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+Project Gutenberg's On the Firing Line in Education, by Adoniram Judson Ladd
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
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+
+Title: On the Firing Line in Education
+
+Author: Adoniram Judson Ladd
+
+Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21762]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Bryan Ness, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
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+
+
+  ON THE FIRING LINE
+  IN EDUCATION
+
+  BY
+
+  A. J. LADD
+  _Professor of Education, State University of North Dakota_
+
+
+
+  BOSTON
+  RICHARD G. BADGER
+  THE GORHAM PRESS
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY RICHARD G. BADGER
+
+  All Rights Reserved
+  Made in the United States of America
+
+  The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Of the ten studies making up this little volume only one, the last,
+aside from the Introduction, was designed primarily for publication.
+Each of the others had a definite personal audience in mind while being
+prepared. Still, nearly all have later found their way into print, and
+some have been reprinted in other periodicals and quoted quite
+extensively in still others. Many letters of appreciation, too, from
+strangers who have chanced to read this address or that, have come to
+the writer. These facts, together with expressions of appreciation upon
+delivery and with definite suggestions from many for publication, have
+finally led the writer to feel that possibly their gathering together
+might be worth while. But in fairness to himself, as well as to others,
+also in the interests of accuracy, he is prompted to give an additional
+reason for venturing upon the hazardous undertaking of offering "cold
+meats" to people not overly hungry. Not words of praise alone, no matter
+how warm, would justify such a decision, for one can never take such
+expressions at quite their face value--'tis so easy to make pleasant
+remarks! So the matter was thrown back to where it belonged all the
+time--upon the writer to decide the case on the merits of the various
+discussions as dealing with present-day educational problems.
+
+While separate addresses, upon different topics, given at different
+times, and with no thought of connection, they all do bear upon one
+great matter of universal interest--that of education. The title, "On
+the Firing Line in Education," belongs specifically to but the first of
+the topics discust. Still, it is appropriate to the entire group since
+the various matters handled are fundamental and the positions taken
+considerably in advance of common use. But we are clearly moving in the
+general direction indicated--'twill not be long now before the main army
+has caught up, and then the firing line will be still further advanced.
+
+I have a very definite conviction that, at any financial cost, we should
+provide thru the school for the physical as well as for the psychical
+and the moral development of the child. This is not to take the place of
+the home--merely to supplement the work of the majority of homes. Only
+thus can we adequately educate all. I believe, too, that in any
+scientific view of the educational process the sense organs are
+paramount in importance, and therefore urge their care and training.
+That the positions taken in the various addresses upon these and other
+matters are sound has been pretty well demonstrated during the last two
+years when the demands of war have faced us. This is made clear in the
+Introduction that follows.
+
+I am under obligations to the various periodicals in which these studies
+have appeared for permission to use them again in this form. I also
+appreciate the courtesy of Mr. Badger, the publisher, in allowing me to
+use certain simplified forms of spelling, thus departing from the usual
+over-conservative practise of publishers. Is not this, too, one of the
+firing-line activities?
+
+  A. J. LADD
+
+  Grand Forks, North Dakota,
+  March, 1919
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+    CHAPTER                                                         PAGE
+
+       INTRODUCTION--HAVE THE SCHOOLS BEEN DISCREDITED
+        BY THE REVELATIONS OF THE WAR                                 13
+
+    I. ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION                                37
+
+        Social Betterment, the Dominant Motive in
+        Education                                                     38
+
+        Child Study                                                   43
+
+        Physical Education                                            50
+
+        The Educational Survey                                        51
+
+        Vocational Guidance                                           53
+
+        The Educational Psychologist                                  56
+
+   II. THE RELATION OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY TO THE HIGH
+        SCHOOLS OF THE STATE                                          63
+
+        The Elementary School                                         65
+
+        The High School                                               67
+
+        The State University                                          75
+
+  III. THE UNIVERSITY AND THE TEACHER                                 89
+
+        The Kind of Teachers the University Should
+        Employ                                                        91
+
+        The University Teacher in his Classroom                       94
+
+        The University's Attitude Toward the Preparation
+        of Teachers for the Schools of the State                     105
+
+   IV. THE EYE PROBLEM IN THE SCHOOLS                                115
+
+    V. THE HOME, THE CHURCH, AND THE SCHOOL                          133
+
+        The Home                                                     134
+
+        The Church                                                   141
+
+        The School                                                   150
+
+    VI. NOBLESSE OBLIGE                                              163
+
+   VII. IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS                           185
+
+  VIII. LOCAL WINTER SPORTS                                          203
+
+    IX. THE FUNCTION OF TEACHERS COLLEGE                             217
+
+     X. CREDIT FOR QUALITY IN SECONDARY AND HIGHER
+            EDUCATION                                                243
+
+        INDEX                                                        261
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+HAVE THE SCHOOLS BEEN DISCREDITED BY THE REVELATIONS OF THE WAR?
+
+_From School and Society, April 5, 1919_
+
+
+Knowing that I was about to publish a book on education in which the
+Great War, now happily closed, was not taken as the point of departure,
+a friend said to me one day, in substance, "Aren't you taking undue
+risks just now in putting out a book on education that isn't based upon
+a program of reconstruction? Haven't all our so-called educational
+principles been dis-credited? Shall you get any readers if you do not
+admit educational failure thus far, and proceed to discuss a change of
+front, made imperative by recent revelations?" And the editor of a well
+known educational journal, in asking me for an article, recently, said,
+among other things, "I should be glad to have an article upon some phase
+of reconstruction after the war, educational, social, philosophical, as
+you may like. Here is the next great battlefield of the future, and if
+the educational forces do not redeem themselves here, it is my opinion
+that we shall become a greater laughing stock than we have ever been
+before."
+
+To both of these statements I desire to take exception. To be sure, the
+war has taught us many lessons bearing upon education; to be sure, it
+has revealed shortcomings, limitations, and weaknesses. But it seems to
+me that it has also made clear that we have been working along right
+lines. Our fundamental educational principles have not been
+dis-credited. There is no far-reaching educational failure to admit, nor
+is there any serious shortcoming from which the educational forces of
+the country have to redeem themselves. "Laughing stock," does the
+gentleman say? Oh no! Far from it! Let us not get panicky! Some
+weaknesses brought to light? Certainly. But in the analysis, later to be
+made, let us see if, for the most part, they do not but demonstrate the
+soundness of our educational principles and the far-sightedness of our
+educational leaders together with the short-sightedness of the present
+critics, in that had suggested recommendations been followed these
+weaknesses would not have existed. Let us give here but one
+illustration, and that briefly. We all admit that the medical
+examinations for the war found too many physical defects, and too many
+men thereby incapacitated for efficient military service. But would not
+the results have been very different if, during the last generation, the
+suggestions and strong recommendations of educators relative to physical
+education in our schools been acted upon by the public? Ah! The fault
+was not with educational principles; they were sound. The educational
+forces of the country knew what was needed, but a parsimonious public
+would not follow intelligent leadership. We could say, all along the
+line, "I told you so," if we felt so inclined. Instead of being the
+"laughing stock" we could--if the matter were not too serious--throw the
+laugh upon the other fellow. The purpose of our schools has never been
+to produce soldiers at the drop of the hat, and so they have never been
+blighted by military training. (May it never come!) Their task has been
+to produce men and women of character and purpose and ideals--men and
+women of initiative who could become anything called for by an
+emergency. And nobly have they succeeded, as evidenced by the successful
+prosecution of the war.
+
+In view of all that the United States has done to assist in bringing the
+war to its successful close, from the adoption of the selective draft
+down thru the management of the training camps, the operation of the
+railroads, conservation of food and fuel, to the knitting of a pair of
+socks and the sale of a thrift stamp, what shall be said of the success
+or failure of our schools? Every man, woman, and child in this gigantic
+work, from President Wilson down to the colored bootblack who saved his
+nickels to buy a stamp, or to the little girl who voluntarily went
+without her sugar, has been a product of the schools. Thru the
+instruction, the discipline, and the training given in those schools,
+they became the men and women who could rise to the emergency and do the
+things needed. And they did.
+
+No college or university or professional school ever taught Mr. Wilson
+how to be President of the United States during these troublous days;
+nor Mr. McAdoo how to manage the railroads; nor Mr. Pershing all about
+war; nor any local worker how to lead the Red Cross work, any more than
+the lower schools have taught the boys who went into the trenches how to
+use the gas mask and how to go without food; how to shoulder arms and
+how to march. But the schools all along the line did help to give them
+ideals, did train them in team-play; did instil into them the
+principles of democracy and the love of country, so that when the need
+came they arose as one man to repel the foe. And the study of
+arithmetic, geography, and grammar; of chemistry, physics, and medicine;
+of Latin, Greek, and history has, in each case, made its contribution to
+the preparation of home workers, soldiers, scientific experts, financial
+managers, and statesmen--has helped to make each an individual of
+initiative.
+
+Under the guidance of our educational leaders, following principles that
+they had workt out, the schools of the country were moving quietly
+along, each one of the 750,000 teachers doing faithfully the work at
+hand day by day. We had never thought of war as a possibility for us,
+and of course preparation for it had not been made, in the slightest
+degree, a part of the work of the schools. But when war, with all its
+horrors, was finally forced upon us and we needed statesmen and
+scientists and military leaders to guide and direct, they were at hand
+in the graduates of our colleges and universities--broadly trained men
+capable of assimilating, or learning, or in other ways gaining quickly,
+the specific form of efficiency needed in the particular activity
+assigned. And when we needed soldiers they were at hand in the person of
+our boys of the schools, both common and high, from every nook and
+corner of the land--boys and men who merely needed direction and
+leadership, capable of at once falling into line and quickly taking on
+the professional phase of their training. Could we have asked our
+schools to do more? The supreme test had come, and it was being met in a
+manner gratifying to all. The boys and the girls, the men and the women,
+on the farm, in the store, in the home, in the workshop, in the schools
+and colleges, have responded "Here am I. Show me what you want me to do,
+and I will do it even unto death." It was done, and they did it. The
+schools had nobly demonstrated their efficiency.
+
+To be sure, all this was not done without making mistakes. Not all the
+products of all the schools were able to rise to the occasion and to be
+depended upon in our hour of need. When the great national search-light
+was trained upon the product of the schools, seeking leaders of infinite
+variety and number, and likewise hosts of followers to do definite and
+difficult things, many deficient ones were discovered--some deficient in
+mental caliber, some weak in moral fiber, some lacking in physical
+stamina. And right here is to be seen the only serious failure of our
+schools. Not every boy, not every girl, had been made as efficient as
+could have been desired. But, happily, in our great numbers enough were
+found to do even the stupendous work at hand, and to do it well. In
+spite of moral lapses, not a few, in spite of instances of mental
+incompetence, far too many, and in spite of physical handicaps,
+distressingly large--in spite of all this, I say, the United States
+surprised the world with the quickness with which we pulled ourselves
+together, and with the marvelous efficiency with which we mobilized all
+our resources. Many losses of course there were--losses of men, losses
+of days, losses of dollars. But when all is said and done, the losses
+were slight when compared with the accomplishments. Credit to whom
+credit is due! But because of these losses unthinking men immediately
+began to criticise the schools. They should have been trade schools, or
+industrial schools or military schools--any kind of schools that they
+were not. And how clearly it was being demonstrated, we were told, that
+the time formerly spent on music and drawing, art and literature,
+algebra and geometry, history and Latin, had all been wasted! How much
+better it would have been if, instead of these "frills," the children
+had been given "practical subjects"! (Practical. Save the mark. One is
+tempted here to go off on a by-path and discuss the topic, "What is
+Practical?") Thus the criticism of the unthinking--of the laymen who
+went off at half-cock.
+
+And this criticism was deepened and strengthened and extended and made
+more vehement, again by the unthinking, when the fine results of the
+Plattsburgh experiment were revealed, in which, thru the processes of
+intensive training, men were quickly whipt into shape for new, and
+difficult, and responsible undertakings. And the equally good results
+that came from the officers' training schools, in which college boys by
+a similar program were metamorphosed, almost at over-night, into capable
+army officers, had the same effect. How signally had the schools failed!
+And these long years spent in school and college, "dawdling over the
+frills," had been to no effect, whereas "a few weeks under _intelligent_
+educational direction accomplishes marvels."
+
+And the same has further illustration. Ministers of the Gospel selected
+for chaplains, physicians and surgeons chosen for medical service,
+nurses for the Red Cross, engineers for various forms of engineering,
+and many others have all been given this short period of intensive
+training and, to their credit and ours be it said, all responded
+quickly. But the conclusion drawn by the unthinking has been, all along
+the line, that the later efficiency of these men which has gained for us
+the plaudits and the gratitude of the world was due to this short period
+of intensive training, "under men who were intelligent enough to know
+just what was needed and just how to go about to secure it"--men not
+hampered by any pedagogical nonsense or grown stale over a long attempt
+to discriminate between the "infinity of nothingness and the nothingness
+of infinity" (as one might summarize a rather common criticism), rather
+than to the former years of patient toil, and discipline, and
+accomplishment which had really laid the foundation so well that all
+were able thus to respond. The common school, the high school, the
+college, and the professional school was dis-credited, one and all, in
+favor of a short-cut method analogous to the so-called "Business
+College,"--a short-cut method that could result only in disaster if
+applied without the appropriate preparation.
+
+How long it does take people to realize that real education is a slow
+process! that it takes years and years and years of varied experiences
+for the processes of assimilation and development to bring about the
+fine fruitage of stable character!
+
+And the Government, too (I suppose we can criticize Washington just a
+little now without serious danger of being sent to jail), must have had
+the same point of view in regard to the general management of education
+since, during the war, it did not entrust its educational war program
+into the hands of the National Bureau of Education. It did have the War
+Department and the Navy Department and the Treasury Department manage
+their respective phases of war activities. Why was not the Department of
+Education called on to direct the educational work? Had it been, the S.
+A. T. C. fiasco, as well as some other blunders, would doubtless have
+been avoided. But the thought (or was it the lack of thought?) must have
+been that most anybody outside of the teaching profession would know
+better how to get educational results than any one from within. A
+similar point of view is generally discernible in the election of boards
+of education in towns and cities thruout the country--any one is
+satisfactory save those who know definitely what should be going on
+inside of the school house.
+
+Perhaps all this was to be expected. I rather think so. But I confess to
+surprise when I find such criticism being echoed from within--from men
+who should know better, as, for example, the two quoted at the beginning
+of this article. The explanation, I suppose, is that, timid in nature,
+they have become panicky and lost their bearings. Perhaps they were
+suffering from a mild form of brain-storm, and have temporarily slipt
+back into the ranks of the unthinking.
+
+Let us analyze the situation and see if we can discover just what the
+war did reveal as to the short-*comings of our educational system. Let
+us then try to locate the responsibility.
+
+One of the most serious of the educational shortcomings thus revealed is
+a high percentage of illiteracy--nearly eight per cent, I understand,
+the country over. The seriousness of such a situation can scarcely be
+overestimated. It was serious in time of war--the inability of a
+soldier to read orders, or to follow written directions, or to make
+written reports, especially when one takes into consideration the myriad
+forms of war service just recently used, would limit his possibilities
+of service and cripple himself and all his companions. But illiteracy is
+even more serious in times of peace, for then such individuals are not
+immediately under the direction of intelligent officers and thus
+prevented from the disastrous results of their own ignorant actions.
+Think for a moment of what it means in a democracy and for a democracy
+to have one out of every ten (disregarding children) of the possible
+directing forces of the government unable to read or write!
+
+But when we add to this statement of mere illiteracy the fact that a
+large percentage of these illiterates are of foreign birth or extraction
+and have never learned either to speak or understand the language of
+their adopted country, the situation is seen to be even more serious in
+potentiality, both in peace and war. Our authorities have been too lax,
+it seems, in not requiring that all children of foreign extraction,
+whether foreign or American born, be educated in the English language.
+In communities thickly settled by alien peoples they have too often
+allowed the schools to be conducted in the vernaculars of the people--a
+German school here, an Austrian school there, and an Italian school over
+yonder, and so on. And it goes without saying that in schools in which
+children are instructed in alien tongues 'tis not the American spirit
+that is inculcated nor American ideals that take root. No one would
+challenge the statement that here is a defect in the execution of our
+educational program, and one that must be remedied at any cost.
+
+Still another serious weakness as revealed by the merciless hand of war
+is that of physical shortcoming. A large number of men were rejected for
+service and a still larger number accepted only for limited service
+because of physical disability as shown by the medical examinations. I
+have not the figures at hand, but 'tis common knowledge that the
+situation is considered grave. Eye defects, ear defects, defective
+teeth, weak lungs, flat feet, round shoulders, spinal curvature,
+unsymmetrical development, and many other defects were discovered in
+great numbers. Perhaps nothing but a rigid medical examination by a
+military officer would ever have opened our eyes to the real situation.
+But this did. The revelations came as a surprise to nearly all except
+the educational leaders of the country. They have known, all the time,
+what the situation has been and, for a generation, have been trying to
+combat it.
+
+Again the question is raised as to whether these defects, or weaknesses,
+of American education, in both fields mentioned, as serious as they have
+been seen to be for war, are not even a more serious menace when looked
+upon from the point of view of peace, and therefore, even tho the war
+has been won, of such commanding importance as to demand our immediate
+and continued attention.
+
+One might go on and name other shortcomings in the working out of our
+educational program that have been more clearly brought to the surface
+during the critical days of our warfare. But this article is not
+intended to be a catalog. The two mentioned are fundamental and
+far-reaching. Illiteracy and physical disability! Weakness along these
+lines strikes at the very roots of national life and of individual
+well-being. And if, as a nation and as individuals, we are ever going to
+enter into our inheritance, these defects must be remedied. But before
+trying to discuss remedies, it will be well to locate responsibility.
+Are our basic educational principles unsound, or merely our educational
+practises unsatisfactory? Are the educational leaders of the country all
+wrong in theory? Have their heads been so high among the clouds that
+they have not seen the real boy and his homely task? Or have they seen
+clearly and mapt out wisely, whereas the public, relatively unthinking
+upon technical matters and always slow to act in new fields, has not
+been ready to follow? Is it in theory or in practise where the real
+shortcoming is to be found? The answer to the question is vital. If in
+theory, then is the situation serious indeed for that would mean that
+our psychology is wrong--that our whole philosophy of life and of
+government has been built upon error. Truly, then, after all these
+years, the "educational forces" would need to "redeem" themselves so as
+not to be "a greater laughing stock than we have ever been before." But
+if the weakness lies merely in our practise, not yet having been able to
+attain to our ideals, then, tho serious, it would be but child's play,
+comparatively speaking, to put ourselves right. We should need to take
+courage, redouble our efforts, and all that, but should not need to
+start all over again.
+
+How shall we account for the illiteracy revealed among both alien and
+native born? Not by faulty methods of teaching can it be explained, nor
+by anything else that teachers have done or have not done. Illiterates
+have not attended the schools. It is due either to insufficient
+legislation or to non-enforcement of laws, doubtless more the latter
+save in the case of adult aliens.
+
+From the very beginning of our colonial life, early in the 17th century,
+universal education has been a part of both our educational and our
+governmental creeds. A program of compulsory education was early found
+necessary, early adopted, and never abandoned. Beginning in
+Massachusetts and going south and west, following considerably behind
+but then keeping almost even pace with settlement and development after
+statehood had come, legislation has decreed that every child born into
+the land or coming into it by immigration shall enjoy the advantages of
+education, at least to the extent of knowing how to read and write the
+English language. Every state in the Union has compulsory attendance
+laws upon its statute books. These laws are not as thorogoing as they
+should be in many cases but yet, even as they are, if enforced, they
+should leave almost no illiteracy among people whose childhood has been
+spent in this country. For the least satisfactory laws--those of some of
+the Southern states, Georgia, for example, require school attendance for
+at least four months of each year between the ages of eight and
+fourteen. But illiteracy, even among our own people, has been
+revealed--too much of it. The laws have not been enforced. There is the
+sore spot. Why have they not been enforced? But of that later.
+
+The education of adult aliens is another matter, and a very different
+one. As a problem it is almost new. That is, it has been only in
+relatively recent years that it has been recognized as such. True, for
+several years some of the states most largely affected, such as
+Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and others have been
+wrestling with it, but not very much has yet been attempted toward
+introducing the compulsory features. And private agencies,
+philanthropic, industrial, religious, political, and others have also
+done good work. But all that had thus far been done had accomplisht
+little more, at the outbreak of the war, than to open our eyes to the
+existence of a problem. And in our leisurely way we were going about its
+solution. But war came. The European nations were aflame. We had many
+Europeans in our midst. Investigations were made. The universal draft
+was adopted. The revelations were startling. It was discovered that in
+1910 there were in the United States 2,953,011 white persons of foreign
+birth, 10 years of age and over, unable to speak the English language.
+Of these 56,805 were from ten to fifteen years of age, 330,994 between
+fifteen and twenty-one, and 2,565,212 twenty-one and over. Note the
+number, _more than two and a half millions, twenty-one years of age and
+over--men grown, fathers of families, many of them_--unable to speak the
+language of their adopted country! And of these 788,631 were
+illiterate--unable to read or write in any language!
+
+Nothing short of legal requirements on a large scale, and rigidly
+enforced, absolutely free of cost to the immigrant, can ever remove the
+menace. The law-making bodies of the country, both State and Federal,
+must act and act quickly or this growing menace will get beyond our
+control.
+
+And the long catalog of physical defects--what shall be said of them?
+Shall they be charged against the "educational forces" of the country?
+Are they a disgrace from which we must "redeem" ourselves so that we
+shall not become the "greater laughing stock"? It is perfectly evident
+that somebody has blundered because the whole sad list of defects is,
+speaking broadly, preventive and, for the most part, also remediable.
+But where lies the responsibility--upon the home, the school, or
+society? Of course, primarily, upon the home; the child comes from the
+home, goes to the home, is a part of the home, is under the immediate
+control of the home. But yet, many homes, especially homes of alien
+peoples, are not sufficiently intelligent to have entrusted to them
+matters of such far-reaching importance. And many others are not
+financially able to have proper attention given.
+
+But the school does know. And it, or what it represents, is abundantly
+able financially to handle the matter. It knows clearly how the child
+with physical defects is hampered in trying to perform its school work;
+it knows, too, how seriously the entire work of the school is interfered
+with when there are many such in the room; and it also knows the
+handicap under which such unfortunate children face life when school
+days are over. And the school knows, too, the preventive and remediable
+natures of these defects. Possessing all this knowledge, why has it not
+acted? To make a long story short, it has acted. To the extent of its
+authority and with all the influence and power at its command it has
+acted, has been acting for many years, and is still acting. For more
+than a generation the educational forces of the country have been
+engaged in a nation-wide educational campaign designed to make clear to
+the homes of the country and to the voters of the country the growing
+seriousness of the situation. On the lecture platform and from the
+Gospel pulpit, in the educational press and in the popular magazine,
+aye, in the daily newspaper, in private conversation and in public
+discussion, in season and out of season, they have labored unceasingly
+to acquaint the public with the facts and to urge preventive and
+remedial action. To the unselfish work of these leaders of educational
+thought and action, supplemented by the generous assistance of the
+medical profession, is due the fact of our present-day intelligence in
+regard to the matter. Educators have been deeply interested, thoroly
+alive, and intelligently at work. How they have agitated the matter of
+better ventilation and better lighting of schoolhouses! How they have
+pleaded for medical inspection and appropriate medical treatment of
+school children! How they have urged the employment of the school nurse!
+How they have workt for the playground and the gymnasium and for sane
+methods of handling the same!
+
+But they do not form the court of last appeal. They have no authority.
+They all stand in about the same anomalous position as does the man
+nominally at the head of the educational activities of the country--the
+United States Commissioner of Education. They may gather statistics,
+make reports, and suggest action. But that is all. Tho possessing full
+knowledge of the situation, tho knowing just how to proceed to usher in
+a better day, they are not permitted to take any action. Responsible? Of
+course they are not responsible. "Redeem" themselves? From what, pray?
+"Laughing stock"? How long, oh! how long, will our great army of
+teachers, three-fourths of a million strong, be unappreciated,
+belittled, and maligned!
+
+Who, then, is responsible? In the last analysis there is but one
+answer--the public itself. Since the community at large as well as the
+individual afflicted is, in the final outcome, a sufferer in every case
+of physical disability, as also in that of illiteracy, it is its duty,
+as a mesure of self-protection, at least, to assume direction. Adequate
+information is at hand as to desirable methods of procedure.
+Demonstrations a-plenty have been given to prove that the program
+suggested is feasible, inexpensive, and beneficial. This has been
+brought about thru the action of a few small groups who have thus
+presented clear and convincing object lessons. But why must we say "a
+few"? Why is not such work nation-wide? That is a longer story. It
+follows.
+
+The United States of America is a Republic--a representative
+democracy--a government in which all the people participate. And the
+government of the United States is a Federal government. It is made up
+of a group of States, each one exercising supervision and control over
+its local matters. And education has thus far been considered a local
+matter. And in many ways that soverenty has been still further divided.
+We have as a smaller unit of school organization the county, and a
+smaller one yet, the township, and, in many states, a still smaller one,
+the school district, containing, in many instances, only a few square
+miles of territory and, of course, a very limited population. But in
+some respects, within certain limits, each of these small units is a law
+unto itself, having much to say as to the length of the school term, the
+character of the teaching, and many other phases including such as the
+one under consideration.
+
+For these reasons it frequently happens that side by side are school
+districts, or townships, or counties, with widely differing educational
+programs. Here is one with attractive buildings, well ventilated and
+well lighted, well equipt in every way, in the hands of competent
+teachers, with physician and nurses subject to call. But just over the
+imaginary line is another with nothing quite satisfactory. They are just
+living up to the strict letter of the State's requirement and that is
+all. Not one dollar is being spent that represents the community's
+voluntary contribution to the welfare of its child life or to the future
+well-being of humanity.
+
+And why? Just because we are a Democracy. Just because our action must
+be the united action of many, representing the average intelligence of
+the entire governmental unit and not that of its most intelligent
+members. For this reason a democracy is always slow to act along new
+lines. The majority of the people have to be convinced of the wisdom of
+the new mesure. And education is itself always a slow process. People
+change their minds slowly. Slowness of action is one of the prices we
+have to pay for our democracy. On the other hand, an absolute monarchy
+can act quickly, for there may be but one individual to assimilate the
+new idea or to be convinced of the wisdom of the proposed change.
+
+These facts are easily made clear by historical references, and,
+happily, in the very matter under discussion--educational procedure. In
+the eighteenth century Prussia, under the two great Hohenzollern kings,
+Frederick William I and his son, Frederick the Great, the two ruling
+from 1713 to 1786, made most rapid strides in education. Both were
+practically absolute rulers, but they were benevolent and far-sighted,
+and the educational reforms that they inaugurated were basic and
+far-reaching, such as state-control and support, compulsory attendance,
+and the professional education of teachers. Being absolute in authority,
+all they needed to do was to promulgate the decrees and order their
+execution. The result was that, educationally, Prussia immediately
+forged ahead of all the other European countries.
+
+England, on the other hand, was a limited monarchy. Her king could not
+have acted thus even if he so desired. Such mesures had to have the
+sanction of Parliament, which would have to hark back to an enlightened
+public opinion since Parliament was a representative body. And public
+opinion, especially in matters of education, is slow of creation. As a
+matter of fact, even tho the English people were much in advance of the
+Germans in civilization and in all the refinements of life, it was not
+till 1833 that England as a government took her first step looking
+toward the education of her children thru appropriating money. And the
+grant of that Act was only a paltry £20,000 a year to be used by two
+religious societies for the erection of school houses. And it was an
+entire generation later, even 1870, before they adopted the necessary
+principles of compulsory attendance and local taxation. More than a
+hundred years behind Prussia, England was, in the management of
+educational affairs!
+
+Another illustration of the slow action of democracy is nearer at hand
+both in time and space, even in our own country. For one reason or
+another, rather, for many reasons, education was at a low-water mark in
+the United States the latter part of the eighteenth and the first part
+of the nineteenth centuries. Thoughtful men, progressive educators,
+prominent statesmen, searching for the cause and for the remedy, found
+the one in the poor character of the teaching being done and the other
+in the establishment of the State Normal School patterned after those of
+Germany. This was first suggested in 1816 in Connecticut and pretty
+faithfully kept before the people of New England thereafter. But in
+spite of every effort, including a campaign of education and the
+establishment of private normal schools for the purposes of
+demonstration, it was not till 1838 that the Massachusetts legislature
+could be induced to act. And she would not have done so then had it not
+been that a very prominent man of Boston, a friend of the cause, Mr.
+Edmund Dwight, showed his faith in the movement by making a generous
+contribution out of his private funds. Note, too, this action from
+another point of view--the amount of Democracy's initial contribution
+toward this new great movement in America: Mr. Dwight's gift of $10,000
+was evenly matched by that of the wealthy state of Massachusetts! And
+the $20,000 was the amount planned for the establishment of _three new
+normal schools_ and their maintenance _for three years!_ That amount
+to-day would scarcely build a coal shed for each of three new normal
+schools!
+
+But I am not advocating monarchical methods even to hasten so good a
+cause as educational improvement. I am merely accounting for our
+slowness of action in needed reform. For several reasons I should be
+decidedly opposed to adopting such a program of centralization even if
+we could. In the first place, not every absolute monarch would act as
+did Frederick the Great. There are few benevolent despots. In France
+during the seventeenth centuries the Louises were just as absolute as
+were the Fredericks in Germany. But they were not interested in
+education for the people. Again, Germany's system of education, tho
+objectively efficient, has been far from satisfactory because not based
+on sane moral principles. And that fact, by the way, has finally been
+Germany's undoing. Now, we can scarcely conceive of Democracy erecting
+an educational structure on an unsatisfactory moral foundation.
+
+And still again, the action of an absolute monarch, in all such matters
+as education, tho perhaps temporarily rapid, is not permanent. Remove
+the guiding spirit and it slips back. An illustration will assist. Again
+Germany furnishes it. The little duchy of Gotha, just south of Prussia,
+serves us. During the Thirty Years' War Gotha had suffered greatly. Near
+its close, in 1640, Duke Ernest the Pious became its ruler. He had at
+heart the good of his people. He believed that education could be a very
+important factor in their upbuilding, and at once put into effect a
+progressive program. His people were greatly bettered and his duchy
+became a fine object lesson for other German States. But Duke Ernest
+died. And his educational reforms, not springing from the people
+themselves, followed him not long after.
+
+A few years ago President Diaz, Mexico's benevolent despot of nearly
+half a century, died. And his people, never having been taught how to
+rule themselves nor practised in the art, went to pieces.
+
+Democracy is slow but she is apt to be sure. Her action in educational
+matters is often provokingly dilatory, but she holds what she gains and
+thus continues to progress. She does not take a step forward until she
+is sure of her ground, but then she stands firm. Her actions are the
+results of deliberate thought based on adequate data gathered from
+actual experiments and not to be shaken. Democracy would not give up
+universal education nor take one step backward in the matter of
+compulsory attendance to secure it. She would not part with her
+elementary normal schools for anything in the world. And when once she
+sees her duty clear she will add to her school workers, in every
+community, the physician, the nurse, and the playground director. She
+will do it and, quickly noting improvements, soon wonder why she had not
+done it long before.
+
+Since so much emphasis has been placed on the conservative nature of
+Democracy and on its consequent slowness of action, a word should be
+added as to its possibilities in emergency. Tho we were slow in entering
+the Great War, once our duty was clear we acted with a promptness, a
+unanimity, and an efficiency that surprised both friend and foe, giving
+heart to the one and consternation to the other. Tho a democracy, we
+invested our chief executive with a power and an authority beyond that
+possest by any monarch in the world.
+
+So let us not be discouraged. The situation is not as bad as it might
+be. Our fundamental principles are sound. We are working along right
+lines and accomplishing good results. Our shortcomings, our weaknesses,
+our failures, if you wish to call them such, are seen only when our
+record is compared with a perfect score. The schools have not yet
+attained to 100 per cent efficiency; that is, the country over. Here and
+there, under the favorable conditions of an intelligent citizenry
+willing to follow expert leadership even to the extent of providing
+adequate funds, are schools and departments of schools of approximately
+100 per cent efficiency. And these, as Democracy's experiments, assure
+us of other advance steps. They are object lessons. Thus Democracy
+always advances.
+
+Finally, what shall we say? What shall we do? Not to "redeem" ourselves,
+oh, no! not that! but to approximate the 100 per cent efficiency all
+along the line? What? Why, knowing that we are headed aright, keep
+steadily forward with our eyes on the goal, refusing to be stampeded by
+the unthinking critic of whom Democracy always has a plenty. Take
+courage! Speed up!
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION
+
+_President's Address delivered at the Annual Banquet of the Fortnightly
+Club, Grand Forks, North Dakota, June 4, 1917_
+
+
+The plan of the military campaign is worked out in the quiet, away back
+in the rear, sometimes at considerable distance from the place of actual
+hostilities. It is worked out quietly, usually slowly, and attracts but
+little attention. But when worked out and ready to be put into
+operation, the plan is taken forward and activities begin. Supplies are
+gotten ready, men stationed, guns loaded, the firing line is formed.
+Here is where the battle is to be fought, where an attempt is to be made
+to carry out the plans formed in the quiet, back there in the rear.
+Activity characterizes the scene. Advances are being made, new things
+being done. Every effort is put forth to realize the plans.
+
+It is not different in education. In the quiet of the laboratories and
+the study, thoughtful men consider conditions, form plans, and develop
+theories of educational betterment that have to be tried out, out in the
+open. A firing line has to be formed, a place where new things are to be
+done different from the regular conventional activities. The humdrum,
+prosaic, traditional, everyday work goes on, in the main, all around but
+at these points where some advances are being tried, a new and it is
+hoped better program tested. All eyes are centered, all minds eager. The
+analogy is not inapt.
+
+It is my purpose to discuss briefly some of the things that are
+happening on our educational firing lines. I want to bring to your
+attention first, however, the plan of the great educational campaign
+upon which we have entered, the goal before us at the present time, and
+then take up a few of the relatively new and typical positions being
+taken by leaders of educational thought, having the realization of that
+goal in view. This will present to you some of the things that are
+actually being done in a few progressive communities and point out
+possibilities for others.
+
+
+SOCIAL BETTERMENT, THE DOMINANT MOTIVE IN EDUCATION
+
+If I interpret aright the present-day educational thought, the dominant
+motive in it all is social in character. That is to say, in all of our
+plans for the education of children we keep them in mind as future
+members of society, acting with one another and all working together for
+the common good and for the betterment of the race. And around this
+motive, or back of it, or being used by it as a means, can be grouped
+all the significant educational practises of the time.
+
+Formerly the motive was largely psychological. That is, the school
+effected its organization, chose its curriculum, worked out its program,
+and decided upon its methods in order that it might assist the child in
+the development of its instincts and capacities, thus enabling him to
+realize his own personality. The great French educator, Rousseau, living
+in the eighteenth century, was responsible for this movement and it was
+a notable advance beyond the haphazard and aimless practise of the time.
+Pestalozzi, the great Swiss educational reformer, Froebel, the German
+apostle of childhood, and Herbart, the psychological genius of the
+Fatherland, were disciples of Rousseau and worked out from his point of
+view, trying to put it into practise in the school-rooms.
+
+And here was the firing line in education for many a long day. True,
+none of these later men ignored social relationships as did Rousseau.
+True, a strong case could be made out, if one should wish to defend the
+thesis, that these distinguished followers of Rousseau, even tho
+carrying out his program in the main, were likewise inaugurating the new
+sociological movement. But yet it was not sufficiently clear to dominate
+even in their own minds. The individual stood out beyond the mass. He
+filled the stage. Nor did they clearly pass it on to others. As a matter
+of fact, what the immediate followers of these men got from them was the
+theory of individualism in its better form.
+
+The best definition of education that can be given from this point of
+view is _the development of an inner life_. That is what Rousseau wanted
+to bring about and Pestalozzi and Froebel, and our own Colonel Parker of
+more recent times, the modern apostle of childhood, had the same vision.
+And so to Froebel and these others, likewise, the school was an
+institution in which each child should discover his own individuality,
+work out his own personality, and develop harmoniously all his powers.
+True, in that environment and doing all that, the child is going to
+learn the relationships of society, and thus the school might become a
+means for social progress as well as the instrument of individual
+development. But this was incidental. The development of the inner life
+was the goal. Fashioned in the quiet, in the study, away from the haunts
+of man, this became the program and the rallying cry, and out on the
+firing line it was striven for. On the educational battlefields of both
+Europe and America, where redoubts were being stormed and advance
+positions taken, this was the one great end in view. It eventuated in
+the child study movement of the present generation that is now at its
+height and that has done so much to mitigate the severities of the old
+time school room practises and likewise greatly aided in putting
+education on a scientific basis.
+
+The immediate followers, I say, of the great European quartet of
+educators had the above worthy goal in view; but with their followers,
+many of them, especially the noisy ones, the modern sophists, it
+degenerated into a theory of pure individualism of the most selfish
+type. The theory of getting on in the world, every man for himself,
+became rampant. The school came to be looked upon as an institution in
+which children could learn how to get ahead of the rest of the
+community, and education as merely another weapon to use in making
+society contribute more to purse and pleasure. And on the firing line,
+formed by these noisy agitators, mistaken by many as educational
+leaders, these were the things striven for. But this aberration was only
+temporary. The real educational leaders, in trying to realize the goal
+of Rousseau and Pestalozzi and to do it having to combat this movement
+of wildcat educational speculation, gradually came to see a more
+important truth even than the one they were seeking. As on many another
+firing line, victories by the wayside have clarified our vision and
+given us new perspectives, and a goal, not at first recognized, looms
+large upon the horizon.
+
+For thru all this struggle we have learned that the first business of
+the public school is to teach the child to live in the world in which he
+finds himself, to understand his share in it and to perform it because,
+after all, unless people learn to adapt themselves to other individuals
+and communities, disorder and chaos follow. In it all we have come to
+see that education is the best instrument for regenerating society.
+
+Not individual development, then, the selfish view of Rousseau, not even
+the harmonious development of all the faculties, the one-sided, somewhat
+restricted, or undeveloped, view of Pestalozzi and others of his
+followers, surely not individual efficiency for personal gain, the
+selfish view of crass materialism, but social efficiency is the
+present-day motive in education. And the definition of education takes
+on a different color. Not merely the development of inner life but in
+conjunction with that or in addition to it, _the development in the
+individual of the power of adjustment to an ever changing social
+environment_. And likewise the school becomes more than a place in which
+the child can discover himself. Aye, it is the instrument that democracy
+has fashioned for realizing its broad and humanitarian ideal. Democracy
+is ever striving for closer and more harmonious relation between its
+members, a greater degree of social justice, and the school is its
+efficient means.
+
+These two tendencies, the psychological and the sociological,--only two
+since the narrow individualistic was never accepted and is now being
+rapidly eliminated--these two are not antagonistic nor mutually
+exclusive. The difference is largely in point of view or emphasis. One
+may say that they are but the two sides of the same shield but the fact
+remains that there _are_ two sides. There is a difference and the change
+came as suggested. And the change has modified conditions on the firing
+line. Ever since Mr. Spencer asked his suggestive question, "what
+knowledge is of most worth," the question of educational values has been
+raised and the curriculum has come under close scrutiny. The result has
+been a modification. The purely linguistic and literary, that which does
+not function directly for preparation in life and society, is slowly
+giving way to that which deals with the facts and forces of nature and
+of social institutions.
+
+Thus far I have tried to make plain the great educational campaign in
+which we are engaged, as seen on the firing line,--to point out the goal
+before us, universal education, of course, and social efficiency for
+each member of the group. That suggests at once as a definition of
+education, the one made famous by Herbert Spencer more than a half
+century ago, "_Preparation for complete living._" That was good as a
+start in the new direction, but one of the most prominent generals of
+our educational forces now commanding at the front, John Dewey of
+Columbia University, has suggested a modification which brings it up to
+date and gives the key-note of explanation to the tactics now in vogue
+out there in the front ranks. He says that instead of being the
+preparation for life, education is life itself. Some without trying to
+probe deeply into the thought back of the trenchant expression, have
+said that this was a mere play upon words. But Dewey is not a man who
+plays with words. What he meant by the statement is that the child is
+best prepared for life as an adult by living the right kind of life as a
+child. That is by living a life that has real meaning to him now, a
+normal natural life, putting forth those activities that spring from
+within, not merely sitting behind a narrow desk trying to memorize wordy
+descriptions of complicated facts thought to be useful to him later on.
+And when we go out and see what they are doing on the firing line we
+shall see just that being done.
+
+
+CHILD STUDY
+
+But perhaps I should guard against a possible misapprehension. In
+eliminating the materialistic point of view in individualism--narrow
+individual development for personal gain--we have not thrown aside the
+goal of development suggested by Rousseau and Pestalozzi. Advanced
+educational thought has that prominently in mind--the discovery of the
+child's latent powers--his possibilities--his tastes--his "bent" and the
+development of the same. But while with them that was the goal, the end
+in view, and a somewhat selfish one, even tho not crassly materialistic,
+it has become, with us, a means to a larger end, namely, social
+betterment. The child must be known and developed to enable it to be
+able to contribute its largest quota to the welfare of society.
+
+With this general direction of educational activity made plain, and
+incidentally the character of the activities along the entire battle
+front, let us pass to a consideration of a few specific activities that
+will illustrate the general movement. Let us bear in mind that we have
+in view, in the first place, the individual child whose tastes and
+aptitudes we must discover and, on the basis of discovery, whose fullest
+development, consistent with the rights of others, we must seek. And the
+reason for this, you know, is that only as this is done and he is
+prepared to do that kind of work in the world for which his tastes best
+adapt him--only thus can he be made the most efficient member of society
+possible. Because, as Plato said, centuries ago, "Society is but the
+individual writ large"--a collection of individuals. The foundation of
+all things in social life is the individual.
+
+Now, I'll admit, at once, that that is not the program of the rank and
+file of the schools. It should be, but it isn't. What the schools are
+trying to do, in the main, is to teach the children a lot of facts that
+tradition says would be well for them to know when they become adults,
+wholly irrespective of the child's present attitude toward these
+facts--whether or not they have meaning for him. What the high schools
+are trying to do is to teach the relatively few who survive this grade
+program, in addition to these elementary tradition-directed facts of
+knowledge, a lot more of meaningless matter prescribed by the colleges
+and listed under that alluring title, "entrance requirements." And as a
+result of these programs the schools are sending altogether too many of
+their boys and girls into society unacquainted with themselves, and
+ill-fitted for any useful occupation, and therefore out of sympathy with
+the serious work of the world. They are misfits in the social and
+economic world and are obliged to take their places in the ranks of the
+lowest-paid of unskilled labor--and work up if they can.
+
+Now, what is being done on the firing lines to remedy this situation
+and to usher in the new day? Well, first, in our normal
+schools--institutions established and maintained for the simple purpose
+of preparing young people for teaching children--great emphasis is being
+placed upon the study of the child. It is felt that only as the teacher
+understands the child mind and the laws of its development can she
+direct that development aright. (That's a sensible point of view, isn't
+it? And yet it is only on the firing line in educational practise that
+we find it recognized. Without that factor of equipment, the teacher is
+teaching subjects, not boys and girls.) In many normal schools child
+study is one of the required subjects--no one may graduate or be
+recommended for a teaching position who has not taken it. It should be
+required in all--and will be a little later on. No person should be
+allowed to occupy the position of teacher of children who has not made
+such a study--and proved himself efficient in it. Boards of education
+should demand it even if some normal schools do not yet require it for
+graduation. It is far and away the most important part of the teacher's
+professional equipment.
+
+And then in our schools of education and teachers colleges--institutions
+set apart for preparing teachers for our high schools and for
+administrative positions--the study of adolescence is receiving
+increasing attention. The high school boy and the high school girl are
+being made the subjects of close, careful, scientific study. It is
+thought that in order to deal effectively with these young people the
+high school teacher should understand those marvelous changes--physical,
+mental, and moral--thru which they are passing. How else can one know
+how to check where checking is needed (and it usually is needed
+somewhere along the line); to guide where the pathway is obscure (and
+every adolescent is sure to pass thru valleys of darkness during the
+high school course); and to inspire where inspiration is lacking (and
+with some it is lacking a good deal of the time)--in a word, how else
+than thru a knowledge of the situation can one be the "philosopher,
+guide, and friend" that the adolescent always needs?
+
+Do you know that about one-fourth of all students who enter the freshman
+classes of our high schools, thruout the United States, drop out before
+the close of the first semester? Do you know, too, that the elimination
+continues right along until that one-fourth is made more than one-half
+before graduation day arrives? Now, these boys and girls enter full of
+hope and expectation, eager and ambitious for what the high school is
+supposed to do for them; they do not plan to drop out before completing
+the course--nor do their parents plan to have them do so. Why do they do
+it? What has changed their point of view and sent them from the school,
+sad and disappointed, and their parents dissatisfied with both school
+and child? What is it? Do you want me to tell you? The situation has
+been the subject of investigation in many places thruout the country,
+and the conclusion reached by thoughtful men and women, unbiased
+students of educational practises, is that, while many influences
+combine to bring about that unfortunate result, the chief cause of this
+high mortality is the unsympathetic attitude of high school teachers
+toward the adolescent. But, you may ask, why unsympathetic? Because they
+regard them as fickle, unstable, and irrational, and so have but little
+patience with them. I'll admit that the adolescent seems all that at
+times, but that is only on the surface. The developmental
+changes--physical and moral--thru which he is passing often make the
+life during this period one of turmoil. From fourteen to eighteen--the
+normal high school period--is frequently called the "storm and stress
+period" of life. Not having made a study of the situation, high school
+teachers, in the main, do not know the fundamental scientific facts, and
+therefore can not account for actions, points of view, signs of
+waywardness, lack of appreciation, poor lessons, etc., etc., that
+sometimes characterize the youth while a student in the high school.
+They often lay to an unclean mind what springs from a perfectly normal
+development of the sex function; they are sure that moral perversity is
+the basis of actions that are more correctly explained by reference to a
+moral nature merely in the process of development; they think that pure
+laziness alone explains the lack of vigorous work, whereas the boy is
+growing so fast that he has no strength for anything else; they scold
+him for being awkward and say it is due to carelessness and a slip-shod
+mind, because they do not know that the muscles sometimes grow faster
+than the bones, making accurate co-ordination a physical impossibility;
+in a word, to general, all round cussedness they charge behavior that
+should be referred to high blood pressure, aching bones, the knitting
+together by fiber growth of the various brain centers, and finally, to
+youthful enthusiasm, all of which are perfectly normal signs of
+developing youth. They do it because they do not know any better. They
+are ignorant of many things that touch, and vitally, the young people
+with whom they are working. But how could it be otherwise? They have
+never given any reflective thought to the matter. The term "half-baked"
+that they often apply to the adolescent in disgust, or in coarse jest,
+is, from this point of view, more applicable to themselves.
+
+That, I say,--the unsympathetic attitude of the high school teacher
+toward the adolescent--is the chief cause of the high mortality of high
+school students. That, coupled with another, that springs from the same
+fundamental situation--ignorance of the needs and points of view of the
+adolescent--tho not so chargeable to the individual class teacher as to
+the school system as a whole, local, state, and national, pretty nearly
+cover the ground. The other cause to which I refer is the course of
+study and program of activities that are so ill-adapted to the tastes,
+and needs, and capacities of adolescent boys and girls--studies and
+activities that have no real meaning to them and that fit them for
+nothing definite save college entrance where the same old process,
+meaningless to many, often goes on for another period.
+
+What is being done on the firing line to better such conditions? A good
+deal; quite a good deal. Normal schools and schools of education here
+and there, the former more than the latter, are now giving attention to
+the matter, requiring in some cases and urging in others, prospective
+teachers to become intelligent in regard to the lives they are to
+direct. It is being done at our own institution as at others. This year
+Dr. Todd has given instruction in child study to nearly one hundred
+young men and women who are looking forward to teaching in the grades,
+and I have had a group of some thirty-five or forty prospective high
+school teachers and superintendents who have been making a careful study
+of adolescence. I guarantee that these people will not make the crude
+and unfeeling blunders that I have mentioned as too common among high
+school teachers, as they run. These are firing-line activities. They
+were nearly new a dozen years ago. My introduction of such courses in
+our University was smiled at indulgently by some of my colleagues and
+sharply criticised, especially the work in adolescence, by others. They
+are not yet required of students preparing to teach, but have evidently
+demonstrated their value since, tho in no sense snap courses, they have
+become very popular.
+
+As illustrative of this work let me refer to a notable recent action of
+the legislature of Iowa. It has just passed an Act appropriating to the
+State University $25,000 a year for the purpose of financing what is
+called a "child-welfare" campaign. The plan is to make an exhaustive
+scientific study of the child from both the physiological and
+psychological points of view, to the end that it may be better known and
+thus more satisfactorily guided in its educational career.
+
+One other thing, in this same connection, is being done on our firing
+lines all over the country--something that is hoped will set the people
+at large, parents and citizens generally, to thinking sanely on
+educational matters and ere long rectify our blunders as to subjects of
+study and general school activities and thus result in sending the
+children out efficient workmen in suitable fields. I refer to addresses
+and discussions such as this and others, to articles in newspapers and
+magazines, and the educational press, and to even more extensive and
+thoro discussions put out in book form from time to time for the laymen.
+
+The old darkey says, "The world do move." We sometimes think it moves
+very slowly, but yet it "do move." Tho we can't see it move, we can, by
+looking back, see that it has moved.
+
+
+PHYSICAL EDUCATION
+
+Another thing for which we are fighting out on the firing lines is an
+adequate system of physical education. This would include periodical
+medical inspection of every child from the kindergarten up; it would
+also include the school nurse and the visiting nurse, and, as well, free
+public clinics for ear, eye, nose, throat, and tooth difficulties. It
+would also include, for mental and moral as well as physical ends,
+well-equipt playground and gymnasium facilities under the direction of
+men and women expert and skilful in those fields--and these would be in
+operation the entire year.
+
+The physical education of the child and adolescent should be as
+carefully planned, as scientifically workt out in a positive way, as the
+intellectual. Why not? Because you know--every intelligent person
+knows--that the physical is the basis for the mental and the moral. You
+know--we all know--that a sound, a healthy, a sane life can not be
+developt in an unsound or a diseased body. Then why are these activities
+merely on the firing lines and not a part of the regular program?
+Because ignorance, and prejudice, and selfishness, and stubbornness, and
+penuriousness are still keeping many people in the trenches. But they
+will be dislodged. Just as sure as fate they will be driven from cover.
+They are fighting a losing battle. They are standing in the way of an
+irresistible movement that is sure to engulf them. If there were time I
+should like to describe just what is being done along this line in some
+places and give the reflex influence of the same on the community. It
+has surely meant a new heaven and a new earth to many a child, and
+glimmerings of the same to many a community. But I pass to less
+spectacular matters, continuing to discuss principles rather than
+illustrations.
+
+
+THE EDUCATIONAL SURVEY
+
+Another matter of interest these days is the educational survey that has
+been taken up by many progressive communities. The plan is, as many of
+you know, to subject the school system of a city or community to a
+searching investigation in order to discover, if possible, its weak
+points, if it has any, to the end of their betterment. Experts are
+brought in who, without fear or favor, examine the system from all
+possible points of view--location and arrangement of school buildings
+including heating, lighting, and general health conditions, adequacy of
+playground and athletic facilities, the extent to which the schools are
+satisfying community needs in the way of equipt workmen and the needs of
+the young people for equipment for suitable work, the cost of the
+system, attendance, methods of teaching and supervision, course of
+study, etc. Outside experts are brought in for various reasons: known to
+have no personal interest in the outcome, their reports are likely to be
+received with greater respect; and, too, a local committee, thru
+nearness and very familiarity, would fail to notice features, good as
+well as bad, that might at once attract the attention of strangers. Many
+cities, ranging from 2500 to half a million people, have already availed
+themselves of the survey with, in the main, very gratifying results. Not
+only have cities used the survey, but other units of educational
+administration. There have been a few very significant and interesting
+rural school surveys by counties in several states. A similar study has
+been made of several State universities, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, for
+example. I notice that the legislature of Minnesota has just arranged
+for a survey of theirs. You all recall that such a survey was made of
+all the institutions of higher education of North Dakota only a short
+time ago. The general feeling is that it was well worth while. Such and
+even more extensive surveys have already been made in five other
+states--Oregon, Iowa, Washington, Colorado, and Wyoming. The end sought
+in each and all of these surveys, whether city schools, higher
+institutions, or state-wide systems, is greater efficiency--larger
+service to society. A survey of this character is usually followed by a
+detailed printed report that is generously distributed resulting in
+greater interest in the schools and a more intelligent appreciation of
+their work and their needs.
+
+
+VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
+
+Much has been said in recent years about vocational education. The
+schools have been severely criticised for not teaching trades. Many have
+demanded that that be the dominating motive in all our schools,
+especially in the high schools. The educational press, for the last
+decade, has kept the matter in the limelight. Books have been written
+calling attention to the heavy dropping out of school of pupils even
+before reaching high school age wholly unfitted to do anything above the
+most menial and lowest-paid work. They have argued strenuously and
+sometimes logically for better things. To this program the objection has
+been raised that children in these early years are not yet ready to
+choose their work of life; that they do not yet sufficiently know
+themselves--their own tastes and capacities for such serious choice; it
+has also been urged that to place before children such attractive
+objective features would result in swerving many from the normal pathway
+of their development and check it midway. The result has been what might
+be called a compromise, and the firing-line activities have been
+somewhat modified. Not vocational education but vocational guidance is
+now more nearly the thought. And this has a much larger content, a
+background, a more scientific basis, and one organically connected with
+the larger movement of which I have already spoken--the social motive
+in education supplemented by the individual involving the discovery and
+development of taste and capacity.
+
+I have already called attention to the high mortality of high school
+students. The reasons I have given are the lack of sympathy that the
+teacher has with the adolescent and the lack of meaning found in the
+work being done. The same facts account for the heavy elimination that
+takes place in the upper grades of the elementary school. But both are
+being remedied to some extent. The first thru the child-study movement
+and the second thru the matter of vocational guidance. And the two are
+very closely connected as one can see at a glance. Thru the child-study
+movement the teacher comes to know child nature so well that direct
+application can be made to the individual child and an intimate
+knowledge gained of his tastes, capacities, ambitions, and dominant
+interests. This will enable her to give the subject matter definite
+meaning in the early years, and, later on, when vocations begin to
+attract, the guiding may be intelligent and the final choice a suitable
+one. From the beginning of the adolescent period there should be
+opportunities furnished by the school or thru its co-operative effort
+for children to test themselves in various lines--academic lines,
+vocational lines. They should, in a word, be vocationally tempted in as
+many different directions as possible so as to come to know themselves
+so well that the final settling will not be haphazard. In these ways
+they should be guided into their vocations, definite ones, just as early
+in life as they can be adequately prepared for them. For example:--if
+his tastes and capacities fit a certain boy for merely a mechanical
+pursuit that requires but little academic learning, such as carpentry,
+plumbing, blacksmithing, brick laying, etc., he should, relatively early
+in the adolescent period, be thus guided, and not forced to attempt an
+academic course that can have no possible meaning to him. This would
+send him out, a productive member of society, happy in his work because
+suited to him and efficient in it because fitted for doing it well. If,
+on the other hand, tastes and capacities fit for academic or
+professional careers, such as medicine, law, teaching, or engineering,
+the principle would remain the same but the program would differ. The
+academic work, meaningless to the prospective plumber, or dressmaker,
+would be full of meaning to the embryo lawyer or teacher, and the period
+of preparation much prolonged.
+
+Such are the points of view that teachers should hold, and such the
+opportunities that schools should offer. And it is all being found out
+on the firing lines. This program is being carried out to some extent in
+many places in different parts of the country. The time is not very far
+distant when something of the kind will be demanded in all our towns.
+For out in the front ranks the high school is no longer regarded chiefly
+as a preparatory for college. Out there it is seen to possess a much
+larger function--assisting the child--every child--to form its own
+acquaintance and to begin the planning of its future. In other words,
+the thought on the firing line is that the high school is an institution
+established by a community for community purposes--to take its young
+people--all of them--and guide them thru the difficult and transitional
+period of adolescence, directing, inspiring, shaping, checking,
+developing for the largest manhood and womanhood possible and providing
+the community with efficient workmen in various lines.
+
+
+THE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST
+
+While there are many other activities, significant and interesting, that
+might well be considered in such a treatment as this, I shall close with
+a very brief mention of one more--the place and work of the educational
+psychologist in our modern system.
+
+One of the most significant of the newer movements in educational
+procedure is that termed _educational mesurements_, perhaps better
+called the _mesurement of intelligence_. About a generation ago it began
+to be observed that many children did not pass thru the grades with the
+regularity that was thought normal or desirable. Many were obliged to
+repeat grades--they did not "pass," to use the language of the schools.
+The more the matter was investigated, the more serious was it seen to
+be. Investigation has gone on until at last carefully gathered
+statistics tell us that almost, if not quite, one-half of all the
+children in the schools fail to progress thru the grades at the expected
+rate. For some reason, or for some combination of reasons, they are
+retarded from one to three years. And of the $400,000,000 annually spent
+to carry on the work of the schools it is estimated that from
+$40,000,000 to $50,000,000 go every year in attempts to teach these
+retarded ones what they have already tried but failed to learn. Here was
+a double loss, a financial one of large proportions and a human one of
+much more serious import. Why the retardation? And what could be done to
+check it?
+
+Thoughtful consideration was given to the matter with the following
+revelation: it was seen that in educational procedure all matters of
+grading, promotion, even choice of subject matter where there was a
+choice, were being handled on the basis of results of tests of
+information--possession of knowledge facts--rather than of ability or
+intelligence. This might not be so bad if the knowledge sought in these
+tests were knowledge necessary to have in order to function adequately
+in the new or advanced environment. But usually no such relationship
+could be traced. It was but another illustration of no present meaning
+connected with the work of the school. A remedy was sought, and is being
+sought, in trying to substitute for the information test a test of
+intelligence. It is generally admitted that neither one is an adequate
+mesure of the other. A child may have a very high grade of intelligence
+and yet make a very poor showing in the ordinary schoolroom test for
+knowledge, not that he has been unable to learn such facts but merely
+that his interests and attention have not been thus focust. On the other
+hand, it is entirely possible for one of low-grade intelligence to
+receive a very creditable "mark" in a test for information since it is
+frequently a test of verbal memory, that "great simulator of
+intelligence," as Binet calls it.
+
+One of the most interesting of the books bearing upon this new
+educational movement is _The Measurement of Intelligence_ by Professor
+Terman of Leland Stanford University. In the thoughts just exprest I
+have used material found in this book.
+
+So, for a few years now, educational psychologists have been trying to
+work out a series of tests of intelligence, so that children may be
+located on the basis of their general intelligence, or ability to
+accomplish results. The results so far are very promising as tending to
+eliminate much of the loss mentioned above. And out on our firing lines
+the educational psychologist is being looked upon as a necessity in any
+system looking forward to real efficiency. It is thought that thru the
+saving he could effect in the two directions cited his regular
+employment would be a matter of economic foresight. A few years ago it
+was the school physician who was being fought for out in the front
+ranks. He is now a fixture in every up-to-date school system, and it is
+the psychologist for whom battle is now being waged. And it is only a
+question of time when his position will be secure and the line pushed
+forward for another attack.
+
+I have discust with you briefly some of the interesting points of view
+of the education of to-day. I have tried to place before you, first,
+what I think to be its dominant motive--social betterment, made
+effective thru discovery and development of the individual's tastes and
+dominant interests. To show how this program is becoming established and
+worked out, I have touched upon various new lines of activity in
+sympathy with and contributing to the general movement. Thus I discust
+briefly the great child-study movement having for its goal knowledge of
+the individual child as a basis for its educational treatment. Following
+this I spoke of physical education--its beginning in many places and the
+great need for extension. Another activity named was the educational
+survey by means of which a community may have its own educational
+activity tested by impartial experts that its real efficiency may be
+known. Then followed brief discussion of the new movement for vocational
+guidance that is doing so much where being used to make the youth
+efficient and happy in his chosen and appropriate field of activity. I
+closed the discussion with a mention of a still newer movement having
+the same great ends in view--the employment of the educational
+psychologist. Firing-line activities all of these are, each vigorous and
+active in the great movement for educational betterment.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE RELATION OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY TO THE HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE STATE
+
+_An Address delivered before the Annual Conference of the North Dakota
+Superintendents and Principals at the University of North Dakota, May
+18, 1916_
+
+
+This is a topic of great interest to us all--to you in the field and to
+us here on the campus. The work of the two institutions is so closely
+related, each depends so much upon the other, that participation in the
+activities of one bespeaks interest in the other. But before we can
+discuss at all intelligently the matter of relationship it will be
+necessary to look at the two separately--objectively, as it were--to
+note the function of each and its place in the educational system of the
+State. What is the university? What is the high school? And what is the
+work of each? are questions that must first be answered.
+
+In the first place, of course, the two are but parts of a still larger
+whole, neither being an independent, self-sufficing entity. The larger
+whole is the educational system of the State, of which there is one
+other part equally important with the two named, even the elementary
+school. And all three parts forming the whole are creations of the
+State, devised, controlled, and maintained for a very definite
+purpose--namely, the welfare and happiness of our people.
+
+While it is true that the three parts are correlative, each
+supplementing the others and the system incomplete without all three,
+it is also true that they are co-ordinate, no one of the three being,
+_per se_, in authority over any other, nor any one subordinate to
+another. Let me put before you, very briefly, that we may all be
+thinking together, the system in its outlines and then discuss each of
+its parts, trying to discover its function and its node of work. Then we
+shall pass to the matter of relationship.
+
+The system as a whole covers and tries to provide for the entire school
+life of the individual. The elementary period, or department, includes,
+in the main, as now organized, the work of the first eight years of the
+child's school life and ministers to it from the age of six to fourteen
+years. The secondary, beginning where the elementary closes, carries on
+the work for four years and is followed by the higher, the colleges and
+the professional schools--the university.
+
+It may clarify matters somewhat and thus give us a clearer perspective,
+if, before, entering upon the discussion, I account for the system as we
+have it to-day.
+
+Our Colonial forefathers in the Old Bay State, back in the 17th century,
+in providing to meet the situation that prest upon them, unconsciously
+laid the foundations for an educational system that expanded with their
+expansion and developed with their development. But before taking the
+initial steps they did not wait to analyze the entire situation and upon
+logical or philosophical grounds map it out in its entirety. They had no
+such thought. They needed ministers of the Gospel and, since a knowledge
+of Latin was the one sure gateway to that profession, they established a
+Latin school almost as soon as they had set their own dwelling places
+in order. This was in 1635, and Harvard College followed the very next
+year to complete the preparation. It was an afterthought and came eleven
+years later when they legislated for an elementary school. And even tho
+we can see, in what they had then produced, the fundamental factors of
+our present somewhat complicated system, the people who were responsible
+for its organization were only dimly conscious of the significance of it
+all. They builded better than they knew. The broad outlines can not be
+improved. Details, of course, are ever changing as local conditions
+change, but from the very nature of things, the elementary, the
+secondary, and the higher schools have remained with us, each for a
+quite definite purpose and all working together for a common end. Let us
+look, therefore, for a moment, at each of the three and see for what it
+stands and what it should attempt to do.
+
+
+THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
+
+The fundamental purpose of the elementary school in a democracy is well
+stated in the first legislation on the continent touching elementary
+education, tho not mentioning the elementary school. It was in the
+Massachusetts colonies in 1642. The General Court passed an ordinance of
+which the following quotation gives the substance:
+
+"This Court, taking into consideration the great neglect of many parents
+and masters in the training of their children in labor and learning, and
+other employments which may be profitable to the commonwealth, do
+hereupon order and decree that in every town the chosen men appointed
+for managing the prudential affairs of the same shall henceforth stand
+charged with the care of the redress of this evil ... and for this end
+they, or the greater number of them, shall have the power to take
+account, from time to time, of all parents and masters, and of their
+children, concerning their calling and employment of their children,
+especially of their ability to read and understand the principles of
+religion and the capital laws of this country; and they shall have power
+... to put forth as apprentices the children of such as they shall find
+not to be able and fit to employ and to bring them up."
+
+Here was compulsory elementary education, that children might know how
+to read, might "understand the principles of religion and the capital
+laws of the State," and also that they might be taught to work. And why?
+For their own present and future welfare, and that they might be
+"profitable to the commonwealth," the document reads.
+
+It was for all the children of all the people. The same thought is with
+us to-day and, analyzed and stated in our present-day terminology, may
+be put about as follows:
+
+The elementary school is for all the people and aims to do for all three
+things: first, exercise a positive directive influence over the child's
+physical development; second, carry on, in a more systematic, scientific
+manner the training of the sense organs already begun by the home, thus
+opening up the life to the beauties of nature, art, and other forms of
+truth, and so providing for the development of the inner life of each in
+accordance with inherent leaning and capability; and, third, equip them
+with the tools of knowledge and give such knowledge facts and develop
+such points of view as will enable each to become a self-directing,
+constructive, and contributing member of his democratic community.
+
+Attendance upon the elementary school should, in the interests of all as
+individuals and of the State as an organization, be compulsory.
+
+
+THE HIGH SCHOOL
+
+The high school should likewise be for all, tho for a somewhat different
+purpose. While attendance should not be compulsory, the aim should be to
+make it universal. For a somewhat different purpose, I said; I should
+perhaps have said for an added purpose, because I would have the three
+ends of the elementary school kept constantly in view as fundamental
+bases. But, assuming that these things have been well done, the chief
+purpose of the high school should be to discover the child's latent
+powers, his dominant interests, and then, so far as these are wholesome,
+help him plan his education in their general direction. I might put it
+briefly thus: the chief function of the high school should be to help
+the child to become acquainted with himself and begin the planning of
+his future. Let us look at it carefully and see if it is not sound.
+
+At the conclusion of the elementary school, at the age of 14, the boys
+and girls are still children; they are developing, not developed, in
+either body or mind. They have not yet reached, in the main, the period
+of rapid acceleration of physical growth, intellectual expansion, or
+moral development; they are just reaching it; they are now in the early
+stages of that wonderful period of adolescence when the boy is being
+transformed into the man and the girl into the woman. They are neither
+children nor adults, yet manifesting the characteristics of both. They
+do not know themselves, nor does any one else know them intimately. How
+can they? They are not yet formed. They are in the process of formation.
+What will emerge as a result of the process, we know only in broad
+outlines--not at all in minute detail. So many factors are at work and
+there are possible so many combinations of factors that no one can tell;
+for it is during the period of adolescence that hereditary
+characteristics show themselves. Up to this time the child is a child of
+the race; during this period it becomes the offspring of its parents.
+And the factors of heredity--father, mother, ancestry--are mingling and
+clashing and combining with the factors of environment, and what the
+outcome is going to be, nobody knows, in specific cases, in advance.
+
+This is the period when the heart, the lungs, and the brain are being
+transformed, modified, whipt into shape for the performance of the
+duties of adulthood. It is a period when, in the intellectual realm,
+because of what is taking place in the physical, concepts are being
+clarified, relationships traced, ideas formed, things seen in the right
+perspective, and real reasoning begun. It is the period when, in the
+moral field, because of what is being accomplished in the physical and
+the intellectual, principles are being apprehended that will finally
+enable the individual to distinguish between right and wrong, to
+organize on principle rather than upon expediency his relationships with
+his fellows, and eventually to become a free moral agent,
+self-controlled and self-directed. It is the period, therefore, when
+ideals are being formed, habits fixt, character shaped, life plans
+matured, and professions chosen.
+
+And so, with such an individual and during such a period, what other
+function of the high school can begin to compare, either in importance
+or in appropriateness, with the one stated?
+
+It may be objected that I do not include in this function of the high
+school that which has been during a large portion of its history its
+foremost work--preparation for college. The seeming omission has not
+been accidental. I say the _seeming_ omission because, even tho not
+specifically stated, it is there, for all who should be encouraged to
+prepare for college. But it has not been made prominent since, in my
+judgment, it is of minor importance. Note again the function as
+suggested--to help the child know himself, find out what he wants to do
+and what he can do best, and then begin getting ready for doing it well.
+If the specific form of future activity decided upon in a particular
+instance should call for the contribution of the college, then of course
+the plan mentioned would include appropriate preparation.
+
+But from what point of view should the high school be regarded and for
+whom should it be planned? Should it be for the relatively few who go
+beyond, or for the great majority who do not? It is a fair question and
+admits of but one answer. The high schools of the State must, of course,
+give adequate preparation for entrance into the State university. Some
+of them must--not necessarily every one. It must be the preparatory
+school, since both are State institutions and the only ones occupying
+the field. But it should do vastly more than that. Being of the people,
+by the people, and for the people, it should be so handled as to serve
+all, not merely a few, of the people. It is perfectly plain, therefore,
+where the emphasis should be placed.
+
+Please do not misunderstand me; I am not looking upon this from any
+narrow point of view, I am not thinking merely of getting these children
+ready for jobs--certainly not all of them. I am not advocating the
+transforming of our high schools into trade schools--not at all. What I
+am urging primarily is a different point of view--and so enlarging and
+modifying our high school activities and equipment that all our
+children, instead of only a few, may find there a congenial atmosphere
+and activities suited to their tastes. If their tastes lie in the
+direction of carpentering, or of plumbing, or of dress-making, well and
+good; let them be thus developed and prepared to go out into their
+community somewhat equipt for remunerative toil and for community
+service. Why not? Are they not as worthy as those who have tastes and
+ambitions or a more literary character and who, therefore, look forward
+to the chair of the teacher, the office of the lawyer, or the practise
+of a physician? And is not the community under as much obligation to the
+one as to the other? Some fear that such a program would lessen the
+number preparing for college, that work of this objective character
+would be so attractive that all would choose it. These fears are
+groundless. Children are not all built that way. At any rate it would
+not lessen the number who ought to go to college--who are adapted to
+that kind of work. It would, of course, greatly increase the number
+attending high schools--holding those who now, because of lack of
+interest in the work offered, drop out of school entirely and thus swell
+the ranks of unskilled and unintelligent labor. And that is greatly
+worth while. My own feeling is, too, that out of the greatly increased
+attendance of the high school an even larger number than at present
+would find their way to the university, and that they would be better
+equipt in point of view and purpose than are many who enter under
+present conditions. This suggestion is made not to keep boys and girls
+out of the university, but to send them there with a purpose.
+
+But there is oftentimes a misapprehension as to these two possible
+programs for the high schools. Preparation for college and preparation
+for life are by no means antagonistic. Preparation for college is the
+only kind of preparation for life for him who goes to college. And for
+him who, during his high school course, plans to go to college, but who
+at its close, finds himself unable to do so, for economic or other
+reasons, it should still be the best possible preparation for life that
+he could have made, and it will be if, as I am urging, it has all the
+time been based upon his own nature and seeking his normal development
+in the direction of his dominant interests. And preparation for life
+should be the very best kind of preparation for college, for him who
+later changes his plans and goes to college as well as for him who does
+not, since the college itself should be regarded as merely completing
+preparation for life. But a great many, the majority, no doubt, will not
+go to college, should not go to college, or to put it better, perhaps,
+need not go to college. The activities of life, psychical as well as
+manual, for which they are best adapted by native endowment, and in the
+performance of which they will, therefore, be happiest, and thru which
+they will, therefore, contribute most to the welfare of society, do not
+need for their satisfactory performance school preparation beyond the
+high school period. In other words, a great many boys and girls should
+not be urged to go to college. They should not if they do not have
+within them those characteristics of leadership which, developed, will
+make them leaders. The college graduate who, in later life, is a street
+car conductor, or a Pullman porter, or what-not, has largely wasted the
+time and money spent in college. And this is not because these
+occupations are not honorable, but because they do not call for that
+kind of preparation. And the kind of an individual who is at home as a
+street car conductor does not usually profit greatly by the work of the
+college. I will not put it as David Starr Jordan is said to have done,
+that "It does not pay to give a fifty-cent boy a five thousand dollar
+education." It is not a question of dollars and cents--rather one of
+fitness and of fitting. The so-called "fifty-cent boy" who may have been
+given the "five thousand dollar education" and because of its
+inappropriateness degenerated into a ten-cent man, might have been made
+into a thousand dollar man if he had been given the right kind of
+education. The boy who has the instincts of a blacksmith, who likes the
+shaping of iron and the shoeing of horses and the smell of the forge,
+will be a far happier and more useful member of society as a blacksmith
+than, made over by the college, as a lawyer without clients, a
+physician without patients, or a teacher always hunting a new position.
+
+I have discust the high school, as you see, from the point of view of
+the developmental needs of the children of the community. The outcome
+would have been practically the same had I looked upon it from the
+standpoint of the industrial needs of the community. I fully believe
+that a high school should be to-day just what it was originally planned
+to be back there in the first half of the nineteenth century--a school
+higher than the elementary, controlled by the community, in co-operation
+with the educational leaders of the State, serving the needs of the
+community, fitting its boys and girls for service in the community and
+discriminating, if at all, in the favor of the group of boys and girls
+who are not going to college, since that group is much the larger. Since
+boys and girls are nearer to us than industrial needs, I have chosen to
+look at the problem from that angle.
+
+I am well aware that my point of view in this entire matter is not quite
+in accord with the present-day program. The American high school still
+has preparation for college as the one dominant object. Its curriculum
+is planned for that end. It is rated at first, second, or third class,
+depending upon the degree in which it meets college entrance
+requirements--not upon the degree in which it serves the community needs
+or develops the community's children.
+
+I realize fully that the change suggested would involve quite a decided
+rearrangement of the ordinary high school program. With the time at my
+disposal it will be impossible to discuss the matter in detail, but it
+should be touched upon briefly to get the matter of relationship clearly
+before us.
+
+The first change would be in the matter of organization: instead of
+having the elementary school, as now, covering eight years and closing
+with the child at the age of 14, it should cover but six years, sending
+the child to the high school at about the age of 12, at which time,
+approximately, begin those physical and psychological changes earlier
+spoken of, as belonging to adolescence. And that thought has taken root,
+as we all know, in the junior high school movement. Six years is long
+enough to do well all that the elementary school should be expected to
+do. It certainly is as long as children can be held interested in the
+kind of work thought necessary for the child, and as long as he can be
+happy in the atmosphere of the ordinary elementary school. It is long
+enough for the laying of foundations. It is time something else should
+be taken up.
