and sentences. Number, music, drawing\r\nwere all taught by starting with simple elements\r\nwhich could be put before the senses, and\r\nthen proceeding to build up more complex forms\r\nin a graded order.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_67\" id=\"Page_67\"\u003e67\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo great was the vogue of this procedure that\r\nthe very word “method” was understood by\r\nmany to signify this sort of analysis and combination\r\nof external impressions. To this day,\r\nit constitutes, with many people, a large part\r\nof what is understood by “pedagogy.” Pestalozzi\r\nhimself called it the psychologizing of\r\nteaching, and, more accurately, its mechanizing.\r\nHe gives a good statement of his idea in the\r\nfollowing words: “In the world of nature, imperfection\r\nin the bud means imperfect maturity.\r\nWhat is imperfect in its germ is crippled in its\r\ngrowth. In the development of its component\r\nparts, this is as true of the growth of the intellect\r\nas of an apple. We must, therefore, take\r\ncare, in order to avoid confusion and superficiality\r\nin education, to make \u003ci\u003efirst impressions\r\nof objects as correct and as complete as possible\u003c/i\u003e.\r\nWe must begin with the infant in the cradle,\r\nand take the training of the race out of the\r\nhands of blind sportive nature, and bring it\r\nunder the power which the experience of the\r\ncenturies has taught us to abstract from nature’s\r\nown processes.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese sentences might be given a meaning to\r\nwhich no one could object. All of the educational\r\nreformers have rightly insisted upon the\r\nimportance of the first years in which fundamental\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_68\" id=\"Page_68\"\u003e68\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nattitudes controlling later growth are\r\nfixed. There can be no doubt that if we could\r\nregulate the earlier relations of children to the\r\nworld about them so that \u003ci\u003eall\u003c/i\u003e ideas gained are\r\ncertain, solid, definite, and right as far as they\r\ngo, we might give children unconscious, intellectual\r\nstandards which would operate later on\r\nwith an efficacy quite foreign to our present experience.\r\nBut the certainty and definiteness of\r\ngeometrical forms, and of isolated qualities of\r\nobjects are artificial. Correctness and completeness\r\nare gained at the expense of isolation\r\nfrom the every-day human experience of the\r\nchild. It is possible for a child to learn the\r\nvarious properties of squares, rectangles, etc.,\r\nand to acquire their names. But unless the\r\nsquares and rectangles enter into his purposeful\r\nactivities he is merely accumulating scholastic\r\ninformation. Undoubtedly it is better\r\nthat the child should learn the names in association\r\nwith the objects than to learn mere\r\nstrings of words. But one is almost as far from\r\nreal development as the other. Both are very\r\nfar from the “firm, sensitive, and sure knowledge”\r\nwhich comes from using things for ends\r\nwhich appeal to the child. The things that the\r\nchild uses in his household occupations, in gardening,\r\nin caring for animals, in his plays and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_69\" id=\"Page_69\"\u003e69\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngames, have real simplicity and completeness of\r\nmeaning for him. The simplicity of straight\r\nlines, angles, and quantities put before him just\r\nto be learned is mechanical and abstract.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor a long time the practical influence of\r\nPestalozzi was confined to expelling from the\r\nschools reliance upon memorizing words that\r\nhad no connection with things; to bringing object-lessons\r\ninto the schools, and to breaking up\r\nevery topic into its elements, or A B C, and\r\nthen going on by graded steps. The failure of\r\nthese methods to supply motives and to give\r\nreal power made many teachers realize that\r\nthings which the child has a use for are really\r\nsimpler and more complete to him, even if he\r\ndoesn’t understand \u003ci\u003eeverything\u003c/i\u003e about them, than\r\nisolated elements. In the newer type of schools,\r\nthere is a marked return (though of course quite\r\nindependently of any reference to Pestalozzi)\r\nto his earlier and more vital idea of learning\r\nby taking a share in occupations and pursuits\r\nwhich are like those of daily life and which are\r\nengaged in by the friends about him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eDifferent schools have worked the matter out\r\nin different ways. In the Montessori schools\r\nthere is still a good deal of effort to control\r\nthe growth of mind by the material presented.\r\nIn others, as in the Fairhope experiment, the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_70\" id=\"Page_70\"\u003e70\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmaterial is incidental and informal, and the\r\ncurriculum follows the direct needs of the\r\npupils.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMost schools fall, of course, between these\r\ntwo currents. The child must develop, and\r\nnaturally, but society has become so complicated,\r\nits demands upon the child are so important\r\nand continuous, that a great deal must\r\nbe presented to him. Nature is a very extensive\r\nas well as compact thing in modern life,\r\nincluding not only the intricate material environment\r\nof the child, but social relations as\r\nwell. If the child is to master these he must\r\ncover a great deal of ground. How is this to\r\nbe done in the best way? Methods and materials\r\nmust be used which are in themselves\r\nvital enough to represent to the child the whole\r\nof this compact nature which constitutes his\r\nworld. The child and the curriculum are two\r\noperative forces, both of them developing and\r\nreacting on each other. In visiting schools the\r\nthings that are interesting and helpful to the\r\naverage school teacher are the methods, and\r\nthe curriculum, the way the pupils spend their\r\ntime; that is, the way the adjustment between\r\nthe child and his environment is brought about.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e“Learning by doing” is a slogan that might\r\nalmost be offered as a general description of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_71\" id=\"Page_71\"\u003e71\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe way in which many teachers are trying to\r\neffect this adjustment. The hardest lesson a\r\nchild has to learn is a practical one, and if he\r\nfails to learn it no amount of book knowledge\r\nwill make up for it: it is this very problem of\r\nadjustment with his neighbors and his job. A\r\npractical method naturally suggests itself as\r\nthe easiest and best way of solving this problem.\r\nOn the face of it, the various studies\u0026mdash;arithmetic,\r\ngeography, language, botany, etc.\u0026mdash;are in\r\nthemselves experiences. They are the accumulation\r\nof the past of humanity, the result of its\r\nefforts and successes, for generation after generation.\r\nThe ordinary school studies present\r\nthis not as a mere accumulation, not as a miscellaneous\r\nheap of separate bits of experience,\r\nbut in some organized way. Hence, the daily\r\nexperiences of the child, his life from day to\r\nday, and the subject matter of the schoolroom,\r\nare parts of the same thing; they are the first\r\nand last steps in the life of a people. To oppose\r\none to the other is to oppose the infancy and\r\nmaturity of the same growing life; it is to set\r\nthe moving tendency and the final result of the\r\nsame power over against each other; it is to\r\nhold that the nature and the destiny of the child\r\nwar with each other.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe studies represent the highest development\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_72\" id=\"Page_72\"\u003e72\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npossible in the child’s simple every-day\r\nexperiences. The task of the school is to take\r\nthese crude experiences and organize them into\r\nscience, geography, arithmetic, or whatever\r\nthe lesson of the hour is. Since what the child\r\nalready knows is part of some one subject that\r\nthe teacher is trying to teach him, the method\r\nthat will take advantage of this experience as\r\na foundation stone on which to build the child’s\r\nconscious knowledge of the subject appears as\r\nthe normal and progressive way of teaching.\r\nAnd if we can enlarge the child’s experience by\r\nmethods which resemble as nearly as possible\r\nthe ways that the child has acquired his beginning\r\nexperiences, it is obvious that we have\r\nmade a great gain in the effectiveness of our\r\nteaching. It is a commonplace that until a\r\nchild goes to school he learns nothing that has\r\nnot some direct bearing on his life. How he\r\nacquires this knowledge, is the question that\r\nwill furnish the clew for natural school method.\r\nAnd the answer is, not by reading books or listening\r\nto explanations of the nature of fire or\r\nfood, but by burning himself and feeding himself;\r\nthat is, by doing things. Therefore, says\r\nthe modern teacher, he ought to do things in\r\nschool.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eEducation which ignores this vital impulse\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_73\" id=\"Page_73\"\u003e73\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfurnished by the child is apt to be “academic,”\r\n“abstract,” in the bad sense of these words. If\r\ntext-books are used as the sole material, the\r\nwork is much harder for the teacher, for besides\r\nteaching everything herself she must constantly\r\nrepress and cut off the impulses of the child towards\r\naction. Teaching becomes an external\r\npresentation lacking meaning and purpose as\r\nfar as the child is concerned. Facts which are\r\nnot led up to out of something which has previously\r\noccupied a significant place for its own\r\nsake in the child’s life, are apt to be barren and\r\ndead. They are hieroglyphs which the pupil is\r\nrequired to study and learn while he is in school.\r\nIt is only after the child has learned the same\r\nfact out of school, in the activities of real life,\r\nthat it begins to mean anything to him. The\r\nnumber of isolated facts to which this can happen,\r\nwhich appear, say, in a geography text-book,\r\nare necessarily very small.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor the specialist in any one subject the material\r\nis all classified and arranged, but before\r\nit can be put in a child’s text-book it must be\r\nsimplified and greatly reduced in bulk. The\r\nthought provoking character is obscured and\r\nthe organizing function disappears. The\r\nchild’s reasoning powers, the faculty of abstraction\r\nand generalization, are not adequately\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_74\" id=\"Page_74\"\u003e74\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndeveloped. This does not mean that the text-book\r\nmust disappear, but that its function is\r\nchanged. It becomes a guide for the pupil by\r\nwhich he may economize time and mistakes.\r\nThe teacher and the book are no longer the only\r\ninstructors; the hands, the eyes, the ears, in\r\nfact the whole body, become sources of information,\r\nwhile teacher and text-book become respectively\r\nthe starter and the tester. No book or\r\nmap is a substitute for personal experience;\r\nthey cannot take the place of the actual journey.\r\nThe mathematical formula for a falling body\r\ndoes not take the place of throwing stones or\r\nshaking apples from a tree.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eLearning by doing does not, of course, mean\r\nthe substitution of manual occupations or handwork\r\nfor text-book studying. At the same time,\r\nallowing the pupils to do handwork whenever\r\nthere is opportunity for it, is a great aid in\r\nholding the child’s attention and interest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_74\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 570px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-075.jpg\" width=\"570\" height=\"323\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eSongs and games help arithmetic. (Public School 45, Indianapolis.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePublic School 45 of the Indianapolis school\r\nsystem is trying a number of experiments where\r\nthe children may be said to be learning by doing.\r\nThe work done is that required by the state\r\ncurriculum, but the teachers are constantly finding\r\nnew ways to prevent the work becoming a\r\nmere drill in text-book facts, or preparation for\r\nexaminations. In the fifth grade, class activities\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_75\" id=\"Page_75\"\u003e75\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwere centered around a bungalow that the\r\nchildren were making. The boys in the class\r\nmade the bungalow in their manual training\r\nhours. But before they started it every pupil\r\nhad drawn a plan to scale of the house, and\r\nworked out, in their arithmetic period, the\r\namount and cost of the lumber they would need,\r\nboth for their own play bungalow and for a full\r\nsized one; they had done a large number of\r\nproblems taken from the measurements for the\r\nhouse, such as finding the floor and wall areas\r\nand air space of each room, etc. The children\r\nvery soon invented a family for their house\r\nand decided they would have them live on a\r\nfarm. The arithmetic work was then based on\r\nthe whole farm. First this was laid out for\r\nplanting, plans were drawn to scale, and from\r\ninformation the children themselves gathered\r\nthey made their own problems, basing them on\r\ntheir play farm: such as the size of the corn\r\nfield, how many bushels of seeds would be\r\nneeded to plant it; how big a crop they could\r\nexpect, and how much profit. The children\r\nshowed great interest and ingenuity in inventing\r\nproblems containing the particular arithmetical\r\nprocess they were learning and which\r\nstill would fit their farm. They built fences,\r\ncement sidewalks, a brick wall, did the marketing\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_76\" id=\"Page_76\"\u003e76\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfor the family, sold the butter, milk and eggs,\r\nand took out fire insurance. When they were\r\npapering the house the number of area problems\r\nconnected with buying, cutting, and fitting\r\nthe paper, were enough to give them all the\r\nnecessary drill in measurement of areas.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eEnglish work centered in much the same way\r\naround the building of the bungalow and the\r\nlife of its inhabitants. The spelling lessons\r\ncame from the words they were using in connection\r\nwith the building, etc. The plans for\r\nthe completed bungalow, a description of the\r\nhouse and the furnishings, or the life of the\r\nfamily that dwelt in it, furnished inexhaustible\r\nmaterial for compositions and writing lessons.\r\nCriticism of these compositions as they were\r\nread aloud to the class by their authors became\r\nwork in rhetoric; even the grammar work became\r\nmore interesting because the sentences\r\nwere about the farm.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eArt lessons were also drawn from the work\r\nthe children were actually doing in building and\r\nfurnishing the house. The pupils were very\r\nanxious that their house should be beautiful, so\r\nthe color scheme for both the inside and outside\r\nfurnished a number of problems in coloring and\r\narrangement. Later they found large opportunities\r\nfor design, in making wallpaper for the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_77\" id=\"Page_77\"\u003e77\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhouse, choosing and then decorating curtains\r\nand upholstery. Each pupil made his own design,\r\nand then the whole class decided which one\r\nthey wanted to use. The pupils also designed\r\nand made clay tiles for the bathroom floor and\r\nwall, and planned and laid out a flower garden.\r\nThe girls designed and made clothes for the doll\r\ninmates of the house. The whole class enjoyed\r\ntheir drawing lessons immensely because\r\nthey drew each other posing as different members\r\nof the family in their different occupations\r\non the farm. The work of this grade in expression\r\nconsisted principally in dramatizations\r\nof the life on the farm which the children\r\nworked out for themselves. Not only were the\r\nchildren “learning by doing” in the sense that\r\nnearly all the school work centered around activities\r\nwhich had intrinsic meaning and value\r\nto the pupils, but most of the initiative for the\r\nwork came from the children themselves. They\r\nmade their own number problems; suggested\r\nthe next step in the work on the house; criticised\r\neach other’s compositions, and worked out\r\ntheir own dramatizations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn almost all the grades in the school the\r\npupils were conducting the recitations themselves\r\nwhenever there was an opportunity. One\r\npupil took charge of the class, calling on the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_78\" id=\"Page_78\"\u003e78\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nothers to recite; the teacher becoming a mere\r\nobserver unless her interference was necessary\r\nto correct an error or keep the lesson to the\r\npoint. When the class is not actually in charge\r\nof a pupil, every method is used to have the children\r\ndo all the work, not to keep all the responsibility\r\nand initiative in the hands of the\r\nteacher. The pupils are encouraged to ask\r\neach other questions, to make their objections\r\nand corrections aloud, and to think out for themselves\r\neach problem as it comes up. This is\r\nnot done by giving a class a set lesson in a text-book\r\nas an introduction to a new problem, but\r\nby suggesting the problem to the class and by\r\nmeans of questions and discussion, helped out\r\nwhenever possible by actual experiments by the\r\npupils, trying to bring out the solution of the\r\nproblem, or at the least to give the pupil an\r\nunderstanding of what the problem is about before\r\nhe sees it in print.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe method can be applied to all the classroom\r\nwork, but one illustration taken from a\r\ngeography lesson is especially suggestive. One\r\ngrade was studying the Panama Canal, and had\r\ngreat difficulty in understanding the purpose or\r\nworking of the canal, and especially the locks;\r\nin other words, they were not intellectually interested\r\nin what the teacher told them. She\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_79\" id=\"Page_79\"\u003e79\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nchanged her method entirely and starting from\r\nthe beginning, asked the class to pretend that\r\nJapan and the United States were at war, and\r\nthat they were the Government at Washington\r\nand had to run the army. They at once became\r\ninterested, and discovered that a canal across\r\nPanama was a necessity if the United States’\r\nships were to arrive in the Pacific in time to defend\r\nthe coast and the Hawaiian Islands. The\r\nmountain range seemed an impossible barrier,\r\nuntil the locks were explained to them again,\r\nwhen they seized the principle. Many of them,\r\nindeed, became so interested that they made\r\nmodels of locks at home to bring to school.\r\nThey used the map freely and accurately in their\r\ninterest in saving the country from invasion,\r\nbut until one pupil asked why the United States\r\ndid not actually build a canal across the Isthmus,\r\nthey did not notice that their exciting game\r\nhad anything to do with the puzzling facts that\r\nthey had previously been trying to memorize\r\nfrom their text-book.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe teachers in the school make use of any\r\nillustrations from the practical life about them\r\nthat fit in well with the work the grade is doing.\r\nThus the third grade set up a parcel post system\r\nin their classroom, basing all their English\r\nand arithmetic work on it for some time, and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_80\" id=\"Page_80\"\u003e80\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nlearning to use a map and scales and weights as\r\nwell. A retail shoe store gave the first grade\r\nplenty of work and fun, and games and dances\r\nwith little songs have proved a great help in\r\ntheir number work. Most of the furniture in\r\nthe school office was made by the big boys in\r\ntheir shop work, and several of the rooms are\r\ndecorated with stencil designs the pupils made\r\nin their art lessons. The number work of the\r\nwhole school is taught from the concrete side.\r\nThe little children have boxes of tooth-picks and\r\npaper counters, which they use for adding and\r\nsubtracting; the older pupils may tear paper or\r\ndraw squares when they are learning a new\r\nprocess. The class is given something to do\r\nwhich illustrates the process to be taught; then\r\nthe children themselves analyze what they have\r\ndone and, as the last step, they do examples\r\nwith pure numbers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMany of the public schools of Chicago are also\r\ntrying in every way possible to vitalize their\r\nwork; to introduce into the curriculum material\r\nwhich the children themselves can handle and\r\nfrom which they may get their own lessons.\r\nThis work is fitted into the regular curriculum;\r\nit is not dependent on any peculiarities of an\r\nindividual teacher, but may be introduced\r\nthroughout the entire system, just as text-books\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_81\" id=\"Page_81\"\u003e81\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nare now uniform through a large number of\r\nschools. The work has been applied principally\r\nin history and civics for the younger grades,\r\nbut it is easy to imagine how the same sort of\r\nthing could be used in geography or some of\r\nthe other subjects. The history in the younger\r\ngrades is taught largely by means of sand\r\ntables. The children are perhaps studying the\r\nprimitive methods of building houses, and on\r\ntheir sand table they build a brush house, a\r\ncave dwelling, a tree house, or an eskimo snow\r\nhut. The children themselves do all the work.\r\nThe teacher steps in with advice and help only\r\nwhen necessary to prevent real errors, but the\r\npupils are given the problem of the manufacture\r\nof the house they are studying, and are expected\r\nto solve it for themselves. Sand tables\r\nare used in the same way by a third grade in\r\ntheir study of the early history of Chicago.\r\nThey mold the sand into a rough relief map of\r\nthe neighborhood and then with twigs build the\r\nforts and log cabins of the first frontier settlement,\r\nwith an Indian encampment just outside\r\nthe stockade. They put real water in their lake\r\nand river, and float canoes in it. Other grades\r\ndo the same thing with the history of transportation\r\namong the first settlers in this country,\r\nand with the logging and lumber industry.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_82\" id=\"Page_82\"\u003e82\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nThe older grades are studying the government\r\nof their city, and make sand tables to illustrate\r\nthe different departments of city government.\r\nOne room has a life-saving station, with different\r\ntypes of boats, and life lines that work.\r\nOthers have the telephone, mail carrier, and\r\nparcel posts systems, and a system of street\r\ncleaning of which the children are particularly\r\nproud, because they have copied conditions\r\nwhich they actually found in some of the alleys\r\nnear the school buildings. Beside the alleys\r\nwhich were dirty, like those in the neighborhood,\r\nthey have constructed a model alley with\r\nsanitary garbage appliances made on the best\r\nplane based on what the teacher has told\r\nthem about systems in other cities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn another building all the pupils above the\r\nfourth grade have organized into civic clubs.\r\nThey divided the school district into smaller\r\ndistricts and one club took charge of each district,\r\nmaking surveys and maps of their own\r\nterritory, counting lamp posts, alleys, and garbage\r\ncans, and the number of policemen, or going\r\nintensively into the one thing which interested\r\nthem most. Then each club decided what they\r\nwanted to do for their own district and set out\r\nto accomplish it, whether it was the cleaning up\r\nof a bad alley or the better lighting of a street.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_83\" id=\"Page_83\"\u003e83\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nThey used all the methods that an adult citizens’\r\nclub would employ, writing letters to the\r\ncity departments, calling at the City Hall, and\r\nbesides actually went into the alleys and cleaned\r\nthem up. The interest and enthusiasm of the\r\npupils in this work was remarkable and they are\r\nnow undertaking a campaign to get a playground\r\nfor the school, by means of advertising\r\nand holding neighborhood meetings. The English\r\nwork in these grades is based on the work\r\nof the clubs; the pupils keep track of the work\r\nthey do, make maps and write letters.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMost of the hand and industrial work, which\r\nis not taught for strictly vocational purposes\r\nillustrates the principles which “learning by\r\ndoing” stand for. Examples of this are to be\r\nfound in nearly all schools to-day which aim to\r\nbe progressive. Many school systems all over\r\nthe country have tried having a printing press\r\noperated by pupils with great success. The\r\npresses were installed not to teach the pupils the\r\ndifferent processes in the trade, but so that the\r\nchildren might themselves print some of the\r\npamphlets, posters, or other papers that any\r\nschool is constantly needing. Besides the interest\r\nthat the pupils have shown in setting up\r\nthe type, operating the presses, and getting out\r\nthe printed matter, the work has proved itself\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_84\" id=\"Page_84\"\u003e84\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nespecially valuable in the teaching of English.\r\nType setting is an excellent method of drilling\r\nin spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, and\r\ngrammar, for the fact that the copy is going to\r\nbe printed furnishes a motive for eliminating\r\nmistakes which exercises written by a pupil for\r\nhis teacher never provides. Proofreading is\r\nanother exercise of the same sort. In such\r\nschools the press publishes practically all the\r\nprinted matter that is needed during the year,\r\nincluding spelling lists, programs, and school\r\npapers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSchools are trying all sorts of experiments to\r\nmake the work in English concrete. The text-book\r\nmethod of teaching\u0026mdash;learning rules and\r\ndefinitions and then doing exercises in their\r\napplication\u0026mdash;has proved unsuccessful. Every\r\nteacher is familiar with the story of the boy\r\nwho wrote, “I have gone,” on a piece of paper\r\nfifty times, in order to impress the correct form\r\non his mind, and then on the bottom of the page\r\nleft a note for the teacher beginning, “I have\r\nwent home.” A purpose in English work seems\r\nabsolutely necessary, for the child sees no gain\r\nin efficiency in the things he is most interested\r\nin due to progress in isolated grammar or spelling.\r\nWhen the progress is brought about as\r\na by-product of the scholars’ other work the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_85\" id=\"Page_85\"\u003e85\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ncase is quite otherwise. Give him a reason for\r\nwriting, for spelling, punctuating, and paragraphing,\r\nfor using his verbs correctly, and improvement\r\nbecomes a natural demand of experience.\r\nMr. Wirt in the Gary, Ind., schools\r\nhas found this so true that the regular English\r\nrequired by the state curriculum has been\r\nsupplemented by “application periods in English.”\r\nIn these hours the class in carpentry or\r\ncooking discusses the English used in doing\r\ntheir work in those subjects, and corrects from\r\nthe language point of view any written work\r\ndone as part of their other activity. A pupil\r\nin one of these classes, who had been corrected\r\nfor a mistake in grammar, was overheard saying,\r\n“Well, why didn’t they tell us that in English?”\r\nto which her neighbor answered, “They\r\ndid, but we didn’t know what they were talking\r\nabout.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn some schools as in the Francis Parker\r\nSchool, Chicago, and in the Cottage School at\r\nRiverside, Ill., English is not taught as a separate\r\nsubject to the younger grades, but the\r\npupils have compositions to write for their\r\nhistory lessons, keep records of their excursions,\r\nand of other work where they do not use\r\ntext-books. The emphasis is put on helping the\r\nchild to express his ideas; but such work affords\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_86\" id=\"Page_86\"\u003e86\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nample opportunity for the drill in the required\r\nmechanics of writing. Grammar no longer appears\r\nas a separate subject in the Chicago\r\npublic school curriculum; the teacher gives a\r\nlesson in grammar every time any one in the\r\nclassroom talks and with every written exercise.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_86\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 569px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-087.jpg\" width=\"569\" height=\"315\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eThe pupils build the schoolhouses. (Interlaken School, Ind.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, grammar can be given a purpose\r\nand made interesting even to eleven-year-old\r\nchildren, if the pupils are helped to make their\r\nown grammar and rules by doing their own\r\nanalyzing as the first step instead of the last.\r\nThis is being done with great success in the\r\nPhœbe Thorn Experimental School of Bryn\r\nMawr College. Grammar had no place on the\r\ncurriculum, but the pupils asked so many questions\r\nthat their teacher decided to let them discover\r\ntheir own grammatical rules, starting\r\nfrom the questions they had asked. A few\r\nminutes were taken from the English hour two\r\nor three times a week for their lessons. At the\r\nend of three months the class could analyze any\r\nsimple sentence, could tell a transitive from an\r\nintransitive verb instantly, and were thoroughly\r\nfamiliar with the rules governing the verb to\r\nbe. The grammar lesson was one of the favorite\r\nlessons; the teacher and pupils together had\r\ninvented a number of games to help their drill.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_87\" id=\"Page_87\"\u003e87\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nFor example, one child had a slip of paper\r\npinned to her back describing a sentence in\r\ngrammatical terms; the class made sentences\r\nthat fitted the sentence, and the first pupil had\r\nto guess what her paper said. No text book\r\nwas used in the work, and the teacher started\r\nwith the sentence, called it a town, and by discussion\r\nhelped the pupils to divide it up into\r\ndistricts\u0026mdash;singular, plural, etc. Starting from\r\nthis, they developed other grammatical rules.\r\nThe general tendency in the progressive schools\r\nto-day, nevertheless, seems to be toward the\r\nelimination of the separate study of grammar,\r\nand toward making it and the remainder of the\r\nEnglish work (with the exception of literature)\r\na part of other subjects which the class is studying.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe motto of the boys’ school at Interlaken,\r\nInd., “To teach boys to live,” is another way\r\nof saying, “learning by doing.” Here this is\r\naccomplished, not so much by special devices\r\nto render the curriculum more vital and concrete,\r\nand by the abolition of text-books with\r\nthe old-fashioned reservoir and pump relation\r\nof pupil and teacher, as by giving the boys an\r\nenvironment which is full of interesting things\r\nthat need to be done.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe school buildings have been built by the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_88\" id=\"Page_88\"\u003e88\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npupils, including four or five big log structures,\r\nthe plans being drawn, the foundations dug and\r\nlaid, and the carpentry and painting on the\r\nbuilding done by boy labor. The electric light\r\nand heating plant is run by the boys, and all\r\nthe wiring and bulbs were put in and are kept\r\nin repair by them. There is a six hundred acre\r\nfarm, with a dairy, a piggery and hennery, and\r\ncrops to be sowed and gathered. Nearly all this\r\nwork is also done by pupils; the big boys driving\r\nthe reapers and binders and the little boys\r\ngoing along to see how it is done. The inside\r\nof the houses are taken care of in the same way\r\nby the students. Each boy looks after his own\r\nroom, and the work in the corridors and schoolrooms\r\nis attended to by changing shifts. There\r\nis a lake for swimming and canoeing, and plenty\r\nof time for the conventional athletics. Most of\r\nthe boys are preparing for college, but this outdoor\r\nand manual work does not mean that they\r\nhave to take any longer for their preparation\r\nthan the boy in the city high school.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe school has also bought the local newspaper\r\nfrom the neighboring village and edits\r\nand prints a four-page weekly paper of local\r\nand school news. The boys gather the news,\r\ndo much of the writing and all of the editing\r\nand printing, and are the business managers,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_89\" id=\"Page_89\"\u003e89\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngetting advertisements and tending to the subscription\r\nlist. The instructors in the English\r\ndepartment give the boys any needed assistance.\r\nThey do all these things, not because\r\nthey want to know certain processes that will\r\nhelp them earn a living after they are through\r\nschool, but because to use tools, to move from\r\none kind of work to another, to meet different\r\nkinds of problems, to exercise outdoors, and\r\nto learn to supply one’s daily needs are educating\r\ninfluences, which develop skill, initiative,\r\nindependence, and bodily strength\u0026mdash;in a word,\r\ncharacter and knowledge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWork in nature study is undergoing reorganization\r\nin many schools in all parts of the country.\r\nThe attempt is to vitalize the work, so\r\nthat pupils shall actually get a feeling for plants\r\nand animals, together with some real scientific\r\nknowledge, not simply the rather sentimental\r\ndescriptions and rhapsodizings of literature.\r\nIt is also different from the information gathering\r\ntype of nature study, which is no more\r\nreal science than is the literary type. Here\r\nthe pupils are taught a large number of isolated\r\nfacts, starting from material that the\r\nteacher gathers in a more or less miscellaneous\r\nway; they learn all about one object after another,\r\neach one unrelated to the others or to any\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_90\" id=\"Page_90\"\u003e90\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngeneral plan of work. Even though a child\r\nhas gone over a large number of facts about\r\nthe outdoor world, he gains little or nothing\r\nwhich makes nature itself more real or more\r\nunderstandable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf nature study is turned into a science, the\r\nreal material of the subject must be at hand for\r\nthe students; there must be a laboratory, with\r\nprovision for experimentation and observation.\r\nIn the country this is easy, for nature is just\r\noutside the school doors and windows. The\r\nwork can be organized in the complete way that\r\nhas already been described in the schools at\r\nFairhope and Columbia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Cottage School at Riverside, Ill., and\r\nthe Little School in the Woods at Greenwich,\r\nConn., both put a great deal of stress on their\r\nnature study work. At the former, the children\r\nhave a garden where they plant early and\r\nlate vegetables, so that they can use them for\r\ntheir cooking class in the spring and fall; the\r\npupils do all the work here, plant, weed, and\r\ngather the things. Even more important is\r\nthe work they do with animals. They have,\r\nfor example, a rare bird that is as much a personality\r\nin the school life as any of the children,\r\nand the children, having cared for him\r\nand watched his growth and habits, have become\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_91\" id=\"Page_91\"\u003e91\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmuch more interested in wild birds. In\r\nthe backyard is a goat, the best liked thing on\r\nthe place, which the children have raised from\r\na little kid; and they still do all the work of\r\ncaring for him. They are encouraged in every\r\nway to watch and report on the school pets and\r\nalso on the animals they find in the woods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the Little School in the Woods at Greenwich\r\noutdoor work is the basis of the whole\r\nschool organization. Nature study plays a\r\nlarge part in this. Groups of pupils take long\r\nwalks through the woods in all seasons and\r\nweathers, learning the trees in all their dresses,\r\nand the flowers which come with each season.\r\nThey learn to know the birds and their habits;\r\nthey study insects in the same way, and learn\r\nabout the stars. In fact, so much of their time\r\nis spent out of doors, that the pupils acquire\r\nfirst hand a large fund of knowledge of the world\r\nof nature in all its phases. The basis of this\r\nwork, the director of the school calls Woodcraft;\r\nhe believes that experience in the things the\r\nwoodman does\u0026mdash;riding, hunting, camping,\r\nscouting, mountaineering, Indian-craft, boating,\r\netc.\u0026mdash;will make strong, healthy, and independent\r\nyoung people with well developed characters\r\nand a true sense of the beauty of nature.\r\nThe nature study then is a part of this other\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_92\" id=\"Page_92\"\u003e92\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntraining. A teacher is always with the pupils,\r\nwhether they are boating, walking, or gardening,\r\nto explain what they are doing and why,\r\nand to call their attention to the things about\r\nthem. There is no doubt that the children in\r\nthe school, even the very little ones, have a\r\nknowledge and appreciation of nature which\r\nare very rare even among country children.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eNature study in the big city, where the only\r\nplants are in parks and formal yards and where\r\nthe only animals are the delivery horse and the\r\nalley cat, offers a very different problem. The\r\nteacher may well be puzzled as to the best way\r\nto teach her pupils to love nature when they\r\nnever see it; or be doubtful as to the value of\r\ntrying to develop powers of observation when\r\nthe things which they are asked to observe not\r\nonly do not play any part in the lives of the\r\npupils but are in quite artificial surroundings.\r\nYet while wild nature, the world of woods and\r\nfields and streams, is almost meaningless to the\r\ncity bred child, there is plenty of material available\r\nto make nature a very real thing even for\r\nthe child who has never seen a tree or cow. The\r\nmodern teacher takes as a starting point anything\r\nthat is familiar to the class; a caged\r\ncanary, a bowl of gold fish, or the dusty trees\r\non the playground, and starting from these she\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_93\" id=\"Page_93\"\u003e93\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nintroduces the children to more and more of nature,\r\nuntil they can really get some idea of “the\r\ncountry” and the part it plays in the lives of\r\nevery one. The vegetable garden is the obvious\r\nstarting point for most city children; if they\r\ndo not have tiny gardens in their own backyards,\r\nthere is a neighbor who has, or they are\r\ninterested to find out where the vegetables they\r\neat come from and how they are grown.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBoth in Indianapolis and Chicago, the public\r\nschools realize the value of this sort of work for\r\nthe children. In Indianapolis, gardening is a\r\nregular department in the seventh and eighth\r\ngrades and the high school. The city has\r\nbought a large tract of land far enough in town\r\nto be accessible, and any child who cannot have\r\na garden at home may, by asking, have a garden\r\nplot together with lessons in the theory and\r\npractice of gardening. The plots are large\r\nenough for the pupils to gain considerable experience\r\nand to put into practice what they\r\nlearn in the classroom. Both boys and girls\r\nhave the gardens, and are given credit for work\r\nin them just as for other work. All through\r\nthe school system every attempt is made to\r\narouse an interest in gardening. From the first\r\ngrade on, statistics are kept of the numbers of\r\nchildren with gardens at home, whether they\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_94\" id=\"Page_94\"\u003e94\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nare vegetable or flower gardens, and what is\r\ngrown. Seeds are given to the children who\r\nwish to grow new things, and the child is supposed\r\nto account to his grade for the use he has\r\nmade of his garden.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis work has become a matter of course in\r\nmany rural districts; every one is familiar with\r\nthe “corn clubs” among the school children of\r\nthe South and West, and the splendid example\r\nthey have set the farmers as to the possibilities\r\nof the soil. In many small towns seeds are\r\ngiven to the children who want gardens, and in\r\nthe fall a competitive flower and vegetable show\r\nis held, where prizes are given, as a means of\r\nkeeping track of the work and arousing community\r\ninterest. It is true that most of these\r\nefforts have been grafted on to the schools by\r\nthe local agricultural interests, in an effort to\r\nimprove the crops and so increase the wealth of\r\nthe neighborhood; but local school boards are\r\nbeginning to take the work over, and it is no\r\nless real nature study work because of its utilitarian\r\ncolor. It may be made a means of making\r\na real science of nature study; in no way\r\ndoes it hinder the teaching of the beauty and\r\nusefulness of nature, which was the object of\r\nthe old-fashioned study. In fact, it is the\r\nstrongest weapon the school can make use of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_95\" id=\"Page_95\"\u003e95\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfor this purpose. Every one, and children especially,\r\nenjoy and respect most the things about\r\nwhich their fund of knowledge is largest. The\r\ntrue value of anything is most apparent to the\r\nperson who knows something about it. Familiarity\r\nwith growing things and with the\r\nscience of getting food supplies for a people,\r\ncannot fail to be a big influence towards habits\r\nof industry and observation, for only the gardener\r\nwho watches all the stages and conditions\r\nof his garden, seeking constantly for causes,\r\nwill be successful. Added to this is the purely\r\neconomic value of having our young people\r\ngrow up with a real respect for the farmer and\r\nhis work, a respect which should counteract that\r\noverwhelming flow of population toward congested\r\ncities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_95\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 569px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-097.jpg\" width=\"569\" height=\"322\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eReal gardens for city nature study. (Public School 45, Indianapolis.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe work in the Chicago public schools has\r\nnot been organized as it is in Indianapolis, but\r\nin some districts of the city a great deal of emphasis\r\nis put on nature study work through gardens.\r\nMany of the schools have school gardens\r\nwhere all the children get an opportunity to do\r\nreal gardening, these gardens being used as the\r\nbasis for the nature study work, and the children\r\ngetting instruction in scientific gardening\r\nbesides. The work is given a civic turn; that\r\nis to say, the value of the gardens to the child\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_96\" id=\"Page_96\"\u003e96\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand to the neighborhood is demonstrated: to\r\nthe child as a means of making money or helping\r\nhis family by supplying them with vegetables,\r\nto the community in showing how gardens\r\nare a means of cleaning up and beautifying the\r\nneighborhood. If the residents want their\r\nbackyards and empty lots for gardens, they are\r\nnot going to throw rubbish into them or let other\r\npeople do so. Especially in the streets around\r\none school has this work made a difference.\r\nStarting with the interest and effort of the children,\r\nthe whole community has become tremendously\r\ninterested in starting gardens, using\r\nevery bit of available ground. The district is\r\na poor one and, besides transforming the yards,\r\nthe gardens have been a real economic help to\r\nthe people. With the help of one school a group\r\nof adults in the district hired quite a large tract\r\nof land outside the city and started truck gardens.\r\nThe experiment was a great success.\r\nInexperienced city dwellers, by taking advantage\r\nof the opportunities for instruction which\r\nthe school could offer, were able to plan and do\r\nthe work and make the garden a success from\r\nthe start. The advantage to the school was just\r\nas great, for a large group of foreign parents\r\ncame into close touch with it, discovered that\r\nit was a real force in the neighborhood, and that\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_97\" id=\"Page_97\"\u003e97\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthey could coöperate with it. This element of\r\nthe population usually stands quite aloof from\r\nthe school its children go to, through timidity\r\nand ignorance, or simply through feeling that it\r\nis an institution above them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe impetus to “civic nature study” in Chicago,\r\naside from the district just described, has\r\ncome largely from the Chicago Teachers’ College,\r\nwhere the teacher of biology has devoted\r\nhimself especially to working out this problem.