+
+Planning to meet the needs of adolescents, we must take the adolescents
+as they are--many of them not primarily students of books, but
+individuals of ceaseless activity, physical as well as mental, vastly
+more interested in the doing of things than in the learning of lessons.
+And we must provide a means whereby they can learn to do all sorts of
+things that have to be done in the community. The subject matter, the
+methods of handling young life, the atmosphere, the activities, and the
+ends in view, should be so changed or modified, or supplemented as to be
+appropriate to the new and changing personalities to be affected by
+them. The details would differ with different communities but the
+principle is adaptable to all.
+
+
+THE STATE UNIVERSITY
+
+With the functions of these two departments thus clearly in mind, let us
+look at the next in order--the State university. Fortunately this
+discussion need not detain us long since there is a quite well
+recognized unanimity of opinion in regard to its work.
+
+While the State university does many things, and some of them well, and
+while it can be said to have many ends in view, its one all-inclusive
+function is to prepare leaders for society. It must prepare leaders in
+law, that justice may be done; leaders in medicine that health may be
+preserved; leaders in engineering that the State's resources may be
+developed; leaders in education that the youth of the State may be
+educated; leaders in research that the boundaries of knowledge may be
+pushed out--leaders all along the line that character may be formed,
+statesmanship developed, and the welfare of the people secured and
+preserved. And the preparation of all these is not, primarily, that
+those prepared may achieve fame or amass fortunes, but that society may
+be better served.
+
+We are all agreed, in the United States, that elementary education
+should be universal. Many are now taking the position that I have
+already advanced that secondary education should likewise reach and
+serve all. But all stop at that point. No one even suggests a college
+education for every boy and girl. And the reason is found in the above
+statement of the function of the institution, since not all are suited
+to leadership. It takes only the relatively few who stand out clearly in
+their high school experiences as possessing the characteristics of
+leadership, and these few it develops, equips, locates.
+
+Coming a little closer to our subject--tho I think we have not been very
+far from it at any time--let us inquire as to this relationship along
+some more specific lines.
+
+It goes without saying that the relationship should be very cordial. The
+two institutions are creatures of the State, partners in the important
+work of educating the children of the State. Each has its own work to
+do, and neither has been given any authority over the other. At the same
+time each depends upon the other, neither being able to do its own work
+without the other's assistance. They should work hand in hand, each
+assisting the other in every possible way to realize its largest
+usefulness to the community and the State. In general, the high school
+should send its students to the university well equipt to do the lines
+of work for which they respectively apply. And the university, knowing
+in each case just what that work is to be, and the difficulties it
+presents, should be the judge as to the details of that equipment.
+
+On the other hand, the university should not make requirements for
+beginning its work that are beyond the capacity of the ordinary high
+school student. Nor should it definitely require or legislate against
+specific subjects upon which there is no general agreement among
+educational leaders. Something is wrong somewhere, in the matter of
+educational values, when some colleges absolutely prescribe for entrance
+certain subjects for which others will give no credit at all: for
+example, at the present time 91 colleges in the United States require at
+least one unit of natural science and 8 colleges will not accept a
+single unit; again, 13 require 2 units of natural science and 22 will
+not accept the two. Until we know a little better than we do at present
+what we are doing and why we are doing it, it might be well to move
+slowly in legislating for or against specific subjects. The university
+should keep in mind the fact that the high school has other duties to
+perform--and possibly more important ones--than preparing a few students
+for the university.
+
+I am glad to say that in this matter of entrance requirements the two
+institutions are gradually coming closer together. The university is
+coming to have greater respect for and more confidence in the high
+school and its work. Whereas in the earlier days all entrance work was
+rigidly prescribed, now, in nearly all of our higher institutions,
+several units are open to free choice from a list of accepted subjects.
+In a goodly number these units may be chosen from any subjects offered
+by an approved high school. And, too, there are five institutions of
+good standing that allow the entire 15 units to be thus chosen. Our own,
+as you doubtless know, is much more generous in this matter than the
+great majority. It gives a margin of 5 units to be thus selected. I
+think there are but 9 institutions in the whole country more liberal. As
+you know, too, in all our colleges save Engineering we specifically
+require but 4 units--3 in English and 1 in mathematics. From the others
+free election among groups is allowed. The movement here and elsewhere
+seems to be in the direction of requiring the completion of a full
+four-year high school course, with increasing flexibility as to specific
+subjects. And that seems wise.
+
+It gives me pleasure, at this point, to say that the relationship
+between the University of North Dakota and the high schools of the State
+has ever been most cordial. I think there has never been a time when the
+two, tho differing at times in details, have not co-operated in the most
+frank and cordial manner to bring about the best good of both and to
+secure the best service to the State. Neither one has been selfish,
+trying to secure undue advantage over the other. Where domination of the
+university over the high school can be seen--as it most certainly can be
+seen--and even tho, as I have said, the work of the high school is what
+it ought not to be--mainly a preparation for the university--_this_
+University and _these_ high schools are not at fault. It is not a local
+situation. It is nation-wide, and even nation-wide as it is, it does not
+include, consciously and directly, the State universities. The older
+colleges and universities did dominate, but the relation between the
+State university and the high school has ever been cordial. They have
+always recognized their partnership and have acted in accordance with
+it. But yet we have all been caught in the maelstrom, and it would be
+difficult for any one institution or any one State to get out of it. So
+no immediate or rapid change can be expected. Large bodies move slowly.
+The change will come, but it will come gradually thru claiming a little
+here and granting a little there.
+
+But before leaving this topic of entrance requirements, I desire to
+refer to one of its broad factors and touch, incidentally, upon the
+large matter of university attendance in general. In discussing the high
+school, and again the university, I have tried to make clear the fact
+that not all high school students should be urged or expected to go on
+to the university. Remember that the high schools should be made to
+serve all the youth of the State but that the university's work is to
+take but the choice ones of these, or, better yet, the scholarly output
+of the high schools, and equip them for leadership in society, and the
+point is clear. It is a new problem but coming to be a very real one.
+Going to college is getting to be the fashion--almost a fad in some
+places. We all know that a goodly number of students, boys and girls
+alike, enter the universities, East and West, every year who have no
+characteristics of leadership, who are not fitted for real university
+work, either in academic equipment, maturity of judgment, point of view,
+or earnestness of purpose. Many of these young people are wholly worthy,
+well meaning, and ambitious in a weak way, but they have been misguided.
+They have listened to the attractive preaching of the popular but
+unintelligent gospel of college attendance for all and, caught by the
+glamor--the foot-ball, the track meet, the declamation contest, the
+fraternity pin, the Junior prom, etc.--have answered the hail of "All
+aboard for the University!" without knowing what university work really
+is or what it is for.
+
+The college and the university are also coming to be thought a
+convenient place for rich fathers to dump their incorrigible sons and
+marriageable daughters for a few years. And in some sections these rich
+fathers are increasing in numbers at an alarming rate. The presence of
+all such people (they can not be called students) in various classes is
+a drag, and the wheels of the institution are clogged. These people
+themselves are soon disillusioned but ashamed to quit; the home people
+are dissatisfied with results; the university is unjustly blamed for not
+developing them into leaders--there is trouble all around. I am not
+speaking of our own institution alone; others are experiencing the same
+difficulty and are seeking a way out. Michigan University, for example,
+is now urging its alumni to discriminate carefully in sending students
+to their Alma Mater; it wants only those fitted by nature as well as by
+the preparatory school.
+
+As said above, this is coming to be a real problem and difficult of
+solution. What shall be the relationship of the university to the high
+school touching these various classes of its graduates? Should it
+receive them all? If not, where shall the line be drawn? And who shall
+draw it? Shall one factor of the entrance requirements be the
+recommendation of the high school principal or superintendent? Would it
+be well for the high school to have two distinct grades: one for local
+graduation and a higher for university entrance? That is done in some
+places. The entire matter is worthy of careful thought of both high
+school and university.
+
+With the discussion of one more point of contact, the preparation of
+teachers for the high schools, I am thru.
+
+If, as stated above, the great function of the State university is to
+provide leaders for society, then, in a broad way it is easy to answer
+the question as to what it should do for the preparation of teachers for
+high schools--it should prepare them. For where else is clear-headed,
+unselfish leadership more needed than in the high schools from the
+students of which are being selected, thru direction and competition,
+the boys and girls who are to pass out to the colleges and then into the
+world as leaders? We all know that that is what happens. The man or
+woman, untouched by college or university, who yet occupies a
+responsible position of leadership is an exception to the rule. And
+where else than in a university can preparation for high school teaching
+be secured? But of what sort should be this preparation? The answer to
+the question in general has long been clear--it should be professional
+as well as academic in character. Mere acquaintance with the subject to
+be taught is no longer held adequate by people at all intelligent along
+educational lines. And during the progress of the movement that has
+demonstrated to us the need of professional preparation, there has been
+worked out also, along somewhat general lines, the details of this
+preparation. We are now, the country over, in approximate agreement that
+it should cover the History of Education, Philosophy of Education,
+Psychology, including the study of adolescence, and Methods of Teaching.
+Institutions differ somewhat in minor matters within these broad fields,
+but the development of the movement in the United States has resulted in
+approximately the above program--professional preparation for all
+teachers in the high school and that along the four lines suggested. But
+the movement has gone much farther than suggested by my statement. The
+results are found in something more authoritative and more permanent
+than tentative agreement among educational leaders, or even among
+educational institutions. The law-making bodies of the land have taken a
+part, and by legal enactment have required about what I have suggested.
+The State of North Dakota, for example, requires professional equipment
+of every teacher within its borders--no, not quite, it does not require
+it of its teachers in the special schools--the reform school, the
+schools for the deaf, blind, and the feeble minded--nor in its
+institutions of higher education, including the normal schools and the
+University. And in this North Dakota does not differ from other states
+of the Union. But it is strange, isn't it? that the state absolutely
+requires professional preparation of all its elementary and secondary
+teachers and yet does not require it of those whom it engages to equip
+them? Some of them have it, of course, and the majority of those who
+give the specifically professional courses, but the greater number of
+all teachers in the higher institutions are lacking in this respect.
+That doesn't mean that all university teachers are poor teachers. Many
+of them have learned how to teach in the crude and expensive school of
+experience. They have, at last, the professional equipment, but gained
+at high cost. Perhaps this lack of professional equipment accounts, in a
+mesure, for the admittedly poor character of much of the teaching in our
+colleges, normal schools, and universities.
+
+But to come back to the high school and the preparation of high school
+teachers. What does North Dakota require, and how does the University
+meet the requirement?
+
+All teachers in classified high schools, save special teachers of music
+and drawing, are required to hold certificates that presuppose
+proficiency in psychology, history of education, principles of
+education, school administration, and methods. Special teachers in
+music and drawing are required to have covered in professional lines
+only psychology and pedagogy. But in cases where the certificate is
+granted on the basis of college work instead of on results of an
+examination, the law requires that the applicant shall have covered at
+least two year-courses, or sixteen semester hours, of professional work,
+and it recommends that this be distributed among the four great fields:
+history of education, principles of education, methods of teaching, and
+school management.
+
+The School of Education has been organized within the University for the
+specific purpose of preparing teachers for the high schools of the
+State. To graduate from the School of Education and thus receive the
+B.A. degree and the Bachelor's Diploma in teaching, which is accredited
+by law as a first-grade professional certificate, and also to be
+recommended for teaching specific subjects in the high-school, an
+applicant is required, first, to have specialized, academically, in the
+subject to be taught. The amount of work required for this specializing
+varies with the different subjects, but in most cases it is from 20 to
+24 semester hours. Recall what is meant by the work of a semester hour
+and you will easily see how broad our academic requirement is. It means
+that in addition to one's high school work he is required to carry the
+subject in practically daily recitation for from 2-1/2 to 3 years in the
+University. To some that may seem too much, but we feel that the first
+requirement for teaching in the high school should be a thoro grounding
+in the subjects to be taught.
+
+The academic matter thus disposed of, let us note the professional. For
+this, in its various phases, we require 20 semester hours covering
+psychology, history of education, secondary education, philosophy of
+education, and methods of teaching academic subjects in which the
+student has been specializing and which he expects to teach. The course
+in methods includes observation and practise teaching of the same
+subjects in the Model High School under expert supervision. Many of our
+students voluntarily take more than 20 hours, but that is all that is
+required. We have cut down the professional requirement to the minimum
+so as to leave ample opportunity within the course for thoro mastery of
+the subjects to be taught, and also for general culture and the
+development of broad-mindedness, not being willing to send teachers into
+the high schools as narrow specialists.
+
+Were there time I should like to go more into detail in regard to these
+various requirements and try to show the contribution of each; but I
+must pass on to speak of another way by means of which the University
+enables students to meet the legal requirements for teaching in the high
+schools--thru the College of Arts. A student who graduates from the
+College of Arts and who has had, during the progress of this course, 16
+hours of Education is, upon application to the State Board of Education
+and the payment of a fee of $5, granted a first grade professional
+certificate. But this method of preparation is seen to be quite
+unsatisfactory when contrasted with the one just outlined. The Arts
+student is a relatively free lance, practically wholly so in the choice
+and arrangements of his professional work. In the School of Education
+the program is for all the professional subjects, save general
+psychology, to be taken after the beginning of the junior year and so
+immediately prior to the actual work of teaching, and too, when the
+student is relatively mature. But with the Arts student, it may all be
+taken much earlier, during relative immaturity and making a long period
+elapse between it and the work of teaching--quite long enough for the
+influence of the professional atmosphere, always valuable in such
+matters, to be wholly lost. The question of the professional work of the
+School of Education student is carefully planned to meet the ends in
+view. Each course has its definite contribution. The Arts student may,
+and often does, select courses that are not the most appropriate for
+high school teaching: for example, instead of a course in adolescence he
+may select one in child study which deals only with the child in the
+grades. Instead of a special methods course in the subjects he plans to
+teach in high school, he may select a course in methods in elementary
+subjects; and he may not take any course in secondary education nor have
+any practise teaching in the Model High School. The work may be--quite
+often is--ill-arranged and of little value as a professional preparation
+for high school teacher.
+
+I have dwelt upon this contrast because the University and its School of
+Education has suffered by the laxness of this second mode of
+preparation. Some of the people who thus go out are not good
+representative products of the institution's professional activity.
+
+Just a closing word as to this phase of the subject. You see what we are
+trying to do and how we are trying to do it. From the work of the young
+people whom we have sent you from time to time, how successful have we
+been? Our work as to time and content of courses and our general
+equipment are about the same as found in similar institutions in other
+states. We differ somewhat, of course, in personalities and in
+individual point of view but, taking everything together, we are doing
+the best we know how with the material that you send us as students. How
+does our product suit you? What criticism have you to make and what
+changes to suggest?
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE UNIVERSITY AND THE TEACHER
+
+_An Address delivered at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada,
+March 30, 1916, in the Exchange Lectureship existing between the
+University of Manitoba and the University of North Dakota. It was
+printed in the "American Schoolmaster," December, 1916_
+
+
+Having accepted the kind invitation of the University of Manitoba to be
+one of the exchange lecturers from the University of North Dakota, for
+the current year, I made inquiry as to the nature of the different
+groups of people whom I should be expected to address. I did this so as
+to be able to select appropriate themes for discussion.
+
+For this gathering, therefore, semi-popular in character and made up, as
+I was told it would be, of the more thoughtful and intelligent people of
+the community, University, and city, I selected as my topic for
+discussion, "The University and the Teacher."
+
+To a group of educated men and women who have visions--people who are
+characteristically looking beyond the present and trying to plan for the
+development of a great democratic state and for the welfare of a free
+people, I know of no line of thought more appropriate or suggestive.
+This is true because in such a state and with such a people, the state
+or provincial university is the recognized leader of thought and action.
+And this is true since the one great function of such an institution is
+to take the choice youth and maidens from the various sections of the
+state and, thru the work of the class room day in and day out, week by
+week, year after year, give them knowledge, shape their opinions, mold
+their characters, and develop their minds, and then send them back into
+society as recognized leaders of the next generation.
+
+The topic is doubly suggestive when we stop to inquire as to what makes
+a university or any other institution of learning--what it is that
+really gives it its reputation, its character, its influence. What is
+it, anyway? Its towering brick walls? Its libraries and its
+laboratories? Its athletic prowess? Its beautiful campus? Why, no, of
+course not. Not any one of these nor all of them combined, complete and
+extended and excellent as they may be, or as useful as they all are,
+ever yet made or ever can make a great university. A real university, or
+any other institution of learning, is made up of the men and the women
+who form its student and its teaching bodies. The character of the
+institution, its very life blood, is drawn from them. Their points of
+view, their motives, their scholarships, their visions, their
+aspirations, make it what it is in every instance.
+
+You recall that ex-President Garfield's description of a university
+included only two factors as essential--the teacher and the student. The
+external equipment--buildings, libraries, laboratories--what not--is
+merely a tool in their hands. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not
+inveighing against these things; they are necessary. What I am insisting
+upon is that not _things_ but _teachers_ make a university. And so my
+topic, "The University and the Teacher," launches us at once into the
+midst of a great big thought. So big, indeed, it is, that it goes
+without saying that it cannot be adequately handled in the brief space
+of a single address. Only certain phases of the large topic can be
+touched upon at all, and they treated but briefly.
+
+But, after all, the function of a speaker, certainly upon such an
+occasion as this, is not merely to give information. It is not to speak
+with finality upon any subject. Is it not, rather, to direct the
+thoughts of the listeners along worthy lines? For any good that shall
+result from the meeting together of speaker and audience will be the
+direct outcome of their thoughts and not of his words. So, after having
+thus spoken briefly of the university as a whole--of its place in the
+state, its great influence and that of its teaching body--I invite you
+to think with me as I touch the subject here and there briefly
+discussing these three sub-topics: 1. The Kind of Teachers the
+University should Employ; 2. The University Teacher in His Classroom; 3.
+The University's Attitude Toward the Preparation of Teachers. Our first
+discussion, then, will be of
+
+
+THE KIND OF TEACHERS THE UNIVERSITY SHOULD EMPLOY
+
+A few moments ago I said that the one great function of a State
+University was to provide the State with a competent leadership. That
+involves, however, a subsidiary function of such great importance,
+especially as we regard the teaching force, that an added word is needed
+both to prevent misunderstanding and to make clear the line of
+discussion of this sub-topic. The development of a competent leadership
+_is_ the all-embracing function of such an institution, but that can not
+be done save as the institution is, at the same time, thru some or all
+of its teachers, keeping fully abreast, or well in the lead, of the
+discovery of new knowledge and of new applications of knowledge in the
+various fields of human endeavor. And this is true because men can not
+be leaders in any field of action unless they possess the fullest and
+latest items of knowledge obtainable in that particular field, and again
+because real leadership can not be developed save thru the use, as
+educative material, of the fullest and latest.
+
+What kind of teachers should the university employ? Clearly, teachers
+who can do these two things: men of open and enquiring minds, men of
+imagination, men who are hungry and thirsty for knowledge, men of
+research--men of the laboratory and the library. But that is but one
+side; we must also have men of vision, men of great breadth of view, men
+of broad human sympathies, men who can take this knowledge, old and new,
+and with it, as educative material, help to shape opinions, and mold
+characters, and fashion destinies, thus transforming crude, unstable,
+and immature youth into men and women of virtue, and knowledge, and
+courage, and sanity, and poise, into whose trust, therefore, can be
+placed the guiding of a great, free, developing people--men of the
+classroom, teachers and inspirers of youth.
+
+The question may well be asked if I mean two _groups_ of teachers, a
+_research_ group and a _teaching_ group, neither one acting within the
+field of the other. Not necessarily and certainly not absolutely. To
+quite an extent the two functions should overlap since each supplements
+the other. The man of research should also be a teacher in order both to
+keep his human sympathies alive and as a spur to still further search.
+And every teacher should be, to some extent, a man of research so that
+thru his own joy in discovery he will be able to kindle a like fire in
+the minds of others, thus keeping the spirit of discovery alive and
+active in the land, and also that he may invite his students to drink at
+a living stream instead of a stagnant pool. The teacher who is not also
+a student, and continually working at it, is usually but a poor teacher.
+But while all this is true, it is probably true also that no person is
+equally successful in both fields. Some men are primarily teachers--are
+in their element in the classroom engaged with the problems of the
+student but only indifferently successful in the laboratory, while
+others, at home in the laboratory, are somewhat out of place and
+ill-at-ease in the classroom. I shall not attempt to say which of the
+two functions is the more important or the more useful. Both are needed
+and, as said before, both are needed, to some extent, in each. But, in
+the main, where characteristics are marked, the shoemaker should be
+allowed to stick to his last. It is a very wise procedure that is more
+and more being followed at the present time, in American universities,
+of recognizing such differences and making provision for research
+professorships that include no teaching duties whatever. The percentage
+of these should be small, of course.
+
+What kind of a teacher should the university employ, then? The teacher
+who is eager to push the boundaries of human knowledge a little beyond
+the point yet reached and who also greatly desires to take knowledge as
+an instrument and with it develop boys and girls and equip them for
+leadership in the great world of action. So far as possible the two
+kinds of service should be performed by the same person, but yet that is
+immaterial--the material thing being that both kinds be performed.
+
+What kind of teachers should the university employ? Why, teachers who
+not only desire to do these two things, but who also know how to do
+them. If one is to do research work, he should know how to do it,
+economically and efficiently. His preparation should have included a
+certain amount of reflection upon the reasons for research and of
+training in the manner of conducting the same. Likewise, if he is to be
+a teacher, he should be well grounded in the theory and art of teaching.
+If he is going to shape opinions, mold character, give points of view,
+develop human minds, then it goes without saying that his preparation
+should have included a very thoro study of the human mind in its various
+relationships, activities, and stages of development. If a teacher is
+expected to equip young men and women for the duties of life as leaders
+in the great social, economic, and political activities, he must also
+possess great stores of knowledge, and likewise know how to impart that
+knowledge so that it will become equally the possession of others.
+
+
+THE UNIVERSITY TEACHER IN HIS CLASSROOM
+
+The second of my three topics, "The University Teacher in His
+Classroom," is an even more intimate one than the one just treated. It
+is so intimate that perhaps discretion would be the better part of
+valor, but since I am at a considerable distance from the people and the
+institutions I am discussing, I feel that I can proceed with comparative
+safety.
+
+There is abroad at the present time considerable hostile criticism of
+our higher education. Our graduates, it is said, are not able "to
+connect up"; "it takes them two or three years after they get out to
+find themselves"; "they first have to get rid of a lot of theoretical
+notions that have been given them before they can learn the practical
+things of life." President Foster of Reed College, Oregon, puts it thus:
+"It is possible to graduate from almost any college without an idea in
+one's head." Professor Wenley, Head of the Department of Philosophy in
+Michigan University, had about the same thought when he gave me his
+original definition of an American college as "A so-called institution
+of higher learning whose chief accomplishment is the inoculation of
+innocent youth against education." Or shall we put it in the words of
+our friend Mr. Dooley: "Nowadays when a lad goes to college, the
+prisidint takes him into a Turkish room, gives him a cigareet an' says:
+Me dear boy, what special branch iv larnin wud ye like to have studied
+f'r ye be our compitint perfessors?"
+
+Such are some of the caustic remarks that we occasionally hear. Of
+course the situation is always exaggerated in such criticisms; but, as
+the old saw puts it, "Where there's so much smoke, there must be some
+fire." Where does the trouble lie? All sorts of guesses have been made,
+and some careful investigations entered into in an effort to discover
+the cause. The outcome of all such consideration, so far as I am able to
+learn, throws the responsibility upon the teacher rather than upon the
+institution as a whole, and upon his teaching ability rather than upon
+any lack of knowledge. We cannot teach, it is said. In spite of the
+knowledge that we possess, we do not know how to present that knowledge
+so that another can gain it. Nicholas Murray Butler, the brainy
+President of Columbia University, says, "The teaching of many very
+famous men [in colleges and universities] is distinctly poor; sometimes
+it is even worse."
+
+These are rather interesting statements and worthy of thought. What is
+meant by teaching, anyway? Teaching involves a double process and two
+persons, both active upon the same matter. Both must be successful for
+either to be. Teaching is causing to learn, and when there is no
+learning, there can have been no teaching. "Learning is not merely the
+correlative idea of teaching, but is one of its constituent elements."
+No matter how much an instructor may know, no matter how much he may say
+nor what he may do, if he doesn't cause the student to put forth those
+mental activities that result in learning, he doesn't teach. And it is
+claimed that, in many cases, our university instructors do not know how
+to do this. He knows but he does not know how to cause another to know,
+is a common criticism.
+
+I suppose it is true, tho loyalty makes me rather dislike to admit it,
+that with us the poorest teaching in our entire educational system is
+done in colleges and universities. My own observation both as a student
+and as a teacher all along the line leads me to say that, in the main,
+our best teaching is done in the elementary grades, second best in the
+high schools, and poorest in the higher institutions. Another puts it
+thus: "We have excellent teaching in the lower primary grades and in the
+graduate schools, but between these two extremes, we can call it
+teaching only by courtesy." Another, the president of a State
+University, is reported to have said, "I have resolved never again to
+turn my undergraduates over to young Ph. D.'s. It takes five years to
+make a commonsense teacher of a raw doctor fresh from three years of
+graduate work."
+
+If these statements are true, and I am afraid that there's much of truth
+in them, the situation is rather serious. Still, it isn't at all
+surprising when one takes the whole matter into consideration. For
+relatively few university instructors have given any attention to the
+matter of teaching itself. They have studied the subject matter with
+which they are to deal. They have become proficient so far as knowledge
+is concerned. No fault can be found with them touching the matter of
+erudition. But they have not given any reflective thought to the art of
+teaching. They have not made a study of the human mind in its
+development in order to know how it receives knowledge as mental
+nourishment, and to understand the assimilative process; they have not
+given themselves to a systematic and scientific study of human life so
+as to know how to handle it in its various moods and characteristics.
+How differently these good people would have planned if they had
+expected to practise Law, or Medicine or to enter the Ministry! In every
+such case they would have made professional preparation for their work.
+Isn't it strange that any one should think that this profession--the
+most important--could be practised with success in its higher realms, by
+people who have never given its practise one moment's attention?
+President Butler, in giving reasons for poor college teaching, says,
+"Too few instructors are interested in education."
+
+I am reminded of Socrates' shrewd parody of a supposed speech of
+Euthydemus who, totally ignorant of statecraft, desired election to an
+important position in the government of the city of Athens. It is
+suggestive here: "I, O man of Athens, have never learned the medical art
+from any one, nor have been desirous that any physician should be my
+instructor; for I have constantly been on my guard, not only against
+learning anything of the art from any one, but even against appearing to
+have learned anything; nevertheless confer on me this medical
+appointment, for I will endeavor to learn by making experiments upon
+you." Comment is unnecessary.
+
+There are three kinds of knowledge that every teacher should possess,
+that every successful teacher does possess: first, knowledge of the
+subject matter with which he deals; second, knowledge of the human mind
+which he is trying to stimulate; and third, knowledge of the way to
+bring these two together in a helpful manner. Of the three, I am afraid
+that university instructors have, in the main, but the first. At any
+rate, all they know of the other two is of an empirical character and
+what they have picked up incidentally. There are exceptions, to be sure.
+Every worthy institution has them, striking exceptions, too, some of
+them are. A few of our older men have become good teachers thru practise
+and experiment, and an occasional young man now comes with professional
+preparation. But yet, as in so many other matters, the exceptions merely
+prove the rule.
+
+Thus equipt, or rather with this serious lack of equipment, the young
+university instructor begins his work. If he is, to use the words of the
+university president just quoted, "a raw doctor fresh from three years
+of graduate work," he probably begins by copying the methods of
+procedure of his own recent instructors. He tries to set these immature
+boys and girls at research problems and, in classroom, tries to impart
+information by the lecture method.
+
+How well I remember such an instance in my own freshman days. I fell
+into the hands of such an instructor in Greek. We were reading that most
+charming of Greek stories--_The Odyssey_. Textual criticism was this
+man's hobby, and we were put to work trying to compare texts, to delve
+into the intricacies of form and structure--trying to improve upon
+Homer! Such information as we could not find he gave us, in the formal
+lecture, day after day. But when we got it, we did not want it because
+we did not know what to do with it. Now, I am not quarreling with
+textual criticism. It would have been all right for that young doctor
+(he was younger than I was at that time) to deal with the facts of
+textual criticism, with some people, at some time, but it was all wrong
+for him to attempt to give those facts to us in our freshman year in the
+College of Arts. They were not adapted to our intellectual needs. They
+did not fit into our mental stomachs. We could not keep them down, or
+in, or something. But the pathetic fact was that the instructor did not
+know that they did not fit. I, being older than many in the class and
+thus appreciating better the barrenness of the Greek pasture in which we
+were trying to graze, finally managed, by a little skilful maneuver, to
+escape and to join another group that happened to be in the care of a
+real teacher who knew not only Homer but, as well, freshman boys and
+girls, the reasons for teaching Homer to freshmen boys and girls, and
+how to do it. He was acquainted with both the science and the art of
+teaching. Oh, how green was the pasture here, and how abundant and how
+nutritious the food! In all my university experience I recall nothing
+more delightful.
+
+But this is ancient history? Yes, I know it is. But yet, I am sorry to
+say, history repeats itself. Those three great mistakes that that young
+doctor made in my Greek class some twenty or more years ago are being
+made this very year by young doctors and by old doctors and by many who
+are not doctors at all, in one subject or another, in well-nigh every
+college or university in the United States. Our instructors do not know
+well enough how to adapt knowledge to human needs; they have the
+erroneous notion that the chief function of an educational institution
+is to impart information; and, too, many of them are afflicted with the
+lecture craze.
+
+Touching these three mistakes, let me say, briefly: first, as to the
+adaptation of knowledge: the word _education_ is derived from the Latin
+_educo_, _educare_, and means _to nourish_, and nourishment, physical,
+mental, or moral, is never secured save as the food is adapted to the
+organism. And just as much care as our scientific dietitians give to our
+dining-room service, our university instructors should give to the
+mental and moral pabulum that they serve to their students, especially
+the lower classes if not the entire body of undergraduates. They should
+know this knowledge as mental nourishment; they should know the
+condition of the mind, and they should know how to select and prepare
+this food for digestion and assimilation.
+
+As to the second mistake, the undue emphasis upon the mere imparting of
+knowledge: let me quote a few words from President Wilson, uttered when
+President of Princeton University: "We should remember," said he, "that
+information is not education. The greater part of the work that we are
+doing in our colleges to-day is to impart information." I am afraid that
+he is correct. I am very much afraid that that is mainly what we are
+doing. But it is wrong. The greater part of our work should not be to
+impart knowledge. It should be to assist in interpreting the knowledge
+that the student himself gets--to fit it to his own life needs and to
+help him learn how to study and how to think for himself. In other
+words, this information in which we deal should not be an end in itself,
+but a _means_ to an end. And that end should be development, mental
+power, point of view--character. To be sure, we must deal in knowledge
+facts (do not, I beg of you, misunderstand me) but not for the mere
+possession of those facts.
+
+And lastly the lecture craze, under the domination of which otherwise
+sensible people get into the habit of supplying information to students
+who already know how to read instead of telling them where to find it
+and then discussing it with them. How common it is! But why? Simply
+because it is easy. How much easier it is than to conduct a real live
+recitation in which there is the give and take, the action and reaction,
+of eager vigorous young minds, where the instructor is the agency of
+interpretation and the inspiration! To conduct such an exercise with
+from thirty to fifty bright college students and keep them on the alert
+is no lazy man's task. It requires brains and skill, whereas anybody can
+do the other thing! President Foster is correct in saying, "There should
+be fewer lectures ... the easiest of all methods of instruction."
+
+Again let me give an illustration drawn from my own sad experience, just
+to show what at least some of this lecturing is. This, you see, is
+getting to be a confession as well as an exposition. I was taking a
+course in the History of Philosophy. It was given by a man well known in
+the educational world, then and now. He was well thought of both as a
+teacher and a man. He read his lectures from manuscript. We were
+supposed to put into our note books every golden word that dropt from
+his inspired lips. And the most of us tried to do so, and in the effort
+got down some that were not golden. I did as the rest did till one day,
+fresh from the lecture, I went into the library and chanced upon a copy
+of Burt's "History of Greek Philosophy." I opened it and shortly found
+the very discussion, and some of the very sentences, word for word, that
+I had just copied with so much labor into my note book. And they were in
+print, too, so much easier to read than my note book writing! I at once
+sent to the publisher for a copy of the book and took no more notes in
+that course. Nor did I take any more courses under that instructor.
+
+And so it was in a course in history--only there the kind old professor
+was naïve enough to tell us the name of the book from which he got his
+lectures. And again, let me say that history repeats itself. Am I wrong
+in my criticism? Let me quote from one whose words carry more weight
+than do mine--Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia
+University--(Ed. Rev. Apr., 1915, p. 399): "To use--or rather to
+abuse--the academic lecture by making it a medium for the conveyance of
+mere information is to shut one's eyes to the fact that the art of
+printing has been discovered. The proper use of the lecture is the
+critical interpretation by the older scholar of the information which
+the younger has gained for himself. Its object is to inspire and to
+guide and by no means merely to inform."
+
+I do not mean to condemn the lecture method absolutely. There are
+certain lines of work in which it is quite necessary. This is true in
+some advanced courses, especially in the sciences, where an instructor
+is doing both lines of university work--carrying on research and giving
+his advanced students the results of his findings. Of course these have
+not yet been embodied in a text or other printed form and cannot be thus
+given.
+
+And this same justification can be urged for some of the work in our
+professional schools where both the material used and the end sought are
+different. In still another line of work the lecture is permissible--if
+it deal with a relatively new subject or with new phases of an old
+subject not yet covered by a satisfactory text. But here it need not
+continue long because some enterprising instructor will soon satisfy the
+need. The formal lecture has therefore no place in the earlier and but
+slight place in the later years of undergraduate work. Its place should
+be taken by the text and reference book and the class discussion. One
+of the finest accomplishments that we can help our students to gain is
+the ability to master the book.
+
+Then, in conclusion, touching the matter of teaching, fidelity to truth
+compels me to admit, tho reluctantly, that much of it is very poor. It
+satisfies the external demands and that is about all. It is not of a
+character to kindle enthusiasm nor to develop high ideals of
+scholarship. Much of it, I said, not all. Every institution has some
+good teachers, some very excellent ones, but no institution is
+overstockt with species of that genus. The great majority of our
+undergraduates are poorly taught. That examination mortality is not
+greater than it is is due to two fine qualities, one in the student body
+and the other in the instructors. It speaks eloquently of the initiative
+of the students, and demonstrates that instructors can be fair even if
+they can't teach. Many times we know that we are to blame for the poor
+work of the student and, knowing it, will not visit the penalty upon the
+unoffending head.
+
+The reason for this lamentable situation can be traced to two practises:
+In the first place, up to the present time, as said before, very few
+prospective college teachers have made any professional preparation for
+their work as teachers. In the second place, it is the almost universal
+custom to place the freshmen and sophomores, by all means our largest
+classes and the ones in greatest need of skilled teachers, in the hands
+of young instructors who have not yet learned how to teach. Relief will
+come thru two changes; first, when either the State or the governing
+board of the college shall demand professional preparation of every one
+allowed to occupy a teaching position, just as we do now for positions
+in the elementary and secondary schools. And if any one should raise a
+question as to the value of such preparation, my only but all-sufficient
+answer is to point to the universally recognized improvement in the
+character of teaching in those parts of our educational system since
+that requirement was put into effect. And the second needed change is
+this--for Presidents seeking teachers to ask candidates two questions
+instead of one as heretofore: first, of course, the question should be,
+"What do you know?" Satisfied as to that, let the second come clear and
+strong, "Can you teach?" And until an affirmative answer is
+demonstrated, let the appointment be withheld. It might be salutary,
+too, in dealing with the forces on the ground, to follow President
+Foster's suggestion given in these words: "It would be well if more
+teachers were dismissed because they fail to stimulate thinking of any
+kind."
+
+I come now to the last of my three sub-topics,
+
+
+THE UNIVERSITY'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE PREPARATION OF TEACHERS FOR THE
+SCHOOLS OF THE STATE
+
+Fortunately, its discussion need not detain us long. What should be that
+attitude? If you will analyze the relationship existing between the
+teachers of a state and that state's progress and development, and then
+recall my brief discussion of the function of a State University--to
+provide leaders--the answer to the question is at once apparent. The
+logic of the situation is clear. For what other body of people in a
+state are so clearly the state's leaders as the teachers? Always
+intellectually and, for the most part, in these days, morally and
+physically, the teachers in our schools mold the coming generation and
+guide it into paths of progress and accomplishment. This is true of the
+teachers of a state more than of any other group of people within its
+borders not excepting the ministry.
+
+We have, in the States, a system of State Normal Schools maintained for
+the purpose of preparing teachers for the elementary schools. Each state
+of the Union has from one to a dozen of these institutions. North Dakota
+has three. The course of study covers from one to two years' work in
+advance of a four-year high school course. In the East it is usually two
+years, in the West, one. This work is partly academic and partly
+professional and is always supposed to include a certain amount of
+practise teaching under expert supervision.
+
+The elementary teachers thus provided for by the normal schools, there
+are left for preparation at the university teachers for the secondary
+schools, for city superintendencies, special teachers of various kinds,
+and teachers for college and university positions. And this latter is a
+work, it seems to me, the State University must perform. They are
+already doing this, to quite an extent, for the high schools; a few are
+doing it well and the rest are working in that direction. A few, too,
+are taking up the more advanced phases of the work and are competent to
+prepare for college teaching. The movement is strongly on.
+
+It may not be uninteresting for me to trace this movement briefly as it
+has developed with us. For it has been a development. Our system of
+education was not planned at the beginning from a careful theoretical
+study of our present or prospective educational needs, but has grown up,
+little by little, step by step, to meet and satisfy from time to time
+present and pressing needs.
+
+The movement for the professional preparation of teachers began in the
+first quarter of the nineteenth century in Massachusetts. That state,
+with others, was suffering from an educational declension that had been
+going on for a long time. Matters were getting serious. Finally, a few
+clear-headed, far-seeing leaders made an analysis of the situation
+hoping to bring about a betterment of conditions. They quickly put the
+finger upon the sore spot--the poor quality of teaching being done in
+the schools. A remedy was sought. It was found in the European Normal
+Schools, an institution devoted to the professional preparation of
+teachers for the elementary schools. An agitation was begun for its
+establishment on this side of the water. After many weary years the
+efforts were crowned with success when, in 1838, the State Legislature
+of Massachusetts planned for the equipment of three. Thru their work the
+character of the teaching in the elementary schools was at once
+improved. Other states followed the example and this new institution
+soon began its westward sweep, following the development of the country.
+
+This early work, however, had in mind the improvement of teachers for
+only the common schools, rural and urban. Indeed, at that time no one
+even suggested that any other teacher needs special preparation. But
+when, after the Civil War, the high schools began to develop so
+markedly, the problem of teachers became a pressing one. Since teachers
+with normal school preparation were everywhere being recognized as
+superior to all others in the elementary schools, it was the most
+natural thing in the world for those in charge of the new high schools
+to demand professional preparation of their teachers.
+
+But where could it be obtained? Not in the normal schools, because it
+should be of different character than that planned for elementary
+teachers. To make a long story short, the universities and colleges took
+the matter up and provided the professional work thought necessary by
+adding Departments of Education. Michigan University was the first to
+act when, in 1878, the Regents established a chair called the "Theory
+and Art of Teaching." The example was followed by others, and, tho
+limited in scope and experimental in character, it was at once seen to
+be justified in the improved character of high school teaching.
+Improvements were sure to follow. The next step was the expansion of the
+department of education into the Teachers College, or School of
+Education, as it is getting to be called, which is now recognized as a
+professional school of equal rank with the School of Law or the School
+of Medicine. An essential element of its equipment is a high school for
+observation and practise under expert supervision, just as an elementary
+practise school is an essential part of a well equipt normal school.
+
+New York University, in the city of New York, was the first to move in
+this direction. This was in 1890. For fifteen years progress was slow
+and halting and confined to private institutions. But it was justifying
+itself. In 1905 the University of North Dakota effected the larger
+organization, the first of the State universities to do so. During the
+last five or six years, however, several others have fallen into line
+including such institutions as Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The
+institutions that have not yet effected this change and thus organized
+schools of education still maintain their Departments of Education and
+thus try to satisfy the need. The University of North Dakota was also
+one of the very first to make use of the high school for observation and
+practise, and in all lines of development has been recognized as
+occupying an advanced position. Other institutions, older and larger,
+contemplating a change, have frequently advised with us. If this mention
+seems borne of institutional pride, I trust that it will also be
+regarded as pardonable.
+
+Thus the movement--not the result of a theoretical formulation, but a
+situation forced upon us by the logic of events. It is as logical,
+however, and as irrevocable, as tho produced by deductive reasoning. An
+explanation of a statement made earlier in the paper as to the relative
+teaching abilities of elementary, secondary, and higher teachers, can
+now be seen in the periods of development of the corresponding
+professional schools.
+
+What should be the attitude of the university toward the education of
+teachers? Let us follow the development a little farther.
+
+During the last few years another very interesting phase of the movement
+has begun to show itself. You will recall that as soon as professional
+preparation demonstrated its usefulness in improving the character of
+elementary teaching, it was demanded for teachers in the secondary
+schools. And now that it has proved efficient in that field, it is
+being demanded in the field next higher--the colleges and universities.
+And this demand, like the others, is no longer confined to professional
+schools or educational journals--to the people from the inside. It is
+being taken up by laymen, even the daily papers, and prest with some
+vigor. To give the point of view, I give a single quotation from an
+editorial in a recent issue of the Minneapolis _Journal_: "None of our
+graduate schools require any course in education or teaching methods, or
+any previous experience in teaching work for a Ph. D. degree, except, of
+course, in the field of education, where theory is cultivated, if not
+practised. May it not be found that the best method to increase the
+teaching efficiency of the undergraduate instruction in colleges and
+universities will be to provide every graduate student with definite and
+detailed instruction in teaching methods for his chosen subject?"
+
+This demand, thus clearly voiced, and coming from many sides, will
+continue until granted as has been the case with each of the others. And
+as a result the teaching of our undergraduates will be improved. To do
+this added work, however, will not require another institution. The
+present universities, thru their Schools of Education, amplified and
+strengthened, will supply the need.
+
+Just as the University, thru its Medical School, provides its community
+with skilled physicians and public health officers to secure and
+preserve public health, and thru its Law School performs a similar
+service in sending out men who become competent lawyers and judges to
+secure the administration of justice, and thru its College of
+Engineering, its engineers to safeguard property, public welfare and
+life itself, so, thru its School of Education, it must provide its
+teachers for all these and other advanced fields. And all this service
+must be performed not that individual citizens may be better prepared to
+make a living, amass a fortune, or achieve fame, but that the community
+may be served.
+
+So the School of Education, now given equal rank with other professional
+schools of the university, must ere long be recognized, by virtue of the
+work thus forced upon it, as, in a very definite way, superior to them
+all in opportunity and responsibility.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE EYE PROBLEM IN THE SCHOOLS
+
+_A Paper read before the 1914 meeting of the North Dakota State
+Association of Opticians. It was printed in the May, 1914, issue of "The
+Optical Journal and Review," also in the same issue of "The Keystone"_
+
+
+I do not know how fully people appreciate the importance of the eye as
+an agent, or factor, of human cultivation. Judging from the amount of
+work it is being made to do in our schools and in nearly all our
+processes of education, we might perhaps be led to feel that its
+importance is fully appreciated, indeed, that it is being looked upon as
+the sole factor, or agent. But, on the other hand, this very excessive
+use, especially in the early school years, leading, as it does in such a
+large percentage of cases, to serious impairment of vision, almost tells
+us that its great value is not appreciated. If it were, should we be
+likely to abuse it as we do in these early years and thus render it
+incapable of performing its larger, fuller use later on? The attitude
+seems rather to be that its conservation is not thought to be necessary.
+That, however, springs from ignorance rather than from studied
+disregard.
+
+But let us look for a moment at the processes of education and note
+where the eye comes in. If there is anything upon which leading
+educators are now practically agreed, or upon which they tend to agree,
+it is that education as a process is a matter of development rather than
+the learning of knowledge facts. Now, that development is analogous to
+the growth and development of the plant, that is, it is brought about
+thru nourishment. In the plant this nourishment is taken in thru the
+roots, becomes absorbed and assimilated and thus ministers to growth and
+development. In the child, looking at it from the physical point of view
+and having in mind psychical, not physical, nourishment, the sense
+organs serve this purpose. Did you ever stop to think that the sense
+organs form the only connecting link between the great outside world,
+which serves as raw material for the nourishment, and the inner life of
+the child, the development of which we are seeking? Did you ever stop to
+think that these sense organs, the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue,
+and the surface of the body as the organ of touch, form the only
+possible avenue of approach to that inner life? Cut off, or close up,
+these avenues and no development of this inner life would be possible in
+the slightest degree. Thus considered, these same sense organs, simple
+as they seem to be, leap into importance that almost staggers one's
+thought. The most priceless possession of any child, I often say to my
+classes in education, is made up of their eyes, their ears, their noses,
+their tongues, and their finger tips--simply because thru them is poured
+the nourishment that sustains psychic life and ministers to the
+development of the same.
+
+Of these five sense organs, the eye is, par excellence, the one of
+value. More psychic nourishment is poured into the laboratory of psychic
+life thru this one channel alone than thru all others combined. Indeed,
+one of our most eminent scientific psychologists after making most
+careful investigation of the matter, estimates that the eye's
+contribution is about 74% as against the other 26% that comes thru all
+the other sources. If this relative value of the eye be even
+approximately correct, how eminently important it is that it be studied
+with close scientific accuracy, that it be guarded with the utmost and
+intelligent jealousy, and that it be cared for with the most scrupulous
+fidelity!
+
+But what is the situation? The Optician and the Oculist have made the
+most careful, scientific study of the eye. They know it thoroly, both
+its possibilities of service and its limitations. And they have told the
+rest of us all about it. But let us see how intelligent we are in the
+use of the knowledge they have given us. They tell us that the eye of
+the child is undeveloped and that in the undeveloped state it should not
+be much used on small or close work. In other words, the child's eye is
+far-sighted. But at the age of six years we place the child in the
+school room, put a book in its hands, and compel its use, eyes or no
+eyes, as long as the child remains in any institution of learning. Why,
+gentlemen, we have gone mad on this book proposition. We act as tho we
+think that it is only in the book that knowledge can be found. We act as
+tho we think that it is only thru the printed page that psychic
+nourishment can reach the inner life of the child, whereas, as a matter
+of fact, both the knowledge and the nourishment that are appropriate to
+the child in all its early years are better obtained thru direct contact
+with the great outside world itself and by direct communication from the
+lips of the teacher. If this fact were fully appreciated and acted upon,
+we should, in two very definite ways, conserve this very important
+organ; for we should use the eyes upon objects at a greater distance
+thus preventing unnecessary strain, and allow other organs of sense to
+share with the eye in the work of gathering information and of
+appropriating mental nourishment.
+
+Please do not misunderstand me. I am not underestimating the place and
+value of books, nor decrying their use. They are the storehouse of
+knowledge and the source of inspiration, but not for children. Our young
+children in school and out of school read too much--are too much tied to
+the book. Thru this prolonged and close use of the eye upon small and
+nearby objects for which, in its undeveloped condition, it is not
+fitted, the organ is permanently weakened and rendered incapable of its
+legitimate use later in life when the book is a necessity. And again,
+this excessive use of the eye causes an atrophy of the other organs that
+is really serious.
+
+Nor is this all. The Optician and the Oculist have studied the matter so
+carefully and know the eye so thoroly in its various stages of
+development that they know exactly the size of type that children of
+various ages should use. And they know, too, the kind of paper that
+should be used in books for children. And they have told us all about
+it. But we systematically disregard all this information gained with
+such painstaking care, and instead of using the large clear type and the
+unglazed, soft tinted paper recommended, we persist in tolerating the
+unsatisfactory merely because it is a little cheaper. Penny wise and
+pound foolish we surely are. What we save now we shall have to pay later
+on with compound interest besides compelling our children to undergo
+physical pain and mental handicap.
+
+And yet again. We are told by our scientific friends the relative
+amounts of window and floor space that the schoolroom should have in
+order to be adequately lighted! Not one in ten has as much window space
+as it should have, and a good portion of what has been provided is
+frequently covered up by shades thru the teacher's perverted notion of
+relative values--seeming to have greater appreciation for certain
+so-called artistic effects than for eye comfort and safety in work. And
+then again, these scientific friends of ours have told us that there
+should be in the schoolroom no cross lights; that the light should not
+shine upon the blackboards nor into the faces of the children, but that
+it should come only from the rear and the left and from above. They have
+found out, too, and told us, the proper shades of color for the
+walls--scientific knowledge, all of it, and therefore thoroly reliable.
+But how systematically do we disregard all this valuable information! In
+the construction of a new school building there is nothing that should
+receive more careful and scientific consideration than the matter of
+lighting, but too often the architect is either entirely ignorant of the
+entire matter, or else is selfishly interested in so-called
+architectural effects.
+
+I do not mean that we all disregard all these things, that we have no
+school houses properly constructed, no school books properly printed,
+and no teachers intelligent and sensible in their handling of boys and
+girls. Not at all. During the last twenty years we have made long
+strides in advance along many of these lines in many places. But the
+bright spots are still the exception and not the rule. The friends of
+children and of the race need to keep vigilantly at work.
+
+Now, let us look at the matter from another point of view. Let us ask
+what are the results of this persistent and widespread disregard of the
+normal conditions under which the eye should work and of the fundamental
+laws of eye development. What do we find? Why, we find just what you are
+prepared to expect after considering the above disregard. We find that,
+whereas at the beginning of school life the percentage of school
+children suffering from visual defects is relatively small, that
+percentage increases as we ascend the grades. In other words, the
+regular, systematic work of our schools is all the time weakening the
+eyes--all the time causing serious visual defects. Gulick and Ayers came
+to this conclusion as one of the results of their exhaustive
+investigation, made in 1908, which culminated in the well known work on
+"Medical Inspection of Schools," published at that time. This is all the
+more striking since they found that the prevalence of other physical
+defects steadily decreases as the years pass.
+
+An investigation carried on in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1907-1908,
+illustrates the point under discussion; 20% of all children in grades
+one to three inclusive were found to have defective vision, whereas in
+grades nine to twelve inclusive 40.5% were found thus handicapped. In
+some parts of Germany the increase in defective vision as children
+ascend the grades is seen to be much more marked than in our own
+country. In one particular study that comes to mind, a study of
+short-sightedness alone (published, however, some years ago) it was
+shown that the increase was from practically none at all to
+approximately 100%. In other words, the work of the schools had made
+practically every child near-sighted. And the general tendency seems to
+be in this direction. Indeed, I know of but one study in which a
+contrary tendency has been observed. And that was in a rural
+district--St. Louis County, Missouri--where a study was made about four
+years ago. Under the conditions observed there, the frequency of
+short-sightedness seemed to diminish with increasing age. And the
+reasons for this local tendency, being so directly contrary to the
+general tendency, men have been trying to understand. Various
+suggestions have been made such as the atmosphere of the rural as
+against the city districts being, in the main, more favorable from
+hygienic points of view; or the fewer pupils in the classes in school,
+thus enabling the teachers to give more personal attention so preventing
+undue eye-strain; and the shorter school year maintained in the country
+giving the children less prolonged periods of eye-strain. But whatever
+be the explanation of this interesting exception, it yet remains true
+that the regular work of the school, week in, week out, year after year,
+causes the eyes of our children to deteriorate, or at least the two go
+hand in hand with grounds for a very strong suspicion in the minds of
+those who have expert knowledge of the general situation that the one is
+the cause of the other.
+
+With this point established, namely, that the work of the schools is but
+ill-adapted to the structure the nature of the child's eye, resulting in
+steady deterioration, let us try to see how widespread is such
+deterioration and how serious. This can best be done briefly thru the
+use of a few statistics taken from the results of investigations that
+have been made as to the physical conditions of our school children.
+From these results I disregard all figures save those that bear on the
+matter of visual defects since that is our one topic of discussion.
+
+In Cleveland, Ohio, in 1906-1907, a very exhaustive and illuminating
+investigation was made under the general supervision of Dr. Wallin, one
+of the most eminent authorities on the relationship of the physical and
+the mental in the work of our schools. Dr. Wallin called to his
+assistance many experts, both medical and physical, and his report was a
+very noteworthy one from many points of view. I touch only two or three
+points here and there. In one school, the Mayflower, located in a fine
+residence section of the city, 972 pupils were examined, and 20% of them
+found to be suffering from some rather serious form of eye defect. In an
+East End school, another of the so-called better class of schools, 668
+children were examined and 32.4% found with defective vision. Even more
+startling than these were the results found in a school of about the
+same size in what was called a "congested" district of the city. Six
+hundred and sixteen were examined and 71.1% found defective.
+
+Another very significant fact was brought to light by this
+investigation--the disregard paid to the whole matter by parents and
+teachers. Perhaps I should not include teachers in speaking of this
+disregard since they have, at best, but advisory power. In the East End
+school, out of the 668 children examined, 216, or 32.4% were found
+defective, but only 43, or 6.4%, were being relieved by the use of
+glasses. And in the "congested" district the disparity was even more
+striking since out of the 437, or 71.1% of the entire number who had
+visual defects, only 11, or 1.8%, were being relieved.
+
+In one investigation made in New York City in 1908, 1,442 pupils were
+considered, and 42% found suffering from eye defects. In Jefferson City,
+Missouri, in 1908, the results of the examination of 1,000 white
+children showed 36.5% suffering from somewhat serious visual defects;
+and many others in lesser degrees. Of these 1,000 children, 410, or 41%,
+were found to need the assistance of glasses, but only 38, or 3.8%, were
+being thus assisted.
+
+In Los Angeles, California, in 1909, 5,000 children were examined, and
+61% found to be suffering from the same trouble. Again, in Philadelphia,
+in 1909, the well-known Dr. Risley found, in an examination of 2,422
+children, that 44.7% were continual sufferers from some form of eye
+trouble. I could easily cite similar results from many more studies, but
+surely these are sufficient. These are startling facts, and very serious
+when we think merely of this one fact alone without considering it in
+its relationship to anything else. But when we stop to consider the fact
+that these sufferers are children, in the schools, and are thus
+handicapped in their work of education--in their efforts to fit
+themselves for the struggle of life--it assumes even larger proportions
+and becomes truly appalling.
+
+What does it mean? Why, it means, in terms of the school man,
+retardation and elimination. To the layman those words may need
+interpretation. Retardation means the checking of a pupil in his
+educational progress thru the grades, necessitating the spending of a
+longer period than that which is considered normal. For example, a
+normal pupil is one who enters school at six years of age and is
+promoted each year regularly; or "a pupil whose age and grade correspond
+to this standard." Thus, the standard age for a second grade pupil,
+during the year, is 7 years; for a fourth grade, 9 years; and for an
+eighth grade, 13 years; or in every case, five more than the number of
+his grade. If one is older than the number of his grade plus five, he is
+retarded by the amount of the difference; thus a twelve-year-old child
+in the sixth grade is retarded one year since a sixth-grade child should
+be but eleven years old. Somehow he has lost a year. Thru failure to do
+satisfactory work such a child has had to repeat the work of some one of
+his grades. Elimination means the dropping out of a child from school
+altogether before the regular course is completed. We find relatively
+little elimination in the lower grades since the compulsory attendance
+laws require attendance. But just as soon as the upper limit of age is
+reached there is much of it.
+
+I do not know how closely you have followed this matter of retardation
+in the schools and elimination from them, but I think sufficiently to
+render it unnecessary for me to discuss the matter at length. Let me
+refer to but one study which is typical as showing the seriousness of
+the situation. In 1907, Mr. S. L. Heeter, at that time Superintendent of
+Schools in St. Paul, Minnesota, working under instruction of his Board
+of School Inspectors, made a very careful investigation as to the matter
+of retardation in the schools of that city. You may be surprised to
+learn some of the results. He found more than one-half, exactly 56%, of
+all the children in the schools at least one year behind normal grade,
+and many of them much more than one year behind. To be exact: 12,672
+children were below grade. Of these, 6,328 were one year behind; 3,650
+were two years behind; 1,689 were three years behind; 651 were four
+years behind; 221 were five years behind, and 133 were six years behind.
+Now, what is the cause of such a serious situation? Mr. Heeter, in his
+report of his findings, speaks as follows:
+
+"There are evidently many causes of this phenomenal retardation--yet it
+seems likely that one of the largest factors ... is physiological, and
+that more attention given in our schools to the bodily conditions of our
+children will throw new light on our educational problems, and even on
+the subject of backward children, and of delinquency itself." "It
+appears," he goes on to say, "that the schools have been too exclusively
+concerned about the minds of children and too little concerned about
+their bodies. Much time and energy and money have been wasted in trying
+to make all children equal in mental power, without regard to physical
+inequalities, until now waste products are clogging our educational
+machinery." And Mr. Heeter's conclusion is that of all who have studied
+the matter with any care.
+
+Let me now show the relationship existing between the two, that is,
+between retardation and physical defects. I can do it briefly by
+referring to the work of Dr. Cronin in New York City. This is but one
+instance, but it is typical of conditions. A few years ago, as chief
+Medical Inspector of the schools of New York City, Dr. Cronin read a
+paper before the School Hygiene Association of America in which he made
+the statement that an examination of all children reported as backward
+by various teachers revealed 95% of them as physically defective.
+
+Thus, in a hasty way, but I think correctly, I have thrown the chief
+burden of backwardness in school, or retardation, upon physical defects.
+But our special topic is eye trouble. How much of this burden must be
+referred to this specific source? It is difficult to say exactly. But
+knowing as we do the great prevalence of eye defects among school
+children, from 20% to 71%, you remember, depending somewhat upon
+locality and environment; and knowing, too, the close relationship
+existing between the eyes of our children and the work of the schools
+(this school work, you know, is nearly all done with the eyes. It should
+not be, but it is); knowing all this, it is not beside the mark to say
+that a very large percentage of the retardation must be laid at its
+doors.
+
+And what are we going to do about it? What should be done? The reform is
+easily seen to be a many-sided one. It is educational--our teachers
+should come to know that the book is only one, and not the chief one, of
+the many sources of knowledge open to the child; it is physiological--we
+should all know the eye better than we do, its normal use and its
+limitations; the reform is architectural--our architects and boards of
+education should realize that the seating and the lighting of school
+houses should receive most careful consideration; the reform is
+economic--we should come to appreciate the unwisdom of being "penny wise
+and pound foolish," and recall the old saw, "a stitch in time saves
+nine"; the reform is medical--we should get our people to see that thoro
+and regular medical inspection of all our school children is the only
+sensible method of procedure. And so I might go on naming phase after
+phase of the problem. It is so many-sided that we can not hope for its
+immediate and perfectly satisfactory solution. But there are certain
+quite specific ends in view that should at once and all the time be kept
+before us. Touching the matter of medical inspection, our state law,
+instead of being merely permissive should be mandatory, and should be
+made to apply to every school community in the state. Of course, the cry
+of expense would be at once raised, but it could easily be shown, were
+there time at my disposal, that it would be an economic mesure rather
+than one increasing the cost of our schools. Because every time that a
+child repeats a grade in school, that year's school work in the life of
+the child has cost the city or school community twice as much as it
+should. Whenever, as in the case of St. Paul, already cited, a child is
+two, three, or six years behind normal grade, there is an extra heavy
+burden of taxation placed on the city. Medical inspection, wherever it
+has been made effective, has resulted in lowering, very materially, the
+amount of retardation. And it is looked upon as saving the community
+very much more than it has cost, saying nothing at all about the added
+effectiveness of the child for the work of the school nor of his greater
+happiness. This statement could easily be substantiated were there time.
+But that is not necessary. It is so apparent that he who runs may read.
+
+But the time when we can expect such a law to be put in force is, I am
+afraid, considerably removed from the present. Large bodies move slowly;
+we must have patience. We must keep steadily at it preaching the good
+gospel of reform. But in the meantime can we not hasten the glad day of
+full and complete medical inspection, and at the same time bring relief
+to a very large number of little sufferers, by throwing emphasis,
+whenever the opportunity offers, upon the phase of the subject that is
+before us this morning? The eye trouble is the chiefest of all those of
+a physical nature. It has far more to do in causing retardation of our
+boys and girls than any of the other physical defects, and therefore
+should receive its own prompt and vigorous attention irrespective of
+everything else. Upon this one point let us have immediate relief and
+keep it up as rapidly as possible. Let us adopt some program of action
+which will bring relief as quickly as possible to children suffering
+from visual defects. For I have no sympathy with the position taken by
+that foolish mother (perhaps I should be charitable and merely say
+"ignorant" mother. I think she was both ignorant and foolish), who said
+to me when I was urging her to have glasses fitted for her little girl,
+"Why, Mr. Ladd, I can't bear to think of Mary wearing glasses. I am
+going to keep them away from her just as long as she can possibly get
+along without them." I replied, "My good woman, if you have any regard
+for the comfort and well-being of your little girl, or if you care for
+her progress in school, instead of keeping glasses away from her as long
+as possible, you should see to it that she has the best that can be
+procured just as soon as they can be of the slightest assistance." I
+went on to tell her that it was entirely possible that the use of the
+glasses at that time for a year or two might enable her to do without
+them permanently later on. But she did not get them; of course not. They
+would not have added to the attractiveness of the little face. How hard
+it is for the unreflecting to deny themselves a present pleasure,
+whether in money or pride, for a future good!
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE HOME, THE CHURCH, AND THE SCHOOL
+
+_An Extension Lecture delivered in many places in North Dakota and
+Minnesota_
+
+
+It goes without saying, I am sure, that these three great
+institutions--the Home, the Church, and the School--fundamental as they
+are in the life of each, and even of civilization itself, can not be
+adequately handled in the brief time given to a single address. But yet
+I think that in that time we can account for each, roughly trace its
+interesting career, and locate it in our complex life of to-day with
+function briefly stated. And in it all, or out of it all, directly or
+indirectly, I think we shall see the relationship existing between the
+three. This relationship, so strong and so vital, the appreciation of
+which is so necessary for constructive action and large results in life,
+I particularly desire to make appear. And it is this relationship that
+gives appropriateness to the handling of the three in a single address
+tho each, from a different point of view, might well be made the center
+of an entire evening's consideration.
+
+The home, the church, and the school! What troops of memories arise
+around each as we turn our gaze backward! How sweet and sacred appears
+the home as we recall mother and father, sister and brother, in the old
+home setting in the early days of our pilgrimage! How solemn and
+hallowed seems the church as we go back in thought to our first
+connections with it in Sunday school, in its communion service, and to
+our own entrance as members! And how fascinating and joyful, even the
+sometimes tinged with regret or apprehension, the school as we retrace
+our pathway over the years of its associations! The home, the church,
+and the school--but the first of these is the home.
+
+
+THE HOME
+
+Let me ask you, therefore, to think with me first of the home--of that
+institution which in its very inception, more than any other, was
+God-inspired; that institution which from its very beginning up to the
+present hour has, more than any other, reflected the spirit and purpose
+of God--that institution whose center is the child and whose function
+that child's development--_the home_. It is the most ancient of all the
+institutions of man. Organized and set apart at the very dawn of human
+life, when the morning stars were singing together, the divine Voice
+gave it sanction and stated its function: "Be fruitful and multiply, and
+replenish the earth." And the institution, as the ages have passed, has
+never once lapsed and never repudiated its origin or its work. Still it
+has advanced so far and improved so much in outward appearance, at any
+rate, and developed so greatly that, as we know it to-day, we may almost
+call it a modern institution, so modern indeed and so different from all
+others as to merit the name of American institution.
+
+Students of history have so laid bare the conditions of living and of
+home life in the past as to reveal to us the fact that the home, as we
+know it and love it, did not exist prior to our own day. In all former
+periods, even tho glorious to look back upon, some of them, golden days
+as they were of the world's upward struggle, we search in vain for our
+kind of a home. The home of the American workman to-day is provided with
+more comforts and conveniences, has in it more of the elements of
+culture and refinement, is more eloquent of love and the higher life
+than was the home of the ruler of a few generations ago. And the chief
+factors in it all, those which bind all together and give meaning, are
+the honored place given the wife and mother and, springing from that,
+love, love of parent for child and child for parent. For we all know,
+when we come to think of it, that our love of home and dear ones is ever
+our motive for action as we explore new fields and mark out new paths,
+overcome obstacles and surmount difficulties--in a word, carry the
+banners of civilization to new heights!
+
+The home of all people, in all ages of the world's history, but
+especially as we know it to-day, is the one thing for which men live and
+work. Stop the first man you meet on the street,--"rich man, poor man,
+beggar-man, thief, doctor, lawyer, butcher, priest,"--any man, going
+along with a preoccupied mind, thinking of the case he is to plead, the
+trade he is to make, the book he is to write. Get into this man's mind,
+down below this particular thing that is on the surface of it, and down
+there there is one picture that you wilt always find, the picture of a
+cozy corner somewhere, of a woman sitting by the table or before the
+fire, of two or three growing girls, and a boy or two that look like
+him. Meet him wherever you will, find him in whatever occupation, or in
+whatever stage of spiritual or intellectual development; whenever you
+get under his jacket, whether it be a blouse or a tuxedo, you'll find
+this picture hanging on the wall of his heart. Ninety-nine men out of
+every hundred say, with Robert Burns:
+
+  "To make a happy fire-side clime
+    For weans and wife,
+  That's the true pathos and sublime
+    Of human life."
+
+And the young man of to-day, looking forth into the years that are to
+come, picturing himself as and where he would like to be, who sees
+himself alone, without the joys and companionship of wife and child, the
+young man who doesn't plan to have a home of his own to which he can
+lead the choice of his heart and in which he may multiply, thru the
+development of his own offspring, his powers of usefulness,--such a
+young man is a selfish monstrosity. And the young woman who isn't
+longing for a home of her own--for a little kingdom in which as Queen,
+she may rule jointly with a chosen King in loving ministration to their
+natural subjects--such a young woman is an abnormal specimen. The desire
+of every little girl for a doll, the craving of every boy for an animal
+pet, is but the manifestation of the deep-seated instinct of parenthood.
+Do nothing to stifle it. Minister to its growth and development. And
+young man--young woman, you who have left behind the days of knee
+trousers and short dresses, and with them have laid aside the doll and
+the pet, think it not weakness when you find yourself irresistibly
+drawn by the sweet smile of an innocent babe or by the childish prattle
+of one a little farther on. Be not ashamed when, under such influence,
+you picture yourself the center of a home, and in this connection think
+of him or her whom you would like to have share it with you. It is the
+sweetest influence that can ever come into your life. Rightly regarded
+and used, it will do more for your happiness and usefulness than any or
+all others that will ever come to you.
+
+But when the crucial moment comes--when the die is to be cast and the
+promise asked and given that will bind the two lives together, halt for
+a moment until one asks and the other answers this "Woman's Question."
+
+
+THE WOMAN'S QUESTION
+
+  "Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing
+     Ever made by the Hand above--
+  A woman's heart and a woman's life
+     And a woman's wonderful love?
+
+  "You have written my lesson of duty out;
+     Manlike you have questioned me;
+  Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul
+     Until I question thee.
+
+  "You require your mutton shall always be hot,
+     Your stockings and shirts shall be whole.
+  I require your heart to be true as God's stars
+     And as pure as Heaven your soul.
+
+  "You require a cook for your mutton and beef.
+     I require a far better thing.
+  A seamstress you're wanting for stockings and shirts,
+     I look for a man and a king.
+
+  "A king for a beautiful realm called home,
+     And a man that the Maker, God,
+  Shall look upon as He did the first
+     And say, 'It is very good.'
+
+  "I am fair and young, but the rose will fade
+     From my soft fair cheek some day;
+  Will you love me then 'mid the falling leaves
+     As you did in the bloom of May?
+
+  "Is your heart an ocean so strong and deep
+     I may launch my all on its tide?
+  A loving woman finds Heaven or hell
+     On the day she is made a bride.
+
+  "I require all things that are grand and true,
+     All things that a man should be,
+  If you promise me this, I would stake my life
+     To be all you demand of me.
+
+  "If you can not do this, a seamstress and cook
+     You can hire with little to pay.
+  But a woman's heart and a woman's life
+     Are not to be won that way."
+
+Yes, Bobby Burns was right when he said,
+
+  "To make a happy fire-side clime,
+     For weans and wife,
+  That's the true pathos and sublime
+     Of human life."
+
+Exactly what is God's ultimate purpose for the human race, I think no
+one knows. And I am not sure that we need to know. Where clear vision is
+not granted we walk by faith. But even if the ultimate end is not
+clearly portrayed, even if we are kept in the dark as to the great
+outcome, we do know pretty well His method of procedure. A careful study
+of the past and a critical analysis of the data now at hand looking to
+the future enable us to grasp with some clearness the leading outlines
+of the program. From generation to generation, from century to century,
+from age to age, as time has rolled on, there has been a gradual moving
+onward and upward, a steady improvement both in the refining and
+civilizing of man's own being and in bringing that being into
+sympathetic relations with the external world, that is, a gradual
+development of man's own powers, and an ever increasing control of the
+forces of nature. In spite of the fact that this progress has been, at
+times, painfully slow, it has never once ceased, and during the last
+century it has moved on with constantly accelerating speed until to-day
+the human race stands upon the highest point ever reached. I have
+absolutely no sympathy with that narrow pessimism which is always
+talking about "the good old times." All in all, there never was a time
+in the history of the world when man knew so much as to-day; there never
+was a time when his life was so ministered to by the forces of nature;
+never a time when his heart was so tender, when it responded so quickly
+to human suffering, never a time when all forms of evil were so quickly
+condemned nor when so much good was being done. The long program seems
+to have been for each age and each generation to hand on to its
+successors the legacy received, but increased and strengthened and
+bettered. How much longer this upward movement is to continue, how much
+more the race is to know and do, how much better it is to be, no one
+knows. God's ultimate purpose, His great object in view--we may not be
+able to grasp, but certainly it is not difficult for us to note the
+general direction of the movement. It is upward.
+
+In all this, wherein does the home come, and what is its function? Is it
+not, has it not been from the very beginning the Divine agency used for
+doing this great work? Was not the home instituted, endowed with the
+divine power of love, and consecrated for the perpetuation of the race?
+"Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth." True, as many times
+pointed out, our toils and our struggles, our earnings and our
+productions, incidentally give us pleasure and satisfaction and power,
+but yet even these are but a means to an end,--that parents may beget,
+rear, and educate their children in such a way that they can carry the
+banner of civilization a little higher--lift society to a higher level
+and draw mankind nearer to God.
+
+So it is that the center and circumference of the home is the child. In
+the child the home finds its meaning, its excuse, and its justification.
+It exists, then, that the child may be adequately prepared for doing its
+great work in the world. Whatever else it may do, on the side, it has
+one great problem. The child! The child! The best crop the farmer
+raises, the best article the manufacturer puts on the market, the best
+ware the merchant handles, the best case the lawyer pleads, the best
+sermon the minister preaches--or at least that which gives meaning to
+all of these--the child! "The fruit of all the past and the seed of all
+the future." God bless the home and God bless its best fruitage--the
+child!
+
+
+THE CHURCH
+
+Thus the home--God's simple yet mighty agent in His great work of
+developing the human race. Its work was accepted and for a time all went
+well. Such preparation, mostly physical, as the child needed for its
+future work the home gave without difficulty. But this simple life could
+not continue indefinitely. One of the fundamental principles of life
+absolutely forbade man's standing still. The laws of growth and
+development pushed him on. Whether he would or not, he was compelled to
+move forward, just as the acorn, obeying the law of its being, changes
+its form, its size, and adds to its complexity. Little by little man,
+obeying these inexorable laws, began to develop. His mental, his moral,
+and his physical natures gradually assumed new forms--new needs and
+desires were born. More and more his vision became expanded until he
+could see into and mesurably appreciate the forces of nature. His life
+was becoming more complex. Now, this larger life, this greater
+complexity of life, in addition to its own complexity, added materially
+to the work of preparing the child for playing its part in this great
+onward movement.
+
+Such preparation as was needed by the child of the primitive home to
+equip it for playing its part as an adult would no longer suffice. The
+home must now do something more than satisfy the needs of the
+body--provide food, clothing, and shelter, and incidentally give
+opportunity to learn, mostly by imitation, how to do this for another
+generation of children. The spiritual life needed attention and, as
+well, the intellectual. Competition was growing keen, and each felt the
+need of a better equipment that he might play his part well in the
+larger life that was surely before him. And this larger outlook upon
+life was itself growing by what it was feeding upon and making its own
+demands for better things.
+
+But the home was handicapped. It felt the need, but with all other
+things that it had to do, had no time to take up these new duties. And
+again, the most of the homes, even if time had been abundant, did not
+know how to do the new work. So it set about finding a solution to its
+problem. This was found in the principle of the division of labor. It
+was seen that time would be saved and results much more satisfactorily
+reached by delegating to persons definitely prepared and set aside for
+that purpose certain phases of this work. So the church was instituted
+and, a little later, the school. To the church was delegated, speaking
+broadly, the religious and moral development of the child and to the
+school, the intellectual development.
+
+It was exactly the same principle that, later on, took from the home the
+weaving of cloth and the making of shoes and other industrial pursuits.
+With this added complexity of life, the homes could not profitably carry
+on all these varied activities--be, in addition to a home, also a tailor
+shop and a shoe factory, a church and a school. And so the homes of a
+community combined, selecting one man particularly adapted to that work
+to make all the shoes for the community, another the cloth, etc. And, in
+like manner, earlier in history, one was set aside to minister to the
+spiritual life, and one to teach the children. Both were offshoots of
+the home, delegated by the home to do a certain very definite portion of
+its work. Each took directions from the collective home and looked to it
+as the source of its authority. And such it was. The point is this: the
+home was the original educational institution and, as well, the original
+religious institution. At first it alone performed the work of all
+three: it was our home, our church, and school all in one. It finally
+established the others and merely delegated work to these supplemental
+agencies, so, at any time, it may withdraw that work from them. It is
+master of the situation. This withdrawal may be done either by the
+collective home or by any individual home. If any home represented here
+this evening, for any reason whatever, wishes to resume the religious
+function and alone direct the religious development of the children, no
+one can say it nay. And it is the same in regard to the school. If any
+parent here wishes to withdraw his children from the school and himself,
+either directly or indirectly, provide for their intellectual
+development, he has a perfect right to do so. Our compulsory attendance
+laws are satisfied when evidence is furnished of the child's
+advancement. Of course the church and the school, in this primitive
+stage, were both exceedingly crude--corresponding to the crude notions
+of religious and intellectual development then held by man, yet playing
+the same great part as now in the drama of life. I suppose it is true
+that these differentiations were at first only semi-conscious, but
+nevertheless they were real differentiations and had large influence
+upon the development of man.
+
+To trace the development of the church thru its early stages is not
+necessary for the purpose of this address, so I pass at once to the
+establishment of the Christian church which is in reality our
+representative of the same fundamental institution. Like the home and
+the school, the church began in a very humble way, and during the
+progress of the centuries passed thru many vicissitudes and underwent
+many changes. Let me speak very briefly of four stages, or periods, of
+the history of the Christian church: first, the primitive stage, that
+period of about 350 years following its birth when, in the main, motives
+were pure, ambitions unselfish, and ideals high. But, tho it was founded
+to provide the means of securing the religious development of the child
+and the race thru the perpetuation and extension of the teachings of
+Christ, and tho it was launched forth into its great career in the
+spirit of love and meekness and fellowship that characterized His life,
+it was not long, as history counts time, before that worthy function was
+entirely lost sight of, that spirit wholly cast aside, and the new
+institution entered upon its second period, becoming a mere political
+machine which, in its utter disregard of rights and justice, in the
+shrewdness and daring of its schemes, and in the blackness of its
+methods, almost surpassed even our own most skilful efforts in those
+directions. "My kingdom is not of this world," Christ had said, and yet
+the church, founded upon His teachings and led by men pretending to be
+His true representatives, had become, in very deed, a kingdom of this
+world. The possession and use of worldly power by the church had so
+blunted its moral sense that Dante, in the early part of the fourteenth
+century, felt forced to exclaim, and exclaimed with truth:
+
+                     "The Church of Rome,
+  Mixing two governments that ill assort,
+  Hath missed her footing, fall'n into the mire,
+  And there herself and burden much defiled."
+
+But Dante's criticism and other forces brought to bear drew back the
+erring leaders to some slight conception of their function and to some
+slight effort toward the performance of duty, tho neither conception nor
+performance took them back to their pristine merit. And the church
+entered another historical stage, the third, and one whose dominant
+thought and purpose prevails even up to modern times. Indeed, so
+recently has it passed that its dark outlines are even yet discoverable
+as we glance backward. In this new conception of the church and its work
+we find the function of the institution to be not religious development
+of the individual and of the race, as it had been at first, but merely
+technical salvation. And the institution may be pictured as a great
+lifeboat thrust out into the storm to save from destruction those who
+can be drawn within--_while all others perish_.
+
+You remember the painting of the picture, foreground and background, how
+the emphasis was thrown upon the world to come! This world was not man's
+home. He was a sojourner here, a wanderer. His citizenship was in
+Heaven. He was a pilgrim passing thru a strange and weary land, and the
+only purpose of the pilgrimage was a preparation for the life to come.
+The nature of man himself was corrupt. The world around him was evil.
+Alone and unaided he was powerless. He was lost both for this world and
+the next. The storms of life were about him, the great waves were ready
+to engulf him. But the church, as a lifeboat, was thrust out into the
+breakers, and upon certain stipulated conditions was ready to take him
+in. The church was represented as having received direct from the hands
+of God "the keys of heaven and hell," and as being able to open the
+gates of a better world to all true believers. But true believers, you
+know, were no longer the pure followers of the crucified Christ, simply
+those who would accept the man-made dogmas of the church. No matter how
+full of error the church was, no matter how corrupt her leaders, there
+could be no safety outside of her fold. Accept the dogma, salvation was
+sure; once within, all was well. Religious development was not sought.
+The character of the life, previous or prospective, mattered not.
+Acceptance of the dogma was the only requirement. So she taught--having
+departed Oh! so far from her character and program when given existence
+by the home and started out on her beneficent work. And so tight had her
+grip become that none dared dispute her claims. The child had outgrown
+her mother, that is, the church had, in its own conception, outgrown the
+home, and it repudiated her control. Indeed, she held the keys--she was
+the ark of safety.
+
+I have dwelt upon this because, with varying degrees of emphasis, that
+has been the conception of the church from medieval times almost to our
+own day. Indeed, I am not sure that it has entirely passed even at the
+present time. There are doubtless some people who continue thus to
+regard the church, and there is more than one branch of the institution
+whose definitely formulated statements of belief can be interpreted in
+no other way however much, as a practical fact, the members have
+departed from them.
+
+There are some branches of the church that still teach that the child,
+newly born into the world, fresh from the hand of God, is already
+corrupt, prone to evil, of its own volition choosing evil in preference
+to good. And, believing that, they require the parents when presenting
+the babe at the altar for holy baptism, to affirm that that pure and
+innocent babe has inherited an evil and corrupt nature, and that it was
+conceived and born in sin. A monstrous doctrine, violating not only
+every parental instinct, but as well all the principles of psychology
+and ethics. Yea, verily, the Dark Ages are not yet wholly past! Yes,
+there are doubtless some who still look upon the church as a lifeboat,
+and who think that that lifeboat should offer safety and protection to
+those alone who already have on the life preserver. In other words,
+there are still some who seem to think that church membership should be
+granted only to those whose character and belief already assure them of
+abundant entrance into the heavenly kingdom and who, therefore, do not
+really need church membership.
+
+But yet, on the whole, as a working conception, we have discarded the
+lifeboat idea and are now regarding the church rather as a great school,
+so to speak, in which all the children of men, thru the grace of God and
+mutual helpfulness, may gradually develop the Christian character and
+eventually come to be the very elect of God. No longer is it being
+regarded as merely an ark of safety, a lifeboat, ministering to the
+few, but as a great social beneficent institution shedding abroad upon
+all people its life-giving light and lifting all men nearer to God;
+true, giving her choicest blessings to those who come closest and
+partake most fully of her nature, but yet like the sun which shines upon
+all and both by direct and indirect rays warms and lightens all. Between
+the two views, what a contrast! And that change can not be better seen
+than by a contrast of the methods of work--the methods used to replenish
+the ranks, to offer the boon of membership to those deemed worthy or to
+those whom such boon could help.
+
+The old evangelism--you remember its key-note, the old revival meeting,
+in which skilful word painting presented the two extremes, heaven and
+hell. And when the emotional nature was wrought up to the desired pitch
+and fear to the right degree, a choice was demanded,--conversion, it was
+called. The newer evangelism--Christian nurture in the home and school,
+and the various agencies of the church--is not as spectacular as the
+old. It doesn't make as much noise nor draw to itself so much attention.
+Nor do results so readily lend themselves to figures and tabulation. It
+does not bring about certain times when large accessions are made to the
+church membership, feeling rather that a continuous stream, tho smaller,
+indicates a more healthy growth. But it recognizes the fact that human
+nature is not necessarily depraved, that, on the other hand, the
+Christian life is the natural life and that the child under the sweet
+influences of the home and school and church passes naturally from one
+stage to another often not knowing when the transitions take place.
+Christian nurture--_a continuous process_--in which development is the
+key-note, not conversion, a sudden transformation, a terrible wrenching
+of the whole being, is the church's present method of growth. Oh! the
+old has not entirely gone--here and there we occasionally see evidences
+of its presence. Professional evangelism we call it to-day. I ran across
+it in a recent trip East. A big, barnlike structure had been erected
+which was called "the tabernacle." Its floor was of sawdust sprinkled on
+the ground. Here for about a month a professional evangelist had
+harangued the curious crowds in immoderate, and oftentimes immodest
+language. Wit and sarcasm and slang and emotion had been freely used in
+his efforts to make sinners "hit the sawdust trail," to use his own
+spectacular language, as well as to extort money from the pockets of the
+attendants. He left the town $5,000 richer than when he entered and also
+carried with him, as advertising material, a long list of so-called
+converts. A travesty on the sacred work of the church! But such methods
+are to-day the exception and not the rule, and the exceptions merely
+prove the rule.
+
+And to-day church membership is graciously held out to all who need help
+in the work of perfecting character--to all who need assistance in
+leading the Christian life, as well as to those whose battles have
+already been fought and won. The question asked is no longer, "Have you
+attained?" but rather, "Do you wish to attain?" When an individual,
+child or adult, seeks entrance at the doors of an educational
+institution, the only condition imposed is assurance of his desire to be
+a learner. The doors swing open. And thank God the church is at last
+coming to the same position. And so we see her to-day well started upon
+the fourth stage of her development, accepting as her one great work
+that given her at birth so long ago--the religious development of the
+child and the race.
+
+
+THE SCHOOL
+
+The American school is a wonderful institution. In its absolute
+universality and impartiality, in its fine spirit of democracy both of
+teachers and pupils, there is nothing like it elsewhere in the world. It
+is a product of the genius of our people. Product? Yes, but, also,
+successively, the most influential cause of the genius of our people.
+From the first, in a somewhat remarkable degree, we have been a people
+knowing no social classes or distinctions. The caste idea, so prevalent
+in European countries, has ever been repugnant to us. And our schools,
+emanating from such a people, have had a powerful reflex influence in
+shaping the people and keeping those fine ideals ever before us. But let
+us go back and see whence it came--trace the connection between the
+complex, highly influential institution of to-day and the simple
+offshoot of the home of primitive times. Just when it was first
+instituted, nobody knows; but in essential features it is very ancient.
+Long before the beginning of the Christian era, as a supplementary agent
+of the home having in charge that one portion of its work, it was a
+well-recognized and highly esteemed institution.
+
+I have already called attention to the great changes that have taken
+place in the home and in the church as the centuries have passed. The
+school likewise has changed, and is to-day as far removed from its
+original prototype as either of the others. It has changed because the
+home has changed, and in its changes has kept pace with the changing
+ideals and added complexities of home life. At the very first, only the
+essentials--teacher and boy--were present: no building, the great
+out-of-doors furnished the room and the friendly tree the only
+protection from sun and storm; no course of study, no book--the teacher
+was all in all. But this stage passed and the next, that continued so
+long and is more characteristic, followed. Here we find the building and
+the book as well as the teacher and the boy. The boy's one task is to
+transfer the contents of the book to his own mental storehouse and the
+teacher's function to see that the transfer is made. Knowledge was the
+main element of the child's preparation, that the home demanded of its
+school. And this often but ill-fitted him for the performance of the
+duties of life. This period continued for many centuries, down almost to
+the present time. But another and a greater followed--a period in which
+not merely knowledge was demanded as an outcome of the school's
+activities, but something else very different, including that, it is
+true, but finer and greater than that--something toward which they are
+the contributing agents--a somewhat harmonious development of the entire
+life--physical, mental, and moral.
+
+Little by little, as time has passed, the home seems to have been
+throwing added burdens upon the school until now it sometimes looks as
+if the school is expected to give the entire preparation of the
+child--moral, physical, and manual, as well as mental. It sometimes
+seems as if the home had gone off on a vacation and left the school to
+do its work. Now, that statement implies a criticism of the home. On
+the other hand, it is frequently said by unfriendly critics of our
+public schools that the schools are all the time reaching out and, in a
+grasping way, more and more taking unto themselves the sacred rights and
+privileges of the home, even setting themselves up in authority over the
+home, aye, even alienating the affections of the children, making the
+home of none effect. Where does the truth lie? Has the home been so
+negligent of its duty, or has the school forgotten that it is the
+creature of the home? Which is the usurper? That is an interesting
+question. We can not go into it in detail, but let me suggest that it
+has all come about not so much from the unwarranted assumption of the
+school, nor the conscious and wilful neglect of the home as from the
+unconscious working out of a great principle fundamental in human
+development--namely, that the three phases of a child's life--the
+physical, the moral, and the intellectual,--can not be separately
+developed.
+
+At first the home had the three lines of work. Soon it delegated two of
+them to other agencies and then, thru inexperience or thoughtlessness,
+made the fatal mistake of withdrawing supervision, assuming that no
+oversight was necessary. Unwise and short-sighted! No individual would
+thus deal with any other interest. The farm, the store, the financial
+interest of any kind, even the thing that ministers to the pleasure of
+life, often receives more personal attention from the parent than does
+the school. And this situation is not peculiar to our own day. When I
+was a boy, in another and distant state, we used to sing a song called
+"The Parent and the School." The various verses showed that parents were
+in the habit of visiting every other known place--the theater, the
+concert, the fair, the sea, the neighbors, and each verse closed with
+the refrain, "And why don't they visit the school?" They should, but
+they did not then, nor do they to-day. Somehow, all along the line, the
+home has seemed to think that if it should satisfy the physical needs of
+the child in providing food and clothing and shelter, the school should
+develop the intellectual and the church the moral natures in different
+places and at different times, and under different conditions, and that
+in some mysterious manner the three could become satisfactorily blended
+into a harmonious life. Impossible! The three natures are so clearly
+interrelated, each depends so much upon the others, that the separate
+and independent development of any one is impossible.
+
+The spiritual _depends_ upon the intellectual as the house _rests_ upon
+the foundation. Its mental pictures, its concepts, its beliefs, come out
+of it, and are marred, misshapen, untrue, just to the extent to which
+that is faulty. Intelligence is necessary to religious belief and
+religious life. And the _intellectual_, in its foundation laying, can
+not stop short at that point any more than a plant can stop growing when
+its roots are well developed. The process once well begun is pushed on
+by the force from behind and must enter the higher realm. So I am not
+surprised that the school at times seems to be in charge of the entire
+work. And _physical conditions_ have so much to do with success in both
+fields that they must be considered by both. The three processes are not
+only interrelated, they are interlaced, intertwined, as the strands of a
+braided cord. And just as the cord would be incomplete, just as it
+would lack strength, if any of the strands were to be omitted, or if the
+braiding were to be haphazard, so the life would be incomplete,
+one-sided, weak, should these three processes not go on side by side
+under the fostering care of an intelligent unifying agency. Indeed, if
+there is any one thing that has been demonstrated beyond the
+peradventure of a doubt by modern research in the physical and psychical
+realms, it is the significant fact that life is a unity. The physical,
+the intellectual, and the moral are like the three leaves of the clover.
+And just as with the clover we must apply the nourishment to the root
+and not to the separated branches, so with the child we must so select
+and use our educative material that the three-fold development shall
+result from the single application.
+
+A simple illustration or two will help to make the point clear. All
+children study arithmetic in school. It is an intellectual activity and
+so clearly belongs to the school. Why do all study it? Because for the
+practical duties of life they need to know how to handle numbers. It is
+a practical study. Yes, but there is something else that the subject is
+supposed to yield or the extended time given to it could not be
+justified. It yields large fruitage in the development of the power of
+concentration and intellectual keenness. Yes, but better than that. All
+mathematical subjects, in that they require absolute accuracy and
+definiteness in their operations, are particularly helpful in developing
+those fine moral qualities of honesty, integrity, and upright dealing.
+Again, history is taught in the schools as an intellectual subject. In
+intellectual development alone it is worth all it costs. But over and
+above the value as a mental quickener it is to be placed as a builder of
+character, and ministering to the development of the moral and even the
+spiritual life. Nowhere else can the young so well learn that
+"righteousness exalteth a nation" and that "sin is a reproach to any
+people." In no other way so well as by the study of history can desired
+examples of noble character be placed before the young for imitation.
+Take but one other illustration, that of gymnastics and athletics--the
+entire program of play. For physical development? Yes, but in addition
+to that and finer than that, intellectual development of a high order
+thru the keener activity of the senses, the quicker and more accurate
+vision, the developed judgment, and finer discriminations. Yes, but
+better even than mere intellectual keenness there result from such
+activities the rare moral qualities of tolerance, respect for others,
+and self-control. And so I might go on and give illustration after
+illustration. It is not necessary. You catch my point. I am merely
+trying to demonstrate two facts: first, that the great breadth of the
+work of the school--embracing as it does, the development of the entire
+nature of the child, mental, moral, and physical, instead of merely the
+mental, that which was given her at first, is hers now not because of
+the home's neglect nor because the school has been unduly ambitious and
+grasping, but because we have come to see that life is a unity and can
+not be cut up into parts each separately developed. And secondly, I have
+tried to show that the school does interest itself in the moral life of
+the pupil. As a matter of fact, the school does more to develop morality
+and to lead toward a sane religious life than all other agencies
+combined. Our modern American school is a wonderful institution.
+
+But in spite of the fact that the school is broad in its ministrations,
+it can not stand alone. All three institutions are needed. But the three
+must work together and in harmony and intelligently, each assisting the
+others. And one of the three must act as the centralizing, the unifying,
+the combining agency and bring order out of that which would otherwise
+be chaos by recognizing the value of each contribution of each of the
+others, assigning it to its proper place and thus aptly blending the
+work of the three. Now, which shall be the centralizing force? Really,
+is there any question? Must it not be the original institution--the
+home--the one which saw the need of the others and called them into
+being--the one upon which the responsibility finally rests? And even tho
+many individual homes are weak, wholly incapable of doing themselves all
+the varied kinds of work needed, yet the collective institution can and
+must act. And even the individual home, efficient or inefficient,
+should, much more than it does, thus act within the limits of its own
+jurisdiction and up to the limits of its own power.
+
+And to whom does the school belong, anyway? To the Board of Education?
+Is it the private possession of the teachers? Does it exist to give
+teachers positions? Why, no, of course not. It is yours, and yours, and
+yours. They, both Board and teachers, are your servants, hired men and
+women, if you and they please--hired for pay to do your work, just as
+much as are the clerks in your stores, the harvest hands on the farms,
+or the maids in the kitchen. A different kind of work to be sure but,
+nevertheless, we are workmen for pay. And we need watching just as much
+as do the other workers. But let us put it in this way--we need
+intelligent, sympathetic co-operation, as an opportunity and as a spur
+for our best work and as a joy in it all--your constant kindly interest
+and your intelligent co-operation. I suppose that the situation is quite
+different in a city of this size from what it is in the large centers. I
+remember of talking, at one time, to an audience of teachers in a large
+city. I was astounded to learn that those teachers did not know, by
+sight even, the parents of one-half of their pupils, and many of them
+had been in the schools for a period of from three to four years. Whose
+fault was it? The teacher's or the parents? Why, what is the school? And
+whose is it? And what is it for? Whose fault was it? The question does
+not need an answer. It answers itself. But I urged those teachers to
+visit the homes--to become acquainted with the parents of their pupils
+so that they could know the atmosphere surrounding them and thus be
+better able to guide their development and minister to their varied
+needs. But I did not thus urge them because they had, up to that time,
+neglected their duty, rather because there seemed no prospect that the
+homes would embrace their opportunity and take the initiative.
+
+I fancy that here in the smaller place where everybody knows everybody
+it is very different. Doubtless there is not a teacher here whose
+acquaintance has not been made by both parents of every child in her or
+his room. Probably there is not one who has not been entertained in
+every home represented in the room. This should be the situation not
+primarily because parents owe teachers such attention, not because any
+such social responsibility rests upon them, but rather because the
+relationship thus created gives parents the best possible opportunity to
+co-operate with the school in doing that portion of the home's great
+work. No, parents do not "owe" it to the teachers, rather do they "owe"
+it to their children and the next generation. I am urging this program
+because it is the only way by which you can get the most and best
+service from the schools.
+
+It is true that parents may not understand all the subjects that are
+taught in the schools. Parents may not be acquainted with the methods of
+teaching so that they can be intelligent critics of schoolroom
+procedure. Never mind. That is not necessary. You do know boys and
+girls. Many of you could give us teachers valuable suggestions on the
+best ways of dealing with boys and girls. And there isn't one of you who
+could not assist the teacher in the work with your own children. And
+then there is another way to look upon it. It is altogether possible
+that this closer acquaintance with the school and with the
+teachers--with men and women who have made a careful, scientific study
+of boys and girls and of the art of teaching--it is altogether possible,
+I say, that this contact might react helpfully upon you and the home.
+You might possibly get suggestions from us that would help you in the
+home. The closer contact might be mutually helpful.
+
+And so, in this necessarily hurried manner we have passed in review
+these three great age-old yet very modern institutions--the home, the
+church, and the school. We have seen whence each has arisen, have noted
+the pathway trod, and caught a glimpse of its present-day function. And
+the close relationship, too, must have become plain as we passed along.
+No one of the three, we have seen, could stand alone. Each depends upon
+both the others and likewise lends them both assistance. For sane,
+all-round, constructive work in any one field, the contributions of all
+are seen to be needed.
+
+Let us, therefore, take an account of stock, as the business man says,
+and note our individual attitude and responsibility. As representing the
+home, let us look upon the other two as creatures of our own building
+still requiring direction and fostering care. Let our attitude toward
+them be neither patronizing nor coldly critical. As representing the
+church and the school, let us not forget the source of our being. We
+should not ignore the home nor attempt to dominate it. Let us, rather,
+seek to carry out its program, rendering a good account of our
+stewardship. Thus and thus only can the great work originally entrusted
+to the home be accomplished.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+NOBLESSE OBLIGE
+
+_A Convocation Address delivered at the University of North Dakota,
+January 29, 1916_
+
+
+There is no audience before which a speaker should have greater reason
+for apprehension than an audience made up largely of university
+students. There is no audience for which a speaker should more carefully
+choose his thoughts and the words for their expression than a university
+audience, nor one more worthy of earnest treatment. On the other hand,
+there is no audience that a speaker can address more inspiring than an
+audience made up of young men and women in the heyday of young life
+preparing for better and larger usefulness.
+
+All this is true because there is no other audience that can be gathered
+together whose future work can begin to compare, in far-reaching
+consequences, in possibilities for usefulness, with that of such an
+audience. There is no other company of people of equal number within
+whose keeping there is more of potential weal or woe for coming
+generations. And these things are true because university students of
+to-day are the world's leaders of to-morrow.
+
+This is not so trite a saying as the one that declares that the boys and
+girls of one generation are to be the men and women of the next, but it
+is just as true and just as significant. Indeed, I suppose it can not be
+called a trite saying in the true sense of the term. It has not been
+uttered so many times, is not now being used so commonly, as to indicate
+its universal acceptance. It is not so obviously true as to preclude
+challenge and argument. It is my purpose very briefly to examine the
+statement and from the conclusion reached connect the same with the
+thought of a beautiful proverb that has come down to us thru a long
+lapse of years--_Noblesse Oblige_--our privileges compel us.
+
+So far as I know there is no way of seeing the future save thru a study
+of the facts of the past and the indications of the present. The
+university students of a generation ago--where are they to-day?
+Positions of leadership to-day--filled by whom?
+
+Exhaustive and thoroly satisfactory statistics are not at hand, but such
+as we have speak eloquently in favor of the statement in question.
+Practically our only reliable statistics touching the matter are
+gathered from our biographical cyclopedias. A few years ago a very
+interesting study was made of the data found in the current issue of
+_Who's Who in America_. This book, you know, is made up of short
+biographies of such persons living at the time in the United States as
+have become real factors in the progress and achievement of the age, in
+other words, of men recognized as leaders in thought and action in the
+educational, political, military, and business realms.
+
+Of the whole number mentioned in the issue studied educational data were
+given of 11,019. Of that number 1,111 had enjoyed only elementary school
+advantages; 1,966 had added to these only the advantages of secondary
+education, but 7,942 had come from the colleges and universities. In
+other words, more than 72% of these leaders are shown to have received
+their final preparations for leadership within college walls.
+
+Figures as interesting have been gathered thru a use of _Appleton's
+Cyclopedia of Biography_. A few years ago careful study was made of an
+edition just then out and it was found that of the college graduates of
+America one out of every forty had gained sufficient distinction to
+merit recognition in that cyclopedia, whereas only one out of 10,000
+non-graduates, the public at large, had received such distinction. In
+other words, the college graduate had 250 chances to the other man's one
+for achieving leadership.
+
+Moreover, the higher institutions of learning have furnished every one
+of the Chief Justices of our Supreme Court, 75% of our Presidents, 70%
+of the membership of our two highest courts, and more than 50% of all
+our Congressmen. The last state-men is very significant when one recalls
+our method of selecting Congressmen--our political machinery and its
+devious modes of working. I have no authentic data of other fields, but
+all that one needs to do to satisfy himself practically as to other
+details is to call to his service his own knowledge of the general
+situation. In the communities with which you are acquainted, among the
+people whom you know either personally or by reputation, what are the
+facts? Who are the leaders? Where college people are found, are they
+leaders or followers?
+
+There are exceptions, of course. There come to you at once the names of
+men, a few of them, who, thru the exercise of their own inherent
+strength, unaided by college or university, have risen to deserved
+greatness. I have only to mention the names of our immortal Lincoln, or
+England's present David Lloyd George, in the field of statesmanship, or
+of Lord Strathcona or Sir William Van Horne, or James J. Hill, railroad
+kings and empire builders, in the business world, or of Luther Burbank,
+in the realm of science, to make the fact of exceptions perfectly clear.
+But they _are_ exceptions--that's the point--and exceptions merely prove
+the rule.
+
+And even as to the few it is scarcely necessary to say that their
+positions, tho of leadership, are, generally speaking, subordinate ones,
+they themselves even while leading in certain limited fields, are
+following the leadership of others in broader fields which include their
+own--and the ones followed are they of the broader training. This is
+especially true of men who have achieved success in the business world
+or in the political field. Their success, their leadership, is often
+more seeming than real,--depending as it does upon their
+advisers--broadly educated men. Take Lord Strathcona, for example, or
+Mr. Hill, as typical illustrations; with all their far-sightedness and
+their recognized ability, what could they have done, even in their own
+field of activity, had it not been for the trained physicist, the
+skilled chemist, and the engineer--products of the university--who gave
+them their rails, built their bridges, designed their engines, and in
+many ways made it possible for them to realize their dreams? They would
+have been powerless. Tho leaders, they followed, and their kind always
+will follow, the university student. They may hire this student and pay
+him his wage, but they are still indebted to him for leading them onward
+and upward.
+
+From a hasty survey, therefore, which, however, I am satisfied would
+yield the same fruitage no matter to what extent pushed, our statement
+seems to be justified.
+
+But let us look at it from another point of view. How is the matter
+regarded by those of the present time most deeply interested in the
+future well-being of man and of the nations of the world? By those
+people and those forces who feel the responsibility of providing
+leadership for the next generation? What steps are being taken to reach
+the end--to provide the leaders? On any hypothesis other than the one
+assumed in my initial statement can you account for the lavish
+expenditure for the endowment and maintenance of higher institutions of
+learning that so characterize our generation? From one side to the other
+of our broad land, aye, from distant lands and from the isles of the sea
+comes the same testimony: benevolent individuals seem to vie with one
+another in the munificence of their gifts for higher education. Even
+soveren states and great nations, under the guidance of far-seeing
+leaders, are planting these institutions and, in a truly generous
+manner, providing for their present and future needs.
+
+That the college is the only source from whence can come our supply of
+leaders is a real conviction in the minds of men the world over, is
+shown by a recent incident in war-stricken Europe. It was only a few
+months ago and during the terrible campaign in Eastern Poland, even
+while shells were bursting and men were dying, that the Central Powers
+stopt, as it were, in the mad rush of wanton destruction, to
+re-establish and reorganize the old University of Warsaw. More than
+that, they added to the old institution two new faculties, or colleges,
+as we would call them.
+
+Strange, isn't it? In the incident I can see but this logic: a
+recognition of the fact that, with the forces of destruction reaping
+such an awful harvest, their civilization was doomed unless some step
+could be taken, not, primarily, to check the present war but rather to
+provide, at its close, an adequate supply of leaders. That seemed to
+them the only way to prevent a permanent impoverishment and a dropping
+back into a state of, at least, temporary semi-barbarism as was so
+common during the early Middle Ages under analogous circumstances. And
+the step taken by those shrewd, coldly-calculating war lords was the
+strengthening of the forces of higher education. One reason why, during
+the Middle Ages, there was this frequent dropping back is the fact that
+this relationship between leadership and education was not recognized.
+
+Under the powerful impulse of this conviction, namely, that the
+well-equipt college as a part of the broad university community is the
+only source of leadership, men and states and provinces and nations are
+sacrificing for higher education as never before. New institutions are
+being founded and old ones strengthened. Magnificent buildings are being
+erected with seemingly little thought of cost provided only that they
+serve their purpose. Libraries so thoroly equipt as to leave nothing
+desired, laboratories unsurpast in completeness, vast gymnasiums
+containing every possible apparatus for bodily development, and other
+facilities of every kind and description, all irrespective of cost, are
+daily being added. And better than buildings and grounds, more vital
+than equipment and endowment, are the trained minds and pure hearts
+that, in ever increasing numbers, are being freely offered on the same
+shrine. Abilities, and training, and attainments that in the world of
+business would yield their possessors independent fortunes, or in the
+fields of authorship or politics result in honor and fame, are here
+freely offered. The material return rendered for such service is the
+merest pittance absolutely needed for family support, and the
+immaterial, but one's enshrinement in the heart of an occasional
+grateful student plus the consciousness of having done one's duty. Can
+such a generous outpouring of material and spiritual treasures be
+accounted for on any hypothesis other than a recognition of the great
+world's needs and a firm belief that those needs can be best satisfied
+thru an educated leadership? Nay, verily, all these things are being
+done because the best thought of the day feels, both instinctively and
+with reason, that only thus can the kingdom of God come among men.
+
+What unique, important, and responsible position the State or Provincial
+University occupies among civic institutions! What splendid
+opportunities for usefulness are his who is the executive head of such
+an institution! Aye, and what weighty responsibilities rest upon him!
+Fellow teachers, what manifold opportunities for usefulness are yours,
+and what weighty responsibilities rest upon you by virtue of the fact
+that you are teachers in such an institution! And my message to you is
+the same as to the student body--_Noblesse Oblige!_ Freely have you
+received, freely must you give. Tho the state does not, nor ever can,
+adequately pay you for your best services, still you must not falter.
+You must continue to live up to your own high ideals of your noble
+profession. The very acceptance of such positions in such an institution
+carries with it the obligation of performance--_Noblesse Oblige!_
+
+But who are these college and university students who have such a large
+and important future before them and for whose training and development,
+because of that future, such elaborate preparations are being made? The
+university man--who and what is he? Likewise the university woman? Let
+us answer the question simply and briefly by merely saying that, tho
+sometimes rude and crude because immature and undeveloped, they are yet
+the keenest, the brightest, the most far-seeing, the most promising
+young men and women of the land. They are the choice souls found, one
+here, another there, one in the hamlet and another on the farm, one in
+the city and another on the prairie, one in a palace, another in a sod
+house. They are a picked lot selected not only from the so-called upper
+ranks of thought and action, but as well from the highways and by-ways
+of our broad land, chosen because of intellectual strength and moral
+fiber, because of high ideals and lofty purposes; chosen by themselves,
+it may be true, but chosen nevertheless, thru their equipment of mind
+and heart. The very fact that you are here and others are not is
+testimony sufficient to your greater worth. Exceptions, to be true,
+there are, but none too many prove the rule. I am not saying these
+things in a spirit of flattery, not at all. I am merely stating facts,
+and thru these facts trying to help you catch the vision--to see your
+opportunity and accept the responsibilities. But note the
+significance--those already best equipt by the superior quality of
+their brain matter and of their mental fiber and of their moral nature
+and who therefore without further preparation would easily distance the
+others, are here giving themselves even better equipment. There can be
+no question as to the relative position of the two classes in the years
+to come--the one class is to furnish the leaders, the other the
+followers. The one is to form the ideals, to set the standards, to
+decide upon policies, to mark out courses, the other to try to reach the
+goals set. The two classes may be equally good morally, equally worthy
+of respect and honor because equally faithful in the performance of
+duties suited to their tastes and abilities, but yet, from the very
+nature of things, the one going ahead, the other following behind. And
+in the years to come your competitors will be not from among the
+non-college men and women--you have already put yourself out of their
+reach--but from among those who, like yourselves, ambitious for better
+and greater things, are to-day, in this and other similar institutions,
+using every means, straining every nerve, to attain the highest possible
+degree of efficiency for future service. You are not only to be leaders,
+but in some way you seem to know it instinctively and to be putting
+yourselves in a state of readiness.
+
+But does some one raise the objection that this theory of leadership
+does not seem to be in harmony with the spirit and genius of our
+American institutions; that under a democratic form of government all
+are equal; that all men, irrespective of intellectual attainment, share
+equally, not only before the law but in the very making of law; that in
+America all men are rulers? All this is true theoretically and, to a
+certain extent, practically, but it does not lessen the need of
+efficient leadership; it increases that need, or, at any rate, it makes
+it necessary that the number capable of efficient leadership be greatly
+increased. The very fact that all have a voice in the government, that
+all do share, consciously and potently, in its exercise and in its
+responsibilities, speaks more loudly than anything else can of the need
+of wise leadership. If the great mass of people were not factors, they
+would not have to be taken into account. They might need drivers but not
+leaders. But being factors and yet, in the main, not being capable of
+adequate analysis of our most complex and highly intricate problems,
+they must be provided with safe and efficient leaders. I believe in the
+honesty, in the good intentions, and in the good sense of the common
+people. But I do not believe in their ability to detect relations, to
+draw wise conclusions, and to formulate policies touching the
+complicated political, social, and economic conditions of our times.
+
+It is a well-recognized fact that, as some one has said, "speaking
+broadly, the striking disadvantage under which a democracy labors, as
+contrasted, let us say, with certain types of autocracy, lies in its
+inability to plan effectively with reference to remote goals.... What we
+call 'far ahead' thinking is difficult for the individual, but it is
+vastly more difficult for the group, and its difficulty is intensified
+in both cases if it demands large measures of present sacrifice." No,
+democracy must be led. Leaders they must have. If honest and
+disinterested ones are not at hand, selfish and dishonest ones will be
+accepted. I grant that leadership is not the greatest need of
+democracy, that, of course, is a higher level of knowledge and
+intelligence, but I do claim that leadership is, and always will be, the
+greatest _present_ need of democracy, since it is only thru that
+leadership that the higher intelligence can be reached, without loss,
+and in the shortest possible time.
+
+But again, do you point out certain great victories of the common
+people, so-called, when they have risen in the power of their might and,
+in the exercise of their right, have put down men who had assumed the
+right to lead them and were leading them astray? Do you point to the
+State of Missouri of a decade ago, and to New York City again and again,
+and to England a generation ago, as illustrations? True, in all these
+cases and in many others, notable victories had been gained by and for
+the people. But is it not also true that in every such case the people
+won victories because wisely led? Think you that corruption and
+violation of law would have been so checked in Missouri a decade ago and
+the breakers of law been so thoroly punished, had it not been for the
+clear-headed work of that fearless, public-spirited Joseph W. Folk? Does
+not Charles S. Whitman come to your mind when the great struggle in New
+York City is mentioned? And Hiram W. Johnson in California? And when we
+recall the victories of the people in our own Motherland across the
+sea, do we not have at once a mental picture of the "Grand Old Man,"
+William Ewart Gladstone? Had it not been for these leaders or others who
+might else have taken their places, half of the people whose votes
+helped win the victories would never have known that there were such
+victories to win. They would never have realized the extent to which
+they were being wronged and mis-ruled.
+
+Certain conditions were not quite satisfactory. All people felt, half
+unconsciously, that rights were not being respected, that justice was
+not being done--that something was wrong somewhere--but that was about
+all, about as far as they went or could go. But these leaders, who, in
+years gone by, in the colleges and the universities, had been trained to
+search for causes, to see relations, and to draw conclusions, had
+scented danger from afar. And to the task of ferreting out the evil and
+of finding remedies they devoted the strength of their splendidly equipt
+minds and the purity of their strong hearts. Following up the lead of
+surface manifestations they finally unearthed corporate greed, political
+domination, and Satanic selfishness in such kinds and amounts as to be
+really appalling. But they did not stop there--they searched for
+remedies and then went before the people and told them a plain simple
+tale of what they had found--of how grossly the people were being
+wronged--and they outlined programs of reform. The people believed them;
+they rallied to their standards, accepted their leadership, and won the
+victories. And such victories, in greater or less degree, are being won
+all over the land, thank God! And back of every one of them you can
+find, if you search, a smaller or larger edition of Folk, Whitman, or
+Gladstone.
+
+And how about the future? Are all the victories won? No more such work
+to do? Ah! the question does not need an answer. Then who are to be the
+leaders? Why not you? and you? and you? Depend upon it, they are going
+to be college men and college women, and who more capable or worthy than
+yourselves?
+
+There are two ways in which I want you young people to look upon this
+matter; in the first place, from the point of view of your own personal
+interests. Here are opportunities for advancement, openings the filling
+of which will bring to you worldly success, and honor and fame. Both by
+natural endowment and by special training you are fitted for the work.
+Seize, then, the opportunities and make the most of them, because the
+world and they that dwell therein belong to him who knows how to use
+them. From one point of view this is perfectly legitimate, and I urge
+it. It is not only one's right but one's duty to make the most of
+himself--to advance his own interests. The program becomes censurable
+only when it absorbs all else--when one's own interest is sought at the
+_expense_ of the interest of other people instead of in connection with
+it or as a step in its realization.
+
+Now, the other way in which I want you to regard the matter is from the
+point of view of the interests of the people at large. Let me put it
+like this: here is your body politic, the people of North Dakota,
+600,000 strong, or, better yet, the people of the United States, some
+hundred million in number, partners in ownership of our magnificent
+country, co-laborers in its administration, and sharers in the work of
+their own government and in the working out of their destinies--each
+with a share and an influence and each expected to participate. But so
+complicated are the matters needing consideration, so difficult of
+solution many of the problems arising, and so infinitely vast the whole
+undertaking that the great majority of the people, thru either
+immaturity or lack of training, often do not know what is best to do.
+And again, skilful manipulators, dishonest self-seekers, are ever at
+hand with plausible theories calculated to befog the untrained, deceive
+the unsuspecting, and to lead them all astray. Taking everything into
+consideration, the situation is extremely difficult. In a plain word,
+these untrained people, the product of the elementary schools, can not
+see far enough ahead to know that oftentimes the policy that seems most
+attractive is full of danger for the future. They are not qualified to
+weigh, and estimate, and decide. But there is a class among them,
+college-bred men and women, a small class, relatively, that is
+qualified. Thru long years of study, and investigation, and reflection,
+in institutions freely provided and generously maintained by the people
+now in need, they have attained such a knowledge of affairs and such an
+ability to cope with intricate problems as to make them efficient
+leaders--leaders capable of guiding aright the noble ship of state thru
+difficult and tortuous channels beset, on every side, by dangerous rocks
+and calamitous whirlpools. And among that class of efficient leaders
+you, young men and young women of the University of North Dakota, will
+soon be numbered. How shall you respond to the call of duty? Your State,
+by virtue of what she has done and is now doing for you, has a right to
+expect unselfishness and unstinted service in her own interests and in
+those of mankind. Shall she get it? Will you rise to the occasion and,
+even at a sacrifice of personal comfort, ease, esthetic enjoyment,
+money, give to her what is her due? Will you remember _Noblesse
+Oblige_? Of course you will. For there is a well-established principle,
+clearly stated in Holy Writ and sanctioned by the ages, that of those to
+whom much hath been given, much will also be required. _Noblesse
+Oblige_--your privileges compel you.
+
+Because the theory of the old motto, "_Paucis vivat humanum genus_,"
+"for the few live the many," is no longer maintained. The many do not
+live for the few. The reverse is true. The few live for the many. But
+yet, the service is not unrewarded--only a portion of the reward has
+come first. In your equipment you are being paid in advance. David Starr
+Jordan has happily clothed the thought in these words: "It is in the
+saving of the few who serve the many that the progress of civilization
+lies. In the march of the common man, and in the influence of the man
+uncommon who rises freely from the ranks, we have all of history that
+counts."
+
+And here I might stop. But a general statement, more or less abstract,
+needs practical illustration: the "how," the "when," and the "where" are
+perfectly legitimate questions for you to ask. Let us then throw a hasty
+glance upon some of the great activities that claim men's attention, and
+discover some of the openings awaiting you.
+
+_The teaching profession_ will draw heavily upon your ranks--that
+profession, full and rich in opportunities for usefulness beyond any and
+all others, is more and more looking for you, and waiting impatiently
+for your full equipment and thoro readiness. All of the higher positions
+must come to you and others like you. No others are, or will be,
+adequately prepared. In nearly all of our states the legal requirement
+for a high school teacher and, of course, for the high school principal
+and city superintendent is the completion of a full four-year college
+course including a certain specified amount of professional work. In
+some of the states, indeed, the requirement is of a full year beyond the
+undergraduate course, or the possession of a Master's degree, with the
+emphasis of this added year thrown upon the subjects to be taught and
+the manner of handling the same.
+
+So the facts are borne upon us that the desk of the high school
+principal, the office of the city superintendent, the chair of the
+college professor, the position of college and university president, is
+soon to be offered you. Are you ready for it? ready in academic
+equipment? ready in professional attainment? And are you equally well
+prepared in that even finer element--the possession of your soul by the
+spirit of _Noblesse Oblige_?
+
+I can not say, of course, to which of you here to-day a college
+presidency is to be offered, nor the professor's chair, nor any other
+specific position. Nor can I say just when the offer will come. But I
+can say, and with assurance, that all these positions and all others of
+leadership in the educational field will be offered to college men and
+college women, and in all probability as soon as they are well ready for
+them. Moreover, it can doubtless be said that they will be apportioned
+fairly on the basis of merit and fitness. And then you will have in your
+hands the shaping of the destinies of a great free people with all the
+emoluments, the opportunities, and the responsibilities that should
+accompany a work of such moment.
+
+And _the Gospel ministry_ can no longer look elsewhere. If it is to
+continue to wield its mighty influence for good, and to play its
+magnificent rôle of leadership in our developing civilization,
+especially among our rapidly increasing educated classes, it must more
+and more come into its rightful inheritance, so long withheld, of that
+broader conception of brotherhood and Christianity that forgets the
+letter of the law in magnifying its spirit--that puts life before dogma
+and character before creed. And this, fellow students, can never be
+without the broad university equipment.
+
+We have traveled far during these latter years. And no longer do we
+consider it sufficient that the minister of the Gospel know merely his
+Bible and his theology. In addition to these, aye, as a basis for these,
+it is now demanded (that is, if he be accorded a position of real
+leadership among thinking people) that he know as well his history and
+his sociology, his psychology and his biology, and indeed that he be
+acquainted with all the fields of human knowledge. Not only that, he
+must know life as it is lived to-day, and the thoughts and emotions of
+men as they are manifested in the give and take of actual life. And none
+of these can be obtained within the narrow confines of the old
+theological seminary. The modern university is the only institution in
+which the minister of the future can get it all and get it in the right
+order and in the correct admixture. In the laboratories, the libraries,
+and the classrooms he will delve deeply into the realms of science,
+literature, and art, and there and on the campus, in its varied
+activities, touch hands and exchange thoughts with the future lawyer,
+teacher, physician, engineer, business man, what-not, and thus gain
+tolerance, humility, catholicity of spirit, and the spirit of true
+democracy.
+
+Thus circumstanced during his preparatory years, he will go out capable
+of seeing things in their proper perspective. That's the kind of man
+that the ministry is calling to-day, and the call will be louder and
+more incessant as the years pass and the education of the people
+progresses. That's the kind of man we already have in some of our
+leading pulpits, and they are exerting a tremendous influence in all
+departments of life. But the supply is limited. There's not enough to go
+around. Many more are needed. Our universities must furnish them. Will
+this institution do its share? Will some of you young men, with your
+well-trained bodies, with your finely-disciplined minds, with your
+highly-cultured natures, with that fine balance of powers that means so
+much and that can accomplish so much for the world if thus used--will
+you turn aside from the beaten path that would be sure to lead to fame
+and power and worldly success and enter the more difficult but more
+useful field of the Christian ministry for the simple purpose of serving
+mankind? You are the kind of men we want, and I am sure that you will
+not disappoint us.
+
+And so I might go on, did time permit, and point out attractive and
+responsible openings in many different activities--the fields of
+engineering and journalism, the professions of medicine and law, the
+great world of business, even politics (should I not say, rather, and
+_especially_ politics?). It is not necessary to go farther into detail.
+You catch my thought. In one and all of these, positions of leadership
+are calling loudly for men and women of large knowledge, of trained
+minds, of broad outlook, and of splendid visions; and these
+characteristics are the fruitage of nothing less than the broad and
+comprehensive foundations laid in the college and the university. And
+you who have them are, by the very fact of possession, under obligation
+to use them for the public weal. How is it, young man, young woman? Are
+you going to mesure up to the twentieth century standard? Will you carry
+with you from this hall when you leave to-day, and from this institution
+when she honors you with her diploma, and out into the great activities
+of life,--will you carry with you, I ask, and make the basis of your
+actions in life, the thought of these two little words that have been
+engaging our attention this morning--_Noblesse Oblige_?
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
+
+_A Paper read before the Commercial Club of Grand Forks, North Dakota,
+January 24, 1911, and printed in the Grand Forks "Daily Herald," January
+29, 1911_
+
+
+In accepting an invitation to speak upon the topic assigned,
+"Improvements in Our Public Schools," I come not as a hostile critic,
+not even as an impartial observer viewing and commenting upon something
+belonging to another. Rather, I come as a sympathetic friend to talk
+about an institution in which I am vitally interested and of whose good
+work I am proud. Indeed, I am to discuss a great business industry, if
+you please, in which you and I are joint stockholders and for whose
+success we are alike responsible. And, too, I have been for so many
+years a teacher and so closely connected with educational work that I
+feel akin to every other man and woman engaged in that occupation.
+Knowing how easy it is to make mistakes and thus fall short of attaining
+our high ideals in this most trying and most difficult work, I am
+temperamentally inclined to magnify the difficulties and to overlook the
+shortcomings of educational workers. To be sure, in speaking upon
+"Improvements," I am admitting that improvements are possible. But the
+best friend of a person or an institution is one who talks frankly and
+honestly, admitting weaknesses, if such there be, and suggesting
+assistance. Such an attitude can not well be interpreted as a criticism
+either of men or mesures.
+
+A gentleman met me on the street a day or two ago and said, "I
+understand that you are going to find fault with our schools next
+Tuesday night. What for? I want you to understand that our schools are
+all right. Let well enough alone." A few days ago one of the local
+papers said of the schools, "The public schools of Grand Forks are
+recognized as the finest in the Northwest and the school system is
+up-to-date in every respect."
+
+And that idea seems to be chronic. Such expressions are common in our
+papers and from many of our people. The impression sought to be given is
+doubtless that of "Let well enough alone," or "Hands off." Now, Mr.
+Chairman, while this feeling clearly betokens a general confidence in
+the management of the schools of which those directly in charge may well
+take pride, nevertheless, it is not an altogether healthy condition of
+affairs.
+
+While I believe in a wise conservatism as against an unthinking
+radicalism, I am in no sense of the term a "stand-patter." The
+individual who has earned this picturesque title, I care not whether in
+the halls of Congress or in the ranks of the educators, is a foe to
+progress. A "stand-patter" is such because he is in a rut and either too
+lazy or too corrupt to get out.
+
+Things ought not to remain long as they are in any business, in any
+enterprise, in any institution. Civilization never stands still. The
+most dangerous attitude of mind that a man can hold is that of
+complacency, that of perfect satisfaction with things as they are. The
+good is always a foe to the best.
+
+No, gentlemen, our schools are not "up-to-date in every respect," not
+altogether the "finest" in the great Northwest. The Northwest, you
+know, is a pretty big place and has some pretty enterprising towns. But
+no individual town has, in all respects, the finest schools in the
+Northwest, or in any other place. Our schools are, like those of other
+cities, just a good strong average. Like every other system, it contains
+some good teachers and some not so good; some up-to-date methods of
+instruction are being used and some which should be improved; some
+features there are to be strongly commended and some, doubtless, that
+should be discontinued. And more than this, gentlemen, you have no right
+to demand, or expect, from your Superintendent and your Board of
+Education. They will be the very first to endorse all that I have
+admitted above. Indeed, that they do not hold that exaggerated opinion
+is clearly apparent from the fact that they are even now considering
+improvements. And may the day never dawn when we shall see no needed
+improvements for our public schools! Should such a time come, it would
+simply mean that in matters educational our eyes have become dimmed and
+that we are rapidly falling behind.
+
+Had the men of this city been "stand-patters" touching the city, Grand
+Forks would not be to-day what it is--the surprise and the admiration of
+every intelligent visitor. Were you men here to-night, in your civic
+relationship, "stand-patters," the promise of the future would be less
+bright than it is. During my early connection with Grand Forks I often
+wondered as to the secret of its enterprise. I was not long in
+discovering, however, that it was found in the spirit of this Commercial
+Club; a spirit, it is, of hope, of civic pride, of optimism, yet a
+spirit of almost divine discontent. You have all the time been proud of
+your city, but yet not satisfied with it; not satisfied, because you saw
+visions of a finer city into which yours might grow. Your city was not
+up-to-date--to help make it so you needed a street railway system; what
+did you do? Worked for it and--got it. Not yet up-to-date? A great
+auditorium was needed; you put your hand into your hip-pocket and lo! it
+arises in, what was it, thirty days? The goal not even yet in sight? No,
+because better pavement was imperative--and it came. Still something
+lacking? An up-to-date street lighting system--you put some of your men
+to work on it and it is now our pride and our neighbors' despair. And so
+I might go on, I do not need to. Only let me say that it will be a sad
+day for Grand Forks when we shall think that we have really reached the
+goal--when there is not something toward which we are striving.
+
+I am glad that, in this same spirit, you have now turned your gaze to
+the school house. Let us apply there the same principle of free,
+intelligent discussion and hearty, generous co-operation, each trying to
+outdo the other in loyalty and generous support, hoping, eventually, to
+make our schools the "finest in the Northwest," and "up-to-date in every
+respect."
+
+But this is a pretty big subject for treatment in an after-dinner talk
+of from 15 to 20 minutes. It involves so much, embracing within its
+scope, as it may, everything from finance to theology. The very function
+of the school, in the large, might well be considered under such a
+topic, and scores of details. I might well talk upon the education of
+teachers as I do before my classes, or upon educational
+psychology--vital subjects all, but scarcely appropriate here. It is,
+indeed, a large and interesting subject, lots of places to catch hold.
+Manifestly, I can treat it only superficially. All that I can do is
+merely in the line of suggestion, trying to direct your attention to
+some of the general features, somewhat objective in character.
+
+The first suggestion I have to make is along this very line--the
+greatness, the many-sidedness of the educational problem and the need of
+general community intelligence in regard to it. Indeed, there are many
+aspects of the school work, countless number of details touching books,
+courses of study, immediate and remote ends, as well as the larger
+philosophical bases, in which the public is deeply interested but
+imperfectly informed. Many a parent is ignorant as to what the schools
+are trying to do, and why? Not comprehending the end in view,
+unintelligent as to the means being used, and with little time or
+ability to investigate, friction often arises. The public and its
+educational system, the homes and the schools, the teachers and the
+parents, should in some way be brought closer together and an
+opportunity given for their mutual understanding. There are various ways
+in which this opportunity is given in different places: thru mothers'
+meetings, in some; thru home and school societies, in others; thru the
+establishment of what some call "visiting days," in others, etc. Great
+good is sure to result from a systematic use of any one of them.
+
+But we in Grand Forks are a very busy people; clubs and societies
+without number claim our attention and secure our membership; public
+meetings for the discussion of charities, health, morals, foods, etc.,
+saying nothing about church and social demands, are already taking us
+too often from homes in the evening, so that I hesitate to suggest
+another such activity even in the interests of so important a matter as
+the public schools. But believing very firmly as I do that the largest
+success of our schools can be secured only thru a cordial co-operation
+of the homes and the schools, and believing also that this co-operation
+rests upon intelligence as to the aims of the schools and the means that
+are being used, I am going to suggest a way of meeting the
+difficulty--namely, the utilization of another educational agency of
+large influence and philanthropic spirit--I refer to the Press. It is
+not my purpose to present here an extended eulogy of the Press. That is
+not necessary. You all know what a mighty factor it is in shaping public
+opinion. I merely call attention to the fact that it is an _educational_
+institution; that it appeals not, as do the schools, to the children,
+but to the parents of the children: and then that in Grand Forks it goes
+into almost every home in the city. I suggest that this agency be used
+to bring about a frank, open discussion, and therefore a better
+understanding, of the function and the work of our public
+schools--local, state, and national. For our people, in addition to
+being busy, are both intelligent and enterprising. They know the value
+of the Press. They are great readers. I have been surprised, again and
+again, at the large circulation enjoyed by both our enterprising
+dailies. I have also been surprised to know how closely all our people
+keep in touch with local happenings chronicled there. An educational
+column in one or both of the local papers in which the work of the
+schools, from taxation to lead pencils, could be discust, would be an
+innovation of great value. An open forum, so to speak, it might be, in
+which questions could be asked and answered, and also contributions made
+from the larger field of educational effort. Of course I do not suggest
+this as a place for the airing of personal feelings, of petty details,
+of minor matters, rather, an opportunity for discussing with and for an
+intelligent and enquiring people great educational questions,
+fundamental principles, and broad, humanitarian policies. All such
+matters, because fundamental in the development of civilization and
+because of universal interest, should and could be handled with frank
+simplicity. Such a discussion, constructive in character, could not fail
+of doing great good--of being very helpful to teachers and parents
+alike.
+
+Another suggestion that I want to make and an improvement that I am
+going to urge touches very closely the matter of efficiency of systems
+of education. Now, the efficiency of an educational institution or of a
+system of schools is often mesured by the success of those completing
+its course of study--of those profiting, to the full, by all that it
+offers. That is the point of view taken by those people who so greatly
+praise the work of the old district school of our boyhood days, "back
+East." They point to this man and that one, men who have achieved
+eminent success, whose only "schooling," perhaps, was received in the
+"little red school house" and therefore claim that it was a great
+institution for the making of men. But therein lurks a fallacy. Great
+men have issued from the "little red school house," it is true, but they
+became great not because of, but in spite of, the fact that the school
+house was "little" and was "red." In pointing to such men as these, as
+products, they forget the great silent multitude of boys and girls who
+were in the same "little red school house" but who were never heard of
+after they emerged. The pathetic feature of the old district school was
+the great number of children who fell by the wayside. And so, to-day, no
+educational institution should be rated as to efficiency by considering
+the success merely of those completing its courses. To form a correct
+estimate we must consider as well all those who entered and dropt out
+before completion.
+
+No system of schools is really efficient in which any considerable
+percentage of the children drop out before completing the elementary
+course of study. No system of schools is satisfactorily efficient which
+is so managed as to require, or even allow, any considerable percentage
+of the children to repeat grades, that is, to fail of promotion, making
+it necessary to go over the work the second time. Or, to put it in other
+words, in which any considerable percentage of the children are doing
+work in grades lower than their ages would suggest.
+
+This is the matter of retardation of which we are hearing so much in
+these days, and in regard to which Grand Forks, as well as other cities,
+suffers. In my judgment, there are two main causes of retardation: poor
+teaching and physical defects of the children. There are two ways by
+which satisfactory teaching can be secured: in the first place, by
+securing the best teachers available, and this, I am very sure, our
+Board of Education and our superintendent always try to do. In the
+second place, by improving the quality of work thus secured thru expert
+supervision on the part of the superintendent and the principals of the
+various schools. And this I am sure is not done to the extent that it
+might be were matters differently arranged. If another suggestion that I
+shall make later on is adopted, however, provision will be made for this
+improvement.
+
+Physical defects on the part of the children I named as the second cause
+of retardation. And the remedy for the major portion of this cause is
+found in my next suggestion--medical inspection of our school children.
+
+Estimating the conditions in Grand Forks on the basis of what has been
+discovered in many other places in which medical inspection is in
+operation, from 25% to 80% of the children in our schools are suffering
+from physical defects of some sort that interfere, to a greater or less
+degree, with the work of the school. There is no doubt in the minds of
+well-informed people that here is found a very fruitful cause of
+retardation, as seen both in grade-failure and in early dropping out of
+school. And very many of these defects are removable and, therefore, the
+retardation preventable.
+
+Now, the only seemingly valid reason that I have ever heard urged
+against the employment of the school physician is that of expense. It
+does cost something, I'll admit. All good things do. The necessary
+expense, however, is often overestimated. But let us see if we are not,
+even in hesitating at the expense, whatever it may be, wholly
+illogical. The city assumes the duty of educating the young, but if
+many of the young are not in a condition to receive that education,
+should we not logically see that the hindrances are removed? We enact
+compulsory attendance laws; should we not, where necessary, make it
+possible for the physically defective as well as others, to profit by
+such attendance? Otherwise, are we not wasting money?
+
+I have mentioned the expense, but there are two ways of looking at that.
+I am now going to advocate medical inspection as an economic mesure--as
+a money saver. Every child who repeats a grade is costing the city more
+than it should for its education. That is clearly apparent. How much
+that amounts to, in the aggregate, in Grand Forks, I do not know. But it
+is probably no small item. I have no doubt that, in the long run, the
+saving would pay the school physician. And then we should be clearly
+ahead in all the years saved by the various children, as well as the
+greater happiness and usefulness directly resulting from the improved
+situation. On the whole, it seems to me and to many others with whom I
+have talked that the next step forward that we should ask our Board of
+Education to take is the adoption of medical inspection.
+
+Another phase of the subject to which I desire to call your attention is
+that of the superintendency. And it isn't exactly like the old maid
+sister telling the mother of half a dozen lusty boys how to bring them
+up because, in addition to spending years in the study and teaching of
+educational matters, I have occupied the superintendent's office and
+tried to do his work.
+
+Historically, the superintendent of schools represents a development
+from the Board of Education, not from the teaching body. Originally, he
+was looked upon as the business manager of the Board, rather than an
+educator by profession. Quite specifically, he was, at first, often one
+of the regularly elected members of the Board, designated by the Board
+to attend to the details of the work, to keep the educational machine
+properly oiled, his selection seldom being dictated by any particular
+qualification of a professional character.
+
+But in this matter of education as in other matters, great changes have
+arisen. In those days teaching was not looked upon as a profession. It
+was merely a calling, a trade, a temporary activity requiring no special
+preparation. Anybody could teach and could teach any subject. Education
+was not recognized as a science. The function of the school was merely
+to give knowledge and it was not looked upon, as to-day, as a great
+social institution, largely responsible for the welfare of society and
+even for the stability of government. And as touching the child, not
+interesting itself with the formation of right habits of action, with
+the development of character, in a word, so handling the child and his
+environment as to bring about both the normal development of his inner
+life and the adequate shaping and preparing of that life to satisfy the
+demands that will later be met. Not at all.
+
+But great changes have arisen. Education has become a science, and its
+activities, its processes, are being based upon definite scientific
+principles. We are to-day demanding a professional preparation of all
+our teachers. We require them to know something about the child mind and
+the laws of its development. We expect them to know why they teach this
+subject and that, that is, the educational values of the various
+subjects, and the best manner of administering this educational food.
+Education, I say, is now looked upon as a _science_, closely allied to
+and continually assisted by its sister science of sociology, definitely
+based upon and springing out of the sciences of psychology and
+physiology, and even having its roots deep down in the sub-soil of
+biology.
+
+Together with this change of thought as to the function and work of the
+school, there has been a corresponding change as to the superintendent
+and his work. While we are not completely emancipated from the old rule
+of cut and try, from the old mechanical routine, the country as a whole
+has taken some long strides in advance. While some boards of education
+still look upon their superintendent as a chore boy, that idea has, on
+the whole, long since been abandoned. And the best educational thought
+of the country to-day regards the superintendent primarily as an
+educator, having to do with the inner, rather than the outer, phases of
+the school's activities. And our most progressive centers are looking
+upon him as a specialist, an educational expert, and demanding in him an
+educational and a professional equipment commensurate with the larger,
+more difficult, and most important work. He must be intimately
+acquainted with the sciences most closely related to his own and capable
+of drawing upon all the others for contributory assistance. And then, in
+carrying out the thought of this larger view and so shaping matters of
+detail as to profit by the superb equipment provided in the new
+superintendent, he has been freed from the routine work formerly done by
+him, thus giving the opportunity of studying the local problems and
+planning their solution.
+
+Now for my definite suggestion. It has taken me a long time to get to
+it, but I believe it is worth the time. I want you to look upon the
+superintendency of your schools as the largest, the most difficult, and
+most important position within the bestowal of the city. The mayor's job
+doesn't begin to compare with it. And then after you have so rated the
+position, I want you to free the man who holds it from all hack-work,
+from the details of business management, from anything and everything
+that now prevents him from making a careful, scientific, investigative
+study of fundamental educational problems that confront him right here
+in Grand Forks.
+
+And what are some of those problems, do you ask? Superintendent Kelly
+could doubtless name a score of them that he is waiting to get at but
+can not for want of time. Let me suggest a few that are confronting our
+superintendents all over the land. Nor can I do more than mention them.
+I name first this matter of retardation of which I have already spoken.
+Why is it that so many children fail of promotion and so have to repeat
+grades, thus adding to the expense of the schools? It no longer
+satisfies to say, "Because they do not study"--the question is, "Why do
+they not study?" Is it the fault of the child, the home, or the school?
+And, whosoever it is, how can the difficulty be removed? You would not
+in your business suffer a daily loss thru unnecessary friction--thru the
+unsatisfactory working of your machinery. You demand the largest and
+best output possible for the money expended. Why not the same in the
+biggest business enterprise of the city--your schools? But to prevent
+the friction, you must know the cause. I want the superintendent to have
+time to investigate these matters. All this applies as well to those who
+drop out before completing the course as to those merely repeating a
+grade. An analogous question: Why do so few, relatively, of the
+graduates of the eighth grade enter the high school? And why do so few
+of those who enter complete the course? Again, is it because they can
+see no real connection between the work of the high school and the work
+of life--because it doesn't seem to fit them for anything? These things
+should be investigated and, when reasons are found, the remedy applied.
+We should know the facts. But all these matters take time, and the days
+are only so long and a man's strength always limited. Exhausted by
+hack-work, no man can do constructive thinking. And so we go on in our
+waste of money and energy and life. The waste of soil, the waste of
+tools, in our farming communities, doesn't compare with this waste in
+seriousness. Let us adopt the principles of scientific conservation.
+
+And now, in keeping with the topic given me to discuss, "Improvement in
+Our Public Schools," I have given three quite definite suggestions: In
+the first place, I have recommended the utilization of the Press as an
+agent of improvement. That is, I have asked that there be established in
+one or both of your daily papers an educational column in charge of some
+competent person thru which the public could become better informed on
+school matters and thus able to co-operate more intelligently in the
+upbuilding of the schools. In the second place, I have urged that
+mesures be taken looking toward the adoption of regular and systematic
+medical inspection of all school children. And lastly, I have urged you
+to look upon your superintendent of schools as an educational expert
+rather than a business man. And, regarding him as such, I have asked you
+to free him from the petty details of office work and all mechanical
+drudgery so that his training and his abilities could be used for
+educational betterment.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+LOCAL WINTER SPORTS
+
+_A Paper read before the Franklin Club of Grand Forks, North Dakota,
+December 1, 1910, and printed in the Grand Forks "Daily Herald,"
+December 4, 1910_
+
+
+It is no longer necessary to offer an extended plea for a recognition of
+the value of physical training. The human race, in its upward climbing,
+long ago passed the stage where the body was looked upon as a hindrance
+to the soul in its aspirations. We have likewise gone beyond that higher
+stage in which the attitude toward the physical being was merely
+negative, and have clearly reached an altitude upon which we recognize a
+well-defined relationship between the physical man and the mental and
+spiritual man. We know now that only as each is healthy and thus in a
+condition to do its own work well, is the other able to act normally. As
+the great English philosopher, Locke, said, "A sound mind in a sound
+body is a brief but full description of a happy state in this world."
+This is a well-recognized article of our educational creed, not only,
+but even the conservative religious workers have accepted the principle,
+and we find inscribed over the entrances to our Christian Association
+buildings the word "body" as well as the word more commonly found in
+such connection, "spirit."
+
+But to go back just a moment: let us consider it from the standpoint of
+mere physical betterment. We know that a muscle unused means a muscle
+undeveloped, and that, on the contrary, intelligent, systematic use,
+with a definite purpose in view, will accomplish wonders in physical
+development. We know something as to what a physical trainer can do with
+a bunch of raw foot-ball material. We know how the gymnasium can
+metamorphose a loose-jointed, lop-sided, stoop-shouldered,
+shamble-gaited young fellow. We know what the brisk recruiting officer
+can do with the "awkward squad." In the one case as in the other, the
+physical training stands him upon his feet; it takes the kinks out of
+his back; it throws his head up; it unties the knots in his legs; it
+puts fire into his eye. The good red blood courses thru his veins, and
+even shows itself in his cheeks. He walks with an elastic step. Every
+organ of his body is doing its duty. He no longer needs liver pills,
+digestive tablets or wizard oil.
+
+I said "mere physical betterment," didn't I? Well, you can not have
+"mere" physical betterment. In every case suggested above, there is
+something better than physical improvement. Without knowing why, or how,
+the young fellow, after the training suggested, in addition to being a
+more perfectly functioning animal, a better working flesh-and-blood
+machine, is several rounds higher up on the ladder of manhood. He looks
+you in the eye. He gives your hand a regular Stearns grip. He dares to
+say that his soul is his own. And why? Because the life-giving oxygen is
+getting down into the long-neglected corners of his lungs. Because his
+heart is forcing this purified blood thru his veins building up his
+system and incidentally throwing off the waste and poisonous matter, so
+that, relieved of the dregs, the bodily organs can really function. And
+if that is true of the "gizzard" it is likewise true of the brain. He
+can feel more keenly, think more wisely. But all this can be done by
+physical exercise alone. Some of the best of these results can be
+obtained by the use of the mere punching bag; by running around the
+house, if you run often enough and fast enough; all alone with the dumb
+bells or Indian clubs, if you keep at it long enough, or even by walking
+out to the University on the railroad tracks and saving your street car
+nickels. But taken thus, these exercises constitute a mere medicine. And
+people don't take medicine until they have to. And for some strange
+reason they won't take this kind even then unless some doctor prescribes
+it in consideration of the payment of a good sized fee. Why is it?
+Simply because we prize things in proportion to their cost?
+
+Now, we want these results and even better ones. And we don't want to
+pay the doctor's fees for this or any other kind of medicine in order to
+get them. What are we going to do about it? Isn't there some sugar
+coating that we can put on to these physical exercise pills to make them
+a little more palatable? Can't we in some way make ourselves believe
+that we are eating candy instead of taking quinine? For you know that we
+grown-ups have not lost all our powers of imagination. How often we play
+make believe, even yet! I'll tell you what we can do. Let's have this
+same physical exercise idea but introduce into it the element of sport
+which Webster defines as "that which diverts and makes mirth." Let's do
+these stunts "for the fun of it" instead of as a medicine. We'll get the
+results, just the same, and thus get double pay for our pains. I fancy
+that the skiing and the skating, the snow-shoeing and the curling of
+which we are to hear, all have that element tucked away somewhere in
+their anatomy.
+
+But you may ask me what more there is than the results already mentioned
+to be gotten from these physical exercises, if we succeed in covering up
+the quinine with Mr. Webster's molasses. I've used Indian clubs and dumb
+bells by the hour; I've walked to the University in season and out of
+season; I've even run around the house--and as a result have experienced
+the exhilaration that comes from such vigorous discipline. I've been
+better for it, physically, and therefore, of course, mentally. More
+oxygen, better blood, firmer bodily tissue including better nourished
+brain cells, have done their beneficent work. But yet, as I look back
+and see myself going thru these various maneuvers, I am fully confident
+of the fact that all this time I was also doing something else--that my
+poor brain cells, which really needed recuperation more than any other
+part of my body, that these brain cells were still at work, that I was
+all the time carrying on a more or less strenuous train of thought as
+exhaustive as tho I were seated in my study chair, or standing before my
+class in the recitation room. More than one lecture, or address, have I
+worked out while walking to and from the University.
+
+Now, one of the most important things for us to do is occasionally to
+stop thinking, or at least to stop thinking along our accustomed lines.
+We should give those few brain cells that are being made to work
+over-time a chance to rest once in a while. We are living too fast. Our
+lives are too intense. We are running our machines under high pressure,
+and some of them are already showing the results altho they are almost
+new. Unless there is a change, new ones will have to take their places
+ere long. The rate of speed of the life of the modern American business
+and professional man, the rate of speed of the life of the modern
+American society woman, is something terrific. We are wearing ourselves
+out before our time. Modern life is so complex, so exacting, so wearing,
+that we are losing all the joy of living. We are at our own firesides so
+seldom and for such short periods that we scarcely know our own little
+ones. Longfellow's "Children's Hour" that came "as a pause in the day's
+occupation," is almost wholly unknown in most American homes. There is
+no "pause" in the day's occupation. The occupation goes right on till
+after these "children" are soundly asleep in their beds and begins again
+before they are awake in the morning. And all this is true even of us,
+right here in this select circle, the "favored ones," many would call
+us.
+
+But I am not giving a diatribe on American life, so will not pursue the
+matter farther. All that I am trying to do is simply this: to call
+attention to the fact that we are living _fast_--faster than our
+physical and mental make-up can long stand; that we have already reached
+the danger point. And what are we going to do about it? Well, we shall
+have to do many things before the problems are all solved, the
+difficulties all met. As a slight relief, and to answer a question
+raised a little earlier in the paper, I am suggesting the sports--those
+activities that both rejuvenate the physical man and also "divert and
+make mirth." Into these we can not carry our teaching and our preaching
+and our making of social calls. The goods of the merchant, the notes of
+the banker, the briefs of the lawyer, the annoyances of the teacher, and
+the cares of the housewife, alike, would all have to be left behind. The
+mind could rest while the body and the spirit are being recreated. An
+hour a day, in the open air, with fears and anxieties and schemes all
+cast aside, in companionship with kindred spirits similarly divested of
+that which troubles and makes afraid, all engaged in recreative sports,
+would do more to make us physically well, morally strong, and civilly
+decent than all the pills of the doctors, all the texts of the
+preachers, and all the keys of the jailers!
+
+In keeping with the world-wide movement in this direction our own
+people, in their civic capacity, have already acted and have thus become
+the possessor of splendid park facilities which offer ample
+opportunities, when fully developed, for a sane out-of-door life of a
+population many times as large as ours at the present time. And as we
+all know, the Park Board has entered intelligently and systematically
+upon this matter of development and improvement. Much has already been
+done. Very much more is fully outlined in the minds of the Park Board. I
+think it is their purpose--and I fully believe that they will carry it
+out--to proceed in this matter of development just as rapidly as the
+people show, by their use of the facilities progressively offered, an
+appreciation.
+
+Nearly all the work done thus far, such as clearing away the rubbish,
+making the shady retreats usable, fitting up picnic grounds, caring for
+the tennis courts, golf links, and other game reserves, as well as
+erecting pavilions and other conveniences, has looked toward putting the
+grounds into condition for summer use. And the response on the part of
+the people has been gratifying. As rapidly as the parks have been put
+into shape, they have been generously used by an appreciative people. It
+has done my heart good, many times, especially on Sundays in the hot
+summer months, to see the numbers of people, and _the people_, who were
+really using the parks. They have been the people, in a large mesure,
+who can not easily get elsewhere the best things that the parks give.
+
+Thus far, as said, the plans for development have looked mainly toward
+summer use, But I am especially glad to note a recent improvement that
+shows that the Park Board has the winter use of the parks also
+definitely in mind. I refer to the new skating rink in Riverside Park.
+It is a most commendable institution. I very much hope that it will be
+extensively used, not only by the people living in that part of the
+city, but by those of all sections. It belongs to all of us. Here is an
+opportunity for a most delightful winter sport freely offered. If
+appreciated, as shown by its use, I have no doubt that it will be
+duplicated next winter, and on a larger scale, in Lincoln Park. And if
+we show that we appreciate this, other features will be added.
+
+Perhaps I should stop here, but I can not lose the opportunity of saying
+just a word to connect this topic with the great playground movement,
+and therefore in behalf of providing facilities for winter and summer
+sports alike, for our boys and girls--our young people.
+
+Do you realize fully that the boys and girls of to-day--yours and mine,
+yes, and just as truly those less favored--those into whose lives there
+comes but little cheer, into whose stomachs there goes but little
+nourishing food, and into whose lungs, but little oxygen--do you
+realize, I ask, that these boys and girls are to be the men and women of
+to-morrow, with all the responsibilities of the world resting upon their
+shoulders? Do we want them to enter upon the duties of life
+stoop-shouldered, flat-chested, spectacle-eyed? Do we want them to be
+anæmic, pessimistic, nervous wrecks? Do we want them to be mental
+weaklings and moral cowards? Do we want them even to approximate these
+conditions? No? Then, with all our provisions for their wants and their
+needs, let us be sure to develop those things which minister so largely
+to the development of the opposite characteristics. Prevention is not
+only cheaper than cure, it is also better. Let us see that our parks are
+developed with provisions for our boys and girls as well as for the
+adults. Let us see that playgrounds are scattered over our city and
+provision made for both winter and summer sports.
+
+In addition to the Riverside Park skating rink, I wish the City Council
+or the Board of Education would establish one on the grounds of the
+Winship school, another at the Central building, and still a third on
+the Belmont grounds. This could be done at nominal cost. What a splendid
+opportunity it would give to all the children of the city to engage in
+this most healthful and invigorating sport! It would give them their
+needed entertainment and relaxation in the pure, invigorating,
+out-of-door air. It would surround them with an emotional atmosphere
+that is at once normal, natural, and spiritually health-giving. Instead
+of these conditions, what do we find? Many of our young boys and girls
+and very many of those a little older--those just entering upon manhood
+and womanhood, when both emotional and physical atmosphere count for so
+much in the forming of habits and the choosing of ideals--many of these
+future men and women are finding their entertainment and their
+relaxation (and mind you, at the close of a day in school or in the
+evening after a day spent in the poorly ventilated office or store) in
+the moving-picture show or at the vaudeville. And in these places the
+air is apt to be both hot and impure, and all the physical conditions
+enervating. The emotional atmosphere, too, is sure to be abnormal,
+unnatural, and spiritually deadening. We find here, and in too large
+quantity to be a negligible factor, the atmosphere, the conditions, the
+associations, that help greatly to breed incorrigibles, truants, and
+laggards in our schools; that develop juvenile delinquents, hasty
+marriages, and early divorces; that send into the world paupers,
+grafters, and criminals. Not all the conditions are such in all such
+places, it is true, but as affecting young life these are usually the
+dominating ones.