\r\nIn addition to the familiar gardening work,\r\nwith especial attention to the organization of\r\ntruck gardening, plants are grown in the classroom\r\nfor purposes of developing appreciation\r\nof beauty, scientific illustration, and assistance\r\nin geography. But plants are selected with\r\nspecial reference to local conditions, and with\r\nthe desire to furnish a stimulus to beautifying\r\nthe pupils’ own environment. For it is found\r\nthat the scientific principles of botany can be\r\ntaught by means of growing plants which are\r\nadapted to home use as well as by specimens\r\nselected on abstract scientific grounds. By\r\nmaking a special study of the parks, playgrounds,\r\nand yards of their surroundings, the\r\nchildren learn what can be done to beautify\r\ntheir city, and secure an added practical motive\r\nfor acquiring information. They keep pets in\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_98\" id=\"Page_98\"\u003e98\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe schoolroom, such as white mice, fish, birds,\r\nand rabbits. While these are utilized, of\r\ncourse, for illustrating principles of animal\r\nstructure and physiology, they are also employed\r\nto teach humaneness to animals and a\r\ngeneral sympathy for animal life. This is\r\neasy, for children are naturally even more interested\r\nin animals than in plants, and the animals\r\nbecome real individualities to the children\r\nwhose needs are to be respected. As the effect\r\nof conditions upon the health and vigor of their\r\npets is noted, there is a natural growth of interest\r\nin questions of personal hygiene.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt will be observed that while nature study is\r\nused to instill the elements of science, its chief\r\nuses are to cultivate a sympathetic understanding\r\nof the place of plants and animals in life\r\nand to develop emotional and æsthetic interest.\r\nIn the larger cities the situation is very different\r\nfrom that of rural life and the country\r\nvillage. There are thousands of children who\r\nbelieve that cement and bricks are the natural\r\ncovering of the ground, trees and grass being\r\nto them the unusual and artificial thing. Their\r\nthoughts do not go beyond the fact that milk and\r\nbutter and eggs come from the store; cows and\r\nchickens are unknown to them\u0026mdash;so much so\r\nthat in a recent reunion of old settlers in a congested\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_99\" id=\"Page_99\"\u003e99\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndistrict of New York one of the greatest\r\ncuriosities was a live cow imported from the\r\ncountry. Under such circumstances, it is difficult\r\nto make the scientific problems of nature\r\nstudy of vital interest. There are no situations\r\nof the children’s experience into which the facts\r\nand principles enter as a matter of course.\r\nEven the weather is tempered and the course of\r\nthe changing seasons has no special effect upon\r\nthe lives of the pupils, save upon the need for\r\ngreater warmth in winter. Nature study in the\r\ncity is like one of the fine arts, such as painting\r\nor music; its value is æsthetic rather than\r\ndirectly practical. Nature is such a small factor\r\nin the activities of the children that it is\r\nhard to give it much “disciplinary” value, save\r\nas it is turned to civic ends. A vague feeling\r\nfor this state of affairs probably accounts for\r\nmuch of the haphazard and half-hearted nature\r\nstudy teaching which goes on in city schools.\r\nThere is a serious problem in finding material\r\nfor city children which will do for observation\r\nwhat the facts of nature accomplish in the case\r\nof rural children.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA valuable experiment with this end in view\r\nis carried on in the little “Play School” taught\r\nby Miss Pratt in one of the most congested districts\r\nof New York City. Nature study is not\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_100\" id=\"Page_100\"\u003e100\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntaught at all to these little children. If they go\r\nto the park or have pets and plant flowers it is\r\nbecause these things make good play material,\r\nbecause they are beautiful and interesting; if\r\nthe children ask questions and want to know\r\nmore about them, so much the better. Instead\r\nof telling them about leaves and grass, cows and\r\nbutterflies, and hunting out the rare opportunities\r\nfor the children to observe them, use is\r\nmade of the multitudes of things which the children\r\nsee about them in the streets and in their\r\nhomes. The new building going up across the\r\nstreet furnishes just as much for observation\r\nand questioning as does the park, and is a much\r\nmore familiar sight to the children. They find\r\nout how the men get the bricks and mortar to\r\nthe upper floors; they see the sand cart unloading;\r\npossibly one child knows that the driver\r\nhas been to the river to get the sand from a\r\nboat. They notice the delivery man going\r\nthrough the streets, and find out where he got\r\nthe bread to take to their mothers. They see\r\nthe children on the playground and learn that\r\nbesides the fun they have, the playing is good\r\nfor their bodies. They walk to the river and\r\nsee the ferries carrying people back and forth\r\nand the coal barges unloading. All these facts\r\nare more closely related to them than the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_101\" id=\"Page_101\"\u003e101\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthings of country life; hence it is more important\r\nthat they understand their meaning and\r\ntheir relation to their own lives, while acuteness\r\nof observation is just as well trained. Such\r\nwork is also equally valuable as a foundation\r\nfor the science and geography the pupils will\r\nstudy later on. Besides awakening their curiosity\r\nand faculties of observation, it shows\r\nthem the elements of the social world, which the\r\nlater studies are meant to explain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Elementary School at Columbia, Missouri,\r\nhas arranged its curriculum according to\r\nthe same principle. All the material from nature\r\nwhich the children use and study they find\r\nnear the school or their homes, and their study\r\nof the seasons and the weather is made from day\r\nto day, as the Columbia weather and seasons\r\nchange. Even more important is the work the\r\nchildren do in studying their own town, their\r\nfood, clothing, and houses, so that the basis of\r\nthe study is not instruction given by the teacher\r\nbut what the children themselves have been able\r\nto find out on excursions and by keeping their\r\neyes open. The material bears a relation to\r\ntheir own lives, and so is the more available for\r\nteaching children how to live. The reasons for\r\nteaching such things to the city bred child are\r\nthe same as those for teaching the country child\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_102\" id=\"Page_102\"\u003e102\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe elements of gardening and the possibilities\r\nof the local soil. By understanding his own\r\nenvironment child or adult learns the measure\r\nof the beauty and order about him, and respect\r\nfor real achievement, while he is laying the\r\nfoundations for his own control of the environment.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_103\" id=\"Page_103\"\u003e103\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_V\" id=\"CHAPTER_V\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER V\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003ePLAY\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll peoples at all times have depended upon\r\nplays and games for a large part of the education\r\nof children, especially of young children.\r\nPlay is so spontaneous and inevitable that few\r\neducational writers have accorded to it in theory\r\nthe place it held in practice, or have tried to\r\nfind out whether the natural play activities of\r\nchildren afforded suggestions that could be\r\nadopted within school walls. Plato among the\r\nancients and Froebel among the moderns are\r\nthe two great exceptions. From both Rousseau\r\nand Pestalozzi, Froebel learned the principle of\r\neducation as a natural development. Unlike\r\nboth of these men, however, he loved intellectual\r\nsystem and had a penchant for a somewhat\r\nmystical metaphysics. Accordingly we find in\r\nboth his theory and practice something of the\r\nsame inconsistency noted in Pestalozzi.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is easier to say natural development than\r\nto find ways for assuring it. There is much\r\nthat is “natural” in children which is also naturally\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_104\" id=\"Page_104\"\u003e104\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nobnoxious to adults. There are many\r\nmanifestations which do not seem to have any\r\npart in helping on growth. Impatient desire\r\nfor a method which would cover the whole\r\nground, and be final so as to be capable of use\r\nby any teacher, led Froebel, as it has led so\r\nmany others, into working out alleged “laws”\r\nof development which were to be followed irrespective\r\nof the varying circumstances and experiences\r\nof different children. The orthodox\r\nkindergarten, which has often been more Froebellian\r\nthan Froebel himself, followed these\r\nlaws; but now we find attempts to return to the\r\nspirit of his teaching, with more or less radical\r\nchanges in its letter.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile Froebel’s own sympathy with children\r\nand his personal experience led him to emphasize\r\nthe instinctive expressions of child-life, his\r\nphilosophy led him to believe that natural development\r\nconsisted in the \u003ci\u003eun\u003c/i\u003efolding of an absolute\r\nand universal principle already \u003ci\u003een\u003c/i\u003efolded\r\nin the child. He believed also that there is an\r\nexact correspondence between the general\r\nproperties of external objects and the unfolding\r\nqualities of mind, since both were manifestations\r\nof the same absolute reality. Two\r\npractical consequences followed which often\r\ngot the upper hand of his interest in children\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_105\" id=\"Page_105\"\u003e105\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\non their own account. One was that, since the\r\nlaw of development could be laid down in general,\r\nit is not after all so important to study\r\nchildren in the concrete to find out what natural\r\ndevelopment consists in. If they vary from the\r\nrequirements of the universal law so much the\r\nworse for them, not for the “law.” Teachers\r\nwere supposed to have the complete formula of\r\ndevelopment already in their hands. The other\r\nconsequence was that the presentation and\r\nhandling, according to prescribed formulæ, of\r\nexternal material, became the method in detail\r\nof securing proper development. Since the general\r\nrelations of these objects, especially the\r\nmathematical ones, were manifestations of the\r\nuniversal principle behind development, they\r\nformed the best means of bringing out the hidden\r\nexistence of the same principle in the child.\r\nEven the spontaneous plays of children were\r\nthought to be educative not because of what they\r\nare, directly in themselves, but because they\r\nsymbolize some law of universal being. Children\r\nshould gather, for example, in a circle, not\r\nbecause a circular grouping is convenient for\r\nsocial and practical purposes, but because the\r\ncircle is a symbol of infinity which will tend to\r\nevoke the infinite latent in the child’s soul.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe efforts to return to Froebel’s spirit referred\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_106\" id=\"Page_106\"\u003e106\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto above have tried to keep the best in\r\nhis contributions. His emphasis upon play,\r\ndramatization, songs and story telling, which\r\ninvolve the constructive use of material, his\r\ndeep sense of the importance of social relations\r\namong the children\u0026mdash;these things are permanent\r\ncontributions which they retain. But they are\r\ntrying with the help of the advances of psychological\r\nknowledge since Froebel’s time and of\r\nthe changes in social occupations which have\r\ntaken place to utilize these factors directly,\r\nrather than indirectly, through translation into\r\na metaphysics, which, even if true, is highly abstract.\r\nIn another respect they are returning\r\nto Froebel himself, against an alteration in his\r\nideas introduced by many of his disciples.\r\nThese followers have set up a sharp contrast\r\nbetween play and useful activity or work, and\r\nthis has rendered the practices of their kindergartens\r\nmore symbolic and sentimental than\r\nthey otherwise would have been. Froebel himself\r\nemphasized the desirability of children\r\nsharing in social occupations quite as much as\r\ndid Pestalozzi\u0026mdash;whose school he had visited.\r\nHe says, for example, “The young, growing\r\nhuman being should be trained early for outer\r\nwork, for creative and productive activities.\r\nLessons through and by work, through and from\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_107\" id=\"Page_107\"\u003e107\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nlife, are the most impressive and the most intelligible,\r\nthe most continuous and progressive,\r\nin themselves and in their effect upon the\r\nlearner. Every child, boy and youth, whatever\r\nhis position and condition in life, should devote,\r\nsay, at least one or two hours a day to some\r\nserious active occupation constructing some\r\ndefinite external piece of work. It would be\r\na most wholesome arrangement in school to establish\r\nactual working hours similar to existing\r\nstudy hours, and it will surely come to this.”\r\nIn the last sentence, Froebel showed himself a\r\ntrue prophet of what has been accomplished in\r\nsome of the schools such as we are dealing with\r\nin this book.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSchools all over the country are at present\r\nmaking use of the child’s instinct for play, by\r\nusing organized games, toy making, or other\r\nconstruction based on play motives as part of\r\nthe regular curriculum. This is in line with the\r\nvitalization of the curriculum that is going on\r\nin the higher grades by making use of the environment\r\nof the child outside the schoolroom.\r\nIf the most telling lessons can be given children\r\nthrough bringing into the school their occupations\r\nin their free hours, it is only natural to\r\nuse play as a large share of the work for the\r\nyoungest pupils. Certainly the greatest part of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_108\" id=\"Page_108\"\u003e108\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe lives of very young children is spent in playing,\r\neither games which they learn from older\r\nchildren or those of their own invention. The\r\nlatter usually take the form of imitations of\r\nthe occupations of their elders. All little children\r\nthink of playing house, doctor, or soldier,\r\neven if they are not given toys which suggest\r\nthese games; indeed, half of the joy of playing\r\ncomes from finding and making the necessary\r\nthings. The educational value of this play is\r\nobvious. It teaches the children about the\r\nworld they live in. The more they play the\r\nmore elaborate becomes their paraphernalia,\r\nthe whole game being a fairly accurate picture\r\nof the daily life of their parents in its setting,\r\nclothed in the language and bearing of the children.\r\nThrough their games they learn about\r\nthe work and play of the grown-up world. Besides\r\nnoticing the elements which make up this\r\nworld, they find out a good deal about the actions\r\nand processes that are necessary to keep\r\nit going.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_108\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 323px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-108.jpg\" width=\"323\" height=\"243\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e(1) Making a town, instead of doing gymnastic exercises.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e(Teachers College Playground, N.\u0026nbsp;Y. City.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_108b\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 321px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-108a.jpg\" width=\"321\" height=\"249\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e(2) Gymnasium dances in sewing-class costumes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e(Howland School, Chicago.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile this is of real value in teaching the\r\nchild how to live, it is evident as well that it\r\nsupplies a strong influence against change.\r\nImitative plays tend, by the training of habit\r\nand the turn they give to the child’s attention\r\nand thoughts, to make his life a replica of the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_109\" id=\"Page_109\"\u003e109\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nlife of his parents. In playing house children\r\nare just as apt to copy the coarseness, blunders,\r\nand prejudices of their elders as the things\r\nwhich are best. In playing, they notice more\r\ncarefully and thus fix in their memory and\r\nhabits, more than if they simply lived it indifferently,\r\nthe whole color of the life around\r\nthem. Therefore, while imitative games are of\r\ngreat educational value in the way of teaching\r\nthe child to notice his environment and some of\r\nthe processes that are necessary for keeping it\r\ngoing, if the environment is not good the child\r\nlearns bad habits and wrong ways of thinking\r\nand judging, ways which are all the harder to\r\nbreak because he has fixed them by living them\r\nout in his play.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eModern kindergartens are beginning to realize\r\nthis more and more. They are using play, the\r\nsort of games they find the children playing outside\r\nof school hours, not only as a method of\r\nmaking work interesting to the children, but\r\nfor the educational value of the activities it involves,\r\nand for giving the children the right sort\r\nof ideals and ideas about every day life. Children\r\nwho play house and similar games in\r\nschool, and have toys to play with and the material\r\nto make the things they need in their\r\nplay, will play house at home the way they\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_110\" id=\"Page_110\"\u003e110\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nplayed it in school. They will forget to imitate\r\nthe loud and coarse things they see at home,\r\ntheir attention will be centered on problems\r\nwhich were designed by the school to teach better\r\naims and methods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe kindergarten of the Teachers’ College\r\nof Columbia University could hardly be recognized\r\nas a kindergarten at all by a visitor who\r\nwas thinking of the mechanism of instruction\r\nworked out by Froebel’s disciples. The kindergarten\r\nis part of the training school of the university,\r\nand from the start has been considered\r\nas a real part of the school system, as the first\r\nstep in an education, not as a more or less unnecessary\r\n“extra.” With a view to laying a\r\npermanent basis for higher education, the authorities\r\nhave been developing a curriculum\r\nthat should make use of whatever was of real\r\nworth in existing systems of education and in\r\nthe experiments tried by themselves. To find\r\nwhat is of real worth, experiments have been\r\nconducted, designed to answer the following\r\nquestions: “Among the apparently aimless\r\nand valueless spontaneous activities of the child\r\nis it possible to discover some which may be\r\nused as the point of departure for ends of recognized\r\nworth? Are there some of these crude\r\nexpressions which, if properly directed, may\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_111\" id=\"Page_111\"\u003e111\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndevelop into beginnings of the fine and industrial\r\narts? How far does the preservation of\r\nthe individuality and freedom of the child demand\r\nself-initiated activities? Is it possible\r\nfor the teacher to set problems or ends sufficiently\r\nchildlike to fit in with the mode of\r\ngrowth, and to inspire their adoption with the\r\nsame fine enthusiasm which accompanies the\r\nself-initiated ones?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe result showed that the best success came\r\nwhen the children’s instinctive activities were\r\nlinked up with social interests and experiences.\r\nThe latter center, with young children, in their\r\nhome. Their personal relations are of the\r\ngreatest importance to them. Children’s intense\r\ninterest in dolls is a sign of the significance\r\nattached to human relations. The doll\r\nthus furnished a convenient starting point.\r\nWith this as a motive, the children have countless\r\nthings they wish to do and make. Hand\r\nand construction work thus acquired a real purpose,\r\nwith the added advantage of requiring the\r\nchild to solve a problem. The doll needs\r\nclothes; the whole class is eager to make them,\r\nbut the children do not know how to sew or even\r\ncut cloth. So they start with paper and scissors,\r\nand make patterns, altering and experimenting\r\non the doll for themselves, receiving\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_112\" id=\"Page_112\"\u003e112\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nonly suggestions or criticisms from the teacher.\r\nWhen they have made successful patterns, they\r\nchoose and cut the cloth, and then learn to sew\r\nit. If the garments are not wholly successful,\r\nthe class has had a great deal of fun making\r\nthem, and has had the training that comes from\r\nworking towards a definite end, besides acquiring\r\nas much control over scissors, paper, and\r\nneedle, and manual dexterity as would accrue\r\nfrom the conventional paper cutting, pricking,\r\nand sewing exercises.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe doll needs a house. In a corner of the\r\nroom there is a great chest of big blocks, so\r\nlarge that it takes the whole class to build the\r\nhouse, and then it is not done in one day.\r\nThere are flat long blocks like boards for the\r\nwalls and roof, and square blocks for the foundations\r\nand window frames. When the house\r\nis done, it is big enough for two or three children\r\nto go into to play with the doll. One\r\nreadily sees that it has taken a great deal of\r\nhard thinking and experimenting to make a\r\nhouse that would really stand up and serve such\r\nuses. Then the house needs furniture; the children\r\nlearn to handle tools in fashioning tables,\r\nchairs, and beds, from blocks of wood and thin\r\nboards. Getting the legs on a table is an especially\r\ninteresting problem to the class, and over\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_113\" id=\"Page_113\"\u003e113\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand over again they have discovered for themselves\r\nhow it can be done. Dishes for the doll\r\nfamily furnish the motive for clay modeling and\r\ndecoration. Dressing and undressing the dolls\r\nis an occupation the children never tire of, and\r\nit furnishes excellent practice in buttoning and\r\nunbuttoning and tying bows.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe changing seasons of the year and the procession\r\nof outdoor games they bring furnish\r\nother motives for production that meet a real\r\nneed of the children. In the spring-time they\r\nwant marbles and tops, in the fall, kites; the\r\ndemand for wagons is not limited to any one season.\r\nWhenever possible the children are allowed\r\nto solve their own problems. If they want marbles\r\nthey experiment until they find a good way\r\nto make them round, while if they are making\r\nsomething more difficult where the whole process\r\nis obviously beyond them, they are helped.\r\nThis help, however, never takes the form of dictation\r\nas to how to perform each step in its\r\norder, for the object of the work is to train the\r\nchild’s initiative and self-reliance, to teach him\r\nto think straight by having him work on his own\r\nproblems. The little carts which the older children\r\nmake would be beyond them if they had to\r\nplan and shape the material for themselves; but\r\nwhen they are given the sawed boards and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_114\" id=\"Page_114\"\u003e114\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nround pieces for wheels, they find out by trying\r\nhow they can be put together, and thus make\r\nusable little wagons. Making bags for their\r\nmarbles, and aprons to protect their clothes\r\nwhile they are painting the dolls’ furniture or\r\nwashing the dishes after lunch, offer additional\r\nopportunities for sewing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the needs of an individual doll the\r\nchild’s interest naturally develops to the needs\r\nof a family and then of a whole community.\r\nWith paper dolls and boxes, the children make\r\nand furnish dolls’ houses for themselves, until\r\nall together they produce an entire village. On\r\ntheir sand table the whole class may make a\r\ntown with houses and streets, fences and rivers,\r\ntrees and animals for the gardens. In fact, the\r\nplay of the children furnishes more opportunity\r\nfor making things than there is time for in the\r\nschool year. This construction work not only\r\nfills the children with the interest and enthusiasm\r\nthey always show for any good game, but\r\nteaches them the use of work. In supplying the\r\nneeds of the dolls and their own games, they are\r\nsupplying in miniature the needs of society, and\r\nare acquiring control over the tools that society\r\nactually uses in meeting these wants. Boys and\r\ngirls alike take the same interest in all these\r\noccupations, whether they are sewing and playing\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_115\" id=\"Page_115\"\u003e115\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwith dolls, or marble making and carpentry.\r\nThe idea that certain games and occupations are\r\nfor boys and others for girls is a purely artificial\r\none that has developed as a reflection of the conditions\r\nexisting in adult life. It does not occur\r\nto a boy that dolls are not just as fascinating\r\nand legitimate a plaything for him as for his\r\nsister, until some one puts the idea into his head.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe program of this kindergarten is not devoted\r\nexclusively to play construction. It occupies\r\nthe place of the paper folding, pricking and\r\nsewing and the object lesson work of the older\r\nkindergartens, leaving plenty of time every day\r\nto try their playthings and to take care of their\r\nlittle gardens out of doors, as well as for group\r\ngames, stories and songs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAn interesting application of the play motive\r\nis being tried at the Teachers’ College playground,\r\nby the same teachers who are conducting\r\nthe kindergarten. There is an outdoor\r\nplayground for the use of the younger grades\r\nafter school hours. Instead of spending their\r\ntime doing gymnastic exercises or playing group\r\ngames the children are making a town. They\r\nuse large packing cases for houses and stores,\r\ntwo or three children taking care of each one;\r\nand have worked out quite an elaborate town\r\norganization, with a telephone, mail and police\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_116\" id=\"Page_116\"\u003e116\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nservice, a bank to coin money, and ingenious\r\nschemes for keeping the cash in circulation.\r\nMuch of the time is spent in carpentry work,\r\nbuilding and repairing the houses and making\r\nwagons, furniture for the houses, or stock for\r\nthe two stores. The work affords almost as\r\nmuch physical exercise as the ordinary sort of\r\nplayground. It keeps the children busy and\r\nhappy in a much more effective way, for besides\r\nhealthy play in the open air they are learning\r\nto take a useful and responsible share in a community.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA kindergarten conducted along the same\r\nlines exists in Pittsburgh as part of the city\r\nuniversity. It is called “The School of Childhood,”\r\nand emphasizes the healthy physical development\r\nof the children. The work is centered\r\naround the natural interests of children;\r\nand while they apparently do not do as much\r\nconstruction work as in the Teachers’ College\r\nkindergarten, there is more individual play.\r\nThe writer has not visited the school, but it\r\nseems to embrace a number of novel elements\r\nthat ought to be suggestive to any one interested\r\nin educational experiments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe “Play School” conducted by Miss Pratt\r\nin New York City organizes all the work around\r\nthe play activities of little children. Quoting\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_117\" id=\"Page_117\"\u003e117\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nMiss Pratt, her plan is: “To offer an opportunity\r\nto the child to pick up the thread of life\r\nin his own community, and to express what he\r\ngets in an individual way. The experiment concerns\r\nitself with getting subject-matter first\r\nhand, and it is assumed that the child has much\r\ninformation to begin with, that he is adding to\r\nit day by day, that it is possible to direct his\r\nattention so that he may get his information in\r\na more related way; and with applying such information\r\nto individual schemes of play with\r\nrelated toys and blocks as well as expressing\r\nhimself through such general means as drawing,\r\ndramatization, and spoken language.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe children are of kindergarten age and\r\ncome from homes where the opportunities for\r\nreal activity are limited. Each child has floor\r\nspace of his own with a rug, and screens to\r\nisolate him sufficiently so that his work is really\r\nindividual. There is a small work shop in the\r\nroom where the pupils can make or alter things\r\nthey need in their play. The tools are full size,\r\nand miscellaneous scraps of wood are used. In\r\ncupboards and shelves around the room are all\r\nsorts of material: toys, big and little blocks,\r\nclay, pieces of cloth, needle and thread, and a\r\nset of Montessori material. Each child has\r\nscissors, paper, paints, and pencil of his own,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_118\" id=\"Page_118\"\u003e118\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand is free to use all the material as he chooses.\r\nHe selects either isolated objects he wants to\r\nmake, or lays out some larger construction, such\r\nas a railroad track and stations, or a doll’s\r\nhouse, or a small town or farm, and then from\r\nthe material at hand works out his own execution\r\nof his idea. One piece of work often\r\nlasts over several days, and involves considerable\r\nincidental construction, such as tracks\r\nand signals, clay dishes, furniture or new\r\nclothes for the doll. The rôle of the teacher\r\nis to teach the pupil processes and control of\r\ntools, not in a prearranged scale but as they are\r\nneeded in construction. The teacher has every\r\nopportunity to see the individual’s weaknesses\r\nand abilities and so to check or stimulate at the\r\nproper time. Besides the motor control which\r\nthe pupils develop through their handling of\r\nmaterial, they are constantly increasing their\r\ningenuity and initiative.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_118\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 322px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-118.jpg\" width=\"322\" height=\"249\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_118b\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 322px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-118a.jpg\" width=\"322\" height=\"250\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eConstructing in miniature the things they see around them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e(Play School, New York City.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe elements of number work are taught in\r\nconnection with the construction; and if a\r\nchild shows a desire to make letters or signs\r\nin connection with his other work, he is helped\r\nand shown how. The toys used are particularly\r\ngood. There are flat wooden dolls about\r\nhalf an inch thick, men, women, and children,\r\nwhose joints bend so that they will stay\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_119\" id=\"Page_119\"\u003e119\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin any position; all sorts of farm animals\r\nand two or three kinds of little wagons that\r\nfit the dolls; quantities of big blocks that\r\nfasten together with wooden pegs, so that the\r\nhouses and bridges do not fall down. Everything\r\nis strongly made on the simplest plan,\r\nso that material can be used not only freely\r\nbut also effectively. Each success is a stimulus\r\nto new and more complicated effort. There is\r\nno discouragement from slipshod stuff. The\r\npupils take care of the toys themselves, getting\r\nthem out and putting them away. They also\r\ncare for the classroom and serve their mid-morning\r\nluncheon. This work, coupled with\r\nthe fact that the constructions are almost always\r\nminiature copies of the things that the pupils\r\nsee in their community, saves the work from any\r\nhint of artificiality. The children’s constructions\r\ngrow out of the observations already\r\nspoken of (p. 100), and give a motive for talking\r\nover what they have seen and making new,\r\nmore extensive and more accurate observations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe natural desire of children to play can,\r\nof course, be made the most of in the lowest\r\ngrades, but there is one element of the play\r\ninstinct which schools are utilizing in the higher\r\ngrades\u0026mdash;that is, the instinct for dramatization,\r\nfor make-believe in action. All children love to\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_120\" id=\"Page_120\"\u003e120\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npretend that they are some body or thing other\r\nthan themselves; they love to make a situation\r\nreal by going through the motions it suggests.\r\nAbstract ideas are hard to understand; the child\r\nis never quite sure whether he really understands\r\nor not. Allow him to act out the idea\r\nand it becomes real to him, or the lack of understanding\r\nis shown in what is done. Action is\r\nthe test of comprehension. This is simply another\r\nway of saying that learning by doing is a\r\nbetter way to learn than by listening\u0026mdash;the difference\r\nof dramatization from the work already\r\ndescribed lies in the things the child is learning.\r\nHe is no longer dealing with material\r\nwhere \u003ci\u003ethings\u003c/i\u003e are needed to carry an act to a\r\nsuccessful result, but with \u003ci\u003eideas\u003c/i\u003e which need action\r\nto make them real. Schools are making\r\nuse of dramatization in all sorts of different\r\nways to make teaching more concrete. For\r\nolder children dramatization is used principally\r\nin the strict sense of the word; that is, by having\r\npupils act in plays, either as a means of\r\nmaking the English or history more real, or\r\nsimply for the emotional and imaginative value\r\nof the work. With the little children it is used\r\nas an aid in the teaching of history, English,\r\nreading, or arithmetic, and is often combined\r\nwith other forms of activity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_121\" id=\"Page_121\"\u003e121\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMany schools use dramatization as a help in\r\nteaching the first steps of any subject, especially\r\nin the lower grades. A first year class, for example,\r\nact the subject-matter of their regular\r\nreading lesson, each child having the part of\r\none of the characters of the story, animal or\r\nperson. This insures an idea of the situation as\r\na whole, so that reading ceases to be simply an\r\nattempt to recognize and pronounce isolated\r\nwords and phrases. Moreover, the interest of\r\nthe situation carries children along, and enlists\r\nattention to difficulties of phraseology which\r\nmight, if attacked as separate things, be discouraging.\r\nThe dramatic factor is a great assistance\r\nin the expressive side of reading.\r\nTeachers are always having to urge children to\r\nread “naturally,” “to read as they talk.” But\r\nwhen a child has no motive for communication\r\nof what he sees in the text, knowing as he does\r\nthat the teacher has the book and can tell it\r\nbetter than he can, even the naturalness tends to\r\nbe forced and artificial. Every observer knows\r\nhow often children who depart from humdrum\r\ndroning, learn to exhibit only a superficial breathless\r\nsort of liveliness and a make-believe animation.\r\nDramatization secures both attention to\r\nthe thought of the text and a spontaneous endeavor,\r\nfree from pretense and self-consciousness,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_122\" id=\"Page_122\"\u003e122\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto speak loudly enough to be heard and to\r\nenunciate distinctly. In the same way, children\r\ntell stories much more effectively when\r\nthey are led to visualize for themselves the actions\r\ngoing on, than when they are simply repeating\r\nsomething as a part of the school routine.\r\nWhen children are drawing scenes involving\r\naction and posture, it is found that\r\nprior action is a great assistance. In the case\r\nof a pose of the body, the child who has done\r\nthe posing is often found to draw better than\r\nthose who have merely looked on. He has\r\ngot the “feel” of the situation, which readily\r\ninfluences his hand and eye in the subsequent\r\nreproduction. In the early grades when pupils\r\nfail in a concrete problem in arithmetic, it is\r\nfrequently found that resort to “acting out”\r\nthe situation supplies all the assistance needed.\r\nThe real difficulty was not with the numbers but\r\nin failure to grasp the meaning of the situation\r\nin which the numbers were to be used.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the upper grades, literature and history,\r\nas already indicated, are often reënforced by\r\ndramatic activities. A sixth grade in Indianapolis\r\nengaged in dramatizing “Sleeping\r\nBeauty,” not merely composed the words and\r\nthe stage directions, but also wrote songs and\r\nthe music for them. Such concentration on a\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_123\" id=\"Page_123\"\u003e123\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsingle purpose of studies usually pursued independently\r\nstimulates work in each. Literary\r\nexpression is less monotonous, the phrasing of\r\nan idea more delicate and flexible, than when\r\ncomposition is an end in itself; and while of\r\ncourse the music is not likely to be remarkable,\r\nit almost always has a freshness and charm exceeding\r\nthat which could be attained from the\r\nsame pupils if they were merely writing music.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA shoe store in the second grade furnished the\r\nbasis of the work for several days. The children\r\nset up a shop and chose pupils to take the\r\npart of the shoe clerk, the shoemaker, and the\r\nfamily going to buy shoes. Then they acted\r\nout the story of a mother and children going to\r\nthe store for shoes. Arithmetic and English\r\nlessons were based on the store, and the class\r\nwrote stories about it. This same class sang\r\nand acted out to a simple tune a little verse about\r\nthe combinations that make ten. The same\r\npupils were doing problems in mental arithmetic\r\nthat were much beyond the work usually found\r\nin a second grade, adding almost instantly numbers\r\nlike 74 and 57. They probably could not\r\nhave gone so rapidly if they had not had so\r\nmuch of the dramatization work. It served to\r\nmake their abstract problems seem real. In\r\ndoing problems about Mrs. Baldwin’s shoes\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_124\" id=\"Page_124\"\u003e124\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthey had come to think of numbers as having\r\nsome meaning and purpose, so that when a\r\nproblem in pure numbers was given they did\r\nnot approach it with misgivings and uncertainty.\r\nOne of the fifth grades had installed a\r\nparcel post office; they made money and stamps\r\nand brought bundles to school, then they played\r\npost office; two boys took the part of postmen,\r\nweighed the packages, looked up the rate of\r\npostage, and gave change for the customers.\r\nTables of weights ceased to be verbal forms to\r\nbe memorized; consultation of the map was a\r\nnecessity; the multiplication table was a necessity;\r\nthe system and order required in successful\r\nactivity were impressed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Francis Parker School is one of many\r\nusing the dramatic interest of the pupils as an\r\naid in teaching history. The fourth grade\r\nstudies Greek history, and the work includes the\r\nmaking of a Greek house, and writing poems\r\nabout some Greek myth. The children make\r\nGreek costumes and wear them every day in the\r\nclassroom. To quote Miss Hall, who teaches\r\nthis grade: “They play sculptor and make\r\nclay statuettes of their favorite gods and mould\r\nfigures to illustrate a story. They model\r\nMycenæ in sand-pans, ruin it, cover it, and become\r\nthe excavators who bring its treasures to\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_125\" id=\"Page_125\"\u003e125\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nlight again. They write prayers to Dionysius\r\nand stories such as they think Orpheus might\r\nhave sung. They play Greek games and wear\r\nGreek costumes, and are continually acting out\r\nstories or incidents which please them. To-day\r\nas heroes of Troy, they have a battle at recess\r\ntime with wooden swords and barrel covers. In\r\nclass time, with prayers and dances and extempore\r\nsong, they hold a Dionysiac festival.\r\nAgain, half of them are Athenians and half of\r\nthem Spartans in a war of words as to which\r\ncity is more to be desired. Or they are freemen\r\nof Athens, replying spiritedly to the haughty\r\nPersian message.” Besides these daily dramatizations,\r\nthey write and act for the whole school\r\na little play which illustrates some incident of\r\nhistory that has particularly appealed to them.\r\nHistory taught in this way to little children acquires\r\nmeaning and an emotional content; they\r\nappreciate the Greek spirit and the things which\r\nmade a great people. The work so becomes a\r\npart of their lives that it is remembered as any\r\npersonal experience is retained, not as texts are\r\ncommitted to memory to be recited upon.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Francis Parker School takes advantage\r\nof the social value of dramatizations in its morning\r\nexercises. Studying alone out of a book is\r\nan isolated and unsocial performance; the pupil\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_126\" id=\"Page_126\"\u003e126\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmay be learning the words before him, but he is\r\nnot learning to act with other people, to control\r\nand arrange his actions and thought so that\r\nother persons have an equal opportunity to express\r\nthemselves in a shared experience. When\r\nthe classes represent by action what they have\r\nlearned from books, all the members have a\r\npart, so that they learn to cherish socially, as\r\nwell as to develop, powers of expression and of\r\ndramatic and emotional imagery. When they\r\nact in front of the whole school they get the\r\nvalue of the work for themselves individually\r\nand help the growth of a spirit of unity and\r\ncoöperation in the entire school. All the children,\r\nbig and little, become interested in the sort\r\nof thing that is going on in the other grades,\r\nand learn to appreciate effort that is simple and\r\nsincere, whether it comes from the first grade\r\nor the seniors in high school. In their efforts\r\nto interest the whole school the actors learn to\r\nbe simple and direct, and acquire a new respect\r\nfor their work by seeing its value for others.\r\nSummaries of the work in different subjects are\r\ngiven in the morning exercises by any grade\r\nwhich thinks it has something to say that would\r\ninterest the other children. The dramatic element\r\nis sometimes small, as in the descriptions\r\nof excursions, of curious processes in arithmetic\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_127\" id=\"Page_127\"\u003e127\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nor of some topic in geography; but the children\r\nalways have to think clearly and speak well, or\r\ntheir audience will not understand them, and\r\nmaps or diagrams and all sorts of illustrative\r\nmaterial are introduced as much as possible.\r\nOther exercises, such as the Greek play written\r\nby the fourth grade, or a dramatization of one\r\nof Cicero’s orations against Cataline, are purely\r\ndramatic in their interest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe production of plays by graduating classes\r\nor for some specific purpose is of course a well-known\r\nmethod of interesting pupils or advertising\r\na school. But recently schools have been\r\ngiving plays and festivals for their educational\r\nvalue as well as for their interest to children and\r\nthe public. The valuable training which comes\r\nfrom speaking to an audience, using the body\r\neffectively and working with other pupils for a\r\ncommon end, is present, whatever the nature\r\nof the play; and schools usually try to have their\r\nproductions of some literary value. But until\r\nrecently the resources of the daily work of the\r\npupils for dramatic purposes have been overlooked.\r\nBeing for purposes of public entertainment,\r\nplays were added on after school hours.\r\nBut schools are beginning to utilize this natural\r\ndesire of young people to “act something” for\r\namplifying the curriculum. In many schools\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_128\" id=\"Page_128\"\u003e128\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhere dramatization of a rather elaborate character\r\nis employed for public performances, the\r\nsubject-matter is now taken from English and\r\nhistory, while writing the play supplies another\r\nEnglish lesson. The rehearsals take the place\r\nof lessons in expression and elocution, and involve\r\nself-control. The stage settings and costumes\r\nare made in the shop and art periods, the\r\nplanning and management being done by the\r\npupils, the teacher helping enough to prevent\r\nblunders and discouragement. At Riverside\r\none of the classes had been reading Tolstoi’s\r\n“Where Love Is There Is God” for their work\r\nin literature. They rewrote the story as a play\r\nand rehearsed it in their English lessons, the\r\nwhole class acting as coach and critic. As their\r\ninterest grew they made costumes and arranged\r\na stage setting and finally gave the play to an\r\naudience of the school and its friends. At another\r\ntime the English class gave an outdoor\r\nperformance of a sketch which they had written,\r\nbased on the Odyssey. The American history\r\nclass at the Speyer School give a play which\r\nthey write about some incident in pioneer history.\r\nDuring the rehearsal nearly all the children\r\ntry the parts, quite regardless of sex or\r\nother qualifications, and the whole class chooses\r\nthe final cast. The fifth grade was studying\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_129\" id=\"Page_129\"\u003e129\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nIrving’s “Sketch Book” in connection with its\r\nhistory and literature work, and dramatized the\r\nstory of Rip Van Winkle, doing all its own\r\ncoaching and costuming.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_129\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 572px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-129.jpg\" width=\"572\" height=\"322\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eUsing the child’s dramatic instinct to teach history. (Cottage School, Riverside, Ill.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Howland School, one of the public schools\r\nof Chicago situated in a foreign district, gave\r\na large festival play during the past year. The\r\nprincipal wrote and arranged a pageant illustrating\r\nthe story of Columbus, and the whole\r\nschool took part in the acting. The story gave\r\na simple outline of the life of Columbus. A few\r\ntableaux were added about some of the most\r\nstriking events in pioneer history, arranged to\r\nbring out the fact that this country is a democracy.\r\nThe children made their own costumes\r\nfor the most part, and all the dances they had\r\nlearned during the year in gymnasium were introduced.\r\nThus the whole exhibition presented\r\na very good picture of the outline of our history\r\nand the spirit of the country, and at the same\r\ntime offered an interesting summary of the\r\nyear’s work. Its value as a unifying influence\r\nin a foreign community was considerable, for\r\nbesides teaching the children something of the\r\nhistory of their new country, it gave the parents,\r\nwho made up the audience, an opportunity to\r\nsee what the school could do for their children\r\nand the neighborhood. The patriotic value of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_130\" id=\"Page_130\"\u003e130\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsuch exercises is greater than the daily flag\r\nsalute or patriotic poem, for the children understand\r\nwhat they are supposed to be enthusiastic\r\nabout, as they see before them the things which\r\nnaturally arouse patriotic emotions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eExercises to commemorate holidays or seasons\r\nare more interesting and valuable than\r\nthe old-fashioned entertainment where individual\r\npupils recited poems, and adults made\r\nspeeches, for they concentrate in a social expression\r\nthe work of the school. The community\r\nis more interested because parents know\r\nthat their own children have had their share in\r\nthe making of the production, and the children\r\nare more interested because they are working\r\nin groups on something which appeals to them\r\nand for which they are responsible. The\r\ngraduating exercises at many schools are now\r\nof a kind to present in a dramatic review the\r\nregular work of the year. Each grade may take\r\npart, presenting a play which they have written\r\nfor work in English, dancing some of the folk\r\nor fancy dances they have learned in gymnasium,\r\netc. Many schools have a Thanksgiving\r\nexercise in which different grades give scenes\r\nfrom the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth, or\r\npresent dramatic pictures of the harvest festivals\r\nof different nations. In similar fashion Christmas\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_131\" id=\"Page_131\"\u003e131\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nentertainments are often made up of songs,\r\npoems and readings by children from different\r\ngrades, or by the whole grade, which have been\r\narranged in the English and music classes.\r\nThe possibilities for plays, festivals, and\r\npageants arranged on this plan are endless; for\r\nit is always possible to find subject-matter which\r\nwill give the children just as much training in\r\nreading, spelling, history, literature, or even\r\nsome phases of geography, as would dry Gradgrind\r\nfacts of a routine text-book type.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_132\" id=\"Page_132\"\u003e132\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_VI\" id=\"CHAPTER_VI\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER VI\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eFREEDOM AND INDIVIDUALITY\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe reader has undoubtedly been struck by\r\nthe fact that in all of the work described, pupils\r\nmust have been allowed a greater amount of\r\nfreedom than is usually thought compatible with\r\nthe necessary discipline of a schoolroom. To\r\nthe great majority of teachers and parents the\r\nvery word school is synonymous with “discipline,”\r\nwith quiet, with rows of children sitting\r\nstill at desks and listening to the teacher, speaking\r\nonly when they are spoken to. Therefore\r\na school where these fundamental characteristics\r\nare lacking must of necessity be a poor\r\nschool; one where pupils do not learn anything,\r\nwhere they do just as they please, quite regardless\r\nof what they please, even though it be harmful\r\nto the child himself or disagreeable to his\r\nclassmates and the teacher.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a certain accumulation of facts that\r\nevery child must acquire or else grow up to\r\nbe illiterate. These facts relate principally to\r\nadult life; therefore it is not surprising that the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_133\" id=\"Page_133\"\u003e133\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npupil is not interested in them, while it is the\r\nduty of the school to see that he knows them\r\nnevertheless. How is this to be done? Obviously\r\nby seating the children in rows, far enough\r\napart so that they cannot easily talk to each\r\nother, and hiring the most efficient person available\r\nto teach the facts; to tell them to the child,\r\nand have him repeat them often enough so that\r\nhe can reasonably be expected to remember\r\nthem, at least until after he is “promoted.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAgain, children should be taught to obey;\r\nefficiency in doing as one is told is a useful accomplishment,\r\njust as the doing of distasteful\r\nand uninteresting tasks is a character builder.\r\nThe pupil should be taught to “respect” his\r\nteacher and learning in general; and how can he\r\nbe taught this lesson if he does not sit quietly\r\nand receptively in the face of both? But if he\r\nwill not be receptive, he must at least be quiet,\r\nso that the teacher can teach him anyway. The\r\nvery fact that the pupil so often is lawless, destructive,\r\nrude and noisy as soon as restraint\r\nis removed proves, according to the advocates\r\nof “discipline” by authority, that this is the\r\nonly way of dealing with the child, since without\r\nsuch restraint the child would behave all\r\nday long as he does when it is removed for a\r\nfew uncertain minutes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_134\" id=\"Page_134\"\u003e134\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf this statement of the disciplinarian’s case\r\nsounds harsh and unadorned, think for a moment\r\nof the things that visitors to “queer\r\nschools” say after the visit is over; and consider\r\nwhether they do not force the unprejudiced\r\nobserver to the conclusion that their idea of\r\nschools and schooling is just such a harsh and\r\nunadorned affair. The discussion of freedom\r\nversus authoritative discipline in schools resolves\r\nitself after all into a question of the conception\r\nof education which is entertained. Are\r\nwe to believe, with the strict disciplinarian, that\r\neducation is the process of making a little savage\r\ninto a little man, that there are many virtues\r\nas well as facts that have to be taught to\r\nall children so that they may as nearly as possible\r\napproach the adult standard? Or are we\r\nto believe, with Rousseau, that education is the\r\nprocess of making up the discrepancy between\r\nthe child at his birth and the man as he will\r\nneed to be, “that childhood has its own ways of\r\nseeing, thinking, and feeling,” and that the\r\nmethod of training these ways to what a man\r\nwill need is to let the child test them upon the\r\nworld about him?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe phrase, “authoritative discipline,” is\r\nused purposely, for discipline and freedom are\r\nnot contradictory ideas. The following quotation\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_135\" id=\"Page_135\"\u003e135\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfrom Rousseau shows very plainly what a\r\nheavy taskmaster even his freedom was, a freedom\r\nso often taken to mean mere lawlessness\r\nand license. “Give him [the pupil] no orders\r\nat all, absolutely none. Do not even let him\r\nthink that you claim any authority over him.\r\nLet him know only that he is weak and you are\r\nstrong, that his condition and yours puts him\r\nat your mercy; let this be perceived, learned and\r\nfelt. Let him early find upon his proud neck\r\nthe heavy yoke which nature has imposed upon\r\nus, the heavy yoke of necessity, under which\r\nevery finite being must bow. Let him find the\r\nnecessity in things, not in the caprices of man;\r\nlet the curb be the force of conditions, not authority.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSurely no discipline could be more severe,\r\nmore apt to develop character and reasonableness,\r\nnor less apt to develop disorder and laziness.\r\nIn fact the real reason for the feeling\r\nagainst freedom in schools seems to come from\r\na misunderstanding. The critic confuses physical\r\nliberty with moral and intellectual liberty.\r\nBecause the pupils are moving about, or sitting\r\non the floor, or have their chairs scattered about\r\ninstead of in a straight line, because they are\r\nusing their hands and tongues, the visitor thinks\r\nthat their minds must be relaxed as well; that\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_136\" id=\"Page_136\"\u003e136\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthey must be simply fooling, with no more restraint\r\nfor their minds and morals than appears\r\nfor their bodies. Learning in school has been so\r\nlong associated with a docile or passive mind\r\nthat because that useful organ does not squirm\r\nor talk in its operations, observers have come to\r\nthink that none of the child should do so, or\r\nit will interfere with learning.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAssuming that educational reformers are\r\nright in supposing that the function of education\r\nis to help the growing of a helpless young\r\nanimal into a happy, moral, and efficient human\r\nbeing, a consistent plan of education must allow\r\nenough liberty to promote that growth. The\r\nchild’s body must have room to move and stretch\r\nitself, to exercise the muscles and to rest when\r\ntired. Every one agrees that swaddling clothes\r\nare a bad thing for the baby, cramping and interfering\r\nwith bodily functions. The swaddling\r\nclothes of the straight-backed desk, head to the\r\nfront and hands folded, are just as cramping\r\nand even more nerve racking to the school child.\r\nIt is no wonder that pupils who have to sit in\r\nthis way for several hours a day break out in\r\nbursts of immoderate noise and fooling as soon\r\nas restraining influences are removed. Since\r\nthey do not have a normal outlet for their physical\r\nenergy to spend itself, it is stored up, and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_137\" id=\"Page_137\"\u003e137\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhen opportunity offers it breaks forth all the\r\nmore impetuously because of the nervous irritation\r\npreviously suffered in repressing the action\r\nof an imperfectly trained body. Give a child\r\nliberty to move and stretch when he needs it,\r\nwith opportunities for real exercise all through\r\nthe day and he will not become so nervously\r\noverwrought that he is irritable or aimlessly\r\nboisterous when left to himself. Trained in\r\n\u003ci\u003edoing\u003c/i\u003e things, he will be able to keep at work and\r\nto think of other people when he is not under\r\nrestraining supervision.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA truly scientific education can never develop\r\nso long as children are treated in the lump,\r\nmerely as a class. Each child has a strong individuality,\r\nand any science must take stock of\r\nall the facts in its material. Every pupil must\r\nhave a chance to show what he truly is, so that\r\nthe teacher can find out what he needs to make\r\nhim a complete human being. Only as a teacher\r\nbecomes acquainted with each one of her pupils\r\ncan she hope to understand childhood, and it is\r\nonly as she understands it that she can hope\r\nto evolve any scheme of education which shall\r\napproach either the scientific or the artistic\r\nstandard. As long as educators do not know\r\ntheir individual facts they can never know\r\nwhether their hypotheses are of value. But how\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_138\" id=\"Page_138\"\u003e138\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nare they to know their material if they impose\r\nthemselves upon it to such an extent that each\r\nportion is made to act just like every other portion?\r\nIf the pupils are marched into line, information\r\npresented to them which they are\r\nthen expected to give back in uniform fashion,\r\nnothing will ever be found out about any of\r\nthem. But if every pupil has an opportunity\r\nto express himself, to show what are his particular\r\nqualities, the teacher will have material\r\non which to base her plans of instruction.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSince a child lives in a social world, where\r\neven the simplest act or word is bound up with\r\nthe words and acts of his neighbors, there is no\r\ndanger that this liberty will sacrifice the interests\r\nof others to caprice. Liberty does not\r\nmean the removal of the checks which nature\r\nand man impose on the life of every individual\r\nin the community, so that one individual may\r\nindulge impulses which go against his own welfare\r\nas a member of society. But liberty for\r\nthe child is the chance to test all impulses and\r\ntendencies on the world of things and people in\r\nwhich he finds himself, sufficiently to discover\r\ntheir character so that he may get rid of those\r\nwhich are harmful, and develop those which are\r\nuseful to himself and others. Education which\r\ntreats all children as if their impulses were\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_139\" id=\"Page_139\"\u003e139\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthose of the average of an adult society (whose\r\nweaknesses and failures are moreover constantly\r\ndeplored) is sure to go on reproducing\r\nthat same average society without even finding\r\nout whether and how it might be better. Education\r\nwhich finds out what children really are\r\nmay be able to shape itself by this knowledge so\r\nthat the best can be kept and the bad eliminated.\r\nMeantime much is lost by a mere external suppression\r\nof the bad which equally prevents the\r\nexpression of the better.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf education demands liberty before it can\r\nshape itself according to facts, how is it to use\r\nthis liberty for the benefit of the child? Give\r\na child freedom to find out what he can and can\r\nnot do, both in the way of what is physically\r\npossible and what his neighbors will stand for,\r\nand he will not waste much time on impossibilities\r\nbut will bend his energies to the possibilities.\r\nThe physical energy and mental inquisitiveness\r\nof children can be turned into positive channels.\r\nThe teacher will find the spontaneity, the liveliness,\r\nand initiative of the pupil aids in teaching,\r\ninstead of being, as under the coercive system,\r\nnuisances to be repressed. The very things\r\nwhich are now interferences will become positive\r\nqualities that the teacher is cultivating.\r\nBesides preserving qualities which will be of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_140\" id=\"Page_140\"\u003e140\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nuse to the man and developing habits of independence\r\nand industry, allowing the child this\r\nfreedom is necessary if pupils are really to\r\nlearn by doing. Most doing will lead only to\r\nsuperficial muscle training if it is dictated to\r\nthe child and prescribed for him step by step.\r\nBut when the child’s natural curiosity and love\r\nof action are put to work on useful problems, on\r\nfinding out for himself how to adjust his environment\r\nto his needs, the teacher finds that\r\nthe pupils are not only doing their lessons as\r\nwell as ever, but are also learning how to control\r\nand put to productive use those energies\r\nwhich are simply disturbing in the average\r\nclassroom. Unless the pupil has some real\r\nwork on which to exercise his mind by means of\r\nhis senses and muscles, the teacher will not be\r\nable to do away with the ordinary disciplinary\r\nmethods. For in a classroom where the teacher\r\nis doing all the work and the children are listening\r\nand answering questions, it would be absurd\r\nto allow the children to place themselves where\r\nthey please, to move about, or to talk. Where\r\nthe teacher’s rôle has changed to that of helper\r\nand observer, where the development of every\r\nchild is the goal, such freedom becomes as much\r\na necessity of the work as is quiet where the children\r\nare simply reciting.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_140\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 323px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-140.jpg\" width=\"323\" height=\"252\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_140b\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 324px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-140a.jpg\" width=\"324\" height=\"249\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eLearning to live through situations that are typical of social\r\nlife. (Teachers College, N.\u0026nbsp;Y. City.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_141\" id=\"Page_141\"\u003e141\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAt present, the most talked of schools in which\r\nfreedom and liberty are necessary for the children’s\r\nwork are the schools of Madame Maria\r\nMontessori in Italy and those of her pupils in\r\nthis country. Madame Montessori believes,\r\nwith many educators in this country, that liberty\r\nis necessary in the classroom if the teacher is\r\nto know the needs and capabilities of each pupil,\r\nif the child is to receive in school a well-rounded\r\ntraining making for the best development of his\r\nmind, character, and physique. In general, her\r\nreasons for insisting upon this liberty, which is\r\nthe basis of her method, correspond with those\r\noutlined above, with one exception. She holds\r\nthat liberty is necessary for the child if a scientific\r\neducation is to be created, because without\r\nit data on which to base principles can not be\r\ncollected; also that it is necessary for the physical\r\nwelfare of the pupils and for the best development\r\nof their characters in training them\r\nto be independent. The point of difference between\r\nthe Italian educator and most reformers\r\nin this country lies in their respective views of\r\nthe value of liberty in the use of material, and\r\nthis point will be taken up later.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMadame Montessori believes that repressing\r\nchildren physically while they are in school and\r\nteaching them habits of mental passivity and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_142\" id=\"Page_142\"\u003e142\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndocility is mistaking the function of the school\r\nand doing the children real harm. Scientific\r\neducation not only needs freedom for the child\r\nin order to collect data, but liberty is its very\r\nbasis; “liberty is activity,” says Madame\r\nMontessori in her book called “The Montessori\r\nMethod.” Activity is the basis of life, consequently\r\ntraining children to move and act is\r\ntraining them for life, which is the proper office\r\nof the schoolroom. The object of liberty is the\r\nbest interests of the whole group; this becomes\r\nthe end of the liberty allowed the children.\r\nEverything which does not contribute to it must\r\nbe suppressed, while the greatest care is taken\r\nto foster every action with a useful scope. In\r\norder to give the pupils the largest possible\r\nscope for such useful activity, they are allowed\r\na very large amount of freedom in the classroom.\r\nThey may move about, talk to each\r\nother, place their tables and chairs where they\r\nplease, and, what is of more significance, each\r\npupil may choose what work he will do, and\r\nmay work at one thing as long or as short a\r\ntime as he wishes. She says, “A room in which\r\nall the children move about usefully, intelligently,\r\nand voluntarily, without committing any\r\nrough or rude act, would seem to me a classroom\r\nvery well disciplined indeed.” Discipline,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_143\" id=\"Page_143\"\u003e143\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin short, is ability to do things independently,\r\nnot submission under restraint.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to bring about this active discipline,\r\nwhich allows free scope for any useful work,\r\nand at the same time does not stifle the spontaneous\r\nimpulses of the child, the ordinary\r\nmethods of discipline are done away with, and\r\na technique is developed to emphasize the positive,\r\nnot the negative, side of discipline.\r\nMontessori has described it in this way: “As\r\nto punishments, we have many times come in\r\ncontact with children who disturbed the others,\r\nwithout paying any attention to our corrections.\r\nSuch children were at once examined by the\r\nphysician. When the case proved to be that of\r\na normal child, we placed one of the little tables\r\nin a corner of the room, and in this way isolated\r\nthe child, having him sit in a comfortable little\r\narmchair, so placed that he might see his companions\r\nat work, and giving him those games\r\nand toys to which he was most attracted. This\r\nisolation almost always succeeded in calming\r\nthe child; from his position he could see the entire\r\nassembly of his companions, and the way\r\nin which they carried on their work was an\r\nobject-lesson much more efficacious than any\r\nwords of the teacher could possibly have been.\r\nLittle by little he would come to see the advantages\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_144\" id=\"Page_144\"\u003e144\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof being one of the company working so\r\nbusily before his eyes, and he would really wish\r\nto go back and do as the others did.” The corrections\r\nwhich the teachers first offer never take\r\nthe form of scoldings; the child is quietly told\r\nthat what he is doing is not polite or disturbs\r\nthe other children. Then he is told how he\r\nought to behave to be a pleasant companion, or\r\nhis attention is diverted to a piece of work. Because\r\nchildren are working on something of their\r\nown choice, and when they want to, and because\r\nthey may move and talk enough so that they do\r\nnot get nervously tired, there is very little need\r\nfor any “punishment.” Except for an isolated\r\ncase of real lawlessness, such as Montessori refers\r\nto in the quotation just cited, the visitor to\r\none of her schools sees very little need of negative\r\ndiscipline. The teachers’ corrections are\r\npractically all for small breaches of manners or\r\nfor carelessness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eActivity founded on liberty being the guiding\r\nprinciple of the Montessori schools, activity is\r\nexpended by the child on two sorts of material.\r\nMontessori believes that the child needs practice\r\nin the actions of daily life; that, for example,\r\nhe should be taught how to take care of\r\nand wait on himself. Part of the work is accordingly\r\ndirected to this end. She also believes\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_145\" id=\"Page_145\"\u003e145\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthat the child possesses innate faculties\r\nwhich should be allowed to develop to their fullest;\r\nconsequently part of the work is designed\r\nto give adequate expression to these faculties.\r\nThese exercises for the culture of the inner potentialities\r\nof the child she considers the more\r\nimportant of the two. The child needs to know\r\nhow to adjust himself to his environment in\r\norder to be independent and happy; but an imperfect\r\ndevelopment of the child’s faculties is\r\nan imperfect development of life itself; so the\r\nreal object of education consists in furnishing\r\nactive help to the normal expansion of the life\r\nof the child. These two lines of development\r\nMadame Montessori considers to be so distinct\r\none from the other that the exercises of practical\r\nlife cannot perform the function of the\r\nexercises arranged to train the faculties and\r\nsenses of the child.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe exercises of practical life are designed to\r\nteach the child to be independent, to supply his\r\nown wants, and to perform the actions of daily\r\nlife with skill and grace. The pupils keep the\r\nschoolroom in order, dusting and arranging the\r\nfurniture, and putting away each piece of material\r\nas soon as they are through with it. They\r\nwait on themselves while they are working, getting\r\nout the things they want, finding a convenient\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_146\" id=\"Page_146\"\u003e146\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nplace to work, and then taking care of\r\nthe apparatus when they have worked with it as\r\nlong as they like. In schools where the children\r\ndo not live in the building, a midday lunch\r\nis served for the pupils; and, except for the\r\ncooking, the children do all the work connected\r\nwith the meal, setting tables, serving food, and\r\nthen clearing away and washing the dishes. All\r\nthe pupils share alike in this work, regardless\r\nof their age; children of three and four soon\r\nlearn to handle the plates and glasses, and to\r\npass the food. Wherever possible the schools\r\nhave gardens, which the children care for, and\r\nanimal pets of a useful sort\u0026mdash;hens and chickens\r\nor pigeons. Even the youngest children put on\r\ntheir own wraps, button and unbutton their\r\naprons and slippers, and when they can not do\r\nit for themselves, they help each other. The\r\nnecessity of the pupils’ learning to take care of\r\nthemselves as early as possible is so much insisted\r\nupon that in order to help the youngest\r\nin learning this lesson, Montessori has designed\r\nseveral appliances to give them practice before\r\nthey begin to wait upon themselves. These are\r\nwooden frames, fitted with cloth which is opened\r\ndown the center. Then the edges are joined\r\neither with buttons, hooks and eyes, or ribbons,\r\nand practice consists in opening and closing\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_147\" id=\"Page_147\"\u003e147\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthese edges by buttoning, hooking, or tying as\r\nthe case may be.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese appliances may be taken as a bridge\r\nbetween the two sorts of exercises in use in the\r\nMontessori schools. They mark a transition\r\nfrom the principles which are common to most\r\neducational reformers to those associated particularly\r\nwith the method worked out by\r\nMadame Montessori. Another quotation from\r\nher first book gives the clew to an understanding\r\nof this method: “In a pedagogical method\r\nwhich is experimental the education of the\r\nsenses must undoubtedly assume the greatest\r\nimportance…. The method used by me is that\r\nof making a pedagogical experiment with a\r\ndidactic object and awaiting the spontaneous\r\nreaction of the child…. With little children,\r\nwe must proceed to the making of trials, and\r\nmust select the didactic materials in which they\r\nshow themselves to be interested…. I believe,\r\nhowever, that I have arrived at a selection of\r\nobjects representing the minimum necessary to\r\na practical sense education.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMadame Montessori started her career as a\r\nteacher among deficient children in the hospitals\r\nwhere Seguin had worked. Naturally she experimented\r\nwith the material used with her subnormal\r\npupils when she began working with\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_148\" id=\"Page_148\"\u003e148\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nnormal children. It is equally natural that\r\nmany of the objects which had proved useful\r\nwith the former were also usable with the average\r\nschool child. Ordinary school methods succeed\r\nwith deficient children when used more\r\nslowly and with more patience; and in the same\r\nway Madame Montessori found that many of\r\nthe appliances which had before been used only\r\nfor deficients produced remarkably successful\r\nresults with ordinary children, when used with\r\nmore rapidity and liberty. Therefore her\r\n“didactic material” includes many things that\r\nare used generally to develop sensory consciousness\r\namong deficients. But instead of using the\r\nmaterial in a fixed order and under the guidance\r\nof a teacher, the normal child is allowed\r\ncomplete liberty in its use; for the object is no\r\nlonger to awaken powers that are nearly lacking,\r\nbut to exercise powers that the child is\r\nusing constantly in all his daily actions, so that\r\nhe may have a more and more accurate and\r\nskillful control over them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe exercises to develop the faculties of the\r\nchild are especially so arranged as to train the\r\npower to discriminate and to compare. His\r\nsensory organs are nearly all exercised with\r\napparatus designed, like the button frames, to\r\nallow the child to do one thing for one purpose.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_149\" id=\"Page_149\"\u003e149\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nThe pupil does not have to use these objects in\r\nany fixed order or work for any length of time\r\non one thing. Except for the very youngest\r\nchildren, who do only the very simplest exercises,\r\npupils are at liberty to work at any one\r\nthey wish and for as long as they wish. Montessori\r\nbelieves that the child will turn naturally\r\nto the exercise he is ready for. The materials\r\nto develop the sense of touch are among the\r\nsimplest. There are small boards with strips\r\nof sandpaper running from the roughest to the\r\nsmoothest, and pieces of different kinds of cloth;\r\nthese the child rubs his hands over while his eyes\r\nare blindfolded, distinguishing the differences.\r\nThe appliances designed to teach the child to\r\ndistinguish differences of form and size use the\r\nsense of touch as a strong aid to sight. There\r\nare blocks of wood with holes of different diameters\r\nand depths, and cylinders to fit each hole.\r\nThe child takes all the cylinders out, rubs his\r\nfingers around their edge and then around the\r\nrim of the holes and puts them back in the\r\nproper hole. The ability to judge of size is also\r\nexercised by giving the child a set of graduated\r\nwooden blocks with which he builds a tower, and\r\nanother set which he may use to make a stair.\r\nThe power to distinguish form is developed by\r\nwooden insets of all shapes which fit into holes\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_150\" id=\"Page_150\"\u003e150\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin a thin board. The child takes out the insets,\r\nfeels of them and then replaces them. Later the\r\nteacher tells him the geometrical name of each\r\nform while he is touching it, and then has him\r\ndistinguish them by name.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere are sets of cardboard forms to correspond\r\nto the wooden ones, and metal plaques\r\nwhere the form appears as a hole in the center\r\nof the plaque. These are used in games which\r\nconsist in matching the same form in the different\r\nmaterials, and for drawing the form in\r\noutline on paper to be filed in with colored\r\npencils.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe method of teaching reading and writing\r\nuses the sense of touch to reënforce the lesson\r\nthe pupil gets through the eye and ear. Sandpaper\r\nalphabets with each letter pasted on a\r\nsquare of cardboard are given a child. He\r\nrubs his finger over these as if he were writing\r\nand makes the sound of the letter as he rubs.\r\nMovable letters are used only after the child\r\nis familiar with the letters by touch, and with\r\nthem he makes words. Writing usually precedes\r\nreading when children learn in this way;\r\nwhen they take pencil or chalk, they are able to\r\ntrace the letters with very little difficulty because\r\nthe muscles as well as the eye are familiar\r\nwith the forms.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_151\" id=\"Page_151\"\u003e151\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe sense of hearing is exercised by means of\r\ntwo sets of bells, one fixed to give the scale, the\r\nother movable, so that the child can make his\r\nown scale by comparing with the fixed scale.\r\nThe children play a number of games where\r\nthey are as quiet as possible, acting out simple,\r\nwhispered directions from the teacher. There\r\nis as well a series of rattles filled with sand,\r\ngravel, and grains, and the game is to guess\r\nwhich rattle is being shaken. The sense of\r\ncolor is developed in the same way by means of\r\nspecially arranged apparatus. This consists of\r\nsmall tablets wound with colored silks in all\r\ncolors and shades, which are used in many different\r\nways, according to the age and skill of\r\nthe pupil. The youngest learn to distinguish\r\ntwo or three colors and to tell dark from light\r\nshades. The older pupils who are familiar with\r\nthe colors acquire enough skill in their manipulation\r\nto be able to glance at one tablet and then\r\ngo to the other side of the room and bring either\r\nan exact match or the next shade lighter or\r\ndarker, according to what the teacher has asked\r\nfor.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMuscular development is provided for by\r\ngiving the children plenty of time during the\r\nschool day to run and play, and by means of apparatus\r\nfor free gymnastics, while the finer\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_152\" id=\"Page_152\"\u003e152\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ncoördinating muscles are being constantly exercised\r\nwhile the child is manipulating the appliances\r\nfor sense training. The faculty of speech\r\nis trained by having the children practice the\r\npronunciation of words and syllables. The\r\nfundamental conceptions of number are taught\r\nmuch as are reading and writing. Besides the\r\nsandpaper numbers and the plain cardboard\r\nones, there is a series of wooden bars varying in\r\nlength from one to ten meters, which the children\r\nuse in connection with numbers in learning\r\nthe combinations up to ten.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe foregoing description of the didactic material\r\nis very brief and general and omits many\r\nof the uses of the appliances as well as reference\r\nto some of the less used material, but it serves\r\nto illustrate the nature and purpose of the work\r\ndone by the children. Pupils acquire a marked\r\nskill in the handling of the material which appeals\r\nespecially to them, and children of four\r\nand five learn to write with very little effort.\r\nIn fact, Madame Montessori believes that the\r\naverage child is ready for many of the ideas\r\nwhich he usually does not get until his sixth year\r\nat an earlier age, when they can be acquired\r\nmore easily; and that a system such as hers\r\nwhich allows the child to perform one set of acts\r\nat the time when he is ready for it saves him\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_153\" id=\"Page_153\"\u003e153\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\na great deal of time later on, besides giving a\r\nmore perfect result than could then be achieved.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eEach piece of material is designed to train\r\nsingly one specific sense through the performance\r\nof one set of fixed acts. Consequently if\r\nliberty is confounded with doing as one pleases,\r\nthis method must appear very strict. Liberty\r\nis found in the use the children make of\r\nmaterial. The amount of freedom the pupils\r\nare allowed in the classroom has already been\r\ndescribed, and the rôle of the teacher is made to\r\ncorrespond with this liberty. She is trained\r\nnot to interfere with any spontaneous activity\r\nof the child and never to force his attention\r\nwhere it is not given naturally. When a child\r\nhas turned of his own accord to a certain apparatus\r\nthe teacher may show him the proper use\r\nof it; or in rare cases she may try to direct the\r\nchild’s attention to a different type of work if\r\nhe seems inclined to concentrate to excess on\r\none thing, but if she fails she never insists. In\r\nfact nothing is done by the teacher to call the\r\nchild’s attention to his weaknesses and failures,\r\nor to arouse any negative associations in his\r\nmind. Madame Montessori says, “If he [the\r\nchild] makes a mistake, the teacher must not\r\ncorrect him, but must suspend her lesson to\r\ntake it up again another day. Indeed, why correct\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_154\" id=\"Page_154\"\u003e154\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhim? If the child has not succeeded in associating\r\nthe name with the object, the only way\r\nin which to succeed would be to repeat both the\r\naction of the sense stimuli and the name; in\r\nother words, to repeat the lesson. But when\r\nthe child has failed, we should know that he\r\nwas not at that instant ready for the physic associations\r\nwhich we wished to provoke in him,\r\nand we must therefore choose another moment.\r\nIf we should say, in correcting the child, ‘No,\r\nyou have made a mistake,’ all these words,\r\nwhich, being in the form of a reproof, would\r\nstrike him more forcibly than others, would remain\r\nin the mind of the child, retarding the\r\nlearning of the names. On the contrary, the\r\nsilence which follows the error leaves the field\r\nof consciousness clear, and the next lesson may\r\nsuccessfully follow the first.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe simplicity and passivity of the teachers’\r\nrôle are increased by the nature of the didactic\r\nmaterial. Once the child has been taught the\r\nnomenclature connected with the apparatus, the\r\nteacher ceases to teach. She becomes merely an\r\nobserver as far as that pupil is concerned until\r\nhe is ready to move on to another appliance.\r\nThis is possible because of what Montessori\r\ncalls the “self-corrective” nature of her material.\r\nThat is, each thing is arranged so that\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_155\" id=\"Page_155\"\u003e155\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe child can do but one complete thing with\r\nit, so that if he makes a mistake the apparatus\r\ndoes not work. Thus a child working with any\r\none thing does not have to be told when he\r\nmakes a mistake how to correct it. He is confronted\r\nwith an obvious problem, which is\r\nsolved by his own handling of the material.\r\nThe child is educating himself in that he sees\r\nhis own mistakes and corrects them, and the\r\nfinished result is perfect; partial success or\r\nfailure is not possible.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eTake the simplest piece of material, the block\r\nof wood in which solid cylinders are set. There\r\nare ten of these cylinders, each varying, say,\r\nin length about a quarter of an inch from the\r\none next it. The child takes all these cylinders\r\nfrom their proper holes and mixes them\r\nup; then he puts them back in their right places\r\nagain. If he puts a cylinder in a hole too deep\r\nfor it, it disappears; if the hole is too shallow\r\nit sticks up too far, while if every cylinder\r\nis put in its proper hole, the child has a solid\r\nblock of wood again. All the geometrical insets\r\nare self-corrective in exactly the same way.\r\nEven the youngest child would know whether\r\nhe had succeeded with the button and lacing\r\nframes. The tower blocks will not pile up into\r\na tower unless the child piles them one on top\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_156\" id=\"Page_156\"\u003e156\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the other in decreasing sizes, nor will the\r\nstair blocks make a stair unless they are laid\r\nside by side according to the same principle.\r\nIn using the color tablets the child needs rather\r\nmore preparation; but when he has learned to\r\ndistinguish the eight different shades of one of\r\nthe eight colors, he is ready to arrange them so\r\nthat they blend from dark to light, and if he\r\nmakes a mistake the tablet placed in wrong sequence\r\nwill appear to him as an inharmonious\r\nblot. Once the pupil gets the idea with one\r\ncolor he is able to work it out for himself for\r\nthe other seven. Since the pupils are never\r\nallowed merely to play with an apparatus, it\r\nbecomes associated in his mind with performing\r\nthe right set of actions, so a misstep appears to\r\nhim as something to be undone, something calling\r\nfor another trial. The educational purpose\r\nMontessori aims to serve in making her material\r\nself-corrective, is that of leading the child to\r\nconcentrate upon the differences in the parts of\r\nthe appliances he is working with; that is, in trying\r\nfor the fixed end he has to compare and discriminate\r\nbetween two colors, two sounds, two\r\ndimensions, etc. It is in making these comparisons\r\nthat the intellectual value of training\r\nthe senses lies. The particular faculty or\r\nsense that the child is exercising in using any\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_157\" id=\"Page_157\"\u003e157\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\none apparatus is sharpened by concentration\r\nupon the \u003ci\u003erelations\u003c/i\u003e between the things. Sense-development\r\nof an intellectual character comes\r\nfrom the growth of this power of the sense organ\r\nto compare and discriminate, not from teaching\r\nthe child to recognize dimensions, sounds,\r\ncolors, etc., nor yet from simply going through\r\ncertain motions without making a mistake.\r\nMontessori claims that intellectual result differentiates\r\nher work from the appliances of the\r\nkindergarten.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs we said above, the difference between the\r\nMontessori method and the views of American\r\nreformers lies not in a difference of opinion as\r\nto the value of liberty, but rather in a different\r\nconception of the best use to be made of it.\r\nPhysically the pupils of a Montessori class are\r\nfreer than they are in the classes of most American\r\neducators with whose views this book has\r\nbeen dealing; intellectually they are not so free.\r\nThey can come and go, work and be idle, talk\r\nand move about quite voluntarily; getting information\r\nabout things and acquiring skill in\r\nmovement are the ends secured. Each pupil\r\nworks independently on material that is self-corrective.\r\nBut there is no freedom allowed\r\nthe child to create. He is free to choose which\r\napparatus he will use, but never to choose his\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_158\" id=\"Page_158\"\u003e158\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nown ends, never to bend a material to his own\r\nplans. For the material is limited to a fixed\r\nnumber of things which must be handled in a\r\ncertain way. Most American educators think\r\nthat the training of the pupil to habits of right\r\nthinking and judgment is best accomplished by\r\nmeans of material which presents to him real\r\nproblems, and they think that the measure of\r\nreality is found in connection with the experiences\r\nof life out of school. The big thing that\r\nchildren have to learn is twofold; for their adjustment\r\nto the world in which they find themselves\r\ninvolves relations to people and to things.\r\nAdjustment means not simply the ability to control\r\ntheir bodies, but an intellectual adjustment\r\nas well, an ability to see the relations between\r\nthings, to look behind their surface and perceive\r\ntheir meaning not alone to the individual, but\r\nto the community as well. “The best way of\r\nmaking sure that children learn this double adjustment\r\nis,” says the American school-teacher,\r\n“to give them work which represents truly the\r\nconditions they have to deal with out of school.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_158\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 566px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-159.jpg\" width=\"566\" height=\"323\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSolving problems in school as they would have to be met out of school.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e(Francis Parker School, Chicago.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eOutside the classroom the child is constantly\r\nhaving to bend material things to his own needs,\r\nand to satisfy the demands that are made upon\r\nhim because he lives with other people. If he\r\nis to accomplish this successfully for himself\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_159\" id=\"Page_159\"\u003e159\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand others it is important that he learn to see\r\nthings as they are; that he be able to use his\r\nsenses accurately to understand the meaning\r\nthat things and people have to and for him as\r\na member of society. Hence the need of freedom\r\nto meet and solve these problems in school,\r\nmuch as one has to do out of school. Madame\r\nMontessori, on the other hand, believes that the\r\ntechnique of living can best be learned by the\r\nchild through situations that are not typical\r\nof social life, but which have been arranged\r\nin order to exercise some special sense so\r\nas to develop the faculties of discrimination\r\nand comparison.