+
+I am not condemning the theater. It has its legitimate place, and a
+large place it is, in normal, healthy, American life. I am merely
+declaiming against these lower forms as usually conducted for commercial
+gain--these perversions of the true theater idea--these institutions
+that deal so largely in the sensational elements and appeal so strongly
+to the passions. I am told that the cheap theater is the poor man's
+club. I very much doubt if that is its chief function or, rather, that
+its chief result is a wholesome quickening of the better nature of this
+poor man--that its chief accomplishment is to send him back to his home
+kinder, truer, and stronger, thru either the relaxation or the
+instruction, to grapple with the difficulties of life. I greatly fear
+that, as usually conducted, its influence upon the adult is at best but
+the temporary slaking of an unhealthy and never-satisfied thirst, and
+that upon the child and the adolescent it is a distinct blunting of all
+the finer sensibilities and elements of character. But even these lower
+forms are not all bad. There is enough of good in them to warrant an
+attempt at improvement rather than elimination. They can be improved,
+made clean, and wholesome, and thus become a positive factor in the
+development of right character. I doubt if it will be done, however,
+until some other motive than personal gain shall be responsible for
+their management. Still, as they are, they might be very greatly
+bettered if in some way those most deeply interested in the outcome
+could have a choice in the selection of the material to be used.
+
+One of the best ways to counteract the harmful influence of the poorly
+conducted moving picture show and the vaudeville is to develop something
+better to take their places. Let it be something that contains the
+life-giving principles, something that will appeal with equal force to
+the impressionable youth, and yet be clean and wholesome and natural.
+Shall we not look upon the public playground for the children, and the
+park system, for all, as a promising hope? And, properly developed,
+would they not soon come to act on the young, both physically and
+psychically, as a prevention, thus making a later cure unnecessary? And
+upon adults, might we not reasonably expect their use to tend toward
+making less attractive, and so to the eventual abandonment of, many of
+these practises and forms of entertainment and recreation that are now
+so sapping of both physical and psychical life?
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE FUNCTION OF TEACHERS COLLEGE
+
+_An Address delivered before the North Dakota State Teachers Association
+on December 27, 1906. It later appeared in the January and February,
+1910, issues of "Education"_
+
+
+Among the various educational institutions of the United States to-day,
+the one which, as it seems to me, is attracting the most intelligent
+attention on the part of our educational thinkers, and the one upon the
+right solution of whose problems depends, in a high degree, the success
+of our entire educational system, is the institution for the education
+of teachers. For we all have come, finally, to accept as true the
+statement of the old German writer, "School reform means schoolmaster
+reform," also that other, used so effectively in the days of our own
+early educational revival, "As is the teacher so is the school." And we
+are ready to-day to admit that those statements are true whether applied
+to the ungraded rural school with its noticeable lack of needed
+equipment, to the perfectly graded school of the city with every
+facility that human ingenuity can devise and money procure, or to the
+college and university where scholarship and culture are supposed to
+make their abode and contribute of their fullness. For I care not, and
+you care not, what be the physical and material equipment of the school;
+I care not, nor do you, what be the scholastic attainments of the one
+called teacher; if he isn't able to teach, that is, to cause to learn,
+we all know that the school, in just the mesure of his inability, is a
+failure. One thing further we all know, and that is this: one plank in
+our great educational platform is belief in the necessity of an
+institution set apart for the preparation of teachers. We are
+irrevocably committed to the idea. It is a part of our educational
+creed. Fortunately, in our educational evolution we have left far behind
+us the stage when the wisdom of that institution was seriously
+questioned. Our pedagogical forefathers, valiant explorers, discoverers,
+heroes, educational statesmen--Carter, Mann, Page, Sheldon and
+others--have left us this priceless heritage. It remains for us to-day
+merely to analyze the institution, agree upon the respective functions
+of its various types, and then apply ourselves with intelligent vigor
+each to the solution of his own problems.
+
+As we look around us, we clearly distinguish three distinct types of the
+institution under discussion. The oldest, best known, and most numerous
+is called the state normal school. It dates from the time of Horace Mann
+and Edmund Dwight, the former of whom recognized the need and knew how
+to inaugurate the movement, the latter, having unbounded faith in Mr.
+Mann, provided the funds. Nearly every state in the union has now one or
+more intelligently at work. All that have not, have practically the same
+thing under another name--normal departments in connection with the
+state universities.
+
+The next type, in order of time and numbers, as well, is found in
+connection with the higher educational institutions of the country. It
+has various names, as "Department of Education," "School of Education,"
+"Division of Education," "Pedagogical Department," "School of Pedagogy"
+and "Teachers College." Probably the name most common in the past has
+been "Department of Education," or "Pedagogical Department," tho in the
+developed form it is changing to "School of Education" or "Teachers
+College." Of these, there are at work, according to the 1909 report of
+the Commissioner of Education, 171. That is, there are 171 colleges and
+universities maintaining at least a department, or chair, of education,
+and giving professional instruction of college grade.
+
+The third type, latest in appearance and as yet fewest in number, but
+with fair promise of rapid increase and great usefulness, is the county
+school, called "County Normal Training Class" in Michigan and "County
+Training School" in Wisconsin, in which two states the movement is at
+its best. Indeed, I do not know of any other state in which the work has
+been thus definitely organized. Of these, Michigan had, a year ago,
+forty-one, and Wisconsin, twenty. Possibly in this connection one ought
+to mention the good work being done in high schools in several states,
+but seen at its best in Nebraska and New York. Yet this work is but an
+adjunct to the high school, and does not so clearly approach a separate
+institution.
+
+Of these three types it is the second which is the subject of the
+present discussion--whose function I seek. It is really immaterial
+whether we use, in the discussion, the appellation of Minnesota and say
+"College of Education," or that of Harvard and call it "Division of
+Education," or that of Columbia, Missouri, and North Dakota, and say
+"Teachers College." For they are all one and the same institution with
+but slightly different systems of organization. I use the latter term
+because more familiar and more likely, I think, as time passes, to
+prevail.
+
+But these three types are so closely connected that the function of one
+cannot be clearly seen alone. Therefore I propose very briefly to
+examine the establishment of each so as to learn why it was called into
+existence--what function it was originally expected to perform. I shall
+then briefly examine present conditions, trying to discover if any
+changes have taken place in the general educational situation of
+sufficient moment to make necessary a rearrangement or readjustment.
+Finally, I shall draw my conclusions as to present functions, and with a
+more careful analysis of certain factors state the reasons for those
+conclusions as briefly as possible.
+
+First, as to state normal schools: it is, of course, entirely
+unnecessary to go into details as to organization or early work of this
+institution in our country. I am stating what is known to all when I say
+that Horace Mann in Massachusetts, Henry Barnard in Connecticut, David
+Page in New York, and William Phelps in New Jersey had one and only one
+thought in view in working for the establishment of normal schools and
+for the development of their work. They, one and all, were seeking some
+means for providing better teachers for the common schools. No one, so
+far as I am able to discover, at this time even suggested that any other
+teachers needed a special preparation for their work. To be sure, the
+American high school was hardly under way when the normal school
+movement was inaugurated, in 1839, there being then but half a dozen in
+the entire country. Ten years later there were but eighteen. There was,
+however, in those days a large number of academies giving secondary
+instruction. But there was no thought of looking to the normal schools
+for academy teachers, they came from the colleges. Indeed, generally
+speaking, the academies and high schools as then being developed, were
+offering a higher grade of academic work than the normal schools, and
+they were rather assisting the latter in the production of teachers.
+This was especially true in New York, a movement having there been
+inaugurated by which, thru financial aid from the State, many of the
+academies were offering normal school instruction and sending out into
+the rural schools and city grades a very creditable product. And the
+character of the movement in the East has continued to be the character
+of the movement as it has swept Westward. I think there has not been
+established in the United States a single state normal school whose
+function has not been understood to be the preparation of teachers for
+the common schools. And by "common schools" I mean the first eight
+grades of the public school, including both rural and urban communities,
+for it has been only in recent years that we have carefully
+discriminated between the two.
+
+Next, let us look at the teachers college. Bear in mind that I use the
+term as referring to the institution, or department, under whatever name
+it may be known, that is doing professional work in the preparation of
+teachers in connection with colleges and universities. In taking up the
+topic, attention needs first to be called to two facts: the rapid
+development of our high school system and the high degree of success
+already attained by our normal schools.
+
+After the close of the Civil War our high schools began to
+multiply--rapidly from 1870 to 1880, by leaps and bounds from that time
+to the present. In 1870 there were 170; 1880, 800; 1890, 2,526; 1900,
+6,005; and in 1908, 8,960. (Annual reports of the Commissioner of
+Education.) But no sooner had the high school movement obtained good
+headway than the serious problem arose as to the supply of teachers. And
+so well, on the whole, had the normal school done its work that it had
+more than justified its existence. Thru its work the character of the
+teaching in the elementary schools had been greatly improved. Teachers,
+with normal school equipment, were everywhere recognized as superior to
+those otherwise trained or not trained at all. Very naturally, then,
+when the problem of high school teachers arose, professional preparation
+was demanded. But where could it be obtained and how?
+
+The state normal schools, true to their function of preparing teachers,
+tried to satisfy the additional demands placed upon them. They added to
+their equipment, modified and extended their courses, and in every way
+did all they could. Indeed, they did all that was done in a professional
+way for nearly a generation. But the high schools were increasing, both
+in numbers and in academic requirements of students and teachers. City
+school systems were being developed and extended in a most unprecedented
+manner, calling for skilled superintendents, supervisors, grade
+principals, special teachers, etc., until, finally, thoughtful men began
+to see that the impossible was being asked of the state normal schools.
+For two reasons, it was seen, they could not do the double work; in the
+first place, they had more than they could do in their original sphere
+of providing teachers for the elementary schools, and secondly, their
+academic possibilities, even increased as they had been in attempting
+the work, were clearly seen to be wholly inadequate. It was discovered,
+also, that, in spite of the efforts being put forth by the normal
+schools, the higher teaching positions--superintendencies, high school
+principalships, etc.--were going to men of collegiate attainment, even
+at the sacrifice of professional training which was then being
+recognized as very desirable.
+
+What was to be done? To make a long story short, the universities and
+colleges, with their more extended courses, better equipment, and
+stronger faculties, took the matter up and added educational departments
+in which could be given, with but slight additional outlay, both the
+academic and professional equipment thought to be needed by the high
+school teacher.
+
+This work was first clearly suggested and outlined at the annual meeting
+of the Michigan State Teachers' Association in 1870. Dr. W. H. Payne,
+then city superintendent of schools at Adrian, Michigan, read a notable
+address upon the subject, "The Relation Between the University and Our
+High Schools." Eight years later, the Regents of Michigan University
+established a chair of "Theory and Art of Teaching," and to it called
+the man who had, by the address just mentioned, offered a practical as
+well as a logical solution of the difficult problem.
+
+The example thus set by Michigan University was soon followed by
+others--Cornell, Ohio, Illinois, Harvard, Chicago and others, until now
+this new department is found in nearly every prominent college and
+university in the land. These are our teachers colleges or, rather, the
+sources from which they are springing. For, to be sure, not every
+pedagogical department found in a higher institution of learning, tho
+doing in a general way the same grade of work, should be called a
+teachers college. Tho having its roots in these, the teachers college
+proper differs from the most of them in several ways. The pedagogical
+department of a college, and too, a thoroly reputable college, may be,
+and usually is, merely one of the many departments of the institution,
+represented on its faculty by a single professor and offering but a
+limited range of professional work--a few courses in the history of
+education, principles of education, and "pedagogy," usually. A teachers
+college, on the other hand, has an organization and, sometimes, a
+financial status of its own. Its relationship to the institution as a
+whole is getting to be the same as that of the other professional
+schools. The movement is toward a separate faculty, headed by a dean,
+and representing all the different phases of both academic and
+professional work. While many of the members of the faculty do, and may
+continue to, give courses in the other colleges, they have a distinct,
+organic connection with the teachers college. The teachers college is
+also getting to have, as a vital part of its equipment, a model high
+school bearing to it the same relationship that the model, or practise,
+school bears to our normal schools. While this fulness of organization
+and equipment has not yet been reached by a large number, it has by
+several, among which are Columbia, Missouri, Chicago, and,
+approximately, North Dakota, with many others moving rapidly in the same
+direction.
+
+Just a few words, now, as to the third type mentioned, the county normal
+school: As already suggested, the line of demarcation was not early
+drawn between the urban and the rural school. But cities grew; city
+school systems were developed; the normal schools, in spite of rapid
+increase, were not able to keep up with the rapidly increasing demands.
+And, since the field for normal school graduates has ever been an open
+one, they have located where the remuneration has been the most
+generous. Now, cities and villages are, generally speaking, the centers
+of intelligence as well as of population and wealth. The people of these
+communities have appreciated the superiority of professionally prepared
+teachers, and they have been able to pay the added price. The result has
+been that they have appropriated practically the entire output of the
+normal schools. None have been left for the rural schools.
+
+And again, with these economic changes there came to be more and more
+clearly seen, as the years went by, a difference, internal and somewhat
+vital, between the schools of the rural and the urban communities,
+making in some ways a different sort of preparation desirable. Now, the
+state normal school, growing with the movement, and ever keenly alive to
+its opportunities for usefulness, noting clearly the location of its
+product, very wisely began to modify its work so as to make it better
+suited to the needs of its main customers--the well-graded schools of
+the city and village. And so it has resulted that, even if the normal
+schools could supply the demands for both country and city teachers, so
+far as numbers are concerned, the preparation given is not the most
+ideal for the former. And just as when professionally trained secondary
+teachers were needed a new institution was created for their
+preparation, in very recent years an institution has appeared to satisfy
+this new need, one whose function is as clearly announced, and one which
+seems to fit into the situation as well, and we have the county normal
+school of Michigan and Wisconsin, as mentioned above.
+
+Whether we shall see a rapid extension of this new movement, making the
+county normal school as fixt an institution as the state normal school
+has become, and as the teachers college bids fair to become, or whether,
+thru consolidation, the distinctive type of our rural school shall
+disappear and our state normal schools be increased in number to meet
+the larger demands, only the future can tell. This latter, however, will
+not be in our generation, and I confidently look for the former. I
+believe the general adoption and adaptation of the county normal school
+idea would be one of the most economical and speedy means of solving
+some of our most serious rural school problems. And I also believe that
+it should be our next step, if we can take but one step at a time,
+toward professional education of teachers.
+
+If I have analyzed aright the present situation, and have been fair in
+my all too brief account of the rise and development of these
+institutions, we see that we have in our midst to-day, as a result of
+the development of our educational system, and to keep pace with it,
+the development of the idea so long ago adopted--the value of the
+professional preparation of the teacher--three quite distinct types of
+an institution for such purpose. Enumerating now in order of grade of
+work rather than of historical development, we have (1) the county
+normal school, whose function is solely the preparation of teachers for
+the rural schools--sixty-one of them found only in Michigan and
+Wisconsin, sending into the rural schools of those states about 800
+fairly well equipt teachers each year; (2) the old state normal school
+of historic fame, whose function is the preparation of teachers for the
+elementary grades of our city and village schools--195 there were two
+years ago--and they sent out into the schools approximately 10,000
+teachers, mostly graduates; (3) the teachers college, found always in
+connection with a college of high rank or of a full-fledged university,
+offering work, both academic and professional, of full university grade
+and covering the full university period of four years. The number cannot
+be stated definitely, because the process that is transforming the old
+pedagogical departments into teachers colleges is at such varying stages
+of development. Its function is best stated in the words of the
+institution in which it was founded (Calendar of the University of
+Michigan for 1904-1905, p. 126):--
+
+     "1. To fit university students for the higher positions in the
+     public school service.
+
+     "2. To promote the study of educational science.
+
+     "3. To teach the history of education and of educational systems
+     and doctrines.
+
+     "4. To secure to teaching the rights, prerogatives and advantages
+     of a profession.
+
+     "5. To give a more perfect unity to our state educational system,
+     by bringing the secondary schools into closer relations with the
+     university."
+
+"Higher position in the public school service" meant, in the main, in
+the early days, city superintendencies and high school principalships.
+To these, others have been added, one by one, owing very largely to the
+great success of the movement and the growing appreciation of the value
+of professional preparation for occupants of such positions, until now
+they include city superintendencies, high school and grade
+principalships, subject supervisorships, high school, normal school, and
+college instructorships. Already the leading teachers colleges, the ones
+at Columbia, Missouri, and Chicago universities, are being definitely
+looked to for these later added and more responsible workmen.
+
+Thus far I have but stated historical facts known to all who are
+reasonably well informed touching the history of education and current
+educational practise in our country. I have done this all too briefly, I
+am well aware. But the reason that I could do it briefly is the fact
+that the readers of this journal are well informed upon the historical
+phases of the subject. All that I needed to do was to cull out and bring
+to the fore the pertinent facts. But the question now arises, is this
+differentiation logical? Are there any reasons, psychological, economic,
+or otherwise, for such differentiation? If there are, it is going to
+continue, and these types of the institution which now seem to have been
+given each such a definite and separate work to do are going to be
+relatively permanent. If not, we shall continue to cut and try, undoing
+to-morrow what was done to-day, and chaos will result.
+
+This institution, with its various types, is not one that has evolved
+from a careful theoretical study of our present or prospective
+educational needs, but one that has grown up, little by little, step by
+step, to meet and satisfy from time to time the present and pressing
+needs of the larger system of which it forms a part, and for the service
+of which it was called into existence. But is it not true that
+oftentimes the logic of events--the movements of history--reveal to us
+our fundamental principles, outline for us our policy of action, and
+even write out for us our program of procedure as correctly and even
+more irrevocably than philosophical formulation could do? Is not that
+especially likely to occur under such a form of government as ours? I
+think it has occurred in the present case.
+
+It is interesting to note in this connection the fact that the logic of
+events has led us, in our efforts to solve the difficult problem of the
+education of our teachers, to practically the same solution as that
+already reached by France and Germany, which countries proceeded more
+nearly along the pathway of theoretical philosophical formulation.
+
+I believe that at least two of these institutions, the state normal
+school and the teachers college, have come to stay, and with practically
+the functions outlined above. Of the county normal school, as said
+before, I do not feel quite so sure. I am led to the belief in the
+relative permanency of these types of professional school, not only by a
+knowledge of the history of their development, but also by the
+conviction, formed by a somewhat careful study of the entire problem,
+that there are fundamental reasons, psychological as well as economical,
+for the differentiation. In other words, my own somewhat careful study
+of the entire situation brings me to the same position that the logic of
+events has brought us all.
+
+As to the county normal school: it is so apparent as scarcely to need
+mention that the teacher of the rural school needs a preparation
+differing in many ways from that needed by the teacher of the city
+grades. The environment, physical, psychical, and social, is so
+different that a teacher equipt to do thoroly good work in either one
+place might signally fail in the other. And the present economic
+situation speaks with nearly the same insistence. Even if our state
+normal schools were sending out teachers ideally equipt for service in
+the rural communities, the remuneration there offered is, and for an
+indefinite time will remain, so low as practically to keep them out of
+the schools. Either we must have special institutions for the
+preparation of the teachers of the rural schools, or else those schools
+must, in the main, continue to do without professionally prepared
+teachers.
+
+Turning now to the other type, it is equally clear to me that the very
+character of the work in the elementary and secondary schools should be
+different one from the other, different as to discipline, ends in view,
+subjects of study, and methods of handling the same. In the elementary
+school the pupil is a child, with the mind, the tastes, the ambitions of
+a child, and he should be allowed to remain a child. The ends in view
+are right habits, right ideals, and knowledge facts. In the secondary
+school the student is an adolescent, with the mind of an adolescent,
+having peculiar and erratic tastes, changing ambitions, and conflicting
+emotions. He is neither child nor adult, but passing thru the most
+dangerous and critical period of his entire life. The ends in view are
+no longer merely habits, ideals, and knowledge facts, but, added to
+these, and now more important for emphasis because presumably right
+principles have already been established, breadth and fixity of
+character, self-acquaintance, scholarship, and culture. Tell me that the
+atmosphere, psychical and spiritual, and the training, academic and
+professional, that will produce the ideal teacher of the child will also
+produce the ideal teacher of the adolescent? Nay, verily! You might as
+well tell the florist that the American Beauty rose and the Snow Flower
+of the Northern forest will both reach perfection if grown side by side.
+Then surely we need different kinds of institutions. I cannot better
+conclude this thought than by using the words of Dr. Wm. T. Harris found
+in the introductory paragraph of an article on "The Future of the Normal
+School." (Ed. Rev., January, 1899, p. 1.) Dr. Harris says: "I have tried
+to set down in this paper the grounds for commending the normal school
+as it exists for its chosen work of preparing teachers for the
+elementary schools, and at the same time urging the need of training
+schools with different methods of preparation for the kindergarten,
+below, and for the secondary school, the college and the post-graduate
+school, above the elementary school."
+
+The reason just given, the psychological one, is alone sufficient for
+believing that the differentiation is logical. But let me add another,
+almost equally effective--an academic reason, directly academic and at
+the same time indirectly economic. This is found in the following words,
+taken from Dr. Payne's "Contributions to the Science of Education." (Am.
+Book Co., 1886, p. 538.) "If there is any well-established principle of
+school economy it is this: The scholarship of the teacher should be
+considerably broader than the scholarship of his most advanced pupil."
+Nobody now questions the statement.
+
+Upon the basis of that principle there is little criticism to be offered
+of the academic equipment of our normal school graduates as teachers in
+the grades. No normal school now completes its work with less than one
+full year beyond the completion of a four-year high school course, and
+two years beyond is rapidly getting to be the standard. So that normal
+school graduation gives the prospective teacher of the grades at least
+four years of academic, and from one to two years of professional and
+academic work beyond the point to be reached by "his most advanced
+pupil." To be sure, more would be better--a longer experience and a
+closer acquaintance with the great character forming subjects, such as
+literature, history, philosophy, etc. This would give breadth of view,
+clearness of perception, and a right perspective--elements of
+incomparable value in the equipment of the teacher. But yet, in view of
+our economic conditions and of a general lack of understanding and
+therefore of appreciation in the lay mind of the most vital and
+fundamental work of the teacher, we cannot yet hope for teachers ideally
+equipt. And our present standards, if insisted upon and the work thus
+far be thoro and clear and faithful, will give us increasingly better
+results and eventually lead to conditions more nearly ideal.
+
+But this judgment as to criticism must be very different when we look
+upon these graduates as possible teachers in the high school. The
+scholarship of such a teacher there would be but little, if any,
+"broader than the scholarship of his most advanced pupil." While there
+is to-day no uniform legislation touching the requirements as to
+qualifications of high school teachers in the United States, each state,
+and even each school, being largely a law unto itself, there is getting
+to be a very decided uniformity the country over as to practise, and in
+many ways this is much more significant than formal legislation would
+be. For without compulsion, the whole people, each section and each
+state, independent of all others, seemingly by the very necessity of the
+case, have fixt upon the same minimum standard of qualification for high
+school teachers. And that minimum is the completion of a full four-year
+collegiate course of instruction, including--indeed, in many cases,
+plus--a certain emphasis to be placed upon the subjects to be handled,
+and a certain amount of time devoted to strictly professional subjects.
+To be sure, in some states legislation has spoken, as in Minnesota,
+requiring completion of collegiate work, and practically so in North
+Dakota, requiring completion of such work for superintendencies and high
+school principalships, and strongly recommending the same for all
+teaching positions in the high school. In California a step farther has
+been taken in requiring, in addition to that, a full year of graduate
+study. The tendency, in several states, seems to be in the direction of
+the position taken by California. And with that tendency I am in
+sympathy.
+
+This movement upward, however, I do not want to see go any farther. I
+deprecate the tendency, seen in some quarters, of setting up as the
+symbol of the standard of qualification for the high school teacher, the
+doctor's degree. I do not want the boys and girls of our high schools
+taught, or rather directed in their upward development, by mere
+specialists--doctors of philosophy, who know everything about nothing,
+and nothing about everything. Nor do I want them directed by men and
+women who are obliged to "cipher on page twenty while the class is
+working on page nineteen." But I do want them directed by men and women
+who are thoroly acquainted with the subjects which they teach, and who
+know how to handle the same; but especially by men and women of broad,
+liberal culture, men and women whose lives have been enriched by the
+best there is in literature, history, art, science, and philosophy, and
+who know life, and are in warm sympathy with young life. Teachers thus
+equipt are able, from their high vantage point, to reach out here and
+there and take as educative material that which will contribute to the
+beautiful and strong development of each case at hand. And such an
+equipment, on its academic side, comes not short of the master's degree,
+or its equivalent.
+
+My authority for the statement made above as to the growing uniformity
+of practise in requiring as minimum qualification for high school
+teachers a full collegiate course, and as to the tendency in several
+states toward requiring, in addition, a full year of graduate study, is
+found in an extended correspondence with normal school principals and
+city and state superintendents representing the entire country.
+
+These facts as to present-day requirements seem to me to fix somewhat
+definitely the matters under discussion. Our normal schools, with
+possibly two or three exceptions, are not equipt to give the extended
+qualification now demanded for the high school teacher. Barring the two
+or three, the best of them do not pretend to carry the student more than
+two years beyond high school graduation. And whether it be one or two
+years, the work is, as it ought to be, mainly professional--not
+academic. Indeed, the presidents of many of our strongest normal schools
+insist that they do not do any strictly academic work. And if the lack
+is so great touching high school teachers, how much greater touching
+positions still higher.
+
+To be sure, the work of the normal schools might be sufficiently
+extended to enable them to do this additional and advanced work. New
+buildings might be erected, laboratory facilities increased, libraries
+enlarged, additional and stronger teachers provided, etc. But is it
+necessary? Is it wise? Is it likely to happen with our legislators
+holding the purse strings so tightly tied? To all such questions the
+answer must inevitably be negative. It is not necessary because not
+really needed for the preparation of elementary teachers, while for the
+preparation of secondary teachers other agencies are at hand. And if not
+needed the unwisdom of such an extension can scarcely be questioned.
+Certainly not, if, as urged above, different kinds of institutions are
+needed for the preparation of the two grades of teachers. Then, if both
+not needed and unwise, it is not likely to happen in any case where
+legislators are intelligently informed as to the situation.
+
+To indicate the feeling among many of our leading educators touching
+this point, it might be interesting, in closing, to give a brief summary
+of the correspondence mentioned above. This inquiry, was directed to all
+our state superintendents, to forty of the leading normal school
+principals representing all sections of the country, and to fifty-two
+leading and representative city superintendents. The following questions
+were asked:--
+
+     (1) Are your normal schools at the present time equipt to give
+     adequate preparation to prospective high school teachers?
+
+     (2) If you think they are not, would it be wise to add to their
+     present equipment such facilities as would enable them to give such
+     preparation, or can that work be better done in some other way?
+
+
+REPLIES FROM STATE SUPERINTENDENTS
+
+To question (1). Thirty-eight replies were received, of which
+twenty-nine were negative and nine affirmative. Of the nine, however,
+only one came from a state in which normal school facilities are at all
+superior to what may be termed a fair average, and in that state these
+facilities are found in only one of the five normal schools, whereas, in
+five of the nine, these facilities are inferior to what may be termed a
+fair average. In two of the nine, tho the state superintendents gave
+affirmative answers, the consensus of opinion of the normal school
+principals was negative. In a word, the nine affirmative replies
+indicate individual opinions, and result from a limited perspective.
+
+To question (2). Twenty-nine replies were received, of which fifteen
+were specifically negative, five specifically affirmative, and nine
+implied a misunderstanding of the question. But nearly all of the nine,
+as well as the fifteen, stated definitely or clearly implied that such
+work should be done in the colleges and universities.
+
+
+REPLIES FROM NORMAL SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
+
+To question (1). Twenty-eight replies were received, of which twenty
+were negative, and eight affirmative. Of the eight, three were from
+states having but one normal school each, and perhaps, therefore,
+admittedly strong; two from states having each one school much superior
+to the others of the same state, and referring specifically to that
+school. Of the remaining three, one was from a new state in the
+Northwest, one from a Southern state, and one stated that only in some
+branches was the equipment sufficient.
+
+To question (2). Twenty replies were received, of which sixteen were
+negative, and four affirmative. Of the four, not one said that all
+should be so equipt. Each suggested that perhaps it would be well thus
+to extend the equipment of one school in a state.
+
+
+REPLIES FROM CITY SUPERINTENDENTS
+
+To question (1). Thirty replies were received, of which twenty-eight
+were negative, and two affirmative. The two were from a state in which
+is to be found a single normal school, and that, one of the best.
+
+To question (2). Twenty-eight replies were received, of which twenty-six
+were negative, and two affirmative.
+
+To be sure, correspondence upon this point was not sufficiently extended
+to be conclusive, but yet my correspondents were, in the main, leaders
+in their respective lines, and therefore represent the best educational
+thought and practise of the times. The summary speaks clearly and to the
+point, and to the same point, note, that the logic of events has already
+brought us. The work of the normal school should continue to be, as it
+has been from the beginning, devoted to preparation of teachers for the
+grades, while prospective teachers in the high schools should seek their
+preparation in the teachers colleges, under whatever specific names
+known, where the professional phases of the work will be as much
+emphasized, but be different, and be differently handled as befitting
+the different character of the work to be done, and where they can
+receive the broader academic outlook and equipment absolutely essential
+to an adequate handling of the larger and more difficult situation.
+
+      NOTE.--Since the appearance of the January number of _Education_,
+     my attention has been called to the fact that in naming
+     institutions giving early attention to the preparation of secondary
+     teachers I omitted some that should have found a place in such an
+     enumeration. It is true that several others might well have been
+     mentioned. On page 286, line 5 (page 224, line 3 of this work), I
+     might well have added the School of Pedagogy of New York
+     University, also Clark, Stanford, California, and Teachers College,
+     Columbia, and again, "and others." And on page 289, line 18 (page
+     228, line 18 of this work), I certainly should have added the
+     School of Pedagogy of New York University and Clark University,
+     possibly others, for the work is progressing rapidly. But it was
+     the movement I had in mind rather than the specific contributions
+     of various institutions. The omissions were not born of any desire
+     to withhold from any institution the credit that it deserves.
+
+     Since this matter is again open, let me add an interesting fact in
+     regard to the New York University School of Pedagogy, just
+     mentioned. If I mistake not, we have here the first real "teachers
+     college," that is, the first instance in which we see a "Department
+     of Education," having merely equal standing with other departments
+     in a university, become, thru definite action of that university's
+     governing body, "a professional school of equal rank with the other
+     professional schools of the University." This change was made on
+     March 3, 1890. Judging by results, it has been amply justified. The
+     institution is doing a large and splendid work.--THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+CREDIT FOR QUALITY IN SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION
+
+_From the "Educational Review," March, 1909, and the "Western Journal of
+Education" (now the "American Schoolmaster"), May, 1909_
+
+
+In the _Educational Review_ for May, 1908, Mr. W. B. Secor had an
+article under the caption, "Credit for Quality in the Secondary School."
+Mr. Secor says, in his opening paragraph, "The present system of giving
+credit towards graduation in use in the secondary school, takes account
+mainly of the amount of work done.... The student who barely passes his
+work gets just the same amount of credit towards graduation as the one
+who passes high in the nineties. It is to be expected, then, that the
+student ... will reason something like this: I will be graduated if I
+pass my work in the seventies just the same as if I pass it in the
+nineties. What is the use of wasting time and effort in securing a high
+average?" He then suggests a system of marking which "would not only fix
+a minimum of quality, but would also recognize different degrees of
+quality by giving more credit toward graduation for high quality than
+for low," which system, he thinks, would also tend to "a strengthening
+of the intellectual life of the secondary school." Mr. Secor does not
+claim to be the originator of the idea, giving to President Hyde of
+Bowdoin that doubtful honor. He also refers to two articles in the
+_Educational Review_, one in the issue of April, 1905, written by
+Professor Thomas, of Columbia University, speaking of the system as just
+introduced into that institution, and the other in the issue of
+December, 1906, by Professor Kennedy, describing the system as then in
+use in the University of North Dakota. After these references have been
+cited, the system is discust from various points of view and its
+extension into the secondary field favored, tho, in his closing
+paragraph, Mr. Secor says, "Now the plan here proposed does not claim
+perfection. It may not even be a workable scheme when put to the test."
+
+Mr. Secor's article is but one of many evidences that the experiment now
+being tried in a few of our higher institutions of learning, of
+attempting to estimate and adequately reward quality as well as quantity
+of work done by students, is attracting considerable attention. It is
+not at all strange that these experiments are attracting attention, for
+the idea is taking and its justice seemingly so apparent. Because of
+this interest I desire to examine some parts of Mr. Secor's article and
+in the process of that examination briefly discuss the so-called
+"Credit-for-quality" idea. I shall be materially aided in such
+discussion by my experience with the practical workings of the system in
+the University of North Dakota, and shall take the opportunity of
+letting the educational world know how the system is working and how it
+is being regarded in the institution in which it has been receiving its
+most extensive and thoro trial. For while the system did not originate
+here, it was here first put into operation, and for years an earnest,
+honest, heroic effort has been put forth in its behalf. I might say,
+parenthetically, that the details of the system Mr. Secor suggests are
+almost identically the ones that have been in use in this institution.
+They were found to be faulty, however, and have been materially changed.
+
+I have read and re-read Mr. Secor's article with both interest and
+apprehension; with interest, because the "Credit-for-quality" idea has
+been engaging my thoughtful attention on both its practical and its
+theoretical sides for a considerable time; with apprehension, since the
+article seems to recommend the system for use in our secondary schools.
+I am sorry the recommendation has been made for the conclusions I have
+reached from my double study are very different from those being held by
+Mr. Secor. I seriously question the wisdom of extending the system at
+all, even when dealing with students of college rank, much more
+seriously, then, when applied to those of the secondary school who are
+four years younger, much less mature, and therefore less able to profit
+by the meritorious features and at the same time withstand the weakening
+influences attendant upon the system. Indeed, I think its adoption in
+the secondary schools would be nothing short of a calamity. Another
+reason why I feel impelled to speak is that reference is made in Mr.
+Secor's article to the working of the system in the institution with
+which I am connected as "highly satisfactory." In justice to the system
+itself and certainly in view of its suggested extension, that impression
+should not be allowed to go forth without modification or correction. I
+shall attempt, therefore, in this discussion, to do three things, tho I
+shall not try to separate the three spatially: (1) to discuss this
+marking system on its merits; (2) to report to the educational world our
+findings after an experience with it of five years, and (3) to urge
+against its extension into the secondary field.
+
+Let me say, at the outset, that I have been connected with the
+University of North Dakota for three years--the last three of the five
+during which the system has been in use. I have had all the time from
+one hundred to one hundred twenty-five students. The grading has had to
+be done three times a year, since our school year, up to the present
+time, has been separated into three terms. Let me also make plain the
+fact that in all I say I speak upon my own responsibility, not for the
+institution nor for its faculty, tho it is true that nearly, if not
+quite, half the faculty hold practically the same views regarding the
+system.
+
+It is true, as Mr. Secor says, that "the present system of giving credit
+towards graduation used in our secondary schools takes account mainly of
+the amount of work done." It passes upon quality, as he says, only "when
+it fixes a passing mark." It may also be true, as he takes for granted,
+that it would be desirable to give credit towards graduation for quality
+as well as for quantity, but of this I am very much in doubt, especially
+in dealing with secondary students. It does not sufficiently take into
+consideration the value of content, and that, it seems to me, is a
+factor that should not be disregarded. I think I value as highly as most
+men the discipline, or mental power, gained by close application;
+likewise, the habit of thoroness gained thru doing work well; but yet,
+in addition to those acquisitions, I confess that I also place high
+value upon knowledge as a possession. In other words, I want the
+student, both high school and college, to know something.
+
+I will gladly admit, however, that it is very desirable to secure from
+the student quality as well as quantity. That, I am inclined to think,
+is the main thing that Mr. Secor is really after. He thinks the best
+way, or, at any rate, a very good way, to get it is thru the device of
+giving extra credit toward graduation for the higher grades of work. My
+experience with the system does not lead me to that conclusion. Interest
+in the subject matter itself is always essential to the doing of a high
+quality of work. And such interest in the subject matter of school
+studies is scarcely secured by anything so artificial as rewards
+smacking of the market. So far as it can not be secured directly, and
+resort must be made to artificial incentives to secure it, I think that
+incentives can be found much more in keeping with the general spirit and
+purpose of education than the constant appeal to the commercial value of
+the grades being obtained. The ordinary monthly report card sent to the
+home, on which the quality of work being done in the various subjects is
+indicated by "excellent," "good," "poor," etc., and even by the too
+common "per cent," is artificial stimulus enough. Every teacher knows
+what an incentive the report card can be made. To be sure, teachers
+differ greatly in their ability to use this card skilfully, but
+so used it can exert great power. Not long ago I discust this
+"Credit-for-quality" matter with a class of about thirty university
+students, mostly freshmen, and, somewhat to my surprise, I discovered
+that with the majority of them the chief reason for desiring the "A"
+and "B" (our marks for extra credit toward graduation) was not that they
+bore the extra credit, but that the descriptive terms "excellent" and
+"good" secure extra appreciation from the home when term standings are
+reported. This might not be true of any large percentage of university
+students, certainly would not be of the upper classes. Added years have
+made them shrewder. Under the influence of our system they have become
+keener to appreciate a "bargain." But it certainly would be true of a
+very large percentage of secondary students.
+
+Considerable experience in the secondary schools leads me to doubt very
+much that the typical high school student reasons as Mr. Secor suggests
+in his first paragraph. Some do, of course, and so do some university
+students, but not the great body of either. Barring a small percentage,
+students as they run, in both high school and college, are an earnest
+lot of young people. They are in these institutions for a purpose. They
+are seeking, so far as their vision extends, well-developed manhood and
+womanhood. Their chief desire is not to slide thru. The two immediate
+ends normally in view are consciousness of progressive growth and
+appreciation from parent and teacher. How eager the majority are for
+this appreciation is well known to all. All the stimulus needed, in
+addition to what the subjects and the student's own desire furnish, the
+resourceful teacher has at hand wrapt up in his own personality. If any
+other stimulus is needed it can be given by a grading of diplomas as is
+now being done in many high schools and colleges. I hold that to add to
+the marks now in common use what may be called a monetary fringe is
+both unnecessary and really subversive of the true ends of the school
+work. As teachers we should seek to elevate ideals, not to lower them;
+to furnish right motives, not wrong ones; to place before the developing
+youth high incentives, not low ones.
+
+Mr. Secor says, "the proposed plan is superior to the present system in
+that it gives a natural and not an artificial incentive to high
+scholarship." By what process of reasoning he reaches the conclusion
+that mere "marks and honors" are more "unnatural" and "artificial" than
+the same marks and honors with a commercial tag appended, I fail to see.
+The truth of the matter is, both are artificial. As incentives, both are
+low, but it stands to reason that the latter is much lower than the
+former. The best friends of the system here, in the University of North
+Dakota, admit that, as an incentive, it is both artificial and low. Mr.
+Secor goes on to say, "the system" (that is, the "Credit-for-quality")
+"puts a premium on thorough-going scholarship by enabling the student to
+come up for graduation without being forced to study so many subjects
+that he is not able to do any of them well." If our secondary school
+courses are so arranged as to force the student "to study so many
+subjects that he is not able to do any of them well," then something is
+radically wrong with the courses of study. But no evil can be remedied
+by introducing a greater. As a matter of fact, the application of the
+system does not lead to "thorough-going scholarship," at least not in
+the University of North Dakota where, for five years, an honest and
+faithful effort has been made to secure that result. In all our
+discussions I have never heard one of its friends make that claim for
+it, altho the charge has been repeatedly made that it is destructive of
+scholarship. The writer goes on to say, "he" (the student) "may
+substitute depth for breadth, if he so desires, and is encouraged to do
+so." Shall we, in the secondary schools, encourage depth? Yes, to be
+sure, relative depth, but not too much of it, and not then at the
+expense of breadth. For is not the high school student in that stage of
+his development when he responds to the sense of breadth rather than
+that of depth? We could not make of him a student of research if we
+should try. Let us not try.
+
+In the last paragraph of the article referred to we find a hint of a
+lack of thoro conviction on the part of the writer himself. "It may not
+even be a workable scheme when put to the test," he says. Let me say
+that here, after five years' use, it is not proving to be satisfactorily
+"workable" even with students of college grade, and by a recent faculty
+action it has been entirely eliminated from our preparatory department.
+
+This lack of conviction on the part of Mr. Secor calls to mind an
+interesting bit of history connected with the movement. As said before,
+it did not originate in the University of North Dakota. Dr. William
+DeWitt Hyde, President of Bowdoin College, is responsible for the
+suggestion. He sketched the plan in an _Outlook_ article of August 2nd,
+1902, but evidently lacking the courage of his conviction did not
+introduce it into his own institution, preferring, seemingly, that the
+experiment be made elsewhere. This has been, from the start, very
+suggestive to me. I have some admiration for President Hyde's
+shrewdness. The University of North Dakota fell into the trap thus
+skilfully set. And it is easier to fall into a trap than to get out of
+it. As a matter of fact, the system is more on trial now, after five
+years' use, than ever before. Other institutions would do well to await
+further developments.
+
+In attempting to analyze the situation at the University of North
+Dakota, let me again refer to Mr. Secor's article. He says, "The plan,
+with some modifications, is at present being used in the University of
+North Dakota and in Columbia University with results that are reported
+to be highly satisfactory." To substantiate his statement he refers, in
+a foot-note, to the articles in the _Educational Review_ from which he
+got his information. Now, the conclusion that Mr. Secor reaches from
+reading these articles is hardly warranted by the articles themselves. I
+fear he read too much between the lines. Let us see: Professor Thomas
+wrote of the Columbia system more than three years ago, and only a
+couple of months after its adoption; nor does he say anything as to its
+success,--in fact, he could not, for there was nothing to say. He merely
+explained the new system and gave voice to his expectations. The
+Columbia system may be proving "highly satisfactory," but surely that
+article does not say that it is. And when the other article is analyzed,
+the case is found to be somewhat similar. Professor Kennedy wrote on the
+system in the University of North Dakota nearly two years ago, fully two
+academic years, for the article appeared in December, 1906, before the
+close of the first term of the year 1906-'07. Now two years in the life
+of an experiment of this kind is a long time. And Professor Kennedy in
+writing his article, did not put the case as strongly as does Mr. Secor
+from reading it. All that he said of its successful working was: "We ...
+thus far can truthfully say it is working itself out in desirable
+results--in more and better work than under the old plan." From these
+data, given when they were, Mr. Secor is certainly not justified in
+saying that "the plan ... is at present being used in the University of
+North Dakota with results that are reported to be highly satisfactory."
+
+Professor Kennedy's statement was his individual judgment at the time he
+wrote his article. A considerable number of his co-laborers would not
+then have agreed with him. He probably would not write even as strongly
+as that to-day. If he should, a still larger number would disagree. He
+might write as strongly of his own belief in the theoretical soundness
+of the system, but that is quite another matter. As a matter of fact,
+during the last two years the weaknesses of the system have become so
+much more apparent that many members of the faculty then favorable, or
+at least hopeful, have at last come to despair of ever being able to
+eliminate the objectionable features and strengthen the weak points
+sufficiently to warrant its retention.
+
+Professor Kennedy's article goes into detail as to the adoption of the
+plan, and clearly states its various changes up to the date of his
+writing. In our efforts, since then, to "improve" and "strengthen" it,
+various other changes have been made so that, as a matter of fact, one
+who knew it in its early history only would hardly recognise it as
+planned for use next year (quite different in detail from that now in
+use) save in the fundamental principle. That remains the same; the
+institution desires to secure a better quality of work from its
+students; it also desires to enable the student of exceptional ability
+or unusual industry to cut short his period of undergraduate study. To
+accomplish these ends it continues to use its so-called
+"Credit-for-quality" system of marking. This is done, altho a large and
+steadily increasing number of the faculty members feel that it does not
+do the first and that it overdoes the second.
+
+As to these ends: I think that no one on the faculty really feels that,
+on the whole, we are getting a better grade of work than should
+reasonably be expected without the system; or, to put it in another way,
+no one would be bold enough to say that our students are doing better
+work than the students of similar institutions that do not use the
+system. On the other hand, it is true that some who have come among us
+since the adoption of the system give the comparison the less favorable
+turn.
+
+Thru the operation of the system many can and do shorten their course;
+too many, I feel. Too many who have neither "exceptional ability" nor
+"unusual industry," unless it be ability "to work the Prof." and
+industry in that laudable enterprise. The course that normally takes
+four full years can be shortened from a portion of a term to a full
+year. Prior to June, 1908, the "time saved" could reach to a full year
+and a half. True, no one had actually completed a course in two and a
+half years, but one young lady's time was only slightly in excess of
+that and the excess was fully overbalanced by the time she gave to
+outside work--to library assistance for remuneration, and to
+journalism. And that gait was being struck by others. It only remained
+to be seen how long the wind would hold out. It was clearly possible.
+But the faculty became alarmed. Clearly recognizing the above stated
+possibility and being wholly unwilling thus to lower its high standard,
+it passed a resolution that arbitrarily limits the number of credits a
+student may receive in a given time to such an extent as to prevent
+graduation in less than three years. But several have gained, and others
+are gaining, sufficient surplus to enable them to complete their work in
+three years. From fifteen to twenty per cent, it is estimated, are
+enabled to shorten their course to that extent. Now some of these are
+thoroly good students, and, assuming that the system is sound in
+principle, well deserve to profit thereby. But others are just
+ordinarily good students, scarcely above the rank and file. In addition
+to those who complete their work in three years, some thirty or forty
+per cent more shorten it by lesser amounts, ranging all the way down to
+an inappreciable period.
+
+But aside from the system's failure in reaching one of its ends and its
+too great success in reaching the other, it has developed numerous and
+unfortunate evils that many regard as exceedingly serious, and revealed
+weaknesses that seem well nigh impossible to eliminate. Space allows
+scarcely more than an enumeration of these, but a mere enumeration is
+better than to deal wholly in general terms. (1) In the first place, I
+should say that the "Credit-for-quality" system of marking as used by us
+places before the students unworthy ideals. Students of university rank
+can be led to seek knowledge for knowledge's sake, truth for truth's
+sake. They can be taught to see farther ahead than the close of the
+term, and something more precious than an extra three-tenths of a
+credit. But this thought has already been sufficiently treated earlier
+in the article. (2) It leads to faulty methods of study and
+unsatisfactory final results. In the preparation of the lessons, a good
+recitation, rather than thoro understanding of the subject matter, is
+too apt to be the objective point. Many good students have told me that
+they find it difficult to resist the tendency to subordinate
+understanding to memory. (3) It may lead, often does, to unwise election
+of courses. Some teachers mark higher than others. Under the influence
+of our system students are very quick to learn these individual
+characteristics, and those who have developed the "itching palm" know
+how to profit by that knowledge. (4) It places students who receive
+extra credit for quality at a disadvantage in seeking to enter other
+institutions of learning. The credits thus gained will not be
+recognized. This would operate only in making the transfer during the
+undergraduate period, but it does there.[1] (5)
+
+
+    [1] Experience has shown that I was in error in the statement of
+    this sentence. It has been found to operate to the disadvantage of
+    our students entering other institutions in graduate as well as
+    undergraduate departments. Graduate schools have become very
+    particular, some of them not being satisfied without passing in
+    review well nigh the entire former school life of an applicant,
+    apparently to assure themselves that no short-cuts have been made.
+    This fact is an interesting confirmation of the position of this
+    article relative to the importance of content--when it pleads for
+    quantity, as well as quality.
+
+    This entire matter is made clear by referring to one instance.
+    Others could be cited. One of our graduates, Miss Ethel J. May,
+    a very strong student, "profited" by the so-called
+    "credit-for-quality" system to such an extent that she shortened her
+    undergraduate period of study by an entire year, receiving her
+    degree with honor. Then she taught for a few years with signal
+    success, later returning for graduate work. For her Master's degree
+    she spent an entire year in study, since the system did not operate
+    in the graduate department. Again she taught with success, later
+    entering the University of Illinois as an applicant for the
+    doctorate. Here it was that her troubles began, and all because she
+    had thus "profited" way back in her undergraduate days. She was told
+    that the year "saved" would now have to be made up--that the period
+    of study for her doctorate would have to be at least three years,
+    and this in spite of the fact that she held the degree of Master of
+    Arts from a state university of the first class, and was planning to
+    continue along the same lines of work. After considerable discussion
+    and institutional negotiation, this much of a concession was made:
+    "If your work proves to be excellent, your shortage will be
+    disregarded." So she went to work with that incubus, or
+    stimulus--whichever you wish to regard it--over her. Neither she nor
+    her committee knew how to plan her work, not knowing whether it was
+    to be for two years or for three. And not until the very close of
+    her year's work was her status determined--full credit then being
+    granted for her former degrees. Miss May's sane comment now is, "I
+    would not advise any one to try to shorten the regular four-year
+    undergraduate period of study."
+                                                        (Author 1918)
+
+
+It is demoralizing to both students and teachers. I refer to the
+inevitable outcome of such a system; some students (sometimes few and
+sometimes many) develop considerable skill in "working the Prof."
+Teachers offering elective courses are constantly under great temptation
+and students are shrewd enough to know it. And again, under the same
+count: it is freely claimed by both teachers and students that the
+cheating in examinations, of which we doubtless have our share (some
+claim much more than our share, tho personally I doubt it), is very
+greatly increased if not largely caused by our system of marking. In
+hopes of remedying this some of the students are now urging the
+adoption of the "honor system" of conducting examinations. (6) It is
+impossible to create uniform standards corresponding to our various
+grades. There are as many standards for each grade as there are
+instructors. A grade of work for which one instructor would give an "A"
+(1.3), another would give a "B" (1.2) and still another a "C" (1.0).
+Standards can not be fixt. To show how greatly they differ, in marking
+the work for the first term of this year one instructor gave only seven
+per cent of his students extra credit, while another thus rewarded more
+than seventy per cent of his. This range, however, is abnormal. But a
+range of twenty-five per cent to sixty-five per cent is not, even tho
+the two instructors have approximately the same students and do
+approximately the same grade of work. Other evils and weaknesses might
+be mentioned, but these are sufficient to show the tendency.
+
+On the other hand, what strong paints can be urged as an offset? The
+only ones I have ever heard offered are: (1) it is an incentive, and (2)
+it does enable students to shorten the period of undergraduate work. I
+grant them both, but I hold that the incentive is a low one--much lower
+than we need to use--and that the shortening of the course is far from
+being an unmixt blessing.
+
+Let me again refer to the matter of content, upon our value of which, to
+quite an extent, our estimate of the merit of the "Credit-for-quality"
+system must rest. The young people in our colleges and universities, in
+planning for lives of usefulness and success, place themselves in our
+hands for direction and guidance. Knowing that we are older, wiser,
+more learned, and more experienced than they, they ask our advice and,
+in the main, follow it. To the incentives we use in dealing with them,
+they respond; the motives we supply urge them on; the standards of value
+we erect for them, they use; and the ideals we place before them, they
+try to reach. All this places large responsibilities upon us. Are we
+wise in telling from fifteen to twenty per cent of these young people
+that three years is all the time that it is wise for them to spend in
+college work? They will all remain the full four years unless we plan
+differently for them. To be sure, there is no magic in the number four
+as numbering the years of one's college course, nor in three, nor in
+two, nor in any other number. But would not any normal student who
+spends four years in the college atmosphere, mingling with college
+people, both students and teachers, doing college work, drinking from
+the pure fountains of literature, of history, of philosophy, of science,
+of art, et cetera, be broader in range and more fully equipt for the
+varied and complicated duties of life and for life's enjoyment, than he
+would be with only three years thus spent? And is not the fourth year by
+far the best of the four? Why shall you and I discourage him from doing
+that which we know to be well for him and which he is willing to do? Why
+deny him the rare fruitage of that fourth year? Why say to him when he
+is just ready to enter into the enjoyments of his student life, "you
+would better go?" After all, is it not this very three-year student with
+his finer ability, his keener insight, and his greater industry who can
+most greatly profit by the extra year? Shall we not rather encourage him
+to stay longer and delve deeper and reach to the very heart of things?
+Whether looked at from the standpoint of the student's own advantage, or
+from that of the world at large, which is to profit by his equipment, is
+it not really the four-year or even the five-year student who would
+better be excused at the end of the third year? Instead of being in a
+hurry to send our choice students away, let us get them to do their high
+quality of work just the same, but to do it during four years instead of
+three. They are the very ones who will most readily respond to such
+appeals and they will so respond unless we put other notions into
+their heads. It is sometimes urged, in justification of the
+"Credit-for-quality" idea, that one student in three years can
+accomplish more, in gaining both knowledge and mental power, than
+another in four. There is no doubt about it. Some can do more in two
+years than others in four; some in one, and some with no college work
+can easily outstrip others with the best advantages. Shall we say to
+such an one, "you do not need to go to college--it would be time
+wasted"? By no means. Above all others we want him because he can most
+largely profit by what he gets, and we shall reap the reward later on.
+But supposing one student at the close of his third college year is
+better able to make his way in the world than another at the end of his
+fourth year, that is not the question at all. The function of the
+college is not to bring students to a level, but to develop each one to
+the utmost. Each should be considered separately and the question asked,
+"the longer or the shorter term--which will do the more for him?"
+
+Some other developments here can hardly fail to be of interest.
+Originally planned to operate in our entire institution, exclusive of
+the College of Law into which it was not allowed to enter, this system
+has gradually been eliminated from all the colleges save the College of
+Liberal Arts and Teachers College. True, in these colleges of exclusion
+the matter of content figures more prominently than in the others--the
+curricula are more fixt--but that is far from being the only reason for
+the exclusion. And even more suggestive as touching the secondary school
+extension recommended by the article under discussion, is our recent
+action excluding the system from our preparatory department, now being
+transformed into a model high school for Teachers College. This
+elimination, likewise, was in part due to the fixt number of courses
+demanded of all secondary schools, but yet, not largely so. When this
+matter came up for decision it needed no emphasis upon that point to
+carry the recommendation. It would have carried without those
+conditions. The strongest advocates of the system did not, by a single
+word, urge its retention in the Model High School. All felt, seemingly,
+that it was not well suited to students of that grade.
+
+     NOTE.--The reason for repeating this article here is largely
+     historical, tho interest in the matter discust occasionally crops
+     out even yet. It will be of interest to some who have not otherwise
+     heard of it to learn that the University of North Dakota long since
+     discarded the system. It was voted out completely early in the year
+     1910. And thus was realized Professor Kennedy's apprehension
+     exprest in his _Educational Review_ discussion of 1906: "We have, I
+     grant, had our doubts and fears, knowing well that many a promising
+     theory lies high and dry on the shoals of the past."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+  Academies, 221
+
+  Adolescent, 46-49, 54-56, 67, 68, 74, 81, 85, 219, 231
+
+  Adults, 211, 212, 213
+
+  Aliens, education of, 25
+
+  Alien people, 21
+
+  Appleton's Cyclopedia, 165
+
+  Arithmetic, 154
+
+  Ayers, 120
+
+  Barnard, Henry, 220
+
+  Bay State, Old, 64
+
+  Binet, 57
+
+  Boards of Education, 45, 156, 195
+
+  Bowdoin College, 243, 250
+
+  Burbank, Luther, 166
+
+  Burns, Robert, 136, 138
+
+  Bureau of Education, 19
+
+  Butler, Nicholas Murray, 96, 97, 103
+
+  California, 233, 234
+
+  Carter, 218
+
+  Child, the, 43, 44, 45, 68, 116, 117, 121, 140, 141, 147, 151, 154, 195
+
+  Child Study, 43, 45, 49, 54, 58, 85
+
+  Child-Welfare, 49
+
+  Church, 133, 141-159
+
+  Civil War, 107, 222
+
+  College, 69-82, 104, 110, 165, 167, 217-237
+     Law, 260
+     Liberal Arts, 84, 99, 260
+
+  College, Preparation for, 71, 73
+     Teachers, 45, 219-238
+
+  Commissioner of Education, 27
+
+  Community Service, 73
+
+  Connecticut, 31, 220
+
+  County Training School, 219
+
+  "Credit-for-Quality" System, 243-260
+
+  Cronin, Dr., 125
+
+  Dante, 144, 145
+
+  Democracy, 29, 31-34, 41, 65, 171, 172, 173, 180
+
+  Department of Education, 20
+
+  Dewey, John, 42, 43
+
+  Diaz, President, 31
+
+  Dooley, Mr., 95
+
+  Dwight, Edmund, 31, 218
+
+  Education
+     Boards of, 45, 84, 156, 195
+     Bureau of, 19
+     Department of, 108, 109, 218, 219, 223
+     Elementary, 65, 75
+     History of, 81, 82, 83, 84, 227, 228
+     Motive in, 38
+     Philosophy of, 81, 84
+     Physical, 50, 66, 155, 203
+     Principles of, 82, 83, 224
+     Professional, 81
+     School of in North Dakota, 82-85
+     School of, 83-85, 108-111, 218
+     Secondary, 75, 84, 85, 164
+     Universal, 24
+
+  Educational mesurements, 56
+
+  Educational psychologist, 56, 58, 59
+
+  Educational Review, 243, 251, 260
+
+  Educational Survey, 51, 52, 59
+
+  Elementary School, 65, 66, 67, 73, 74, 105, 106, 107, 108, 230, 231
+
+  England, 30, 173
+
+  Entrance requirements, 44, 48, 76, 80
+
+  Ernest, Duke, 32
+
+  Euthydemus, 98
+
+  Eye, 115-118, 120, 121, 129
+
+  Federal Government, 28
+
+  Folk, Joseph W., 173, 174
+
+  Foster, President, 95, 102, 105
+
+  France, 32, 229
+
+  Frederick the Great, 30, 32
+
+  Frederick William I, 30
+
+  Froebel, 39
+
+  Garfield, ex-President, 90
+
+  Georgia, 24
+
+  Germans, 30, 31
+
+  Germany, 32, 120, 229
+
+  Gladstone, William Ewart, 173, 174
+
+  Gotha, 32
+
+  Government, the, 19
+
+  Grand Forks, North Dakota, 186-199
+
+  Greek, 99, 100
+
+  Gulick, 120
+
+  Harris, Dr. William T., 231
+
+  Harvard College, 65, 219, 224
+
+  Heeter, S. L., 124, 125
+
+  Herbart, 39
+
+  High Schools, 44-47, 53, 55, 63-86, 107, 108, 220, 223, 233, 234,
+    247, 248
+
+  High School Teacher, 46-49, 80-85, 178, 222, 223, 228, 233-238
+
+  Hill, James J., 166
+
+  History, 154, 155
+
+  History of Education, 81, 82, 83, 84, 224
+
+  Home, 26, 66, 133-159
+
+  Homer, 99, 100
+
+  Hyde, President, 243, 250
+
+  Illiteracy, 20-24
+
+  Individualism, Theory of, 39, 43
+
+  Iowa, Legislature of, 49
+
+  Jefferson City, 120, 123
+
+  Johnson, Hiram W., 173
+
+  Jordan, David Starr, 72, 177
+
+  Kennedy, Professor, 244, 251, 252, 260
+
+  Law, School of, 108, 110
+
+  Leadership, 75-81, 163-181
+
+  Lecture method, 99-103
+
+  Lincoln, 166
+
+  Literature, 232, 234, 258
+
+  Lloyd-George, David, 166
+
+  Locke, 203
+
+  Longfellow, 207
+
+  Los Angeles, 123
+
+  Louises, the, of France, 32
+
+  McAdoo, Mr., 218, 220
+
+  Mann, Horace, 218, 220
+
+  Massachusetts, 24, 25, 31, 65, 107, 220
+
+  Medical Inspection, 22, 27, 193, 194
+
+  Medicine, School of, 108, 110
+
+  Methods of Teaching, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On the Firing Line in Education, by 
+Adoniram Judson Ladd
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+Project Gutenberg's On the Firing Line in Education, by Adoniram Judson Ladd
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
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+Title: On the Firing Line in Education
+
+Author: Adoniram Judson Ladd
+
+Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21762]
+
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION ***
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+
+
+<h1>ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION</h1>
+
+
+  <h4>BY</h4>
+
+  <h2>A. J. LADD</h2>
+  <h3><i>Professor of Education, State University of North Dakota</i></h3>
+
+
+
+  <p class="center">BOSTON<br />
+  RICHARD G. BADGER<br />
+  THE GORHAM PRESS<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span><br />
+
+<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1919, by Richard G. Badger</span><br />
+All Rights Reserved<br />
+Made in the United States of America<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2>
+
+
+<p>Of the ten studies making up this little volume only one, the last,
+aside from the Introduction, was designed primarily for publication.
+Each of the others had a definite personal audience in mind while being
+prepared. Still, nearly all have later found their way into print, and
+some have been reprinted in other periodicals and quoted quite
+extensively in still others. Many letters of appreciation, too, from
+strangers who have chanced to read this address or that, have come to
+the writer. These facts, together with expressions of appreciation upon
+delivery and with definite suggestions from many for publication, have
+finally led the writer to feel that possibly their gathering together
+might be worth while. But in fairness to himself, as well as to others,
+also in the interests of accuracy, he is prompted to give an additional
+reason for venturing upon the hazardous undertaking of offering "cold
+meats" to people not overly hungry. Not words of praise alone, no matter
+how warm, would justify such a decision, for one can never take such
+expressions at quite their face value&mdash;'tis so easy to make pleasant
+remarks! So the matter was thrown back to where it belonged all the
+time&mdash;upon the writer to decide the case on the merits of the various
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>discussions as dealing with present-day educational problems.</p>
+
+<p>While separate addresses, upon different topics, given at different
+times, and with no thought of connection, they all do bear upon one
+great matter of universal interest&mdash;that of education. The title, "On
+the Firing Line in Education," belongs specifically to but the first of
+the topics discust. Still, it is appropriate to the entire group since
+the various matters handled are fundamental and the positions taken
+considerably in advance of common use. But we are clearly moving in the
+general direction indicated&mdash;'twill not be long now before the main army
+has caught up, and then the firing line will be still further advanced.</p>
+
+<p>I have a very definite conviction that, at any financial cost, we should
+provide thru the school for the physical as well as for the psychical
+and the moral development of the child. This is not to take the place of
+the home&mdash;merely to supplement the work of the majority of homes. Only
+thus can we adequately educate all. I believe, too, that in any
+scientific view of the educational process the sense organs are
+paramount in importance, and therefore urge their care and training.
+That the positions taken in the various addresses upon these and other
+matters are sound has been pretty well demonstrated during the last two
+years when the demands of war have faced us. This is made clear in the
+Introduction that follows.</p>
+
+<p>I am under obligations to the various periodicals in which these studies
+have appeared for permission to use them again in this form. I also
+appreciate the courtesy of Mr. Badger, the publisher, in allowing me to
+use certain simplified forms of spelling, thus departing from the usual
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>over-conservative practise of publishers. Is not this, too, one of the
+firing-line activities?</p>
+
+<p class="author"><span class="smcap">A. J. Ladd</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Grand Forks, North Dakota,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">March, 1919</span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<div class='centered'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" width="80%" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td></td><td align='left'>CHAPTER</td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Introduction&mdash;Have the Schools Been Discredited by the Revelations of the War</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_11'><b>13</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'>On the Firing Line in Education</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_35'><b>37</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Social Betterment, the Dominant Motive in Education</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_38'><b>38</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Child Study</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_43'><b>43</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Physical Education</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_50'><b>50</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Educational Survey</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_51'><b>51</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Vocational Guidance</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_53'><b>53</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Educational Psychologist</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_56'><b>56</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'>The Relation of the State University to the High Schools of the State</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_63'><b>63</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Elementary School</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_65'><b>65</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The High School</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_67'><b>67</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The State University</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_75'><b>75</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'>The University and the Teacher</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_89'><b>89</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Kind of Teachers the University Should Employ</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_91'><b>91</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The University Teacher in his Classroom</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_94'><b>94</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The University's Attitude Toward the Preparation of Teachers for the Schools of the State</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_105'><b>105</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'>The Eye Problem in the Schools</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_115'><b>115</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'>The Home, the Church, and the School</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_133'><b>133</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Home</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_134'><b>134</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Church</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_141'><b>141</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The School</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_150'><b>150</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'>Noblesse Oblige</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_163'><b>163</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'>Improvements in Our Public Schools</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_185'><b>185</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'>Local Winter Sports</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_203'><b>203</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'>The Function of Teachers College</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_217'><b>217</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'>Credit for Quality in Secondary and Higher Education</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_243'><b>243</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td></td><td align='left'>Index</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_261'><b>261</b></a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+<h3>HAVE THE SCHOOLS BEEN DISCREDITED BY THE REVELATIONS OF THE WAR?</h3><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p>
+
+<h4><i>From School and Society, April 5, 1919</i></h4><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<p>Knowing that I was about to publish a book on education in which the
+Great War, now happily closed, was not taken as the point of departure,
+a friend said to me one day, in substance, "Aren't you taking undue
+risks just now in putting out a book on education that isn't based upon
+a program of reconstruction? Haven't all our so-called educational
+principles been dis-credited? Shall you get any readers if you do not
+admit educational failure thus far, and proceed to discuss a change of
+front, made imperative by recent revelations?" And the editor of a well
+known educational journal, in asking me for an article, recently, said,
+among other things, "I should be glad to have an article upon some phase
+of reconstruction after the war, educational, social, philosophical, as
+you may like. Here is the next great battlefield of the future, and if
+the educational forces do not redeem themselves here, it is my opinion
+that we shall become a greater laughing stock than we have ever been
+before."</p>
+
+<p>To both of these statements I desire to take exception. To be sure, the
+war has taught us many lessons bearing upon education; to be sure, it
+has revealed shortcomings, limitations, and weaknesses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> But it seems to
+me that it has also made clear that we have been working along right
+lines. Our fundamental educational principles have not been
+dis-credited. There is no far-reaching educational failure to admit, nor
+is there any serious shortcoming from which the educational forces of
+the country have to redeem themselves. "Laughing stock," does the
+gentleman say? Oh no! Far from it! Let us not get panicky! Some
+weaknesses brought to light? Certainly. But in the analysis, later to be
+made, let us see if, for the most part, they do not but demonstrate the
+soundness of our educational principles and the far-sightedness of our
+educational leaders together with the short-sightedness of the present
+critics, in that had suggested recommendations been followed these
+weaknesses would not have existed. Let us give here but one
+illustration, and that briefly. We all admit that the medical
+examinations for the war found too many physical defects, and too many
+men thereby incapacitated for efficient military service. But would not
+the results have been very different if, during the last generation, the
+suggestions and strong recommendations of educators relative to physical
+education in our schools been acted upon by the public? Ah! The fault
+was not with educational principles; they were sound. The educational
+forces of the country knew what was needed, but a parsimonious public
+would not follow intelligent leadership. We could say, all along the
+line, "I told you so," if we felt so inclined. Instead of being the
+"laughing stock" we could&mdash;if the matter were not too serious&mdash;throw the
+laugh upon the other fellow. The purpose of our schools has never been
+to produce soldiers at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> drop of the hat, and so they have never been
+blighted by military training. (May it never come!) Their task has been
+to produce men and women of character and purpose and ideals&mdash;men and
+women of initiative who could become anything called for by an
+emergency. And nobly have they succeeded, as evidenced by the successful
+prosecution of the war.</p>
+
+<p>In view of all that the United States has done to assist in bringing the
+war to its successful close, from the adoption of the selective draft
+down thru the management of the training camps, the operation of the
+railroads, conservation of food and fuel, to the knitting of a pair of
+socks and the sale of a thrift stamp, what shall be said of the success
+or failure of our schools? Every man, woman, and child in this gigantic
+work, from President Wilson down to the colored bootblack who saved his
+nickels to buy a stamp, or to the little girl who voluntarily went
+without her sugar, has been a product of the schools. Thru the
+instruction, the discipline, and the training given in those schools,
+they became the men and women who could rise to the emergency and do the
+things needed. And they did.</p>
+
+<p>No college or university or professional school ever taught Mr. Wilson
+how to be President of the United States during these troublous days;
+nor Mr. McAdoo how to manage the railroads; nor Mr. Pershing all about
+war; nor any local worker how to lead the Red Cross work, any more than
+the lower schools have taught the boys who went into the trenches how to
+use the gas mask and how to go without food; how to shoulder arms and
+how to march. But the schools all along the line did help to give them
+ideals, did train them in team-play; did instil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> into them the
+principles of democracy and the love of country, so that when the need
+came they arose as one man to repel the foe. And the study of
+arithmetic, geography, and grammar; of chemistry, physics, and medicine;
+of Latin, Greek, and history has, in each case, made its contribution to
+the preparation of home workers, soldiers, scientific experts, financial
+managers, and statesmen&mdash;has helped to make each an individual of
+initiative.</p>
+
+<p>Under the guidance of our educational leaders, following principles that
+they had workt out, the schools of the country were moving quietly
+along, each one of the 750,000 teachers doing faithfully the work at
+hand day by day. We had never thought of war as a possibility for us,
+and of course preparation for it had not been made, in the slightest
+degree, a part of the work of the schools. But when war, with all its
+horrors, was finally forced upon us and we needed statesmen and
+scientists and military leaders to guide and direct, they were at hand
+in the graduates of our colleges and universities&mdash;broadly trained men
+capable of assimilating, or learning, or in other ways gaining quickly,
+the specific form of efficiency needed in the particular activity
+assigned. And when we needed soldiers they were at hand in the person of
+our boys of the schools, both common and high, from every nook and
+corner of the land&mdash;boys and men who merely needed direction and
+leadership, capable of at once falling into line and quickly taking on
+the professional phase of their training. Could we have asked our
+schools to do more? The supreme test had come, and it was being met in a
+manner gratifying to all. The boys and the girls, the men and the women,
+on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> farm, in the store, in the home, in the workshop, in the schools
+and colleges, have responded "Here am I. Show me what you want me to do,
+and I will do it even unto death." It was done, and they did it. The
+schools had nobly demonstrated their efficiency.</p>
+
+<p>To be sure, all this was not done without making mistakes. Not all the
+products of all the schools were able to rise to the occasion and to be
+depended upon in our hour of need. When the great national search-light
+was trained upon the product of the schools, seeking leaders of infinite
+variety and number, and likewise hosts of followers to do definite and
+difficult things, many deficient ones were discovered&mdash;some deficient in
+mental caliber, some weak in moral fiber, some lacking in physical
+stamina. And right here is to be seen the only serious failure of our
+schools. Not every boy, not every girl, had been made as efficient as
+could have been desired. But, happily, in our great numbers enough were
+found to do even the stupendous work at hand, and to do it well. In
+spite of moral lapses, not a few, in spite of instances of mental
+incompetence, far too many, and in spite of physical handicaps,
+distressingly large&mdash;in spite of all this, I say, the United States
+surprised the world with the quickness with which we pulled ourselves
+together, and with the marvelous efficiency with which we mobilized all
+our resources. Many losses of course there were&mdash;losses of men, losses
+of days, losses of dollars. But when all is said and done, the losses
+were slight when compared with the accomplishments. Credit to whom
+credit is due! But because of these losses unthinking men immediately
+began to criticise the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> schools. They should have been trade schools, or
+industrial schools or military schools&mdash;any kind of schools that they
+were not. And how clearly it was being demonstrated, we were told, that
+the time formerly spent on music and drawing, art and literature,
+algebra and geometry, history and Latin, had all been wasted! How much
+better it would have been if, instead of these "frills," the children
+had been given "practical subjects"! (Practical. Save the mark. One is
+tempted here to go off on a by-path and discuss the topic, "What is
+Practical?") Thus the criticism of the unthinking&mdash;of the laymen who
+went off at half-cock.</p>
+
+<p>And this criticism was deepened and strengthened and extended and made
+more vehement, again by the unthinking, when the fine results of the
+Plattsburgh experiment were revealed, in which, thru the processes of
+intensive training, men were quickly whipt into shape for new, and
+difficult, and responsible undertakings. And the equally good results
+that came from the officers' training schools, in which college boys by
+a similar program were metamorphosed, almost at over-night, into capable
+army officers, had the same effect. How signally had the schools failed!
+And these long years spent in school and college, "dawdling over the
+frills," had been to no effect, whereas "a few weeks under <i>intelligent</i>
+educational direction accomplishes marvels."</p>
+
+<p>And the same has further illustration. Ministers of the Gospel selected
+for chaplains, physicians and surgeons chosen for medical service,
+nurses for the Red Cross, engineers for various forms of engineering,
+and many others have all been given this short period of intensive
+training and, to their credit and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> ours be it said, all responded
+quickly. But the conclusion drawn by the unthinking has been, all along
+the line, that the later efficiency of these men which has gained for us
+the plaudits and the gratitude of the world was due to this short period
+of intensive training, "under men who were intelligent enough to know
+just what was needed and just how to go about to secure it"&mdash;men not
+hampered by any pedagogical nonsense or grown stale over a long attempt
+to discriminate between the "infinity of nothingness and the nothingness
+of infinity" (as one might summarize a rather common criticism), rather
+than to the former years of patient toil, and discipline, and
+accomplishment which had really laid the foundation so well that all
+were able thus to respond. The common school, the high school, the
+college, and the professional school was dis-credited, one and all, in
+favor of a short-cut method analogous to the so-called "Business
+College,"&mdash;a short-cut method that could result only in disaster if
+applied without the appropriate preparation.</p>
+
+<p>How long it does take people to realize that real education is a slow
+process! that it takes years and years and years of varied experiences
+for the processes of assimilation and development to bring about the
+fine fruitage of stable character!</p>
+
+<p>And the Government, too (I suppose we can criticize Washington just a
+little now without serious danger of being sent to jail), must have had
+the same point of view in regard to the general management of education
+since, during the war, it did not entrust its educational war program
+into the hands of the National Bureau of Education. It did have the War
+Department and the Navy Department and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> Treasury Department manage
+their respective phases of war activities. Why was not the Department of
+Education called on to direct the educational work? Had it been, the S.