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe difference of opinion resolves itself into\r\nthe acceptance of different views of the nature\r\nof the human intelligence. Montessori, in common\r\nwith the older psychologists, believes that\r\npeople have ready-made faculties which can be\r\ntrained and developed for general purposes, regardless\r\nof whether the acts by which they are\r\nexercised have any meaning other than the\r\ntraining they afford. The child is born with undeveloped\r\nfaculties which can be made to blossom\r\nby suitable appliances, and then devoted at\r\nwill to other uses. Most educators in this country\r\nagree with the newer psychological theories\r\nthat skill can not be achieved independently of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_160\" id=\"Page_160\"\u003e160\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe tools used and the object fashioned in the\r\naccomplishment of a special end. Exercises\r\nwhich distinguish for the child the abstract qualities\r\nlike length and color, regardless of the\r\nthings of which they are qualities, may give the\r\nchild great skill in performing the special exercise,\r\nbut will not necessarily result in making\r\nhim more successful in dealing with these qualities\r\nas they appear as factors in the situations\r\nof life. Much less will they train powers of\r\ncomparing and discriminating at large so that\r\nthey may be transferred to any use. A child is\r\nnot born with faculties to be unfolded, but with\r\nspecial impulses of action to be developed\r\nthrough their use in preserving and perfecting\r\nlife in the social and physical conditions under\r\nwhich it goes on.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf, accordingly, the child in an American progressive\r\nschool does not usually have as much\r\nfreedom of moving about and of choice of his\r\ntime for doing work, the explanation does not\r\nconsist in a less degree of belief in the value\r\nof liberty. The emphasis falls on the larger\r\nfreedom of using and testing senses and judgment\r\nin situations typical of life. Because these\r\nsituations are social, they require that children\r\nwork more together in common pursuits;\r\nbecause they are social they permit and often\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_161\" id=\"Page_161\"\u003e161\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nrequire the teacher’s aid, just as one gains assistance\r\nfrom others in the ordinary affairs of\r\nlife. Help from others is not to be feared as an\r\nencroachment upon liberty, but that kind of help\r\nwhich restricts the use of the children’s own intelligence\r\nin forming ends and using ingenuity,\r\ninitiative and inventiveness in the selection and\r\nadaption of materials. The limitation of material\r\nto performing exercises calculated to train\r\nan isolated sense\u0026mdash;a situation that never presents\r\nitself in life\u0026mdash;seems to the American teacher a\r\ngreater limitation of freedom than that which\r\narises from the need of coöperation with others\r\nin the performance of common activities. It is\r\ndesirable not merely that the child should learn\r\nnot to interfere with others as they execute their\r\nown ends, but also that he should learn to work\r\nwith them in an intelligent way. Hence the\r\nscope of the material should not be limited to\r\ntraining the discriminations and comparisons of\r\na single sense (however valuable this may be\r\nwith very young children who are incapable of\r\ncoöperative activity and whose main business is\r\nto master the use of their organs),\u003ca name=\"FNanchor_A\" id=\"FNanchor_A\" href=\"#Footnote_A\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003eA\u003c/a\u003e but should\r\nbe varied enough to offer typical problems calling\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_162\" id=\"Page_162\"\u003e162\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfor the kind of comparison and discrimination\r\nused in ordinary life-situations. And when\r\npupils are making real things for real uses, or\r\nfinding out about the activities and materials of\r\nout-of-school life, several children need to work\r\nat the same thing and keep at one thing with\r\nsome consecutiveness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca name=\"Footnote_A\" id=\"Footnote_A\" href=\"#FNanchor_A\" class=\"fnanchor\"\u003eA\u003c/a\u003e It is significant that many who have experimented with\r\nthe apparatus hold that its value is greatest with quite young\r\nchildren\u0026mdash;three and four years old.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut if the educators of this country differ\r\nwith Montessori as to the existence of innate\r\nfaculties which can be trained for general application\r\nby special exercises designed only for\r\ntraining and not for the accomplishment of results\r\nin which training is incidental, they welcome\r\nher efforts to secure that degree of freedom\r\nin the schoolroom which will enable\r\nteachers to become acquainted with the real\r\npowers and interests of the child and thus secure\r\nthe data for a scientific method in education.\r\nThey appreciate the force of her point\r\nthat artificial conditions of restraint prevent\r\nteachers from getting true knowledge of the\r\nmaterial with which they are dealing, so that\r\ninstruction is limited to repetition of traditional\r\nprocesses. They perceive that her insistence\r\nupon touch associated with muscular movement\r\nas a factor in learning to write and read, is a\r\nreal contribution to the technique of elementary\r\ninstruction. She has become a most important\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_163\" id=\"Page_163\"\u003e163\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfactor in the popularizing of the gospel of liberty\r\nas indispensable to any true education.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith a wider understanding of the meaning of\r\nintellectual and moral freedom, and the accompanying\r\nbreakdown of the negative and coercive\r\nideas of discipline, the chief obstacle to the use\r\nof the teacher’s own powers of observation and\r\nexperimentation will disappear. The scientific\r\ninterest which requires personal observation, reflection,\r\nand experimental activity, will be added\r\nto the teacher’s sympathetic interest in the welfare\r\nof children. Education that associates\r\nlearning with doing will replace the passive education\r\nof imparting the learning of others.\r\nHowever well the latter is adapted to feudal\r\nsocieties, in which most individuals are expected\r\nto submit constantly and docilely to the authority\r\nof superiors, an education which proceeds\r\non this basis is inconsistent with a democratic\r\nsociety where initiative and independence\r\nare the rule and where every citizen is supposed\r\nto take part in the conduct of affairs of\r\ncommon interest. It is significant of the wide-reaching\r\ndevelopment of the democratic spirit\r\nthat the voice most influentially identified at\r\nthe present time with the ideal of liberty in\r\neducation should sound forth from Italy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_164\" id=\"Page_164\"\u003e164\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_VII\" id=\"CHAPTER_VII\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER VII\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eTHE RELATION OF THE SCHOOL TO THE COMMUNITY\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWork is essentially social in its character, for\r\nthe occupations which people carry on are for\r\nhuman needs and ends. They are concerned\r\nwith maintaining the relations with things and\r\nwith others which make up the world we live\r\nin. Even the acts that are concerned with\r\nkeeping alive are arranged to fit into a social\r\nscheme which has modified all man’s instinctive\r\nacts and thoughts. Everything about this\r\nscheme is dependent upon the ability of people\r\nto work together successfully. If they can do\r\nthis a well-balanced, happy and prosperous society\r\nresults. Without these occupations, which\r\nare essentially social life\u0026mdash;that is human life\u0026mdash;civilization\r\ncan not go on. The result is a sort\r\nof social education by necessity, since every one\r\nmust learn to adapt himself to other individuals\r\nand to whole communities. When it is left to\r\ncircumstances this education, although necessary,\r\nis haphazard and only partial. We send\r\nchildren to school supposedly to learn in a systematic\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_165\" id=\"Page_165\"\u003e165\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nway the occupations which constitute\r\nliving, but to a very large extent the schools\r\noverlook, in the methods and subject-matter of\r\ntheir teaching, the social basis of living. Instead\r\nof centering the work in the concrete, the\r\nhuman side of things, they put the emphasis on\r\nthe abstract, hence the work is made academic\u0026mdash;unsocial.\r\nWork then is no longer connected\r\nwith a group of people all engaged in occupations,\r\nbut is isolated, selfish and individualistic.\r\nIt is based on a conception of society which no\r\nlonger fits the facts, an every-man-for-himself\r\nsociety which ceased to exist a hundred years\r\nago. The ordinary school curriculum ignores\r\nthe scientific democratic society of to-day and\r\nits needs and ideals, and goes on fitting children\r\nfor an individualistic struggle for existence,\r\nsoftened by a little intellectual “culture” for\r\nthe individual’s enjoyment.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSchools started in this country in pioneer\r\ndays, when a comparatively small number of\r\npeople were scattered over an immense country\r\nthat offered them unlimited and unexplored opportunities.\r\nThe pioneer was dependent upon\r\nhis own ability in seizing these opportunities,\r\nin getting ahead, in his use of nature’s raw material.\r\nHe lived much alone and for himself;\r\nno one was really dependent upon his relations\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_166\" id=\"Page_166\"\u003e166\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwith others; for there were few people, endless\r\nmaterial, and unorganized communities, without\r\ntraditions or institutions. The welfare of\r\nthe country was dependent upon the spread of\r\nthe doctrines of getting on, and every man for\r\nhimself. It was entirely natural that the new\r\nschools should reflect this ideal and shape their\r\nwork to drive home the lesson. Our early settlers\r\ncame from countries with traditions of\r\nculture and “learning”; and it was natural that\r\nthey should look to their schools to keep alive\r\nthese transplanted ideals in the midst of their\r\nstruggle with nature. Culture did not mean to\r\nthem a harmonious development of all the\r\nchild’s faculties, but it meant rather the storing\r\nup of historical facts and the acquiring of knowledge\r\nand the literatures of the past. Learning,\r\ntoo, did not mean finding out about the things\r\naround them or about what was going on in\r\nother parts of the world; it meant reviewing the\r\nachievements of the past, learning to read the\r\ndead languages, the deader the language the\r\ngreater the reputation for “learning.” The\r\nschool curriculums were principally devoted,\r\ntherefore, to turning the eyes of the pupils to\r\nthe past, where alone they could find things\r\nworth studying and where, too, they might find\r\nthe refinements of esthetic and intellectual development.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_167\" id=\"Page_167\"\u003e167\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nA knowledge of the “three R’s”\r\nand a little natural “smartness” was all the\r\nsocial equipment the child needed, all the preparation\r\nthat was necessary for him to begin to\r\nget on in the world. Once he had that equipment\r\nthe schools could then turn their attention\r\nto giving him culture.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHowever interesting or enlightening such\r\nculture might be to the individual, obviously\r\nthe first business of the public school is to teach\r\nthe child to live in the world in which he finds\r\nhimself, to understand his share in it, and to get\r\na good start in adjusting himself to it. Only\r\nas he can do these things successfully will he\r\nhave time or inclination to cultivate purely intellectual\r\nactivities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe public schools started with the awakening\r\nof the spirit of liberty and democracy.\r\nMore and more people realized that there was\r\nno possibility of an equal chance for every\r\none, if a very small minority of the population\r\nhad entire control of the material of science,\r\nwhich was so rapidly changing all social and\r\nindustrial conditions. Naturally enough when\r\nthese popular schools were started, the community\r\nturned to the schools already in existence\r\nfor their curriculum and organization.\r\nThe old schools, however, were not conducted\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_168\" id=\"Page_168\"\u003e168\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto give equal opportunity to all, but for just the\r\nopposite purpose, to make more marked the line\r\nbetween classes, to give the leisure and moneyed\r\nclasses something which every one could not get,\r\nto cater to their desire for distinction and to\r\ngive them occupation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePeople lived generation after generation in\r\nthe same place, carrying on the same occupations\r\nunder the same conditions. Their world\r\nwas so small that it did not seem to offer\r\nmuch in the way of material for a school\r\neducation; and what it did offer was primarily\r\nconcerned with earning a living. But the\r\nschools were for people who did not earn their\r\nown livings, for people who wished to be accomplished,\r\npolished and interesting socially,\r\nso the material was abstract, purposely separated\r\nfrom the concrete and the useful. Ideals\r\nof culture and education were and still are to\r\na surprising extent based entirely upon the interests\r\nand demands of an aristocratic and\r\nleisure class. Having such an ideal of culture\r\nit was natural to the pioneers to copy the curriculum\r\nof the schools made for this ideal, even\r\nwhen the purpose of their schools was to give\r\nan equal industrial and social chance to all.\r\nFrom the very beginning of the public schools\r\nin this country the material of the curriculum\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_169\" id=\"Page_169\"\u003e169\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nreflected social conditions which were rapidly\r\npassing away: ideals of education that a feudal\r\nsociety, dependent upon its aristocracy, had developed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe tremendous change in society which the\r\napplication of science to industry brought about,\r\nchanges which caused the French Revolution\r\nand the general revolution of 1848, effected a\r\nreconstruction of nearly all the institutions of\r\ncivilization, the death of a great many, and\r\nthe birth of many more. The need of popular\r\neducation was one of the results of the\r\nchange, and with this need came the public\r\nschools. As their form did not adapt itself to\r\nthe new conditions, but simply copied the schools\r\nalready existing, the process of reconstruction\r\nto fit the new society is still going on, and is only\r\njust beginning to become conscious. A democratic\r\nsociety, dependent upon applications of\r\nscience for all its prosperity and welfare, can\r\nnot hope to use with any great success a system\r\nof education which grew up for the ruling body\r\nin an autocratic society using only human power\r\nfor its industries and wealth. The ever-increasing\r\ndissatisfaction with the schools and the experiments\r\nin trade and industrial training which\r\nare being started, are protests against clinging\r\nto this outworn inheritance. They are the first\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_170\" id=\"Page_170\"\u003e170\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsteps in the process of building a new education\r\nwhich shall really give an equal chance to every\r\none, because it will base itself on the world in\r\nwhich the children live.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere are three things about the old-fashioned\r\nschool which must be changed if schools are to\r\nreflect modern society: first, the subject-matter,\r\nsecond, the way the teacher handles it, and third,\r\nthe way the pupils handle it. The subject-matter\r\nwill not be altered as to name. Reading,\r\nwriting, arithmetic and geography will\r\nalways be needed, but their substance will be\r\ngreatly altered and added to. In the first place\r\nmodern society realizes that the care and growth\r\nof the body are just as important as the development\r\nof the mind; more so, for the latter\r\nis dependent upon the former, so schools will\r\nbecome places for children to learn to live physically\r\nas well as mentally. Again we need to\r\nknow how to read and write nowadays so that\r\nwe may be able to do the simplest daily actions,\r\ntake the right street-car, avoid dangerous\r\nplaces, and keep in touch with people and\r\nevents we can not see, and, in fact, do almost\r\neverything connected with our occupations.\r\nBut the schools are still teaching reading and\r\nwriting as if they were ends in themselves,\r\nsimply luxuries to be acquired by pupils for\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_171\" id=\"Page_171\"\u003e171\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntheir private edification. The same thing is\r\ntrue of geography; pupils learn boundaries,\r\npopulations and rivers as if their object was to\r\nstore up facts that everybody may not know.\r\nBut in a society where railroads and steamboats,\r\nnewspapers and telegraph, have made\r\nthe whole world neighbors, and where no community\r\nis self-supporting, the desirability of\r\nreally knowing about these neighbors is obvious.\r\nIn other words our world has been so tremendously\r\nenlarged and complicated, our horizons\r\nso widened and our sympathies so stimulated,\r\nby the changes in our surroundings and\r\nhabits brought about by machinery, that a\r\nschool curriculum which does not show this\r\nsame growth can be only very partially successful.\r\nThe subject-matter of the schoolroom must\r\nbe enlarged to take in the new elements and\r\nneeds of society. This can be done without\r\noverburdening the pupils by effecting the second\r\nand third necessary changes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe complication and multiplication due to\r\nmachinery and the increase in the mere number\r\nof facts that are known about things through\r\nscientific discoveries, make the task of mastering\r\neven one subject almost impossible. When\r\nwe consider all the facts connected with teaching\r\nthe geography of our own country, the climatic\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_172\" id=\"Page_172\"\u003e172\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand geological facts, the racial facts, the\r\nindustrial and political facts, and the social and\r\nscientific facts, we begin to realize the hopelessness\r\nof teaching with lists of facts. Geography\r\nembraces nearly the entire range of human\r\nknowledge and endeavor. The same thing is\r\ntrue to a lesser extent of all the subjects in the\r\ncurriculum. The great number of facts at\r\nour disposal in any one branch makes a mere\r\nclassification of the principal ones seem like a\r\nmakeshift. So teachers, instead of having their\r\nclasses read and then recite facts from textbooks,\r\nmust change their methods. Facts\r\npresent themselves to every one in countless\r\nnumbers, and it is not their naming that is useful,\r\nbut the ability to understand them and see\r\ntheir relation and application to each other. So\r\nthe function of the teacher must change from\r\nthat of a cicerone and dictator to that of a\r\nwatcher and helper. As teachers come to watch\r\ntheir individual pupils with a view to allowing\r\neach one the fullest development of his thinking\r\nand reasoning powers, and to use the tables of\r\nreading, writing, and arithmetic as means of\r\ntraining the child’s abilities to judge and act,\r\nthe rôle of the child necessarily changes too. It\r\nbecomes active instead of passive, the child becomes\r\nthe questioner and experimenter.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_173\" id=\"Page_173\"\u003e173\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the rare mind that can get relations or\r\ndraw conclusions from simply hearing facts.\r\nMost people must see and handle things before\r\nthey can tell how these things will behave and\r\nwhat their meaning is. The teacher then becomes\r\nthe one who sees that the pupils get\r\nproper material, and that they use it in ways\r\nthat are true; that is, in ways that represent relations\r\nand conditions that actually exist outside\r\nthe classroom. This is simply another way\r\nof saying that in a society where every one is\r\nsupposed to take care of himself, and is supposed\r\nto have liberty of person and action, up to\r\nthe point of harming others, it is pretty important\r\nthat every one should be able to conduct\r\nhimself, that is, to act so that he can take care of\r\nhimself successfully. For its own sake society\r\ncan not afford to train up its children in a way\r\nthat blunts and dulls the quickness and accuracy\r\nof judgment of the baby before it begins\r\nschool. If it does this it is increasing the number\r\nof incompetents who will be a drag on the\r\nwhole of society. Dogmatic methods which prescribe\r\nand make for docility and passivity not\r\nonly become ineffective in modern society but\r\nthey actually hinder the development of the\r\nlargest possibilities of society.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll the educational reformers following Rousseau\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_174\" id=\"Page_174\"\u003e174\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhave looked to education as the best means\r\nof regenerating society. They have been fighting\r\nagainst the feudal and pioneer notion that\r\nthe reason for a good education was to enable\r\nyour children and mine to get ahead of the rest\r\nof the community, to give individuals another\r\nweapon to use in making society contribute more\r\nto their purse and pleasure. They have believed\r\nthat the real reason for developing the\r\nbest possible education was to prevent just this,\r\nby developing methods which would give a harmonious\r\ndevelopment of all the powers. This\r\ncan be done by socializing education, by making\r\nschools a real part of active life, not by allowing\r\nthem to go their own way, shunting off all\r\noutside influences, and isolating themselves.\r\nFroebel, Pestalozzi, and their followers tried to\r\neffect just this linking up with society which\r\nwould result in the development of a social spirit\r\nin every one. But they did not have the means\r\nfor making their schools embryo communities.\r\nThe demand for popular education was still so\r\nsmall that the community was not willing to\r\nrecognize the schools as an integral part, and\r\nthe idea that children were anything but miniature\r\ngrown-ups, was still so new that successful\r\nmethods of handling groups of children had not\r\nbeen developed. The rôle of the community in\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_175\" id=\"Page_175\"\u003e175\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmaking the schools vital is just as important as\r\nthe rôle of the school itself. For in a community\r\nwhere schools are looked upon as isolated\r\ninstitutions, as a necessary convention,\r\nthe school will remain largely so in spite of the\r\nmost skillful methods of teaching. But a community\r\nthat demands something visible from its\r\nschools, that recognizes the part they play in\r\nthe welfare of the whole just as it recognizes\r\nits police and fire departments, that uses the\r\nenergies and interest of its youthful citizens,\r\nnot simply controlling their time until they are\r\nprepared to be turned out as citizens\u0026mdash;such a\r\ncommunity will have social schools, and whatever\r\nits resources, it will have schools that develop\r\ncommunity spirit and interests.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA great deal has been written lately about the\r\npublic school system at Gary, Ind., with special\r\nreference to the novel features of school administration\r\nthat are being worked out there, or\r\nelse with emphasis on the opportunities for industrial\r\ntraining. But the biggest idea there\r\nis the one behind these new features. It is the\r\nsocial and community idea. Mr. Wirt, the superintendent\r\nof schools, has had an opportunity\r\nto make the schools of the steel town almost\r\nfrom the very beginning of the town, and he\r\nhas wanted to do it right. He did not visit the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_176\" id=\"Page_176\"\u003e176\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmost famous schools all over the country or send\r\nfor the best school architect; instead he stayed\r\nright at home, and forgetting what had or had\r\nnot been done in other places, he tried to make\r\nthe best possible schools for Gary. The question\r\nhe tried to answer was this: What did the\r\nGary children need to make them good citizens\r\nand happy and prosperous human beings, and\r\nhow could the money available for educational\r\npurposes supply all these needs? The industrial\r\nfeatures of his schools will be taken up\r\nlater, but it may be well to point out in passing\r\nthat they were not instituted to turn out good\r\nworkers for the steel company, nor to save the\r\nfactories the expense of training their own\r\nworkers, but for the educational value of the\r\nwork they involved. In the same way it would\r\nbe a mistake to consider the Gary schools simply\r\nas an attempt to take the unpromising immigrant\r\nchild and turn him into a self-supporting\r\nimmigrant, or as an attempt to meet the demand\r\nof an industrial class for a certain sort of training.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_176\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 569px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-177.jpg\" width=\"569\" height=\"323\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eThe pupil stays in the same building from day nursery through high school. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMr. Wirt found himself the superintendent of\r\nschools in an American town, responsible for\r\nthousands of children coming from all sorts of\r\nsurroundings. It was his problem to take care\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_177\" id=\"Page_177\"\u003e177\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof them for a number of years in such a way\r\nthat at the end of the time each child would be\r\nable to find his own job and do it successfully,\r\nwhether this was feeding a machine or managing\r\na business, whether it was taking care of a family\r\nor working in an office, or teaching school. His\r\nproblem is not to give the special information\r\neach one may need for the details of his\r\nwork, but to keep the natural interests and enthusiasms\r\nof childhood, to enable each pupil to\r\ngain control of his mind and body, and to insure\r\nhis being able to do the rest for himself. To be\r\nsuccessful as a human being and an American\r\ncitizen, is the goal that the public schools of the\r\ncountry have set for their pupils: earning a\r\nliving forms part of this ideal, and follows as a\r\nmatter of course if the larger training is successful.\r\nThere are many factors to be considered\r\nin deciding on the best ways of reaching\r\nthis goal: such as the individual peculiarities\r\nof every child that goes to school; the people\r\nthat will teach; the neighborhood in which the\r\nchild lives; and the larger community which\r\npays for the schools. Mr. Wirt’s plan takes advantage\r\nto their full value of the contributions\r\neach one has to make to the whole scheme.\r\nEach factor is a contributory asset; without it\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_178\" id=\"Page_178\"\u003e178\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe others could not perform their work; therefore\r\nit means a weak spot in the result if anything\r\nis overlooked.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA tremendous waste in the organization of\r\nthe ordinary public school appears at the first\r\nglance to a critic who is seeking to spend the\r\nschool taxes with the greatest possible benefit\r\nto the children and to the taxpayers. The entire\r\nschool equipment of building, yard, and\r\nsupplies stands empty for half of every school\r\nday, besides summer vacation and Saturdays.\r\nThe buildings are expensive and for the greater\r\npart of the time are not in use at all. This is an\r\nextravagance in itself, but when we consider the\r\nway the average child who goes to public school\r\nin town or city spends the hours when he is not\r\nin school, and the very incomplete education he\r\ngets during the school hours, we begin to realize\r\njust how serious this extravagance is. Mr.\r\nWirt decided to keep the schools open all day\r\nin Gary, so that the children would not be forced\r\nto spend the greater part of their time playing\r\nin the alleys and on crowded street corners, exposed\r\nto all the dangers to health and morals\r\nthat such places offer for the loiterer. Still the\r\nbuildings would be closed for many hours a day\r\nand for many weeks, and he decided that the\r\npeople who built the buildings\u0026mdash;the taxpayers\u0026mdash;ought\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_179\" id=\"Page_179\"\u003e179\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto have a chance to use them for public\r\npurposes during this time, so the Gary schools\r\nhave evening school, Saturday classes, and summer\r\nsessions. This makes the up-keep of the\r\nbuildings much more expensive than having\r\nthem open for a few months only, therefore\r\nsome way of running the plant more economically\r\nmust be discovered.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eChildren can not sit still all day at their desks\r\nas they do for five hours in most schools; therefore\r\nother things must be provided for them to\r\ndo if they are to keep well and busy during eight\r\nhours of school. The Gary buildings obtain this\r\nnecessary economy by using a building for twice\r\nas many pupils as the ordinary building is supposed\r\nto be able to take care of. There are two\r\nschools in every house, one from eight to three\r\nand the other from nine to four, and each takes\r\nits turn at the regular classrooms during alternate\r\nhours, the remaining half of the day being\r\nspent in the various occupations that make Gary\r\nunique. In this way enough money is saved to\r\nequip shops and pay extra teachers for the subjects\r\nthat supplement the regular curriculum,\r\nand to pay for the extra sessions. Thus with\r\ntaxes of ordinary size the people of Gary get\r\nschools that utilize the children’s time, and\r\ngive them greatly increased facilities for learning,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_180\" id=\"Page_180\"\u003e180\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbesides offering the adults of the community\r\nopportunities for special courses in evening\r\nschool. At present in Gary the number of\r\nadults using the school buildings is greater than\r\nthe number of children, though of course the\r\nnumber of hours they attend school is much\r\nshorter. By having two duplicate schools in\r\nevery building one half the usual cost per classroom\r\nis saved, and enough money to supply\r\nhealthy activities for the children for eight\r\nhours a day and to keep the schools open evenings,\r\nholidays and Sundays for adults is obtained.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eEach building is equipped with a gymnasium,\r\nswimming pool, and playground, and has physical\r\ndirectors that are in attendance for the entire\r\neight hours. Physical training is as much\r\na part of the regular school work as anything\r\nelse, and besides the work that is part of every\r\npupil’s program there are two hours a day when\r\nthe playground is open for the children to use\r\nas they please. Instead of going to the streets\r\nto play, the children stay in the school and use\r\nthe play opportunities it offers. For the most\r\npart the physical training takes the form of\r\nsupervised play and apparatus work. Experimentation\r\nhas shown here as in so many other\r\nplaces that the pupils are not really interested\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_181\" id=\"Page_181\"\u003e181\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin the formal group exercises, and that they go\r\nthrough with them under compulsion and so\r\nlose most of the benefit. So for the gymnastic\r\ndrill, swimming pool, tennis courts, and apparatus\r\nare largely substituted. The directors\r\nsee that the individual gets the special exercise\r\nthat he needs so that the work does not lose its\r\norderliness or effectiveness, and besides getting\r\nphysical development suited to his needs, every\r\nchild has a healthy and pleasant place to play\r\nor otherwise spend his time outdoors.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Gary pupil is expected to gain physically\r\nduring the school year just as he is expected to\r\nkeep up with his grade in his other work. Each\r\nchild is examined by a doctor, and the pupils who\r\nare not strong enough for the strain of the classroom\r\nwork are not sent home to do nothing\r\nuntil they are stronger, but are kept in school\r\nand given a program suited to their strength,\r\ntheir classroom time is cut down to a minimum,\r\nand they spend most of the day on the playground\r\nor in the gymnasium, doing the sort of\r\nthings the doctor says they need to get strong.\r\nThe physical growth of the pupils is just as important\r\nas the mental, and by devoting the same\r\ncare to it that is given to the child’s progress\r\nthrough the grades, the schools go a long way\r\ntowards making themselves a small community\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_182\" id=\"Page_182\"\u003e182\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhich gives every opportunity for a normal and\r\nnatural life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe schools are open eight hours a day, but\r\nthe grade teachers teach for only six hours,\r\nwhile the physical directors are on duty for the\r\nwhole time. Four hours of each school’s time\r\nis given to the regular classroom work or laboratories,\r\nand one hour for the auditorium and one\r\nhour for “application” or play. Then there are\r\nthe other two hours when the children may use\r\nthe play facilities if they wish, and they all do\r\nuse them. By rotating the classes the number of\r\nteachers does not have to be increased, and the\r\npupils get the benefit of teachers especially\r\ntrained for the subject they are teaching. By\r\ndividing each school into groups of pupils\r\nthe classes are smaller than in most public\r\nschools. For the first two hours in the morning\u0026mdash;from\r\n8:15 to 10:15\u0026mdash;one school has the use\r\nof the classrooms, studios, shops and laboratories,\r\none group in a recitation room for the\r\nfirst hour and in the shops for the second, the\r\nsecond group beginning with the shop work.\r\nThe other school uses the playground for the\r\nfirst hour and attendance is not compulsory, for\r\nthe second hour one group goes to the auditorium\r\nand the other remains on the playground\r\nfor systematic gymnastics or has an “application”\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_183\" id=\"Page_183\"\u003e183\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nperiod. Then at 10:15 the first school\r\ngoes to the auditorium and playgrounds for its\r\nwork and the second school takes possession of\r\nthe class and shop rooms for two hours.\r\nGrades one to five have two hours daily in regular\r\nclassrooms for formal instruction in language,\r\nhistory, literature, and mathematics.\r\nGrades six to twelve have three hours daily for\r\nthis formal instruction. The additional hour is\r\ntaken from the play and application periods.\r\nGrades one to five have one hour of laboratory\r\nwork in science or shop work in industrial training,\r\nthirty minutes for music or literature, and\r\nthirty minutes for physical training. Grades\r\nsix to twelve have the entire two hours for shop\r\nwork in industrial training, laboratory work in\r\nscience, or music and drawing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy this scheme of alternation of classes and\r\nschools twice the number of children that are\r\nusually cared for in one building are taken care\r\nof in smaller classes by teachers who are\r\nspecialists in their subjects. For besides the\r\nindustrial teachers, there are teachers for\r\nFrench, German, history, mathematics, literature,\r\nmusic, art, nature study, and the sciences.\r\nThis additional efficiency is paid for by the saving\r\non buildings effected by the two school systems.\r\nEach grade room is used by at least four\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_184\" id=\"Page_184\"\u003e184\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndifferent classes, so each child does not have a\r\ndesk where he keeps his things and belongings,\r\nbut has a locker for his books and changes his\r\nclassroom at the end of the hour. No one\r\nteacher is responsible for one set of pupils, but\r\nfor her own work, and in the same way the\r\npupils are responsible for themselves. Obviously\r\nsuch a scheme as this requires a real spirit\r\nof coöperation among the pupils and teachers,\r\nand also good business management.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMr. Wirt believes that lack of just this has\r\nbeen one of the reasons why the public schools\r\nhave lost so many of the opportunities that\r\nGary is using. Running a big institution successfully\r\nfrom the business end is a large order\r\nin itself, and Mr. Wirt feels that school principals\r\nand supervisors have been too greatly\r\nhandicapped in being expected to do this business\r\nwhile carrying out an educational program.\r\nHe believes that the school principal or superintendent\r\nshould be a business manager, an administrative\r\nofficer simply for the building or for\r\nthe city. The educational policy of the schools,\r\nthe program, and methods should be looked out\r\nfor by experts who are free from the details of\r\nadministration. These supervising educators\r\nshould not be appointed for districts but for\r\nsubjects, and should move their offices from time\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_185\" id=\"Page_185\"\u003e185\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto time from one school to another, so that they\r\nmay really keep in touch with all the work in\r\ntheir subject, and so that no one school will be\r\noverstrong in one subject. These supervisors\r\nshould act as the educational principals of the\r\nschools where they have their offices for the\r\ntime, and the whole body of supervisors arrange\r\nthe curricula for all the schools. Gary has too\r\nfew schools as yet to enable the completion of\r\nsuch a plan, but the present organization shows\r\nthe same broad-mindedness and desire to get the\r\ncoöperation and value of all the work of all the\r\nteachers through the system, from the newest\r\nassistant to the superintendent himself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn discipline, in social life, and in the curriculum\r\nthe Gary schools are doing everything\r\npossible, in coöperation with church and home,\r\nto use to the best educational purpose every\r\nresource of money, organization and neighborhood\r\ninfluence. The school is a small community\r\nin its discipline, and a democratic one.\r\nThe work is so well arranged that the children\r\nwant to go to school; there is no need to drag\r\nthem with truant officers or overawe them by a\r\nshow of stern authority. Once in the school\r\nbuilding they feel at home and take the same\r\ninterest and responsibility in the work that they\r\ntake in their own homes. Each child knows\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_186\" id=\"Page_186\"\u003e186\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhat all the other children and classes are doing,\r\nfor all the children are constantly meeting in\r\nthe locker rooms or as they pass through the\r\nhalls for their change of classroom at the end\r\nof every hour. The auditorium and the system\r\nof visiting classes, and the repairing and manufacturing\r\nof school equipment by the students,\r\nare strong factors in creating the spirit that\r\nprevails among the scholars. There is a student\r\ncouncil in each school elected by the\r\nstudents to attend to the interests of the student\r\nbody and to the order of the building. There\r\nare health campaigns carried on by the school\r\ndoctors coöperating through the school printing\r\npress with the English classes and the auditorium\r\nperiods. The children take such a keen\r\ninterest in these, and work so hard that there is\r\na larger percent of contagious diseases among\r\nthe children under school age than among those\r\nin school, in spite of the greater chances for contagion\r\namong the latter. Instead of simply enforcing\r\nthe health laws, the school authorities\r\ntell the children what the laws are, why they\r\nwere made and how they can help to keep down\r\ncontagion and all sorts of sickness; in chemistry\r\nand cooking the pupils are taught enough\r\nabout germs and physiology so that they understand\r\nwhat contagion and dirt mean. The result\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_187\" id=\"Page_187\"\u003e187\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nis that the children themselves take every\r\nprecaution to prevent sickness, and when a\r\nclassmate is sick they see to it that quarantine\r\nis enforced and that the school doctor is notified.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe schools have carried on a pure milk campaign\r\nin the same way; the pupils brought samples\r\nof milk from home and tested it, and then\r\nsaw that their parents did something about it\r\nif impurities were found. An anti-fly campaign\r\ngoes on all the time and meets with a real response\r\nfrom the children. In the matter of\r\nhealth the schools not only do their share as a\r\npart of the whole community, they do more than\r\nthis, acting as assistants to the board of health\r\nand getting rid of the prejudice and fear of\r\ncity doctors which is so common in our foreign\r\ncommunities, and which makes it so hard to keep\r\ndown disease and take care of school children.\r\nOnce the coöperation and understanding of the\r\nchildren is gained by the city doctors, it is not\r\nhard to have their adenoids or eyes attended to.\r\nThe children know why these things need to be\r\ndone even if their parents do not, and they see\r\nto it that the parents are kept from interfering\r\nand that they help.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnother difficult problem for the public\r\nschools in an industrial community with a foreign\r\npopulation is to keep the children in school\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_188\" id=\"Page_188\"\u003e188\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nafter the legal age at which they may leave.\r\nThe Gary schools go about this just as they\r\nattack the question of public health, not by\r\nmaking more rules or trying compulsion, but\r\nby getting the children themselves to help, by\r\nmaking the schools so obviously useful for each\r\nindividual that he wants to stay. There are no\r\n“High Schools” in Gary! A pupil goes to\r\nschool in one building from the day he enters\r\nkindergarten until he is ready for college or\r\nuntil he goes into business or the factory.\r\nThere is no graduation with a celebration and\r\na diploma at the end of the eighth grade. When\r\na pupil begins the ninth grade his program\r\ndeviates from the plan of previous years, but\r\notherwise there is nothing done to make the\r\nchild think he has gone as far as he needs, that\r\nfrom now on he will simply be getting frills and\r\nluxuries. The teachers do not change. The\r\nsame history, language and literature teachers\r\nconduct all the grades; and in the shops the\r\npupils get a chance to learn some one thing\r\nthoroughly. The pupils do not look forward to\r\nthe last four years of school with dread of a\r\nhard and useless grind, they look at it as a continuation\r\nof their school life, getting harder\r\nfrom year to year as their own ability increases.\r\nAnd especially they regard this period as an\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_189\" id=\"Page_189\"\u003e189\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nopportunity to get training whose immediate\r\nvalue they can see. The arguments of the\r\nschool to persuade the pupils to stay in school\r\nare practical, telling arguments, things the children\r\ncan see. The school press prints from\r\ntime to time bulletins explaining to the pupils\r\nand their parents the opportunities that the\r\nGary schools offer in the way of general education\r\nand of special training. These bulletins\r\ngive statistics and information about the opportunities\r\nin the different fields of work; they show\r\nthe boys and girls in figures the relative positions\r\nand salaries of high-school graduates and\r\nthose who leave school at fourteen\u0026mdash;as they appear\r\none, two, or ten years after leaving school.\r\nBusiness men come to the schools and tell the\r\nstudents what the chances for graduates and\r\nnon-graduates are in their business and why\r\nthey want better educated employees. Statistics\r\nof Gary pupils are kept and shown to the\r\npupils. The usual break between the eighth\r\ngrade and high school does not exist, and, therefore,\r\nparents do not think it necessary to take\r\ntheir children out of school. They find that the\r\nsacrifices they have made to keep the children in\r\ncan be kept up for a few years more. If children\r\nare going to learn a trade better by staying\r\nin school than by leaving, and if children are\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_190\" id=\"Page_190\"\u003e190\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nkeen to continue in school with definite plans\r\nfor the future, even the most poverty-stricken\r\nparent is unwilling to thwart the advantage of\r\nhis children. It is well known that in big cities\r\nwhere the proportion of pupils who leave school\r\nat fourteen is overwhelming, and where the\r\nusual reason given is that the parents need the\r\nfinancial help of the children, the real reason\r\nfor defection is the indifference of the pupils\r\nthemselves to school. The almost invariable\r\nanswer given by the child to the question, “Why\r\ndid you leave school?” is, “Because I did not\r\nlike it.” This fact taken with the poverty at\r\nhome is enough to make them leave school at\r\nthe first chance. Give the child work that he\r\nrecognizes as interesting and valuable and a\r\nchance to play, and his hatred of school will\r\nspeedily be forgotten.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe inflexibility of the ordinary public school\r\ntends to push the pupils out of school instead\r\nof keeping them in. The curriculum does not\r\nfit them, and there is no way of making it fit\r\nwithout upsetting the entire organization of the\r\nschool. One failure sets a pupil back in all his\r\nwork, and he soon gets the feeling that his own\r\nefforts are not important, because the school\r\nmachinery works on at the same rate, regardless\r\nof any individual pupil or study. Indifference\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_191\" id=\"Page_191\"\u003e191\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nor dislike is almost surely the result of feeling\r\nthat work is making no impression, that the\r\nmachine for which he is working is not after all\r\naffected or dependent upon his work. In Gary\r\norganization has been made to fit each individual\r\nchild, and is flexible enough so that even the\r\nmost difficult pupil can not upset its working.\r\nThe child and the school get along together.\r\nWe have explained in an earlier paragraph how\r\nthe two-school system works so that an individual\r\ncan spend more or less time on any one subject,\r\nor can drop it altogether. The child who is\r\nweak physically spends much of his time on the\r\nplayground, while the child who is weak in\r\narithmetic or geography can take these lessons\r\nwith both schools or even with a grade below,\r\nand hundreds of children in the same building\r\ncan make the same sort of change in their program\r\nwithout disturbing the orderly conduct of\r\nthe school routine. A pupil who is stronger in\r\none subject than in the rest of his work, can\r\ntake that subject with a higher grade. The\r\npupil who is losing interest in school and falling\r\nbehind in most of his studies, or who is beginning\r\nto talk of leaving, is not punished for\r\nthis lack of interest by being put still further\r\nback. His teachers find out in what he is good\r\nand give him plenty of time to work at it, and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_192\" id=\"Page_192\"\u003e192\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto get ahead in it so that his interest in his work\r\nis stimulated. If he later wakes up to an interest\r\nin the regular school program, so much\r\nthe better. Every facility is given him to catch\r\nup with his grade in all the work. If this\r\nawakening does not come, the boy or girl has\r\nstill been kept in school until he or she learned\r\nsome one thing, probably the one most suited to\r\nthe pupil’s ability, instead of leaving or failing\r\nentirely by being held back in everything until\r\neven the one strong faculty died and the pupil\r\nwas without either training or the moral stimulus\r\nof success.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_192\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 565px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-193.jpg\" width=\"565\" height=\"322\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eSpecial teachers for special subjects from the very beginning. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe school program is reorganized every two\r\nmonths and the pupil may change his entire program\r\nat any one of these times, instead of having\r\nto struggle along for half a year with work\r\nthat is too hard or too easy or not properly apportioned.\r\nFor administrative convenience the\r\nschools still keep the grade classifications, but\r\npupils are classified not according to the grade\r\nnumber, but as “rapid,” “average,” and\r\n“slow” workers. Rapid pupils finish the twelve\r\nyears of school at about sixteen years of age,\r\naverage workers at eighteen, and slow workers\r\nat twenty. This classification does not describe\r\nthe quality of work done. The slow worker may\r\nbe a more thorough scholar than the rapid\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_193\" id=\"Page_193\"\u003e193\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nworker. The classification is used not to distinguish\r\nbetween the abilities of scholars, but to\r\ntake advantage of the natural growth of the\r\nchild by letting his work keep abreast with it.\r\nThe rapid child moves as quickly as possible\r\nfrom grade to grade instead of being held back\r\nuntil his work has no stimulus for him, and the\r\nslow worker is not pushed into work before he is\r\nready for it. Does this flexible system work\r\nsuccessfully or does it result in easy-going,\r\nslap-dash methods? We have only to visit the\r\nschools and see the pupils hard at work, each\r\none responsible for his own movements through\r\nthe day, to be convinced that the children are\r\nhappy and interested; while from the point of\r\nview of the teacher and educator, the answer is\r\neven more positively favorable, when we consult\r\nthe school records. Fifty-seven per cent. of all the\r\nschool children in Gary who are thirteen years\r\nold are in the seventh grade or above it. This\r\nis a better showing than most industrial communities\r\ncan make, and means that the majority\r\nof all the Gary school children go through school\r\nat about the same rate as the average pupil who\r\nis preparing for college. Even more remarkable\r\nthan this are the figures regarding the\r\npupils who have gone on to higher schools or\r\ncolleges after leaving the Gary schools. One-\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_194\" id=\"Page_194\"\u003e194\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003ethird\r\nof all the pupils that have left the Gary\r\nschools during the eight years of their existence\r\nare now in the state university, in an engineering\r\nschool, or a business college. When\r\nwe remember that the population of Gary is\r\nmade up principally of laborers in the steel\r\nmills, and is sixty per cent. foreign born, and\r\ncompare with this the usual school history of\r\nthe second generation in this country, we realize\r\nhow successful Mr. Wirt has been in making a\r\nsystem which meets the needs of the pupils, a\r\nsystem that appeals to the community as so good\r\nthat they want to go on and get more education\r\nthan mere necessity requires.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe motive back of these changes from the\r\nroutine curriculum is always a social one. Mr.\r\nWirt believes that if the social end of the\r\nschool is properly emphasized the pedagogical\r\nwill take care of itself. The public schools\r\nmust study the needs and qualities of its pupils,\r\nthe needs of the community and the opportunities\r\nthat the community contributes to the\r\nschools’ welfare. We have seen how the physical\r\nlife of the child and the health of the community\r\nare used in the school curriculum, so as\r\nto make the curriculum more interesting, and\r\nfor the good of the community as well. This\r\nsame close connection is kept up between the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_195\" id=\"Page_195\"\u003e195\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nschool work and other community interests and\r\nmatters of daily life. Every advantage is taken\r\nof the social instincts of children in the teaching.\r\nInstead of isolating each grade and cutting\r\noff the younger children from the older, the\r\ntwo are thrown together as much as possible.\r\nThe younger grades use the laboratories and\r\nshops which would be an unwarranted extravagance\r\nif the high-school pupils were not in the\r\nsame buildings and using them also for technical\r\ntraining. They use them not only for beginning\r\nlessons in science or manual training,\r\nbut they go into them when the older classes are\r\nworking there to act as helpers or as an audience\r\nfor the higher grades. Fourth and fifth\r\ngrade pupils thus assist seventh, eighth, and\r\nninth grade students in shops, studios, and laboratories.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe older children learn responsibility and\r\ncoöperation from having to look out for the\r\nlittle people, and the latter learn an astonishing\r\namount about the subject from waiting on,\r\nwatching, and asking questions of the older\r\npupils. Both grades find out what is going\r\non in the school and get thereby a large feeling\r\nof fellowship, while the interest of the lower\r\none grows and finds reasons for staying in school.\r\nThe work of the older children is used, wherever\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_196\" id=\"Page_196\"\u003e196\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nit is feasible, in teaching the lower grades.\r\nMaps and charts made in drawing are used for\r\nless advanced pupils in nature study or geography;\r\nthe printing shop makes the spelling\r\nlists and problem sheets for the whole school;\r\nthe doctor in his health campaigns calls in the\r\nart and English workers to make posters and\r\npamphlets. The halls of the schools are hung\r\nwith notices of what is going on in the school,\r\nwith especially good and interesting drawings\r\nor maps, with information about what is being\r\nmade in the different shops, or about anything\r\nthat the whole school ought to see or know.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnother strong element in making public\r\nopinion is the auditorium, where every pupil in\r\nthe school spends one hour each day, sometimes\r\nfor choral singing, sometimes to hear an older\r\ngrade tell about an interesting experiment in\r\nphysics, to find out from a cooking class about\r\ncheap and nutritious bills of fare, or to hear the\r\ndoctor tell how the school can improve the\r\nhealth conditions in its home neighborhoods.\r\nThe auditorium period is for the use of the\r\ngeneral community as well. Ministers, politicians,\r\nany one in the city who is doing anything\r\ninteresting, may come in and tell the children\r\nabout it. The school invites all social agencies\r\nin the neighborhood to come in in this way.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_197\" id=\"Page_197\"\u003e197\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe hour for “application” contributes to the\r\nsame end. The children go to the nearest\r\npublic library to read or to look up references\r\nfor their class work, or simply for a lesson on\r\nthe use of library books; or they may go to\r\nthe neighboring Y.\u0026nbsp;M.\u0026nbsp;C.\u0026nbsp;A. building to use the\r\ngymnasium or to listen to a lecture; or they\r\nmay go to any church or club that offers religious\r\ninstruction desired by the parents. The\r\nschool is a social clearing house for the neighborhood.\r\nThe application period is also used\r\nto supplement the regular classroom studies by\r\nmeans of practical work in the shops or on the\r\nplayground. Thus an arithmetic class may get\r\na lesson in applied mathematics by laying out\r\nthe foundation for a house on the playground,\r\nor by spending an hour in the school store, a\r\nroom fitted up like a grocery store, where the\r\nchildren get practice in mental and oral arithmetic\r\nand in English by playing “store.” The\r\napplication period may also be spent in doing\r\nwork for the school building. Thus an older\r\npupil, studying stenography and typewriting or\r\nbookkeeping, might go to the school office and\r\ndo an hour of real work, helping one of the\r\nclerks. The boys in the fifth grade put in this\r\ntime in tending the school storeroom. They\r\ntake entire charge of the school supplies, check\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_198\" id=\"Page_198\"\u003e198\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nup all the material sent in by the board and\r\ndistributing it through the building to the\r\nteachers and janitors. The records of the\r\npupils in the different shops are kept by other\r\npupils in their application time. One paid\r\nbookkeeper has general charge of an office,\r\nwhere the pupils come with printed slips filled\r\nout by the shop teacher, giving them credit for\r\nso much time at a certain rate of skill; the pupil\r\nclerks give the pupils credit on their record for\r\nthis work and keep all the records. Pupils also\r\nrun a post office for the building, and the writer\r\nsaw a sixth grade boy delivering salary checks\r\nand collecting receipts for them through the\r\nbuilding. Children who do this kind of work\r\nare not only learning arithmetic and bookkeeping,\r\nthey are learning as well responsibility\r\nand reliability. They get an appreciation of\r\nwhat their school means, and are made wide-awake\r\nto its welfare; they learn that they are\r\nthe real school, identical with its interests.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe school lunch room is conducted by the\r\ncooking department. When the Emerson\r\nSchool was first built it was equipped with the\r\nregulation cooking school desks, individual gas\r\nburners, tables and lockers. All this has since\r\nbeen turned into a serving table where student\r\nwaiters serve the food they have cooked\u0026mdash;real\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_199\" id=\"Page_199\"\u003e199\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nlunches to their fellow students, who pay a student\r\ncashier. The younger girls get their\r\ncooking lessons by going to the older girls’\r\ncooking lessons as helpers and watchers. The\r\ngirls do all the menu planning and buying for\r\nthe lunch room and keep the accounts. They\r\nhave to pay expenses and serve menus that\r\ncome up to the standard set by the chemistry\r\ndepartment, where they have analyzed food and\r\nmade tables of comparative values. The result\r\nis steaming hot food, nourishing and well\r\ncooked, sold very cheaply. The daily menu is\r\nposted with the price of each article and its\r\nfood value, and the walls of the lunch room are\r\nhung with posters and charts showing the relative\r\nvalues of foodstuffs, sample menus for\r\ncheap and nourishing meals, and the extravagance\r\nof poor food. These have all been made\r\nby the cooking school students and are the result\r\nof actual experimentation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eGary schools do not teach civics out of a textbook.\r\nPupils learn civics by helping to take\r\ncare of their own school building, by making\r\nthe rules for their own conduct in the halls and\r\non the playgrounds, by going into the public\r\nlibrary, and by listening to the stories of what\r\nGary is doing as told by the people who are\r\ndoing it. They learn by a mock campaign, with\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_200\" id=\"Page_200\"\u003e200\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nparties, primaries, booths and ballots for the\r\nelection of their own student council. Pupils\r\nwho have made the furniture and the cement\r\nwalks with their own hands, and who know how\r\nmuch it cost, are slow to destroy walks or furniture,\r\nnor are they going to be very easily fooled\r\nas to the value they get in service and improvements\r\nwhen they themselves become taxpayers.\r\nThe health campaigns, the application work\r\nwhich takes them to the social agencies, of the\r\ncity, the auditorium periods when they learn\r\nmore about their city, all give civics lessons that\r\nmake their own appeal. The children can see\r\nthe things with their own eyes; they are learning\r\ncitizenship by being good citizens.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe value of this practical civics is doubly\r\ngreat because of the large number of children\r\nwith foreign parents, who know nothing about\r\nthe government or organization of the city in\r\nwhich they are living, and who, because they do\r\nnot understand what they see about them, cannot\r\nknow its possibilities and limitations. The\r\nparents learn nothing of the laws until they\r\nbreak them, of public health until they endanger\r\nit, nor of social resources until they want something.\r\nThey are naturally suspicious of government\r\nand social authority in consequence,\r\nand it is very important that their children\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_201\" id=\"Page_201\"\u003e201\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nshould have some real knowledge on which to\r\nbase a sounder judgment. Besides giving them\r\nthis, the schools try to teach American standards\r\nof living to the pupils and so to their parents.\r\nOn entering school every pupil gives the school\r\noffice, besides the usual name, age, and address,\r\ncertain information about his family, its size,\r\nits resources, and the character of the home he\r\nlives in. This record is kept in the school and\r\ntransferred if the child moves out of the school\r\ndistrict. Every grade teacher takes a certain\r\nnumber of squares in the school district, and\r\nthey make plans of this area. The children\r\nmake a large scale map, with streets, walks,\r\nlamp posts and mail boxes, locating every house,\r\nbarn, or shed and every empty lot. This is\r\naltered as changes are made. Every child\r\nbrings measurements of the rooms in his home\r\nand draws a floor plan of his house. These\r\nplans are kept with the teacher’s map of her\r\ndistrict, so that she has a complete map of the\r\nneighborhood and home of every child living in\r\nit. By comparing these with any family record,\r\nit is a simple matter to tell if the family are\r\nliving under proper moral and hygienic conditions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe teacher has a district small enough to\r\nknow it thoroughly, and as far as possible she\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_202\" id=\"Page_202\"\u003e202\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngets acquainted with all the children living in\r\nit. If bad conditions are due to ignorance or\r\npoverty, the teacher finds out what can be done\r\nto remedy them, and sees to it that the family\r\nlearn how they can better themselves. If conditions\r\nare very bad, neighborhood public\r\nopinion is worked up through the other children\r\non the block. From time to time an auditorium\r\nperiod is devoted to showing these maps and\r\npointing out the good and bad features of blocks\r\nand neighborhoods. Children always carry the\r\nnews home to their parents, and as rents and\r\naccommodations are freely discussed, these reports\r\nare often acted upon. The parents are\r\nencouraged to come to the school and ask for\r\ninformation, and on more than one occasion\r\nsome newly arrived family has moved from an\r\novercrowded rear shack to a comfortable flat\r\nwith the same rent because through the children\r\nthey found out that their bad quarters were\r\nunnecessary. Because the school does this\r\nwork to help, and as part of its regular program,\r\nit is accepted by the children and their\r\nparents as a matter of course. Information\r\nabout improvements, sanitation, the size and\r\ncomfort of the houses, and the rents, is given\r\nto the parents. If a block is poor a good block\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_203\" id=\"Page_203\"\u003e203\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nnear by where conditions are better and the\r\nrents the same, is shown them. Thus the\r\nschools not only teach the theory of good citizenship\r\nand social conditions, they give the children\r\nactual facts and conditions, so that they\r\ncan see what is wrong and how it can be bettered.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eGary schools use the community as much as\r\npossible as a contributor to the educational facilities,\r\nand in so doing they give good return\r\nin immediate results, besides the larger return\r\nin alert and intelligent citizens. Conditions in\r\nGary are not ideal. The schools have no larger\r\nsums to spend than any city of its size, the\r\nteachers might be found in any other town, and\r\nthe pupils come for the most part from homes\r\nthat offer their children no training, while the\r\nparents are trying to adjust themselves to entirely\r\nnew surroundings. But these schools\r\nhave done much by showing a good business\r\nmanagement, by spending the taxpayers’ money\r\nin an economical way so as to give the younger\r\ngeneration the largest possible facilities for\r\nspending their time profitably. The results of\r\nthe system as seen in the school buildings and\r\nplaygrounds, the alert and happy students, and\r\nthe statistics of their progress through school as\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_204\" id=\"Page_204\"\u003e204\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwell as their careers afterwards, are doubly inspiring\r\njust because they have been accomplished\r\nwith the resources available in any\r\npublic school.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_205\" id=\"Page_205\"\u003e205\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_VIII\" id=\"CHAPTER_VIII\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER VIII\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eTHE SCHOOL AS A SOCIAL SETTLEMENT\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSchools all over the country are finding that\r\nthe most direct way of vitalizing their work is\r\nthrough closer relations with local interests and\r\noccupations. That period of American school\r\nhistory which was devoted to building up uniformity\r\nof subject-matter, method, and administration,\r\nwas obliged to neglect everything\r\ncharacteristic of the local environment, for attention\r\nto that meant deviation from uniformity.\r\nThings remote in time and space, and\r\nthings of an abstract nature, are most readily\r\nreduced to uniformity and doled out in doses\r\nto children in a mass. Unfortunately the\r\nconsequences were too often that in aiming to\r\nhit all children by exactly the same educational\r\nammunition, none of them were really deeply\r\ntouched. Efforts to bring the work into vital\r\nconnection with pupils’ experiences necessarily\r\nbegan to vary school materials to meet the special\r\nneeds and definite features of local life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis closer contact with immediate neighborhood\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_206\" id=\"Page_206\"\u003e206\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nconditions not only enriches school work\r\nand strengthens motive force in the pupils, but\r\nit increases the service rendered to the community.\r\nNo school can make use of the activities\r\nof the neighborhood for purposes of instruction\r\nwithout this use influencing, in turn,\r\nthe people of the neighborhood. Pupils, for\r\nexample, who learn civics by making local surveys\r\nand working for local improvements, are\r\ncertain to influence the life of the locality, while\r\nlessons in civics learned from the purely general\r\nstatements of a text-book are much less\r\nlikely to have either applicability or application.\r\nIn turn, the community perceives the\r\nlocal efficiency of the schools. It realizes that\r\nthe service rendered to welfare is not remote,\r\nto appear when the pupils become adults, but a\r\npart of the regular, daily course of education.\r\nThe statement that the schools exist for a democratic\r\npurpose, for the good of citizenship, becomes\r\nan obvious fact and not a formula. A\r\ncommunity which perceives what a strong factor\r\nits school is in civic activities, is quick to\r\ngive support and assistance in return, either by\r\nextending the use of its own facilities (as happens\r\nin Gary) or by the direct assistance of\r\nlabor, money, or material when these are needed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe supervising principal of public school\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_207\" id=\"Page_207\"\u003e207\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nNo. 26 in Indianapolis is trying an experiment\r\nunlike any other known to us in an effort to\r\nmake his plant a true school; that is, a place\r\nwhere the children of his neighborhood shall\r\nbecome healthy, happy, and competent both\r\neconomically and socially, and where the connection\r\nof instruction with the life of the community\r\nshall be directly recognized both by\r\nchildren and parents. Mr. Valentine’s school\r\nis located in the poor, crowded colored district\r\nof the city and has only colored pupils. It is\r\nnot an attempt to solve the “race question” nor\r\nyet an experiment suited only to colored people.\r\nThere is nothing in the school not entirely practical\r\nin any district where the children come\r\nfrom homes with limited resources and meager\r\nsurroundings. A visitor when leaving this\r\nschool can not fail to wish that such ventures\r\nmight be started in all our great cities,\u0026mdash;indeed\r\nin any community where people need to be\r\naroused to a sense of their needs, including the\r\nfact that if they are to contribute to the best\r\ninterests of the community, they must be taught\r\nhow to earn a living, and how to use their resources\r\nfor themselves and their neighbors both\r\nin leisure time and in working hours. Mr.\r\nValentine’s school is a school for colored children\r\nonly in the sense that the work has been\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_208\" id=\"Page_208\"\u003e208\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\narranged in relation to the conditions in the\r\nneighborhood; these modify the needs of the\r\nparticular children who are the pupils. Yet\r\nthe success of the experiment would mean a\r\nreal step forward in solving the “race question”\r\nand peculiar problems of any immigrant\r\ndistrict as well. Mr. Valentine is not interested\r\nin illustrating any theories on these points, but\r\nin making up for gaps in the home life of the\r\npupils; giving them opportunities to prepare for\r\na better future; in supplying plenty of healthy\r\noccupation and recreation; and in seeing to it\r\nthat their school work reacts at once to improve\r\nneighborhood conditions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMr. Valentine’s school is really a social settlement\r\nfor the neighborhood, but it has a decided\r\nadvantage over the average settlement,\r\nfor it comes in contact with all the children living\r\nwithin its district for a number of hours\r\neach day, while most settlements reach the children\r\nfor only a few scattered hours each week.\r\nThe school has a larger influence than most\r\nsettlements because it is a public institution\r\nfor which the people who use it are paying their\r\nshare; they feel that their relation to it is a\r\nbusiness one, not a matter of philanthropy.\r\nBecause of this businesslike relation the school\r\nis able really to teach the doctrines of social\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_209\" id=\"Page_209\"\u003e209\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwelfare. In any settlement the work is always\r\nhandicapped by the fact that the people who make\r\nuse of it feel that they are receiving something\r\nfor which they do not pay, that something is\r\nbeing done for them by people who are better\r\noff financially than they are. But giving a community\r\nfacilities that it lacks for special classes\r\nand recreation through the public school of the\r\ndistrict put the work on a different basis. The\r\nschool is really the property of the people of\r\nthe district; they feel that they are more or less\r\nresponsible for what is done there. Any wider\r\nactivities that a school may undertake are to a\r\ncertain extent the work of the people themselves;\r\nthey are simply making use of the school\r\nplant for their own needs.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe neighborhood around Mr. Valentine’s\r\nschool is one of the poorest in Indianapolis,\r\nand once had a bad reputation for lawlessness\r\nand disorder as well. The school had struggled\r\nalong for years with little or no support from\r\nthe community as a whole or from individual\r\nparents. The per cent. of truancy was high, and\r\na large number of cases were sent to the juvenile\r\ncourt each year. The children took no\r\ninterest in their work as a whole, and cases of\r\nextreme disorder were not infrequent; one\r\npupil tried to revenge himself on his teacher\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_210\" id=\"Page_210\"\u003e210\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfor a merited punishment with a butcher’s knife,\r\nin another case it was necessary to arrest a\r\nboy’s father as a lesson to the neighborhood.\r\nBesides this attitude of hostility and of unwilling\r\nattendance, the school had to contend with\r\nimmoral surroundings which finally made it\r\nnecessary to do something to isolate the school\r\nbuilding from neighboring houses. Finally the\r\nschool board bought the tract of land and\r\nwooden tenements around the school building.\r\nIt was at first proposed to tear down the old\r\nbuildings, but the authorities were persuaded\r\nto turn them over to the school for its use. The\r\nschool now found itself the possessor of a large\r\nplayground and of three frame tenements in\r\nthe worst possible condition, the board having\r\nstipulated that this added property should mean\r\nno further expense to the city after its purchase\r\nand the cleaning up of the grounds. It was\r\ndecided to use the buildings for social and industrial\r\npurposes. One of them was fitted up\r\nby the pupils and neighbors interested as a\r\nmanual training building. In this there is a\r\ncarpenter shop, a sewing room, and a room for\r\nthe class in shoemaking. Each grade devotes a\r\nregular number of hours a week to hand work,\r\nand has an opportunity to join other industrial\r\nclasses after school. The immediate practical\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_211\" id=\"Page_211\"\u003e211\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nappeal of the work is never lost sight of, and\r\nthe work is arranged to fit the needs of the\r\nindividual pupil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe carpenter shop is open all day, and there\r\nare classes for the girls as well as for the boys.\r\nPupils are at liberty to go into the shop and\r\nwork whenever they have any free time. The\r\nwork is not confined to exercises to train the\r\nchild in the use of tools, but each pupil makes\r\nsomething that he needs or wants, something\r\nthat will be of real use to him. Processes and\r\ncontrol of tools are taught the pupil by means\r\nof the piece of work he is doing. This is the\r\nkeynote to all the industrial work done in the\r\nschool. The more remote end of teaching the\r\nchild processes which will be useful to him later\r\nis not lost sight of, but material is always used\r\nwhich has some immediate value to the child or\r\nto the school. The boys have learned carpentry\r\nwork by making things that were needed in the\r\nschool building\u0026mdash;tables, cupboards, and bookcases\u0026mdash;and\r\nby doing some of the repairing on\r\nthe building. The girls have learned to sew by\r\nmaking clothes for themselves, for their\r\nbrothers and sisters, and by making curtains\r\nand linen for the school. They have learned to\r\ncook by making soup for hot lunches for the\r\nschool and the neighbors, and by cooking a whole\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_212\" id=\"Page_212\"\u003e212\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmeal for their own class. Besides the cooking\r\nand sewing department for the girls, there is a\r\nclass in millinery and in crocheting. These two\r\nclasses are conducted from the commercial point\r\nof view, to teach the girls to do something that\r\nwill enable them to earn some money. In the\r\nmillinery class the pupils start by making and\r\ntrimming hats for themselves, so that they learn\r\nthe different processes in the trade. The girls\r\nin the class who show the most skill are then\r\nallowed to take orders from friends and neighbors\r\nand trim or make hats for them. Besides\r\nthe cost of the material the buyer pays a very\r\nsmall sum for the work, and this goes into the\r\nschool treasury. The millinery class has done\r\nquite a business in the neighborhood, and turned\r\nout some very successful hats. Crocheting is\r\ntaught as a trade, and any girl who wishes to\r\nmake some money has an opportunity to learn\r\nhow to make lace, table doilies, and all sorts of\r\ncrocheted articles, like hoods, etc., which will\r\nsell. As the girls are learning, they are working\r\non something which they can use for themselves\r\nor in their homes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe work for the boys is arranged in the same\r\nway. Besides the carpenter work and the repairing\r\nthere is a boys’ cooking class, a shoe-\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_213\" id=\"Page_213\"\u003e213\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003erepairing\r\ndepartment, and a tailoring shop.\r\nThe cooking class is even more popular with\r\nthe boys than with the girls. In the shoe-repairing\r\nshop, which holds classes after school\r\nhours, the boys learn to mend their own shoes.\r\nA professional cobbler is the teacher, and the\r\nmending must be neatly done. The boys begin\r\nwork on their own old shoes and as they progress\r\nin skill, are allowed to bring shoes from\r\nhome to be repaired, or to mend for the girls and\r\nfor the younger boys in the school, who, however,\r\npay a small sum for the work. The tailoring\r\ndepartment is run on the same plan, to teach\r\nhabits of personal neatness and of industry\r\nthrough giving the pupils work that results in\r\nneatness and gives some manual skill and control\r\nof tools. The class is taught by a tailor,\r\nand the boys learn to patch and mend their own\r\nclothes, as well as to sponge and press them.\r\nAttendance is entirely voluntary, and the class\r\nmeets after the regular school work is over.\r\nKnowing how to keep themselves tidy has resulted\r\nin a very marked improvement in the\r\nappearance and habits of the boys in the class,\r\nand has had an influence not only on the whole\r\nschool, but on the neighborhood as well. The\r\nboys no longer resent the attempts of the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_214\" id=\"Page_214\"\u003e214\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nteachers to influence them towards cleanliness\r\nand neatness, for they have become conscious\r\nof the advantages of these habits.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe cooking and domestic science classes are\r\ntaught in one of the tenements turned over to the\r\nschool without having been repaired, although\r\nthe cooking equipment was supplied by the city.\r\nAll the other work on the building\u0026mdash;cleaning,\r\npainting, repairing, furnishing, and decorating\u0026mdash;was\r\ndone and paid for by the pupils of the\r\nschool with help from the neighborhood clubs\r\nthat use the building. There is a large cooking\r\nroom, a demonstration dining and sitting room,\r\nand two bedrooms. The girls not only learn\r\nto cook real meals, but they learn how to serve\r\nthem, and then how to take care of the demonstration\r\nhouse. The domestic science classes\r\ninclude lessons in buying, the comparative costs\r\nand values of food, something of food chemistry\r\nand values, and large quantity cooking.\r\nThis work is done in connection with the soup\r\nkitchen. A group of girls have charge of the\r\nkitchen long enough to really learn about the\r\nwork. They plan the menu and do the buying,\r\ncooking and serving of the soup, selling it for\r\nthree cents a bowl to the pupils of the school\r\nand to neighbors. They keep all the accounts\r\nand not only have to make all their expenses,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_215\" id=\"Page_215\"\u003e215\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbut are expected to make some profit for the\r\nuse of the school as well. They have made\r\nenough profit in one year to furnish most of the\r\ndemonstration house. Aside from teaching\r\nhow to do housework thoroughly and easily,\r\nthe purpose of the house is to furnish an example\r\nof what can be done to make one of the\r\nregular frame tenements of the district comfortable\r\nand attractive, without more expense\r\nthan most of the people now put into their\r\nhomes. The house is very simply furnished,\r\nwith cheap and strong things, in plain colors\r\nthat are easily kept clean; the painting and\r\npapering was done by the pupils. The sewing\r\nclass has made all the curtains and linen for\r\nthe house, and made furniture by covering\r\nboxes, etc. Besides the class work that goes\r\non in the building, the rooms are also used as a\r\nsocial center for the girls of the school.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe third building left standing on the\r\nground purchased by the school authorities has\r\nbeen turned into a boys’ club house. There is\r\na gymnasium, two club rooms, and a shower\r\nbath room. This house was in exceedingly bad\r\ncondition when it became part of the school\r\nproperty, and there was no money and not\r\nmuch lumber available to repair it. But the\r\nboys of the school wanted the club house, and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_216\" id=\"Page_216\"\u003e216\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwere not discouraged because it was not given\r\nto them all finished. They started out, as they\r\nhad done in the manual training and domestic\r\nscience buildings, to do the work themselves.\r\nUnder the direction of the manual training\r\nteacher, they pulled off old paper and broken\r\nplaster, tore up uneven floors and took out partitions.\r\nThen they laid floors, put in woodwork\r\nand painted it, rehung doors, mended\r\nwindows, and made furniture and gymnastic\r\napparatus. When there was a job they could\r\nnot do, such as the plastering and plumbing,\r\nthey went among their friends and asked for\r\nmoney or help in work. Plumbers and plasterers\r\nwho lived near the school came in and\r\ngave their time and work to help the boys get\r\ntheir building in order, and other friends gave\r\nenough money to finish the work. Men in the\r\nneighborhood dug a long ditch through the\r\nschool grounds for sewerage connections.\r\nGradually they are adding to the gymnasium\r\napparatus and to the simple bathing facilities,\r\nwhile cleaning and keeping up the painting\r\ncontinue to supply opportunities for useful\r\nwork.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs already indicated, the reflex effect upon\r\nhomes in the vicinity has been marked. The\r\nschool board had intended to wreck the three\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_217\" id=\"Page_217\"\u003e217\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntenement houses when they bought the land;\r\nbut Mr. Valentine saw the opportunity to give\r\nthe community something which they needed,\r\nand at the same time to arouse a spirit of coöperation\r\nand interest among both parents and\r\npupils in place of the old spirit of distrust and\r\nantagonism, when he persuaded the board to\r\nturn the buildings over to the school. He told\r\nthe pupils what could be done with them and\r\nasked for their help in doing it. He got a\r\nhearty response at once, and so went out into\r\nthe district with the children and told their\r\nparents what he proposed to do and asked for\r\nhelp. He got the same generous response for\r\nthe first building, the manual training shops,\r\nas for the boys’ club. Besides the time and\r\nmaterial which the skilled workers of the community\r\nhave contributed, the community has\r\ngiven $350 in cash, no small sum for people as\r\npoor as they are. The value of the work being\r\ndone in these buildings and of the training the\r\nboys have had in making them over, is proved\r\nby the fact that the community and the boys\r\nthemselves wanted the work badly enough to\r\npay for getting it in money and work. While\r\nit has undoubtedly been a struggle for the\r\nschool and the district to contribute so much,\r\nthe benefit to the school and to the community\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_218\" id=\"Page_218\"\u003e218\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhas been greater just because of these sacrifices\r\nand struggles. The work has made over the\r\nrelations between the school and the pupils.\r\nThe children like to go to school now, where\r\nbefore they had to be forced to go with threats\r\nof the truant officer, and their behavior is better\r\nwhen they get to school. The children’s\r\nparents have changed their attitude in the\r\nsame way. They not only see that the children\r\ngo to school, but they want them to go because\r\nthey appreciate that the school is giving them\r\nthings they need to make them self-supporting;\r\nbut they also see that they have their own share\r\nto do if the work is to be successful. The\r\nschool has been the cause of the growth of community\r\nspirit in increased civic and social activities\r\nof the district. With improved attendance\r\nand discipline, the number of cases sent\r\nto the juvenile court has decreased one-half in\r\nproportion to the number of pupils in school.\r\nMeanwhile the educational value of the work\r\ndone has undoubtedly been greater than that\r\nof work done in disconnected shops and\r\nkitchens.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_218\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 325px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-218.jpg\" width=\"325\" height=\"250\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e(1) The boys like cooking more than the girls do.\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_218b\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 319px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-218a.jpg\" width=\"319\" height=\"252\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e(2) Mending their own shoes, to learn cobbling.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e(Public School 26, Indianapolis.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe school is also carrying on definite work\r\nto arouse the pupils to a sense of responsibility\r\nfor their community and neighbors.\r\nGiving the pupils as much liberty and responsibility\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_219\" id=\"Page_219\"\u003e219\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nas possible around the school buildings\r\nis an important factor. Each pupil in the\r\nhigher grades is given some small child in one\r\nof the lower grades to look out for. On the\r\nplayground they see to it that the charge has\r\na fair chance to play, and that he behaves himself;\r\nthey see that the little boy or girl comes\r\nto school clean and tidy, if necessary doing the\r\nwashing or mending themselves. This work\r\nhas proved especially successful in doing away\r\nwith bullying and in arousing personal pride\r\nand a sense of responsibility in the older children;\r\nthe younger ones are better looked after\r\nthan before and have many opportunities to\r\nlearn things from the older and more advanced\r\npupils. The older pupils are also encouraged\r\nin every way to help in carrying on the outside\r\nactivities of the school. They make calls and\r\nwrite notes to keep up the attendance at the\r\nnight school; they see to the order of the principal’s\r\noffice and keep the boys’ club house in\r\norder. All the teachers of the school are\r\nagreed upon a policy of frank discussion of the\r\npoverty of the district, and of urging the pupils\r\nto earn money to help their parents by becoming\r\nas nearly self-supporting as possible.\r\nEach grade keeps track of what its members\r\nearn and how they earn it, and the grade with\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_220\" id=\"Page_220\"\u003e220\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe largest sum to its credit feels that it has accomplished\r\nsomething worth while during the\r\nyear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a savings bank in the school to\r\nteach the children habits of thrift and economy;\r\nhere a pupil may deposit any sum from a penny\r\nup. The pupil receives a bank book in which\r\nstamps are pasted for his deposits, the money\r\nbeing kept in a city savings bank. The school\r\nalso has a branch library, and the pupils are\r\ntaught how to use it. Part of the playground\r\nhas been made into a school garden, and here\r\nevery pupil in the higher grades has a garden\r\nplot, also instruction which enables him to\r\ngrow successfully some of the commoner fruits\r\nand flowers. This work is made very practical;\r\nthe children have the sort of garden that\r\nwould be useful and ornamental if it were in\r\ntheir own back yard. The school carries on a\r\nneighborhood campaign for home gardens, and\r\nthe pupils with school gardens do much of this\r\nwork, telling the people who want gardens what\r\nto plant, and giving them practical help with\r\ntheir plot until it is well established. In all\r\nthese ways the teachers are trying to make ambitious,\r\nresponsible citizens out of the student\r\nbody. Inside the school pupils are taught\r\nhigher standards of living than prevail in their\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_221\" id=\"Page_221\"\u003e221\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhomes, and they are taught as well trades and\r\nprocesses which will at least give them a start\r\ntowards prosperity, and then, too, they are\r\naroused to a feeling of responsibility for the welfare\r\nof the whole community.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAll these things are done as part of the regular\r\nwork of the school, and to a large extent\r\nduring regular school hours. But there are\r\nmany other activities which, while not contributing\r\nso directly to the education of the children,\r\nare important for the general welfare of the\r\nwhole community. There is a night school for\r\nthe adults of the neighborhood who want to go\r\non learning, the shops being used as well as the\r\nschoolrooms. A group of people especially interested\r\nin the school have formed a club to\r\npromote the interest of the night school, and to\r\nsee that the men of the community understand\r\nthe opportunities it offers for them to perfect\r\nthemselves in a trade or in their knowledge and\r\nuse of English. This club is made up of men\r\nwho live near the school and who are sufficiently\r\nalive to the needs of the school and the community\r\nto work very hard to let all the district\r\nknow what the school is already doing for its\r\nwelfare and what it can do as the people come\r\nto demand more and more from it. Besides\r\nkeeping up the attendance at the night school,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_222\" id=\"Page_222\"\u003e222\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe club has done much for the general welfare\r\nof the school, like helping raise money for remodeling\r\nthe buildings and giving an expensive\r\nphonograph to the school. The success of the\r\nschool as a social center and the need for such\r\na center are realized when we remember that\r\nthis club is made up of men who live in the district,\r\nwhose children are using the school, and\r\nwho are perhaps themselves going to the night\r\nschool.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is also a vacation school during the\r\nsummer time for the children of the neighborhood,\r\nwith some classroom work and a great\r\ndeal of time spent on the playground and in\r\nthe workshops. The school has an active\r\nalumni association which uses the school building\r\nfor social purposes and keeps track of the\r\npupils that leave. A parents’ club has been\r\nstarted as an aid in gaining the coöperation\r\nof the pupils’ parents in the work of the school\r\nand as a means of finding out the real needs of\r\nthe neighborhood. The parents are brought\r\nin even closer contact with the school through\r\nthe series of teas given by the grades for their\r\nparents during the year. Each grade serves\r\ntea once a year in the domestic science house\r\nfor the mothers of its pupils. The children do\r\nthe work for the teas as part of their domestic\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_223\" id=\"Page_223\"\u003e223\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nscience work, and write the invitations in their\r\nEnglish class. The teachers use these teas as\r\nan opportunity for visiting the children’s\r\nhomes and getting acquainted with their\r\nmothers. The teacher who knows the home\r\nconditions of each child is much better able to\r\nadjust the work to the child, being aware of his\r\nweak and strong points. To poverty-stricken,\r\noverworked mothers these social gatherings\r\ncome as a real event.