+A. T. C. fiasco, as well as some other blunders, would doubtless have
+been avoided. But the thought (or was it the lack of thought?) must have
+been that most anybody outside of the teaching profession would know
+better how to get educational results than any one from within. A
+similar point of view is generally discernible in the election of boards
+of education in towns and cities thruout the country&mdash;any one is
+satisfactory save those who know definitely what should be going on
+inside of the school house.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps all this was to be expected. I rather think so. But I confess to
+surprise when I find such criticism being echoed from within&mdash;from men
+who should know better, as, for example, the two quoted at the beginning
+of this article. The explanation, I suppose, is that, timid in nature,
+they have become panicky and lost their bearings. Perhaps they were
+suffering from a mild form of brain-storm, and have temporarily slipt
+back into the ranks of the unthinking.</p>
+
+<p>Let us analyze the situation and see if we can discover just what the
+war did reveal as to the short-*comings of our educational system. Let
+us then try to locate the responsibility.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most serious of the educational shortcomings thus revealed is
+a high percentage of illiteracy&mdash;nearly eight per cent, I understand,
+the country over. The seriousness of such a situation can scarcely be
+overestimated. It was serious in time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> of war&mdash;the inability of a
+soldier to read orders, or to follow written directions, or to make
+written reports, especially when one takes into consideration the myriad
+forms of war service just recently used, would limit his possibilities
+of service and cripple himself and all his companions. But illiteracy is
+even more serious in times of peace, for then such individuals are not
+immediately under the direction of intelligent officers and thus
+prevented from the disastrous results of their own ignorant actions.
+Think for a moment of what it means in a democracy and for a democracy
+to have one out of every ten (disregarding children) of the possible
+directing forces of the government unable to read or write!</p>
+
+<p>But when we add to this statement of mere illiteracy the fact that a
+large percentage of these illiterates are of foreign birth or extraction
+and have never learned either to speak or understand the language of
+their adopted country, the situation is seen to be even more serious in
+potentiality, both in peace and war. Our authorities have been too lax,
+it seems, in not requiring that all children of foreign extraction,
+whether foreign or American born, be educated in the English language.
+In communities thickly settled by alien peoples they have too often
+allowed the schools to be conducted in the vernaculars of the people&mdash;a
+German school here, an Austrian school there, and an Italian school over
+yonder, and so on. And it goes without saying that in schools in which
+children are instructed in alien tongues 'tis not the American spirit
+that is inculcated nor American ideals that take root. No one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> would
+challenge the statement that here is a defect in the execution of our
+educational program, and one that must be remedied at any cost.</p>
+
+<p>Still another serious weakness as revealed by the merciless hand of war
+is that of physical shortcoming. A large number of men were rejected for
+service and a still larger number accepted only for limited service
+because of physical disability as shown by the medical examinations. I
+have not the figures at hand, but 'tis common knowledge that the
+situation is considered grave. Eye defects, ear defects, defective
+teeth, weak lungs, flat feet, round shoulders, spinal curvature,
+unsymmetrical development, and many other defects were discovered in
+great numbers. Perhaps nothing but a rigid medical examination by a
+military officer would ever have opened our eyes to the real situation.
+But this did. The revelations came as a surprise to nearly all except
+the educational leaders of the country. They have known, all the time,
+what the situation has been and, for a generation, have been trying to
+combat it.</p>
+
+<p>Again the question is raised as to whether these defects, or weaknesses,
+of American education, in both fields mentioned, as serious as they have
+been seen to be for war, are not even a more serious menace when looked
+upon from the point of view of peace, and therefore, even tho the war
+has been won, of such commanding importance as to demand our immediate
+and continued attention.</p>
+
+<p>One might go on and name other shortcomings in the working out of our
+educational program that have been more clearly brought to the surface
+during the critical days of our warfare. But this article is not
+intended to be a catalog. The two men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>tioned are fundamental and
+far-reaching. Illiteracy and physical disability! Weakness along these
+lines strikes at the very roots of national life and of individual
+well-being. And if, as a nation and as individuals, we are ever going to
+enter into our inheritance, these defects must be remedied. But before
+trying to discuss remedies, it will be well to locate responsibility.
+Are our basic educational principles unsound, or merely our educational
+practises unsatisfactory? Are the educational leaders of the country all
+wrong in theory? Have their heads been so high among the clouds that
+they have not seen the real boy and his homely task? Or have they seen
+clearly and mapt out wisely, whereas the public, relatively unthinking
+upon technical matters and always slow to act in new fields, has not
+been ready to follow? Is it in theory or in practise where the real
+shortcoming is to be found? The answer to the question is vital. If in
+theory, then is the situation serious indeed for that would mean that
+our psychology is wrong&mdash;that our whole philosophy of life and of
+government has been built upon error. Truly, then, after all these
+years, the "educational forces" would need to "redeem" themselves so as
+not to be "a greater laughing stock than we have ever been before." But
+if the weakness lies merely in our practise, not yet having been able to
+attain to our ideals, then, tho serious, it would be but child's play,
+comparatively speaking, to put ourselves right. We should need to take
+courage, redouble our efforts, and all that, but should not need to
+start all over again.</p>
+
+<p>How shall we account for the illiteracy revealed among both alien and
+native born? Not by faulty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> methods of teaching can it be explained, nor
+by anything else that teachers have done or have not done. Illiterates
+have not attended the schools. It is due either to insufficient
+legislation or to non-enforcement of laws, doubtless more the latter
+save in the case of adult aliens.</p>
+
+<p>From the very beginning of our colonial life, early in the 17th century,
+universal education has been a part of both our educational and our
+governmental creeds. A program of compulsory education was early found
+necessary, early adopted, and never abandoned. Beginning in
+Massachusetts and going south and west, following considerably behind
+but then keeping almost even pace with settlement and development after
+statehood had come, legislation has decreed that every child born into
+the land or coming into it by immigration shall enjoy the advantages of
+education, at least to the extent of knowing how to read and write the
+English language. Every state in the Union has compulsory attendance
+laws upon its statute books. These laws are not as thorogoing as they
+should be in many cases but yet, even as they are, if enforced, they
+should leave almost no illiteracy among people whose childhood has been
+spent in this country. For the least satisfactory laws&mdash;those of some of
+the Southern states, Georgia, for example, require school attendance for
+at least four months of each year between the ages of eight and
+fourteen. But illiteracy, even among our own people, has been
+revealed&mdash;too much of it. The laws have not been enforced. There is the
+sore spot. Why have they not been enforced? But of that later.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The education of adult aliens is another matter, and a very different
+one. As a problem it is almost new. That is, it has been only in
+relatively recent years that it has been recognized as such. True, for
+several years some of the states most largely affected, such as
+Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and others have been
+wrestling with it, but not very much has yet been attempted toward
+introducing the compulsory features. And private agencies,
+philanthropic, industrial, religious, political, and others have also
+done good work. But all that had thus far been done had accomplisht
+little more, at the outbreak of the war, than to open our eyes to the
+existence of a problem. And in our leisurely way we were going about its
+solution. But war came. The European nations were aflame. We had many
+Europeans in our midst. Investigations were made. The universal draft
+was adopted. The revelations were startling. It was discovered that in
+1910 there were in the United States 2,953,011 white persons of foreign
+birth, 10 years of age and over, unable to speak the English language.
+Of these 56,805 were from ten to fifteen years of age, 330,994 between
+fifteen and twenty-one, and 2,565,212 twenty-one and over. Note the
+number, <i>more than two and a half millions, twenty-one years of age and
+over&mdash;men grown, fathers of families, many of them</i>&mdash;unable to speak the
+language of their adopted country! And of these 788,631 were
+illiterate&mdash;unable to read or write in any language!</p>
+
+<p>Nothing short of legal requirements on a large scale, and rigidly
+enforced, absolutely free of cost to the immigrant, can ever remove the
+menace. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> law-making bodies of the country, both State and Federal,
+must act and act quickly or this growing menace will get beyond our
+control.</p>
+
+<p>And the long catalog of physical defects&mdash;what shall be said of them?
+Shall they be charged against the "educational forces" of the country?
+Are they a disgrace from which we must "redeem" ourselves so that we
+shall not become the "greater laughing stock"? It is perfectly evident
+that somebody has blundered because the whole sad list of defects is,
+speaking broadly, preventive and, for the most part, also remediable.
+But where lies the responsibility&mdash;upon the home, the school, or
+society? Of course, primarily, upon the home; the child comes from the
+home, goes to the home, is a part of the home, is under the immediate
+control of the home. But yet, many homes, especially homes of alien
+peoples, are not sufficiently intelligent to have entrusted to them
+matters of such far-reaching importance. And many others are not
+financially able to have proper attention given.</p>
+
+<p>But the school does know. And it, or what it represents, is abundantly
+able financially to handle the matter. It knows clearly how the child
+with physical defects is hampered in trying to perform its school work;
+it knows, too, how seriously the entire work of the school is interfered
+with when there are many such in the room; and it also knows the
+handicap under which such unfortunate children face life when school
+days are over. And the school knows, too, the preventive and remediable
+natures of these defects. Possessing all this knowledge, why has it not
+acted? To make a long story short, it has acted. To the extent of its
+authority and with all the influ<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>ence and power at its command it has
+acted, has been acting for many years, and is still acting. For more
+than a generation the educational forces of the country have been
+engaged in a nation-wide educational campaign designed to make clear to
+the homes of the country and to the voters of the country the growing
+seriousness of the situation. On the lecture platform and from the
+Gospel pulpit, in the educational press and in the popular magazine,
+aye, in the daily newspaper, in private conversation and in public
+discussion, in season and out of season, they have labored unceasingly
+to acquaint the public with the facts and to urge preventive and
+remedial action. To the unselfish work of these leaders of educational
+thought and action, supplemented by the generous assistance of the
+medical profession, is due the fact of our present-day intelligence in
+regard to the matter. Educators have been deeply interested, thoroly
+alive, and intelligently at work. How they have agitated the matter of
+better ventilation and better lighting of schoolhouses! How they have
+pleaded for medical inspection and appropriate medical treatment of
+school children! How they have urged the employment of the school nurse!
+How they have workt for the playground and the gymnasium and for sane
+methods of handling the same!</p>
+
+<p>But they do not form the court of last appeal. They have no authority.
+They all stand in about the same anomalous position as does the man
+nominally at the head of the educational activities of the country&mdash;the
+United States Commissioner of Education. They may gather statistics,
+make reports, and suggest action. But that is all. Tho possess<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>ing full
+knowledge of the situation, tho knowing just how to proceed to usher in
+a better day, they are not permitted to take any action. Responsible? Of
+course they are not responsible. "Redeem" themselves? From what, pray?
+"Laughing stock"? How long, oh! how long, will our great army of
+teachers, three-fourths of a million strong, be unappreciated,
+belittled, and maligned!</p>
+
+<p>Who, then, is responsible? In the last analysis there is but one
+answer&mdash;the public itself. Since the community at large as well as the
+individual afflicted is, in the final outcome, a sufferer in every case
+of physical disability, as also in that of illiteracy, it is its duty,
+as a mesure of self-protection, at least, to assume direction. Adequate
+information is at hand as to desirable methods of procedure.
+Demonstrations a-plenty have been given to prove that the program
+suggested is feasible, inexpensive, and beneficial. This has been
+brought about thru the action of a few small groups who have thus
+presented clear and convincing object lessons. But why must we say "a
+few"? Why is not such work nation-wide? That is a longer story. It
+follows.</p>
+
+<p>The United States of America is a Republic&mdash;a representative
+democracy&mdash;a government in which all the people participate. And the
+government of the United States is a Federal government. It is made up
+of a group of States, each one exercising supervision and control over
+its local matters. And education has thus far been considered a local
+matter. And in many ways that soverenty has been still further divided.
+We have as a smaller unit of school organization the county, and a
+smaller one yet, the township, and, in many states, a still smaller one,
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> school district, containing, in many instances, only a few square
+miles of territory and, of course, a very limited population. But in
+some respects, within certain limits, each of these small units is a law
+unto itself, having much to say as to the length of the school term, the
+character of the teaching, and many other phases including such as the
+one under consideration.</p>
+
+<p>For these reasons it frequently happens that side by side are school
+districts, or townships, or counties, with widely differing educational
+programs. Here is one with attractive buildings, well ventilated and
+well lighted, well equipt in every way, in the hands of competent
+teachers, with physician and nurses subject to call. But just over the
+imaginary line is another with nothing quite satisfactory. They are just
+living up to the strict letter of the State's requirement and that is
+all. Not one dollar is being spent that represents the community's
+voluntary contribution to the welfare of its child life or to the future
+well-being of humanity.</p>
+
+<p>And why? Just because we are a Democracy. Just because our action must
+be the united action of many, representing the average intelligence of
+the entire governmental unit and not that of its most intelligent
+members. For this reason a democracy is always slow to act along new
+lines. The majority of the people have to be convinced of the wisdom of
+the new mesure. And education is itself always a slow process. People
+change their minds slowly. Slowness of action is one of the prices we
+have to pay for our democracy. On the other hand, an absolute monarchy
+can act quickly, for there may be but one individual to assimilate the
+new idea or to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> be convinced of the wisdom of the proposed change.</p>
+
+<p>These facts are easily made clear by historical references, and,
+happily, in the very matter under discussion&mdash;educational procedure. In
+the eighteenth century Prussia, under the two great Hohenzollern kings,
+Frederick William I and his son, Frederick the Great, the two ruling
+from 1713 to 1786, made most rapid strides in education. Both were
+practically absolute rulers, but they were benevolent and far-sighted,
+and the educational reforms that they inaugurated were basic and
+far-reaching, such as state-control and support, compulsory attendance,
+and the professional education of teachers. Being absolute in authority,
+all they needed to do was to promulgate the decrees and order their
+execution. The result was that, educationally, Prussia immediately
+forged ahead of all the other European countries.</p>
+
+<p>England, on the other hand, was a limited monarchy. Her king could not
+have acted thus even if he so desired. Such mesures had to have the
+sanction of Parliament, which would have to hark back to an enlightened
+public opinion since Parliament was a representative body. And public
+opinion, especially in matters of education, is slow of creation. As a
+matter of fact, even tho the English people were much in advance of the
+Germans in civilization and in all the refinements of life, it was not
+till 1833 that England as a government took her first step looking
+toward the education of her children thru appropriating money. And the
+grant of that Act was only a paltry &pound;20,000 a year to be used by two
+religious societies for the erection of school houses. And it was an
+entire generation later, even 1870,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> before they adopted the necessary
+principles of compulsory attendance and local taxation. More than a
+hundred years behind Prussia, England was, in the management of
+educational affairs!</p>
+
+<p>Another illustration of the slow action of democracy is nearer at hand
+both in time and space, even in our own country. For one reason or
+another, rather, for many reasons, education was at a low-water mark in
+the United States the latter part of the eighteenth and the first part
+of the nineteenth centuries. Thoughtful men, progressive educators,
+prominent statesmen, searching for the cause and for the remedy, found
+the one in the poor character of the teaching being done and the other
+in the establishment of the State Normal School patterned after those of
+Germany. This was first suggested in 1816 in Connecticut and pretty
+faithfully kept before the people of New England thereafter. But in
+spite of every effort, including a campaign of education and the
+establishment of private normal schools for the purposes of
+demonstration, it was not till 1838 that the Massachusetts legislature
+could be induced to act. And she would not have done so then had it not
+been that a very prominent man of Boston, a friend of the cause, Mr.
+Edmund Dwight, showed his faith in the movement by making a generous
+contribution out of his private funds. Note, too, this action from
+another point of view&mdash;the amount of Democracy's initial contribution
+toward this new great movement in America: Mr. Dwight's gift of $10,000
+was evenly matched by that of the wealthy state of Massachusetts! And
+the $20,000 was the amount planned for the establishment of <i>three new
+normal schools</i> and their maintenance <i>for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> three years!</i> That amount
+to-day would scarcely build a coal shed for each of three new normal
+schools!</p>
+
+<p>But I am not advocating monarchical methods even to hasten so good a
+cause as educational improvement. I am merely accounting for our
+slowness of action in needed reform. For several reasons I should be
+decidedly opposed to adopting such a program of centralization even if
+we could. In the first place, not every absolute monarch would act as
+did Frederick the Great. There are few benevolent despots. In France
+during the seventeenth centuries the Louises were just as absolute as
+were the Fredericks in Germany. But they were not interested in
+education for the people. Again, Germany's system of education, tho
+objectively efficient, has been far from satisfactory because not based
+on sane moral principles. And that fact, by the way, has finally been
+Germany's undoing. Now, we can scarcely conceive of Democracy erecting
+an educational structure on an unsatisfactory moral foundation.</p>
+
+<p>And still again, the action of an absolute monarch, in all such matters
+as education, tho perhaps temporarily rapid, is not permanent. Remove
+the guiding spirit and it slips back. An illustration will assist. Again
+Germany furnishes it. The little duchy of Gotha, just south of Prussia,
+serves us. During the Thirty Years' War Gotha had suffered greatly. Near
+its close, in 1640, Duke Ernest the Pious became its ruler. He had at
+heart the good of his people. He believed that education could be a very
+important factor in their upbuilding, and at once put into effect a
+progressive program. His people were greatly bettered and his duchy
+became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> a fine object lesson for other German States. But Duke Ernest
+died. And his educational reforms, not springing from the people
+themselves, followed him not long after.</p>
+
+<p>A few years ago President Diaz, Mexico's benevolent despot of nearly
+half a century, died. And his people, never having been taught how to
+rule themselves nor practised in the art, went to pieces.</p>
+
+<p>Democracy is slow but she is apt to be sure. Her action in educational
+matters is often provokingly dilatory, but she holds what she gains and
+thus continues to progress. She does not take a step forward until she
+is sure of her ground, but then she stands firm. Her actions are the
+results of deliberate thought based on adequate data gathered from
+actual experiments and not to be shaken. Democracy would not give up
+universal education nor take one step backward in the matter of
+compulsory attendance to secure it. She would not part with her
+elementary normal schools for anything in the world. And when once she
+sees her duty clear she will add to her school workers, in every
+community, the physician, the nurse, and the playground director. She
+will do it and, quickly noting improvements, soon wonder why she had not
+done it long before.</p>
+
+<p>Since so much emphasis has been placed on the conservative nature of
+Democracy and on its consequent slowness of action, a word should be
+added as to its possibilities in emergency. Tho we were slow in entering
+the Great War, once our duty was clear we acted with a promptness, a
+unanimity, and an efficiency that surprised both friend and foe, giving
+heart to the one and consternation to the other.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> Tho a democracy, we
+invested our chief executive with a power and an authority beyond that
+possest by any monarch in the world.</p>
+
+<p>So let us not be discouraged. The situation is not as bad as it might
+be. Our fundamental principles are sound. We are working along right
+lines and accomplishing good results. Our shortcomings, our weaknesses,
+our failures, if you wish to call them such, are seen only when our
+record is compared with a perfect score. The schools have not yet
+attained to 100 per cent efficiency; that is, the country over. Here and
+there, under the favorable conditions of an intelligent citizenry
+willing to follow expert leadership even to the extent of providing
+adequate funds, are schools and departments of schools of approximately
+100 per cent efficiency. And these, as Democracy's experiments, assure
+us of other advance steps. They are object lessons. Thus Democracy
+always advances.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, what shall we say? What shall we do? Not to "redeem" ourselves,
+oh, no! not that! but to approximate the 100 per cent efficiency all
+along the line? What? Why, knowing that we are headed aright, keep
+steadily forward with our eyes on the goal, refusing to be stampeded by
+the unthinking critic of whom Democracy always has a plenty. Take
+courage! Speed up!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>I</h2>
+
+<h2>ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+
+<h4><i>President's Address delivered at the Annual Banquet of the Fortnightly
+Club, Grand Forks, North Dakota, June 4, 1917</i></h4><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p>The plan of the military campaign is worked out in the quiet, away back
+in the rear, sometimes at considerable distance from the place of actual
+hostilities. It is worked out quietly, usually slowly, and attracts but
+little attention. But when worked out and ready to be put into
+operation, the plan is taken forward and activities begin. Supplies are
+gotten ready, men stationed, guns loaded, the firing line is formed.
+Here is where the battle is to be fought, where an attempt is to be made
+to carry out the plans formed in the quiet, back there in the rear.
+Activity characterizes the scene. Advances are being made, new things
+being done. Every effort is put forth to realize the plans.</p>
+
+<p>It is not different in education. In the quiet of the laboratories and
+the study, thoughtful men consider conditions, form plans, and develop
+theories of educational betterment that have to be tried out, out in the
+open. A firing line has to be formed, a place where new things are to be
+done different from the regular conventional activities. The humdrum,
+prosaic, traditional, everyday work goes on, in the main, all around but
+at these points where some advances are being tried, a new and it is
+hoped better program tested. All eyes are centered, all minds eager. The
+analogy is not inapt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is my purpose to discuss briefly some of the things that are
+happening on our educational firing lines. I want to bring to your
+attention first, however, the plan of the great educational campaign
+upon which we have entered, the goal before us at the present time, and
+then take up a few of the relatively new and typical positions being
+taken by leaders of educational thought, having the realization of that
+goal in view. This will present to you some of the things that are
+actually being done in a few progressive communities and point out
+possibilities for others.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Social Betterment, the Dominant Motive in Education</span></h4>
+
+<p>If I interpret aright the present-day educational thought, the dominant
+motive in it all is social in character. That is to say, in all of our
+plans for the education of children we keep them in mind as future
+members of society, acting with one another and all working together for
+the common good and for the betterment of the race. And around this
+motive, or back of it, or being used by it as a means, can be grouped
+all the significant educational practises of the time.</p>
+
+<p>Formerly the motive was largely psychological. That is, the school
+effected its organization, chose its curriculum, worked out its program,
+and decided upon its methods in order that it might assist the child in
+the development of its instincts and capacities, thus enabling him to
+realize his own personality. The great French educator, Rousseau, living
+in the eighteenth century, was responsible for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> this movement and it was
+a notable advance beyond the haphazard and aimless practise of the time.
+Pestalozzi, the great Swiss educational reformer, Froebel, the German
+apostle of childhood, and Herbart, the psychological genius of the
+Fatherland, were disciples of Rousseau and worked out from his point of
+view, trying to put it into practise in the school-rooms.</p>
+
+<p>And here was the firing line in education for many a long day. True,
+none of these later men ignored social relationships as did Rousseau.
+True, a strong case could be made out, if one should wish to defend the
+thesis, that these distinguished followers of Rousseau, even tho
+carrying out his program in the main, were likewise inaugurating the new
+sociological movement. But yet it was not sufficiently clear to dominate
+even in their own minds. The individual stood out beyond the mass. He
+filled the stage. Nor did they clearly pass it on to others. As a matter
+of fact, what the immediate followers of these men got from them was the
+theory of individualism in its better form.</p>
+
+<p>The best definition of education that can be given from this point of
+view is <i>the development of an inner life</i>. That is what Rousseau wanted
+to bring about and Pestalozzi and Froebel, and our own Colonel Parker of
+more recent times, the modern apostle of childhood, had the same vision.
+And so to Froebel and these others, likewise, the school was an
+institution in which each child should discover his own individuality,
+work out his own personality, and develop harmoniously all his powers.
+True, in that environment and doing all that, the child is going to
+learn the relationships of society, and thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> the school might become a
+means for social progress as well as the instrument of individual
+development. But this was incidental. The development of the inner life
+was the goal. Fashioned in the quiet, in the study, away from the haunts
+of man, this became the program and the rallying cry, and out on the
+firing line it was striven for. On the educational battlefields of both
+Europe and America, where redoubts were being stormed and advance
+positions taken, this was the one great end in view. It eventuated in
+the child study movement of the present generation that is now at its
+height and that has done so much to mitigate the severities of the old
+time school room practises and likewise greatly aided in putting
+education on a scientific basis.</p>
+
+<p>The immediate followers, I say, of the great European quartet of
+educators had the above worthy goal in view; but with their followers,
+many of them, especially the noisy ones, the modern sophists, it
+degenerated into a theory of pure individualism of the most selfish
+type. The theory of getting on in the world, every man for himself,
+became rampant. The school came to be looked upon as an institution in
+which children could learn how to get ahead of the rest of the
+community, and education as merely another weapon to use in making
+society contribute more to purse and pleasure. And on the firing line,
+formed by these noisy agitators, mistaken by many as educational
+leaders, these were the things striven for. But this aberration was only
+temporary. The real educational leaders, in trying to realize the goal
+of Rousseau and Pestalozzi and to do it having to combat this movement
+of wildcat educational speculation, gradually came to see a more
+important truth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> even than the one they were seeking. As on many another
+firing line, victories by the wayside have clarified our vision and
+given us new perspectives, and a goal, not at first recognized, looms
+large upon the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>For thru all this struggle we have learned that the first business of
+the public school is to teach the child to live in the world in which he
+finds himself, to understand his share in it and to perform it because,
+after all, unless people learn to adapt themselves to other individuals
+and communities, disorder and chaos follow. In it all we have come to
+see that education is the best instrument for regenerating society.</p>
+
+<p>Not individual development, then, the selfish view of Rousseau, not even
+the harmonious development of all the faculties, the one-sided, somewhat
+restricted, or undeveloped, view of Pestalozzi and others of his
+followers, surely not individual efficiency for personal gain, the
+selfish view of crass materialism, but social efficiency is the
+present-day motive in education. And the definition of education takes
+on a different color. Not merely the development of inner life but in
+conjunction with that or in addition to it, <i>the development in the
+individual of the power of adjustment to an ever changing social
+environment</i>. And likewise the school becomes more than a place in which
+the child can discover himself. Aye, it is the instrument that democracy
+has fashioned for realizing its broad and humanitarian ideal. Democracy
+is ever striving for closer and more harmonious relation between its
+members, a greater degree of social justice, and the school is its
+efficient means.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>These two tendencies, the psychological and the sociological,&mdash;only two
+since the narrow individualistic was never accepted and is now being
+rapidly eliminated&mdash;these two are not antagonistic nor mutually
+exclusive. The difference is largely in point of view or emphasis. One
+may say that they are but the two sides of the same shield but the fact
+remains that there <i>are</i> two sides. There is a difference and the change
+came as suggested. And the change has modified conditions on the firing
+line. Ever since Mr. Spencer asked his suggestive question, "what
+knowledge is of most worth," the question of educational values has been
+raised and the curriculum has come under close scrutiny. The result has
+been a modification. The purely linguistic and literary, that which does
+not function directly for preparation in life and society, is slowly
+giving way to that which deals with the facts and forces of nature and
+of social institutions.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far I have tried to make plain the great educational campaign in
+which we are engaged, as seen on the firing line,&mdash;to point out the goal
+before us, universal education, of course, and social efficiency for
+each member of the group. That suggests at once as a definition of
+education, the one made famous by Herbert Spencer more than a half
+century ago, "<i>Preparation for complete living.</i>" That was good as a
+start in the new direction, but one of the most prominent generals of
+our educational forces now commanding at the front, John Dewey of
+Columbia University, has suggested a modification which brings it up to
+date and gives the key-note of explanation to the tactics now in vogue
+out there in the front ranks. He says that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> instead of being the
+preparation for life, education is life itself. Some without trying to
+probe deeply into the thought back of the trenchant expression, have
+said that this was a mere play upon words. But Dewey is not a man who
+plays with words. What he meant by the statement is that the child is
+best prepared for life as an adult by living the right kind of life as a
+child. That is by living a life that has real meaning to him now, a
+normal natural life, putting forth those activities that spring from
+within, not merely sitting behind a narrow desk trying to memorize wordy
+descriptions of complicated facts thought to be useful to him later on.
+And when we go out and see what they are doing on the firing line we
+shall see just that being done.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Child Study</span></h4>
+
+<p>But perhaps I should guard against a possible misapprehension. In
+eliminating the materialistic point of view in individualism&mdash;narrow
+individual development for personal gain&mdash;we have not thrown aside the
+goal of development suggested by Rousseau and Pestalozzi. Advanced
+educational thought has that prominently in mind&mdash;the discovery of the
+child's latent powers&mdash;his possibilities&mdash;his tastes&mdash;his "bent" and the
+development of the same. But while with them that was the goal, the end
+in view, and a somewhat selfish one, even tho not crassly materialistic,
+it has become, with us, a means to a larger end, namely, social
+betterment. The child must be known and developed to enable it to be
+able to contribute its largest quota to the welfare of society.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With this general direction of educational activity made plain, and
+incidentally the character of the activities along the entire battle
+front, let us pass to a consideration of a few specific activities that
+will illustrate the general movement. Let us bear in mind that we have
+in view, in the first place, the individual child whose tastes and
+aptitudes we must discover and, on the basis of discovery, whose fullest
+development, consistent with the rights of others, we must seek. And the
+reason for this, you know, is that only as this is done and he is
+prepared to do that kind of work in the world for which his tastes best
+adapt him&mdash;only thus can he be made the most efficient member of society
+possible. Because, as Plato said, centuries ago, "Society is but the
+individual writ large"&mdash;a collection of individuals. The foundation of
+all things in social life is the individual.</p>
+
+<p>Now, I'll admit, at once, that that is not the program of the rank and
+file of the schools. It should be, but it isn't. What the schools are
+trying to do, in the main, is to teach the children a lot of facts that
+tradition says would be well for them to know when they become adults,
+wholly irrespective of the child's present attitude toward these
+facts&mdash;whether or not they have meaning for him. What the high schools
+are trying to do is to teach the relatively few who survive this grade
+program, in addition to these elementary tradition-directed facts of
+knowledge, a lot more of meaningless matter prescribed by the colleges
+and listed under that alluring title, "entrance requirements." And as a
+result of these programs the schools are sending altogether too many of
+their boys and girls into society<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> unacquainted with themselves, and
+ill-fitted for any useful occupation, and therefore out of sympathy with
+the serious work of the world. They are misfits in the social and
+economic world and are obliged to take their places in the ranks of the
+lowest-paid of unskilled labor&mdash;and work up if they can.</p>
+
+<p>Now, what is being done on the firing lines to remedy this situation and
+to usher in the new day? Well, first, in our normal
+schools&mdash;institutions established and maintained for the simple purpose
+of preparing young people for teaching children&mdash;great emphasis is being
+placed upon the study of the child. It is felt that only as the teacher
+understands the child mind and the laws of its development can she
+direct that development aright. (That's a sensible point of view, isn't
+it? And yet it is only on the firing line in educational practise that
+we find it recognized. Without that factor of equipment, the teacher is
+teaching subjects, not boys and girls.) In many normal schools child
+study is one of the required subjects&mdash;no one may graduate or be
+recommended for a teaching position who has not taken it. It should be
+required in all&mdash;and will be a little later on. No person should be
+allowed to occupy the position of teacher of children who has not made
+such a study&mdash;and proved himself efficient in it. Boards of education
+should demand it even if some normal schools do not yet require it for
+graduation. It is far and away the most important part of the teacher's
+professional equipment.</p>
+
+<p>And then in our schools of education and teachers colleges&mdash;institutions
+set apart for preparing teachers for our high schools and for
+administrative positions&mdash;the study of adolescence is receiving
+in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>creasing attention. The high school boy and the high school girl are
+being made the subjects of close, careful, scientific study. It is
+thought that in order to deal effectively with these young people the
+high school teacher should understand those marvelous changes&mdash;physical,
+mental, and moral&mdash;thru which they are passing. How else can one know
+how to check where checking is needed (and it usually is needed
+somewhere along the line); to guide where the pathway is obscure (and
+every adolescent is sure to pass thru valleys of darkness during the
+high school course); and to inspire where inspiration is lacking (and
+with some it is lacking a good deal of the time)&mdash;in a word, how else
+than thru a knowledge of the situation can one be the "philosopher,
+guide, and friend" that the adolescent always needs?</p>
+
+<p>Do you know that about one-fourth of all students who enter the freshman
+classes of our high schools, thruout the United States, drop out before
+the close of the first semester? Do you know, too, that the elimination
+continues right along until that one-fourth is made more than one-half
+before graduation day arrives? Now, these boys and girls enter full of
+hope and expectation, eager and ambitious for what the high school is
+supposed to do for them; they do not plan to drop out before completing
+the course&mdash;nor do their parents plan to have them do so. Why do they do
+it? What has changed their point of view and sent them from the school,
+sad and disappointed, and their parents dissatisfied with both school
+and child? What is it? Do you want me to tell you? The situation has
+been the subject of investigation in many places thruout<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> the country,
+and the conclusion reached by thoughtful men and women, unbiased
+students of educational practises, is that, while many influences
+combine to bring about that unfortunate result, the chief cause of this
+high mortality is the unsympathetic attitude of high school teachers
+toward the adolescent. But, you may ask, why unsympathetic? Because they
+regard them as fickle, unstable, and irrational, and so have but little
+patience with them. I'll admit that the adolescent seems all that at
+times, but that is only on the surface. The developmental
+changes&mdash;physical and moral&mdash;thru which he is passing often make the
+life during this period one of turmoil. From fourteen to eighteen&mdash;the
+normal high school period&mdash;is frequently called the "storm and stress
+period" of life. Not having made a study of the situation, high school
+teachers, in the main, do not know the fundamental scientific facts, and
+therefore can not account for actions, points of view, signs of
+waywardness, lack of appreciation, poor lessons, etc., etc., that
+sometimes characterize the youth while a student in the high school.
+They often lay to an unclean mind what springs from a perfectly normal
+development of the sex function; they are sure that moral perversity is
+the basis of actions that are more correctly explained by reference to a
+moral nature merely in the process of development; they think that pure
+laziness alone explains the lack of vigorous work, whereas the boy is
+growing so fast that he has no strength for anything else; they scold
+him for being awkward and say it is due to carelessness and a slip-shod
+mind, because they do not know that the muscles sometimes grow faster
+than the bones, making accurate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> co-ordination a physical impossibility;
+in a word, to general, all round cussedness they charge behavior that
+should be referred to high blood pressure, aching bones, the knitting
+together by fiber growth of the various brain centers, and finally, to
+youthful enthusiasm, all of which are perfectly normal signs of
+developing youth. They do it because they do not know any better. They
+are ignorant of many things that touch, and vitally, the young people
+with whom they are working. But how could it be otherwise? They have
+never given any reflective thought to the matter. The term "half-baked"
+that they often apply to the adolescent in disgust, or in coarse jest,
+is, from this point of view, more applicable to themselves.</p>
+
+<p>That, I say,&mdash;the unsympathetic attitude of the high school teacher
+toward the adolescent&mdash;is the chief cause of the high mortality of high
+school students. That, coupled with another, that springs from the same
+fundamental situation&mdash;ignorance of the needs and points of view of the
+adolescent&mdash;tho not so chargeable to the individual class teacher as to
+the school system as a whole, local, state, and national, pretty nearly
+cover the ground. The other cause to which I refer is the course of
+study and program of activities that are so ill-adapted to the tastes,
+and needs, and capacities of adolescent boys and girls&mdash;studies and
+activities that have no real meaning to them and that fit them for
+nothing definite save college entrance where the same old process,
+meaningless to many, often goes on for another period.</p>
+
+<p>What is being done on the firing line to better such conditions? A good
+deal; quite a good deal.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> Normal schools and schools of education here
+and there, the former more than the latter, are now giving attention to
+the matter, requiring in some cases and urging in others, prospective
+teachers to become intelligent in regard to the lives they are to
+direct. It is being done at our own institution as at others. This year
+Dr. Todd has given instruction in child study to nearly one hundred
+young men and women who are looking forward to teaching in the grades,
+and I have had a group of some thirty-five or forty prospective high
+school teachers and superintendents who have been making a careful study
+of adolescence. I guarantee that these people will not make the crude
+and unfeeling blunders that I have mentioned as too common among high
+school teachers, as they run. These are firing-line activities. They
+were nearly new a dozen years ago. My introduction of such courses in
+our University was smiled at indulgently by some of my colleagues and
+sharply criticised, especially the work in adolescence, by others. They
+are not yet required of students preparing to teach, but have evidently
+demonstrated their value since, tho in no sense snap courses, they have
+become very popular.</p>
+
+<p>As illustrative of this work let me refer to a notable recent action of
+the legislature of Iowa. It has just passed an Act appropriating to the
+State University $25,000 a year for the purpose of financing what is
+called a "child-welfare" campaign. The plan is to make an exhaustive
+scientific study of the child from both the physiological and
+psychological points of view, to the end that it may be better known and
+thus more satisfactorily guided in its educational career.</p>
+
+<p>One other thing, in this same connection, is being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> done on our firing
+lines all over the country&mdash;something that is hoped will set the people
+at large, parents and citizens generally, to thinking sanely on
+educational matters and ere long rectify our blunders as to subjects of
+study and general school activities and thus result in sending the
+children out efficient workmen in suitable fields. I refer to addresses
+and discussions such as this and others, to articles in newspapers and
+magazines, and the educational press, and to even more extensive and
+thoro discussions put out in book form from time to time for the laymen.</p>
+
+<p>The old darkey says, "The world do move." We sometimes think it moves
+very slowly, but yet it "do move." Tho we can't see it move, we can, by
+looking back, see that it has moved.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Physical Education</span></h4>
+
+<p>Another thing for which we are fighting out on the firing lines is an
+adequate system of physical education. This would include periodical
+medical inspection of every child from the kindergarten up; it would
+also include the school nurse and the visiting nurse, and, as well, free
+public clinics for ear, eye, nose, throat, and tooth difficulties. It
+would also include, for mental and moral as well as physical ends,
+well-equipt playground and gymnasium facilities under the direction of
+men and women expert and skilful in those fields&mdash;and these would be in
+operation the entire year.</p>
+
+<p>The physical education of the child and adolescent should be as
+carefully planned, as scientifically workt out in a positive way, as the
+intellectual. Why<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> not? Because you know&mdash;every intelligent person
+knows&mdash;that the physical is the basis for the mental and the moral. You
+know&mdash;we all know&mdash;that a sound, a healthy, a sane life can not be
+developt in an unsound or a diseased body. Then why are these activities
+merely on the firing lines and not a part of the regular program?
+Because ignorance, and prejudice, and selfishness, and stubbornness, and
+penuriousness are still keeping many people in the trenches. But they
+will be dislodged. Just as sure as fate they will be driven from cover.
+They are fighting a losing battle. They are standing in the way of an
+irresistible movement that is sure to engulf them. If there were time I
+should like to describe just what is being done along this line in some
+places and give the reflex influence of the same on the community. It
+has surely meant a new heaven and a new earth to many a child, and
+glimmerings of the same to many a community. But I pass to less
+spectacular matters, continuing to discuss principles rather than
+illustrations.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Educational Survey</span></h4>
+
+<p>Another matter of interest these days is the educational survey that has
+been taken up by many progressive communities. The plan is, as many of
+you know, to subject the school system of a city or community to a
+searching investigation in order to discover, if possible, its weak
+points, if it has any, to the end of their betterment. Experts are
+brought in who, without fear or favor, examine the system from all
+possible points of view&mdash;location and arrangement of school buildings
+including heat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>ing, lighting, and general health conditions, adequacy of
+playground and athletic facilities, the extent to which the schools are
+satisfying community needs in the way of equipt workmen and the needs of
+the young people for equipment for suitable work, the cost of the
+system, attendance, methods of teaching and supervision, course of
+study, etc. Outside experts are brought in for various reasons: known to
+have no personal interest in the outcome, their reports are likely to be
+received with greater respect; and, too, a local committee, thru
+nearness and very familiarity, would fail to notice features, good as
+well as bad, that might at once attract the attention of strangers. Many
+cities, ranging from 2500 to half a million people, have already availed
+themselves of the survey with, in the main, very gratifying results. Not
+only have cities used the survey, but other units of educational
+administration. There have been a few very significant and interesting
+rural school surveys by counties in several states. A similar study has
+been made of several State universities, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, for
+example. I notice that the legislature of Minnesota has just arranged
+for a survey of theirs. You all recall that such a survey was made of
+all the institutions of higher education of North Dakota only a short
+time ago. The general feeling is that it was well worth while. Such and
+even more extensive surveys have already been made in five other
+states&mdash;Oregon, Iowa, Washington, Colorado, and Wyoming. The end sought
+in each and all of these surveys, whether city schools, higher
+institutions, or state-wide systems, is greater efficiency&mdash;larger
+service to society. A survey of this character is usually fol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>lowed by a
+detailed printed report that is generously distributed resulting in
+greater interest in the schools and a more intelligent appreciation of
+their work and their needs.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Vocational Guidance</span></h4>
+
+<p>Much has been said in recent years about vocational education. The
+schools have been severely criticised for not teaching trades. Many have
+demanded that that be the dominating motive in all our schools,
+especially in the high schools. The educational press, for the last
+decade, has kept the matter in the limelight. Books have been written
+calling attention to the heavy dropping out of school of pupils even
+before reaching high school age wholly unfitted to do anything above the
+most menial and lowest-paid work. They have argued strenuously and
+sometimes logically for better things. To this program the objection has
+been raised that children in these early years are not yet ready to
+choose their work of life; that they do not yet sufficiently know
+themselves&mdash;their own tastes and capacities for such serious choice; it
+has also been urged that to place before children such attractive
+objective features would result in swerving many from the normal pathway
+of their development and check it midway. The result has been what might
+be called a compromise, and the firing-line activities have been
+somewhat modified. Not vocational education but vocational guidance is
+now more nearly the thought. And this has a much larger content, a
+background, a more scientific basis, and one organically connected with
+the larger movement of which I have already spoken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>&mdash;the social motive
+in education supplemented by the individual involving the discovery and
+development of taste and capacity.</p>
+
+<p>I have already called attention to the high mortality of high school
+students. The reasons I have given are the lack of sympathy that the
+teacher has with the adolescent and the lack of meaning found in the
+work being done. The same facts account for the heavy elimination that
+takes place in the upper grades of the elementary school. But both are
+being remedied to some extent. The first thru the child-study movement
+and the second thru the matter of vocational guidance. And the two are
+very closely connected as one can see at a glance. Thru the child-study
+movement the teacher comes to know child nature so well that direct
+application can be made to the individual child and an intimate
+knowledge gained of his tastes, capacities, ambitions, and dominant
+interests. This will enable her to give the subject matter definite
+meaning in the early years, and, later on, when vocations begin to
+attract, the guiding may be intelligent and the final choice a suitable
+one. From the beginning of the adolescent period there should be
+opportunities furnished by the school or thru its co-operative effort
+for children to test themselves in various lines&mdash;academic lines,
+vocational lines. They should, in a word, be vocationally tempted in as
+many different directions as possible so as to come to know themselves
+so well that the final settling will not be haphazard. In these ways
+they should be guided into their vocations, definite ones, just as early
+in life as they can be adequately prepared for them. For example:&mdash;if
+his tastes and capacities fit a certain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> boy for merely a mechanical
+pursuit that requires but little academic learning, such as carpentry,
+plumbing, blacksmithing, brick laying, etc., he should, relatively early
+in the adolescent period, be thus guided, and not forced to attempt an
+academic course that can have no possible meaning to him. This would
+send him out, a productive member of society, happy in his work because
+suited to him and efficient in it because fitted for doing it well. If,
+on the other hand, tastes and capacities fit for academic or
+professional careers, such as medicine, law, teaching, or engineering,
+the principle would remain the same but the program would differ. The
+academic work, meaningless to the prospective plumber, or dressmaker,
+would be full of meaning to the embryo lawyer or teacher, and the period
+of preparation much prolonged.</p>
+
+<p>Such are the points of view that teachers should hold, and such the
+opportunities that schools should offer. And it is all being found out
+on the firing lines. This program is being carried out to some extent in
+many places in different parts of the country. The time is not very far
+distant when something of the kind will be demanded in all our towns.
+For out in the front ranks the high school is no longer regarded chiefly
+as a preparatory for college. Out there it is seen to possess a much
+larger function&mdash;assisting the child&mdash;every child&mdash;to form its own
+acquaintance and to begin the planning of its future. In other words,
+the thought on the firing line is that the high school is an institution
+established by a community for community purposes&mdash;to take its young
+people&mdash;all of them&mdash;and guide them thru the difficult and transitional
+period<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> of adolescence, directing, inspiring, shaping, checking,
+developing for the largest manhood and womanhood possible and providing
+the community with efficient workmen in various lines.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Educational Psychologist</span></h4>
+
+<p>While there are many other activities, significant and interesting, that
+might well be considered in such a treatment as this, I shall close with
+a very brief mention of one more&mdash;the place and work of the educational
+psychologist in our modern system.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most significant of the newer movements in educational
+procedure is that termed <i>educational mesurements</i>, perhaps better
+called the <i>mesurement of intelligence</i>. About a generation ago it began
+to be observed that many children did not pass thru the grades with the
+regularity that was thought normal or desirable. Many were obliged to
+repeat grades&mdash;they did not "pass," to use the language of the schools.
+The more the matter was investigated, the more serious was it seen to
+be. Investigation has gone on until at last carefully gathered
+statistics tell us that almost, if not quite, one-half of all the
+children in the schools fail to progress thru the grades at the expected
+rate. For some reason, or for some combination of reasons, they are
+retarded from one to three years. And of the $400,000,000 annually spent
+to carry on the work of the schools it is estimated that from
+$40,000,000 to $50,000,000 go every year in attempts to teach these
+retarded ones what they have already tried but failed to learn. Here was
+a double loss, a financial one of large proportions and a human<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> one of
+much more serious import. Why the retardation? And what could be done to
+check it?</p>
+
+<p>Thoughtful consideration was given to the matter with the following
+revelation: it was seen that in educational procedure all matters of
+grading, promotion, even choice of subject matter where there was a
+choice, were being handled on the basis of results of tests of
+information&mdash;possession of knowledge facts&mdash;rather than of ability or
+intelligence. This might not be so bad if the knowledge sought in these
+tests were knowledge necessary to have in order to function adequately
+in the new or advanced environment. But usually no such relationship
+could be traced. It was but another illustration of no present meaning
+connected with the work of the school. A remedy was sought, and is being
+sought, in trying to substitute for the information test a test of
+intelligence. It is generally admitted that neither one is an adequate
+mesure of the other. A child may have a very high grade of intelligence
+and yet make a very poor showing in the ordinary schoolroom test for
+knowledge, not that he has been unable to learn such facts but merely
+that his interests and attention have not been thus focust. On the other
+hand, it is entirely possible for one of low-grade intelligence to
+receive a very creditable "mark" in a test for information since it is
+frequently a test of verbal memory, that "great simulator of
+intelligence," as Binet calls it.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most interesting of the books bearing upon this new
+educational movement is <i>The Measurement of Intelligence</i> by Professor
+Terman of Leland Stanford University. In the thoughts just exprest I
+have used material found in this book.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So, for a few years now, educational psychologists have been trying to
+work out a series of tests of intelligence, so that children may be
+located on the basis of their general intelligence, or ability to
+accomplish results. The results so far are very promising as tending to
+eliminate much of the loss mentioned above. And out on our firing lines
+the educational psychologist is being looked upon as a necessity in any
+system looking forward to real efficiency. It is thought that thru the
+saving he could effect in the two directions cited his regular
+employment would be a matter of economic foresight. A few years ago it
+was the school physician who was being fought for out in the front
+ranks. He is now a fixture in every up-to-date school system, and it is
+the psychologist for whom battle is now being waged. And it is only a
+question of time when his position will be secure and the line pushed
+forward for another attack.</p>
+
+<p>I have discust with you briefly some of the interesting points of view
+of the education of to-day. I have tried to place before you, first,
+what I think to be its dominant motive&mdash;social betterment, made
+effective thru discovery and development of the individual's tastes and
+dominant interests. To show how this program is becoming established and
+worked out, I have touched upon various new lines of activity in
+sympathy with and contributing to the general movement. Thus I discust
+briefly the great child-study movement having for its goal knowledge of
+the individual child as a basis for its educational treatment. Following
+this I spoke of physical education&mdash;its beginning in many places and the
+great need for extension. Another activity named was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> educational
+survey by means of which a community may have its own educational
+activity tested by impartial experts that its real efficiency may be
+known. Then followed brief discussion of the new movement for vocational
+guidance that is doing so much where being used to make the youth
+efficient and happy in his chosen and appropriate field of activity. I
+closed the discussion with a mention of a still newer movement having
+the same great ends in view&mdash;the employment of the educational
+psychologist. Firing-line activities all of these are, each vigorous and
+active in the great movement for educational betterment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2>
+
+
+<h3>THE RELATION OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY TO THE HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE STATE</h3>
+
+<blockquote><h4><i>An Address delivered before the Annual Conference of the North Dakota
+Superintendents and Principals at the University of North Dakota, May
+18, 1916</i></h4></blockquote>
+
+<p>This is a topic of great interest to us all&mdash;to you in the field and to
+us here on the campus. The work of the two institutions is so closely
+related, each depends so much upon the other, that participation in the
+activities of one bespeaks interest in the other. But before we can
+discuss at all intelligently the matter of relationship it will be
+necessary to look at the two separately&mdash;objectively, as it were&mdash;to
+note the function of each and its place in the educational system of the
+State. What is the university? What is the high school? And what is the
+work of each? are questions that must first be answered.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, of course, the two are but parts of a still larger
+whole, neither being an independent, self-sufficing entity. The larger
+whole is the educational system of the State, of which there is one
+other part equally important with the two named, even the elementary
+school. And all three parts forming the whole are creations of the
+State, devised, controlled, and maintained for a very definite
+purpose&mdash;namely, the welfare and happiness of our people.</p>
+
+<p>While it is true that the three parts are correlative, each
+supplementing the others and the system<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> incomplete without all three,
+it is also true that they are co-ordinate, no one of the three being,
+<i>per se</i>, in authority over any other, nor any one subordinate to
+another. Let me put before you, very briefly, that we may all be
+thinking together, the system in its outlines and then discuss each of
+its parts, trying to discover its function and its node of work. Then we
+shall pass to the matter of relationship.</p>
+
+<p>The system as a whole covers and tries to provide for the entire school
+life of the individual. The elementary period, or department, includes,
+in the main, as now organized, the work of the first eight years of the
+child's school life and ministers to it from the age of six to fourteen
+years. The secondary, beginning where the elementary closes, carries on
+the work for four years and is followed by the higher, the colleges and
+the professional schools&mdash;the university.</p>
+
+<p>It may clarify matters somewhat and thus give us a clearer perspective,
+if, before, entering upon the discussion, I account for the system as we
+have it to-day.</p>
+
+<p>Our Colonial forefathers in the Old Bay State, back in the 17th century,
+in providing to meet the situation that prest upon them, unconsciously
+laid the foundations for an educational system that expanded with their
+expansion and developed with their development. But before taking the
+initial steps they did not wait to analyze the entire situation and upon
+logical or philosophical grounds map it out in its entirety. They had no
+such thought. They needed ministers of the Gospel and, since a knowledge
+of Latin was the one sure gateway to that profession, they established a
+Latin school almost as soon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> as they had set their own dwelling places
+in order. This was in 1635, and Harvard College followed the very next
+year to complete the preparation. It was an afterthought and came eleven
+years later when they legislated for an elementary school. And even tho
+we can see, in what they had then produced, the fundamental factors of
+our present somewhat complicated system, the people who were responsible
+for its organization were only dimly conscious of the significance of it
+all. They builded better than they knew. The broad outlines can not be
+improved. Details, of course, are ever changing as local conditions
+change, but from the very nature of things, the elementary, the
+secondary, and the higher schools have remained with us, each for a
+quite definite purpose and all working together for a common end. Let us
+look, therefore, for a moment, at each of the three and see for what it
+stands and what it should attempt to do.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Elementary School</span></h4>
+
+<p>The fundamental purpose of the elementary school in a democracy is well
+stated in the first legislation on the continent touching elementary
+education, tho not mentioning the elementary school. It was in the
+Massachusetts colonies in 1642. The General Court passed an ordinance of
+which the following quotation gives the substance:</p>
+
+<p>"This Court, taking into consideration the great neglect of many parents
+and masters in the training of their children in labor and learning, and
+other employments which may be profitable to the commonwealth, do
+hereupon order and decree that in every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> town the chosen men appointed
+for managing the prudential affairs of the same shall henceforth stand
+charged with the care of the redress of this evil ... and for this end
+they, or the greater number of them, shall have the power to take
+account, from time to time, of all parents and masters, and of their
+children, concerning their calling and employment of their children,
+especially of their ability to read and understand the principles of
+religion and the capital laws of this country; and they shall have power
+... to put forth as apprentices the children of such as they shall find
+not to be able and fit to employ and to bring them up."</p>
+
+<p>Here was compulsory elementary education, that children might know how
+to read, might "understand the principles of religion and the capital
+laws of the State," and also that they might be taught to work. And why?
+For their own present and future welfare, and that they might be
+"profitable to the commonwealth," the document reads.</p>
+
+<p>It was for all the children of all the people. The same thought is with
+us to-day and, analyzed and stated in our present-day terminology, may
+be put about as follows:</p>
+
+<p>The elementary school is for all the people and aims to do for all three
+things: first, exercise a positive directive influence over the child's
+physical development; second, carry on, in a more systematic, scientific
+manner the training of the sense organs already begun by the home, thus
+opening up the life to the beauties of nature, art, and other forms of
+truth, and so providing for the development of the inner life of each in
+accordance with inherent leaning and capability; and, third, equip them
+with the tools<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> of knowledge and give such knowledge facts and develop
+such points of view as will enable each to become a self-directing,
+constructive, and contributing member of his democratic community.</p>
+
+<p>Attendance upon the elementary school should, in the interests of all as
+individuals and of the State as an organization, be compulsory.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The High School</span></h4>
+
+<p>The high school should likewise be for all, tho for a somewhat different
+purpose. While attendance should not be compulsory, the aim should be to
+make it universal. For a somewhat different purpose, I said; I should
+perhaps have said for an added purpose, because I would have the three
+ends of the elementary school kept constantly in view as fundamental
+bases. But, assuming that these things have been well done, the chief
+purpose of the high school should be to discover the child's latent
+powers, his dominant interests, and then, so far as these are wholesome,
+help him plan his education in their general direction. I might put it
+briefly thus: the chief function of the high school should be to help
+the child to become acquainted with himself and begin the planning of
+his future. Let us look at it carefully and see if it is not sound.</p>
+
+<p>At the conclusion of the elementary school, at the age of 14, the boys
+and girls are still children; they are developing, not developed, in
+either body or mind. They have not yet reached, in the main, the period
+of rapid acceleration of physical growth, intellectual expansion, or
+moral development; they are just reaching it; they are now in the early
+stages of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> that wonderful period of adolescence when the boy is being
+transformed into the man and the girl into the woman. They are neither
+children nor adults, yet manifesting the characteristics of both. They
+do not know themselves, nor does any one else know them intimately. How
+can they? They are not yet formed. They are in the process of formation.
+What will emerge as a result of the process, we know only in broad
+outlines&mdash;not at all in minute detail. So many factors are at work and
+there are possible so many combinations of factors that no one can tell;
+for it is during the period of adolescence that hereditary
+characteristics show themselves. Up to this time the child is a child of
+the race; during this period it becomes the offspring of its parents.
+And the factors of heredity&mdash;father, mother, ancestry&mdash;are mingling and
+clashing and combining with the factors of environment, and what the
+outcome is going to be, nobody knows, in specific cases, in advance.</p>
+
+<p>This is the period when the heart, the lungs, and the brain are being
+transformed, modified, whipt into shape for the performance of the
+duties of adulthood. It is a period when, in the intellectual realm,
+because of what is taking place in the physical, concepts are being
+clarified, relationships traced, ideas formed, things seen in the right
+perspective, and real reasoning begun. It is the period when, in the
+moral field, because of what is being accomplished in the physical and
+the intellectual, principles are being apprehended that will finally
+enable the individual to distinguish between right and wrong, to
+organize on principle rather than upon expediency his relationships with
+his fellows, and eventually to become a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> free moral agent,
+self-controlled and self-directed. It is the period, therefore, when
+ideals are being formed, habits fixt, character shaped, life plans
+matured, and professions chosen.</p>
+
+<p>And so, with such an individual and during such a period, what other
+function of the high school can begin to compare, either in importance
+or in appropriateness, with the one stated?</p>
+
+<p>It may be objected that I do not include in this function of the high
+school that which has been during a large portion of its history its
+foremost work&mdash;preparation for college. The seeming omission has not
+been accidental. I say the <i>seeming</i> omission because, even tho not
+specifically stated, it is there, for all who should be encouraged to
+prepare for college. But it has not been made prominent since, in my
+judgment, it is of minor importance. Note again the function as
+suggested&mdash;to help the child know himself, find out what he wants to do
+and what he can do best, and then begin getting ready for doing it well.
+If the specific form of future activity decided upon in a particular
+instance should call for the contribution of the college, then of course
+the plan mentioned would include appropriate preparation.</p>
+
+<p>But from what point of view should the high school be regarded and for
+whom should it be planned? Should it be for the relatively few who go
+beyond, or for the great majority who do not? It is a fair question and
+admits of but one answer. The high schools of the State must, of course,
+give adequate preparation for entrance into the State university. Some
+of them must&mdash;not necessarily every one. It must be the preparatory
+school, since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> both are State institutions and the only ones occupying
+the field. But it should do vastly more than that. Being of the people,
+by the people, and for the people, it should be so handled as to serve
+all, not merely a few, of the people. It is perfectly plain, therefore,
+where the emphasis should be placed.</p>
+
+<p>Please do not misunderstand me; I am not looking upon this from any
+narrow point of view, I am not thinking merely of getting these children
+ready for jobs&mdash;certainly not all of them. I am not advocating the
+transforming of our high schools into trade schools&mdash;not at all. What I
+am urging primarily is a different point of view&mdash;and so enlarging and
+modifying our high school activities and equipment that all our
+children, instead of only a few, may find there a congenial atmosphere
+and activities suited to their tastes. If their tastes lie in the
+direction of carpentering, or of plumbing, or of dress-making, well and
+good; let them be thus developed and prepared to go out into their
+community somewhat equipt for remunerative toil and for community
+service. Why not? Are they not as worthy as those who have tastes and
+ambitions or a more literary character and who, therefore, look forward
+to the chair of the teacher, the office of the lawyer, or the practise
+of a physician? And is not the community under as much obligation to the
+one as to the other? Some fear that such a program would lessen the
+number preparing for college, that work of this objective character
+would be so attractive that all would choose it. These fears are
+groundless. Children are not all built that way. At any rate it would
+not lessen the number who ought to go to college&mdash;who are adapted to
+that kind of work. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> would, of course, greatly increase the number
+attending high schools&mdash;holding those who now, because of lack of
+interest in the work offered, drop out of school entirely and thus swell
+the ranks of unskilled and unintelligent labor. And that is greatly
+worth while. My own feeling is, too, that out of the greatly increased
+attendance of the high school an even larger number than at present
+would find their way to the university, and that they would be better
+equipt in point of view and purpose than are many who enter under
+present conditions. This suggestion is made not to keep boys and girls
+out of the university, but to send them there with a purpose.</p>
+
+<p>But there is oftentimes a misapprehension as to these two possible
+programs for the high schools. Preparation for college and preparation
+for life are by no means antagonistic. Preparation for college is the
+only kind of preparation for life for him who goes to college. And for
+him who, during his high school course, plans to go to college, but who
+at its close, finds himself unable to do so, for economic or other
+reasons, it should still be the best possible preparation for life that
+he could have made, and it will be if, as I am urging, it has all the
+time been based upon his own nature and seeking his normal development
+in the direction of his dominant interests. And preparation for life
+should be the very best kind of preparation for college, for him who
+later changes his plans and goes to college as well as for him who does
+not, since the college itself should be regarded as merely completing
+preparation for life. But a great many, the majority, no doubt, will not
+go to college, should not go to college, or to put it better, perhaps,
+need not go to college. The activ<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>ities of life, psychical as well as
+manual, for which they are best adapted by native endowment, and in the
+performance of which they will, therefore, be happiest, and thru which
+they will, therefore, contribute most to the welfare of society, do not
+need for their satisfactory performance school preparation beyond the
+high school period. In other words, a great many boys and girls should
+not be urged to go to college. They should not if they do not have
+within them those characteristics of leadership which, developed, will
+make them leaders. The college graduate who, in later life, is a street
+car conductor, or a Pullman porter, or what-not, has largely wasted the
+time and money spent in college. And this is not because these
+occupations are not honorable, but because they do not call for that
+kind of preparation. And the kind of an individual who is at home as a
+street car conductor does not usually profit greatly by the work of the
+college. I will not put it as David Starr Jordan is said to have done,
+that "It does not pay to give a fifty-cent boy a five thousand dollar
+education." It is not a question of dollars and cents&mdash;rather one of
+fitness and of fitting. The so-called "fifty-cent boy" who may have been
+given the "five thousand dollar education" and because of its
+inappropriateness degenerated into a ten-cent man, might have been made
+into a thousand dollar man if he had been given the right kind of
+education. The boy who has the instincts of a blacksmith, who likes the
+shaping of iron and the shoeing of horses and the smell of the forge,
+will be a far happier and more useful member of society as a blacksmith
+than, made over by the college, as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> lawyer without clients, a
+physician without patients, or a teacher always hunting a new position.</p>
+
+<p>I have discust the high school, as you see, from the point of view of
+the developmental needs of the children of the community. The outcome
+would have been practically the same had I looked upon it from the
+standpoint of the industrial needs of the community. I fully believe
+that a high school should be to-day just what it was originally planned
+to be back there in the first half of the nineteenth century&mdash;a school
+higher than the elementary, controlled by the community, in co-operation
+with the educational leaders of the State, serving the needs of the
+community, fitting its boys and girls for service in the community and
+discriminating, if at all, in the favor of the group of boys and girls
+who are not going to college, since that group is much the larger. Since
+boys and girls are nearer to us than industrial needs, I have chosen to
+look at the problem from that angle.</p>
+
+<p>I am well aware that my point of view in this entire matter is not quite
+in accord with the present-day program. The American high school still
+has preparation for college as the one dominant object. Its curriculum
+is planned for that end. It is rated at first, second, or third class,
+depending upon the degree in which it meets college entrance
+requirements&mdash;not upon the degree in which it serves the community needs
+or develops the community's children.</p>
+
+<p>I realize fully that the change suggested would involve quite a decided
+rearrangement of the ordinary high school program. With the time at my
+disposal it will be impossible to discuss the matter in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> detail, but it
+should be touched upon briefly to get the matter of relationship clearly
+before us.</p>
+
+<p>The first change would be in the matter of organization: instead of
+having the elementary school, as now, covering eight years and closing
+with the child at the age of 14, it should cover but six years, sending
+the child to the high school at about the age of 12, at which time,
+approximately, begin those physical and psychological changes earlier
+spoken of, as belonging to adolescence. And that thought has taken root,
+as we all know, in the junior high school movement. Six years is long
+enough to do well all that the elementary school should be expected to
+do. It certainly is as long as children can be held interested in the
+kind of work thought necessary for the child, and as long as he can be
+happy in the atmosphere of the ordinary elementary school. It is long
+enough for the laying of foundations. It is time something else should
+be taken up.</p>
+
+<p>Planning to meet the needs of adolescents, we must take the adolescents
+as they are&mdash;many of them not primarily students of books, but
+individuals of ceaseless activity, physical as well as mental, vastly
+more interested in the doing of things than in the learning of lessons.
+And we must provide a means whereby they can learn to do all sorts of
+things that have to be done in the community. The subject matter, the
+methods of handling young life, the atmosphere, the activities, and the
+ends in view, should be so changed or modified, or supplemented as to be
+appropriate to the new and changing personalities to be affected by
+them. The details would differ with different communities but the
+principle is adaptable to all.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The State University</span></h4>
+
+<p>With the functions of these two departments thus clearly in mind, let us
+look at the next in order&mdash;the State university. Fortunately this
+discussion need not detain us long since there is a quite well
+recognized unanimity of opinion in regard to its work.</p>
+
+<p>While the State university does many things, and some of them well, and
+while it can be said to have many ends in view, its one all-inclusive
+function is to prepare leaders for society. It must prepare leaders in
+law, that justice may be done; leaders in medicine that health may be
+preserved; leaders in engineering that the State's resources may be
+developed; leaders in education that the youth of the State may be
+educated; leaders in research that the boundaries of knowledge may be
+pushed out&mdash;leaders all along the line that character may be formed,
+statesmanship developed, and the welfare of the people secured and
+preserved. And the preparation of all these is not, primarily, that
+those prepared may achieve fame or amass fortunes, but that society may
+be better served.</p>
+
+<p>We are all agreed, in the United States, that elementary education
+should be universal. Many are now taking the position that I have
+already advanced that secondary education should likewise reach and
+serve all. But all stop at that point. No one even suggests a college
+education for every boy and girl. And the reason is found in the above
+statement of the function of the institution, since not all are suited
+to leadership. It takes only the relatively few who stand out clearly in
+their high school experi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>ences as possessing the characteristics of
+leadership, and these few it develops, equips, locates.</p>
+
+<p>Coming a little closer to our subject&mdash;tho I think we have not been very
+far from it at any time&mdash;let us inquire as to this relationship along
+some more specific lines.</p>
+
+<p>It goes without saying that the relationship should be very cordial. The
+two institutions are creatures of the State, partners in the important
+work of educating the children of the State. Each has its own work to
+do, and neither has been given any authority over the other. At the same
+time each depends upon the other, neither being able to do its own work
+without the other's assistance. They should work hand in hand, each
+assisting the other in every possible way to realize its largest
+usefulness to the community and the State. In general, the high school
+should send its students to the university well equipt to do the lines
+of work for which they respectively apply. And the university, knowing
+in each case just what that work is to be, and the difficulties it
+presents, should be the judge as to the details of that equipment.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, the university should not make requirements for
+beginning its work that are beyond the capacity of the ordinary high
+school student. Nor should it definitely require or legislate against
+specific subjects upon which there is no general agreement among
+educational leaders. Something is wrong somewhere, in the matter of
+educational values, when some colleges absolutely prescribe for entrance
+certain subjects for which others will give no credit at all: for
+example, at the present time 91 colleges in the United States require at
+least one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> unit of natural science and 8 colleges will not accept a
+single unit; again, 13 require 2 units of natural science and 22 will
+not accept the two. Until we know a little better than we do at present
+what we are doing and why we are doing it, it might be well to move
+slowly in legislating for or against specific subjects. The university
+should keep in mind the fact that the high school has other duties to
+perform&mdash;and possibly more important ones&mdash;than preparing a few students
+for the university.</p>
+
+<p>I am glad to say that in this matter of entrance requirements the two
+institutions are gradually coming closer together. The university is
+coming to have greater respect for and more confidence in the high
+school and its work. Whereas in the earlier days all entrance work was
+rigidly prescribed, now, in nearly all of our higher institutions,
+several units are open to free choice from a list of accepted subjects.
+In a goodly number these units may be chosen from any subjects offered
+by an approved high school. And, too, there are five institutions of
+good standing that allow the entire 15 units to be thus chosen. Our own,
+as you doubtless know, is much more generous in this matter than the
+great majority. It gives a margin of 5 units to be thus selected. I
+think there are but 9 institutions in the whole country more liberal. As
+you know, too, in all our colleges save Engineering we specifically
+require but 4 units&mdash;3 in English and 1 in mathematics. From the others
+free election among groups is allowed. The movement here and elsewhere
+seems to be in the direction of requiring the completion of a full
+four-year high school course, with increasing flexibility as to specific
+subjects. And that seems wise.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It gives me pleasure, at this point, to say that the relationship
+between the University of North Dakota and the high schools of the State
+has ever been most cordial. I think there has never been a time when the
+two, tho differing at times in details, have not co-operated in the most
+frank and cordial manner to bring about the best good of both and to
+secure the best service to the State. Neither one has been selfish,
+trying to secure undue advantage over the other. Where domination of the
+university over the high school can be seen&mdash;as it most certainly can be
+seen&mdash;and even tho, as I have said, the work of the high school is what
+it ought not to be&mdash;mainly a preparation for the university&mdash;<i>this</i>
+University and <i>these</i> high schools are not at fault. It is not a local
+situation. It is nation-wide, and even nation-wide as it is, it does not
+include, consciously and directly, the State universities. The older
+colleges and universities did dominate, but the relation between the
+State university and the high school has ever been cordial. They have
+always recognized their partnership and have acted in accordance with
+it. But yet we have all been caught in the maelstrom, and it would be
+difficult for any one institution or any one State to get out of it. So
+no immediate or rapid change can be expected. Large bodies move slowly.
+The change will come, but it will come gradually thru claiming a little
+here and granting a little there.</p>
+
+<p>But before leaving this topic of entrance requirements, I desire to
+refer to one of its broad factors and touch, incidentally, upon the
+large matter of university attendance in general. In discussing the high
+school, and again the university, I have tried to make clear the fact
+that not all high school stu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>dents should be urged or expected to go on
+to the university. Remember that the high schools should be made to
+serve all the youth of the State but that the university's work is to
+take but the choice ones of these, or, better yet, the scholarly output
+of the high schools, and equip them for leadership in society, and the
+point is clear. It is a new problem but coming to be a very real one.
+Going to college is getting to be the fashion&mdash;almost a fad in some
+places. We all know that a goodly number of students, boys and girls
+alike, enter the universities, East and West, every year who have no
+characteristics of leadership, who are not fitted for real university
+work, either in academic equipment, maturity of judgment, point of view,
+or earnestness of purpose. Many of these young people are wholly worthy,
+well meaning, and ambitious in a weak way, but they have been misguided.
+They have listened to the attractive preaching of the popular but
+unintelligent gospel of college attendance for all and, caught by the
+glamor&mdash;the foot-ball, the track meet, the declamation contest, the
+fraternity pin, the Junior prom, etc.&mdash;have answered the hail of "All
+aboard for the University!" without knowing what university work really
+is or what it is for.</p>
+
+<p>The college and the university are also coming to be thought a
+convenient place for rich fathers to dump their incorrigible sons and
+marriageable daughters for a few years. And in some sections these rich
+fathers are increasing in numbers at an alarming rate. The presence of
+all such people (they can not be called students) in various classes is
+a drag, and the wheels of the institution are clogged. These people
+themselves are soon disillu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>sioned but ashamed to quit; the home people
+are dissatisfied with results; the university is unjustly blamed for not
+developing them into leaders&mdash;there is trouble all around. I am not
+speaking of our own institution alone; others are experiencing the same
+difficulty and are seeking a way out. Michigan University, for example,
+is now urging its alumni to discriminate carefully in sending students
+to their Alma Mater; it wants only those fitted by nature as well as by
+the preparatory school.</p>
+
+<p>As said above, this is coming to be a real problem and difficult of
+solution. What shall be the relationship of the university to the high
+school touching these various classes of its graduates? Should it
+receive them all? If not, where shall the line be drawn? And who shall
+draw it? Shall one factor of the entrance requirements be the
+recommendation of the high school principal or superintendent? Would it
+be well for the high school to have two distinct grades: one for local
+graduation and a higher for university entrance? That is done in some
+places. The entire matter is worthy of careful thought of both high
+school and university.</p>
+
+<p>With the discussion of one more point of contact, the preparation of
+teachers for the high schools, I am thru.</p>
+
+<p>If, as stated above, the great function of the State university is to
+provide leaders for society, then, in a broad way it is easy to answer
+the question as to what it should do for the preparation of teachers for
+high schools&mdash;it should prepare them. For where else is clear-headed,
+unselfish leadership more needed than in the high schools from the
+students of which are being selected, thru direction and competition,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
+the boys and girls who are to pass out to the colleges and then into the
+world as leaders? We all know that that is what happens. The man or
+woman, untouched by college or university, who yet occupies a
+responsible position of leadership is an exception to the rule. And
+where else than in a university can preparation for high school teaching
+be secured? But of what sort should be this preparation? The answer to
+the question in general has long been clear&mdash;it should be professional
+as well as academic in character. Mere acquaintance with the subject to
+be taught is no longer held adequate by people at all intelligent along
+educational lines. And during the progress of the movement that has
+demonstrated to us the need of professional preparation, there has been
+worked out also, along somewhat general lines, the details of this
+preparation. We are now, the country over, in approximate agreement that
+it should cover the History of Education, Philosophy of Education,
+Psychology, including the study of adolescence, and Methods of Teaching.
+Institutions differ somewhat in minor matters within these broad fields,
+but the development of the movement in the United States has resulted in
+approximately the above program&mdash;professional preparation for all
+teachers in the high school and that along the four lines suggested. But
+the movement has gone much farther than suggested by my statement. The
+results are found in something more authoritative and more permanent
+than tentative agreement among educational leaders, or even among
+educational institutions. The law-making bodies of the land have taken a
+part, and by legal enactment have required about what I have suggested.
+The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> State of North Dakota, for example, requires professional equipment
+of every teacher within its borders&mdash;no, not quite, it does not require
+it of its teachers in the special schools&mdash;the reform school, the
+schools for the deaf, blind, and the feeble minded&mdash;nor in its
+institutions of higher education, including the normal schools and the
+University. And in this North Dakota does not differ from other states
+of the Union. But it is strange, isn't it? that the state absolutely
+requires professional preparation of all its elementary and secondary
+teachers and yet does not require it of those whom it engages to equip
+them? Some of them have it, of course, and the majority of those who
+give the specifically professional courses, but the greater number of
+all teachers in the higher institutions are lacking in this respect.