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe pupils of the school are given social as\r\nwell as educational opportunities through their\r\nschool life. The boys’ club house is opened\r\nnearly every night to local boys’ clubs, some of\r\nthem being school organizations and some independent\r\nones. There are rooms for the boys\r\nto hold meetings and to play games, and a well-equipped\r\ngymnasium. The teachers of the\r\nschool take turns supervising these evening\r\ngatherings. The attendance is large for the\r\nsize of the building. Giving the boys a place\r\nfor wholesome activities has done much to break\r\nup the habits of street loafing and the gangs\r\nwhich were so common in the district. The\r\ngirls of the school use the domestic science\r\nhouse for social purposes. Two chapters of\r\nthe Camp Fire girls hold regular meetings in\r\nthe building and get help and advice from the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_224\" id=\"Page_224\"\u003e224\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nteachers. Each domestic science class aims to\r\nteach the girls how to live a comfortable and\r\nself-respecting life, as well as how to do housework,\r\nand so becomes a social center of its own.\r\nThe girls learn to cook and serve good cheap\r\nmeals, and then they sit down together and eat\r\nwhat they have cooked. They talk over their\r\nindividual problems with the teacher and with\r\neach other, and give each other much practical\r\nhelp. The domestic science teacher helps the\r\ngirls who have some skill find work to do after\r\nschool hours so that they can help their families\r\nby helping themselves; she helps the pupils\r\nfind steady work as they leave school and\r\nthen keeps track of them, encouraging them to\r\ngo on fitting themselves for better work.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe success of the settlement work the school\r\nhas done points strongly to the fact that the\r\nschoolhouse is the natural and logical social\r\ncenter in a neighborhood, the teachers coming\r\ninto closer and more natural contact with both\r\nchildren and parents than is possible in the\r\ncase of other district workers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere are large economies combining the\r\nschool and the settlement in districts where\r\nthe social and economic standards of living are\r\nso low that the people are not especially successful\r\ncitizens. Both the school and settlement\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_225\" id=\"Page_225\"\u003e225\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfacilities are enlarged by using the same\r\ngroup of buildings for both purposes. The settlement\r\nhas the use of better and larger shops\r\nand classrooms than most settlements can command,\r\nand the school uses the social rooms and\r\nactivities to become itself a community. The\r\nschool comes in contact with almost all the families\r\nin a district so that community action is\r\nmuch easier to establish. But even more important\r\nthan these economies are the far-reaching\r\nresults which come from the fact that the\r\nschool settlement is a democratic community,\r\nreally reflecting the conditions of the community.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn using the school plant for any activities,\r\nwhether simply for the usual eight classes or\r\nto supply the community with all sorts of opportunities,\r\nas the Gary schools are doing and\r\nas Mr. Valentine’s school is doing, the people\r\nof the community feel that they are using\r\nfor their own ends public facilities which\r\nhave been paid for by their taxes. They want\r\nto see real, tangible results in the way of more\r\nprosperous and efficient families and better\r\ncivic conditions, coming from the increased plant\r\nin the district school. Because the schools are\r\npublic institutions in fact as well as in name,\r\npeople know whether the schools are really\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_226\" id=\"Page_226\"\u003e226\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmeeting their needs and they are willing to\r\nwork to see that they do. The school settlement\r\nreaps all the advantages of working for\r\ndefinite ends and of having the businesslike cooperation\r\nof the community as a body. In\r\nspite of the fact that the work of Mr. Valentine’s\r\nschool has been hampered by lack of\r\nfunds, and that some of the special things done\r\nare suited to one particular local population,\r\nthe changes which have taken place in the\r\nneighborhood in the relation between the school\r\nand the parents, and in the spirit of the pupils in\r\ntheir school attitude, show what a public school\r\nmay mean to its neighborhood when it ceases\r\nto be an isolated academic institution.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Gary schools and Mr. Valentine’s school\r\nhave effected an entire reorganization in order\r\nto meet the particular needs of the children of\r\nthe community, physically, intellectually, and\r\nsocially. Both schools are looking towards a\r\nlarger social ideal; towards a community where\r\nthe citizens will be prosperous and independent,\r\nwhere there will be no poverty-ridden\r\npopulation unable to produce good citizens.\r\nWhile changes in social conditions must take\r\nplace before this can happen, these schools believe\r\nthat such an education as they provide is\r\none of the natural ways and perhaps the surest\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_227\" id=\"Page_227\"\u003e227\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nway of helping along the changes. Teaching\r\npeople from the time they are children to think\r\nclearly and to take care of themselves is one\r\nof the best safeguards against exploitation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA great many schools are doing some of the\r\nsame sort of work, using the activities of the\r\ncommunity as a means of enriching the curriculum,\r\nand using the school plant for a neighborhood\r\ncenter. The civic clubs of the Chicago\r\npublic schools, which have already been\r\ndescribed, are aiming at the same thing: the\r\nbetter equipment of pupils for their life in the\r\ncommunity with the hope of improving the community\r\nitself. The Cottage School at Riverside,\r\nIllinois, where pupils all come from well-to-do\r\nAmerican families, has found a similar\r\nclub valuable for the pupils and of real use to\r\nthe town. The school organized by the pupils\r\ninto a civic league has made itself responsible\r\nfor the conditions of the streets in certain portions\r\nof the town, and is not only cleaning up\r\nbut trying to get the rest of the town interested\r\nin the problem. Mock elections and “self-governments”\r\nbased upon political organization\r\nare examples of attempts of education to\r\nmeet the need for training in good citizenship.\r\nUsing the school plant as a social center is\r\nrecognition of the need for social change and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_228\" id=\"Page_228\"\u003e228\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof the community’s responsibility to help effect\r\nit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe attempt to make this enlarged use of the\r\nschool plant is not so much in order to train\r\nyoung people so that they can assume the burden\r\nof improvement for themselves as to give\r\nthe neighborhood some immediate opportunities\r\nwhich it lacks for recreation, intercourse\r\nand improvement. The school plant is the\r\nnatural and convenient place for such undertakings.\r\nEvery community has the right to expect\r\nand demand that schools supported at public\r\nexpense for public ends shall serve community\r\nuses as widely as possible. As attempts in\r\nsocializing education have met with such success\r\nand such enthusiasm among the children that\r\ntheir value as educational tools is established,\r\nso giving the people of the community a real\r\nshare in activities centered in school buildings\r\nand employing school equipment, is one of the\r\nsurest ways of giving them a more intelligent\r\npublic spirit and a greater interest in the right\r\neducation of the youth of the land.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_229\" id=\"Page_229\"\u003e229\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_IX\" id=\"CHAPTER_IX\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER IX\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eINDUSTRY AND EDUCATIONAL READJUSTMENT\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe chief effort of all educational reforms is\r\nto bring about a readjustment of existing scholastic\r\ninstitutions and methods so that they shall\r\nrespond to changes in general social and intellectual\r\nconditions. The school, like other human\r\ninstitutions, acquires inertia and tends to\r\ngo on doing things that have once got started,\r\nirrespective of present demands. There are\r\nmany topics and methods in existing education\r\nwhich date back to social conditions which are\r\npassing away. They are perpetuated because\r\nof tradition and custom. Especially is it true of\r\nour institutions of learning that their controlling\r\nideals and ideas were fixed when industrial\r\nmethods differed radically from those of the\r\npresent. They grew up when the place of industry\r\nin life was much less important than it\r\nis now when practically all political and social\r\naffairs are bound up with economic questions.\r\nThey were formed when there was no positive\r\nconnection between science and the operations\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_230\" id=\"Page_230\"\u003e230\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof production and distribution of goods; while\r\nat the present, manufacturing, railways, electric\r\ntransportation, and all the agencies of daily\r\nlife, represent just so much applied science.\r\nEconomic changes have brought about a closer\r\ninterdependence among men and strengthened\r\nthe ideal of mutual service. These political, intellectual,\r\nand moral changes make questions\r\nconnected with industrial education the most\r\nimportant problem of present-day public education\r\nin America.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe fact that the Greek word from which our\r\nword “school” is derived meant \u003ci\u003eleisure\u003c/i\u003e suggests\r\nthe nature of the change which has taken\r\nplace. It is true at \u003ci\u003eall\u003c/i\u003e times that education\r\nmeans relief from the pressure of having to\r\nmake a living. The young have to be supported\r\nmore or less by others while they are being instructed.\r\nThey must be saved from the impact\r\nof the struggle for material existence. Opposition\r\nto child labor goes hand in hand with the\r\neffort to extend the facilities of public schools\r\nto all the wards of the nation. There must be\r\nfree time for schooling, and pupils must not\r\ncome to their studies physically worn out.\r\nMoreover, the use of imagination, thought and\r\nemotion in education demands minds which are\r\nfree from harassing questions of self-support.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_231\" id=\"Page_231\"\u003e231\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nThere must be an atmosphere of leisure if there\r\nis to be a truly liberal or free education.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuch things are as true now as when schools\r\nwere named after the idea of leisure. But there\r\nwas once assumed a permanent division between\r\na leisure class and a laboring class. Education,\r\nbeyond at least the mere rudiments, was intended\r\nonly for the former. Its subject-matter\r\nand its methods were designed for those who\r\nwere sufficiently well off so that they did not\r\nhave to work for a living. The stigma attached\r\nto working with the hands was especially strong.\r\nIn aristocratic and feudal countries such work\r\nwas done by slaves or serfs, and the sense of\r\nsocial inferiority attached to these classes naturally\r\nled to contempt for the pursuits in which\r\nthey were engaged. Training for them was a\r\nservile sort of education, while \u003ci\u003eliberal\u003c/i\u003e education\r\nwas an education for a free man,\r\nand a free man was a member of the upper\r\nclasses, one who did not have to engage\r\nin labor for his own support or that of\r\nothers. The antagonism to industry which was\r\ngenerated extended itself to all activities requiring\r\nuse of the hands. A “gentleman”\r\nwould not use his hands or train them to skill,\r\nsave for sport or war. To employ the hands\r\nwas to do useful work for others, while to render\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_232\" id=\"Page_232\"\u003e232\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npersonal service to others was a badge of a\r\ndependent social and political status.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eStrange as it may seem, the very notions of\r\nknowledge and of mind were influenced by this\r\naristocratic order of society. The less the body\r\nin general, and the hands and the senses in particular,\r\nwere employed, the higher the grade of\r\nintellectual activity. True thought resulting in\r\ntrue knowledge was to be carried on wholly\r\nwithin the mind without the body taking any\r\npart at all. Hence studies which could be carried\r\non with a minimum of physical action were\r\nalone the studies belonging to a liberal education.\r\nFirst in order came such things as philosophy,\r\ntheology, mathematics, logic, etc., which\r\nwere purely mental. Next in rank came literature\r\nand language, with grammar, rhetoric, etc.\r\nThe pursuit of even what we call the fine arts\r\nwas relegated to a lower grade, because success\r\nin painting, sculpture, architecture, etc., required\r\ntechnical and manual training. Music\r\nalone was exempt from condemnation, partly\r\nbecause vocal music did not require the training\r\nof the hands, and partly because music was used\r\nfor devotional purposes. Otherwise education\r\nshould train men to appreciate art, not to produce\r\nit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese ideas and ideals persisted in educational\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_233\" id=\"Page_233\"\u003e233\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntheory and practice long after the political\r\nand industrial conditions which generated them\r\nhad begun to give way. Practically all the conceptions\r\nassociated with culture and cultural education\r\nwere created when the immense superiority\r\nof a leisure class over all working classes was\r\na matter of course. Refinement, polish, esthetic\r\ntaste, knowledge of classic literatures, acquaintance\r\nwith foreign languages and with branches\r\nof sciences which could be studied by purely\r\n“mental” means, and which were not put to\r\npractical uses, were the marks of culture, just as\r\nthey were the marks of leisure time and superior\r\nwealth. The learned professions\u0026mdash;divinity,\r\nlaw, and, to a less extent, medicine\u0026mdash;were admitted\r\nupon suffrance to the sphere of higher\r\neducation, for the manual element in the service\r\nrendered to others was not so great as in industrial\r\npursuits. But professional education\r\nwas looked upon with disparagement in contrast\r\nwith a liberal education just because its aim was\r\nrendering service to others. And for a long\r\ntime medicine in particular occupied a mediocre\r\nand dubious position just because it required\r\npersonal attention to the bodily needs of others.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eOpposition to the introduction into higher\r\neducation of the natural sciences was due not\r\nonly to the conservative dread of change on\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_234\" id=\"Page_234\"\u003e234\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe part of established institutions, but also to\r\nthe fact that these sciences emphasized the use\r\nof the senses (which are physical organs), of\r\nphysical apparatus, and of manual skill required\r\nin its manipulation. Even the representatives\r\nof mathematical science joined those\r\nof literary studies in assuming that the natural\r\nsciences must be less cultural than sciences like\r\ngeometry, algebra, and calculus, which could\r\nbe pursued in a more purely mental way. Even\r\nwhen the progress of social changes forced more\r\nand more useful studies into the curriculum, the\r\nidea of a graded rank in the cultural value of\r\nstudies persisted. Occupations like banking\r\nand commerce involved less manual activity and\r\nless direct personal service to others than housekeeping,\r\nmanufacturing, and farming, consequently\r\nthe studies which prepared for them\r\nwere at least more “genteel” than studies having\r\nto do with the latter. Even at the present\r\ntime many people associate mental activity with\r\nphysical acquiescence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe first breach in this order of ideas occurred\r\nin elementary education. Along with\r\nthe spread of democratic ideas which took place\r\nin the eighteenth century, there developed the\r\nidea that education was a need and right of the\r\nmasses as well as a privilege of the upper\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_235\" id=\"Page_235\"\u003e235\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nclasses. In reading Rousseau and Pestalozzi,\r\nan American student, who is used to the democratic\r\nidea of universal education, is not likely\r\nto notice that their conception of the educational\r\ndevelopment of all as a social necessity is even\r\nmore revolutionary than the particular methods\r\nwhich they urged. But such was the case.\r\nEven so enlightened a liberal as John Locke\r\nwrote his educational essay with reference to\r\nthe education of a gentleman, and assumed that\r\nthe training of the laboring classes should be of\r\na radically different kind. The idea that all the\r\npowers of all members of society are capable of\r\ndevelopment and that society owed it to itself\r\nand to its constituent members to see that the\r\nlatter received this development, was the first\r\ngreat intellectual token of the democratic revolution\r\nwhich was occurring. It is noteworthy\r\nthat Rousseau was Swiss by birth, that democratic\r\npolitical ideas were rife in France when\r\nhe wrote, and that Pestalozzi was not only Swiss\r\nby birth but did his work in that republican\r\ncountry.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the development of public elementary\r\nschools for the masses inevitably puts emphasis\r\nupon the usefulness of studies as a reason for\r\neducation, the growth of the public curriculum\r\nand methods was profoundly affected by the surviving\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_236\" id=\"Page_236\"\u003e236\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nideals of leisure class education. Elementary\r\neducation, just because it was an education\r\nfor the masses, was regarded as a kind\r\nof necessary political and economic concession\r\nrather than as a serious educative enterprise. A\r\nstrict line was drawn between it, with its useful\r\nstudies, and the higher education of the few conducted\r\nfor genuinely cultural purposes. Reading,\r\nwriting, arithmetic, the three R’s, were to\r\nbe taught because of their utility. They were\r\nneeded to make individuals capable of self-support,\r\nof “getting on” better, and so capable\r\nof rendering better economic service under\r\nchanged commercial conditions. It was assumed\r\nthat the greater number of pupils would\r\nleave school as soon as they had mastered the\r\npractical use of these tools.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eNo better evidence could be found that primary\r\neducation is still regarded with respect\r\nto the larger number of pupils, as a practical\r\nsocial necessity, not as an intrinsic educative\r\nmeasure, than the fact that the greater number\r\nof pupils leave school about the fifth grade\u0026mdash;that\r\nis, when they have acquired rudimentary\r\nskill in reading, writing and figuring. The opposition\r\nof influential members of the community\r\nto the introduction of any studies, save\r\nperhaps geography and history, beyond the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_237\" id=\"Page_237\"\u003e237\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthree R’s, the tendency to regard other things\r\nas “frills and fads,” is evidence of the way\r\nin which purely elementary schooling is regarded.\r\nA fuller and wider culture in literature,\r\nscience and the arts may be allowed\r\nin the case of those better off, but the\r\nmasses are not to be educatively developed\r\nso much as trained in the use of tools\r\nneeded to make them effective workers. Elementary\r\ninstruction to a larger extent than we\r\nusually admit, is a substitute, under the changed\r\ncircumstances of production and distribution of\r\ngoods, for the older apprenticeship system.\r\nThe latter was never treated as educational in\r\na fundamental sense; the former is only partially\r\nconducted as a thoroughly educational\r\nenterprise.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn part the older ideals of a predominantly\r\nliterary and “intellectual” education invaded\r\nand captured the new elementary schools. For\r\nthe smaller number of pupils who might go on\r\nto a higher and cultural education, the three\r\nR’s were the tools of learning, the only really\r\nindispensable tools of acquiring knowledge.\r\nThey are all of them concerned with language,\r\nthat is, with \u003ci\u003esymbols\u003c/i\u003e of facts and ideas, a\r\nfact which throws a flood of light upon the\r\nprevailing ideas of learning and knowledge.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_238\" id=\"Page_238\"\u003e238\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nKnowledge consists of the ready-made material\r\nwhich others have found out, and mastery of\r\nlanguage is the means of access to this fund.\r\nTo learn is to appropriate something from this\r\nready-made store, not to find out something for\r\none’s self. Educational reformers may go on\r\nattacking pouring-in methods of teaching and\r\npassive reception methods of learning; but as\r\nlong as these ideas of the nature of knowledge\r\nare current, they make little headway. The\r\nseparation of the activity of the mind from the\r\nactivity of the senses in direct observation and\r\nfrom the activity of the hand in construction\r\nand manipulation, makes the material of studies\r\nacademic and remote, and compels the passive\r\nacquisition of information imparted by textbook\r\nand teacher.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the United States there was for a long\r\ntime a natural division of labor between the\r\nbook-learning of the schools and the more direct\r\nand vital learning of out-of-school life. It is\r\nimpossible to exaggerate the amount of mental\r\nand moral training secured by our forefathers\r\nin the course of the ordinary pursuits of life.\r\nThey were engaged in subduing a new country.\r\nIndustry was at a premium, and instead of being\r\nof a routine nature, pioneer conditions required\r\ninitiative, ingenuity, and pluck. For the most\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_239\" id=\"Page_239\"\u003e239\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npart men were working for themselves; or, if\r\nfor others, with a prospect of soon becoming\r\nmasters of their own affairs. While the citizens\r\nof old-world monarchies had no responsibility\r\nfor the conduct of government, our forefathers\r\nwere engaged in the experiment of conducting\r\ntheir own government. They had the\r\nincentive of a participation in the conduct of\r\ncivic and public affairs which came directly\r\nhome to them. Production had not yet been\r\nconcentrated in factories in congested centers,\r\nbut was distributed through villages. Markets\r\nwere local rather than remote. Manufacturing\r\nwas still literally \u003ci\u003ehand-making\u003c/i\u003e, with the use of\r\nlocal water-power; it was not carried on by big\r\nmachines to which the employed “hands” were\r\nmechanical adjuncts. The occupations of daily\r\nlife engaged the imagination and enforced\r\nknowledge of natural materials and processes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eChildren as they grew up either engaged in or\r\nwere in intimate contact with spinning, weaving,\r\nbleaching, dyeing, and the making of clothes;\r\nwith lumbering, and leather, saw-mills, and carpentry;\r\nwith working of metals and making of\r\ncandles. They not only saw the grain planted\r\nand reaped, but were familiar with the village\r\ngrist-mill and the preparation of flour and of\r\nfoodstuffs for cattle. These things were close\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_240\" id=\"Page_240\"\u003e240\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto them, the processes were all open to inspection.\r\nThey knew where things came from and\r\nhow they were made or where they went to, and\r\nthey knew these things by personal observation.\r\nThey had the discipline that came from sharing\r\nin useful activities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile there was too much taxing toil, there\r\nwas also stimulus to imagination and training\r\nof independent judgment along with the personal\r\nknowledge of materials and processes. Under\r\nsuch conditions, the schools could hardly have\r\ndone better than devote themselves to books,\r\nand to teaching a command of the use of books,\r\nespecially since, in most communities, books,\r\nwhile a rarity and a luxury, were the sole means\r\nof access to the great world beyond the village\r\nsurroundings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut conditions changed and school materials\r\nand methods did not change to keep pace. Population\r\nshifted to urban centers. Production\r\nbecame a mass affair, carried on in big factories,\r\ninstead of a household affair. Growth of steam\r\nand electric transportation brought about production\r\nfor distant markets, even for a world\r\nmarket. Industry was no longer a local or\r\nneighborhood concern. Manufacturing was\r\nsplit up into a very great variety of separate\r\nprocesses through the economies incident upon\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_241\" id=\"Page_241\"\u003e241\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nextreme division of labor. Even the working-men\r\nin a particular line of industry rarely have\r\nany chance to become acquainted with the entire\r\ncourse of production, while outsiders see\r\npractically nothing but either the raw material\r\non one hand or the finished product on the other.\r\nMachines depend in their action upon complicated\r\nfacts and principles of nature which are\r\nnot recognized by the worker unless he has had\r\nspecial intellectual training. The machine\r\nworker, unlike the older hand worker, is following\r\nblindly the intelligence of others instead\r\nof his own knowledge of materials, tools, and\r\nprocesses. With the passing of pioneer conditions\r\npassed also the days when almost every\r\nindividual looked forward to being at some time\r\nin control of a business of his own. Great\r\nmasses of men have no other expectation than\r\nto be permanently hired for pay to work for\r\nothers. Inequalities of wealth have multiplied,\r\nso that demand for the labor of children has become\r\na pressing menace to the serious education\r\nof great numbers. On the other hand, children\r\nin wealthy families have lost the moral and\r\npractical discipline that once came from sharing\r\nin the round of home duties. For a large number\r\nthere is little alternative, especially in\r\nlarger cities, between irksome child labor and\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_242\" id=\"Page_242\"\u003e242\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndemoralizing child idleness. Inquiries conducted\r\nby competent authorities show that in\r\nthe great centers of population opportunities\r\nfor play are so inadequate that free time is not\r\neven spent in wholesome recreations by a majority\r\nof children.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese statements do not begin, of course, to\r\ncover the contrasts between present social conditions\r\nand those to which our earlier school\r\nfacilities were adapted. They suggest, however,\r\nsome of the obvious changes with which\r\neducation must reckon if it is to maintain a vital\r\nconnection with contemporary social life, so as\r\nto give the kind of instruction needed to make\r\nefficient and self-respecting members of the community.\r\nThe sketch would be even more incomplete,\r\nhowever, if it failed to note that along\r\nwith these changes there has been an immense\r\ncheapening of printed material and an immense\r\nincrease in the facilities for its distribution.\r\nLibraries abound, books are many and cheap,\r\nmagazines and newspapers are everywhere.\r\nConsequently the schools do not any longer bear\r\nthe peculiar relation to books and book knowledge\r\nwhich they once did. While out of school\r\nconditions have lost many of the educative\r\nfeatures they once possessed, they have gained\r\nimmensely in the provision they make for reading\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_243\" id=\"Page_243\"\u003e243\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmatter and for stimulating interest in reading.\r\nIt is no longer necessary or desirable that\r\nthe schools should devote themselves so exclusively\r\nto this phase of instruction. But it is\r\nmore necessary than it used to be that the\r\nschools shall develop such interest in the pupils\r\nas will induce them to read material that is intellectually\r\nworth while.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile merely learning the use of language\r\nsymbols and of acquiring habits of reading is\r\nless important than it used to be, the question of\r\nthe use to which the power and habits shall be\r\nput is much more important. To learn to use\r\nreading matter means that schools shall arouse\r\nin pupils problems and interests that lead students\r\nboth in school and after they leave school\r\nto seek that subject-matter of history, science,\r\nbiography, and literature which is inherently\r\nvaluable, and not to waste themselves upon the\r\ntrash which is so abundantly provided. It is\r\nabsolutely impossible to secure this result when\r\nschools devote themselves to the formal sides of\r\nlanguage instead of to developing deep and vital\r\ninterest in subject-matter. Educational theorists\r\nand school authorities who attempt to\r\nremedy the deplorable reading habits with which\r\nmany youth leave school by means of a greater\r\namount of direct attention to language studies\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_244\" id=\"Page_244\"\u003e244\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand literatures, are engaged in a futile\r\ntask. Enlargement of intellectual horizon,\r\nand awakening to the multitude of interesting\r\nproblems presented by contemporary conditions,\r\nare the surest guarantees for good use of time\r\nwith books and magazines. When books are\r\nmade an end in themselves, only a small and\r\nhighly specialized class will devote themselves\r\nto really serviceable books. When there is a\r\nlively sense of the interest of social affairs, all\r\nwho possess the sense will turn as naturally to\r\nthe books which foster that interest as to the\r\nother things of which they feel a need.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese are some of the reasons for saying that\r\nthe general problem of readjustment of education\r\nto meet present conditions is most acute at\r\nthe angle of industry. The various details may\r\nbe summed up in three general moral principles.\r\nFirst, never before was it as important as it is\r\nnow that each individual should be capable\r\nof self-respecting, self-supporting, \u003ci\u003eintelligent\u003c/i\u003e\r\nwork\u0026mdash;that each should make a living for himself\r\nand those dependent upon his efforts, and\r\nshould make it with an intelligent recognition\r\nof what he is doing and an intelligent interest\r\nin doing his work well. Secondly, never before\r\ndid the work of one individual affect the welfare\r\nof others on such a wide scale as at present.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_245\" id=\"Page_245\"\u003e245\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nModern conditions of production and exchange\r\nof commodities have made the whole world one\r\nto a degree never approximated before. A war\r\nto-day may close banks and paralyze trade in\r\nplaces thousands of miles away from the scene\r\nof action. This is only a coarse and sensational\r\nmanifestation of an interdependence which is\r\nquietly and persistently operating in the activity\r\nof every farmer, manufacturer, laborer, and\r\nmerchant, in every part of the civilized globe.\r\nConsequently there is a demand which never\r\nexisted before that all the items of school instruction\r\nshall be seen and appreciated in their\r\nbearing upon the network of social activities\r\nwhich bind people together. When men lived in\r\nsmall groups which had little to do with each\r\nother, the harm done by an education which\r\npursued exclusively intellectual and theoretic\r\naims was comparatively slight. Knowledge\r\nmight be isolated because men were isolated.\r\nBut to-day the accumulation of information,\r\njust as information, apart from its social bearings,\r\nis worse than futile. Acquisition of modes\r\nof skill apart from realization of the social uses\r\nto which they may be put is fairly criminal. In\r\nthe third place, industrial methods and processes\r\ndepend to-day upon knowledge of facts\r\nand laws of natural and social science in a much\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_246\" id=\"Page_246\"\u003e246\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ngreater degree than ever before. Our railways\r\nand steamboats, traction cars, telegraphs, and\r\ntelephones, factories and farms, even our ordinary\r\nhousehold appliances, depend for their\r\nexistence upon intricate mathematical, physical,\r\nchemical, and biological insight. They depend\r\nfor their best ultimate use upon an understanding\r\nof the facts and relationships of social life.\r\nUnless the mass of workers are to be blind cogs\r\nand pinions in the apparatus they employ, they\r\nmust have some understanding of the physical\r\nand social facts behind and ahead of the material\r\nand appliances with which they are dealing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus put, the problem may seem to be so\r\nvast and complicated as to be impossible of\r\nsolution. But we must remember that we are\r\ndealing with a problem of readjustment, not of\r\noriginal creation. It will take a long time to\r\ncomplete the readjustment which will be brought\r\nabout gradually. The main thing now is to get\r\nstarted, and to start in the right direction.\r\nHence the great importance of the various experimental\r\nsteps which have already been taken.\r\nAnd we must also remember that the essential\r\nthing to be brought about through the change\r\nis not amassing more information, but the formation\r\nof certain attitudes and interests, ways\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_247\" id=\"Page_247\"\u003e247\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof looking at things and dealing with them.\r\nIf accomplishment of the educational readjustment\r\nmeant that pupils must become aware of\r\nthe whole scope of scientific and social material\r\ninvolved in the occupations of daily life, the\r\nproblem would be absolutely impossible of solution.\r\nBut in reality accomplishing the reform\r\nmeans \u003ci\u003eless\u003c/i\u003e attention than under present conditions\r\nto mere bulk of knowledge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is wanted is that pupils shall form the\r\nhabit of connecting the limited information they\r\nacquire with the activities of life, and gain ability\r\nto connect a limited sphere of human activity\r\nwith the scientific principles upon which its successful\r\nconduct depends. The attitudes and interests\r\nthus formed will then take care of themselves.\r\nIf we take arithmetic or geography\r\nthemselves as subjects isolated from social activities\r\nand uses, then the aim of instruction\r\nmust be to cover the whole ground. Any failure\r\nto do so will mark a defect in learning. But not\r\nso if what we, as educators, are concerned with\r\nis that pupils shall realize the connection of\r\nwhat they learn about number, or about the\r\nearth’s surface, with vital social activities. The\r\nquestion ceases to be a matter simply of quantity\r\nand becomes one of motive and purpose.\r\nThe problem is not the impossible one of acquainting\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_248\" id=\"Page_248\"\u003e248\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe pupil with all the social uses to\r\nwhich knowledge of number is put, but of teaching\r\nhim in such a way that each step which he\r\ntakes in advance in his knowledge of number\r\nshall be connected with some situation of human\r\nneed and activity, so that he shall see the bearing\r\nand application of what is learnt. Any child\r\nwho enters upon the study of number already\r\nhas experiences which involve number. Let his\r\ninstruction in arithmetic link itself to these\r\neveryday social activities in which he already\r\nshares, and, as far as it goes, the problem of\r\nsocializing instruction is solved.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe industrial phase of the situation comes\r\nin, of course, in the fact that these social experiences\r\nhave their industrial aspect. This does\r\nnot mean that his number work shall be crassly\r\nutilitarian, or that all the problems shall be in\r\nterms of money and pecuniary gain or loss. On\r\nthe contrary, it means that the pecuniary side\r\nshall be relegated to its proportionate place, and\r\nemphasis put upon the place occupied by knowledge\r\nof weight, form, size, measure, numerical\r\nquantity, as well as money, in the carrying on of\r\nthe activities of life. The purpose of the readjustment\r\nof education to existing social conditions\r\nis not to substitute the acquiring of money\r\nor of bread and butter for the acquiring of information\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_249\" id=\"Page_249\"\u003e249\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nas an educational aim. It is to supply\r\nmen and women who as they go forth, from\r\nschool shall be intelligent in the pursuit of the\r\nactivities in which they engage. That a part of\r\nthat intelligence will, however, have to do with\r\nthe place which bread and butter actually occupy\r\nin the lives of people to-day, is a necessity.\r\nThose who fail to recognize this fact are still\r\nimbued, consciously or unconsciously, with the\r\nintellectual prejudices of an aristocratic state.\r\nBut the primary and fundamental problem is\r\nnot to prepare individuals to work at particular\r\ncallings, but to be vitally and sincerely\r\ninterested in the calling upon which they must\r\nenter if they are not to be social parasites, and\r\nto be informed as to the social and scientific\r\nbearings of that calling. The aim is not to prepare\r\nbread-winners. But since men and women\r\nare normally engaged in bread-winning vocations,\r\nthey need to be intelligent in the conduct\r\nof households, the care of children, the management\r\nof farms and shops, and in the political\r\nconduct of a democracy where industry is the\r\nprime factor.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe problem of educational readjustment thus\r\nhas to steer between the extremes of an inherited\r\nbookish education and a narrow, so-called\r\npractical, education. It is comparatively easy\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_250\" id=\"Page_250\"\u003e250\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nto clamor for a retention of traditional materials\r\nand methods on the ground that they\r\nalone are liberal and cultural. It is comparatively\r\neasy to urge the addition of narrow vocational\r\ntraining for those who, so it is assumed,\r\nare to be the drawers of water and\r\nthe hewers of wood in the existing economic\r\nrégime, leaving intact the present bookish type\r\nof education for those fortunate enough not to\r\nhave to engage in manual labor in the home,\r\nshop, or farm. But since the real question is\r\none of reorganization of all education to meet\r\nthe changed conditions of life\u0026mdash;scientific, social,\r\npolitical\u0026mdash;accompanying the revolution in industry,\r\nthe experiments which have been made\r\nwith this wider end in view are especially deserving\r\nof sympathetic recognition and intelligent\r\nexamination.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_251\" id=\"Page_251\"\u003e251\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_X\" id=\"CHAPTER_X\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER X\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eEDUCATION THROUGH INDUSTRY\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe experiments of some of our cities in giving\r\ntheir children training which shall make\r\nthem intelligent in all the activities of their life,\r\nincluding the important one of earning a living,\r\nfurnish excellent examples of the best that is\r\nbeing done in industrial education. The cities\r\nchosen for description are Gary, Chicago, and\r\nCincinnati. This book is not concerned with\r\nschools or courses which are designed simply\r\nto give the pupils control of one specialized field\r\nof knowledge; that is, which train people for\r\nthe processes of one particular industry or profession.\r\nIt is true that most of the experiments\r\nin industrial education tried so far in this country\r\nhave taken the material offered by the\r\nlargest skilled industries of the neighborhood\r\nfor their basis, and as a result have trained\r\npupils for one or more definite trades. But\r\nwherever the experiment has been prompted by\r\na sincere interest in education and in the welfare\r\nof the community this has not been the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_252\" id=\"Page_252\"\u003e252\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nobject of the work. The interest of the teachers\r\nis not centered on the welfare of any one industry,\r\nbut on the welfare of the young people\r\nof the community. If the material prosperity\r\nof a community is due almost entirely to one or\r\ntwo industries, obviously the welfare of the individuals\r\nof the community is very closely connected\r\nwith those industries. Then the educational\r\npurpose of training the children to the\r\nmost intelligent use of their own capabilities\r\nand of their environment, is most easily served\r\nby using these industries as the material for the\r\nstrictly utilitarian part of this training. The\r\nproblem of general public-school education is\r\nnot to train workers for a trade, but to make\r\nuse of the whole environment of the child in\r\norder to supply motive and meaning to the work.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn Gary this has been done more completely\r\nthan in any other single place. Superintendent\r\nWirt believes firmly in the value of muscular\r\nand sense training for children; and instead of\r\narranging artificial exercises for the purpose, he\r\ngives children the same sort of things to do\r\nthat occupy their parents and call for muscular\r\nskill and fine coördination in the business of\r\neveryday life. Every child in Gary, boy and\r\ngirl, has before his eyes in school finely equipped\r\nworkshops, where he may, as soon as he is old\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_253\" id=\"Page_253\"\u003e253\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nenough, do his share of the actual work of running\r\nand keeping in order the school buildings.\r\nAll of the schools except one small one where\r\nthere are no high school pupils, have a lunch\r\nroom where the girls learn to cook, and a sewing\r\nroom where they learn to make their own\r\nclothes; a printing shop, and carpenter, electrical,\r\nmachine, pattern, forging, and molding\r\nshops, where boys, and girls if they wish, can\r\nlearn how most of the things that they see about\r\nthem every day are made. There are painting\r\ndepartments, and a metal working room, and\r\nalso bookkeeping and stenography classes. The\r\nscience laboratories help give the child some\r\nunderstanding of the principles and processes\r\nat work in the world in which he lives.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe money and space required to equip and\r\nrun these shops are saved from an ordinary\r\nsized school budget by the “two school system”\r\nthat has been described above, and by\r\nthe fact that all the expense usually charged\r\nby a school to repairs and paid out to contractors,\r\nis spent on these shops and for the\r\nsalaries of the skilled workmen who teach in\r\nthem. The buildings are kept in better repair\r\nthan where all the work is done during\r\nthe summer vacation, because as soon as anything\r\nneeds to be fixed the pupils who are\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_254\" id=\"Page_254\"\u003e254\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nworking in the shop that does that kind of work\r\nget at the repairs under the direction of the\r\nteacher. These shops can not be considered in\r\nany way an unnecessary luxury because they\r\nare used also by the high school pupils who are\r\nspecializing for one kind of work and by the\r\nnight and summer school for their vocational\r\nclasses. The school management says in regard\r\nto the success of this plan, “When you\r\nhave provided a plant where the children may\r\nlive a complete life eight hours a day in work,\r\nstudy, and play, it is the simplest thing imaginable\r\nto permit the children in the workshops,\r\nunder the direction and with the help of well-trained\r\nmen and women, to assume the responsibility\r\nfor the equipment and maintenance of\r\nthe school plant. An industrial and commercial\r\nschool for every child is thus provided without\r\nextra cost to the taxpayers.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_254\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 567px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-255.jpg\" width=\"567\" height=\"323\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eLearning moulding, and manufacturing school equipment. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe first three grades spend one hour a day\r\nin manual training and drawing, which take the\r\nform of simple hand-work and are not done in\r\nthe shops, but in an especially equipped room\r\nwith a trained teacher. The pupils draw, do\r\npainting and clay modeling, sewing and simple\r\ncarpentry work. The five higher grades spend\r\ntwice as much time on manual training and\r\ndrawing. The little children go into the shops\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_255\" id=\"Page_255\"\u003e255\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nas helpers and watchers, much as they go into\r\nthe science laboratories, and they pick up almost\r\nas much theory and understanding of processes\r\nas the older children possess. The art work and\r\nsimpler forms of hand-work are kept up for the\r\ndefinite training in control and technique that\r\ncomes from carrying through a problem independently.\r\nBecause the small child’s love of\r\ncreating is very great, they continue until the\r\npupils are old enough to choose what shop they\r\nwill go into as apprentices to the teacher. Since\r\nsixth grade children are old enough and strong\r\nenough to begin doing the actual work of repairing\r\nand maintaining the building, in this grade\r\nthey cease to be watchers and helpers and become\r\nreal workers. Distributing school supplies,\r\nkeeping the school records and taking care\r\nof the grounds are done by the pupils under the\r\ndirection of the school office or the botanical\r\nlaboratory, and constitute a course in shop work\r\njust as much as does painting or repairing the\r\nelectric lights. The school heat and power plant\r\nis also a laboratory for the pupils, in which they\r\nlearn the principles of heating and lighting in\r\na thoroughly practical way because they do\r\nmuch of the work connected with keeping the\r\nplant running.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe shop and science courses of the schools\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_256\" id=\"Page_256\"\u003e256\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nlast only a third of the year, and there is a\r\nshorter probation course of five weeks. The\r\npupils choose with the advice of their teachers\r\nwhat shop course they will take; if at the end of\r\nfive weeks they do not like it they may change.\r\nThey must change twice during the year. In\r\nthis way the work can not lose its educational\r\ncharacter and become simply a method of making\r\njuvenile factory hands to do the school repairs.\r\nTaking three shop courses in one school\r\nyear results in giving the pupil merely a superficial\r\nknowledge of the theory and processes of\r\nany one kind of work. But this is as it should\r\nbe, for the pupils are not taking the courses to\r\nbecome carpenters, or electricians, or dressmakers,\r\nbut to find out how the work of the\r\nworld is done. Moving as they do from one\r\nthing to another they learn as much of the theory\r\nof the industry as children of their age can\r\nunderstand, while an all-around muscular and\r\nsense training is insured. To confine the growing\r\nchild too long to the same kind of muscular\r\nactivity is harmful both mentally and\r\nphysically; to keep on growing he must have\r\nwork which exercises his whole body, which\r\npresents new problems, keeps teaching him new\r\nthings, and thus develops his powers of reasoning\r\nand judgment. Any manual labor ceases to\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_257\" id=\"Page_257\"\u003e257\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbe educative the moment it becomes thoroughly\r\nfamiliar and automatic.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn Gary, the child of the newly arrived immigrant\r\nfrom the agricultural districts of eastern\r\nEurope has as much chance to prepare for a\r\nvocation, that is really to learn his own capabilities\r\nfor the environment in which he finds\r\nhimself, as the child of the educated American.\r\nFrom the time he enters the public school system,\r\nwhether day nursery, kindergarten, or first\r\ngrade, he is among people who are interested in\r\nmaking him see things as they are, and in teaching\r\nhim how to do things. In the nursery he\r\nhas toys to play with which teach him to control\r\nhis body; and he learns unconsciously, by being\r\nwell taken care of, some of the principles of\r\nhygiene and right living. In the kindergarten\r\nthe work to train his growing body to perform\r\nuseful and accurate motions and coördination\r\ngoes on. In the first three grades, emphasis is\r\nput on teaching him to read and write and obtain\r\na good foundation for the theoretical knowledge\r\nwhich comes from books. His physical\r\ngrowth is taken care of on the playground,\r\nwhere he spends about two hours a day, doing\r\nthings that develop his whole body in a natural\r\nway and playing games that give him opportunity\r\nto satisfy his desire to play. At the same\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_258\" id=\"Page_258\"\u003e258\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntime he is taking the first steps in a training\r\nwhich is more specifically vocational, in that it\r\ndeals with the practical bread and butter side\r\nof life. He learns to handle the materials which\r\nlie at the foundations of civilization in much\r\nthe same way that primitive people used them,\r\nbecause this way is suited to the degree of skill\r\nand understanding he has reached. On a little\r\nhand loom he weaves a piece of coarse cloth;\r\nwith clay he makes dishes or other objects that\r\nare familiar to him; with reeds or raffia he\r\nmakes baskets; and with pencil or paints he\r\ndraws for the pleasure of making something\r\nbeautiful; with needle and thread he makes\r\nhimself a bag or apron. All these activities\r\nteach him the first steps in the manufacture of\r\nthe things which are necessary to our life as we\r\nlive it. The weaving and sewing show him how\r\nour clothing is made; the artistic turn that is\r\ngiven to all this work, through modeling and\r\ndrawing, teach him that even the simplest things\r\nin life can be made beautiful, besides furnishing\r\na necessary method of self-expression.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the fourth grade the pupils stop the making\r\nof isolated things, the value of which lies\r\nentirely in the process of making, and where\r\nthe thing’s value lies solely in its interest to the\r\nchild. They still have time, however, to train\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_259\" id=\"Page_259\"\u003e259\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwhatever artistic ability they may possess, and\r\nto develop through their music and art the esthetic\r\nside of their nature. But the rest of their\r\nhand-work takes a further vocational turn.\r\nThe time for manual occupation is now all spent\r\non intensive and useful work in some one kind\r\nof work or industry. These pupils are now less\r\ninterested in games, so they spend less time\r\nplaying and more time making things. The\r\ngirl goes into the dressmaking department and\r\nlearns to sew from the point of view of the\r\nworker who has to produce her own things. She\r\nis still too young to carry through a long, hard\r\npiece of work, so she goes for the first two years\r\nas a watcher and helper, listening to the lessons\r\nin theory that the seventh, eighth, or ninth grade\r\npupils are taking, and helping them with their\r\nwork. A girl may choose dressmaking for her\r\nfirst course, but at the end of three months she\r\nmust change to some other department, perhaps\r\nhelping cook the lunch for the school and learning\r\nabout wholesome foods and food chemistry\r\nfor the next three months. Or if she is fond of\r\ndrawing, she may devote nearly all her time for\r\nshop work to developing her talent for that.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the same way the boy chooses what shop he\r\nwill go into for three months. In the carpenter\r\nshop he will be old enough really to make for\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_260\" id=\"Page_260\"\u003e260\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhimself some of the simpler things needed in\r\nthe school building. If he choose the forging\r\nor casting shop he will have a chance to help\r\nat shoeing the horses for the use of the department\r\nof education, or to help an older boy make\r\nthe mold for the iron stand to a school desk.\r\nIn such ways he finds out something about the\r\nway iron is used for so many of our commonest\r\nthings. In the fifth and sixth grades nearly all\r\nthe boys try to get at least one course in store\r\nkeeping. Here they go into the school storerooms\r\nwith the janitor; and with the school lists\r\nat hand unpack and check up the material which\r\ncomes in both from the workshops and from outside.\r\nThen as these things are needed through\r\nthe building they take the requisitions from the\r\noffice, distribute the material, and make the proper\r\nentries on the books. They are taught practical\r\nbookkeeping and are responsible for the smooth\r\nrunning of the supply department while they\r\nare working there. As they learn the cost of\r\nall the material as well as the method of caring\r\nfor it and distributing it, they get a good idea\r\nof the way a city spends its taxes and of the\r\ngeneral business methods in use in stores. Both\r\nboys and girls may take a beginners’ course in\r\nbookkeeping and office management. Here they\r\ngo into what is called the school bank, and keep\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_261\" id=\"Page_261\"\u003e261\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe records of the shop work of all the pupils in\r\nthe school.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBefore pupils can graduate from school they\r\nmust have completed a certain number of hours\r\nof satisfactory work in the school shops. In\r\norder to fit the needs of every individual pupil,\r\nthe amount of credit does not depend upon the\r\nmere attendance through a three months’\r\ncourse, but each pupil is given credit by the shop\r\nteacher for so many hours of work for the piece\r\nof work he has done. The rate of work is\r\nstandardized, and thus a more equal training is\r\ninsured for all, for the slow worker will get\r\ncredit for only so much completed work regardless\r\nof the time it has taken him, and the fast\r\nworker will get credit for all he does even if he\r\noutstrips the average. A fixed number of\r\n“standard hours” of work entitle the pupil to\r\n“one credit,” for which the pupil receives a\r\ncredit certificate. When he has eight of these\r\nhe has completed the work required by the vocational\r\nsection of the Gary schools for graduation.\r\nAll the work connected with keeping the\r\nrecords for these credit certificates is done by\r\npupils under the direction of an advanced pupil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the seventh grade the pupils are the\r\nresponsible workers in all the shops. A pupil\r\nwho knows that he has to leave school when he\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_262\" id=\"Page_262\"\u003e262\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhas finished the eighth grade can now begin to\r\nspecialize in the workrooms of some one department.\r\nIf he wishes to become a printer he\r\ncan work on the school presses for an entire\r\nyear, or he can put in all his shop time in the\r\nbookkeeping department if he is attracted by\r\noffice work. The girls begin to take charge of\r\nthe lunch room, doing all the marketing and\r\nplanning for the menus and keeping the books.\r\nSewing work takes in more and more of the\r\ncomplications of the industry. The girls learn\r\npattern drawing and designing, and may take\r\na millinery course. The work for the students\r\nin office work is now extended to include stenography\r\nand typewriting and business methods.\r\nThe art work also broadens to take in designing\r\nand hand metal work. There is no break\r\nbetween the work of the grades and the high\r\nschool in the vocational department, except that\r\nas the pupil grows older he naturally tends to\r\nspecialize toward what is to be his life work.\r\nThe vocational department is on exactly the\r\nsame level as the academic, and the school takes\r\nthe wholesome attitude that the boy who intends\r\nto be a carpenter or painter needs to stay in\r\nschool just as many years as the boy who is\r\ngoing to college. The result is the very high\r\nper cent. of pupils who go on to higher schools.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_263\" id=\"Page_263\"\u003e263\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe ordinary view among children of laboring\r\npeople in large cities is that only those who\r\nare going to be teachers need to continue at\r\nschool after the age of fourteen; it does not\r\nmake any difference that one is leaving to go\r\ninto a factory or shop. But since the first day\r\nthe Gary child began going to school he has seen\r\nboys and girls in their last year of high school\r\nstill learning how to do the work that is being\r\ndone where, perhaps, he expects ultimately to\r\ngo to work. He knows that these pupils all\r\nhave a tremendous advantage over him in the\r\nshop, that they will earn more, get a higher\r\ngrade of work to do, and do it better. Through\r\nthe theory lessons in the school shop he has a\r\ngeneral idea of the scope and possibilities in his\r\nchosen trade, and what is more to the purpose,\r\nhe knows how much more he has to learn about\r\nthe work. He is familiar with the statistics of\r\nworkers in that trade, knows the wages for the\r\ndifferent degrees of skill and how far additional\r\ntraining can take a man. With all this information\r\nabout, and outlook upon, his vocation it is\r\nnot strange that so few, comparatively, of the\r\npupils leave school, or that so many of those\r\nwho have to leave come back for evening or\r\nSunday classes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe pupil who stays in a Gary school through\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_264\" id=\"Page_264\"\u003e264\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe four years of high school knows the purpose\r\nof the work he is doing, whether he is going\r\nto college or not. If he wants to go into office\r\nwork, he shapes his course to that end, even\r\nbefore he gets his grammar grades diploma\r\nperhaps. But he is not taking any short cut\r\nto mere earning capacity in the first steps of\r\noffice work. He is doing all the work necessary\r\nto give him the widest possible outlook. His\r\nstudies include, of course, lessons in typewriting\r\nand stenography, bookkeeping and accounting,\r\nfiling, etc.; but they include as well sufficient\r\npractice in English, grammar, and spelling so\r\nthat he will be able to do his work well. They\r\ninclude work in history, geography and science,\r\nso that he will find his work interesting, and\r\nwill have a background of general knowledge\r\nwhich will enrich his whole life. The student\r\npreparing for college does the work necessary\r\nfor his entrance examinations, and a great deal\r\nof manual work besides, which most high school\r\npupils are not supposed to have time for. It is\r\njust as valuable for the man who works with his\r\nbrain to know how to do some of the things that\r\nthe factory worker is doing, as it is for the latter\r\nto know how the patterns for the machine he\r\nis making were drawn, and the principles that\r\ngovern the power supply in the factory. In\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_265\" id=\"Page_265\"\u003e265\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nGary the work is vocational in all of these\r\nsenses. Before the pupil leaves school he has\r\nan opportunity to learn the specific processes\r\nfor any one of a larger number of professions.\r\nBut from the first day he went to school he has\r\nbeen doing work that teaches the motives and\r\nprinciples of the uses to which the material\r\nworld is put by his social environment, so that\r\nwhatever work he goes into will really be a vocation,\r\na calling in life, and not a mere routine\r\nengaged in only for the sake of pay.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe value of the pupils’ training is greatly\r\nincreased by the fact that all the work done\r\nis productive. All the shops are manufacturing\r\nplants for the Gary school; the business school\r\nfinds a laboratory in the school office. In dressmaking\r\nor cooking the girls are making clothes\r\nwhich they need, or else cooking their own and\r\nother people’s lunches. The science laboratories\r\nuse the work of the shops for the illustration\r\nof their theories. The chemistry is the\r\nchemistry of food; botany and zoölogy include\r\nthe care of the school grounds and animals.\r\nDrawing includes dress designing and house\r\ndecoration, or pattern drawing for the hand\r\nmetal shop. Arithmetic classes do the problems\r\nfor their carpentry class, and English\r\nclasses put emphasis on the things which the\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_266\" id=\"Page_266\"\u003e266\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\npupils say they need to know to work in the\r\nprinting shop: usually paragraphing, spelling,\r\nand punctuation. The result of this coöperation\r\nis to make the book work better than if\r\nthey put in all their time on books. The practical\r\nworld is the real world to most people;\r\nbut the world of ideas becomes intensely interesting\r\nwhen its connection with the world of\r\naction is clear. Because the work is real work\r\nconstant opportunities are furnished to carry\r\nout the school policy of meeting the needs of the\r\nindividual pupil. The classification according\r\nto fast, slow, and average workers, both in the\r\nvocational and academic departments, has\r\nalready been described. It enables the pupil to\r\ndo his work when he is ready for it, without\r\nbeing pushed ahead or held back by his fellow\r\npupils; the slow worker may learn as much as\r\nthe rapid worker, and the latter in turn does\r\nnot develop shiftless habits because he has not\r\nenough to do. But if for any reason a pupil\r\ndoes not fit into any of the usual programs of\r\nclassification, he is not forced to the conclusion\r\nthat the school holds no place for him. The\r\npupil who is physically unfit to sit at a desk and\r\nstudy goes to school, and spends all his time\r\noutdoors, with a teacher to help him get strong.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the same way the two-school system enables\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_267\" id=\"Page_267\"\u003e267\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe child who is weak in arithmetic to\r\ncatch up without losing his standing in other\r\nsubjects. He simply takes the arithmetic lessons\r\nwith two grades. In the shops the poor\r\npupil simply works longer on one thing, but as\r\nhis progress is not bound up with that of the\r\nclass it makes no difference. The pupil who\r\nthinks he hates school, or is too stupid to keep on\r\ngoing, is not dealt with by threats and punishments.\r\nHis teachers take it for granted that\r\nthere is something wrong with his program, and\r\nwith his help fix it for him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe child who hastens to leave school without\r\nany reason as soon as he may, is told that he\r\nmay come back and spend all his time on the\r\nthing that he likes. This often results in winning\r\nback a pupil, for after he has worked for\r\na few months in his favorite shop or the art\r\nroom, he finds he needs more book knowledge\r\nto keep on there and so he asks to go back to\r\nhis grade. The large number of foreign pupils\r\nis also more efficiently dealt with. The newcomer\r\nconcentrates on English and reading and\r\nwriting until he is able to go into the grade\r\nwhere his age would naturally place him, and\r\nthe pupil who expects to go to school only a very\r\nshort time before going to work can be put into\r\nthe classes which will give him what he needs\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_268\" id=\"Page_268\"\u003e268\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nmost, regardless of his age or grade. The work\r\naround the school buildings which can not be\r\ndone by the pupils under the direction of the\r\nshop or department heads, is not done by outside\r\nhired help, but is given to some school pupil\r\nwho is interested in that sort of work and is\r\nready to leave school. This pupil holds the\r\nposition for a few months only, until he has\r\nno more to learn from his work or gets a better\r\nposition outside. These pupil assistants are\r\npaid sightly less than they could earn if they\r\nwent into an office, but the plan often serves to\r\nkeep a pupil under school influences and learning\r\nwhen he would otherwise have to leave\r\nschool in order to earn money, perhaps just\r\nbefore he finishes his technical training.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_268\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 574px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-269.jpg\" width=\"574\" height=\"321\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eReal work in a real shop begins in the fifth grade. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eGary has fortunately been able to begin with\r\nsuch an all-around system of education, putting\r\nit into operation in all her schools in a nearly\r\ncomplete form, because the town was made, as\r\nit were, at a stroke and has grown rapidly from\r\na waste stretch of sand dunes to a prosperous\r\ntown. But many other cities are realizing more\r\nand more strongly the necessity of linking their\r\ncurriculum more closely to the lives of their\r\npupils, by furnishing the children with a general\r\ntraining and outlook on life which will fit\r\nthem for their place in the world as adults.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_269\" id=\"Page_269\"\u003e269\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nRecently the Chicago public schools have been\r\nintroducing vocational work in some of the\r\nschool buildings, while technical high schools\r\ngive courses that are vocational, besides work\r\nin trade-training. Of course such elaborate\r\nequipment as that in Gary is impractical in a\r\nbuilding where the shops are not used by the high\r\nschool as well as the grades. Twenty or more\r\nof the regular school buildings in the city have\r\nbeen fitted up with carpenter shops and cooking\r\nand sewing rooms as well as laboratories for\r\nwork in science. Each one of these schools has\r\na garden where the pupils learn how to do practical\r\ncity gardening. From one-fourth to even\r\na half of the children’s time is spent on manual\r\ntraining instead of one-eighth as in the other\r\nschools of the city, and in other respects the\r\nregular curriculum is being followed. The\r\nteachers in the schools who were there before\r\nthe change of program feel convinced that the\r\npupils not only get through with as much book\r\nwork as they did when practically all their time\r\nwas given to it, but that they actually do their\r\nwork better because of the motive furnished by\r\nthe hand work.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe courses given by the schools are not uniform,\r\nbut most of the schools include courses\r\nin mechanical drawing, pattern making, metal\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_270\" id=\"Page_270\"\u003e270\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwork, woodwork, and printing for the boys, and\r\nfor the girls, work in sewing, weaving, cooking,\r\nmillinery, laundry, and general home-making.\r\nBoth boys and girls have work in designing,\r\npottery, bookbinding, and gardening. The\r\nprogram differs somewhat in different schools\r\nto meet the needs of the neighborhood or because\r\nof the resources of the building; but all\r\nthe pupils of one school take the same work,\r\nso that when a pupil graduates from the eighth\r\ngrade in one of these schools he has acquired\r\na good beginner’s knowledge of the principles\r\nand processes underlying two or three trades.\r\nThis special work is supplemented by the regular\r\nwork in music and art and this, with work\r\nin the elementary processes of sewing and weaving\r\nand pottery, constitutes the work for the\r\nyounger grades. The object of this training is\r\nto enable the child to pick up the thread of life\r\nin his own community, by giving him an understanding\r\nof the elements of the occupations that\r\nsupply man’s daily needs; it is not to confine\r\nhim to the industries of his neighborhood by\r\nteaching him some one skilled trade.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe laboratories for the study of the elements\r\nof science play a most important part in this\r\nwork. In them the child learns to understand\r\nthe foundations of modern industry, and so\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_271\" id=\"Page_271\"\u003e271\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ncomes to his environment as a whole. Without\r\nthis comprehensive vision no true vocational\r\ntraining can be successful, for it is only as he\r\nsees the place of different kinds of work and\r\ntheir relation to each other that the youth can\r\ntruly choose what his own vocation is to be.\r\nElementary courses in physics, chemistry, and\r\nbotany are given pupils, and the bearing of the\r\nwork on what they are doing in the shops is\r\nmade clear. The botany is taught in connection\r\nwith the gardening classes, chemistry for the\r\ngirls is given in the form of the elements of\r\nfood chemistry. One school gives a laboratory\r\nclass in electricity, where the pupils make the\r\nindustrial application of the laws they are studying,\r\nlearning how to wire when they are learning\r\nabout currents, and how to make a dynamo\r\nwhen they are working on magnets, etc. All\r\nthe pupils take a course in the elements of\r\nscience, so that they may get a true basis for\r\ntheir ideas about the way things work. There\r\nis no doubt that even in this rather tentative\r\nform the vocational schools have proved themselves\r\na decided success, enabling pupils to do\r\ntheir book work better than before. Linking it\r\nwith the things of everyday life gives it meaning\r\nand zest, and at the same time furnishes a mental\r\nand muscular control over the sort of thing\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_272\" id=\"Page_272\"\u003e272\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthey are going to need as adults while earning a\r\nliving.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere are five technical high schools in Chicago,\r\nfour for boys and one for girls. In all of\r\nthese and in three other schools there are given\r\nwhat is known as “prevocational” courses.\r\nThese are for pupils who have reached the legal\r\nage for leaving school, but who are so backward\r\nin their work that they ought not to be allowed\r\nto do so, while at the same time this backwardness\r\nmakes them wish not to stay. These\r\nclasses have proved again the great value of\r\ntraining for the practical things of everyday\r\nlife to the city child. The boys and girls who\r\nare put into these classes are by no means deficient:\r\nthey are simply children who for one\r\nreason or another have not been able to get\r\nalong in the ordinary grade school as well as\r\nthey ought; often the reason has been poor\r\nhealth, or because the child has had to move\r\nfrom one school to another, or simply because\r\nthe usual curriculum made so little appeal that\r\nthey were not able to hold themselves to the\r\nwork. The prevocational classes include the\r\nsixth, seventh, and eighth grades, and give the\r\ngreater part of the time to training the child\r\nthrough developing skill with his hands. Book\r\nwork is not neglected, however, and the pupils\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_273\" id=\"Page_273\"\u003e273\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nare held up to the same standards that they\r\nwould have to reach in an ordinary school,\r\nthough they do not cover quite so much ground.\r\nThe work can be made more varied than in the\r\nvocational grammar school because the equipment\r\nof the high school is available. Moreover,\r\ntheir ambition is so stimulated that very large\r\nnumbers of them do additional work and transfer\r\nto the regular technical high school work,\r\nwhere in spite of their prior backwardness they\r\ndo as well as the regular students. Ordinarily\r\nnot a single one of them would ever have entered\r\na high school.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe girls’ technical high school does about\r\nwhat the vocational grammar schools are doing\r\nexcepting that the work is more thorough, so\r\nthat the graduate is more nearly prepared to\r\ntake up work in some one industry. The cooking\r\nincludes work in the school lunch room, and\r\ntraining in marketing, kitchen gardening and\r\ngeneral housekeeping. The vocational classes\r\nproper take up large-quantity cooking, household\r\nadministration, and restaurant management.\r\nIn sewing the girls learn how to make\r\ntheir own clothes, but they learn as the work\r\nwould have to be learned in a good dressmaking\r\nestablishment; there is a course in machine\r\noperating for the girls who wish it. More advanced\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_274\" id=\"Page_274\"\u003e274\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwork teaches such principles of pattern\r\nmaking and designing as would be needed by a\r\nshop manager. But the most important difference\r\nis found in the emphasis that is put on the\r\nartistic side of women’s traditional occupations.\r\nDrawing is taught while the girls are\r\nlearning to design dresses, and color in the\r\nsame way; how to make the home pleasing to\r\nthe eye is made a vital problem in the housekeeping\r\ndepartment, and the art department has\r\ndecorated the model rooms. The pattern and\r\ncoloring for any piece of work, whether it is a\r\ncenterpiece to be embroidered, a dress, a piece\r\nof pottery, or weaving, has been carefully\r\nworked out in the art department by the worker\r\nherself before she begins upon it in the shop.\r\nThe girls are not simply learning how to do the\r\ndrudgery of housework more efficiently; they\r\nare learning how to lift it above drudgery by\r\nmaking it into a profession.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe vocational courses in the boys’ technical\r\nhigh schools continue the pupils’ study in the regular\r\nacademic subjects, and give them work in\r\nexcellently equipped shops. There is work in\r\nprinting, carpentry, forging, metal work, mechanical\r\ndrawing, and in the machine shop, well\r\nsupplemented by the art department. The\r\npupil does not specialize in one kind of work,\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_275\" id=\"Page_275\"\u003e275\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbut secures general training. The object of\r\nall the vocational courses in the grammar\r\nschools is to prepare the pupils for any branch\r\nof work that they may want to take up by giving\r\nthem an outlook over all the branches of work\r\ncarried on around them. The work is cultural\r\nin much the same way that it is cultural in\r\nGary. The success of these courses in bringing\r\nboys back to school, in enabling others to\r\ncatch up with their grade, and in keeping others\r\nin school, points strongly to the fact that for a\r\ngreat many pupils at least some work which\r\nwill link their school course to the activities of\r\neveryday life is necessary.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe technical high schools give two-year\r\ncourses for the pupils who can not afford to\r\nstay in school for four years. They are designed\r\nto give a boy training for a definite vocation,\r\nand are at the same time broad enough\r\nto count for the first two years of high school\r\nwork if the boy should be able to go on later.\r\nAt the Lane School two-year courses are given\r\nin patternmaking, machine shop work, carpentry,\r\nelectricity, printing and mechanical\r\ndrawing; all of these courses include work in\r\nEnglish, shop arithmetic, drawing, and physiology.\r\nThe four-year pupils take one of three\r\ncourses, according to what they expect to do.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_276\" id=\"Page_276\"\u003e276\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nThe technical course prepares students for college,\r\nthe architectural course prepares for work\r\nin an architect’s office, and the general trade\r\ncourse prepares for immediate entry into industry.\r\nDuring the first two years of work the\r\nstudent devotes his time to the study of general\r\nsubjects, and during the last two the major\r\npart of his time is put in on work that leads\r\ndirectly to the vocation that he has chosen.\r\nThe two-year course has not cut down the total\r\nattendance at the school by offering a short cut\r\nto pupils who would otherwise stay four years.\r\nOn the contrary, it has drawn a different class\r\nof boys to school, those who had expected to go\r\ndirectly to work, but who were glad to make a\r\nsacrifice to stay on in school two years longer\r\nwhen an opportunity appeared to put those two\r\nyears to definite account in training for the\r\nchosen occupation. All these technical high\r\nschools have shown conclusively that boys and\r\ngirls like to go to school and like to learn, when\r\nthey can see whither their lessons are leading.\r\nGiving the young work they want to do is a more\r\neffective method of keeping them in school than\r\nare truant officers or laws.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the Lane School the work of the different\r\ndepartments is closely connected so that the\r\npupil sees the relations of any one kind of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_277\" id=\"Page_277\"\u003e277\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwork to everything he is doing. A problem\r\nbeing set to a group of students, such as the\r\nmaking of a gasoline engine or a vacuum\r\ncleaner, the different elements in its solution\r\nare worked out in the different classrooms.\r\nFor the vacuum cleaner, for instance, the pupils\r\nmust have reached a certain point in physics\r\nand electrical work before they are capable of\r\ntrying to make the machine, since each pupil\r\nbecomes in a sense the inventor, working out\r\neverything except the idea of the machine.\r\nWhen they are familiar with the principles\r\nwhich govern the cleaner they make rough\r\nsketches, which are discussed in the machine\r\nshop and altered until the sketch holds the\r\npromise of a practical result. In mechanical\r\ndrawing, accurate drawings are made for the\r\nwhole thing and for each part, from which patterns\r\nare made in the pattern shop. The pupils\r\nmake their own molds and castings and when\r\nthey have all the parts they construct the\r\nvacuum cleaner in the machine and electrical\r\nshops. The problem of the gasoline engine is\r\nworked out in a like way; and since all the work\r\nthat is given the pupils has been chosen for its\r\nutility as well as its educational value, the\r\npupil does everything connected with its production\r\nhimself, from working out the theory in\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_278\" id=\"Page_278\"\u003e278\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe laboratory or classroom to screwing the last\r\nbolt. The connection of theory and practice\r\nnot only makes the former concrete and understandable,\r\nbut it prevents the manual work from\r\nbeing routine and narrow. When a pupil has\r\ncompleted a problem of this sort he has increased\r\nknowledge and power. He has tested\r\nthe facts he learned and knows what they stand\r\nfor in terms of the use the world makes of them;\r\nand he has made a useful thing in a way which\r\ndevelops his own sense of independent intelligent\r\npower.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe attempts of the Cincinnati school board\r\nto give the school children of that city a better\r\neducation, by giving them a better preparation\r\nfor the future, have been made from a somewhat\r\ndifferent point of view. Three-fourths of\r\nthe school children of Cincinnati, as of so many\r\nother cities, leave school when they are fourteen\r\nyears old; most of them do not go beyond\r\nthe fifth grade. They do this because they feel\r\nthey must go to work in order to give help at\r\nhome. Of course a fifth-grade pupil of fourteen\r\nis fitted to do only the easiest and most mechanical\r\nwork and so receives very low pay. Once\r\nat work in factory or shop on this routine kind\r\nof work, the chances for the worker to advance,\r\nor to become master of any trade, or branch of\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_279\" id=\"Page_279\"\u003e279\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhis trade, are slight. His schooling has given\r\nhim only an elementary control of the three\r\nR’s, and usually no knowledge of the theory or\r\npractice of the business he is engaged in. He\r\nsoon finds himself in a position where he is not\r\nlearning any more. It is only the very exceptional\r\nperson who will go on educating himself\r\nand push ahead to a position of independence\r\nor responsibility under such conditions. The\r\nperson who becomes economically swamped in\r\nthe cheapest grades of work is not going to\r\nshow much energy or intelligence in his life as\r\ncitizen. The experiments of the Cincinnati\r\nschools in introducing manual and industrial\r\ntraining have been directed to remedying this\r\nevil by making the school work such that the\r\npupil will desire to stay in school if this is in\r\nany way possible; and if it is not, by giving\r\nhim opportunities to go on with his education\r\nwhile working.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ohio law requires children to stay in\r\nschool until they are sixteen unless they must\r\ngo to work, when they are given a certificate\r\npermitting them to work for the employer with\r\nwhom they have found their first position.\r\nThis permission must be renewed with each\r\nchange of position. Consequently the pupil is\r\nkept in school until he has found work, and if\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_280\" id=\"Page_280\"\u003e280\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfor any reason he stops working, the school\r\nkeeps in touch with him and can see that he\r\ngoes back to school. The city also conducts\r\ncontinuation schools, where most of the pupils\r\nwho leave between the ages of fourteen and sixteen\r\nhave to return to school for a few hours a\r\nweek, receiving theoretical instruction in the\r\nwork they are doing. The cash girl has lessons\r\nin business English, arithmetic of the sort she\r\nhas to use, and lessons in salesmanship, and\r\nreceives a certain amount of general instruction\r\nabout her special branch of trade. There are\r\nvoluntary continuation classes for workers\r\nabove sixteen years of age, by means of which\r\nany shop or store is able to use the facilities\r\nof the public schools to make their workers more\r\nefficient by giving them more knowledge of the\r\ntheory of the trade.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese continuation classes are undoubtedly\r\nof the greatest value to the employee who can\r\nnot go back to school, but they do not give him\r\nthat grasp of present problems and conditions\r\nwhich would enable him intelligently to choose\r\nthe work for which he is best suited. They improve\r\nhim in a particular calling, but the calling\r\nmay have been selected by accident. Their\r\nfunction is to make up to the child somewhat\r\nfor what he has lost by having to become a wage\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_281\" id=\"Page_281\"\u003e281\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nearner so young. The coöperative plan which\r\nis being thoroughly tried out in Cincinnati is\r\nless of a makeshift and more of a distinct contribution\r\nto education, and has so far proved so\r\nsuccessful as to be of great suggestive value.\r\nMore than any other vocational plan it takes\r\nadvantage of the educational value of the industries\r\nthat are most important in the community.\r\nThe factory shops of the city become\r\nthe school shops for the pupils. Many of the\r\nbig factories of the city have shown themselves\r\nwilling to coöperate with the city for the first\r\nyear of the experiment. This has proved so\r\nsuccessful that many more factories are anxious\r\nto get their beginning workers in this way. In\r\na sense it is a return to the old-fashioned apprenticeship\r\nmethod that prevailed when manufacturing\r\nwas done by hand; for the pupils get\r\ntheir manual skill and the necessary practice in\r\nprocesses and shop conditions by working for\r\nwages in the city factories.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the plan is further along the factories\r\nand stores will not be the only community institutions\r\nthat will furnish laboratories for the\r\nschool children of the city. The city college\r\nwill begin its plan of having the domestic science\r\npupils get their practice by working as\r\nnurses, cooks, housekeepers, or bookkeepers in\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_282\" id=\"Page_282\"\u003e282\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe city hospital, and the engineering and architectural\r\nstudents will get theirs by working\r\nin the machine shops and draught-room of the\r\ncity. As far as possible the departments of\r\nthe city government will be used for the pupils’\r\nworkshops; where they can not furnish\r\nopportunities for the kind of work the pupil\r\nneeds, he will go into an office, store, or factory\r\nwhere conditions reach the standard set by\r\nthe board of education. So far this plan has\r\nbeen tested only with the boys and girls who\r\nare taking the technical course in the city high\r\nschools. The pupils who have finished the first\r\ntwo years of work, which corresponds to the\r\nwork of any good technical high school, begin\r\nworking alternate weeks in shop and school.\r\nThe pupil chooses a kind of work in which he\r\nwishes to specialize, and is then given a position\r\nin one of the factories or shops which are\r\ncoöperating with the schools. He receives pay\r\nfor his work as any beginner would, and does\r\nthe regular work of the place, under the direction\r\nof, and responsible to, the shop superintendent.\r\nOne week he works here under trade\r\nconditions, meeting the requirements of the\r\nplace, the next week he returns to school,\r\nand his place in the factory is taken by\r\nanother pupil who has chosen the same line\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_283\" id=\"Page_283\"\u003e283\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof work. The week in school is devoted entirely\r\nto theoretical work. The pupil continues\r\nhis work in English, history, mathematics,\r\ndrawing, and science, and enriches his\r\ntrade experience by a thorough study of the\r\nindustry, all its processes and the science they\r\ninvolve, the use, history, and distribution of the\r\ngoods, and the history of the industry. This\r\nalternation between factory and shop is kept\r\nup for the last two years of the course, and also\r\nduring the pupil’s college course, provided he\r\ngoes on to a technical course in the city university.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the standpoint of vocational guidance,\r\nthis method has certain distinct advantages over\r\nhaving the pupil remain in the classroom until\r\nhe goes into a shop permanently. His practical\r\nwork in the factory is in the nature of an experiment.\r\nIf his first choice proves a failure,\r\nthe pupil does not get the moral setback that\r\ncomes from a failure to the self-supporting person.\r\nThe school takes the attitude that the\r\npupil did not make the right choice; by coöperating\r\nwith him, the effort is made to have his\r\nsecond factory experience correspond more\r\nnearly to his abilities and interest. A careful\r\nrecord of the pupil’s work in the factory is\r\nkept as well as of his classroom work, and these\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_284\" id=\"Page_284\"\u003e284\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntwo records are studied, not as separate items,\r\nbut as interacting and inseparable. If his class\r\nwork is good and his factory record poor, it is\r\nevident that he is in the wrong factory; and the\r\nnature of the class work will often give a hint\r\nof the sort of work to which the pupil ought to\r\nchange. If all the work is mediocre, a change\r\nto another kind of practical work will often result\r\nin a marked improvement in the theoretical\r\nwork if the change has been the right one. The\r\npupil has an opportunity to test his own interests\r\nand abilities, to find if his judgment of them\r\nis correct; if it is not, he has a scientific basis\r\non which to form a more correct judgment.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_284\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 323px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-284.jpg\" width=\"323\" height=\"248\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eChildren are interested in the things they need to know\r\nabout. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_284b\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 324px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-284a.jpg\" width=\"324\" height=\"247\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eMaking their own clothes in sewing class. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe work is not approached from the trade\r\npoint of view; that is, the schools do not aim\r\nto turn out workers who have finished a two\r\nyears’ apprenticeship in a trade and are to that\r\nextent qualified as skilled workmen for that\r\nparticular thing. The aim is to give the pupil\r\nsome knowledge of the actual conditions in trade\r\nand industry so that he will have standards\r\nfrom which to make a final intelligent choice.\r\nThe school work forms a necessary part of the\r\ntraining for this choice, for it is just as much\r\na guide to the interests and bent of the boy as\r\nwould be his success in any one shop. And it\r\nlifts his judgments from the plane of mere likes\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_285\" id=\"Page_285\"\u003e285\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand dislikes to that of knowledge based on theory\r\nas well as practice. For the exceptional pupil\r\nwho really knows what he wants, and is eager\r\nto go ahead with it, this plan offers distinct advantages.