+That doesn't mean that all university teachers are poor teachers. Many
+of them have learned how to teach in the crude and expensive school of
+experience. They have, at last, the professional equipment, but gained
+at high cost. Perhaps this lack of professional equipment accounts, in a
+mesure, for the admittedly poor character of much of the teaching in our
+colleges, normal schools, and universities.</p>
+
+<p>But to come back to the high school and the preparation of high school
+teachers. What does North Dakota require, and how does the University
+meet the requirement?</p>
+
+<p>All teachers in classified high schools, save special teachers of music
+and drawing, are required to hold certificates that presuppose
+proficiency in psychology, history of education, principles of
+education, school administration, and methods. Special teach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>ers in
+music and drawing are required to have covered in professional lines
+only psychology and pedagogy. But in cases where the certificate is
+granted on the basis of college work instead of on results of an
+examination, the law requires that the applicant shall have covered at
+least two year-courses, or sixteen semester hours, of professional work,
+and it recommends that this be distributed among the four great fields:
+history of education, principles of education, methods of teaching, and
+school management.</p>
+
+<p>The School of Education has been organized within the University for the
+specific purpose of preparing teachers for the high schools of the
+State. To graduate from the School of Education and thus receive the
+B.A. degree and the Bachelor's Diploma in teaching, which is accredited
+by law as a first-grade professional certificate, and also to be
+recommended for teaching specific subjects in the high-school, an
+applicant is required, first, to have specialized, academically, in the
+subject to be taught. The amount of work required for this specializing
+varies with the different subjects, but in most cases it is from 20 to
+24 semester hours. Recall what is meant by the work of a semester hour
+and you will easily see how broad our academic requirement is. It means
+that in addition to one's high school work he is required to carry the
+subject in practically daily recitation for from 2&frac12; to 3 years in the
+University. To some that may seem too much, but we feel that the first
+requirement for teaching in the high school should be a thoro grounding
+in the subjects to be taught.</p>
+
+<p>The academic matter thus disposed of, let us note<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> the professional. For
+this, in its various phases, we require 20 semester hours covering
+psychology, history of education, secondary education, philosophy of
+education, and methods of teaching academic subjects in which the
+student has been specializing and which he expects to teach. The course
+in methods includes observation and practise teaching of the same
+subjects in the Model High School under expert supervision. Many of our
+students voluntarily take more than 20 hours, but that is all that is
+required. We have cut down the professional requirement to the minimum
+so as to leave ample opportunity within the course for thoro mastery of
+the subjects to be taught, and also for general culture and the
+development of broad-mindedness, not being willing to send teachers into
+the high schools as narrow specialists.</p>
+
+<p>Were there time I should like to go more into detail in regard to these
+various requirements and try to show the contribution of each; but I
+must pass on to speak of another way by means of which the University
+enables students to meet the legal requirements for teaching in the high
+schools&mdash;thru the College of Arts. A student who graduates from the
+College of Arts and who has had, during the progress of this course, 16
+hours of Education is, upon application to the State Board of Education
+and the payment of a fee of $5, granted a first grade professional
+certificate. But this method of preparation is seen to be quite
+unsatisfactory when contrasted with the one just outlined. The Arts
+student is a relatively free lance, practically wholly so in the choice
+and arrangements of his professional work. In the School of Education
+the program is for all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> the professional subjects, save general
+psychology, to be taken after the beginning of the junior year and so
+immediately prior to the actual work of teaching, and too, when the
+student is relatively mature. But with the Arts student, it may all be
+taken much earlier, during relative immaturity and making a long period
+elapse between it and the work of teaching&mdash;quite long enough for the
+influence of the professional atmosphere, always valuable in such
+matters, to be wholly lost. The question of the professional work of the
+School of Education student is carefully planned to meet the ends in
+view. Each course has its definite contribution. The Arts student may,
+and often does, select courses that are not the most appropriate for
+high school teaching: for example, instead of a course in adolescence he
+may select one in child study which deals only with the child in the
+grades. Instead of a special methods course in the subjects he plans to
+teach in high school, he may select a course in methods in elementary
+subjects; and he may not take any course in secondary education nor have
+any practise teaching in the Model High School. The work may be&mdash;quite
+often is&mdash;ill-arranged and of little value as a professional preparation
+for high school teacher.</p>
+
+<p>I have dwelt upon this contrast because the University and its School of
+Education has suffered by the laxness of this second mode of
+preparation. Some of the people who thus go out are not good
+representative products of the institution's professional activity.</p>
+
+<p>Just a closing word as to this phase of the subject. You see what we are
+trying to do and how we are trying to do it. From the work of the young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+people whom we have sent you from time to time, how successful have we
+been? Our work as to time and content of courses and our general
+equipment are about the same as found in similar institutions in other
+states. We differ somewhat, of course, in personalities and in
+individual point of view but, taking everything together, we are doing
+the best we know how with the material that you send us as students. How
+does our product suit you? What criticism have you to make and what
+changes to suggest?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2>
+
+
+<h3>THE UNIVERSITY AND THE TEACHER</h3>
+
+<blockquote><h4><i>An Address delivered at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada,
+March 30, 1916, in the Exchange Lectureship existing between the
+University of Manitoba and the University of North Dakota. It was
+printed in the "American Schoolmaster," December, 1916</i></h4></blockquote>
+
+<p>Having accepted the kind invitation of the University of Manitoba to be
+one of the exchange lecturers from the University of North Dakota, for
+the current year, I made inquiry as to the nature of the different
+groups of people whom I should be expected to address. I did this so as
+to be able to select appropriate themes for discussion.</p>
+
+<p>For this gathering, therefore, semi-popular in character and made up, as
+I was told it would be, of the more thoughtful and intelligent people of
+the community, University, and city, I selected as my topic for
+discussion, "The University and the Teacher."</p>
+
+<p>To a group of educated men and women who have visions&mdash;people who are
+characteristically looking beyond the present and trying to plan for the
+development of a great democratic state and for the welfare of a free
+people, I know of no line of thought more appropriate or suggestive.
+This is true because in such a state and with such a people, the state
+or provincial university is the recognized leader of thought and action.
+And this is true since the one great function of such an institution is
+to take the choice youth and maidens from the various sections of the
+state and, thru the work of the class room day in and day out, week by
+week,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> year after year, give them knowledge, shape their opinions, mold
+their characters, and develop their minds, and then send them back into
+society as recognized leaders of the next generation.</p>
+
+<p>The topic is doubly suggestive when we stop to inquire as to what makes
+a university or any other institution of learning&mdash;what it is that
+really gives it its reputation, its character, its influence. What is
+it, anyway? Its towering brick walls? Its libraries and its
+laboratories? Its athletic prowess? Its beautiful campus? Why, no, of
+course not. Not any one of these nor all of them combined, complete and
+extended and excellent as they may be, or as useful as they all are,
+ever yet made or ever can make a great university. A real university, or
+any other institution of learning, is made up of the men and the women
+who form its student and its teaching bodies. The character of the
+institution, its very life blood, is drawn from them. Their points of
+view, their motives, their scholarships, their visions, their
+aspirations, make it what it is in every instance.</p>
+
+<p>You recall that ex-President Garfield's description of a university
+included only two factors as essential&mdash;the teacher and the student. The
+external equipment&mdash;buildings, libraries, laboratories&mdash;what not&mdash;is
+merely a tool in their hands. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not
+inveighing against these things; they are necessary. What I am insisting
+upon is that not <i>things</i> but <i>teachers</i> make a university. And so my
+topic, "The University and the Teacher," launches us at once into the
+midst of a great big thought. So big, indeed, it is, that it goes
+without saying that it cannot be adequately handled in the brief space
+of a single address. Only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> certain phases of the large topic can be
+touched upon at all, and they treated but briefly.</p>
+
+<p>But, after all, the function of a speaker, certainly upon such an
+occasion as this, is not merely to give information. It is not to speak
+with finality upon any subject. Is it not, rather, to direct the
+thoughts of the listeners along worthy lines? For any good that shall
+result from the meeting together of speaker and audience will be the
+direct outcome of their thoughts and not of his words. So, after having
+thus spoken briefly of the university as a whole&mdash;of its place in the
+state, its great influence and that of its teaching body&mdash;I invite you
+to think with me as I touch the subject here and there briefly
+discussing these three sub-topics: 1. The Kind of Teachers the
+University should Employ; 2. The University Teacher in His Classroom; 3.
+The University's Attitude Toward the Preparation of Teachers. Our first
+discussion, then, will be of</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Kind of Teachers the University Should Employ</span></h4>
+
+<p>A few moments ago I said that the one great function of a State
+University was to provide the State with a competent leadership. That
+involves, however, a subsidiary function of such great importance,
+especially as we regard the teaching force, that an added word is needed
+both to prevent misunderstanding and to make clear the line of
+discussion of this sub-topic. The development of a competent leadership
+<i>is</i> the all-embracing function of such an institution, but that can not
+be done save as the institution is, at the same time, thru some or all
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> its teachers, keeping fully abreast, or well in the lead, of the
+discovery of new knowledge and of new applications of knowledge in the
+various fields of human endeavor. And this is true because men can not
+be leaders in any field of action unless they possess the fullest and
+latest items of knowledge obtainable in that particular field, and again
+because real leadership can not be developed save thru the use, as
+educative material, of the fullest and latest.</p>
+
+<p>What kind of teachers should the university employ? Clearly, teachers
+who can do these two things: men of open and enquiring minds, men of
+imagination, men who are hungry and thirsty for knowledge, men of
+research&mdash;men of the laboratory and the library. But that is but one
+side; we must also have men of vision, men of great breadth of view, men
+of broad human sympathies, men who can take this knowledge, old and new,
+and with it, as educative material, help to shape opinions, and mold
+characters, and fashion destinies, thus transforming crude, unstable,
+and immature youth into men and women of virtue, and knowledge, and
+courage, and sanity, and poise, into whose trust, therefore, can be
+placed the guiding of a great, free, developing people&mdash;men of the
+classroom, teachers and inspirers of youth.</p>
+
+<p>The question may well be asked if I mean two <i>groups</i> of teachers, a
+<i>research</i> group and a <i>teaching</i> group, neither one acting within the
+field of the other. Not necessarily and certainly not absolutely. To
+quite an extent the two functions should overlap since each supplements
+the other. The man of research should also be a teacher in order both to
+keep his human sympathies alive and as a spur to still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> further search.
+And every teacher should be, to some extent, a man of research so that
+thru his own joy in discovery he will be able to kindle a like fire in
+the minds of others, thus keeping the spirit of discovery alive and
+active in the land, and also that he may invite his students to drink at
+a living stream instead of a stagnant pool. The teacher who is not also
+a student, and continually working at it, is usually but a poor teacher.
+But while all this is true, it is probably true also that no person is
+equally successful in both fields. Some men are primarily teachers&mdash;are
+in their element in the classroom engaged with the problems of the
+student but only indifferently successful in the laboratory, while
+others, at home in the laboratory, are somewhat out of place and
+ill-at-ease in the classroom. I shall not attempt to say which of the
+two functions is the more important or the more useful. Both are needed
+and, as said before, both are needed, to some extent, in each. But, in
+the main, where characteristics are marked, the shoemaker should be
+allowed to stick to his last. It is a very wise procedure that is more
+and more being followed at the present time, in American universities,
+of recognizing such differences and making provision for research
+professorships that include no teaching duties whatever. The percentage
+of these should be small, of course.</p>
+
+<p>What kind of a teacher should the university employ, then? The teacher
+who is eager to push the boundaries of human knowledge a little beyond
+the point yet reached and who also greatly desires to take knowledge as
+an instrument and with it develop boys and girls and equip them for
+leadership in the great world of action. So far as possible the two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+kinds of service should be performed by the same person, but yet that is
+immaterial&mdash;the material thing being that both kinds be performed.</p>
+
+<p>What kind of teachers should the university employ? Why, teachers who
+not only desire to do these two things, but who also know how to do
+them. If one is to do research work, he should know how to do it,
+economically and efficiently. His preparation should have included a
+certain amount of reflection upon the reasons for research and of
+training in the manner of conducting the same. Likewise, if he is to be
+a teacher, he should be well grounded in the theory and art of teaching.
+If he is going to shape opinions, mold character, give points of view,
+develop human minds, then it goes without saying that his preparation
+should have included a very thoro study of the human mind in its various
+relationships, activities, and stages of development. If a teacher is
+expected to equip young men and women for the duties of life as leaders
+in the great social, economic, and political activities, he must also
+possess great stores of knowledge, and likewise know how to impart that
+knowledge so that it will become equally the possession of others.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The University Teacher in His Classroom</span></h4>
+
+<p>The second of my three topics, "The University Teacher in His
+Classroom," is an even more intimate one than the one just treated. It
+is so intimate that perhaps discretion would be the better part of
+valor, but since I am at a considerable distance from the people and the
+institutions I am discussing, I feel that I can proceed with comparative
+safety.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There is abroad at the present time considerable hostile criticism of
+our higher education. Our graduates, it is said, are not able "to
+connect up"; "it takes them two or three years after they get out to
+find themselves"; "they first have to get rid of a lot of theoretical
+notions that have been given them before they can learn the practical
+things of life." President Foster of Reed College, Oregon, puts it thus:
+"It is possible to graduate from almost any college without an idea in
+one's head." Professor Wenley, Head of the Department of Philosophy in
+Michigan University, had about the same thought when he gave me his
+original definition of an American college as "A so-called institution
+of higher learning whose chief accomplishment is the inoculation of
+innocent youth against education." Or shall we put it in the words of
+our friend Mr. Dooley: "Nowadays when a lad goes to college, the
+prisidint takes him into a Turkish room, gives him a cigareet an' says:
+Me dear boy, what special branch iv larnin wud ye like to have studied
+f'r ye be our compitint perfessors?"</p>
+
+<p>Such are some of the caustic remarks that we occasionally hear. Of
+course the situation is always exaggerated in such criticisms; but, as
+the old saw puts it, "Where there's so much smoke, there must be some
+fire." Where does the trouble lie? All sorts of guesses have been made,
+and some careful investigations entered into in an effort to discover
+the cause. The outcome of all such consideration, so far as I am able to
+learn, throws the responsibility upon the teacher rather than upon the
+institution as a whole, and upon his teaching ability rather than upon
+any lack of knowledge. We cannot teach, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> is said. In spite of the
+knowledge that we possess, we do not know how to present that knowledge
+so that another can gain it. Nicholas Murray Butler, the brainy
+President of Columbia University, says, "The teaching of many very
+famous men [in colleges and universities] is distinctly poor; sometimes
+it is even worse."</p>
+
+<p>These are rather interesting statements and worthy of thought. What is
+meant by teaching, anyway? Teaching involves a double process and two
+persons, both active upon the same matter. Both must be successful for
+either to be. Teaching is causing to learn, and when there is no
+learning, there can have been no teaching. "Learning is not merely the
+correlative idea of teaching, but is one of its constituent elements."
+No matter how much an instructor may know, no matter how much he may say
+nor what he may do, if he doesn't cause the student to put forth those
+mental activities that result in learning, he doesn't teach. And it is
+claimed that, in many cases, our university instructors do not know how
+to do this. He knows but he does not know how to cause another to know,
+is a common criticism.</p>
+
+<p>I suppose it is true, tho loyalty makes me rather dislike to admit it,
+that with us the poorest teaching in our entire educational system is
+done in colleges and universities. My own observation both as a student
+and as a teacher all along the line leads me to say that, in the main,
+our best teaching is done in the elementary grades, second best in the
+high schools, and poorest in the higher institutions. Another puts it
+thus: "We have excellent teaching in the lower primary grades and in the
+graduate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> schools, but between these two extremes, we can call it
+teaching only by courtesy." Another, the president of a State
+University, is reported to have said, "I have resolved never again to
+turn my undergraduates over to young Ph. D.'s. It takes five years to
+make a commonsense teacher of a raw doctor fresh from three years of
+graduate work."</p>
+
+<p>If these statements are true, and I am afraid that there's much of truth
+in them, the situation is rather serious. Still, it isn't at all
+surprising when one takes the whole matter into consideration. For
+relatively few university instructors have given any attention to the
+matter of teaching itself. They have studied the subject matter with
+which they are to deal. They have become proficient so far as knowledge
+is concerned. No fault can be found with them touching the matter of
+erudition. But they have not given any reflective thought to the art of
+teaching. They have not made a study of the human mind in its
+development in order to know how it receives knowledge as mental
+nourishment, and to understand the assimilative process; they have not
+given themselves to a systematic and scientific study of human life so
+as to know how to handle it in its various moods and characteristics.
+How differently these good people would have planned if they had
+expected to practise Law, or Medicine or to enter the Ministry! In every
+such case they would have made professional preparation for their work.
+Isn't it strange that any one should think that this profession&mdash;the
+most important&mdash;could be practised with success in its higher realms, by
+people who have never given its practise one moment's attention?
+President Butler, in giving reasons for poor college<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> teaching, says,
+"Too few instructors are interested in education."</p>
+
+<p>I am reminded of Socrates' shrewd parody of a supposed speech of
+Euthydemus who, totally ignorant of statecraft, desired election to an
+important position in the government of the city of Athens. It is
+suggestive here: "I, O man of Athens, have never learned the medical art
+from any one, nor have been desirous that any physician should be my
+instructor; for I have constantly been on my guard, not only against
+learning anything of the art from any one, but even against appearing to
+have learned anything; nevertheless confer on me this medical
+appointment, for I will endeavor to learn by making experiments upon
+you." Comment is unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p>There are three kinds of knowledge that every teacher should possess,
+that every successful teacher does possess: first, knowledge of the
+subject matter with which he deals; second, knowledge of the human mind
+which he is trying to stimulate; and third, knowledge of the way to
+bring these two together in a helpful manner. Of the three, I am afraid
+that university instructors have, in the main, but the first. At any
+rate, all they know of the other two is of an empirical character and
+what they have picked up incidentally. There are exceptions, to be sure.
+Every worthy institution has them, striking exceptions, too, some of
+them are. A few of our older men have become good teachers thru practise
+and experiment, and an occasional young man now comes with professional
+preparation. But yet, as in so many other matters, the exceptions merely
+prove the rule.</p>
+
+<p>Thus equipt, or rather with this serious lack of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> equipment, the young
+university instructor begins his work. If he is, to use the words of the
+university president just quoted, "a raw doctor fresh from three years
+of graduate work," he probably begins by copying the methods of
+procedure of his own recent instructors. He tries to set these immature
+boys and girls at research problems and, in classroom, tries to impart
+information by the lecture method.</p>
+
+<p>How well I remember such an instance in my own freshman days. I fell
+into the hands of such an instructor in Greek. We were reading that most
+charming of Greek stories&mdash;<i>The Odyssey</i>. Textual criticism was this
+man's hobby, and we were put to work trying to compare texts, to delve
+into the intricacies of form and structure&mdash;trying to improve upon
+Homer! Such information as we could not find he gave us, in the formal
+lecture, day after day. But when we got it, we did not want it because
+we did not know what to do with it. Now, I am not quarreling with
+textual criticism. It would have been all right for that young doctor
+(he was younger than I was at that time) to deal with the facts of
+textual criticism, with some people, at some time, but it was all wrong
+for him to attempt to give those facts to us in our freshman year in the
+College of Arts. They were not adapted to our intellectual needs. They
+did not fit into our mental stomachs. We could not keep them down, or
+in, or something. But the pathetic fact was that the instructor did not
+know that they did not fit. I, being older than many in the class and
+thus appreciating better the barrenness of the Greek pasture in which we
+were trying to graze, finally managed, by a little skilful maneuver, to
+escape and to join another group that happened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> to be in the care of a
+real teacher who knew not only Homer but, as well, freshman boys and
+girls, the reasons for teaching Homer to freshmen boys and girls, and
+how to do it. He was acquainted with both the science and the art of
+teaching. Oh, how green was the pasture here, and how abundant and how
+nutritious the food! In all my university experience I recall nothing
+more delightful.</p>
+
+<p>But this is ancient history? Yes, I know it is. But yet, I am sorry to
+say, history repeats itself. Those three great mistakes that that young
+doctor made in my Greek class some twenty or more years ago are being
+made this very year by young doctors and by old doctors and by many who
+are not doctors at all, in one subject or another, in well-nigh every
+college or university in the United States. Our instructors do not know
+well enough how to adapt knowledge to human needs; they have the
+erroneous notion that the chief function of an educational institution
+is to impart information; and, too, many of them are afflicted with the
+lecture craze.</p>
+
+<p>Touching these three mistakes, let me say, briefly: first, as to the
+adaptation of knowledge: the word <i>education</i> is derived from the Latin
+<i>educo</i>, <i>educare</i>, and means <i>to nourish</i>, and nourishment, physical,
+mental, or moral, is never secured save as the food is adapted to the
+organism. And just as much care as our scientific dietitians give to our
+dining-room service, our university instructors should give to the
+mental and moral pabulum that they serve to their students, especially
+the lower classes if not the entire body of undergraduates. They should
+know this knowledge as mental nourishment; they should know the
+condition of the mind, and they should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> know how to select and prepare
+this food for digestion and assimilation.</p>
+
+<p>As to the second mistake, the undue emphasis upon the mere imparting of
+knowledge: let me quote a few words from President Wilson, uttered when
+President of Princeton University: "We should remember," said he, "that
+information is not education. The greater part of the work that we are
+doing in our colleges to-day is to impart information." I am afraid that
+he is correct. I am very much afraid that that is mainly what we are
+doing. But it is wrong. The greater part of our work should not be to
+impart knowledge. It should be to assist in interpreting the knowledge
+that the student himself gets&mdash;to fit it to his own life needs and to
+help him learn how to study and how to think for himself. In other
+words, this information in which we deal should not be an end in itself,
+but a <i>means</i> to an end. And that end should be development, mental
+power, point of view&mdash;character. To be sure, we must deal in knowledge
+facts (do not, I beg of you, misunderstand me) but not for the mere
+possession of those facts.</p>
+
+<p>And lastly the lecture craze, under the domination of which otherwise
+sensible people get into the habit of supplying information to students
+who already know how to read instead of telling them where to find it
+and then discussing it with them. How common it is! But why? Simply
+because it is easy. How much easier it is than to conduct a real live
+recitation in which there is the give and take, the action and reaction,
+of eager vigorous young minds, where the instructor is the agency of
+interpretation and the inspiration! To conduct such an exercise<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> with
+from thirty to fifty bright college students and keep them on the alert
+is no lazy man's task. It requires brains and skill, whereas anybody can
+do the other thing! President Foster is correct in saying, "There should
+be fewer lectures ... the easiest of all methods of instruction."</p>
+
+<p>Again let me give an illustration drawn from my own sad experience, just
+to show what at least some of this lecturing is. This, you see, is
+getting to be a confession as well as an exposition. I was taking a
+course in the History of Philosophy. It was given by a man well known in
+the educational world, then and now. He was well thought of both as a
+teacher and a man. He read his lectures from manuscript. We were
+supposed to put into our note books every golden word that dropt from
+his inspired lips. And the most of us tried to do so, and in the effort
+got down some that were not golden. I did as the rest did till one day,
+fresh from the lecture, I went into the library and chanced upon a copy
+of Burt's "History of Greek Philosophy." I opened it and shortly found
+the very discussion, and some of the very sentences, word for word, that
+I had just copied with so much labor into my note book. And they were in
+print, too, so much easier to read than my note book writing! I at once
+sent to the publisher for a copy of the book and took no more notes in
+that course. Nor did I take any more courses under that instructor.</p>
+
+<p>And so it was in a course in history&mdash;only there the kind old professor
+was na&iuml;ve enough to tell us the name of the book from which he got his
+lectures. And again, let me say that history repeats itself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> Am I wrong
+in my criticism? Let me quote from one whose words carry more weight
+than do mine&mdash;Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia
+University&mdash;(Ed. Rev. Apr., 1915, p. 399): "To use&mdash;or rather to
+abuse&mdash;the academic lecture by making it a medium for the conveyance of
+mere information is to shut one's eyes to the fact that the art of
+printing has been discovered. The proper use of the lecture is the
+critical interpretation by the older scholar of the information which
+the younger has gained for himself. Its object is to inspire and to
+guide and by no means merely to inform."</p>
+
+<p>I do not mean to condemn the lecture method absolutely. There are
+certain lines of work in which it is quite necessary. This is true in
+some advanced courses, especially in the sciences, where an instructor
+is doing both lines of university work&mdash;carrying on research and giving
+his advanced students the results of his findings. Of course these have
+not yet been embodied in a text or other printed form and cannot be thus
+given.</p>
+
+<p>And this same justification can be urged for some of the work in our
+professional schools where both the material used and the end sought are
+different. In still another line of work the lecture is permissible&mdash;if
+it deal with a relatively new subject or with new phases of an old
+subject not yet covered by a satisfactory text. But here it need not
+continue long because some enterprising instructor will soon satisfy the
+need. The formal lecture has therefore no place in the earlier and but
+slight place in the later years of undergraduate work. Its place should
+be taken by the text and reference book and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> class discussion. One
+of the finest accomplishments that we can help our students to gain is
+the ability to master the book.</p>
+
+<p>Then, in conclusion, touching the matter of teaching, fidelity to truth
+compels me to admit, tho reluctantly, that much of it is very poor. It
+satisfies the external demands and that is about all. It is not of a
+character to kindle enthusiasm nor to develop high ideals of
+scholarship. Much of it, I said, not all. Every institution has some
+good teachers, some very excellent ones, but no institution is
+overstockt with species of that genus. The great majority of our
+undergraduates are poorly taught. That examination mortality is not
+greater than it is is due to two fine qualities, one in the student body
+and the other in the instructors. It speaks eloquently of the initiative
+of the students, and demonstrates that instructors can be fair even if
+they can't teach. Many times we know that we are to blame for the poor
+work of the student and, knowing it, will not visit the penalty upon the
+unoffending head.</p>
+
+<p>The reason for this lamentable situation can be traced to two practises:
+In the first place, up to the present time, as said before, very few
+prospective college teachers have made any professional preparation for
+their work as teachers. In the second place, it is the almost universal
+custom to place the freshmen and sophomores, by all means our largest
+classes and the ones in greatest need of skilled teachers, in the hands
+of young instructors who have not yet learned how to teach. Relief will
+come thru two changes; first, when either the State or the governing
+board of the college shall demand professional preparation of every one
+allowed to occupy a teach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>ing position, just as we do now for positions
+in the elementary and secondary schools. And if any one should raise a
+question as to the value of such preparation, my only but all-sufficient
+answer is to point to the universally recognized improvement in the
+character of teaching in those parts of our educational system since
+that requirement was put into effect. And the second needed change is
+this&mdash;for Presidents seeking teachers to ask candidates two questions
+instead of one as heretofore: first, of course, the question should be,
+"What do you know?" Satisfied as to that, let the second come clear and
+strong, "Can you teach?" And until an affirmative answer is
+demonstrated, let the appointment be withheld. It might be salutary,
+too, in dealing with the forces on the ground, to follow President
+Foster's suggestion given in these words: "It would be well if more
+teachers were dismissed because they fail to stimulate thinking of any
+kind."</p>
+
+<p>I come now to the last of my three sub-topics,</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The University's Attitude Toward the Preparation of Teachers for the
+Schools of the State</span></h4>
+
+<p>Fortunately, its discussion need not detain us long. What should be that
+attitude? If you will analyze the relationship existing between the
+teachers of a state and that state's progress and development, and then
+recall my brief discussion of the function of a State University&mdash;to
+provide leaders&mdash;the answer to the question is at once apparent. The
+logic of the situation is clear. For what other body of people in a
+state are so clearly the state's leaders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> as the teachers? Always
+intellectually and, for the most part, in these days, morally and
+physically, the teachers in our schools mold the coming generation and
+guide it into paths of progress and accomplishment. This is true of the
+teachers of a state more than of any other group of people within its
+borders not excepting the ministry.</p>
+
+<p>We have, in the States, a system of State Normal Schools maintained for
+the purpose of preparing teachers for the elementary schools. Each state
+of the Union has from one to a dozen of these institutions. North Dakota
+has three. The course of study covers from one to two years' work in
+advance of a four-year high school course. In the East it is usually two
+years, in the West, one. This work is partly academic and partly
+professional and is always supposed to include a certain amount of
+practise teaching under expert supervision.</p>
+
+<p>The elementary teachers thus provided for by the normal schools, there
+are left for preparation at the university teachers for the secondary
+schools, for city superintendencies, special teachers of various kinds,
+and teachers for college and university positions. And this latter is a
+work, it seems to me, the State University must perform. They are
+already doing this, to quite an extent, for the high schools; a few are
+doing it well and the rest are working in that direction. A few, too,
+are taking up the more advanced phases of the work and are competent to
+prepare for college teaching. The movement is strongly on.</p>
+
+<p>It may not be uninteresting for me to trace this movement briefly as it
+has developed with us. For it has been a development. Our system of
+education<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> was not planned at the beginning from a careful theoretical
+study of our present or prospective educational needs, but has grown up,
+little by little, step by step, to meet and satisfy from time to time
+present and pressing needs.</p>
+
+<p>The movement for the professional preparation of teachers began in the
+first quarter of the nineteenth century in Massachusetts. That state,
+with others, was suffering from an educational declension that had been
+going on for a long time. Matters were getting serious. Finally, a few
+clear-headed, far-seeing leaders made an analysis of the situation
+hoping to bring about a betterment of conditions. They quickly put the
+finger upon the sore spot&mdash;the poor quality of teaching being done in
+the schools. A remedy was sought. It was found in the European Normal
+Schools, an institution devoted to the professional preparation of
+teachers for the elementary schools. An agitation was begun for its
+establishment on this side of the water. After many weary years the
+efforts were crowned with success when, in 1838, the State Legislature
+of Massachusetts planned for the equipment of three. Thru their work the
+character of the teaching in the elementary schools was at once
+improved. Other states followed the example and this new institution
+soon began its westward sweep, following the development of the country.</p>
+
+<p>This early work, however, had in mind the improvement of teachers for
+only the common schools, rural and urban. Indeed, at that time no one
+even suggested that any other teacher needs special preparation. But
+when, after the Civil War, the high schools began to develop so
+markedly, the problem of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> teachers became a pressing one. Since teachers
+with normal school preparation were everywhere being recognized as
+superior to all others in the elementary schools, it was the most
+natural thing in the world for those in charge of the new high schools
+to demand professional preparation of their teachers.</p>
+
+<p>But where could it be obtained? Not in the normal schools, because it
+should be of different character than that planned for elementary
+teachers. To make a long story short, the universities and colleges took
+the matter up and provided the professional work thought necessary by
+adding Departments of Education. Michigan University was the first to
+act when, in 1878, the Regents established a chair called the "Theory
+and Art of Teaching." The example was followed by others, and, tho
+limited in scope and experimental in character, it was at once seen to
+be justified in the improved character of high school teaching.
+Improvements were sure to follow. The next step was the expansion of the
+department of education into the Teachers College, or School of
+Education, as it is getting to be called, which is now recognized as a
+professional school of equal rank with the School of Law or the School
+of Medicine. An essential element of its equipment is a high school for
+observation and practise under expert supervision, just as an elementary
+practise school is an essential part of a well equipt normal school.</p>
+
+<p>New York University, in the city of New York, was the first to move in
+this direction. This was in 1890. For fifteen years progress was slow
+and halting and confined to private institutions. But it was justifying
+itself. In 1905 the University of North Dakota effected the larger
+organization, the first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> of the State universities to do so. During the
+last five or six years, however, several others have fallen into line
+including such institutions as Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The
+institutions that have not yet effected this change and thus organized
+schools of education still maintain their Departments of Education and
+thus try to satisfy the need. The University of North Dakota was also
+one of the very first to make use of the high school for observation and
+practise, and in all lines of development has been recognized as
+occupying an advanced position. Other institutions, older and larger,
+contemplating a change, have frequently advised with us. If this mention
+seems borne of institutional pride, I trust that it will also be
+regarded as pardonable.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the movement&mdash;not the result of a theoretical formulation, but a
+situation forced upon us by the logic of events. It is as logical,
+however, and as irrevocable, as tho produced by deductive reasoning. An
+explanation of a statement made earlier in the paper as to the relative
+teaching abilities of elementary, secondary, and higher teachers, can
+now be seen in the periods of development of the corresponding
+professional schools.</p>
+
+<p>What should be the attitude of the university toward the education of
+teachers? Let us follow the development a little farther.</p>
+
+<p>During the last few years another very interesting phase of the movement
+has begun to show itself. You will recall that as soon as professional
+preparation demonstrated its usefulness in improving the character of
+elementary teaching, it was demanded for teachers in the secondary
+schools. And now that it has proved efficient in that field, it is
+being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> demanded in the field next higher&mdash;the colleges and universities.
+And this demand, like the others, is no longer confined to professional
+schools or educational journals&mdash;to the people from the inside. It is
+being taken up by laymen, even the daily papers, and prest with some
+vigor. To give the point of view, I give a single quotation from an
+editorial in a recent issue of the Minneapolis <i>Journal</i>: "None of our
+graduate schools require any course in education or teaching methods, or
+any previous experience in teaching work for a Ph. D. degree, except, of
+course, in the field of education, where theory is cultivated, if not
+practised. May it not be found that the best method to increase the
+teaching efficiency of the undergraduate instruction in colleges and
+universities will be to provide every graduate student with definite and
+detailed instruction in teaching methods for his chosen subject?"</p>
+
+<p>This demand, thus clearly voiced, and coming from many sides, will
+continue until granted as has been the case with each of the others. And
+as a result the teaching of our undergraduates will be improved. To do
+this added work, however, will not require another institution. The
+present universities, thru their Schools of Education, amplified and
+strengthened, will supply the need.</p>
+
+<p>Just as the University, thru its Medical School, provides its community
+with skilled physicians and public health officers to secure and
+preserve public health, and thru its Law School performs a similar
+service in sending out men who become competent lawyers and judges to
+secure the administration of justice, and thru its College of
+Engineering, its engineers to safeguard property, public welfare and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+life itself, so, thru its School of Education, it must provide its
+teachers for all these and other advanced fields. And all this service
+must be performed not that individual citizens may be better prepared to
+make a living, amass a fortune, or achieve fame, but that the community
+may be served.</p>
+
+<p>So the School of Education, now given equal rank with other professional
+schools of the university, must ere long be recognized, by virtue of the
+work thus forced upon it, as, in a very definite way, superior to them
+all in opportunity and responsibility.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2>
+
+
+<h3>THE EYE PROBLEM IN THE SCHOOLS</h3>
+
+<blockquote><h4><i>A Paper read before the 1914 meeting of the North Dakota State
+Association of Opticians. It was printed in the May, 1914, issue of "The
+Optical Journal and Review," also in the same issue of "The Keystone"</i>
+</h4></blockquote>
+<p>I do not know how fully people appreciate the importance of the eye as
+an agent, or factor, of human cultivation. Judging from the amount of
+work it is being made to do in our schools and in nearly all our
+processes of education, we might perhaps be led to feel that its
+importance is fully appreciated, indeed, that it is being looked upon as
+the sole factor, or agent. But, on the other hand, this very excessive
+use, especially in the early school years, leading, as it does in such a
+large percentage of cases, to serious impairment of vision, almost tells
+us that its great value is not appreciated. If it were, should we be
+likely to abuse it as we do in these early years and thus render it
+incapable of performing its larger, fuller use later on? The attitude
+seems rather to be that its conservation is not thought to be necessary.
+That, however, springs from ignorance rather than from studied
+disregard.</p>
+
+<p>But let us look for a moment at the processes of education and note
+where the eye comes in. If there is anything upon which leading
+educators are now practically agreed, or upon which they tend to agree,
+it is that education as a process is a matter of development rather than
+the learning of knowledge facts. Now, that development is analogous to
+the growth and development of the plant, that is,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> it is brought about
+thru nourishment. In the plant this nourishment is taken in thru the
+roots, becomes absorbed and assimilated and thus ministers to growth and
+development. In the child, looking at it from the physical point of view
+and having in mind psychical, not physical, nourishment, the sense
+organs serve this purpose. Did you ever stop to think that the sense
+organs form the only connecting link between the great outside world,
+which serves as raw material for the nourishment, and the inner life of
+the child, the development of which we are seeking? Did you ever stop to
+think that these sense organs, the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue,
+and the surface of the body as the organ of touch, form the only
+possible avenue of approach to that inner life? Cut off, or close up,
+these avenues and no development of this inner life would be possible in
+the slightest degree. Thus considered, these same sense organs, simple
+as they seem to be, leap into importance that almost staggers one's
+thought. The most priceless possession of any child, I often say to my
+classes in education, is made up of their eyes, their ears, their noses,
+their tongues, and their finger tips&mdash;simply because thru them is poured
+the nourishment that sustains psychic life and ministers to the
+development of the same.</p>
+
+<p>Of these five sense organs, the eye is, par excellence, the one of
+value. More psychic nourishment is poured into the laboratory of psychic
+life thru this one channel alone than thru all others combined. Indeed,
+one of our most eminent scientific psychologists after making most
+careful investigation of the matter, estimates that the eye's
+contribution is about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> 74% as against the other 26% that comes thru all
+the other sources. If this relative value of the eye be even
+approximately correct, how eminently important it is that it be studied
+with close scientific accuracy, that it be guarded with the utmost and
+intelligent jealousy, and that it be cared for with the most scrupulous
+fidelity!</p>
+
+<p>But what is the situation? The Optician and the Oculist have made the
+most careful, scientific study of the eye. They know it thoroly, both
+its possibilities of service and its limitations. And they have told the
+rest of us all about it. But let us see how intelligent we are in the
+use of the knowledge they have given us. They tell us that the eye of
+the child is undeveloped and that in the undeveloped state it should not
+be much used on small or close work. In other words, the child's eye is
+far-sighted. But at the age of six years we place the child in the
+school room, put a book in its hands, and compel its use, eyes or no
+eyes, as long as the child remains in any institution of learning. Why,
+gentlemen, we have gone mad on this book proposition. We act as tho we
+think that it is only in the book that knowledge can be found. We act as
+tho we think that it is only thru the printed page that psychic
+nourishment can reach the inner life of the child, whereas, as a matter
+of fact, both the knowledge and the nourishment that are appropriate to
+the child in all its early years are better obtained thru direct contact
+with the great outside world itself and by direct communication from the
+lips of the teacher. If this fact were fully appreciated and acted upon,
+we should, in two very definite ways,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> conserve this very important
+organ; for we should use the eyes upon objects at a greater distance
+thus preventing unnecessary strain, and allow other organs of sense to
+share with the eye in the work of gathering information and of
+appropriating mental nourishment.</p>
+
+<p>Please do not misunderstand me. I am not underestimating the place and
+value of books, nor decrying their use. They are the storehouse of
+knowledge and the source of inspiration, but not for children. Our young
+children in school and out of school read too much&mdash;are too much tied to
+the book. Thru this prolonged and close use of the eye upon small and
+nearby objects for which, in its undeveloped condition, it is not
+fitted, the organ is permanently weakened and rendered incapable of its
+legitimate use later in life when the book is a necessity. And again,
+this excessive use of the eye causes an atrophy of the other organs that
+is really serious.</p>
+
+<p>Nor is this all. The Optician and the Oculist have studied the matter so
+carefully and know the eye so thoroly in its various stages of
+development that they know exactly the size of type that children of
+various ages should use. And they know, too, the kind of paper that
+should be used in books for children. And they have told us all about
+it. But we systematically disregard all this information gained with
+such painstaking care, and instead of using the large clear type and the
+unglazed, soft tinted paper recommended, we persist in tolerating the
+unsatisfactory merely because it is a little cheaper. Penny wise and
+pound foolish we surely are. What we save now we shall have to pay later
+on with compound interest besides compelling our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> children to undergo
+physical pain and mental handicap.</p>
+
+<p>And yet again. We are told by our scientific friends the relative
+amounts of window and floor space that the schoolroom should have in
+order to be adequately lighted! Not one in ten has as much window space
+as it should have, and a good portion of what has been provided is
+frequently covered up by shades thru the teacher's perverted notion of
+relative values&mdash;seeming to have greater appreciation for certain
+so-called artistic effects than for eye comfort and safety in work. And
+then again, these scientific friends of ours have told us that there
+should be in the schoolroom no cross lights; that the light should not
+shine upon the blackboards nor into the faces of the children, but that
+it should come only from the rear and the left and from above. They have
+found out, too, and told us, the proper shades of color for the
+walls&mdash;scientific knowledge, all of it, and therefore thoroly reliable.
+But how systematically do we disregard all this valuable information! In
+the construction of a new school building there is nothing that should
+receive more careful and scientific consideration than the matter of
+lighting, but too often the architect is either entirely ignorant of the
+entire matter, or else is selfishly interested in so-called
+architectural effects.</p>
+
+<p>I do not mean that we all disregard all these things, that we have no
+school houses properly constructed, no school books properly printed,
+and no teachers intelligent and sensible in their handling of boys and
+girls. Not at all. During the last twenty years we have made long
+strides in advance along many of these lines in many places. But the
+bright<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> spots are still the exception and not the rule. The friends of
+children and of the race need to keep vigilantly at work.</p>
+
+<p>Now, let us look at the matter from another point of view. Let us ask
+what are the results of this persistent and widespread disregard of the
+normal conditions under which the eye should work and of the fundamental
+laws of eye development. What do we find? Why, we find just what you are
+prepared to expect after considering the above disregard. We find that,
+whereas at the beginning of school life the percentage of school
+children suffering from visual defects is relatively small, that
+percentage increases as we ascend the grades. In other words, the
+regular, systematic work of our schools is all the time weakening the
+eyes&mdash;all the time causing serious visual defects. Gulick and Ayers came
+to this conclusion as one of the results of their exhaustive
+investigation, made in 1908, which culminated in the well known work on
+"Medical Inspection of Schools," published at that time. This is all the
+more striking since they found that the prevalence of other physical
+defects steadily decreases as the years pass.</p>
+
+<p>An investigation carried on in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1907-1908,
+illustrates the point under discussion; 20% of all children in grades
+one to three inclusive were found to have defective vision, whereas in
+grades nine to twelve inclusive 40.5% were found thus handicapped. In
+some parts of Germany the increase in defective vision as children
+ascend the grades is seen to be much more marked than in our own
+country. In one particular study that comes to mind, a study of
+short-sightedness alone (published, however, some years ago) it was
+shown that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> the increase was from practically none at all to
+approximately 100%. In other words, the work of the schools had made
+practically every child near-sighted. And the general tendency seems to
+be in this direction. Indeed, I know of but one study in which a
+contrary tendency has been observed. And that was in a rural
+district&mdash;St. Louis County, Missouri&mdash;where a study was made about four
+years ago. Under the conditions observed there, the frequency of
+short-sightedness seemed to diminish with increasing age. And the
+reasons for this local tendency, being so directly contrary to the
+general tendency, men have been trying to understand. Various
+suggestions have been made such as the atmosphere of the rural as
+against the city districts being, in the main, more favorable from
+hygienic points of view; or the fewer pupils in the classes in school,
+thus enabling the teachers to give more personal attention so preventing
+undue eye-strain; and the shorter school year maintained in the country
+giving the children less prolonged periods of eye-strain. But whatever
+be the explanation of this interesting exception, it yet remains true
+that the regular work of the school, week in, week out, year after year,
+causes the eyes of our children to deteriorate, or at least the two go
+hand in hand with grounds for a very strong suspicion in the minds of
+those who have expert knowledge of the general situation that the one is
+the cause of the other.</p>
+
+<p>With this point established, namely, that the work of the schools is but
+ill-adapted to the structure the nature of the child's eye, resulting in
+steady deterioration, let us try to see how widespread is such
+deterioration and how serious. This can best be done<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> briefly thru the
+use of a few statistics taken from the results of investigations that
+have been made as to the physical conditions of our school children.
+From these results I disregard all figures save those that bear on the
+matter of visual defects since that is our one topic of discussion.</p>
+
+<p>In Cleveland, Ohio, in 1906-1907, a very exhaustive and illuminating
+investigation was made under the general supervision of Dr. Wallin, one
+of the most eminent authorities on the relationship of the physical and
+the mental in the work of our schools. Dr. Wallin called to his
+assistance many experts, both medical and physical, and his report was a
+very noteworthy one from many points of view. I touch only two or three
+points here and there. In one school, the Mayflower, located in a fine
+residence section of the city, 972 pupils were examined, and 20% of them
+found to be suffering from some rather serious form of eye defect. In an
+East End school, another of the so-called better class of schools, 668
+children were examined and 32.4% found with defective vision. Even more
+startling than these were the results found in a school of about the
+same size in what was called a "congested" district of the city. Six
+hundred and sixteen were examined and 71.1% found defective.</p>
+
+<p>Another very significant fact was brought to light by this
+investigation&mdash;the disregard paid to the whole matter by parents and
+teachers. Perhaps I should not include teachers in speaking of this
+disregard since they have, at best, but advisory power. In the East End
+school, out of the 668 children examined, 216, or 32.4% were found
+defective, but only 43, or 6.4%, were being relieved by the use of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+glasses. And in the "congested" district the disparity was even more
+striking since out of the 437, or 71.1% of the entire number who had
+visual defects, only 11, or 1.8%, were being relieved.</p>
+
+<p>In one investigation made in New York City in 1908, 1,442 pupils were
+considered, and 42% found suffering from eye defects. In Jefferson City,
+Missouri, in 1908, the results of the examination of 1,000 white
+children showed 36.5% suffering from somewhat serious visual defects;
+and many others in lesser degrees. Of these 1,000 children, 410, or 41%,
+were found to need the assistance of glasses, but only 38, or 3.8%, were
+being thus assisted.</p>
+
+<p>In Los Angeles, California, in 1909, 5,000 children were examined, and
+61% found to be suffering from the same trouble. Again, in Philadelphia,
+in 1909, the well-known Dr. Risley found, in an examination of 2,422
+children, that 44.7% were continual sufferers from some form of eye
+trouble. I could easily cite similar results from many more studies, but
+surely these are sufficient. These are startling facts, and very serious
+when we think merely of this one fact alone without considering it in
+its relationship to anything else. But when we stop to consider the fact
+that these sufferers are children, in the schools, and are thus
+handicapped in their work of education&mdash;in their efforts to fit
+themselves for the struggle of life&mdash;it assumes even larger proportions
+and becomes truly appalling.</p>
+
+<p>What does it mean? Why, it means, in terms of the school man,
+retardation and elimination. To the layman those words may need
+interpretation. Retardation means the checking of a pupil in his
+educational progress thru the grades, necessitating<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> the spending of a
+longer period than that which is considered normal. For example, a
+normal pupil is one who enters school at six years of age and is
+promoted each year regularly; or "a pupil whose age and grade correspond
+to this standard." Thus, the standard age for a second grade pupil,
+during the year, is 7 years; for a fourth grade, 9 years; and for an
+eighth grade, 13 years; or in every case, five more than the number of
+his grade. If one is older than the number of his grade plus five, he is
+retarded by the amount of the difference; thus a twelve-year-old child
+in the sixth grade is retarded one year since a sixth-grade child should
+be but eleven years old. Somehow he has lost a year. Thru failure to do
+satisfactory work such a child has had to repeat the work of some one of
+his grades. Elimination means the dropping out of a child from school
+altogether before the regular course is completed. We find relatively
+little elimination in the lower grades since the compulsory attendance
+laws require attendance. But just as soon as the upper limit of age is
+reached there is much of it.</p>
+
+<p>I do not know how closely you have followed this matter of retardation
+in the schools and elimination from them, but I think sufficiently to
+render it unnecessary for me to discuss the matter at length. Let me
+refer to but one study which is typical as showing the seriousness of
+the situation. In 1907, Mr. S. L. Heeter, at that time Superintendent of
+Schools in St. Paul, Minnesota, working under instruction of his Board
+of School Inspectors, made a very careful investigation as to the matter
+of retardation in the schools of that city. You may be surprised to
+learn some of the results. He found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> more than one-half, exactly 56%, of
+all the children in the schools at least one year behind normal grade,
+and many of them much more than one year behind. To be exact: 12,672
+children were below grade. Of these, 6,328 were one year behind; 3,650
+were two years behind; 1,689 were three years behind; 651 were four
+years behind; 221 were five years behind, and 133 were six years behind.
+Now, what is the cause of such a serious situation? Mr. Heeter, in his
+report of his findings, speaks as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"There are evidently many causes of this phenomenal retardation&mdash;yet it
+seems likely that one of the largest factors ... is physiological, and
+that more attention given in our schools to the bodily conditions of our
+children will throw new light on our educational problems, and even on
+the subject of backward children, and of delinquency itself." "It
+appears," he goes on to say, "that the schools have been too exclusively
+concerned about the minds of children and too little concerned about
+their bodies. Much time and energy and money have been wasted in trying
+to make all children equal in mental power, without regard to physical
+inequalities, until now waste products are clogging our educational
+machinery." And Mr. Heeter's conclusion is that of all who have studied
+the matter with any care.</p>
+
+<p>Let me now show the relationship existing between the two, that is,
+between retardation and physical defects. I can do it briefly by
+referring to the work of Dr. Cronin in New York City. This is but one
+instance, but it is typical of conditions. A few years ago, as chief
+Medical Inspector of the schools of New York City, Dr. Cronin read a
+paper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> before the School Hygiene Association of America in which he made
+the statement that an examination of all children reported as backward
+by various teachers revealed 95% of them as physically defective.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, in a hasty way, but I think correctly, I have thrown the chief
+burden of backwardness in school, or retardation, upon physical defects.
+But our special topic is eye trouble. How much of this burden must be
+referred to this specific source? It is difficult to say exactly. But
+knowing as we do the great prevalence of eye defects among school
+children, from 20% to 71%, you remember, depending somewhat upon
+locality and environment; and knowing, too, the close relationship
+existing between the eyes of our children and the work of the schools
+(this school work, you know, is nearly all done with the eyes. It should
+not be, but it is); knowing all this, it is not beside the mark to say
+that a very large percentage of the retardation must be laid at its
+doors.</p>
+
+<p>And what are we going to do about it? What should be done? The reform is
+easily seen to be a many-sided one. It is educational&mdash;our teachers
+should come to know that the book is only one, and not the chief one, of
+the many sources of knowledge open to the child; it is physiological&mdash;we
+should all know the eye better than we do, its normal use and its
+limitations; the reform is architectural&mdash;our architects and boards of
+education should realize that the seating and the lighting of school
+houses should receive most careful consideration; the reform is
+economic&mdash;we should come to appreciate the unwisdom of being "penny wise
+and pound foolish," and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> recall the old saw, "a stitch in time saves
+nine"; the reform is medical&mdash;we should get our people to see that thoro
+and regular medical inspection of all our school children is the only
+sensible method of procedure. And so I might go on naming phase after
+phase of the problem. It is so many-sided that we can not hope for its
+immediate and perfectly satisfactory solution. But there are certain
+quite specific ends in view that should at once and all the time be kept
+before us. Touching the matter of medical inspection, our state law,
+instead of being merely permissive should be mandatory, and should be
+made to apply to every school community in the state. Of course, the cry
+of expense would be at once raised, but it could easily be shown, were
+there time at my disposal, that it would be an economic mesure rather
+than one increasing the cost of our schools. Because every time that a
+child repeats a grade in school, that year's school work in the life of
+the child has cost the city or school community twice as much as it
+should. Whenever, as in the case of St. Paul, already cited, a child is
+two, three, or six years behind normal grade, there is an extra heavy
+burden of taxation placed on the city. Medical inspection, wherever it
+has been made effective, has resulted in lowering, very materially, the
+amount of retardation. And it is looked upon as saving the community
+very much more than it has cost, saying nothing at all about the added
+effectiveness of the child for the work of the school nor of his greater
+happiness. This statement could easily be substantiated were there time.
+But that is not necessary. It is so apparent that he who runs may read.</p>
+
+<p>But the time when we can expect such a law to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> be put in force is, I am
+afraid, considerably removed from the present. Large bodies move slowly;
+we must have patience. We must keep steadily at it preaching the good
+gospel of reform. But in the meantime can we not hasten the glad day of
+full and complete medical inspection, and at the same time bring relief
+to a very large number of little sufferers, by throwing emphasis,
+whenever the opportunity offers, upon the phase of the subject that is
+before us this morning? The eye trouble is the chiefest of all those of
+a physical nature. It has far more to do in causing retardation of our
+boys and girls than any of the other physical defects, and therefore
+should receive its own prompt and vigorous attention irrespective of
+everything else. Upon this one point let us have immediate relief and
+keep it up as rapidly as possible. Let us adopt some program of action
+which will bring relief as quickly as possible to children suffering
+from visual defects. For I have no sympathy with the position taken by
+that foolish mother (perhaps I should be charitable and merely say
+"ignorant" mother. I think she was both ignorant and foolish), who said
+to me when I was urging her to have glasses fitted for her little girl,
+"Why, Mr. Ladd, I can't bear to think of Mary wearing glasses. I am
+going to keep them away from her just as long as she can possibly get
+along without them." I replied, "My good woman, if you have any regard
+for the comfort and well-being of your little girl, or if you care for
+her progress in school, instead of keeping glasses away from her as long
+as possible, you should see to it that she has the best that can be
+procured just as soon as they can be of the slightest assistance." I
+went on to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> tell her that it was entirely possible that the use of the
+glasses at that time for a year or two might enable her to do without
+them permanently later on. But she did not get them; of course not. They
+would not have added to the attractiveness of the little face. How hard
+it is for the unreflecting to deny themselves a present pleasure,
+whether in money or pride, for a future good!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2>
+
+
+<h3>THE HOME, THE CHURCH, AND THE SCHOOL</h3>
+
+<blockquote><h4><i>An Extension Lecture delivered in many places in North Dakota and
+Minnesota</i></h4></blockquote>
+
+<p>It goes without saying, I am sure, that these three great
+institutions&mdash;the Home, the Church, and the School&mdash;fundamental as they
+are in the life of each, and even of civilization itself, can not be
+adequately handled in the brief time given to a single address. But yet
+I think that in that time we can account for each, roughly trace its
+interesting career, and locate it in our complex life of to-day with
+function briefly stated. And in it all, or out of it all, directly or
+indirectly, I think we shall see the relationship existing between the
+three. This relationship, so strong and so vital, the appreciation of
+which is so necessary for constructive action and large results in life,
+I particularly desire to make appear. And it is this relationship that
+gives appropriateness to the handling of the three in a single address
+tho each, from a different point of view, might well be made the center
+of an entire evening's consideration.</p>
+
+<p>The home, the church, and the school! What troops of memories arise
+around each as we turn our gaze backward! How sweet and sacred appears
+the home as we recall mother and father, sister and brother, in the old
+home setting in the early days of our pilgrimage! How solemn and
+hallowed seems the church as we go back in thought to our first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+connections with it in Sunday school, in its communion service, and to
+our own entrance as members! And how fascinating and joyful, even the
+sometimes tinged with regret or apprehension, the school as we retrace
+our pathway over the years of its associations! The home, the church,
+and the school&mdash;but the first of these is the home.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Home</span></h4>
+
+<p>Let me ask you, therefore, to think with me first of the home&mdash;of that
+institution which in its very inception, more than any other, was
+God-inspired; that institution which from its very beginning up to the
+present hour has, more than any other, reflected the spirit and purpose
+of God&mdash;that institution whose center is the child and whose function
+that child's development&mdash;<i>the home</i>. It is the most ancient of all the
+institutions of man. Organized and set apart at the very dawn of human
+life, when the morning stars were singing together, the divine Voice
+gave it sanction and stated its function: "Be fruitful and multiply, and
+replenish the earth." And the institution, as the ages have passed, has
+never once lapsed and never repudiated its origin or its work. Still it
+has advanced so far and improved so much in outward appearance, at any
+rate, and developed so greatly that, as we know it to-day, we may almost
+call it a modern institution, so modern indeed and so different from all
+others as to merit the name of American institution.</p>
+
+<p>Students of history have so laid bare the conditions of living and of
+home life in the past as to reveal to us the fact that the home, as we
+know it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> and love it, did not exist prior to our own day. In all former
+periods, even tho glorious to look back upon, some of them, golden days
+as they were of the world's upward struggle, we search in vain for our
+kind of a home. The home of the American workman to-day is provided with
+more comforts and conveniences, has in it more of the elements of
+culture and refinement, is more eloquent of love and the higher life
+than was the home of the ruler of a few generations ago. And the chief
+factors in it all, those which bind all together and give meaning, are
+the honored place given the wife and mother and, springing from that,
+love, love of parent for child and child for parent. For we all know,
+when we come to think of it, that our love of home and dear ones is ever
+our motive for action as we explore new fields and mark out new paths,
+overcome obstacles and surmount difficulties&mdash;in a word, carry the
+banners of civilization to new heights!</p>
+
+<p>The home of all people, in all ages of the world's history, but
+especially as we know it to-day, is the one thing for which men live and
+work. Stop the first man you meet on the street,&mdash;"rich man, poor man,
+beggar-man, thief, doctor, lawyer, butcher, priest,"&mdash;any man, going
+along with a preoccupied mind, thinking of the case he is to plead, the
+trade he is to make, the book he is to write. Get into this man's mind,
+down below this particular thing that is on the surface of it, and down
+there there is one picture that you wilt always find, the picture of a
+cozy corner somewhere, of a woman sitting by the table or before the
+fire, of two or three growing girls, and a boy or two that look like
+him. Meet him wherever you will, find him in whatever occupation, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> in
+whatever stage of spiritual or intellectual development; whenever you
+get under his jacket, whether it be a blouse or a tuxedo, you'll find
+this picture hanging on the wall of his heart. Ninety-nine men out of
+every hundred say, with Robert Burns:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"To make a happy fire-side clime</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For weans and wife,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That's the true pathos and sublime</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of human life."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>And the young man of to-day, looking forth into the years that are to
+come, picturing himself as and where he would like to be, who sees
+himself alone, without the joys and companionship of wife and child, the
+young man who doesn't plan to have a home of his own to which he can
+lead the choice of his heart and in which he may multiply, thru the
+development of his own offspring, his powers of usefulness,&mdash;such a
+young man is a selfish monstrosity. And the young woman who isn't
+longing for a home of her own&mdash;for a little kingdom in which as Queen,
+she may rule jointly with a chosen King in loving ministration to their
+natural subjects&mdash;such a young woman is an abnormal specimen. The desire
+of every little girl for a doll, the craving of every boy for an animal
+pet, is but the manifestation of the deep-seated instinct of parenthood.
+Do nothing to stifle it. Minister to its growth and development. And
+young man&mdash;young woman, you who have left behind the days of knee
+trousers and short dresses, and with them have laid aside the doll and
+the pet, think it not weakness when you find yourself irresistibly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>
+drawn by the sweet smile of an innocent babe or by the childish prattle
+of one a little farther on. Be not ashamed when, under such influence,
+you picture yourself the center of a home, and in this connection think
+of him or her whom you would like to have share it with you. It is the
+sweetest influence that can ever come into your life. Rightly regarded
+and used, it will do more for your happiness and usefulness than any or
+all others that will ever come to you.</p>
+
+<p>But when the crucial moment comes&mdash;when the die is to be cast and the
+promise asked and given that will bind the two lives together, halt for
+a moment until one asks and the other answers this "Woman's Question."</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Woman's Question</span></h4>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ever made by the Hand above&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A woman's heart and a woman's life</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And a woman's wonderful love?</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"You have written my lesson of duty out;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Manlike you have questioned me;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Until I question thee.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"You require your mutton shall always be hot,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Your stockings and shirts shall be whole.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I require your heart to be true as God's stars</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And as pure as Heaven your soul.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"You require a cook for your mutton and beef.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">I require a far better thing.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A seamstress you're wanting for stockings and shirts,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">I look for a man and a king.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"A king for a beautiful realm called home,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And a man that the Maker, God,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shall look upon as He did the first</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And say, 'It is very good.'</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I am fair and young, but the rose will fade</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">From my soft fair cheek some day;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Will you love me then 'mid the falling leaves</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">As you did in the bloom of May?</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Is your heart an ocean so strong and deep</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">I may launch my all on its tide?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A loving woman finds Heaven or hell</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">On the day she is made a bride.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I require all things that are grand and true,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">All things that a man should be,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">If you promise me this, I would stake my life</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To be all you demand of me.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"If you can not do this, a seamstress and cook</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">You can hire with little to pay.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But a woman's heart and a woman's life</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Are not to be won that way."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Yes, Bobby Burns was right when he said,</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"To make a happy fire-side clime,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">For weans and wife,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That's the true pathos and sublime</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Of human life."</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Exactly what is God's ultimate purpose for the human race, I think no
+one knows. And I am not sure that we need to know. Where clear vision is
+not granted we walk by faith. But even if the ultimate end is not
+clearly portrayed, even if we are kept in the dark as to the great
+outcome, we do know pretty well His method of procedure. A careful study
+of the past and a critical analysis of the data now at hand looking to
+the future enable us to grasp with some clearness the leading outlines
+of the program. From generation to generation, from century to century,
+from age to age, as time has rolled on, there has been a gradual moving
+onward and upward, a steady improvement both in the refining and
+civilizing of man's own being and in bringing that being into
+sympathetic relations with the external world, that is, a gradual
+development of man's own powers, and an ever increasing control of the
+forces of nature. In spite of the fact that this progress has been, at
+times, painfully slow, it has never once ceased, and during the last
+century it has moved on with constantly accelerating speed until to-day
+the human race stands upon the highest point ever reached. I have
+absolutely no sympathy with that narrow pessimism which is always
+talking about "the good old times." All in all, there never was a time
+in the history of the world when man knew so much as to-day; there never
+was a time when his life was so ministered to by the forces of nature;
+never a time when his heart was so tender, when it responded so quickly
+to human suffering, never a time when all forms of evil were so quickly
+condemned nor when so much good was being done. The long program seems
+to have been for each age and each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> generation to hand on to its
+successors the legacy received, but increased and strengthened and
+bettered. How much longer this upward movement is to continue, how much
+more the race is to know and do, how much better it is to be, no one
+knows. God's ultimate purpose, His great object in view&mdash;we may not be
+able to grasp, but certainly it is not difficult for us to note the
+general direction of the movement. It is upward.</p>
+
+<p>In all this, wherein does the home come, and what is its function? Is it
+not, has it not been from the very beginning the Divine agency used for
+doing this great work? Was not the home instituted, endowed with the
+divine power of love, and consecrated for the perpetuation of the race?
+"Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth." True, as many times
+pointed out, our toils and our struggles, our earnings and our
+productions, incidentally give us pleasure and satisfaction and power,
+but yet even these are but a means to an end,&mdash;that parents may beget,
+rear, and educate their children in such a way that they can carry the
+banner of civilization a little higher&mdash;lift society to a higher level
+and draw mankind nearer to God.</p>
+
+<p>So it is that the center and circumference of the home is the child. In
+the child the home finds its meaning, its excuse, and its justification.
+It exists, then, that the child may be adequately prepared for doing its
+great work in the world. Whatever else it may do, on the side, it has
+one great problem. The child! The child! The best crop the farmer
+raises, the best article the manufacturer puts on the market, the best
+ware the merchant handles, the best case the lawyer pleads, the best
+sermon the minister preaches<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>&mdash;or at least that which gives meaning to
+all of these&mdash;the child! "The fruit of all the past and the seed of all
+the future." God bless the home and God bless its best fruitage&mdash;the
+child!</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The Church</span></h4>
+
+<p>Thus the home&mdash;God's simple yet mighty agent in His great work of
+developing the human race. Its work was accepted and for a time all went
+well. Such preparation, mostly physical, as the child needed for its
+future work the home gave without difficulty. But this simple life could
+not continue indefinitely. One of the fundamental principles of life
+absolutely forbade man's standing still. The laws of growth and
+development pushed him on. Whether he would or not, he was compelled to
+move forward, just as the acorn, obeying the law of its being, changes
+its form, its size, and adds to its complexity. Little by little man,
+obeying these inexorable laws, began to develop. His mental, his moral,
+and his physical natures gradually assumed new forms&mdash;new needs and
+desires were born. More and more his vision became expanded until he
+could see into and mesurably appreciate the forces of nature. His life
+was becoming more complex. Now, this larger life, this greater
+complexity of life, in addition to its own complexity, added materially
+to the work of preparing the child for playing its part in this great
+onward movement.</p>
+
+<p>Such preparation as was needed by the child of the primitive home to
+equip it for playing its part as an adult would no longer suffice. The
+home must now do something more than satisfy the needs of the
+body&mdash;provide food, clothing, and shelter, and incidentally give
+opportunity to learn, mostly by imi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>tation, how to do this for another
+generation of children. The spiritual life needed attention and, as
+well, the intellectual. Competition was growing keen, and each felt the
+need of a better equipment that he might play his part well in the
+larger life that was surely before him. And this larger outlook upon
+life was itself growing by what it was feeding upon and making its own
+demands for better things.</p>
+
+<p>But the home was handicapped. It felt the need, but with all other
+things that it had to do, had no time to take up these new duties. And
+again, the most of the homes, even if time had been abundant, did not
+know how to do the new work. So it set about finding a solution to its
+problem. This was found in the principle of the division of labor. It
+was seen that time would be saved and results much more satisfactorily
+reached by delegating to persons definitely prepared and set aside for
+that purpose certain phases of this work. So the church was instituted
+and, a little later, the school. To the church was delegated, speaking
+broadly, the religious and moral development of the child and to the
+school, the intellectual development.</p>
+
+<p>It was exactly the same principle that, later on, took from the home the
+weaving of cloth and the making of shoes and other industrial pursuits.
+With this added complexity of life, the homes could not profitably carry
+on all these varied activities&mdash;be, in addition to a home, also a tailor
+shop and a shoe factory, a church and a school. And so the homes of a
+community combined, selecting one man particularly adapted to that work
+to make all the shoes for the community, another the cloth, etc. And, in
+like manner, earlier in history, one was set aside to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> minister to the
+spiritual life, and one to teach the children. Both were offshoots of
+the home, delegated by the home to do a certain very definite portion of
+its work. Each took directions from the collective home and looked to it
+as the source of its authority. And such it was. The point is this: the
+home was the original educational institution and, as well, the original
+religious institution. At first it alone performed the work of all
+three: it was our home, our church, and school all in one. It finally
+established the others and merely delegated work to these supplemental
+agencies, so, at any time, it may withdraw that work from them. It is
+master of the situation. This withdrawal may be done either by the
+collective home or by any individual home. If any home represented here
+this evening, for any reason whatever, wishes to resume the religious
+function and alone direct the religious development of the children, no
+one can say it nay. And it is the same in regard to the school. If any
+parent here wishes to withdraw his children from the school and himself,
+either directly or indirectly, provide for their intellectual
+development, he has a perfect right to do so. Our compulsory attendance
+laws are satisfied when evidence is furnished of the child's
+advancement. Of course the church and the school, in this primitive
+stage, were both exceedingly crude&mdash;corresponding to the crude notions
+of religious and intellectual development then held by man, yet playing
+the same great part as now in the drama of life. I suppose it is true
+that these differentiations were at first only semi-conscious, but
+nevertheless they were real differentiations and had large influence
+upon the development of man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>To trace the development of the church thru its early stages is not
+necessary for the purpose of this address, so I pass at once to the
+establishment of the Christian church which is in reality our
+representative of the same fundamental institution. Like the home and
+the school, the church began in a very humble way, and during the
+progress of the centuries passed thru many vicissitudes and underwent
+many changes. Let me speak very briefly of four stages, or periods, of
+the history of the Christian church: first, the primitive stage, that
+period of about 350 years following its birth when, in the main, motives
+were pure, ambitions unselfish, and ideals high. But, tho it was founded
+to provide the means of securing the religious development of the child
+and the race thru the perpetuation and extension of the teachings of
+Christ, and tho it was launched forth into its great career in the
+spirit of love and meekness and fellowship that characterized His life,
+it was not long, as history counts time, before that worthy function was
+entirely lost sight of, that spirit wholly cast aside, and the new
+institution entered upon its second period, becoming a mere political
+machine which, in its utter disregard of rights and justice, in the
+shrewdness and daring of its schemes, and in the blackness of its
+methods, almost surpassed even our own most skilful efforts in those
+directions. "My kingdom is not of this world," Christ had said, and yet
+the church, founded upon His teachings and led by men pretending to be
+His true representatives, had become, in very deed, a kingdom of this
+world. The possession and use of worldly power by the church had so
+blunted its moral sense that Dante, in the early part<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> of the fourteenth
+century, felt forced to exclaim, and exclaimed with truth:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 10.5em;">"The Church of Rome,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mixing two governments that ill assort,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hath missed her footing, fall'n into the mire,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And there herself and burden much defiled."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>But Dante's criticism and other forces brought to bear drew back the
+erring leaders to some slight conception of their function and to some
+slight effort toward the performance of duty, tho neither conception nor
+performance took them back to their pristine merit. And the church
+entered another historical stage, the third, and one whose dominant
+thought and purpose prevails even up to modern times. Indeed, so
+recently has it passed that its dark outlines are even yet discoverable
+as we glance backward. In this new conception of the church and its work
+we find the function of the institution to be not religious development
+of the individual and of the race, as it had been at first, but merely
+technical salvation. And the institution may be pictured as a great
+lifeboat thrust out into the storm to save from destruction those who
+can be drawn within&mdash;<i>while all others perish</i>.</p>
+
+<p>You remember the painting of the picture, foreground and background, how
+the emphasis was thrown upon the world to come! This world was not man's
+home. He was a sojourner here, a wanderer. His citizenship was in
+Heaven. He was a pilgrim passing thru a strange and weary land, and the
+only purpose of the pilgrimage was a preparation for the life to come.
+The nature of man himself was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> corrupt. The world around him was evil.
+Alone and unaided he was powerless. He was lost both for this world and
+the next. The storms of life were about him, the great waves were ready
+to engulf him. But the church, as a lifeboat, was thrust out into the
+breakers, and upon certain stipulated conditions was ready to take him
+in. The church was represented as having received direct from the hands
+of God "the keys of heaven and hell," and as being able to open the
+gates of a better world to all true believers. But true believers, you
+know, were no longer the pure followers of the crucified Christ, simply
+those who would accept the man-made dogmas of the church. No matter how
+full of error the church was, no matter how corrupt her leaders, there
+could be no safety outside of her fold. Accept the dogma, salvation was
+sure; once within, all was well. Religious development was not sought.
+The character of the life, previous or prospective, mattered not.
+Acceptance of the dogma was the only requirement. So she taught&mdash;having
+departed Oh! so far from her character and program when given existence
+by the home and started out on her beneficent work. And so tight had her
+grip become that none dared dispute her claims. The child had outgrown
+her mother, that is, the church had, in its own conception, outgrown the
+home, and it repudiated her control. Indeed, she held the keys&mdash;she was
+the ark of safety.</p>
+
+<p>I have dwelt upon this because, with varying degrees of emphasis, that
+has been the conception of the church from medieval times almost to our
+own day. Indeed, I am not sure that it has entirely passed even at the
+present time. There are doubtless some people who continue thus to
+regard the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> church, and there is more than one branch of the institution
+whose definitely formulated statements of belief can be interpreted in
+no other way however much, as a practical fact, the members have
+departed from them.</p>
+
+<p>There are some branches of the church that still teach that the child,
+newly born into the world, fresh from the hand of God, is already
+corrupt, prone to evil, of its own volition choosing evil in preference
+to good. And, believing that, they require the parents when presenting
+the babe at the altar for holy baptism, to affirm that that pure and
+innocent babe has inherited an evil and corrupt nature, and that it was
+conceived and born in sin. A monstrous doctrine, violating not only
+every parental instinct, but as well all the principles of psychology
+and ethics. Yea, verily, the Dark Ages are not yet wholly past! Yes,
+there are doubtless some who still look upon the church as a lifeboat,
+and who think that that lifeboat should offer safety and protection to
+those alone who already have on the life preserver. In other words,
+there are still some who seem to think that church membership should be
+granted only to those whose character and belief already assure them of
+abundant entrance into the heavenly kingdom and who, therefore, do not
+really need church membership.</p>
+
+<p>But yet, on the whole, as a working conception, we have discarded the
+lifeboat idea and are now regarding the church rather as a great school,
+so to speak, in which all the children of men, thru the grace of God and
+mutual helpfulness, may gradually develop the Christian character and
+eventually come to be the very elect of God. No longer is it being
+regarded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> as merely an ark of safety, a lifeboat, ministering to the
+few, but as a great social beneficent institution shedding abroad upon
+all people its life-giving light and lifting all men nearer to God;
+true, giving her choicest blessings to those who come closest and
+partake most fully of her nature, but yet like the sun which shines upon
+all and both by direct and indirect rays warms and lightens all. Between
+the two views, what a contrast! And that change can not be better seen
+than by a contrast of the methods of work&mdash;the methods used to replenish
+the ranks, to offer the boon of membership to those deemed worthy or to
+those whom such boon could help.</p>
+
+<p>The old evangelism&mdash;you remember its key-note, the old revival meeting,
+in which skilful word painting presented the two extremes, heaven and
+hell. And when the emotional nature was wrought up to the desired pitch
+and fear to the right degree, a choice was demanded,&mdash;conversion, it was
+called. The newer evangelism&mdash;Christian nurture in the home and school,
+and the various agencies of the church&mdash;is not as spectacular as the
+old. It doesn't make as much noise nor draw to itself so much attention.
+Nor do results so readily lend themselves to figures and tabulation. It
+does not bring about certain times when large accessions are made to the
+church membership, feeling rather that a continuous stream, tho smaller,
+indicates a more healthy growth. But it recognizes the fact that human
+nature is not necessarily depraved, that, on the other hand, the
+Christian life is the natural life and that the child under the sweet
+influences of the home and school and church passes naturally from one
+stage to another often not knowing when the transitions take place.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+Christian nurture&mdash;<i>a continuous process</i>&mdash;in which development is the
+key-note, not conversion, a sudden transformation, a terrible wrenching
+of the whole being, is the church's present method of growth. Oh! the
+old has not entirely gone&mdash;here and there we occasionally see evidences
+of its presence. Professional evangelism we call it to-day. I ran across
+it in a recent trip East. A big, barnlike structure had been erected
+which was called "the tabernacle." Its floor was of sawdust sprinkled on
+the ground. Here for about a month a professional evangelist had
+harangued the curious crowds in immoderate, and oftentimes immodest
+language. Wit and sarcasm and slang and emotion had been freely used in
+his efforts to make sinners "hit the sawdust trail," to use his own
+spectacular language, as well as to extort money from the pockets of the
+attendants. He left the town $5,000 richer than when he entered and also
+carried with him, as advertising material, a long list of so-called
+converts. A travesty on the sacred work of the church! But such methods
+are to-day the exception and not the rule, and the exceptions merely
+prove the rule.</p>
+
+<p>And to-day church membership is graciously held out to all who need help
+in the work of perfecting character&mdash;to all who need assistance in
+leading the Christian life, as well as to those whose battles have
+already been fought and won. The question asked is no longer, "Have you
+attained?" but rather, "Do you wish to attain?" When an individual,
+child or adult, seeks entrance at the doors of an educational
+institution, the only condition imposed is assurance of his desire to be
+a learner. The doors swing open. And thank God the church is at last
+coming to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> same position. And so we see her to-day well started upon
+the fourth stage of her development, accepting as her one great work
+that given her at birth so long ago&mdash;the religious development of the
+child and the race.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">The School</span></h4>
+
+<p>The American school is a wonderful institution. In its absolute
+universality and impartiality, in its fine spirit of democracy both of
+teachers and pupils, there is nothing like it elsewhere in the world. It
+is a product of the genius of our people. Product? Yes, but, also,
+successively, the most influential cause of the genius of our people.
+From the first, in a somewhat remarkable degree, we have been a people
+knowing no social classes or distinctions. The caste idea, so prevalent
+in European countries, has ever been repugnant to us. And our schools,
+emanating from such a people, have had a powerful reflex influence in
+shaping the people and keeping those fine ideals ever before us. But let
+us go back and see whence it came&mdash;trace the connection between the
+complex, highly influential institution of to-day and the simple
+offshoot of the home of primitive times. Just when it was first
+instituted, nobody knows; but in essential features it is very ancient.
+Long before the beginning of the Christian era, as a supplementary agent
+of the home having in charge that one portion of its work, it was a
+well-recognized and highly esteemed institution.</p>
+
+<p>I have already called attention to the great changes that have taken
+place in the home and in the church as the centuries have passed. The
+school likewise has changed, and is to-day as far removed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> from its
+original prototype as either of the others. It has changed because the
+home has changed, and in its changes has kept pace with the changing
+ideals and added complexities of home life. At the very first, only the
+essentials&mdash;teacher and boy&mdash;were present: no building, the great
+out-of-doors furnished the room and the friendly tree the only
+protection from sun and storm; no course of study, no book&mdash;the teacher
+was all in all. But this stage passed and the next, that continued so
+long and is more characteristic, followed. Here we find the building and
+the book as well as the teacher and the boy. The boy's one task is to
+transfer the contents of the book to his own mental storehouse and the
+teacher's function to see that the transfer is made. Knowledge was the
+main element of the child's preparation, that the home demanded of its
+school. And this often but ill-fitted him for the performance of the
+duties of life. This period continued for many centuries, down almost to
+the present time. But another and a greater followed&mdash;a period in which
+not merely knowledge was demanded as an outcome of the school's
+activities, but something else very different, including that, it is
+true, but finer and greater than that&mdash;something toward which they are
+the contributing agents&mdash;a somewhat harmonious development of the entire
+life&mdash;physical, mental, and moral.</p>
+
+<p>Little by little, as time has passed, the home seems to have been
+throwing added burdens upon the school until now it sometimes looks as
+if the school is expected to give the entire preparation of the
+child&mdash;moral, physical, and manual, as well as mental. It sometimes
+seems as if the home had gone off on a vacation and left the school to
+do its work. Now,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> that statement implies a criticism of the home. On
+the other hand, it is frequently said by unfriendly critics of our
+public schools that the schools are all the time reaching out and, in a
+grasping way, more and more taking unto themselves the sacred rights and
+privileges of the home, even setting themselves up in authority over the
+home, aye, even alienating the affections of the children, making the
+home of none effect. Where does the truth lie? Has the home been so
+negligent of its duty, or has the school forgotten that it is the
+creature of the home? Which is the usurper? That is an interesting
+question. We can not go into it in detail, but let me suggest that it
+has all come about not so much from the unwarranted assumption of the
+school, nor the conscious and wilful neglect of the home as from the
+unconscious working out of a great principle fundamental in human
+development&mdash;namely, that the three phases of a child's life&mdash;the
+physical, the moral, and the intellectual,&mdash;can not be separately
+developed.</p>
+
+<p>At first the home had the three lines of work. Soon it delegated two of
+them to other agencies and then, thru inexperience or thoughtlessness,
+made the fatal mistake of withdrawing supervision, assuming that no
+oversight was necessary. Unwise and short-sighted! No individual would
+thus deal with any other interest. The farm, the store, the financial
+interest of any kind, even the thing that ministers to the pleasure of
+life, often receives more personal attention from the parent than does
+the school. And this situation is not peculiar to our own day. When I
+was a boy, in another and distant state, we used to sing a song called
+"The Parent and the School." The various verses showed that parents were
+in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> habit of visiting every other known place&mdash;the theater, the
+concert, the fair, the sea, the neighbors, and each verse closed with
+the refrain, "And why don't they visit the school?" They should, but
+they did not then, nor do they to-day. Somehow, all along the line, the
+home has seemed to think that if it should satisfy the physical needs of
+the child in providing food and clothing and shelter, the school should
+develop the intellectual and the church the moral natures in different
+places and at different times, and under different conditions, and that
+in some mysterious manner the three could become satisfactorily blended
+into a harmonious life. Impossible! The three natures are so clearly
+interrelated, each depends so much upon the others, that the separate
+and independent development of any one is impossible.</p>
+
+<p>The spiritual <i>depends</i> upon the intellectual as the house <i>rests</i> upon
+the foundation. Its mental pictures, its concepts, its beliefs, come out
+of it, and are marred, misshapen, untrue, just to the extent to which
+that is faulty. Intelligence is necessary to religious belief and
+religious life. And the <i>intellectual</i>, in its foundation laying, can
+not stop short at that point any more than a plant can stop growing when
+its roots are well developed. The process once well begun is pushed on
+by the force from behind and must enter the higher realm. So I am not
+surprised that the school at times seems to be in charge of the entire
+work. And <i>physical conditions</i> have so much to do with success in both
+fields that they must be considered by both. The three processes are not
+only interrelated, they are interlaced, intertwined, as the strands of a
+braided cord. And just as the cord<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> would be incomplete, just as it
+would lack strength, if any of the strands were to be omitted, or if the
+braiding were to be haphazard, so the life would be incomplete,
+one-sided, weak, should these three processes not go on side by side
+under the fostering care of an intelligent unifying agency. Indeed, if
+there is any one thing that has been demonstrated beyond the
+peradventure of a doubt by modern research in the physical and psychical
+realms, it is the significant fact that life is a unity. The physical,
+the intellectual, and the moral are like the three leaves of the clover.
+And just as with the clover we must apply the nourishment to the root
+and not to the separated branches, so with the child we must so select
+and use our educative material that the three-fold development shall
+result from the single application.</p>
+
+<p>A simple illustration or two will help to make the point clear. All
+children study arithmetic in school. It is an intellectual activity and
+so clearly belongs to the school. Why do all study it? Because for the
+practical duties of life they need to know how to handle numbers. It is
+a practical study. Yes, but there is something else that the subject is
+supposed to yield or the extended time given to it could not be
+justified. It yields large fruitage in the development of the power of
+concentration and intellectual keenness. Yes, but better than that. All
+mathematical subjects, in that they require absolute accuracy and
+definiteness in their operations, are particularly helpful in developing
+those fine moral qualities of honesty, integrity, and upright dealing.
+Again, history is taught in the schools as an intellectual subject. In
+intellectual development alone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> it is worth all it costs. But over and
+above the value as a mental quickener it is to be placed as a builder of
+character, and ministering to the development of the moral and even the
+spiritual life. Nowhere else can the young so well learn that
+"righteousness exalteth a nation" and that "sin is a reproach to any
+people." In no other way so well as by the study of history can desired
+examples of noble character be placed before the young for imitation.
+Take but one other illustration, that of gymnastics and athletics&mdash;the
+entire program of play. For physical development? Yes, but in addition
+to that and finer than that, intellectual development of a high order
+thru the keener activity of the senses, the quicker and more accurate
+vision, the developed judgment, and finer discriminations. Yes, but
+better even than mere intellectual keenness there result from such
+activities the rare moral qualities of tolerance, respect for others,
+and self-control. And so I might go on and give illustration after
+illustration. It is not necessary. You catch my point. I am merely
+trying to demonstrate two facts: first, that the great breadth of the
+work of the school&mdash;embracing as it does, the development of the entire
+nature of the child, mental, moral, and physical, instead of merely the
+mental, that which was given her at first, is hers now not because of
+the home's neglect nor because the school has been unduly ambitious and
+grasping, but because we have come to see that life is a unity and can
+not be cut up into parts each separately developed. And secondly, I have
+tried to show that the school does interest itself in the moral life of
+the pupil. As a matter of fact, the school does more to develop morality
+and to lead toward a sane<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> religious life than all other agencies
+combined. Our modern American school is a wonderful institution.</p>
+
+<p>But in spite of the fact that the school is broad in its ministrations,
+it can not stand alone. All three institutions are needed. But the three
+must work together and in harmony and intelligently, each assisting the
+others. And one of the three must act as the centralizing, the unifying,
+the combining agency and bring order out of that which would otherwise
+be chaos by recognizing the value of each contribution of each of the
+others, assigning it to its proper place and thus aptly blending the
+work of the three. Now, which shall be the centralizing force? Really,
+is there any question? Must it not be the original institution&mdash;the
+home&mdash;the one which saw the need of the others and called them into
+being&mdash;the one upon which the responsibility finally rests? And even tho
+many individual homes are weak, wholly incapable of doing themselves all
+the varied kinds of work needed, yet the collective institution can and
+must act. And even the individual home, efficient or inefficient,
+should, much more than it does, thus act within the limits of its own
+jurisdiction and up to the limits of its own power.</p>
+
+<p>And to whom does the school belong, anyway? To the Board of Education?
+Is it the private possession of the teachers? Does it exist to give
+teachers positions? Why, no, of course not. It is yours, and yours, and
+yours. They, both Board and teachers, are your servants, hired men and
+women, if you and they please&mdash;hired for pay to do your work, just as
+much as are the clerks in your stores, the harvest hands on the farms,
+or the maids in the kitchen. A different kind of work to be sure but,
+nevertheless,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> we are workmen for pay. And we need watching just as much
+as do the other workers. But let us put it in this way&mdash;we need
+intelligent, sympathetic co-operation, as an opportunity and as a spur
+for our best work and as a joy in it all&mdash;your constant kindly interest
+and your intelligent co-operation. I suppose that the situation is quite
+different in a city of this size from what it is in the large centers. I
+remember of talking, at one time, to an audience of teachers in a large
+city. I was astounded to learn that those teachers did not know, by
+sight even, the parents of one-half of their pupils, and many of them
+had been in the schools for a period of from three to four years. Whose
+fault was it? The teacher's or the parents? Why, what is the school? And
+whose is it? And what is it for? Whose fault was it? The question does
+not need an answer. It answers itself. But I urged those teachers to
+visit the homes&mdash;to become acquainted with the parents of their pupils
+so that they could know the atmosphere surrounding them and thus be
+better able to guide their development and minister to their varied
+needs. But I did not thus urge them because they had, up to that time,
+neglected their duty, rather because there seemed no prospect that the
+homes would embrace their opportunity and take the initiative.</p>
+
+<p>I fancy that here in the smaller place where everybody knows everybody
+it is very different. Doubtless there is not a teacher here whose
+acquaintance has not been made by both parents of every child in her or
+his room. Probably there is not one who has not been entertained in
+every home represented in the room. This should be the situation not
+pri<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>marily because parents owe teachers such attention, not because any
+such social responsibility rests upon them, but rather because the
+relationship thus created gives parents the best possible opportunity to
+co-operate with the school in doing that portion of the home's great
+work. No, parents do not "owe" it to the teachers, rather do they "owe"
+it to their children and the next generation. I am urging this program
+because it is the only way by which you can get the most and best
+service from the schools.</p>
+
+<p>It is true that parents may not understand all the subjects that are
+taught in the schools. Parents may not be acquainted with the methods of
+teaching so that they can be intelligent critics of schoolroom
+procedure. Never mind. That is not necessary. You do know boys and
+girls. Many of you could give us teachers valuable suggestions on the
+best ways of dealing with boys and girls. And there isn't one of you who
+could not assist the teacher in the work with your own children. And
+then there is another way to look upon it. It is altogether possible
+that this closer acquaintance with the school and with the
+teachers&mdash;with men and women who have made a careful, scientific study
+of boys and girls and of the art of teaching&mdash;it is altogether possible,
+I say, that this contact might react helpfully upon you and the home.
+You might possibly get suggestions from us that would help you in the
+home. The closer contact might be mutually helpful.</p>
+
+<p>And so, in this necessarily hurried manner we have passed in review
+these three great age-old yet very modern institutions&mdash;the home, the
+church, and the school. We have seen whence each has arisen, have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> noted
+the pathway trod, and caught a glimpse of its present-day function. And
+the close relationship, too, must have become plain as we passed along.
+No one of the three, we have seen, could stand alone. Each depends upon
+both the others and likewise lends them both assistance. For sane,
+all-round, constructive work in any one field, the contributions of all
+are seen to be needed.</p>
+
+<p>Let us, therefore, take an account of stock, as the business man says,
+and note our individual attitude and responsibility. As representing the
+home, let us look upon the other two as creatures of our own building
+still requiring direction and fostering care. Let our attitude toward
+them be neither patronizing nor coldly critical. As representing the
+church and the school, let us not forget the source of our being. We
+should not ignore the home nor attempt to dominate it. Let us, rather,
+seek to carry out its program, rendering a good account of our
+stewardship. Thus and thus only can the great work originally entrusted
+to the home be accomplished.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2>
+
+
+<h3>NOBLESSE OBLIGE</h3>
+
+<blockquote><h4><i>A Convocation Address delivered at the University of North Dakota,
+January 29, 1916</i></h4></blockquote>
+
+<p>There is no audience before which a speaker should have greater reason
+for apprehension than an audience made up largely of university
+students. There is no audience for which a speaker should more carefully
+choose his thoughts and the words for their expression than a university
+audience, nor one more worthy of earnest treatment. On the other hand,
+there is no audience that a speaker can address more inspiring than an
+audience made up of young men and women in the heyday of young life
+preparing for better and larger usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>All this is true because there is no other audience that can be gathered
+together whose future work can begin to compare, in far-reaching
+consequences, in possibilities for usefulness, with that of such an
+audience. There is no other company of people of equal number within
+whose keeping there is more of potential weal or woe for coming
+generations. And these things are true because university students of
+to-day are the world's leaders of to-morrow.</p>
+
+<p>This is not so trite a saying as the one that declares that the boys and
+girls of one generation are to be the men and women of the next, but it
+is just as true and just as significant. Indeed, I suppose it can not be
+called a trite saying in the true sense of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> term. It has not been
+uttered so many times, is not now being used so commonly, as to indicate
+its universal acceptance. It is not so obviously true as to preclude
+challenge and argument. It is my purpose very briefly to examine the
+statement and from the conclusion reached connect the same with the
+thought of a beautiful proverb that has come down to us thru a long
+lapse of years&mdash;<i>Noblesse Oblige</i>&mdash;our privileges compel us.</p>
+
+<p>So far as I know there is no way of seeing the future save thru a study
+of the facts of the past and the indications of the present. The
+university students of a generation ago&mdash;where are they to-day?
+Positions of leadership to-day&mdash;filled by whom?</p>
+
+<p>Exhaustive and thoroly satisfactory statistics are not at hand, but such
+as we have speak eloquently in favor of the statement in question.
+Practically our only reliable statistics touching the matter are
+gathered from our biographical cyclopedias. A few years ago a very
+interesting study was made of the data found in the current issue of
+<i>Who's Who in America</i>. This book, you know, is made up of short
+biographies of such persons living at the time in the United States as
+have become real factors in the progress and achievement of the age, in
+other words, of men recognized as leaders in thought and action in the
+educational, political, military, and business realms.</p>
+
+<p>Of the whole number mentioned in the issue studied educational data were
+given of 11,019. Of that number 1,111 had enjoyed only elementary school
+advantages; 1,966 had added to these only the advantages of secondary
+education, but 7,942 had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> come from the colleges and universities. In
+other words, more than 72% of these leaders are shown to have received
+their final preparations for leadership within college walls.</p>
+
+<p>Figures as interesting have been gathered thru a use of <i>Appleton's
+Cyclopedia of Biography</i>. A few years ago careful study was made of an
+edition just then out and it was found that of the college graduates of
+America one out of every forty had gained sufficient distinction to
+merit recognition in that cyclopedia, whereas only one out of 10,000
+non-graduates, the public at large, had received such distinction. In
+other words, the college graduate had 250 chances to the other man's one
+for achieving leadership.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, the higher institutions of learning have furnished every one
+of the Chief Justices of our Supreme Court, 75% of our Presidents, 70%
+of the membership of our two highest courts, and more than 50% of all
+our Congressmen. The last state-men is very significant when one recalls
+our method of selecting Congressmen&mdash;our political machinery and its
+devious modes of working. I have no authentic data of other fields, but
+all that one needs to do to satisfy himself practically as to other
+details is to call to his service his own knowledge of the general
+situation. In the communities with which you are acquainted, among the
+people whom you know either personally or by reputation, what are the
+facts? Who are the leaders? Where college people are found, are they
+leaders or followers?</p>
+
+<p>There are exceptions, of course. There come to you at once the names of
+men, a few of them, who, thru the exercise of their own inherent
+strength, un<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>aided by college or university, have risen to deserved
+greatness. I have only to mention the names of our immortal Lincoln, or
+England's present David Lloyd George, in the field of statesmanship, or
+of Lord Strathcona or Sir William Van Horne, or James J. Hill, railroad
+kings and empire builders, in the business world, or of Luther Burbank,
+in the realm of science, to make the fact of exceptions perfectly clear.
+But they <i>are</i> exceptions&mdash;that's the point&mdash;and exceptions merely prove
+the rule.</p>
+
+<p>And even as to the few it is scarcely necessary to say that their
+positions, tho of leadership, are, generally speaking, subordinate ones,
+they themselves even while leading in certain limited fields, are
+following the leadership of others in broader fields which include their
+own&mdash;and the ones followed are they of the broader training. This is
+especially true of men who have achieved success in the business world
+or in the political field. Their success, their leadership, is often
+more seeming than real,&mdash;depending as it does upon their
+advisers&mdash;broadly educated men. Take Lord Strathcona, for example, or
+Mr. Hill, as typical illustrations; with all their far-sightedness and
+their recognized ability, what could they have done, even in their own
+field of activity, had it not been for the trained physicist, the
+skilled chemist, and the engineer&mdash;products of the university&mdash;who gave
+them their rails, built their bridges, designed their engines, and in
+many ways made it possible for them to realize their dreams? They would
+have been powerless. Tho leaders, they followed, and their kind always
+will follow, the university student. They may hire this student and pay
+him his wage, but they are still indebted to him for leading them onward
+and upward.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From a hasty survey, therefore, which, however, I am satisfied would
+yield the same fruitage no matter to what extent pushed, our statement
+seems to be justified.</p>
+
+<p>But let us look at it from another point of view. How is the matter
+regarded by those of the present time most deeply interested in the
+future well-being of man and of the nations of the world? By those
+people and those forces who feel the responsibility of providing
+leadership for the next generation? What steps are being taken to reach
+the end&mdash;to provide the leaders? On any hypothesis other than the one
+assumed in my initial statement can you account for the lavish
+expenditure for the endowment and maintenance of higher institutions of
+learning that so characterize our generation? From one side to the other
+of our broad land, aye, from distant lands and from the isles of the sea
+comes the same testimony: benevolent individuals seem to vie with one
+another in the munificence of their gifts for higher education. Even
+soveren states and great nations, under the guidance of far-seeing
+leaders, are planting these institutions and, in a truly generous
+manner, providing for their present and future needs.</p>
+
+<p>That the college is the only source from whence can come our supply of
+leaders is a real conviction in the minds of men the world over, is
+shown by a recent incident in war-stricken Europe. It was only a few
+months ago and during the terrible campaign in Eastern Poland, even
+while shells were bursting and men were dying, that the Central Powers
+stopt, as it were, in the mad rush of wanton destruction, to
+re-establish and reorganize the old University of Warsaw. More than
+that, they added to the old insti<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>tution two new faculties, or colleges,
+as we would call them.</p>
+
+<p>Strange, isn't it? In the incident I can see but this logic: a
+recognition of the fact that, with the forces of destruction reaping
+such an awful harvest, their civilization was doomed unless some step
+could be taken, not, primarily, to check the present war but rather to
+provide, at its close, an adequate supply of leaders. That seemed to
+them the only way to prevent a permanent impoverishment and a dropping
+back into a state of, at least, temporary semi-barbarism as was so
+common during the early Middle Ages under analogous circumstances. And
+the step taken by those shrewd, coldly-calculating war lords was the
+strengthening of the forces of higher education. One reason why, during
+the Middle Ages, there was this frequent dropping back is the fact that
+this relationship between leadership and education was not recognized.</p>
+
+<p>Under the powerful impulse of this conviction, namely, that the
+well-equipt college as a part of the broad university community is the
+only source of leadership, men and states and provinces and nations are
+sacrificing for higher education as never before. New institutions are
+being founded and old ones strengthened. Magnificent buildings are being
+erected with seemingly little thought of cost provided only that they
+serve their purpose. Libraries so thoroly equipt as to leave nothing
+desired, laboratories unsurpast in completeness, vast gymnasiums
+containing every possible apparatus for bodily development, and other
+facilities of every kind and description, all irrespective of cost, are
+daily being added. And better than buildings and grounds, more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> vital
+than equipment and endowment, are the trained minds and pure hearts
+that, in ever increasing numbers, are being freely offered on the same
+shrine. Abilities, and training, and attainments that in the world of
+business would yield their possessors independent fortunes, or in the
+fields of authorship or politics result in honor and fame, are here
+freely offered. The material return rendered for such service is the
+merest pittance absolutely needed for family support, and the
+immaterial, but one's enshrinement in the heart of an occasional
+grateful student plus the consciousness of having done one's duty. Can
+such a generous outpouring of material and spiritual treasures be
+accounted for on any hypothesis other than a recognition of the great
+world's needs and a firm belief that those needs can be best satisfied
+thru an educated leadership? Nay, verily, all these things are being
+done because the best thought of the day feels, both instinctively and
+with reason, that only thus can the kingdom of God come among men.</p>
+
+<p>What unique, important, and responsible position the State or Provincial
+University occupies among civic institutions! What splendid
+opportunities for usefulness are his who is the executive head of such
+an institution! Aye, and what weighty responsibilities rest upon him!
+Fellow teachers, what manifold opportunities for usefulness are yours,
+and what weighty responsibilities rest upon you by virtue of the fact
+that you are teachers in such an institution! And my message to you is
+the same as to the student body&mdash;<i>Noblesse Oblige!</i> Freely have you
+received, freely must you give. Tho the state does not, nor ever can,
+adequately pay you for your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> best services, still you must not falter.
+You must continue to live up to your own high ideals of your noble
+profession. The very acceptance of such positions in such an institution
+carries with it the obligation of performance&mdash;<i>Noblesse Oblige!</i></p>
+
+<p>But who are these college and university students who have such a large
+and important future before them and for whose training and development,
+because of that future, such elaborate preparations are being made? The
+university man&mdash;who and what is he? Likewise the university woman? Let
+us answer the question simply and briefly by merely saying that, tho
+sometimes rude and crude because immature and undeveloped, they are yet
+the keenest, the brightest, the most far-seeing, the most promising
+young men and women of the land. They are the choice souls found, one
+here, another there, one in the hamlet and another on the farm, one in
+the city and another on the prairie, one in a palace, another in a sod
+house. They are a picked lot selected not only from the so-called upper
+ranks of thought and action, but as well from the highways and by-ways
+of our broad land, chosen because of intellectual strength and moral
+fiber, because of high ideals and lofty purposes; chosen by themselves,
+it may be true, but chosen nevertheless, thru their equipment of mind
+and heart. The very fact that you are here and others are not is
+testimony sufficient to your greater worth. Exceptions, to be true,
+there are, but none too many prove the rule. I am not saying these
+things in a spirit of flattery, not at all. I am merely stating facts,
+and thru these facts trying to help you catch the vision&mdash;to see your
+opportunity and accept the responsibilities. But note the
+sig<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>nificance&mdash;those already best equipt by the superior quality of
+their brain matter and of their mental fiber and of their moral nature
+and who therefore without further preparation would easily distance the
+others, are here giving themselves even better equipment. There can be
+no question as to the relative position of the two classes in the years
+to come&mdash;the one class is to furnish the leaders, the other the
+followers. The one is to form the ideals, to set the standards, to
+decide upon policies, to mark out courses, the other to try to reach the
+goals set. The two classes may be equally good morally, equally worthy
+of respect and honor because equally faithful in the performance of
+duties suited to their tastes and abilities, but yet, from the very
+nature of things, the one going ahead, the other following behind. And
+in the years to come your competitors will be not from among the
+non-college men and women&mdash;you have already put yourself out of their
+reach&mdash;but from among those who, like yourselves, ambitious for better
+and greater things, are to-day, in this and other similar institutions,
+using every means, straining every nerve, to attain the highest possible
+degree of efficiency for future service. You are not only to be leaders,
+but in some way you seem to know it instinctively and to be putting
+yourselves in a state of readiness.</p>
+
+<p>But does some one raise the objection that this theory of leadership
+does not seem to be in harmony with the spirit and genius of our
+American institutions; that under a democratic form of government all
+are equal; that all men, irrespective of intellectual attainment, share
+equally, not only before the law but in the very making of law; that in
+America<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> all men are rulers? All this is true theoretically and, to a
+certain extent, practically, but it does not lessen the need of
+efficient leadership; it increases that need, or, at any rate, it makes
+it necessary that the number capable of efficient leadership be greatly
+increased. The very fact that all have a voice in the government, that
+all do share, consciously and potently, in its exercise and in its
+responsibilities, speaks more loudly than anything else can of the need
+of wise leadership. If the great mass of people were not factors, they
+would not have to be taken into account. They might need drivers but not
+leaders. But being factors and yet, in the main, not being capable of
+adequate analysis of our most complex and highly intricate problems,
+they must be provided with safe and efficient leaders. I believe in the
+honesty, in the good intentions, and in the good sense of the common
+people. But I do not believe in their ability to detect relations, to
+draw wise conclusions, and to formulate policies touching the
+complicated political, social, and economic conditions of our times.</p>
+
+<p>It is a well-recognized fact that, as some one has said, "speaking
+broadly, the striking disadvantage under which a democracy labors, as
+contrasted, let us say, with certain types of autocracy, lies in its
+inability to plan effectively with reference to remote goals.... What we
+call 'far ahead' thinking is difficult for the individual, but it is
+vastly more difficult for the group, and its difficulty is intensified
+in both cases if it demands large measures of present sacrifice." No,
+democracy must be led. Leaders they must have. If honest and
+disinterested ones are not at hand, selfish and dishonest ones will be
+ac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>cepted. I grant that leadership is not the greatest need of
+democracy, that, of course, is a higher level of knowledge and
+intelligence, but I do claim that leadership is, and always will be, the
+greatest <i>present</i> need of democracy, since it is only thru that
+leadership that the higher intelligence can be reached, without loss,
+and in the shortest possible time.</p>
+
+<p>But again, do you point out certain great victories of the common
+people, so-called, when they have risen in the power of their might and,
+in the exercise of their right, have put down men who had assumed the
+right to lead them and were leading them astray? Do you point to the
+State of Missouri of a decade ago, and to New York City again and again,
+and to England a generation ago, as illustrations? True, in all these
+cases and in many others, notable victories had been gained by and for
+the people. But is it not also true that in every such case the people
+won victories because wisely led? Think you that corruption and
+violation of law would have been so checked in Missouri a decade ago and
+the breakers of law been so thoroly punished, had it not been for the
+clear-headed work of that fearless, public-spirited Joseph W. Folk? Does
+not Charles S. Whitman come to your mind when the great struggle in New
+York City is mentioned? And Hiram W. Johnson in California? And when we
+recall the victories of the people in our own Motherland across the
+sea, do we not have at once a mental picture of the "Grand Old Man,"
+William Ewart Gladstone? Had it not been for these leaders or others who
+might else have taken their places, half of the people whose votes
+helped win the victories would never have known that there were such
+vic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>tories to win. They would never have realized the extent to which
+they were being wronged and mis-ruled.</p>
+
+<p>Certain conditions were not quite satisfactory. All people felt, half
+unconsciously, that rights were not being respected, that justice was
+not being done&mdash;that something was wrong somewhere&mdash;but that was about
+all, about as far as they went or could go. But these leaders, who, in
+years gone by, in the colleges and the universities, had been trained to
+search for causes, to see relations, and to draw conclusions, had
+scented danger from afar. And to the task of ferreting out the evil and
+of finding remedies they devoted the strength of their splendidly equipt
+minds and the purity of their strong hearts. Following up the lead of
+surface manifestations they finally unearthed corporate greed, political
+domination, and Satanic selfishness in such kinds and amounts as to be
+really appalling. But they did not stop there&mdash;they searched for
+remedies and then went before the people and told them a plain simple
+tale of what they had found&mdash;of how grossly the people were being
+wronged&mdash;and they outlined programs of reform. The people believed them;
+they rallied to their standards, accepted their leadership, and won the
+victories. And such victories, in greater or less degree, are being won
+all over the land, thank God! And back of every one of them you can
+find, if you search, a smaller or larger edition of Folk, Whitman, or
+Gladstone.</p>
+
+<p>And how about the future? Are all the victories won? No more such work
+to do? Ah! the question does not need an answer. Then who are to be the
+leaders? Why not you? and you? and you? De<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>pend upon it, they are going
+to be college men and college women, and who more capable or worthy than
+yourselves?</p>
+
+<p>There are two ways in which I want you young people to look upon this
+matter; in the first place, from the point of view of your own personal
+interests. Here are opportunities for advancement, openings the filling
+of which will bring to you worldly success, and honor and fame. Both by
+natural endowment and by special training you are fitted for the work.
+Seize, then, the opportunities and make the most of them, because the
+world and they that dwell therein belong to him who knows how to use
+them. From one point of view this is perfectly legitimate, and I urge
+it. It is not only one's right but one's duty to make the most of
+himself&mdash;to advance his own interests. The program becomes censurable
+only when it absorbs all else&mdash;when one's own interest is sought at the
+<i>expense</i> of the interest of other people instead of in connection with
+it or as a step in its realization.</p>
+
+<p>Now, the other way in which I want you to regard the matter is from the
+point of view of the interests of the people at large. Let me put it
+like this: here is your body politic, the people of North Dakota,
+600,000 strong, or, better yet, the people of the United States, some
+hundred million in number, partners in ownership of our magnificent
+country, co-laborers in its administration, and sharers in the work of
+their own government and in the working out of their destinies&mdash;each
+with a share and an influence and each expected to participate. But so
+complicated are the matters needing consideration, so difficult of
+solution many of the problems arising,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> and so infinitely vast the whole
+undertaking that the great majority of the people, thru either
+immaturity or lack of training, often do not know what is best to do.
+And again, skilful manipulators, dishonest self-seekers, are ever at
+hand with plausible theories calculated to befog the untrained, deceive
+the unsuspecting, and to lead them all astray. Taking everything into
+consideration, the situation is extremely difficult. In a plain word,
+these untrained people, the product of the elementary schools, can not
+see far enough ahead to know that oftentimes the policy that seems most
+attractive is full of danger for the future. They are not qualified to
+weigh, and estimate, and decide. But there is a class among them,
+college-bred men and women, a small class, relatively, that is
+qualified. Thru long years of study, and investigation, and reflection,
+in institutions freely provided and generously maintained by the people
+now in need, they have attained such a knowledge of affairs and such an
+ability to cope with intricate problems as to make them efficient
+leaders&mdash;leaders capable of guiding aright the noble ship of state thru
+difficult and tortuous channels beset, on every side, by dangerous rocks
+and calamitous whirlpools. And among that class of efficient leaders
+you, young men and young women of the University of North Dakota, will
+soon be numbered. How shall you respond to the call of duty? Your State,
+by virtue of what she has done and is now doing for you, has a right to
+expect unselfishness and unstinted service in her own interests and in
+those of mankind. Shall she get it? Will you rise to the occasion and,
+even at a sacrifice of personal comfort, ease, esthetic enjoyment,
+money, give to her what is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> her due? Will you remember <i>Noblesse
+Oblige</i>? Of course you will. For there is a well-established principle,
+clearly stated in Holy Writ and sanctioned by the ages, that of those to
+whom much hath been given, much will also be required. <i>Noblesse
+Oblige</i>&mdash;your privileges compel you.</p>
+
+<p>Because the theory of the old motto, "<i>Paucis vivat humanum genus</i>,"
+"for the few live the many," is no longer maintained. The many do not
+live for the few. The reverse is true. The few live for the many. But
+yet, the service is not unrewarded&mdash;only a portion of the reward has
+come first. In your equipment you are being paid in advance. David Starr
+Jordan has happily clothed the thought in these words: "It is in the
+saving of the few who serve the many that the progress of civilization
+lies. In the march of the common man, and in the influence of the man
+uncommon who rises freely from the ranks, we have all of history that
+counts."</p>
+
+<p>And here I might stop. But a general statement, more or less abstract,
+needs practical illustration: the "how," the "when," and the "where" are
+perfectly legitimate questions for you to ask. Let us then throw a hasty
+glance upon some of the great activities that claim men's attention, and
+discover some of the openings awaiting you.</p>
+
+<p><i>The teaching profession</i> will draw heavily upon your ranks&mdash;that
+profession, full and rich in opportunities for usefulness beyond any and
+all others, is more and more looking for you, and waiting impatiently
+for your full equipment and thoro readiness. All of the higher positions
+must come to you and others like you. No others are, or will be,
+adequately prepared. In nearly all of our states the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> legal requirement
+for a high school teacher and, of course, for the high school principal
+and city superintendent is the completion of a full four-year college
+course including a certain specified amount of professional work. In
+some of the states, indeed, the requirement is of a full year beyond the
+undergraduate course, or the possession of a Master's degree, with the
+emphasis of this added year thrown upon the subjects to be taught and
+the manner of handling the same.</p>
+
+<p>So the facts are borne upon us that the desk of the high school
+principal, the office of the city superintendent, the chair of the
+college professor, the position of college and university president, is
+soon to be offered you. Are you ready for it? ready in academic
+equipment? ready in professional attainment? And are you equally well
+prepared in that even finer element&mdash;the possession of your soul by the
+spirit of <i>Noblesse Oblige</i>?</p>
+
+<p>I can not say, of course, to which of you here to-day a college
+presidency is to be offered, nor the professor's chair, nor any other
+specific position. Nor can I say just when the offer will come. But I
+can say, and with assurance, that all these positions and all others of
+leadership in the educational field will be offered to college men and
+college women, and in all probability as soon as they are well ready for
+them. Moreover, it can doubtless be said that they will be apportioned
+fairly on the basis of merit and fitness. And then you will have in your
+hands the shaping of the destinies of a great free people with all the
+emoluments, the opportunities, and the responsibilities that should
+accompany a work of such moment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And <i>the Gospel ministry</i> can no longer look elsewhere. If it is to
+continue to wield its mighty influence for good, and to play its
+magnificent r&ocirc;le of leadership in our developing civilization,
+especially among our rapidly increasing educated classes, it must more
+and more come into its rightful inheritance, so long withheld, of that
+broader conception of brotherhood and Christianity that forgets the
+letter of the law in magnifying its spirit&mdash;that puts life before dogma
+and character before creed. And this, fellow students, can never be
+without the broad university equipment.</p>
+
+<p>We have traveled far during these latter years. And no longer do we
+consider it sufficient that the minister of the Gospel know merely his
+Bible and his theology. In addition to these, aye, as a basis for these,
+it is now demanded (that is, if he be accorded a position of real
+leadership among thinking people) that he know as well his history and
+his sociology, his psychology and his biology, and indeed that he be
+acquainted with all the fields of human knowledge. Not only that, he
+must know life as it is lived to-day, and the thoughts and emotions of
+men as they are manifested in the give and take of actual life. And none
+of these can be obtained within the narrow confines of the old
+theological seminary. The modern university is the only institution in
+which the minister of the future can get it all and get it in the right
+order and in the correct admixture. In the laboratories, the libraries,
+and the classrooms he will delve deeply into the realms of science,
+literature, and art, and there and on the campus, in its varied
+activities, touch hands and exchange thoughts with the future lawyer,
+teacher, physician, engineer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> business man, what-not, and thus gain
+tolerance, humility, catholicity of spirit, and the spirit of true
+democracy.</p>
+
+<p>Thus circumstanced during his preparatory years, he will go out capable
+of seeing things in their proper perspective. That's the kind of man
+that the ministry is calling to-day, and the call will be louder and
+more incessant as the years pass and the education of the people
+progresses. That's the kind of man we already have in some of our
+leading pulpits, and they are exerting a tremendous influence in all
+departments of life. But the supply is limited. There's not enough to go
+around. Many more are needed. Our universities must furnish them. Will
+this institution do its share? Will some of you young men, with your
+well-trained bodies, with your finely-disciplined minds, with your
+highly-cultured natures, with that fine balance of powers that means so
+much and that can accomplish so much for the world if thus used&mdash;will
+you turn aside from the beaten path that would be sure to lead to fame
+and power and worldly success and enter the more difficult but more
+useful field of the Christian ministry for the simple purpose of serving
+mankind? You are the kind of men we want, and I am sure that you will
+not disappoint us.</p>
+
+<p>And so I might go on, did time permit, and point out attractive and
+responsible openings in many different activities&mdash;the fields of
+engineering and journalism, the professions of medicine and law, the
+great world of business, even politics (should I not say, rather, and
+<i>especially</i> politics?). It is not necessary to go farther into detail.
+You catch my thought. In one and all of these, positions of leader<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>ship
+are calling loudly for men and women of large knowledge, of trained
+minds, of broad outlook, and of splendid visions; and these
+characteristics are the fruitage of nothing less than the broad and
+comprehensive foundations laid in the college and the university. And
+you who have them are, by the very fact of possession, under obligation
+to use them for the public weal. How is it, young man, young woman? Are
+you going to mesure up to the twentieth century standard? Will you carry
+with you from this hall when you leave to-day, and from this institution
+when she honors you with her diploma, and out into the great activities
+of life,&mdash;will you carry with you, I ask, and make the basis of your
+actions in life, the thought of these two little words that have been
+engaging our attention this morning&mdash;<i>Noblesse Oblige</i>?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2>
+
+
+<h3>IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS</h3>
+
+<blockquote><h4><i>A Paper read before the Commercial Club of Grand Forks, North Dakota,
+January 24, 1911, and printed in the Grand Forks "Daily Herald," January
+29, 1911</i></h4></blockquote>
+
+<p>In accepting an invitation to speak upon the topic assigned,
+"Improvements in Our Public Schools," I come not as a hostile critic,
+not even as an impartial observer viewing and commenting upon something
+belonging to another. Rather, I come as a sympathetic friend to talk
+about an institution in which I am vitally interested and of whose good
+work I am proud. Indeed, I am to discuss a great business industry, if
+you please, in which you and I are joint stockholders and for whose
+success we are alike responsible. And, too, I have been for so many
+years a teacher and so closely connected with educational work that I
+feel akin to every other man and woman engaged in that occupation.
+Knowing how easy it is to make mistakes and thus fall short of attaining
+our high ideals in this most trying and most difficult work, I am
+temperamentally inclined to magnify the difficulties and to overlook the
+shortcomings of educational workers. To be sure, in speaking upon
+"Improvements," I am admitting that improvements are possible. But the
+best friend of a person or an institution is one who talks frankly and
+honestly, admitting weaknesses, if such there be, and suggesting
+assistance. Such an attitude can not well be interpreted as a criticism
+either of men or mesures.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A gentleman met me on the street a day or two ago and said, "I
+understand that you are going to find fault with our schools next
+Tuesday night. What for? I want you to understand that our schools are
+all right. Let well enough alone." A few days ago one of the local
+papers said of the schools, "The public schools of Grand Forks are
+recognized as the finest in the Northwest and the school system is
+up-to-date in every respect."</p>
+
+<p>And that idea seems to be chronic. Such expressions are common in our
+papers and from many of our people. The impression sought to be given is
+doubtless that of "Let well enough alone," or "Hands off." Now, Mr.
+Chairman, while this feeling clearly betokens a general confidence in
+the management of the schools of which those directly in charge may well
+take pride, nevertheless, it is not an altogether healthy condition of
+affairs.</p>
+
+<p>While I believe in a wise conservatism as against an unthinking
+radicalism, I am in no sense of the term a "stand-patter." The
+individual who has earned this picturesque title, I care not whether in
+the halls of Congress or in the ranks of the educators, is a foe to
+progress. A "stand-patter" is such because he is in a rut and either too
+lazy or too corrupt to get out.</p>
+
+<p>Things ought not to remain long as they are in any business, in any
+enterprise, in any institution. Civilization never stands still. The
+most dangerous attitude of mind that a man can hold is that of
+complacency, that of perfect satisfaction with things as they are. The
+good is always a foe to the best.</p>
+
+<p>No, gentlemen, our schools are not "up-to-date in every respect," not
+altogether the "finest" in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> great Northwest. The Northwest, you
+know, is a pretty big place and has some pretty enterprising towns. But
+no individual town has, in all respects, the finest schools in the
+Northwest, or in any other place. Our schools are, like those of other
+cities, just a good strong average. Like every other system, it contains
+some good teachers and some not so good; some up-to-date methods of
+instruction are being used and some which should be improved; some
+features there are to be strongly commended and some, doubtless, that
+should be discontinued. And more than this, gentlemen, you have no right
+to demand, or expect, from your Superintendent and your Board of
+Education. They will be the very first to endorse all that I have
+admitted above. Indeed, that they do not hold that exaggerated opinion
+is clearly apparent from the fact that they are even now considering
+improvements. And may the day never dawn when we shall see no needed
+improvements for our public schools! Should such a time come, it would
+simply mean that in matters educational our eyes have become dimmed and
+that we are rapidly falling behind.</p>
+
+<p>Had the men of this city been "stand-patters" touching the city, Grand
+Forks would not be to-day what it is&mdash;the surprise and the admiration of
+every intelligent visitor. Were you men here to-night, in your civic
+relationship, "stand-patters," the promise of the future would be less
+bright than it is. During my early connection with Grand Forks I often
+wondered as to the secret of its enterprise. I was not long in
+discovering, however, that it was found in the spirit of this Commercial
+Club; a spirit, it is, of hope, of civic pride, of optimism, yet a
+spirit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> of almost divine discontent. You have all the time been proud of
+your city, but yet not satisfied with it; not satisfied, because you saw
+visions of a finer city into which yours might grow. Your city was not
+up-to-date&mdash;to help make it so you needed a street railway system; what
+did you do? Worked for it and&mdash;got it. Not yet up-to-date? A great
+auditorium was needed; you put your hand into your hip-pocket and lo! it
+arises in, what was it, thirty days? The goal not even yet in sight? No,
+because better pavement was imperative&mdash;and it came. Still something
+lacking? An up-to-date street lighting system&mdash;you put some of your men
+to work on it and it is now our pride and our neighbors' despair. And so
+I might go on, I do not need to. Only let me say that it will be a sad
+day for Grand Forks when we shall think that we have really reached the
+goal&mdash;when there is not something toward which we are striving.</p>
+
+<p>I am glad that, in this same spirit, you have now turned your gaze to
+the school house. Let us apply there the same principle of free,
+intelligent discussion and hearty, generous co-operation, each trying to
+outdo the other in loyalty and generous support, hoping, eventually, to
+make our schools the "finest in the Northwest," and "up-to-date in every
+respect."</p>
+
+<p>But this is a pretty big subject for treatment in an after-dinner talk
+of from 15 to 20 minutes. It involves so much, embracing within its
+scope, as it may, everything from finance to theology. The very function
+of the school, in the large, might well be considered under such a
+topic, and scores of details. I might well talk upon the education of
+teach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>ers as I do before my classes, or upon educational
+psychology&mdash;vital subjects all, but scarcely appropriate here. It is,
+indeed, a large and interesting subject, lots of places to catch hold.
+Manifestly, I can treat it only superficially. All that I can do is
+merely in the line of suggestion, trying to direct your attention to
+some of the general features, somewhat objective in character.</p>
+
+<p>The first suggestion I have to make is along this very line&mdash;the
+greatness, the many-sidedness of the educational problem and the need of
+general community intelligence in regard to it. Indeed, there are many
+aspects of the school work, countless number of details touching books,
+courses of study, immediate and remote ends, as well as the larger
+philosophical bases, in which the public is deeply interested but
+imperfectly informed. Many a parent is ignorant as to what the schools
+are trying to do, and why? Not comprehending the end in view,
+unintelligent as to the means being used, and with little time or
+ability to investigate, friction often arises. The public and its
+educational system, the homes and the schools, the teachers and the
+parents, should in some way be brought closer together and an
+opportunity given for their mutual understanding. There are various ways
+in which this opportunity is given in different places: thru mothers'
+meetings, in some; thru home and school societies, in others; thru the
+establishment of what some call "visiting days," in others, etc. Great
+good is sure to result from a systematic use of any one of them.</p>
+
+<p>But we in Grand Forks are a very busy people; clubs and societies
+without number claim our attention and secure our membership; public
+meetings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> for the discussion of charities, health, morals, foods, etc.,
+saying nothing about church and social demands, are already taking us
+too often from homes in the evening, so that I hesitate to suggest
+another such activity even in the interests of so important a matter as
+the public schools. But believing very firmly as I do that the largest
+success of our schools can be secured only thru a cordial co-operation
+of the homes and the schools, and believing also that this co-operation
+rests upon intelligence as to the aims of the schools and the means that
+are being used, I am going to suggest a way of meeting the
+difficulty&mdash;namely, the utilization of another educational agency of
+large influence and philanthropic spirit&mdash;I refer to the Press. It is
+not my purpose to present here an extended eulogy of the Press. That is
+not necessary. You all know what a mighty factor it is in shaping public
+opinion. I merely call attention to the fact that it is an <i>educational</i>
+institution; that it appeals not, as do the schools, to the children,
+but to the parents of the children: and then that in Grand Forks it goes
+into almost every home in the city. I suggest that this agency be used
+to bring about a frank, open discussion, and therefore a better
+understanding, of the function and the work of our public
+schools&mdash;local, state, and national. For our people, in addition to
+being busy, are both intelligent and enterprising. They know the value
+of the Press. They are great readers. I have been surprised, again and
+again, at the large circulation enjoyed by both our enterprising
+dailies. I have also been surprised to know how closely all our people
+keep in touch with local happenings chronicled there. An<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> educational
+column in one or both of the local papers in which the work of the
+schools, from taxation to lead pencils, could be discust, would be an
+innovation of great value. An open forum, so to speak, it might be, in
+which questions could be asked and answered, and also contributions made
+from the larger field of educational effort. Of course I do not suggest
+this as a place for the airing of personal feelings, of petty details,
+of minor matters, rather, an opportunity for discussing with and for an
+intelligent and enquiring people great educational questions,
+fundamental principles, and broad, humanitarian policies. All such
+matters, because fundamental in the development of civilization and
+because of universal interest, should and could be handled with frank
+simplicity. Such a discussion, constructive in character, could not fail
+of doing great good&mdash;of being very helpful to teachers and parents
+alike.</p>
+
+<p>Another suggestion that I want to make and an improvement that I am
+going to urge touches very closely the matter of efficiency of systems
+of education. Now, the efficiency of an educational institution or of a
+system of schools is often mesured by the success of those completing
+its course of study&mdash;of those profiting, to the full, by all that it
+offers. That is the point of view taken by those people who so greatly
+praise the work of the old district school of our boyhood days, "back
+East." They point to this man and that one, men who have achieved
+eminent success, whose only "schooling," perhaps, was received in the
+"little red school house" and therefore claim that it was a great
+institution for the making of men. But therein lurks a fallacy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> Great
+men have issued from the "little red school house," it is true, but they
+became great not because of, but in spite of, the fact that the school
+house was "little" and was "red." In pointing to such men as these, as
+products, they forget the great silent multitude of boys and girls who
+were in the same "little red school house" but who were never heard of
+after they emerged. The pathetic feature of the old district school was
+the great number of children who fell by the wayside. And so, to-day, no
+educational institution should be rated as to efficiency by considering
+the success merely of those completing its courses. To form a correct
+estimate we must consider as well all those who entered and dropt out
+before completion.</p>
+
+<p>No system of schools is really efficient in which any considerable
+percentage of the children drop out before completing the elementary
+course of study. No system of schools is satisfactorily efficient which
+is so managed as to require, or even allow, any considerable percentage
+of the children to repeat grades, that is, to fail of promotion, making
+it necessary to go over the work the second time. Or, to put it in other
+words, in which any considerable percentage of the children are doing
+work in grades lower than their ages would suggest.</p>
+
+<p>This is the matter of retardation of which we are hearing so much in
+these days, and in regard to which Grand Forks, as well as other cities,
+suffers. In my judgment, there are two main causes of retardation: poor
+teaching and physical defects of the children. There are two ways by
+which satisfactory teaching can be secured: in the first place, by
+securing the best teachers available, and this, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> am very sure, our
+Board of Education and our superintendent always try to do. In the
+second place, by improving the quality of work thus secured thru expert
+supervision on the part of the superintendent and the principals of the
+various schools. And this I am sure is not done to the extent that it
+might be were matters differently arranged. If another suggestion that I
+shall make later on is adopted, however, provision will be made for this
+improvement.</p>
+
+<p>Physical defects on the part of the children I named as the second cause
+of retardation. And the remedy for the major portion of this cause is
+found in my next suggestion&mdash;medical inspection of our school children.</p>
+
+<p>Estimating the conditions in Grand Forks on the basis of what has been
+discovered in many other places in which medical inspection is in
+operation, from 25% to 80% of the children in our schools are suffering
+from physical defects of some sort that interfere, to a greater or less
+degree, with the work of the school. There is no doubt in the minds of
+well-informed people that here is found a very fruitful cause of
+retardation, as seen both in grade-failure and in early dropping out of
+school. And very many of these defects are removable and, therefore, the
+retardation preventable.</p>
+
+<p>Now, the only seemingly valid reason that I have ever heard urged
+against the employment of the school physician is that of expense. It
+does cost something, I'll admit. All good things do. The necessary
+expense, however, is often overestimated. But let us see if we are not,
+even in hesitating at the expense, whatever it may be, wholly
+illogical.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> The city assumes the duty of educating the young, but if
+many of the young are not in a condition to receive that education,
+should we not logically see that the hindrances are removed? We enact
+compulsory attendance laws; should we not, where necessary, make it
+possible for the physically defective as well as others, to profit by
+such attendance? Otherwise, are we not wasting money?</p>
+
+<p>I have mentioned the expense, but there are two ways of looking at that.
+I am now going to advocate medical inspection as an economic mesure&mdash;as
+a money saver. Every child who repeats a grade is costing the city more
+than it should for its education. That is clearly apparent. How much
+that amounts to, in the aggregate, in Grand Forks, I do not know. But it
+is probably no small item. I have no doubt that, in the long run, the
+saving would pay the school physician. And then we should be clearly
+ahead in all the years saved by the various children, as well as the
+greater happiness and usefulness directly resulting from the improved
+situation. On the whole, it seems to me and to many others with whom I
+have talked that the next step forward that we should ask our Board of
+Education to take is the adoption of medical inspection.</p>
+
+<p>Another phase of the subject to which I desire to call your attention is
+that of the superintendency. And it isn't exactly like the old maid
+sister telling the mother of half a dozen lusty boys how to bring them
+up because, in addition to spending years in the study and teaching of
+educational matters, I have occupied the superintendent's office and
+tried to do his work.</p>
+
+<p>Historically, the superintendent of schools repre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>sents a development
+from the Board of Education, not from the teaching body. Originally, he
+was looked upon as the business manager of the Board, rather than an
+educator by profession. Quite specifically, he was, at first, often one
+of the regularly elected members of the Board, designated by the Board
+to attend to the details of the work, to keep the educational machine
+properly oiled, his selection seldom being dictated by any particular
+qualification of a professional character.</p>
+
+<p>But in this matter of education as in other matters, great changes have
+arisen. In those days teaching was not looked upon as a profession. It
+was merely a calling, a trade, a temporary activity requiring no special
+preparation. Anybody could teach and could teach any subject. Education
+was not recognized as a science. The function of the school was merely
+to give knowledge and it was not looked upon, as to-day, as a great
+social institution, largely responsible for the welfare of society and
+even for the stability of government. And as touching the child, not
+interesting itself with the formation of right habits of action, with
+the development of character, in a word, so handling the child and his
+environment as to bring about both the normal development of his inner
+life and the adequate shaping and preparing of that life to satisfy the
+demands that will later be met. Not at all.</p>
+
+<p>But great changes have arisen. Education has become a science, and its
+activities, its processes, are being based upon definite scientific
+principles. We are to-day demanding a professional preparation of all
+our teachers. We require them to know something about the child mind and
+the laws of its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> development. We expect them to know why they teach this
+subject and that, that is, the educational values of the various
+subjects, and the best manner of administering this educational food.
+Education, I say, is now looked upon as a <i>science</i>, closely allied to
+and continually assisted by its sister science of sociology, definitely
+based upon and springing out of the sciences of psychology and
+physiology, and even having its roots deep down in the sub-soil of
+biology.</p>
+
+<p>Together with this change of thought as to the function and work of the
+school, there has been a corresponding change as to the superintendent
+and his work. While we are not completely emancipated from the old rule
+of cut and try, from the old mechanical routine, the country as a whole
+has taken some long strides in advance. While some boards of education
+still look upon their superintendent as a chore boy, that idea has, on
+the whole, long since been abandoned. And the best educational thought
+of the country to-day regards the superintendent primarily as an
+educator, having to do with the inner, rather than the outer, phases of
+the school's activities. And our most progressive centers are looking
+upon him as a specialist, an educational expert, and demanding in him an
+educational and a professional equipment commensurate with the larger,
+more difficult, and most important work. He must be intimately
+acquainted with the sciences most closely related to his own and capable
+of drawing upon all the others for contributory assistance. And then, in
+carrying out the thought of this larger view and so shaping matters of
+detail as to profit by the superb equipment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> provided in the new
+superintendent, he has been freed from the routine work formerly done by
+him, thus giving the opportunity of studying the local problems and
+planning their solution.</p>
+
+<p>Now for my definite suggestion. It has taken me a long time to get to
+it, but I believe it is worth the time. I want you to look upon the
+superintendency of your schools as the largest, the most difficult, and
+most important position within the bestowal of the city. The mayor's job
+doesn't begin to compare with it. And then after you have so rated the
+position, I want you to free the man who holds it from all hack-work,
+from the details of business management, from anything and everything
+that now prevents him from making a careful, scientific, investigative
+study of fundamental educational problems that confront him right here
+in Grand Forks.</p>
+
+<p>And what are some of those problems, do you ask? Superintendent Kelly
+could doubtless name a score of them that he is waiting to get at but
+can not for want of time. Let me suggest a few that are confronting our
+superintendents all over the land. Nor can I do more than mention them.
+I name first this matter of retardation of which I have already spoken.
+Why is it that so many children fail of promotion and so have to repeat
+grades, thus adding to the expense of the schools? It no longer
+satisfies to say, "Because they do not study"&mdash;the question is, "Why do
+they not study?" Is it the fault of the child, the home, or the school?
+And, whosoever it is, how can the difficulty be removed? You would not
+in your business suffer a daily loss thru unnecessary friction&mdash;thru the
+unsatisfactory<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> working of your machinery. You demand the largest and
+best output possible for the money expended. Why not the same in the
+biggest business enterprise of the city&mdash;your schools? But to prevent
+the friction, you must know the cause. I want the superintendent to have
+time to investigate these matters. All this applies as well to those who
+drop out before completing the course as to those merely repeating a
+grade. An analogous question: Why do so few, relatively, of the
+graduates of the eighth grade enter the high school? And why do so few
+of those who enter complete the course? Again, is it because they can
+see no real connection between the work of the high school and the work
+of life&mdash;because it doesn't seem to fit them for anything? These things
+should be investigated and, when reasons are found, the remedy applied.
+We should know the facts. But all these matters take time, and the days
+are only so long and a man's strength always limited. Exhausted by
+hack-work, no man can do constructive thinking. And so we go on in our
+waste of money and energy and life. The waste of soil, the waste of
+tools, in our farming communities, doesn't compare with this waste in
+seriousness. Let us adopt the principles of scientific conservation.</p>
+
+<p>And now, in keeping with the topic given me to discuss, "Improvement in
+Our Public Schools," I have given three quite definite suggestions: In
+the first place, I have recommended the utilization of the Press as an
+agent of improvement. That is, I have asked that there be established in
+one or both of your daily papers an educational column in charge of some
+competent person thru which the public could become better informed on
+school mat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>ters and thus able to co-operate more intelligently in the
+upbuilding of the schools. In the second place, I have urged that
+mesures be taken looking toward the adoption of regular and systematic
+medical inspection of all school children. And lastly, I have urged you
+to look upon your superintendent of schools as an educational expert
+rather than a business man. And, regarding him as such, I have asked you
+to free him from the petty details of office work and all mechanical
+drudgery so that his training and his abilities could be used for
+educational betterment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2>
+
+
+<h3>LOCAL WINTER SPORTS</h3>
+
+<blockquote><h4><i>A Paper read before the Franklin Club of Grand Forks, North Dakota,
+December 1, 1910, and printed in the Grand Forks "Daily Herald,"
+December 4, 1910</i></h4></blockquote>
+
+<p>It is no longer necessary to offer an extended plea for a recognition of
+the value of physical training. The human race, in its upward climbing,
+long ago passed the stage where the body was looked upon as a hindrance
+to the soul in its aspirations. We have likewise gone beyond that higher
+stage in which the attitude toward the physical being was merely
+negative, and have clearly reached an altitude upon which we recognize a
+well-defined relationship between the physical man and the mental and
+spiritual man. We know now that only as each is healthy and thus in a
+condition to do its own work well, is the other able to act normally. As
+the great English philosopher, Locke, said, "A sound mind in a sound
+body is a brief but full description of a happy state in this world."
+This is a well-recognized article of our educational creed, not only,
+but even the conservative religious workers have accepted the principle,
+and we find inscribed over the entrances to our Christian Association
+buildings the word "body" as well as the word more commonly found in
+such connection, "spirit."</p>
+
+<p>But to go back just a moment: let us consider it from the standpoint of
+mere physical betterment. We know that a muscle unused means a muscle
+un<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>developed, and that, on the contrary, intelligent, systematic use,
+with a definite purpose in view, will accomplish wonders in physical
+development. We know something as to what a physical trainer can do with
+a bunch of raw foot-ball material. We know how the gymnasium can
+metamorphose a loose-jointed, lop-sided, stoop-shouldered,
+shamble-gaited young fellow. We know what the brisk recruiting officer
+can do with the "awkward squad." In the one case as in the other, the
+physical training stands him upon his feet; it takes the kinks out of
+his back; it throws his head up; it unties the knots in his legs; it
+puts fire into his eye. The good red blood courses thru his veins, and
+even shows itself in his cheeks. He walks with an elastic step. Every
+organ of his body is doing its duty. He no longer needs liver pills,
+digestive tablets or wizard oil.</p>
+
+<p>I said "mere physical betterment," didn't I? Well, you can not have
+"mere" physical betterment. In every case suggested above, there is
+something better than physical improvement. Without knowing why, or how,
+the young fellow, after the training suggested, in addition to being a
+more perfectly functioning animal, a better working flesh-and-blood
+machine, is several rounds higher up on the ladder of manhood. He looks
+you in the eye. He gives your hand a regular Stearns grip. He dares to
+say that his soul is his own. And why? Because the life-giving oxygen is
+getting down into the long-neglected corners of his lungs. Because his
+heart is forcing this purified blood thru his veins building up his
+system and incidentally throwing off the waste and poisonous matter, so
+that, relieved of the dregs, the bodily organs can really function.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> And
+if that is true of the "gizzard" it is likewise true of the brain. He
+can feel more keenly, think more wisely. But all this can be done by
+physical exercise alone. Some of the best of these results can be
+obtained by the use of the mere punching bag; by running around the
+house, if you run often enough and fast enough; all alone with the dumb
+bells or Indian clubs, if you keep at it long enough, or even by walking
+out to the University on the railroad tracks and saving your street car
+nickels. But taken thus, these exercises constitute a mere medicine. And
+people don't take medicine until they have to. And for some strange
+reason they won't take this kind even then unless some doctor prescribes
+it in consideration of the payment of a good sized fee. Why is it?
+Simply because we prize things in proportion to their cost?</p>
+
+<p>Now, we want these results and even better ones. And we don't want to
+pay the doctor's fees for this or any other kind of medicine in order to
+get them. What are we going to do about it? Isn't there some sugar
+coating that we can put on to these physical exercise pills to make them
+a little more palatable? Can't we in some way make ourselves believe
+that we are eating candy instead of taking quinine? For you know that we
+grown-ups have not lost all our powers of imagination. How often we play
+make believe, even yet! I'll tell you what we can do. Let's have this
+same physical exercise idea but introduce into it the element of sport
+which Webster defines as "that which diverts and makes mirth." Let's do
+these stunts "for the fun of it" instead of as a medicine. We'll get the
+results, just the same, and thus get double pay for our pains.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> I fancy
+that the skiing and the skating, the snow-shoeing and the curling of
+which we are to hear, all have that element tucked away somewhere in
+their anatomy.</p>
+
+<p>But you may ask me what more there is than the results already mentioned
+to be gotten from these physical exercises, if we succeed in covering up
+the quinine with Mr. Webster's molasses. I've used Indian clubs and dumb
+bells by the hour; I've walked to the University in season and out of
+season; I've even run around the house&mdash;and as a result have experienced
+the exhilaration that comes from such vigorous discipline. I've been
+better for it, physically, and therefore, of course, mentally. More
+oxygen, better blood, firmer bodily tissue including better nourished
+brain cells, have done their beneficent work. But yet, as I look back
+and see myself going thru these various maneuvers, I am fully confident
+of the fact that all this time I was also doing something else&mdash;that my
+poor brain cells, which really needed recuperation more than any other
+part of my body, that these brain cells were still at work, that I was
+all the time carrying on a more or less strenuous train of thought as
+exhaustive as tho I were seated in my study chair, or standing before my
+class in the recitation room. More than one lecture, or address, have I
+worked out while walking to and from the University.</p>
+
+<p>Now, one of the most important things for us to do is occasionally to
+stop thinking, or at least to stop thinking along our accustomed lines.
+We should give those few brain cells that are being made to work
+over-time a chance to rest once in a while. We are living too fast. Our
+lives are too intense.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> We are running our machines under high pressure,
+and some of them are already showing the results altho they are almost
+new. Unless there is a change, new ones will have to take their places
+ere long. The rate of speed of the life of the modern American business
+and professional man, the rate of speed of the life of the modern
+American society woman, is something terrific. We are wearing ourselves
+out before our time. Modern life is so complex, so exacting, so wearing,
+that we are losing all the joy of living. We are at our own firesides so
+seldom and for such short periods that we scarcely know our own little
+ones. Longfellow's "Children's Hour" that came "as a pause in the day's
+occupation," is almost wholly unknown in most American homes. There is
+no "pause" in the day's occupation. The occupation goes right on till
+after these "children" are soundly asleep in their beds and begins again
+before they are awake in the morning. And all this is true even of us,
+right here in this select circle, the "favored ones," many would call
+us.</p>
+
+<p>But I am not giving a diatribe on American life, so will not pursue the
+matter farther. All that I am trying to do is simply this: to call
+attention to the fact that we are living <i>fast</i>&mdash;faster than our
+physical and mental make-up can long stand; that we have already reached
+the danger point. And what are we going to do about it? Well, we shall
+have to do many things before the problems are all solved, the
+difficulties all met. As a slight relief, and to answer a question
+raised a little earlier in the paper, I am suggesting the sports&mdash;those
+activities that both rejuvenate the physical man and also "divert and
+make mirth." Into these we can not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> carry our teaching and our preaching
+and our making of social calls. The goods of the merchant, the notes of
+the banker, the briefs of the lawyer, the annoyances of the teacher, and
+the cares of the housewife, alike, would all have to be left behind. The
+mind could rest while the body and the spirit are being recreated. An
+hour a day, in the open air, with fears and anxieties and schemes all
+cast aside, in companionship with kindred spirits similarly divested of
+that which troubles and makes afraid, all engaged in recreative sports,
+would do more to make us physically well, morally strong, and civilly
+decent than all the pills of the doctors, all the texts of the
+preachers, and all the keys of the jailers!</p>
+
+<p>In keeping with the world-wide movement in this direction our own
+people, in their civic capacity, have already acted and have thus become
+the possessor of splendid park facilities which offer ample
+opportunities, when fully developed, for a sane out-of-door life of a
+population many times as large as ours at the present time. And as we
+all know, the Park Board has entered intelligently and systematically
+upon this matter of development and improvement. Much has already been
+done. Very much more is fully outlined in the minds of the Park Board. I
+think it is their purpose&mdash;and I fully believe that they will carry it
+out&mdash;to proceed in this matter of development just as rapidly as the
+people show, by their use of the facilities progressively offered, an
+appreciation.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly all the work done thus far, such as clearing away the rubbish,
+making the shady retreats usable, fitting up picnic grounds, caring for
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> tennis courts, golf links, and other game reserves, as well as
+erecting pavilions and other conveniences, has looked toward putting the
+grounds into condition for summer use. And the response on the part of
+the people has been gratifying. As rapidly as the parks have been put
+into shape, they have been generously used by an appreciative people. It
+has done my heart good, many times, especially on Sundays in the hot
+summer months, to see the numbers of people, and <i>the people</i>, who were
+really using the parks. They have been the people, in a large mesure,
+who can not easily get elsewhere the best things that the parks give.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far, as said, the plans for development have looked mainly toward
+summer use, But I am especially glad to note a recent improvement that
+shows that the Park Board has the winter use of the parks also
+definitely in mind. I refer to the new skating rink in Riverside Park.
+It is a most commendable institution. I very much hope that it will be
+extensively used, not only by the people living in that part of the
+city, but by those of all sections. It belongs to all of us. Here is an
+opportunity for a most delightful winter sport freely offered. If
+appreciated, as shown by its use, I have no doubt that it will be
+duplicated next winter, and on a larger scale, in Lincoln Park. And if
+we show that we appreciate this, other features will be added.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps I should stop here, but I can not lose the opportunity of saying
+just a word to connect this topic with the great playground movement,
+and therefore in behalf of providing facilities for winter and summer
+sports alike, for our boys and girls&mdash;our young people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Do you realize fully that the boys and girls of to-day&mdash;yours and mine,
+yes, and just as truly those less favored&mdash;those into whose lives there
+comes but little cheer, into whose stomachs there goes but little
+nourishing food, and into whose lungs, but little oxygen&mdash;do you
+realize, I ask, that these boys and girls are to be the men and women of
+to-morrow, with all the responsibilities of the world resting upon their
+shoulders? Do we want them to enter upon the duties of life
+stoop-shouldered, flat-chested, spectacle-eyed? Do we want them to be
+an&aelig;mic, pessimistic, nervous wrecks? Do we want them to be mental
+weaklings and moral cowards? Do we want them even to approximate these
+conditions? No? Then, with all our provisions for their wants and their
+needs, let us be sure to develop those things which minister so largely
+to the development of the opposite characteristics. Prevention is not
+only cheaper than cure, it is also better. Let us see that our parks are
+developed with provisions for our boys and girls as well as for the
+adults. Let us see that playgrounds are scattered over our city and
+provision made for both winter and summer sports.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to the Riverside Park skating rink, I wish the City Council
+or the Board of Education would establish one on the grounds of the
+Winship school, another at the Central building, and still a third on
+the Belmont grounds. This could be done at nominal cost. What a splendid
+opportunity it would give to all the children of the city to engage in
+this most healthful and invigorating sport! It would give them their
+needed entertainment and relaxation in the pure, invigorating,
+out-of-door air. It would surround them with an emotional atmos<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>phere
+that is at once normal, natural, and spiritually health-giving. Instead
+of these conditions, what do we find? Many of our young boys and girls
+and very many of those a little older&mdash;those just entering upon manhood
+and womanhood, when both emotional and physical atmosphere count for so
+much in the forming of habits and the choosing of ideals&mdash;many of these
+future men and women are finding their entertainment and their
+relaxation (and mind you, at the close of a day in school or in the
+evening after a day spent in the poorly ventilated office or store) in
+the moving-picture show or at the vaudeville. And in these places the
+air is apt to be both hot and impure, and all the physical conditions
+enervating. The emotional atmosphere, too, is sure to be abnormal,
+unnatural, and spiritually deadening. We find here, and in too large
+quantity to be a negligible factor, the atmosphere, the conditions, the
+associations, that help greatly to breed incorrigibles, truants, and
+laggards in our schools; that develop juvenile delinquents, hasty
+marriages, and early divorces; that send into the world paupers,
+grafters, and criminals. Not all the conditions are such in all such
+places, it is true, but as affecting young life these are usually the
+dominating ones.</p>
+
+<p>I am not condemning the theater. It has its legitimate place, and a
+large place it is, in normal, healthy, American life. I am merely
+declaiming against these lower forms as usually conducted for commercial
+gain&mdash;these perversions of the true theater idea&mdash;these institutions
+that deal so largely in the sensational elements and appeal so strongly
+to the passions. I am told that the cheap theater is the poor man's
+club. I very much doubt if that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> is its chief function or, rather, that
+its chief result is a wholesome quickening of the better nature of this
+poor man&mdash;that its chief accomplishment is to send him back to his home
+kinder, truer, and stronger, thru either the relaxation or the
+instruction, to grapple with the difficulties of life. I greatly fear
+that, as usually conducted, its influence upon the adult is at best but
+the temporary slaking of an unhealthy and never-satisfied thirst, and
+that upon the child and the adolescent it is a distinct blunting of all
+the finer sensibilities and elements of character. But even these lower
+forms are not all bad. There is enough of good in them to warrant an
+attempt at improvement rather than elimination. They can be improved,
+made clean, and wholesome, and thus become a positive factor in the
+development of right character. I doubt if it will be done, however,
+until some other motive than personal gain shall be responsible for
+their management. Still, as they are, they might be very greatly
+bettered if in some way those most deeply interested in the outcome
+could have a choice in the selection of the material to be used.</p>
+
+<p>One of the best ways to counteract the harmful influence of the poorly
+conducted moving picture show and the vaudeville is to develop something
+better to take their places. Let it be something that contains the
+life-giving principles, something that will appeal with equal force to
+the impressionable youth, and yet be clean and wholesome and natural.
+Shall we not look upon the public playground for the children, and the
+park system, for all, as a promising hope? And, properly developed,
+would they not soon come to act on the young, both<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> physically and
+psychically, as a prevention, thus making a later cure unnecessary? And
+upon adults, might we not reasonably expect their use to tend toward
+making less attractive, and so to the eventual abandonment of, many of
+these practises and forms of entertainment and recreation that are now
+so sapping of both physical and psychical life?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2>
+
+
+<h3>THE FUNCTION OF TEACHERS COLLEGE</h3>
+
+<blockquote><h4><i>An Address delivered before the North Dakota State Teachers Association
+on December 27, 1906. It later appeared in the January and February,
+1910, issues of "Education"</i></h4></blockquote>
+
+<p>Among the various educational institutions of the United States to-day,
+the one which, as it seems to me, is attracting the most intelligent
+attention on the part of our educational thinkers, and the one upon the
+right solution of whose problems depends, in a high degree, the success
+of our entire educational system, is the institution for the education
+of teachers. For we all have come, finally, to accept as true the
+statement of the old German writer, "School reform means schoolmaster
+reform," also that other, used so effectively in the days of our own
+early educational revival, "As is the teacher so is the school." And we
+are ready to-day to admit that those statements are true whether applied
+to the ungraded rural school with its noticeable lack of needed
+equipment, to the perfectly graded school of the city with every
+facility that human ingenuity can devise and money procure, or to the
+college and university where scholarship and culture are supposed to
+make their abode and contribute of their fullness. For I care not, and
+you care not, what be the physical and material equipment of the school;
+I care not, nor do you, what be the scholastic attainments of the one
+called teacher; if he isn't able to teach, that is, to cause to learn,
+we all know that the school, in just the mesure of his inability, is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>
+failure. One thing further we all know, and that is this: one plank in
+our great educational platform is belief in the necessity of an
+institution set apart for the preparation of teachers. We are
+irrevocably committed to the idea. It is a part of our educational
+creed. Fortunately, in our educational evolution we have left far behind
+us the stage when the wisdom of that institution was seriously
+questioned. Our pedagogical forefathers, valiant explorers, discoverers,
+heroes, educational statesmen&mdash;Carter, Mann, Page, Sheldon and
+others&mdash;have left us this priceless heritage. It remains for us to-day
+merely to analyze the institution, agree upon the respective functions
+of its various types, and then apply ourselves with intelligent vigor
+each to the solution of his own problems.</p>
+
+<p>As we look around us, we clearly distinguish three distinct types of the
+institution under discussion. The oldest, best known, and most numerous
+is called the state normal school. It dates from the time of Horace Mann
+and Edmund Dwight, the former of whom recognized the need and knew how
+to inaugurate the movement, the latter, having unbounded faith in Mr.
+Mann, provided the funds. Nearly every state in the union has now one or
+more intelligently at work. All that have not, have practically the same
+thing under another name&mdash;normal departments in connection with the
+state universities.</p>
+
+<p>The next type, in order of time and numbers, as well, is found in
+connection with the higher educational institutions of the country. It
+has various names, as "Department of Education," "School of Education,"
+"Division of Education," "Pedagogical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> Department," "School of Pedagogy"
+and "Teachers College." Probably the name most common in the past has
+been "Department of Education," or "Pedagogical Department," tho in the
+developed form it is changing to "School of Education" or "Teachers
+College." Of these, there are at work, according to the 1909 report of
+the Commissioner of Education, 171. That is, there are 171 colleges and
+universities maintaining at least a department, or chair, of education,
+and giving professional instruction of college grade.</p>
+
+<p>The third type, latest in appearance and as yet fewest in number, but
+with fair promise of rapid increase and great usefulness, is the county
+school, called "County Normal Training Class" in Michigan and "County
+Training School" in Wisconsin, in which two states the movement is at
+its best. Indeed, I do not know of any other state in which the work has
+been thus definitely organized. Of these, Michigan had, a year ago,
+forty-one, and Wisconsin, twenty. Possibly in this connection one ought
+to mention the good work being done in high schools in several states,
+but seen at its best in Nebraska and New York. Yet this work is but an
+adjunct to the high school, and does not so clearly approach a separate
+institution.</p>
+
+<p>Of these three types it is the second which is the subject of the
+present discussion&mdash;whose function I seek. It is really immaterial
+whether we use, in the discussion, the appellation of Minnesota and say
+"College of Education," or that of Harvard and call it "Division of
+Education," or that of Columbia, Missouri, and North Dakota, and say
+"Teachers College." For they are all one and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> same institution with
+but slightly different systems of organization. I use the latter term
+because more familiar and more likely, I think, as time passes, to
+prevail.</p>
+
+<p>But these three types are so closely connected that the function of one
+cannot be clearly seen alone. Therefore I propose very briefly to
+examine the establishment of each so as to learn why it was called into
+existence&mdash;what function it was originally expected to perform. I shall
+then briefly examine present conditions, trying to discover if any
+changes have taken place in the general educational situation of
+sufficient moment to make necessary a rearrangement or readjustment.