\r\nThe boy’s desire to get to work is\r\nsatisfied by his weeks in the shop, and in his\r\nclassroom he is learning enough of the larger aspects\r\nand possibilities of the trade to make him\r\nrealize the value of additional theoretical training\r\nfor the satisfaction of his own practical purposes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs a result of the first year of working on\r\nthis plan a large number of factories, at first\r\nindifferent to the plan, have asked to receive\r\napprentices in this way, and a number of pupils\r\nhave decided to go to college who, when they\r\nwere spending all their time in school, had no\r\nsuch intention. The technical course for girls\r\nincludes only those occupations that are traditionally\r\nsupposed to belong to women because\r\nthey are connected with home-making. They\r\nmay continue for the four years working in\r\nschool, which is made practical by having the\r\npupils trim hats to wear, make their own\r\nclothes, do some commercial cooking, with the\r\nbuying, selling, and bookkeeping connected with\r\nit; or they may specialize during the last two\r\nyears as the boys do, by working alternate weeks\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_286\" id=\"Page_286\"\u003e286\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin shop and school. So far girls have gone only\r\ninto millinery or sewing establishments, where\r\nthey work just as do the boys under actual trade\r\nconditions. The aim of the work for the girl,\r\njust as it is for the boy, is to help her find her\r\nlife work, to fit herself for it mentally and\r\nmorally, and to give her an intelligent attitude\r\ntoward her profession and her community,\r\nusing the shop experience not as an end in itself\r\nbut a means to these larger ends.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003chr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_287\" id=\"Page_287\"\u003e287\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"vspace\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"CHAPTER_XI\" id=\"CHAPTER_XI\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eCHAPTER XI\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cspan class=\"subhead\"\u003eDEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe schools that have been described were\r\nselected not because of any conviction that they\r\nrepresent all of the best work that is being done\r\nin this country, but simply because they illustrate\r\nthe general trend of education at the present\r\ntime, and because they seem fairly representative\r\nof different types of schools. Of necessity\r\na great deal of material that would\r\nundoubtedly prove just as suggestive as what\r\nhas been given, has been omitted. No attempt\r\nhas been made to touch upon the important\r\nmovement for the vitalization of rural education:\r\na movement that is just as far reaching\r\nin its scope and wholesome in its aims as anything\r\nthat is being done, since it purposes to\r\novercome the disadvantages of isolation that\r\nhave handicapped the country schoolteacher,\r\nand to make use of the natural environment of\r\nthe child to give him a vocational education, in\r\nthe same way that the city schools use their artificial\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_288\" id=\"Page_288\"\u003e288\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nenvironment. And except as their work\r\nillustrates a larger educational principle, very\r\nlittle attention has been given to the work of individual\r\nteachers or schools in their attempt\r\nto teach the conventional curriculum in the most\r\nefficient way. While devices and ingenious\r\nmethods for getting results from pupils often\r\nseem most suggestive and even inspiring to the\r\nteacher, they do not fit into the plan of this\r\nbook when they have to do simply with the\r\nbetter use of the usual material of the traditional\r\neducation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWe have been concerned with the more fundamental\r\nchanges in education, with the\r\nawakening of the schools to a realization of\r\nthe fact that their work ought to prepare children\r\nfor the life they are to lead in the world.\r\nThe pupils who will pass this life in intellectual\r\npursuits, and who get the necessary training for\r\nthe practical side of their lives from their home\r\nenvironment, are such a small factor numerically\r\nthat the schools are not acting wisely to\r\nshape all the work for them. The schools we\r\nhave been discussing are all working away from\r\na curriculum adapted to a small and specialized\r\nclass towards one which shall be truly representive\r\nof the needs and conditions of a democratic\r\nsociety.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_289\" id=\"Page_289\"\u003e289\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile these schools are all alike in that they\r\nreflect the new spirit in education, they differ\r\ngreatly in the methods that have been developed\r\nto bring about the desired results; their surroundings\r\nand the class of pupils dealt with are\r\nvaried enough to suggest the influence that local\r\nconditions must exercise over methods even\r\nwhen the aim is identical. To the educator for\r\nwhom the problems of democracy are at all real,\r\nthe vital necessity appears to be that of making\r\nthe connection between the child and his environment\r\nas complete and intelligent as possible,\r\nboth for the welfare of the child and for the sake\r\nof the community. The way this is to be accomplished\r\nwill, of course, vary according to the\r\nconditions of the community and to a certain extent\r\naccording to the temperament and beliefs of\r\nthe educator. But great as the differences are\r\nbetween the different schools, between such a\r\nplan as that worked out by Mr. Meriam in Columbia,\r\nMissouri, and the curriculum of the Chicago\r\npublic schools, an analysis of the ideas\r\nback of the apparent extreme divergence of\r\nviews, reveals certain resemblances that seem\r\nmore fundamental than the differences. The\r\nresemblances are more fundamental because\r\nthey illustrate the direction that educational reform\r\nis taking, and because many of them are\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_290\" id=\"Page_290\"\u003e290\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe direct result of the changes that modern\r\nscience and psychology have brought about in\r\nour way of looking at the world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eCuriously enough most of these points of similarity\r\nare found in the views advocated by\r\nRousseau, though it is only very recently that\r\nthey have begun to enjoy anything more than\r\na theoretical respect. The first point of similarity\r\nis the importance that is accorded to the\r\nphysical welfare of the pupils. The necessity\r\nof insuring the health of all young people as\r\nthe foundation on which to build other qualities\r\nand abilities, and the hopelessness of trying to\r\nbuild where the body is weak, ill-nourished, or\r\nuncontrolled, is now so well recognized that it\r\nhas become a commonplace and needs only a\r\npassing mention here. Health is as important\r\nfrom the social point of view as from the individual,\r\nso that attention to it is doubly necessary\r\nto a successful community.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhile all schools realize the importance of\r\nhealthy pupils, the possibilities of using the activities\r\nof the child that are employed in giving\r\nhim a strong healthy body, for general educational\r\npurposes, are not so well understood.\r\nAs yet it is the pioneer in education who realizes\r\nthe extent to which young children learn\r\nthrough the use of their bodies, and the impossibility\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_291\" id=\"Page_291\"\u003e291\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof insuring general intelligence\r\nthrough a system which does not use the body\r\nto teach the mind and the mind to teach the\r\nbody. This is simply a restatement of Rousseau’s\r\nproposition that the education of the\r\nyoung child rests largely on whether he is\r\nallowed to “develop naturally” or not. It has\r\nalready been pointed out to what an extent Mrs.\r\nJohnson depends on the physical growth of her\r\npupils as a tool for developing their intellectual\r\nability, as well as the important part that muscular\r\nskill plays in the educational system of\r\nMadame Montessori. This seems not only reasonable\r\nbut necessary when we think of the\r\nmere amount of movement, handling, and feeling\r\nof things that a baby must indulge in to\r\nunderstand the most familiar objects in its environment,\r\nand remember that the child and the\r\nadult learn with the same mental machinery as\r\nthe very small child. There is no difference in\r\nthe way the organism works after it is able to\r\ntalk and walk; the difference lies in the greater\r\ncomplexity of activities which is made possible\r\nby the preliminary exercises. Modern psychology\r\nhas pointed out the fact that the native\r\ninstincts of a human being are his tools for\r\nlearning. Instincts all express themselves\r\nthrough the body; therefore education which\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_292\" id=\"Page_292\"\u003e292\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nstifles bodily activities, stifles instincts, and so\r\nprevents the natural method of learning. To\r\nthe extent of making an educational application\r\nof this fact, all the schools described are using\r\nthe physical activities of their pupils, and so the\r\nmeans of their physical development, as instruments\r\nfor training powers of judgment and\r\nright thinking. That is to say the pupils are\r\nlearning by doing. Aside from the psychological\r\nreasons for teaching by this method, it is\r\nthe logical consequence of a realization of the\r\nimportance of the physical welfare of the child,\r\nand necessarily brings changes in the material\r\nof the schoolroom.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat are the pupils to do in order to learn?\r\nMere activity, if not directed toward some end,\r\nmay result in developing muscular strength,\r\nbut it can have very little effect on the mental\r\ndevelopment of the pupils. These schools have\r\nall answered the question in the same general\r\nway, though the definite problems on which they\r\nwork differ. The children must have activities\r\nwhich have some educative content, that is,\r\nwhich reproduce the conditions of real life.\r\nThis is true whether they are studying about\r\nthings that happened hundreds of years ago or\r\nwhether they are doing problems in arithmetic\r\nor learning to plane a board. The historical\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_293\" id=\"Page_293\"\u003e293\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nfacts which are presented must be true, and\r\nwhether the pupils are writing a play based on\r\nthem or are building a viking boat, the details of\r\nthe work as well as the main idea must conform\r\nto the known facts. When a pupil learns by doing\r\nhe is reliving both mentally and physically\r\nsome experience which has proved important to\r\nthe human race; he goes through the same mental\r\nprocesses as those who originally did these\r\nthings. Because he has done them he knows the\r\nvalue of the result, that is, the fact. A statement,\r\neven of facts, does not reveal the value\r\nof the fact, or the sense of its truth\u0026mdash;of the fact\r\nthat it is a fact. Where children are fed only\r\non book knowledge, one “fact” is as good as\r\nanother; they have no standards of judgment\r\nor belief. Take the child studying weights and\r\nmeasures; he reads in his text-book that eight\r\nquarts make a peck, but when he does examples\r\nhe is apt, as every schoolteacher knows, to substitute\r\nfour for eight. Evidently the statement\r\nas he read it in the book did not stand for anything\r\nthat goes on outside the book, so it is a\r\nmatter of accident what figure lodges in his\r\nbrain, or whether any does. But the grocer’s\r\nboy who has measured out pecks with a quart\r\nmeasure \u003ci\u003eknows\u003c/i\u003e. He has made pecks; he would\r\nlaugh at anybody who suggested that four\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_294\" id=\"Page_294\"\u003e294\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nquarts made a peck. What is the difference in\r\nthese two cases? The schoolboy has a result\r\nwithout the activity of which it is the result.\r\nTo the grocer’s boy the statement has value and\r\ntruth, for it is the obvious result of an experience\u0026mdash;it\r\nis a \u003ci\u003efact\u003c/i\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus we see that it is a mistake to suppose\r\nthat practical activities have only or even\r\nmainly a utilitarian value in the schoolroom.\r\nThey are necessary if the pupil is to understand\r\nthe facts which the teacher wishes him to learn;\r\nif his knowledge is to be real, not verbal; if his\r\neducation is to furnish standards of judgment\r\nand comparison. With the adult it is undoubtedly\r\ntrue that most of the activities of practical\r\nlife have become simply means of satisfying\r\nmore or less imperative wants. He has performed\r\nthem so often that their meaning as\r\ntypes of human knowledge has disappeared.\r\nBut with the school child this is not true. Take\r\na child in the school kitchen; he is not merely\r\npreparing that day’s midday meal because he\r\nmust eat; he is learning a multitude of new\r\nthings. In following the directions of the \u003ci\u003erecipe\u003c/i\u003e\r\nhe is learning accuracy, and the success or failure\r\nof the dish serves as an excellent measure\r\nof the pupil’s success. In measuring quantities\r\nhe is learning arithmetic and tables of measures;\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_295\" id=\"Page_295\"\u003e295\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nin mixing materials, he is finding out how\r\nsubstances act when they are manipulated; in\r\nbaking or boiling he is discovering some of the\r\nelementary facts of physics and chemistry.\r\nRepetition of these acts by adults, after the muscular\r\nand intellectual mastery of the adjustments\r\nthey call for has been established, gives\r\nthe casual thinker the impression that pupils\r\nalso are doing no more than wasting their time\r\non insignificant things. The grocer’s boy\r\nknows what a peck is because he has used it to\r\nmeasure things with, but since his stock of\r\nknowledge is not increased as he goes on measuring\r\nout peck after peck, the point is soon\r\nreached where intellectual discovery ends and\r\nmere performance of a task takes its place.\r\nThis is the point where the school can see that\r\nthe pupil’s intellectual growth continues; while\r\nthe activity of the mere worker who is doing the\r\nthing for its immediate practical use becomes\r\nmechanical. The school says the pupil has had\r\nenough of this particular experience; he knows\r\nhow to do this thing when he needs to and he\r\nhas understood the principles or facts which it\r\nillustrates; it is time he moved on to other experiences\r\nwhich will teach him other values and\r\nfacts. When the pupil has learned how to follow\r\na recipe, how to handle foodstuffs and use\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_296\" id=\"Page_296\"\u003e296\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe stove he does not go on repeating the same\r\nelementary steps; he begins to extend his work\r\nto take in the larger aspects of cooking. The\r\neducative value of the cooking lessons continues\r\nbecause he is now studying questions of food\r\nvalues, menus, the cost of food, and the chemistry\r\nof food stuffs, and cooking. The kitchen\r\nbecomes a laboratory for the study of a fundamental\r\nfactor in human life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"ip_296\" class=\"figcenter\" style=\"width: 567px;\"\u003e\r\n \u003cimg src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-schools-of-tomorrow-i-297.jpg\" width=\"567\" height=\"322\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\r\n \u003cdiv class=\"caption\"\u003eTraining the hand, eye, and brain by doing useful work. (Gary, Ind.)\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe moral advantages of an active form of\r\neducation reënforce its intellectual benefits.\r\nWe have seen how this method of teaching\r\nnecessitates greater freedom for the pupil, and\r\nthat this freedom is a positive factor in the intellectual\r\nand moral development of the pupils.\r\nIn the same way the substitution of practical\r\nactivities for the usual isolated text-book study\r\nachieves positive moral results which are\r\nmarked to any teacher who has used both methods.\r\nWhere the accumulation of facts presented\r\nin books is the standard, memory must\r\nbe relied upon as the principal tool for acquiring\r\nknowledge. The pupil must be stimulated\r\nto remember facts; it makes comparatively little\r\ndifference whether he has to remember them in\r\nthe exact words of the book, or in his own words,\r\nfor in either case the problem is to see that he\r\ndoes store up information. The inevitable result\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_297\" id=\"Page_297\"\u003e297\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nis that the child is rewarded when his memory\r\nis successful, and punished by failure and\r\nlow marks when it is not successful. The emphasis\r\nshifts from the importance of the work\r\nthat is done to the pupil’s degree of external\r\nsuccess in doing it. Since no one’s performance\r\nis perfect, the failures become the obvious and\r\nemphasized thing. The pupil has to fight constantly\r\nagainst the discouragement of never\r\nreaching the standard he is told he is expected\r\nto reach. His mistakes are constantly corrected\r\nand pointed out. Such successes as he achieves\r\nare not especially inspiring because he does no\r\nmore than reproduce the lesson as it already\r\nexists in the book. The virtues that the good\r\nscholar will cultivate are the colorless, negative\r\nvirtues of obedience, docility, and submission.\r\nBy putting himself in an attitude of complete\r\npassivity he is more nearly able to give back\r\njust what he heard from the teacher or read in\r\nthe book.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eRewards and high marks are at best artificial\r\naims to strive for; they accustom children\r\nto expect to get something besides the value\r\nof the product for work they do. The extent to\r\nwhich schools are compelled to rely upon these\r\nmotives shows how dependent they are upon\r\nmotives which are foreign to truly moral activity.\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_298\" id=\"Page_298\"\u003e298\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nBut in the schools where the children are\r\ngetting their knowledge by doing things, it is\r\npresented to them through all their senses and\r\ncarried over into acts; it needs no feat of memory\r\nto retain what they find out; the muscles,\r\nsight, hearing, touch, and their own reasoning\r\nprocesses all combine to make the result part of\r\nthe working equipment of the child. Success\r\ngives a glow of positive achievement; artificial\r\ninducements to work are no longer necessary,\r\nand the child learns to work from love of the\r\nwork itself, not for a reward or because he is\r\nafraid of a punishment. Activity calls for the\r\npositive virtues\u0026mdash;energy, initiative, and originality\u0026mdash;qualities\r\nthat are worth more to the\r\nworld than even the most perfect faithfulness in\r\ncarrying out orders. The pupil sees the value\r\nof his work and so sees his own progress, which\r\nspurs him on to further results. In consequence\r\nhis mistakes do not assume undue importance or\r\ndiscourage him. He can actively use them as\r\nhelps in doing better next time. Since the children\r\nare no longer working for rewards, the\r\ntemptation to cheat is reduced to the minimum.\r\nThere is no motive for doing dishonest acts,\r\nsince the result shows whether the child has\r\ndone the work, the only end recognized. The\r\nmoral value of working for the sake of what is\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_299\" id=\"Page_299\"\u003e299\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nbeing done is certainly higher than that of working\r\nfor rewards; and while it is possible that a\r\nreally bad character will not be reformed by\r\nbeing placed in a situation where there is nothing\r\nto be gained excepting through an independent\r\nand energetic habit of work, the weak character\r\nwill be strengthened and the strong one\r\nwill not form any of those small bad habits that\r\nseem so unimportant at first and that are so\r\nserious in their cumulative effect.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnother point that most of the present day\r\nreformers have in common, in distinction from\r\nthe traditional way of looking at school work,\r\nis the attempt to find work of interest to the\r\npupils. This used to be looked at as a matter\r\nof very little importance; in fact a certain\r\namount of work that did not interest was supposed\r\nto be a very good thing for the moral\r\ncharacter of the pupil. This work was supposed\r\nto have even greater disciplinary qualities\r\nthan the rest of the work. Forcing the\r\nchild to carry through a task which did not appeal\r\nto him was supposed to develop perseverance\r\nand strength of character. There is no\r\ndoubt that the ability to perform an irksome\r\nduty is a very useful accomplishment, but the\r\nusefulness does not lie in the irksomeness of the\r\ntask. Things are not useful or necessary because\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_300\" id=\"Page_300\"\u003e300\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthey are unpleasant or tiresome, but in\r\nspite of these characteristics. The habit of giving\r\nwork to pupils solely for the sake of its\r\n“disciplinary” value would seem to indicate a\r\nblindness to moral values rather than an excess\r\nof moral zeal, for after all the habit is little\r\nmore than holding up a thing’s defects as its\r\nvirtues.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut if lack of interest is not to be admitted as\r\na motive in selection of class work, it is fair\r\nenough to object that interest can not serve as\r\na criterion, either. If we take interest in its\r\nnarrowest sense, as meaning something which\r\namuses and appeals to the child because of its\r\npower of entertainment, the objection has truth.\r\nThe critic of the new spirit in education is apt\r\nto assume that this narrow sense is what is\r\nmeant when he hears that the pupils ought to\r\nbe interested in what they are doing. Then\r\nlogically enough he goes on to point out that\r\nsuch a system lacks moral fiber, that it caters\r\nto the whims of children, and is in reality an\r\nexample of the general softening of the social\r\nfiber, of every one’s desire for the easy way.\r\nBut the work is not made easy for the pupils; nor\r\nyet is there any attempt to give the traditional\r\ncurriculum a sugar coating. The change is of\r\na more fundamental character and is based on\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_301\" id=\"Page_301\"\u003e301\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsound psychological theory. The work given to\r\nthe children has changed; the attempt is not to\r\nmake all the child’s tasks interesting to him,\r\nbut to select work on the basis of the natural\r\nappeal it makes to the child. Interest ought\r\nto be the basis for selection because children are\r\ninterested in the things they need to learn.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eEvery one is familiar with the way a baby will\r\nspend a long time making over and over again\r\nthe same motions or feeling of some object, and\r\nof the intense interest children two and three\r\nyears old take in building a tower of blocks, or\r\nfilling a pail with sand. They do it not once\r\nbut scores of times, and always with the same\r\ndeep absorption, for it is real work to them.\r\nTheir growing, unformed muscles have not yet\r\nlearned to act automatically; every motion that\r\nis aimed at something must be repeated under\r\nthe conscious direction of the child’s mind until\r\nhe can make it without being aware of effort\r\ntowards an adjustment. Since the little child\r\nmust adjust the things about him, his interests\r\nand his needs are identical; if they were not he\r\ncould not live. As a child grows older his control\r\nover his immediate needs so rapidly becomes\r\nautomatic, that we are apt to forget that\r\nhe still learns as the baby does. The necessary\r\nthing is still, as it will be all his life, the power\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_302\" id=\"Page_302\"\u003e302\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof adjustment. Good adjustment means a successful\r\nhuman being, so that instinctively we are\r\nmore interested in learning these adjustments\r\nthan in anything else. Now the child is interested\r\nin adjusting himself through physical activity\r\nto the things he comes up against, because\r\nhe must master his physical environment to live.\r\nThe things that are of interest to him are the\r\nthings that he needs to work on. It is then the\r\npart of wisdom in selecting the work for any\r\ngroup of children, to take it from that group of\r\nthings in the child’s environment which is arousing\r\ntheir curiosity and interest at that time.\r\nObviously as the child grows older and his control\r\nof his body and physical environment increases\r\nhe will reach out to the more complicated\r\nand theoretical aspects of the life he sees\r\nabout him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut in just this same way the work in the\r\nclassroom reaches out to include facts and\r\nevents which do not belong in any obvious way\r\nto the child’s immediate environment. Thus\r\nthe range of the material is not in any way\r\nlimited by making interest a standard for selection.\r\nWork that appeals to pupils as worth\r\nwhile, that holds out the promise of resulting\r\nin something to their own interests, involves\r\njust as much persistence and concentration as\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_303\" id=\"Page_303\"\u003e303\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nthe work which is given by the sternest advocate\r\nof disciplinary drill. The latter requires\r\nthe pupil to strive for ends which he can not\r\nsee, so that he has to be kept at the task by\r\nmeans of offering artificial ends, marks, and\r\npromotions, and by isolating him in an atmosphere\r\nwhere his mind and senses are not being\r\nconstantly besieged by the call of life which appeals\r\nso strongly to him. But the pupil presented\r\nwith a problem, the solution of which will\r\ngive him an immediate sense of accomplishment\r\nand satisfied curiosity, will bend all his powers\r\nto the work; the end itself will furnish the stimulus\r\nnecessary to carry him through the\r\ndrudgery.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe conventional type of education which\r\ntrains children to docility and obedience, to the\r\ncareful performance of imposed tasks because\r\nthey are imposed, regardless of where they lead,\r\nis suited to an autocratic society. These are\r\nthe traits needed in a state where there is one\r\nhead to plan and care for the lives and institutions\r\nof the people. But in a democracy they\r\ninterfere with the successful conduct of society\r\nand government. Our famous, brief definition\r\nof a democracy, as “government of the people,\r\nfor the people and by the people,” gives perhaps\r\nthe best clew to what is involved in a\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_304\" id=\"Page_304\"\u003e304\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ndemocratic society. Responsibility for the conduct\r\nof society and government rests on every\r\nmember of society. Therefore, every one must\r\nreceive a training that will enable him to meet\r\nthis responsibility, giving him just ideas of the\r\ncondition and needs of the people collectively,\r\nand developing those qualities which will insure\r\nhis doing a fair share of the work of government.\r\nIf we train our children to take\r\norders, to do things simply because they are told\r\nto, and fail to give them confidence to act and\r\nthink for themselves, we are putting an almost\r\ninsurmountable obstacle in the way of overcoming\r\nthe present defects of our system and of\r\nestablishing the truth of democratic ideals.\r\nOur State is founded on freedom, but when we\r\ntrain the State of to-morrow, we allow it just\r\nas little freedom as possible. Children in\r\nschool must be allowed freedom so that they\r\nwill know what its use means when they become\r\nthe controlling body, and they must be allowed\r\nto develop active qualities of initiative, independence,\r\nand resourcefulness, before the\r\nabuses and failures of democracy will disappear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe spread of the realization of this connection\r\nbetween democracy and education is perhaps\r\nthe most interesting and significant phase\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_305\" id=\"Page_305\"\u003e305\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof present educational tendencies. It accounts\r\nfor the growing interest in popular education,\r\nand constitutes a strong reënforcement to the\r\narguments of science and psychology for the\r\nchanges which have been outlined. There is no\r\ndoubt that the text-book method of education is\r\nwell suited to that small group of children who by\r\nenvironment are placed above the necessity of engaging\r\nin practical life and who are at the same\r\ntime interested in abstract ideas. But even for\r\nthis type of person the system leaves great gaps\r\nin his grasp of knowledge; it gives no place to\r\nthe part that action plays in the development\r\nof intelligence, and it trains along the lines of\r\nthe natural inclinations of the student and does\r\nnot develop the practical qualities which are\r\nusually weak in the abstract person. For the\r\ngreat majority whose interests are not abstract,\r\nand who have to pass their lives in some practical\r\noccupation, usually in actually working with\r\ntheir hands, a method of education is necessary\r\nwhich bridges the gap between the purely intellectual\r\nand theoretical sides of life and their own\r\noccupations. With the spread of the ideas of\r\ndemocracy, and the accompanying awakening to\r\nsocial problems, people are beginning to realize\r\nthat every one, regardless of the class to which\r\nhe happens to belong, has a right to demand an\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_306\" id=\"Page_306\"\u003e306\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\neducation which shall meet his own needs, and\r\nthat for its own sake the State must supply this\r\ndemand.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eUntil recently school education has met the\r\nneeds of only one class of people, those who are\r\ninterested in knowledge for its own sake, teachers,\r\nscholars, and research workers. The idea\r\nthat training is necessary for the man who\r\nworks with his hands is still so new that the\r\nschools are only just beginning to admit that\r\ncontrol of the material things of life is knowledge\r\nat all. Until very recently schools have\r\nneglected the class of people who are numerically\r\nthe largest and upon whom the whole\r\nworld depends for its supply of necessities.\r\nOne reason for this is the fact that democracy\r\nis a comparatively new thing in itself; and until\r\nits advent, the right of the majority, the very\r\npeople who work with their hands, to supply\r\nany of their larger spiritual needs was never\r\nadmitted. Their function, almost their reason\r\nfor existence, was to take care of the material\r\nwants of the ruling classes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eTwo great changes have occurred in the last\r\ncentury and a half which have altered men’s\r\nhabits of living and of thinking. We have just\r\nseen how one of these, the growth of democratic\r\nideals, demands a change in education. The\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_307\" id=\"Page_307\"\u003e307\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nother, the change that has come about through\r\nscientific discoveries, must also be reflected in\r\nthe classroom. To piece together all one’s historical\r\ninformation into a rough picture of society\r\nbefore the discovery of the steam engine\r\nand of electricity, will hardly serve to delineate\r\nsufficiently the changes in the very fundamentals\r\nof society that these and similar discoveries\r\nhave brought about. The one possibly most\r\nsignificant from the point of view of education\r\nis the incredible increase in the number of facts\r\nthat must be part of the mental furniture of any\r\none who meets even the ordinary situations of\r\nlife successfully. They are so many that any\r\nattempt to teach them all from text-books in\r\nschool hours would be simply ridiculous. But\r\nthe schools instead of facing this frankly and\r\nthen changing their curriculum so that they\r\ncould teach pupils how to learn from the world\r\nitself, have gone on bravely teaching as many\r\nfacts as possible. The changes made have been\r\nin the way of inventing schemes that would increase\r\nthe consumption of facts. But the\r\nchange that is demanded by science is a more\r\nradical one; and as far as it has been worked\r\nout at present it follows the general lines that\r\nhave been suggested in this book. This includes,\r\nas the curricula of these different schools\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_308\" id=\"Page_308\"\u003e308\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nhave shown, not alone teaching of the scientific\r\nlaws that have brought about the changes in society\r\nsince their discovery, but the substitution\r\nof real work which itself teaches the facts of life\r\nfor the study and memorization of facts after\r\nthey have been classified in books.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf schools are to recognize the needs of all\r\nclasses of pupils, and give pupils a training that\r\nwill insure their becoming successful and valuable\r\ncitizens, they must give work that will not only\r\nmake the pupils strong physically and\r\nmorally and give them the right attitude towards\r\nthe state and their neighbors, but that\r\nwill as well give them enough control over their\r\nmaterial environment to enable them to be\r\neconomically independent. Preparation for the\r\nprofessions has always been taken care of; it\r\nis, as we have seen, the future of the worker in\r\nindustry which has been neglected. The complications\r\nof modern industry due to scientific\r\ndiscoveries make it necessary for the worker\r\nwho aspires to real success to have a good\r\nfoundation of general education on which to\r\nbuild his technical skill, and the complications\r\nof human nature make it equally necessary that\r\nthe beginner shall find his way into work that\r\nis suited to his tastes and abilities. A discussion\r\nof general educational principles is concerned\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_309\" id=\"Page_309\"\u003e309\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nonly with industrial or vocational education\r\nwhich supplies these two needs. The questions\r\nof specific trade and professional training\r\nfall wholly outside the scope of this book. However,\r\ncertain facts connected with the movement\r\nto push industrial training in its narrower sense\r\nhave a direct bearing on the larger question.\r\nFor there is great danger just at present that,\r\nas the work spreads, the really educative type\r\nof work that is being done in Gary and Chicago\r\nmay be overlooked in favor of trade training.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe attention of influential citizens is more\r\neasily focused on the need of skilled workers\r\nthan on that of a general educational readjustment.\r\nThe former is brought home to them by\r\ntheir own experience, perhaps by their self-interest.\r\nThey are readily impressed with the\r\nextent to which Germany has made technical\r\ntrade training a national asset in pushing the\r\ncommercial rivalries of that empire. Nothing\r\nseems so direct and practical as to establish a\r\nsystem of continuation schools to improve\r\nworkers between the ages of fourteen and\r\neighteen who have left school at the earliest\r\nage, and to set up separate schools which shall\r\nprepare directly for various lines of shop work,\r\nleaving the existing schools practically unchanged\r\nto prepare pupils for higher schools\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_310\" id=\"Page_310\"\u003e310\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nand for the walks of life where there is less\r\nmanual work.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eContinuation schools are valuable and important,\r\nbut only as palliatives and makeshifts;\r\nthey deal with conditions which ought not to\r\nexist. Children should not leave school at fourteen,\r\nbut should stay in school until they are sixteen\r\nor eighteen, and be helped to an intelligent\r\nuse of their energies and to the proper choice\r\nof work. It is a commonplace among teachers\r\nand workers who come in contact with any number\r\nof pupils who leave school at fourteen to\r\ngo to work, that the reason is not so much financial\r\npressure as it is lack of conviction that\r\nschool is doing them any good. Of course there\r\nare cases where the child enjoys school but is\r\nforced to leave at the first opportunity in order\r\nto earn money. But even in these rare instances\r\nit would usually be wiser to continue\r\nthe family arrangements that were in vogue up\r\nto the child’s fourteenth birthday, even if they\r\ninclude charity. The wages of the child of fourteen\r\nand fifteen are so low that they make a\r\nmaterial difference only to the family who is\r\nalready living on an inadequate scale.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe hopelessness of the situation is increased\r\nby the fact that these children increase their\r\nearning capacity much more slowly and reach as\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_311\" id=\"Page_311\"\u003e311\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ntheir maximum a much lower level than the child\r\nwho is kept in school, so that in the long run the\r\nloss both to the child and his family more than\r\noffsets the precarious temporary gain. But the\r\ncommonest reason advanced by pupils for leaving\r\nschool is that they did not like it, and were\r\nanxious to get some real work to do. Not that\r\nthey were prepared to go to work, or had finished\r\nany course of training, but simply that\r\nschool seemed so futile and satisfied so few of\r\ntheir interests that they seized the first opportunity\r\nto make a change to something that\r\nseemed more real, something where there was\r\na visible result.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is needed then is a reorganization of\r\nthe ordinary school work to meet the needs of\r\nthis class of pupils, so that they will wish to stay\r\nin school for the value of what they are learning.\r\nThe present system is bungling and short-sighted;\r\ncontinuation schools patch up some of\r\nits defects; they do not overcome them, nor do\r\nthey enable the pupils to achieve a belated intellectual\r\ngrowth, where the maladjustment of\r\nthe elementary school has served to check it.\r\nThe ideal is not to use the schools as tools of\r\nexisting industrial systems, but to use industry\r\nfor the reorganization of the schools.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is danger that the concentrated interests\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_312\" id=\"Page_312\"\u003e312\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nof business men and their influential activity\r\nin public matters will segregate training\r\nfor industry to the damage of both democracy\r\nand education. Educators must insist upon the\r\nprimacy of educational values, not in their own\r\nbehalf, but because these represent the more\r\nfundamental interests of society, especially of\r\na society organized on a democratic basis. The\r\nplace of industry in education is not to hurry\r\nthe preparation of the individual pupil for his\r\nindividual trade. It should be used (as in the\r\nGary, Indianapolis, and other schools) to give\r\npractical value to the theoretical knowledge that\r\nevery pupil should have, and to give him an\r\nunderstanding of the conditions and institutions\r\nof his environment. When this is done the\r\npupil will have the necessary knowledge and\r\nintelligence to make the right choice of work\r\nand to direct his own efforts towards getting the\r\nnecessary technical skill. His choice will not\r\nbe limited by the fact that he already knows how\r\nto do one thing and only one; it will be dictated\r\nonly by his own ability and natural aptitude.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe trade and continuation schools take their\r\npupils before they are old enough or have\r\nknowledge enough of their own power to be able\r\nto make a wise choice, and then they drill them\r\nin one narrow groove, both in their theoretical\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_313\" id=\"Page_313\"\u003e313\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nwork and in their manual skill, so that the pupil\r\nfinds himself marked for one occupation only.\r\nIf it proves not to be the right one for him it\r\nis still the only one he is trained for. Such a\r\nsystem does not give an opportunity for the\r\nbest development of the individual’s abilities,\r\nand it tends to keep people fixed in classes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe very industries that seem to benefit most\r\nby receiving skilled workers for the first steps\r\nof the trade will lose by it in the more difficult\r\nprocesses, for the workers will not have\r\nthe background of general knowledge and wider\r\nexperience that the graduate of a technical high\r\nschool or vocational school should have acquired.\r\nBut the introduction of the material\r\nof occupations into the schools for the sake of\r\nthe control of the environment brought by their\r\nuse will do much to give us the proportion of\r\nindependent, intelligent citizens that are needed\r\nin a democracy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is fatal for a democracy to permit the\r\nformation of fixed classes. Differences of\r\nwealth, the existence of large masses of unskilled\r\nlaborers, contempt for work with the\r\nhands, inability to secure the training which\r\nenables one to forge ahead in life, all operate\r\nto produce classes, and to widen the gulf between\r\nthem. Statesmen and legislation can do\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_314\" id=\"Page_314\"\u003e314\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\nsomething to combat these evil forces. Wise\r\nphilanthropy can do something. But the only\r\nfundamental agency for good is the public\r\nschool system. Every American is proud of\r\nwhat has been accomplished in the past in fostering\r\namong very diverse elements of population\r\na spirit of unity and of brotherhood so that\r\nthe sense of common interests and aims has prevailed\r\nover the strong forces working to divide\r\nour people into classes. The increasing complexity\r\nof our life, with the great accumulation\r\nof wealth at one social extreme and the condition\r\nof almost dire necessity at the other makes\r\nthe task of democracy constantly more difficult.\r\nThe days are rapidly passing when the simple\r\nprovision of a system in which all individuals\r\nmingle is enough to meet the need. The subject-matter\r\nand the methods of teaching must\r\nbe positively and aggressively adapted to the\r\nend.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere must not be one system for the children\r\nof parents who have more leisure and\r\nanother for the children of those who are wage-earners.\r\nThe physical separation forced by\r\nsuch a scheme, while unfavorable to the development\r\nof a proper mutual sympathy, is the least\r\nof its evils. Worse is the fact that the over\r\nbookish education for some and the over “practical”\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_315\" id=\"Page_315\"\u003e315\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\neducation for others brings about a division\r\nof mental and moral habits, ideals and outlook.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe academic education turns out future citizens\r\nwith no sympathy for work done with the\r\nhands, and with absolutely no training for understanding\r\nthe most serious of present day\r\nsocial and political difficulties. The trade training\r\nwill turn future workers who may have\r\ngreater immediate skill than they would have\r\nhad without their training, but who have no\r\nenlargement of mind, no insight into the scientific\r\nand social significance of the work they do,\r\nno education which assists them in finding their\r\nway on or in making their own adjustments. A\r\ndivision of the public school system into one\r\npart which pursues traditional methods, with\r\nincidental improvements, and another which\r\ndeals with those who are to go into manual\r\nlabor means a plan of social predestination\r\ntotally foreign to the spirit of a democracy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe democracy which proclaims equality of\r\nopportunity as its ideal requires an education\r\nin which learning and social application, ideas\r\nand practice, work and recognition of the meaning\r\nof what is done, are united from the beginning\r\nand for all. Schools such as we have discussed\r\nin this book\u0026mdash;and they are rapidly coming\u003cspan class=\"pagenum\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Page_316\" id=\"Page_316\"\u003e316\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\r\ninto being in large numbers all over the\r\ncountry\u0026mdash;are showing how the ideal of equal\r\nopportunity for all is to be transmuted into\r\nreality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"transnote\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"p0 nobreak\"\u003e\u003ca name=\"Transcribers_Notes\" id=\"Transcribers_Notes\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eTranscriber’s Notes\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePunctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant\r\npreference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSimple typographical errors were corrected.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrations have been repositioned between nearby paragraphs.\r\nIn some cases, they now appear on different pages than the ones\r\nin the List of Illustration.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAmbiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePage \u003ca href=\"#Page_152\"\u003e152\u003c/a\u003e: “one to ten meters” probably is a misprint for “centimeters”.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePage \u003ca href=\"#Page_154\"\u003e154\u003c/a\u003e: “in other words” was printed as “others”.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePage \u003ca href=\"#Page_288\"\u003e288\u003c/a\u003e: “truly representive” was printed that way.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/article\u003e"}],"SectionSequence":["Back Link","Work Title","Deck","Author","Period","Era","Composition","Date Note","Region","Terra Avita","Terra Avita Region","Modern Country","Original Title","Language","Primary Discipline","Secondary Discipline","Tradition","Full Versions","Core Thesis","Classification","Arguments","Influence","Significance","Evidence Note","Full Text"],"Counts":{"ContextCards":3,"GeoCards":4,"DisciplineCards":2,"Links":11,"Sections":25,"Styles":3,"Scripts":1}}