+Finally, I shall draw my conclusions as to present functions, and with a
+more careful analysis of certain factors state the reasons for those
+conclusions as briefly as possible.</p>
+
+<p>First, as to state normal schools: it is, of course, entirely
+unnecessary to go into details as to organization or early work of this
+institution in our country. I am stating what is known to all when I say
+that Horace Mann in Massachusetts, Henry Barnard in Connecticut, David
+Page in New York, and William Phelps in New Jersey had one and only one
+thought in view in working for the establishment of normal schools and
+for the development of their work. They, one and all, were seeking some
+means for providing better teachers for the common schools. No one, so
+far as I am able to discover, at this time even suggested that any other
+teachers needed a special preparation for their work. To be sure, the
+American high school was hardly under way when the normal school
+movement was inaugurated, in 1839, there being then but half a dozen in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+the entire country. Ten years later there were but eighteen. There was,
+however, in those days a large number of academies giving secondary
+instruction. But there was no thought of looking to the normal schools
+for academy teachers, they came from the colleges. Indeed, generally
+speaking, the academies and high schools as then being developed, were
+offering a higher grade of academic work than the normal schools, and
+they were rather assisting the latter in the production of teachers.
+This was especially true in New York, a movement having there been
+inaugurated by which, thru financial aid from the State, many of the
+academies were offering normal school instruction and sending out into
+the rural schools and city grades a very creditable product. And the
+character of the movement in the East has continued to be the character
+of the movement as it has swept Westward. I think there has not been
+established in the United States a single state normal school whose
+function has not been understood to be the preparation of teachers for
+the common schools. And by "common schools" I mean the first eight
+grades of the public school, including both rural and urban communities,
+for it has been only in recent years that we have carefully
+discriminated between the two.</p>
+
+<p>Next, let us look at the teachers college. Bear in mind that I use the
+term as referring to the institution, or department, under whatever name
+it may be known, that is doing professional work in the preparation of
+teachers in connection with colleges and universities. In taking up the
+topic, attention needs first to be called to two facts: the rapid
+development of our high school system and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> the high degree of success
+already attained by our normal schools.</p>
+
+<p>After the close of the Civil War our high schools began to
+multiply&mdash;rapidly from 1870 to 1880, by leaps and bounds from that time
+to the present. In 1870 there were 170; 1880, 800; 1890, 2,526; 1900,
+6,005; and in 1908, 8,960. (Annual reports of the Commissioner of
+Education.) But no sooner had the high school movement obtained good
+headway than the serious problem arose as to the supply of teachers. And
+so well, on the whole, had the normal school done its work that it had
+more than justified its existence. Thru its work the character of the
+teaching in the elementary schools had been greatly improved. Teachers,
+with normal school equipment, were everywhere recognized as superior to
+those otherwise trained or not trained at all. Very naturally, then,
+when the problem of high school teachers arose, professional preparation
+was demanded. But where could it be obtained and how?</p>
+
+<p>The state normal schools, true to their function of preparing teachers,
+tried to satisfy the additional demands placed upon them. They added to
+their equipment, modified and extended their courses, and in every way
+did all they could. Indeed, they did all that was done in a professional
+way for nearly a generation. But the high schools were increasing, both
+in numbers and in academic requirements of students and teachers. City
+school systems were being developed and extended in a most unprecedented
+manner, calling for skilled superintendents, supervisors, grade
+principals, special teachers, etc., until, finally, thoughtful men began
+to see that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> impossible was being asked of the state normal schools.
+For two reasons, it was seen, they could not do the double work; in the
+first place, they had more than they could do in their original sphere
+of providing teachers for the elementary schools, and secondly, their
+academic possibilities, even increased as they had been in attempting
+the work, were clearly seen to be wholly inadequate. It was discovered,
+also, that, in spite of the efforts being put forth by the normal
+schools, the higher teaching positions&mdash;superintendencies, high school
+principalships, etc.&mdash;were going to men of collegiate attainment, even
+at the sacrifice of professional training which was then being
+recognized as very desirable.</p>
+
+<p>What was to be done? To make a long story short, the universities and
+colleges, with their more extended courses, better equipment, and
+stronger faculties, took the matter up and added educational departments
+in which could be given, with but slight additional outlay, both the
+academic and professional equipment thought to be needed by the high
+school teacher.</p>
+
+<p>This work was first clearly suggested and outlined at the annual meeting
+of the Michigan State Teachers' Association in 1870. Dr. W. H. Payne,
+then city superintendent of schools at Adrian, Michigan, read a notable
+address upon the subject, "The Relation Between the University and Our
+High Schools." Eight years later, the Regents of Michigan University
+established a chair of "Theory and Art of Teaching," and to it called
+the man who had, by the address just mentioned, offered a practical as
+well as a logical solution of the difficult problem.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The example thus set by Michigan University was soon followed by
+others&mdash;Cornell, Ohio, Illinois, Harvard, Chicago and others, until now
+this new department is found in nearly every prominent college and
+university in the land. These are our teachers colleges or, rather, the
+sources from which they are springing. For, to be sure, not every
+pedagogical department found in a higher institution of learning, tho
+doing in a general way the same grade of work, should be called a
+teachers college. Tho having its roots in these, the teachers college
+proper differs from the most of them in several ways. The pedagogical
+department of a college, and too, a thoroly reputable college, may be,
+and usually is, merely one of the many departments of the institution,
+represented on its faculty by a single professor and offering but a
+limited range of professional work&mdash;a few courses in the history of
+education, principles of education, and "pedagogy," usually. A teachers
+college, on the other hand, has an organization and, sometimes, a
+financial status of its own. Its relationship to the institution as a
+whole is getting to be the same as that of the other professional
+schools. The movement is toward a separate faculty, headed by a dean,
+and representing all the different phases of both academic and
+professional work. While many of the members of the faculty do, and may
+continue to, give courses in the other colleges, they have a distinct,
+organic connection with the teachers college. The teachers college is
+also getting to have, as a vital part of its equipment, a model high
+school bearing to it the same relationship that the model, or practise,
+school bears to our normal schools. While this fulness of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> organization
+and equipment has not yet been reached by a large number, it has by
+several, among which are Columbia, Missouri, Chicago, and,
+approximately, North Dakota, with many others moving rapidly in the same
+direction.</p>
+
+<p>Just a few words, now, as to the third type mentioned, the county normal
+school: As already suggested, the line of demarcation was not early
+drawn between the urban and the rural school. But cities grew; city
+school systems were developed; the normal schools, in spite of rapid
+increase, were not able to keep up with the rapidly increasing demands.
+And, since the field for normal school graduates has ever been an open
+one, they have located where the remuneration has been the most
+generous. Now, cities and villages are, generally speaking, the centers
+of intelligence as well as of population and wealth. The people of these
+communities have appreciated the superiority of professionally prepared
+teachers, and they have been able to pay the added price. The result has
+been that they have appropriated practically the entire output of the
+normal schools. None have been left for the rural schools.</p>
+
+<p>And again, with these economic changes there came to be more and more
+clearly seen, as the years went by, a difference, internal and somewhat
+vital, between the schools of the rural and the urban communities,
+making in some ways a different sort of preparation desirable. Now, the
+state normal school, growing with the movement, and ever keenly alive to
+its opportunities for usefulness, noting clearly the location of its
+product, very wisely began to modify its work so as to make it better
+suited to the needs of its main customers&mdash;the well-graded schools of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
+the city and village. And so it has resulted that, even if the normal
+schools could supply the demands for both country and city teachers, so
+far as numbers are concerned, the preparation given is not the most
+ideal for the former. And just as when professionally trained secondary
+teachers were needed a new institution was created for their
+preparation, in very recent years an institution has appeared to satisfy
+this new need, one whose function is as clearly announced, and one which
+seems to fit into the situation as well, and we have the county normal
+school of Michigan and Wisconsin, as mentioned above.</p>
+
+<p>Whether we shall see a rapid extension of this new movement, making the
+county normal school as fixt an institution as the state normal school
+has become, and as the teachers college bids fair to become, or whether,
+thru consolidation, the distinctive type of our rural school shall
+disappear and our state normal schools be increased in number to meet
+the larger demands, only the future can tell. This latter, however, will
+not be in our generation, and I confidently look for the former. I
+believe the general adoption and adaptation of the county normal school
+idea would be one of the most economical and speedy means of solving
+some of our most serious rural school problems. And I also believe that
+it should be our next step, if we can take but one step at a time,
+toward professional education of teachers.</p>
+
+<p>If I have analyzed aright the present situation, and have been fair in
+my all too brief account of the rise and development of these
+institutions, we see that we have in our midst to-day, as a result of
+the development of our educational system, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> to keep pace with it,
+the development of the idea so long ago adopted&mdash;the value of the
+professional preparation of the teacher&mdash;three quite distinct types of
+an institution for such purpose. Enumerating now in order of grade of
+work rather than of historical development, we have (1) the county
+normal school, whose function is solely the preparation of teachers for
+the rural schools&mdash;sixty-one of them found only in Michigan and
+Wisconsin, sending into the rural schools of those states about 800
+fairly well equipt teachers each year; (2) the old state normal school
+of historic fame, whose function is the preparation of teachers for the
+elementary grades of our city and village schools&mdash;195 there were two
+years ago&mdash;and they sent out into the schools approximately 10,000
+teachers, mostly graduates; (3) the teachers college, found always in
+connection with a college of high rank or of a full-fledged university,
+offering work, both academic and professional, of full university grade
+and covering the full university period of four years. The number cannot
+be stated definitely, because the process that is transforming the old
+pedagogical departments into teachers colleges is at such varying stages
+of development. Its function is best stated in the words of the
+institution in which it was founded (Calendar of the University of
+Michigan for 1904-1905, p. 126):&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"1. To fit university students for the higher positions in the
+public school service.</p>
+
+<p>"2. To promote the study of educational science.</p>
+
+<p>"3. To teach the history of education and of educational systems
+and doctrines.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"4. To secure to teaching the rights, prerogatives and advantages
+of a profession.</p>
+
+<p>"5. To give a more perfect unity to our state educational system,
+by bringing the secondary schools into closer relations with the
+university."</p></div>
+
+<p>"Higher position in the public school service" meant, in the main, in
+the early days, city superintendencies and high school principalships.
+To these, others have been added, one by one, owing very largely to the
+great success of the movement and the growing appreciation of the value
+of professional preparation for occupants of such positions, until now
+they include city superintendencies, high school and grade
+principalships, subject supervisorships, high school, normal school, and
+college instructorships. Already the leading teachers colleges, the ones
+at Columbia, Missouri, and Chicago universities, are being definitely
+looked to for these later added and more responsible workmen.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far I have but stated historical facts known to all who are
+reasonably well informed touching the history of education and current
+educational practise in our country. I have done this all too briefly, I
+am well aware. But the reason that I could do it briefly is the fact
+that the readers of this journal are well informed upon the historical
+phases of the subject. All that I needed to do was to cull out and bring
+to the fore the pertinent facts. But the question now arises, is this
+differentiation logical? Are there any reasons, psychological, economic,
+or otherwise, for such differentiation? If there are, it is going to
+continue, and these types of the institution which now seem to have been
+given each such a definite and separate work to do are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> going to be
+relatively permanent. If not, we shall continue to cut and try, undoing
+to-morrow what was done to-day, and chaos will result.</p>
+
+<p>This institution, with its various types, is not one that has evolved
+from a careful theoretical study of our present or prospective
+educational needs, but one that has grown up, little by little, step by
+step, to meet and satisfy from time to time the present and pressing
+needs of the larger system of which it forms a part, and for the service
+of which it was called into existence. But is it not true that
+oftentimes the logic of events&mdash;the movements of history&mdash;reveal to us
+our fundamental principles, outline for us our policy of action, and
+even write out for us our program of procedure as correctly and even
+more irrevocably than philosophical formulation could do? Is not that
+especially likely to occur under such a form of government as ours? I
+think it has occurred in the present case.</p>
+
+<p>It is interesting to note in this connection the fact that the logic of
+events has led us, in our efforts to solve the difficult problem of the
+education of our teachers, to practically the same solution as that
+already reached by France and Germany, which countries proceeded more
+nearly along the pathway of theoretical philosophical formulation.</p>
+
+<p>I believe that at least two of these institutions, the state normal
+school and the teachers college, have come to stay, and with practically
+the functions outlined above. Of the county normal school, as said
+before, I do not feel quite so sure. I am led to the belief in the
+relative permanency of these types of professional school, not only by a
+knowledge of the history of their development, but also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> by the
+conviction, formed by a somewhat careful study of the entire problem,
+that there are fundamental reasons, psychological as well as economical,
+for the differentiation. In other words, my own somewhat careful study
+of the entire situation brings me to the same position that the logic of
+events has brought us all.</p>
+
+<p>As to the county normal school: it is so apparent as scarcely to need
+mention that the teacher of the rural school needs a preparation
+differing in many ways from that needed by the teacher of the city
+grades. The environment, physical, psychical, and social, is so
+different that a teacher equipt to do thoroly good work in either one
+place might signally fail in the other. And the present economic
+situation speaks with nearly the same insistence. Even if our state
+normal schools were sending out teachers ideally equipt for service in
+the rural communities, the remuneration there offered is, and for an
+indefinite time will remain, so low as practically to keep them out of
+the schools. Either we must have special institutions for the
+preparation of the teachers of the rural schools, or else those schools
+must, in the main, continue to do without professionally prepared
+teachers.</p>
+
+<p>Turning now to the other type, it is equally clear to me that the very
+character of the work in the elementary and secondary schools should be
+different one from the other, different as to discipline, ends in view,
+subjects of study, and methods of handling the same. In the elementary
+school the pupil is a child, with the mind, the tastes, the ambitions of
+a child, and he should be allowed to remain a child. The ends in view
+are right habits,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> right ideals, and knowledge facts. In the secondary
+school the student is an adolescent, with the mind of an adolescent,
+having peculiar and erratic tastes, changing ambitions, and conflicting
+emotions. He is neither child nor adult, but passing thru the most
+dangerous and critical period of his entire life. The ends in view are
+no longer merely habits, ideals, and knowledge facts, but, added to
+these, and now more important for emphasis because presumably right
+principles have already been established, breadth and fixity of
+character, self-acquaintance, scholarship, and culture. Tell me that the
+atmosphere, psychical and spiritual, and the training, academic and
+professional, that will produce the ideal teacher of the child will also
+produce the ideal teacher of the adolescent? Nay, verily! You might as
+well tell the florist that the American Beauty rose and the Snow Flower
+of the Northern forest will both reach perfection if grown side by side.
+Then surely we need different kinds of institutions. I cannot better
+conclude this thought than by using the words of Dr. Wm. T. Harris found
+in the introductory paragraph of an article on "The Future of the Normal
+School." (Ed. Rev., January, 1899, p. 1.) Dr. Harris says: "I have tried
+to set down in this paper the grounds for commending the normal school
+as it exists for its chosen work of preparing teachers for the
+elementary schools, and at the same time urging the need of training
+schools with different methods of preparation for the kindergarten,
+below, and for the secondary school, the college and the post-graduate
+school, above the elementary school."</p>
+
+<p>The reason just given, the psychological one, is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> alone sufficient for
+believing that the differentiation is logical. But let me add another,
+almost equally effective&mdash;an academic reason, directly academic and at
+the same time indirectly economic. This is found in the following words,
+taken from Dr. Payne's "Contributions to the Science of Education." (Am.
+Book Co., 1886, p. 538.) "If there is any well-established principle of
+school economy it is this: The scholarship of the teacher should be
+considerably broader than the scholarship of his most advanced pupil."
+Nobody now questions the statement.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the basis of that principle there is little criticism to be offered
+of the academic equipment of our normal school graduates as teachers in
+the grades. No normal school now completes its work with less than one
+full year beyond the completion of a four-year high school course, and
+two years beyond is rapidly getting to be the standard. So that normal
+school graduation gives the prospective teacher of the grades at least
+four years of academic, and from one to two years of professional and
+academic work beyond the point to be reached by "his most advanced
+pupil." To be sure, more would be better&mdash;a longer experience and a
+closer acquaintance with the great character forming subjects, such as
+literature, history, philosophy, etc. This would give breadth of view,
+clearness of perception, and a right perspective&mdash;elements of
+incomparable value in the equipment of the teacher. But yet, in view of
+our economic conditions and of a general lack of understanding and
+therefore of appreciation in the lay mind of the most vital and
+fundamental work of the teacher, we cannot yet hope for teachers ideally
+equipt. And our present standards, if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> insisted upon and the work thus
+far be thoro and clear and faithful, will give us increasingly better
+results and eventually lead to conditions more nearly ideal.</p>
+
+<p>But this judgment as to criticism must be very different when we look
+upon these graduates as possible teachers in the high school. The
+scholarship of such a teacher there would be but little, if any,
+"broader than the scholarship of his most advanced pupil." While there
+is to-day no uniform legislation touching the requirements as to
+qualifications of high school teachers in the United States, each state,
+and even each school, being largely a law unto itself, there is getting
+to be a very decided uniformity the country over as to practise, and in
+many ways this is much more significant than formal legislation would
+be. For without compulsion, the whole people, each section and each
+state, independent of all others, seemingly by the very necessity of the
+case, have fixt upon the same minimum standard of qualification for high
+school teachers. And that minimum is the completion of a full four-year
+collegiate course of instruction, including&mdash;indeed, in many cases,
+plus&mdash;a certain emphasis to be placed upon the subjects to be handled,
+and a certain amount of time devoted to strictly professional subjects.
+To be sure, in some states legislation has spoken, as in Minnesota,
+requiring completion of collegiate work, and practically so in North
+Dakota, requiring completion of such work for superintendencies and high
+school principalships, and strongly recommending the same for all
+teaching positions in the high school. In California a step farther has
+been taken in requiring, in addition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> to that, a full year of graduate
+study. The tendency, in several states, seems to be in the direction of
+the position taken by California. And with that tendency I am in
+sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>This movement upward, however, I do not want to see go any farther. I
+deprecate the tendency, seen in some quarters, of setting up as the
+symbol of the standard of qualification for the high school teacher, the
+doctor's degree. I do not want the boys and girls of our high schools
+taught, or rather directed in their upward development, by mere
+specialists&mdash;doctors of philosophy, who know everything about nothing,
+and nothing about everything. Nor do I want them directed by men and
+women who are obliged to "cipher on page twenty while the class is
+working on page nineteen." But I do want them directed by men and women
+who are thoroly acquainted with the subjects which they teach, and who
+know how to handle the same; but especially by men and women of broad,
+liberal culture, men and women whose lives have been enriched by the
+best there is in literature, history, art, science, and philosophy, and
+who know life, and are in warm sympathy with young life. Teachers thus
+equipt are able, from their high vantage point, to reach out here and
+there and take as educative material that which will contribute to the
+beautiful and strong development of each case at hand. And such an
+equipment, on its academic side, comes not short of the master's degree,
+or its equivalent.</p>
+
+<p>My authority for the statement made above as to the growing uniformity
+of practise in requiring as minimum qualification for high school
+teachers a full collegiate course, and as to the tendency in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> several
+states toward requiring, in addition, a full year of graduate study, is
+found in an extended correspondence with normal school principals and
+city and state superintendents representing the entire country.</p>
+
+<p>These facts as to present-day requirements seem to me to fix somewhat
+definitely the matters under discussion. Our normal schools, with
+possibly two or three exceptions, are not equipt to give the extended
+qualification now demanded for the high school teacher. Barring the two
+or three, the best of them do not pretend to carry the student more than
+two years beyond high school graduation. And whether it be one or two
+years, the work is, as it ought to be, mainly professional&mdash;not
+academic. Indeed, the presidents of many of our strongest normal schools
+insist that they do not do any strictly academic work. And if the lack
+is so great touching high school teachers, how much greater touching
+positions still higher.</p>
+
+<p>To be sure, the work of the normal schools might be sufficiently
+extended to enable them to do this additional and advanced work. New
+buildings might be erected, laboratory facilities increased, libraries
+enlarged, additional and stronger teachers provided, etc. But is it
+necessary? Is it wise? Is it likely to happen with our legislators
+holding the purse strings so tightly tied? To all such questions the
+answer must inevitably be negative. It is not necessary because not
+really needed for the preparation of elementary teachers, while for the
+preparation of secondary teachers other agencies are at hand. And if not
+needed the unwisdom of such an extension can scarcely be questioned.
+Certainly not, if, as urged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> above, different kinds of institutions are
+needed for the preparation of the two grades of teachers. Then, if both
+not needed and unwise, it is not likely to happen in any case where
+legislators are intelligently informed as to the situation.</p>
+
+<p>To indicate the feeling among many of our leading educators touching
+this point, it might be interesting, in closing, to give a brief summary
+of the correspondence mentioned above. This inquiry, was directed to all
+our state superintendents, to forty of the leading normal school
+principals representing all sections of the country, and to fifty-two
+leading and representative city superintendents. The following questions
+were asked:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>(1) Are your normal schools at the present time equipt to give
+adequate preparation to prospective high school teachers?</p>
+
+<p>(2) If you think they are not, would it be wise to add to their
+present equipment such facilities as would enable them to give such
+preparation, or can that work be better done in some other way?</p></div>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Replies From State Superintendents</span></h4>
+
+<p>To question (1). Thirty-eight replies were received, of which
+twenty-nine were negative and nine affirmative. Of the nine, however,
+only one came from a state in which normal school facilities are at all
+superior to what may be termed a fair average, and in that state these
+facilities are found in only one of the five normal schools, whereas, in
+five of the nine, these facilities are inferior to what may be termed a
+fair average. In two of the nine, tho the state superintendents gave
+affirmative answers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> the consensus of opinion of the normal school
+principals was negative. In a word, the nine affirmative replies
+indicate individual opinions, and result from a limited perspective.</p>
+
+<p>To question (2). Twenty-nine replies were received, of which fifteen
+were specifically negative, five specifically affirmative, and nine
+implied a misunderstanding of the question. But nearly all of the nine,
+as well as the fifteen, stated definitely or clearly implied that such
+work should be done in the colleges and universities.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Replies From Normal School Principals</span></h4>
+
+<p>To question (1). Twenty-eight replies were received, of which twenty
+were negative, and eight affirmative. Of the eight, three were from
+states having but one normal school each, and perhaps, therefore,
+admittedly strong; two from states having each one school much superior
+to the others of the same state, and referring specifically to that
+school. Of the remaining three, one was from a new state in the
+Northwest, one from a Southern state, and one stated that only in some
+branches was the equipment sufficient.</p>
+
+<p>To question (2). Twenty replies were received, of which sixteen were
+negative, and four affirmative. Of the four, not one said that all
+should be so equipt. Each suggested that perhaps it would be well thus
+to extend the equipment of one school in a state.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Replies From City Superintendents</span></h4>
+
+<p>To question (1). Thirty replies were received, of which twenty-eight
+were negative, and two affirma<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>tive. The two were from a state in which
+is to be found a single normal school, and that, one of the best.</p>
+
+<p>To question (2). Twenty-eight replies were received, of which twenty-six
+were negative, and two affirmative.</p>
+
+<p>To be sure, correspondence upon this point was not sufficiently extended
+to be conclusive, but yet my correspondents were, in the main, leaders
+in their respective lines, and therefore represent the best educational
+thought and practise of the times. The summary speaks clearly and to the
+point, and to the same point, note, that the logic of events has already
+brought us. The work of the normal school should continue to be, as it
+has been from the beginning, devoted to preparation of teachers for the
+grades, while prospective teachers in the high schools should seek their
+preparation in the teachers colleges, under whatever specific names
+known, where the professional phases of the work will be as much
+emphasized, but be different, and be differently handled as befitting
+the different character of the work to be done, and where they can
+receive the broader academic outlook and equipment absolutely essential
+to an adequate handling of the larger and more difficult situation.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>&mdash;Since the appearance of the January number of <i>Education</i>,
+my attention has been called to the fact that in naming
+institutions giving early attention to the preparation of secondary
+teachers I omitted some that should have found a place in such an
+enumeration. It is true that several others might well have been
+mentioned. On page 286, line 5 (page <a href='#Page_224'><b>224</b></a>, line 3 of this work), I
+might well have added the School of Pedagogy of New York
+University, also Clark, Stanford, California, and Teachers College,
+Columbia, and again, "and others." And on page 289, line 18 (page
+<a href='#Page_228'><b>228</b></a>, line 18 of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> work), I certainly should have added
+the School of Pedagogy of New York University and Clark University,
+possibly others, for the work is progressing rapidly. But it was
+the movement I had in mind rather than the specific contributions
+of various institutions. The omissions were not born of any desire
+to withhold from any institution the credit that it deserves.</p>
+
+<p>Since this matter is again open, let me add an interesting fact in
+regard to the New York University School of Pedagogy, just
+mentioned. If I mistake not, we have here the first real "teachers
+college," that is, the first instance in which we see a "Department
+of Education," having merely equal standing with other departments
+in a university, become, thru definite action of that university's
+governing body, "a professional school of equal rank with the other
+professional schools of the University." This change was made on
+March 3, 1890. Judging by results, it has been amply justified. The
+institution is doing a large and splendid work.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Author.</span></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X</h2>
+
+
+<h3>CREDIT FOR QUALITY IN SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION</h3>
+
+<blockquote><h4><i>From the "Educational Review," March, 1909, and the "Western Journal of
+Education" (now the "American Schoolmaster"), May, 1909</i></h4></blockquote>
+
+<p>In the <i>Educational Review</i> for May, 1908, Mr. W. B. Secor had an
+article under the caption, "Credit for Quality in the Secondary School."
+Mr. Secor says, in his opening paragraph, "The present system of giving
+credit towards graduation in use in the secondary school, takes account
+mainly of the amount of work done.... The student who barely passes his
+work gets just the same amount of credit towards graduation as the one
+who passes high in the nineties. It is to be expected, then, that the
+student ... will reason something like this: I will be graduated if I
+pass my work in the seventies just the same as if I pass it in the
+nineties. What is the use of wasting time and effort in securing a high
+average?" He then suggests a system of marking which "would not only fix
+a minimum of quality, but would also recognize different degrees of
+quality by giving more credit toward graduation for high quality than
+for low," which system, he thinks, would also tend to "a strengthening
+of the intellectual life of the secondary school." Mr. Secor does not
+claim to be the originator of the idea, giving to President Hyde of
+Bowdoin that doubtful honor. He also refers to two articles in the
+<i>Educational Review</i>, one in the issue of April, 1905, written<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> by
+Professor Thomas, of Columbia University, speaking of the system as just
+introduced into that institution, and the other in the issue of
+December, 1906, by Professor Kennedy, describing the system as then in
+use in the University of North Dakota. After these references have been
+cited, the system is discust from various points of view and its
+extension into the secondary field favored, tho, in his closing
+paragraph, Mr. Secor says, "Now the plan here proposed does not claim
+perfection. It may not even be a workable scheme when put to the test."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Secor's article is but one of many evidences that the experiment now
+being tried in a few of our higher institutions of learning, of
+attempting to estimate and adequately reward quality as well as quantity
+of work done by students, is attracting considerable attention. It is
+not at all strange that these experiments are attracting attention, for
+the idea is taking and its justice seemingly so apparent. Because of
+this interest I desire to examine some parts of Mr. Secor's article and
+in the process of that examination briefly discuss the so-called
+"Credit-for-quality" idea. I shall be materially aided in such
+discussion by my experience with the practical workings of the system in
+the University of North Dakota, and shall take the opportunity of
+letting the educational world know how the system is working and how it
+is being regarded in the institution in which it has been receiving its
+most extensive and thoro trial. For while the system did not originate
+here, it was here first put into operation, and for years an earnest,
+honest, heroic effort has been put forth in its behalf. I might say,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>
+parenthetically, that the details of the system Mr. Secor suggests are
+almost identically the ones that have been in use in this institution.
+They were found to be faulty, however, and have been materially changed.</p>
+
+<p>I have read and re-read Mr. Secor's article with both interest and
+apprehension; with interest, because the "Credit-for-quality" idea has
+been engaging my thoughtful attention on both its practical and its
+theoretical sides for a considerable time; with apprehension, since the
+article seems to recommend the system for use in our secondary schools.
+I am sorry the recommendation has been made for the conclusions I have
+reached from my double study are very different from those being held by
+Mr. Secor. I seriously question the wisdom of extending the system at
+all, even when dealing with students of college rank, much more
+seriously, then, when applied to those of the secondary school who are
+four years younger, much less mature, and therefore less able to profit
+by the meritorious features and at the same time withstand the weakening
+influences attendant upon the system. Indeed, I think its adoption in
+the secondary schools would be nothing short of a calamity. Another
+reason why I feel impelled to speak is that reference is made in Mr.
+Secor's article to the working of the system in the institution with
+which I am connected as "highly satisfactory." In justice to the system
+itself and certainly in view of its suggested extension, that impression
+should not be allowed to go forth without modification or correction. I
+shall attempt, therefore, in this discussion, to do three things, tho I
+shall not try to separate the three spatially:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> (1) to discuss this
+marking system on its merits; (2) to report to the educational world our
+findings after an experience with it of five years, and (3) to urge
+against its extension into the secondary field.</p>
+
+<p>Let me say, at the outset, that I have been connected with the
+University of North Dakota for three years&mdash;the last three of the five
+during which the system has been in use. I have had all the time from
+one hundred to one hundred twenty-five students. The grading has had to
+be done three times a year, since our school year, up to the present
+time, has been separated into three terms. Let me also make plain the
+fact that in all I say I speak upon my own responsibility, not for the
+institution nor for its faculty, tho it is true that nearly, if not
+quite, half the faculty hold practically the same views regarding the
+system.</p>
+
+<p>It is true, as Mr. Secor says, that "the present system of giving credit
+towards graduation used in our secondary schools takes account mainly of
+the amount of work done." It passes upon quality, as he says, only "when
+it fixes a passing mark." It may also be true, as he takes for granted,
+that it would be desirable to give credit towards graduation for quality
+as well as for quantity, but of this I am very much in doubt, especially
+in dealing with secondary students. It does not sufficiently take into
+consideration the value of content, and that, it seems to me, is a
+factor that should not be disregarded. I think I value as highly as most
+men the discipline, or mental power, gained by close application;
+likewise, the habit of thoroness gained thru doing work well; but yet,
+in addition to those acquisitions, I confess that I also place high
+value<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> upon knowledge as a possession. In other words, I want the
+student, both high school and college, to know something.</p>
+
+<p>I will gladly admit, however, that it is very desirable to secure from
+the student quality as well as quantity. That, I am inclined to think,
+is the main thing that Mr. Secor is really after. He thinks the best
+way, or, at any rate, a very good way, to get it is thru the device of
+giving extra credit toward graduation for the higher grades of work. My
+experience with the system does not lead me to that conclusion. Interest
+in the subject matter itself is always essential to the doing of a high
+quality of work. And such interest in the subject matter of school
+studies is scarcely secured by anything so artificial as rewards
+smacking of the market. So far as it can not be secured directly, and
+resort must be made to artificial incentives to secure it, I think that
+incentives can be found much more in keeping with the general spirit and
+purpose of education than the constant appeal to the commercial value of
+the grades being obtained. The ordinary monthly report card sent to the
+home, on which the quality of work being done in the various subjects is
+indicated by "excellent," "good," "poor," etc., and even by the too
+common "per cent," is artificial stimulus enough. Every teacher knows
+what an incentive the report card can be made. To be sure, teachers
+differ greatly in their ability to use this card skilfully, but so used
+it can exert great power. Not long ago I discust this
+"Credit-for-quality" matter with a class of about thirty university
+students, mostly freshmen, and, somewhat to my surprise, I discovered
+that with the major<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>ity of them the chief reason for desiring the "A"
+and "B" (our marks for extra credit toward graduation) was not that they
+bore the extra credit, but that the descriptive terms "excellent" and
+"good" secure extra appreciation from the home when term standings are
+reported. This might not be true of any large percentage of university
+students, certainly would not be of the upper classes. Added years have
+made them shrewder. Under the influence of our system they have become
+keener to appreciate a "bargain." But it certainly would be true of a
+very large percentage of secondary students.</p>
+
+<p>Considerable experience in the secondary schools leads me to doubt very
+much that the typical high school student reasons as Mr. Secor suggests
+in his first paragraph. Some do, of course, and so do some university
+students, but not the great body of either. Barring a small percentage,
+students as they run, in both high school and college, are an earnest
+lot of young people. They are in these institutions for a purpose. They
+are seeking, so far as their vision extends, well-developed manhood and
+womanhood. Their chief desire is not to slide thru. The two immediate
+ends normally in view are consciousness of progressive growth and
+appreciation from parent and teacher. How eager the majority are for
+this appreciation is well known to all. All the stimulus needed, in
+addition to what the subjects and the student's own desire furnish, the
+resourceful teacher has at hand wrapt up in his own personality. If any
+other stimulus is needed it can be given by a grading of diplomas as is
+now being done in many high schools and colleges. I hold that to add to
+the marks now in common use what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> may be called a monetary fringe is
+both unnecessary and really subversive of the true ends of the school
+work. As teachers we should seek to elevate ideals, not to lower them;
+to furnish right motives, not wrong ones; to place before the developing
+youth high incentives, not low ones.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Secor says, "the proposed plan is superior to the present system in
+that it gives a natural and not an artificial incentive to high
+scholarship." By what process of reasoning he reaches the conclusion
+that mere "marks and honors" are more "unnatural" and "artificial" than
+the same marks and honors with a commercial tag appended, I fail to see.
+The truth of the matter is, both are artificial. As incentives, both are
+low, but it stands to reason that the latter is much lower than the
+former. The best friends of the system here, in the University of North
+Dakota, admit that, as an incentive, it is both artificial and low. Mr.
+Secor goes on to say, "the system" (that is, the "Credit-for-quality")
+"puts a premium on thorough-going scholarship by enabling the student to
+come up for graduation without being forced to study so many subjects
+that he is not able to do any of them well." If our secondary school
+courses are so arranged as to force the student "to study so many
+subjects that he is not able to do any of them well," then something is
+radically wrong with the courses of study. But no evil can be remedied
+by introducing a greater. As a matter of fact, the application of the
+system does not lead to "thorough-going scholarship," at least not in
+the University of North Dakota where, for five years, an honest and
+faithful effort has been made to secure that result. In all our
+discussions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> I have never heard one of its friends make that claim for
+it, altho the charge has been repeatedly made that it is destructive of
+scholarship. The writer goes on to say, "he" (the student) "may
+substitute depth for breadth, if he so desires, and is encouraged to do
+so." Shall we, in the secondary schools, encourage depth? Yes, to be
+sure, relative depth, but not too much of it, and not then at the
+expense of breadth. For is not the high school student in that stage of
+his development when he responds to the sense of breadth rather than
+that of depth? We could not make of him a student of research if we
+should try. Let us not try.</p>
+
+<p>In the last paragraph of the article referred to we find a hint of a
+lack of thoro conviction on the part of the writer himself. "It may not
+even be a workable scheme when put to the test," he says. Let me say
+that here, after five years' use, it is not proving to be satisfactorily
+"workable" even with students of college grade, and by a recent faculty
+action it has been entirely eliminated from our preparatory department.</p>
+
+<p>This lack of conviction on the part of Mr. Secor calls to mind an
+interesting bit of history connected with the movement. As said before,
+it did not originate in the University of North Dakota. Dr. William
+DeWitt Hyde, President of Bowdoin College, is responsible for the
+suggestion. He sketched the plan in an <i>Outlook</i> article of August 2nd,
+1902, but evidently lacking the courage of his conviction did not
+introduce it into his own institution, preferring, seemingly, that the
+experiment be made elsewhere. This has been, from the start, very
+suggestive to me. I have some admiration for President Hyde's
+shrewd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>ness. The University of North Dakota fell into the trap thus
+skilfully set. And it is easier to fall into a trap than to get out of
+it. As a matter of fact, the system is more on trial now, after five
+years' use, than ever before. Other institutions would do well to await
+further developments.</p>
+
+<p>In attempting to analyze the situation at the University of North
+Dakota, let me again refer to Mr. Secor's article. He says, "The plan,
+with some modifications, is at present being used in the University of
+North Dakota and in Columbia University with results that are reported
+to be highly satisfactory." To substantiate his statement he refers, in
+a foot-note, to the articles in the <i>Educational Review</i> from which he
+got his information. Now, the conclusion that Mr. Secor reaches from
+reading these articles is hardly warranted by the articles themselves. I
+fear he read too much between the lines. Let us see: Professor Thomas
+wrote of the Columbia system more than three years ago, and only a
+couple of months after its adoption; nor does he say anything as to its
+success,&mdash;in fact, he could not, for there was nothing to say. He merely
+explained the new system and gave voice to his expectations. The
+Columbia system may be proving "highly satisfactory," but surely that
+article does not say that it is. And when the other article is analyzed,
+the case is found to be somewhat similar. Professor Kennedy wrote on the
+system in the University of North Dakota nearly two years ago, fully two
+academic years, for the article appeared in December, 1906, before the
+close of the first term of the year 1906-'07. Now two years in the life
+of an experiment of this kind is a long time. And Pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>fessor Kennedy in
+writing his article, did not put the case as strongly as does Mr. Secor
+from reading it. All that he said of its successful working was: "We ...
+thus far can truthfully say it is working itself out in desirable
+results&mdash;in more and better work than under the old plan." From these
+data, given when they were, Mr. Secor is certainly not justified in
+saying that "the plan ... is at present being used in the University of
+North Dakota with results that are reported to be highly satisfactory."</p>
+
+<p>Professor Kennedy's statement was his individual judgment at the time he
+wrote his article. A considerable number of his co-laborers would not
+then have agreed with him. He probably would not write even as strongly
+as that to-day. If he should, a still larger number would disagree. He
+might write as strongly of his own belief in the theoretical soundness
+of the system, but that is quite another matter. As a matter of fact,
+during the last two years the weaknesses of the system have become so
+much more apparent that many members of the faculty then favorable, or
+at least hopeful, have at last come to despair of ever being able to
+eliminate the objectionable features and strengthen the weak points
+sufficiently to warrant its retention.</p>
+
+<p>Professor Kennedy's article goes into detail as to the adoption of the
+plan, and clearly states its various changes up to the date of his
+writing. In our efforts, since then, to "improve" and "strengthen" it,
+various other changes have been made so that, as a matter of fact, one
+who knew it in its early history only would hardly recognise it as
+planned for use next year (quite different in de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>tail from that now in
+use) save in the fundamental principle. That remains the same; the
+institution desires to secure a better quality of work from its
+students; it also desires to enable the student of exceptional ability
+or unusual industry to cut short his period of undergraduate study. To
+accomplish these ends it continues to use its so-called
+"Credit-for-quality" system of marking. This is done, altho a large and
+steadily increasing number of the faculty members feel that it does not
+do the first and that it overdoes the second.</p>
+
+<p>As to these ends: I think that no one on the faculty really feels that,
+on the whole, we are getting a better grade of work than should
+reasonably be expected without the system; or, to put it in another way,
+no one would be bold enough to say that our students are doing better
+work than the students of similar institutions that do not use the
+system. On the other hand, it is true that some who have come among us
+since the adoption of the system give the comparison the less favorable
+turn.</p>
+
+<p>Thru the operation of the system many can and do shorten their course;
+too many, I feel. Too many who have neither "exceptional ability" nor
+"unusual industry," unless it be ability "to work the Prof." and
+industry in that laudable enterprise. The course that normally takes
+four full years can be shortened from a portion of a term to a full
+year. Prior to June, 1908, the "time saved" could reach to a full year
+and a half. True, no one had actually completed a course in two and a
+half years, but one young lady's time was only slightly in excess of
+that and the excess was fully overbalanced by the time she gave to
+outside work&mdash;to library assist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>ance for remuneration, and to
+journalism. And that gait was being struck by others. It only remained
+to be seen how long the wind would hold out. It was clearly possible.
+But the faculty became alarmed. Clearly recognizing the above stated
+possibility and being wholly unwilling thus to lower its high standard,
+it passed a resolution that arbitrarily limits the number of credits a
+student may receive in a given time to such an extent as to prevent
+graduation in less than three years. But several have gained, and others
+are gaining, sufficient surplus to enable them to complete their work in
+three years. From fifteen to twenty per cent, it is estimated, are
+enabled to shorten their course to that extent. Now some of these are
+thoroly good students, and, assuming that the system is sound in
+principle, well deserve to profit thereby. But others are just
+ordinarily good students, scarcely above the rank and file. In addition
+to those who complete their work in three years, some thirty or forty
+per cent more shorten it by lesser amounts, ranging all the way down to
+an inappreciable period.</p>
+
+<p>But aside from the system's failure in reaching one of its ends and its
+too great success in reaching the other, it has developed numerous and
+unfortunate evils that many regard as exceedingly serious, and revealed
+weaknesses that seem well nigh impossible to eliminate. Space allows
+scarcely more than an enumeration of these, but a mere enumeration is
+better than to deal wholly in general terms. (1) In the first place, I
+should say that the "Credit-for-quality" system of marking as used by us
+places before the students unworthy ideals. Students of university rank
+can be led to seek knowledge for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> knowledge's sake, truth for truth's
+sake. They can be taught to see farther ahead than the close of the
+term, and something more precious than an extra three-tenths of a
+credit. But this thought has already been sufficiently treated earlier
+in the article. (2) It leads to faulty methods of study and
+unsatisfactory final results. In the preparation of the lessons, a good
+recitation, rather than thoro understanding of the subject matter, is
+too apt to be the objective point. Many good students have told me that
+they find it difficult to resist the tendency to subordinate
+understanding to memory. (3) It may lead, often does, to unwise election
+of courses. Some teachers mark higher than others. Under the influence
+of our system students are very quick to learn these individual
+characteristics, and those who have developed the "itching palm" know
+how to profit by that knowledge. (4) It places students who receive
+extra credit for quality at a disadvantage in seeking to enter other
+institutions of learning. The credits thus gained will not be
+recognized. This would operate only in making the transfer during the
+undergraduate period, but it does there.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> (5)</p>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is demoralizing to both students and teachers. I refer to the
+inevitable outcome of such a system; some students (sometimes few and
+sometimes many) develop considerable skill in "working the Prof."
+Teachers offering elective courses are constantly under great temptation
+and students are shrewd enough to know it. And again, under the same
+count: it is freely claimed by both teachers and students that the
+cheating in examinations, of which we doubtless have our share (some
+claim much more than our share, tho personally I doubt it), is very
+greatly increased if not largely caused by our system of marking. In
+hopes of remedying this some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> of the students are now urging the
+adoption of the "honor system" of conducting examinations. (6) It is
+impossible to create uniform standards corresponding to our various
+grades. There are as many standards for each grade as there are
+instructors. A grade of work for which one instructor would give an "A"
+(1.3), another would give a "B" (1.2) and still another a "C" (1.0).
+Standards can not be fixt. To show how greatly they differ, in marking
+the work for the first term of this year one instructor gave only seven
+per cent of his students extra credit, while another thus rewarded more
+than seventy per cent of his. This range, however, is abnormal. But a
+range of twenty-five per cent to sixty-five per cent is not, even tho
+the two instructors have approximately the same students and do
+approximately the same grade of work. Other evils and weaknesses might
+be mentioned, but these are sufficient to show the tendency.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, what strong paints can be urged as an offset? The
+only ones I have ever heard offered are: (1) it is an incentive, and (2)
+it does enable students to shorten the period of undergraduate work. I
+grant them both, but I hold that the incentive is a low one&mdash;much lower
+than we need to use&mdash;and that the shortening of the course is far from
+being an unmixt blessing.</p>
+
+<p>Let me again refer to the matter of content, upon our value of which, to
+quite an extent, our estimate of the merit of the "Credit-for-quality"
+system must rest. The young people in our colleges and universities, in
+planning for lives of usefulness and success, place themselves in our
+hands for direction and guidance. Knowing that we are older, wiser,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>
+more learned, and more experienced than they, they ask our advice and,
+in the main, follow it. To the incentives we use in dealing with them,
+they respond; the motives we supply urge them on; the standards of value
+we erect for them, they use; and the ideals we place before them, they
+try to reach. All this places large responsibilities upon us. Are we
+wise in telling from fifteen to twenty per cent of these young people
+that three years is all the time that it is wise for them to spend in
+college work? They will all remain the full four years unless we plan
+differently for them. To be sure, there is no magic in the number four
+as numbering the years of one's college course, nor in three, nor in
+two, nor in any other number. But would not any normal student who
+spends four years in the college atmosphere, mingling with college
+people, both students and teachers, doing college work, drinking from
+the pure fountains of literature, of history, of philosophy, of science,
+of art, et cetera, be broader in range and more fully equipt for the
+varied and complicated duties of life and for life's enjoyment, than he
+would be with only three years thus spent? And is not the fourth year by
+far the best of the four? Why shall you and I discourage him from doing
+that which we know to be well for him and which he is willing to do? Why
+deny him the rare fruitage of that fourth year? Why say to him when he
+is just ready to enter into the enjoyments of his student life, "you
+would better go?" After all, is it not this very three-year student with
+his finer ability, his keener insight, and his greater industry who can
+most greatly profit by the extra year? Shall we not rather encourage him
+to stay longer and delve deeper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> and reach to the very heart of things?
+Whether looked at from the standpoint of the student's own advantage, or
+from that of the world at large, which is to profit by his equipment, is
+it not really the four-year or even the five-year student who would
+better be excused at the end of the third year? Instead of being in a
+hurry to send our choice students away, let us get them to do their high
+quality of work just the same, but to do it during four years instead of
+three. They are the very ones who will most readily respond to such
+appeals and they will so respond unless we put other notions into their
+heads. It is sometimes urged, in justification of the
+"Credit-for-quality" idea, that one student in three years can
+accomplish more, in gaining both knowledge and mental power, than
+another in four. There is no doubt about it. Some can do more in two
+years than others in four; some in one, and some with no college work
+can easily outstrip others with the best advantages. Shall we say to
+such an one, "you do not need to go to college&mdash;it would be time
+wasted"? By no means. Above all others we want him because he can most
+largely profit by what he gets, and we shall reap the reward later on.
+But supposing one student at the close of his third college year is
+better able to make his way in the world than another at the end of his
+fourth year, that is not the question at all. The function of the
+college is not to bring students to a level, but to develop each one to
+the utmost. Each should be considered separately and the question asked,
+"the longer or the shorter term&mdash;which will do the more for him?"</p>
+
+<p>Some other developments here can hardly fail to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> be of interest.
+Originally planned to operate in our entire institution, exclusive of
+the College of Law into which it was not allowed to enter, this system
+has gradually been eliminated from all the colleges save the College of
+Liberal Arts and Teachers College. True, in these colleges of exclusion
+the matter of content figures more prominently than in the others&mdash;the
+curricula are more fixt&mdash;but that is far from being the only reason for
+the exclusion. And even more suggestive as touching the secondary school
+extension recommended by the article under discussion, is our recent
+action excluding the system from our preparatory department, now being
+transformed into a model high school for Teachers College. This
+elimination, likewise, was in part due to the fixt number of courses
+demanded of all secondary schools, but yet, not largely so. When this
+matter came up for decision it needed no emphasis upon that point to
+carry the recommendation. It would have carried without those
+conditions. The strongest advocates of the system did not, by a single
+word, urge its retention in the Model High School. All felt, seemingly,
+that it was not well suited to students of that grade.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>&mdash;The reason for repeating this article here is largely
+historical, tho interest in the matter discust occasionally crops
+out even yet. It will be of interest to some who have not otherwise
+heard of it to learn that the University of North Dakota long since
+discarded the system. It was voted out completely early in the year
+1910. And thus was realized Professor Kennedy's apprehension
+exprest in his <i>Educational Review</i> discussion of 1906: "We have, I
+grant, had our doubts and fears, knowing well that many a promising
+theory lies high and dry on the shoals of the past."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+
+<h3>FOOTNOTE</h3>
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Experience has shown that I was in error in the statement
+of this sentence. It has been found to operate to the disadvantage of
+our students entering other institutions in graduate as well as
+undergraduate departments. Graduate schools have become very particular,
+some of them not being satisfied without passing in review well nigh the
+entire former school life of an applicant, apparently to assure
+themselves that no short-cuts have been made. This fact is an
+interesting confirmation of the position of this article relative to the
+importance of content&mdash;when it pleads for quantity, as well as quality.
+</p><p>
+This entire matter is made clear by referring to one instance. Others
+could be cited. One of our graduates, Miss Ethel J. May, a very strong
+student, "profited" by the so-called "credit-for-quality" system to
+such an extent that she shortened her undergraduate period of study by
+an entire year, receiving her degree with honor. Then she taught for a
+few years with signal success, later returning for graduate work. For
+her Master's degree she spent an entire year in study, since the system
+did not operate in the graduate department. Again she taught with
+success, later entering the University of Illinois as an applicant for
+the doctorate. Here it was that her troubles began, and all because she
+had thus "profited" way back in her undergraduate days. She was told
+that the year "saved" would now have to be made up&mdash;that the period of
+study for her doctorate would have to be at least three years, and this
+in spite of the fact that she held the degree of Master of Arts from a
+state university of the first class, and was planning to continue along
+the same lines of work. After considerable discussion and institutional
+negotiation, this much of a concession was made: "If your work proves to
+be excellent, your shortage will be disregarded." So she went to work
+with that incubus, or stimulus&mdash;whichever you wish to regard it&mdash;over
+her. Neither she nor her committee knew how to plan her work, not
+knowing whether it was to be for two years or for three. And not until
+the very close of her year's work was her status determined&mdash;full credit
+then being granted for her former degrees. Miss May's sane comment now
+is, "I would not advise any one to try to shorten the regular four-year
+undergraduate period of study."
+</p><p class="author">
+(Author 1918)</p></div></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>INDEX</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Academies, <a href='#Page_221'><b>221</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Adolescent, <a href='#Page_46'><b>46</b></a>-<a href='#Page_49'><b>49</b></a>, <a href='#Page_54'><b>54</b></a>-<a href='#Page_56'><b>56</b></a>, <a href='#Page_67'><b>67</b></a>, <a href='#Page_68'><b>68</b></a>, <a href='#Page_74'><b>74</b></a>, <a href='#Page_81'><b>81</b></a>, <a href='#Page_85'><b>85</b></a>, <a href='#Page_219'><b>219</b></a>, <a href='#Page_231'><b>231</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Adults, <a href='#Page_211'><b>211</b></a>, <a href='#Page_212'><b>212</b></a>, <a href='#Page_213'><b>213</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Aliens, education of, <a href='#Page_25'><b>25</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Alien people, <a href='#Page_21'><b>21</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Appleton's Cyclopedia, <a href='#Page_165'><b>165</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Arithmetic, <a href='#Page_154'><b>154</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ayers, <a href='#Page_120'><b>120</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Barnard, Henry, <a href='#Page_220'><b>220</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bay State, Old, <a href='#Page_64'><b>64</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Binet, <a href='#Page_57'><b>57</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Boards of Education, <a href='#Page_45'><b>45</b></a>, <a href='#Page_156'><b>156</b></a>, <a href='#Page_195'><b>195</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bowdoin College, <a href='#Page_243'><b>243</b></a>, <a href='#Page_250'><b>250</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Burbank, Luther, <a href='#Page_166'><b>166</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Burns, Robert, <a href='#Page_136'><b>136</b></a>, <a href='#Page_138'><b>138</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bureau of Education, <a href='#Page_19'><b>19</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Butler, Nicholas Murray, <a href='#Page_96'><b>96</b></a>, <a href='#Page_97'><b>97</b></a>, <a href='#Page_103'><b>103</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">California, <a href='#Page_233'><b>233</b></a>, <a href='#Page_234'><b>234</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Carter, <a href='#Page_218'><b>218</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Child, the, <a href='#Page_43'><b>43</b></a>, <a href='#Page_44'><b>44</b></a>, <a href='#Page_45'><b>45</b></a>, <a href='#Page_68'><b>68</b></a>, <a href='#Page_116'><b>116</b></a>, <a href='#Page_117'><b>117</b></a>, <a href='#Page_121'><b>121</b></a>, <a href='#Page_140'><b>140</b></a>, <a href='#Page_141'><b>141</b></a>, <a href='#Page_147'><b>147</b></a>, <a href='#Page_151'><b>151</b></a>, <a href='#Page_154'><b>154</b></a>, <a href='#Page_195'><b>195</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Child Study, <a href='#Page_43'><b>43</b></a>, <a href='#Page_45'><b>45</b></a>, <a href='#Page_49'><b>49</b></a>, <a href='#Page_54'><b>54</b></a>, <a href='#Page_58'><b>58</b></a>, <a href='#Page_85'><b>85</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Child-Welfare, <a href='#Page_49'><b>49</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Church, <a href='#Page_133'><b>133</b></a>, <a href='#Page_141'><b>141</b></a>-<a href='#Page_159'><b>159</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Civil War, <a href='#Page_107'><b>107</b></a>, <a href='#Page_222'><b>222</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">College, <a href='#Page_69'><b>69</b></a>-<a href='#Page_82'><b>82</b></a>, <a href='#Page_104'><b>104</b></a>, <a href='#Page_110'><b>110</b></a>, <a href='#Page_165'><b>165</b></a>, <a href='#Page_167'><b>167</b></a>, <a href='#Page_217'><b>217</b></a>-<a href='#Page_237'><b>237</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Law, <a href='#Page_260'><b>260</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Liberal Arts, <a href='#Page_84'><b>84</b></a>, <a href='#Page_99'><b>99</b></a>, <a href='#Page_260'><b>260</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">College, Preparation for, <a href='#Page_71'><b>71</b></a>, <a href='#Page_73'><b>73</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Teachers, <a href='#Page_45'><b>45</b></a>, <a href='#Page_219'><b>219</b></a>-<a href='#Page_238'><b>238</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Commissioner of Education, <a href='#Page_27'><b>27</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Community Service, <a href='#Page_73'><b>73</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Connecticut, <a href='#Page_31'><b>31</b></a>, <a href='#Page_220'><b>220</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">County Training School, <a href='#Page_219'><b>219</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Credit-for-Quality" System, <a href='#Page_243'><b>243</b></a>-<a href='#Page_260'><b>260</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cronin, Dr., <a href='#Page_125'><b>125</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dante, <a href='#Page_144'><b>144</b></a>, <a href='#Page_145'><b>145</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Democracy, <a href='#Page_29'><b>29</b></a>, <a href='#Page_31'><b>31</b></a>-<a href='#Page_34'><b>34</b></a>, <a href='#Page_41'><b>41</b></a>, <a href='#Page_65'><b>65</b></a>, <a href='#Page_171'><b>171</b></a>, <a href='#Page_172'><b>172</b></a>, <a href='#Page_173'><b>173</b></a>, <a href='#Page_180'><b>180</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Department of Education, <a href='#Page_20'><b>20</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dewey, John, <a href='#Page_42'><b>42</b></a>, <a href='#Page_43'><b>43</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Diaz, President, <a href='#Page_31'><b>31</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dooley, Mr., <a href='#Page_95'><b>95</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dwight, Edmund, <a href='#Page_31'><b>31</b></a>, <a href='#Page_218'><b>218</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Education</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Boards of, <a href='#Page_45'><b>45</b></a>, <a href='#Page_84'><b>84</b></a>, <a href='#Page_156'><b>156</b></a>, <a href='#Page_195'><b>195</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Bureau of, <a href='#Page_19'><b>19</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Department of, <a href='#Page_108'><b>108</b></a>, <a href='#Page_109'><b>109</b></a>, <a href='#Page_218'><b>218</b></a>, <a href='#Page_219'><b>219</b></a>, <a href='#Page_223'><b>223</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Elementary, <a href='#Page_65'><b>65</b></a>, <a href='#Page_75'><b>75</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">History of, <a href='#Page_81'><b>81</b></a>, <a href='#Page_82'><b>82</b></a>, <a href='#Page_83'><b>83</b></a>, <a href='#Page_84'><b>84</b></a>, <a href='#Page_227'><b>227</b></a>, <a href='#Page_228'><b>228</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Motive in, <a href='#Page_38'><b>38</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Philosophy of, <a href='#Page_81'><b>81</b></a>, <a href='#Page_84'><b>84</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Physical, <a href='#Page_50'><b>50</b></a>, <a href='#Page_66'><b>66</b></a>, <a href='#Page_155'><b>155</b></a>, <a href='#Page_203'><b>203</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Principles of, <a href='#Page_82'><b>82</b></a>, <a href='#Page_83'><b>83</b></a>, <a href='#Page_224'><b>224</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Professional, <a href='#Page_81'><b>81</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">School of in North Dakota, <a href='#Page_82'><b>82</b></a>-<a href='#Page_85'><b>85</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">School of, <a href='#Page_83'><b>83</b></a>-<a href='#Page_85'><b>85</b></a>, <a href='#Page_108'><b>108</b></a>-<a href='#Page_111'><b>111</b></a>, <a href='#Page_218'><b>218</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Secondary, <a href='#Page_75'><b>75</b></a>, <a href='#Page_84'><b>84</b></a>, <a href='#Page_85'><b>85</b></a>, <a href='#Page_164'><b>164</b></a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Universal, <a href='#Page_24'><b>24</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Educational mesurements, <a href='#Page_56'><b>56</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Educational psychologist, <a href='#Page_56'><b>56</b></a>, <a href='#Page_58'><b>58</b></a>, <a href='#Page_59'><b>59</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Educational Review, <a href='#Page_243'><b>243</b></a>, <a href='#Page_251'><b>251</b></a>, <a href='#Page_260'><b>260</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Educational Survey, <a href='#Page_51'><b>51</b></a>, <a href='#Page_52'><b>52</b></a>, <a href='#Page_59'><b>59</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Elementary School, <a href='#Page_65'><b>65</b></a>, <a href='#Page_66'><b>66</b></a>, <a href='#Page_67'><b>67</b></a>, <a href='#Page_73'><b>73</b></a>, <a href='#Page_74'><b>74</b></a>, <a href='#Page_105'><b>105</b></a>, <a href='#Page_106'><b>106</b></a>, <a href='#Page_107'><b>107</b></a>, <a href='#Page_108'><b>108</b></a>, <a href='#Page_230'><b>230</b></a>, <a href='#Page_231'><b>231</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">England, <a href='#Page_30'><b>30</b></a>, <a href='#Page_173'><b>173</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Entrance requirements, <a href='#Page_44'><b>44</b></a>, <a href='#Page_48'><b>48</b></a>, <a href='#Page_76'><b>76</b></a>, <a href='#Page_80'><b>80</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ernest, Duke, <a href='#Page_32'><b>32</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Euthydemus, <a href='#Page_98'><b>98</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Eye, <a href='#Page_115'><b>115</b></a>-<a href='#Page_118'><b>118</b></a>, <a href='#Page_120'><b>120</b></a>, <a href='#Page_121'><b>121</b></a>, <a href='#Page_129'><b>129</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Federal Government, <a href='#Page_28'><b>28</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Folk, Joseph W., <a href='#Page_173'><b>173</b></a>, <a href='#Page_174'><b>174</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Foster, President, <a href='#Page_95'><b>95</b></a>, <a href='#Page_102'><b>102</b></a>, <a href='#Page_105'><b>105</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">France, <a href='#Page_32'><b>32</b></a>, <a href='#Page_229'><b>229</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Frederick the Great, <a href='#Page_30'><b>30</b></a>, <a href='#Page_32'><b>32</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Frederick William I, <a href='#Page_30'><b>30</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Froebel, <a href='#Page_39'><b>39</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Garfield, ex-President, <a href='#Page_90'><b>90</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Georgia, <a href='#Page_24'><b>24</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Germans, <a href='#Page_30'><b>30</b></a>, <a href='#Page_31'><b>31</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Germany, <a href='#Page_32'><b>32</b></a>, <a href='#Page_120'><b>120</b></a>, <a href='#Page_229'><b>229</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gladstone, William Ewart, <a href='#Page_173'><b>173</b></a>, <a href='#Page_174'><b>174</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gotha, <a href='#Page_32'><b>32</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Government, the, <a href='#Page_19'><b>19</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Grand Forks, North Dakota, <a href='#Page_186'><b>186</b></a>-<a href='#Page_199'><b>199</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Greek, <a href='#Page_99'><b>99</b></a>, <a href='#Page_100'><b>100</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gulick, <a href='#Page_120'><b>120</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Harris, Dr. William T., <a href='#Page_231'><b>231</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Harvard College, <a href='#Page_65'><b>65</b></a>, <a href='#Page_219'><b>219</b></a>, <a href='#Page_224'><b>224</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Heeter, S. L., <a href='#Page_124'><b>124</b></a>, <a href='#Page_125'><b>125</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Herbart, <a href='#Page_39'><b>39</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">High Schools, <a href='#Page_44'><b>44</b></a>-<a href='#Page_47'><b>47</b></a>, <a href='#Page_53'><b>53</b></a>, <a href='#Page_55'><b>55</b></a>, <a href='#Page_63'><b>63</b></a>-<a href='#Page_86'><b>86</b></a>, <a href='#Page_107'><b>107</b></a>, <a href='#Page_108'><b>108</b></a>, <a href='#Page_220'><b>220</b></a>, <a href='#Page_223'><b>223</b></a>, <a href='#Page_233'><b>233</b></a>, <a href='#Page_234'><b>234</b></a>, <a href='#Page_247'><b>247</b></a>, <a href='#Page_248'><b>248</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">High School Teacher, <a href='#Page_46'><b>46</b></a>-<a href='#Page_49'><b>49</b></a>, <a href='#Page_80'><b>80</b></a>-<a href='#Page_85'><b>85</b></a>, <a href='#Page_178'><b>178</b></a>, <a href='#Page_222'><b>222</b></a>, <a href='#Page_223'><b>223</b></a>, <a href='#Page_228'><b>228</b></a>, <a href='#Page_233'><b>233</b></a>-<a href='#Page_238'><b>238</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hill, James J., <a href='#Page_166'><b>166</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">History, <a href='#Page_154'><b>154</b></a>, <a href='#Page_155'><b>155</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">History of Education, <a href='#Page_81'><b>81</b></a>, <a href='#Page_82'><b>82</b></a>, <a href='#Page_83'><b>83</b></a>, <a href='#Page_84'><b>84</b></a>, <a href='#Page_224'><b>224</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Home, <a href='#Page_26'><b>26</b></a>, <a href='#Page_66'><b>66</b></a>, <a href='#Page_133'><b>133</b></a>-<a href='#Page_159'><b>159</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Homer, <a href='#Page_99'><b>99</b></a>, <a href='#Page_100'><b>100</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hyde, President, <a href='#Page_243'><b>243</b></a>, <a href='#Page_250'><b>250</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Illiteracy, <a href='#Page_20'><b>20</b></a>-<a href='#Page_24'><b>24</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Individualism, Theory of, <a href='#Page_39'><b>39</b></a>, <a href='#Page_43'><b>43</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Iowa, Legislature of, <a href='#Page_49'><b>49</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson City, <a href='#Page_120'><b>120</b></a>, <a href='#Page_123'><b>123</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Johnson, Hiram W., <a href='#Page_173'><b>173</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jordan, David Starr, <a href='#Page_72'><b>72</b></a>, <a href='#Page_177'><b>177</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Kennedy, Professor, <a href='#Page_244'><b>244</b></a>, <a href='#Page_251'><b>251</b></a>, <a href='#Page_252'><b>252</b></a>, <a href='#Page_260'><b>260</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Law, School of, <a href='#Page_108'><b>108</b></a>, <a href='#Page_110'><b>110</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Leadership, <a href='#Page_75'><b>75</b></a>-<a href='#Page_81'><b>81</b></a>, <a href='#Page_163'><b>163</b></a>-<a href='#Page_181'><b>181</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lecture method, <a href='#Page_99'><b>99</b></a>-<a href='#Page_103'><b>103</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lincoln, <a href='#Page_166'><b>166</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Literature, <a href='#Page_232'><b>232</b></a>, <a href='#Page_234'><b>234</b></a>, <a href='#Page_258'><b>258</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lloyd-George, David, <a href='#Page_166'><b>166</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Locke, <a href='#Page_203'><b>203</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Longfellow, <a href='#Page_207'><b>207</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Los Angeles, <a href='#Page_123'><b>123</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Louises, the, of France, <a href='#Page_32'><b>32</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">McAdoo, Mr., <a href='#Page_218'><b>218</b></a>, <a href='#Page_220'><b>220</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mann, Horace, <a href='#Page_218'><b>218</b></a>, <a href='#Page_220'><b>220</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Massachusetts, <a href='#Page_24'><b>24</b></a>, <a href='#Page_25'><b>25</b></a>, <a href='#Page_31'><b>31</b></a>, <a href='#Page_65'><b>65</b></a>, <a href='#Page_107'><b>107</b></a>, <a href='#Page_220'><b>220</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Medical Inspection, <a href='#Page_22'><b>22</b></a>, <a href='#Page_27'><b>27</b></a>, <a href='#Page_193'><b>193</b></a>, <a href='#Page_194'><b>194</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Medicine, School of, <a href='#Page_108'><b>108</b></a>, <a href='#Page_110'><b>110</b></a></span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Methods of Teaching, <a href='#Page_81'><b>81</b></a>, <a href='#Page_82'><b>82</b></a>, <a href='#Page_83'><b>83</b></a>, <a href='#Page_84'><b>84</b></a>, <a href='#Page_85'><b>85</b></a></span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On the Firing Line in Education, by 
+Adoniram Judson Ladd
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION ***
+
+***** This file should be named 21762-h.htm or 21762-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/7/6/21762/
+
+Produced by Bryan Ness, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
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+</body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg's On the Firing Line in Education, by Adoniram Judson Ladd
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: On the Firing Line in Education
+
+Author: Adoniram Judson Ladd
+
+Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21762]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Bryan Ness, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  ON THE FIRING LINE
+  IN EDUCATION
+
+  BY
+
+  A. J. LADD
+  _Professor of Education, State University of North Dakota_
+
+
+
+  BOSTON
+  RICHARD G. BADGER
+  THE GORHAM PRESS
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY RICHARD G. BADGER
+
+  All Rights Reserved
+  Made in the United States of America
+
+  The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Of the ten studies making up this little volume only one, the last,
+aside from the Introduction, was designed primarily for publication.
+Each of the others had a definite personal audience in mind while being
+prepared. Still, nearly all have later found their way into print, and
+some have been reprinted in other periodicals and quoted quite
+extensively in still others. Many letters of appreciation, too, from
+strangers who have chanced to read this address or that, have come to
+the writer. These facts, together with expressions of appreciation upon
+delivery and with definite suggestions from many for publication, have
+finally led the writer to feel that possibly their gathering together
+might be worth while. But in fairness to himself, as well as to others,
+also in the interests of accuracy, he is prompted to give an additional
+reason for venturing upon the hazardous undertaking of offering "cold
+meats" to people not overly hungry. Not words of praise alone, no matter
+how warm, would justify such a decision, for one can never take such
+expressions at quite their face value--'tis so easy to make pleasant
+remarks! So the matter was thrown back to where it belonged all the
+time--upon the writer to decide the case on the merits of the various
+discussions as dealing with present-day educational problems.
+
+While separate addresses, upon different topics, given at different
+times, and with no thought of connection, they all do bear upon one
+great matter of universal interest--that of education. The title, "On
+the Firing Line in Education," belongs specifically to but the first of
+the topics discust. Still, it is appropriate to the entire group since
+the various matters handled are fundamental and the positions taken
+considerably in advance of common use. But we are clearly moving in the
+general direction indicated--'twill not be long now before the main army
+has caught up, and then the firing line will be still further advanced.
+
+I have a very definite conviction that, at any financial cost, we should
+provide thru the school for the physical as well as for the psychical
+and the moral development of the child. This is not to take the place of
+the home--merely to supplement the work of the majority of homes. Only
+thus can we adequately educate all. I believe, too, that in any
+scientific view of the educational process the sense organs are
+paramount in importance, and therefore urge their care and training.
+That the positions taken in the various addresses upon these and other
+matters are sound has been pretty well demonstrated during the last two
+years when the demands of war have faced us. This is made clear in the
+Introduction that follows.
+
+I am under obligations to the various periodicals in which these studies
+have appeared for permission to use them again in this form. I also
+appreciate the courtesy of Mr. Badger, the publisher, in allowing me to
+use certain simplified forms of spelling, thus departing from the usual
+over-conservative practise of publishers. Is not this, too, one of the
+firing-line activities?
+
+  A. J. LADD
+
+  Grand Forks, North Dakota,
+  March, 1919
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+    CHAPTER                                                         PAGE
+
+       INTRODUCTION--HAVE THE SCHOOLS BEEN DISCREDITED
+        BY THE REVELATIONS OF THE WAR                                 13
+
+    I. ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION                                37
+
+        Social Betterment, the Dominant Motive in
+        Education                                                     38
+
+        Child Study                                                   43
+
+        Physical Education                                            50
+
+        The Educational Survey                                        51
+
+        Vocational Guidance                                           53
+
+        The Educational Psychologist                                  56
+
+   II. THE RELATION OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY TO THE HIGH
+        SCHOOLS OF THE STATE                                          63
+
+        The Elementary School                                         65
+
+        The High School                                               67
+
+        The State University                                          75
+
+  III. THE UNIVERSITY AND THE TEACHER                                 89
+
+        The Kind of Teachers the University Should
+        Employ                                                        91
+
+        The University Teacher in his Classroom                       94
+
+        The University's Attitude Toward the Preparation
+        of Teachers for the Schools of the State                     105
+
+   IV. THE EYE PROBLEM IN THE SCHOOLS                                115
+
+    V. THE HOME, THE CHURCH, AND THE SCHOOL                          133
+
+        The Home                                                     134
+
+        The Church                                                   141
+
+        The School                                                   150
+
+    VI. NOBLESSE OBLIGE                                              163
+
+   VII. IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS                           185
+
+  VIII. LOCAL WINTER SPORTS                                          203
+
+    IX. THE FUNCTION OF TEACHERS COLLEGE                             217
+
+     X. CREDIT FOR QUALITY IN SECONDARY AND HIGHER
+            EDUCATION                                                243
+
+        INDEX                                                        261
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+HAVE THE SCHOOLS BEEN DISCREDITED BY THE REVELATIONS OF THE WAR?
+
+_From School and Society, April 5, 1919_
+
+
+Knowing that I was about to publish a book on education in which the
+Great War, now happily closed, was not taken as the point of departure,
+a friend said to me one day, in substance, "Aren't you taking undue
+risks just now in putting out a book on education that isn't based upon
+a program of reconstruction? Haven't all our so-called educational
+principles been dis-credited? Shall you get any readers if you do not
+admit educational failure thus far, and proceed to discuss a change of
+front, made imperative by recent revelations?" And the editor of a well
+known educational journal, in asking me for an article, recently, said,
+among other things, "I should be glad to have an article upon some phase
+of reconstruction after the war, educational, social, philosophical, as
+you may like. Here is the next great battlefield of the future, and if
+the educational forces do not redeem themselves here, it is my opinion
+that we shall become a greater laughing stock than we have ever been
+before."
+
+To both of these statements I desire to take exception. To be sure, the
+war has taught us many lessons bearing upon education; to be sure, it
+has revealed shortcomings, limitations, and weaknesses. But it seems to
+me that it has also made clear that we have been working along right
+lines. Our fundamental educational principles have not been
+dis-credited. There is no far-reaching educational failure to admit, nor
+is there any serious shortcoming from which the educational forces of
+the country have to redeem themselves. "Laughing stock," does the
+gentleman say? Oh no! Far from it! Let us not get panicky! Some
+weaknesses brought to light? Certainly. But in the analysis, later to be
+made, let us see if, for the most part, they do not but demonstrate the
+soundness of our educational principles and the far-sightedness of our
+educational leaders together with the short-sightedness of the present
+critics, in that had suggested recommendations been followed these
+weaknesses would not have existed. Let us give here but one
+illustration, and that briefly. We all admit that the medical
+examinations for the war found too many physical defects, and too many
+men thereby incapacitated for efficient military service. But would not
+the results have been very different if, during the last generation, the
+suggestions and strong recommendations of educators relative to physical
+education in our schools been acted upon by the public? Ah! The fault
+was not with educational principles; they were sound. The educational
+forces of the country knew what was needed, but a parsimonious public
+would not follow intelligent leadership. We could say, all along the
+line, "I told you so," if we felt so inclined. Instead of being the
+"laughing stock" we could--if the matter were not too serious--throw the
+laugh upon the other fellow. The purpose of our schools has never been
+to produce soldiers at the drop of the hat, and so they have never been
+blighted by military training. (May it never come!) Their task has been
+to produce men and women of character and purpose and ideals--men and
+women of initiative who could become anything called for by an
+emergency. And nobly have they succeeded, as evidenced by the successful
+prosecution of the war.
+
+In view of all that the United States has done to assist in bringing the
+war to its successful close, from the adoption of the selective draft
+down thru the management of the training camps, the operation of the
+railroads, conservation of food and fuel, to the knitting of a pair of
+socks and the sale of a thrift stamp, what shall be said of the success
+or failure of our schools? Every man, woman, and child in this gigantic
+work, from President Wilson down to the colored bootblack who saved his
+nickels to buy a stamp, or to the little girl who voluntarily went
+without her sugar, has been a product of the schools. Thru the
+instruction, the discipline, and the training given in those schools,
+they became the men and women who could rise to the emergency and do the
+things needed. And they did.
+
+No college or university or professional school ever taught Mr. Wilson
+how to be President of the United States during these troublous days;
+nor Mr. McAdoo how to manage the railroads; nor Mr. Pershing all about
+war; nor any local worker how to lead the Red Cross work, any more than
+the lower schools have taught the boys who went into the trenches how to
+use the gas mask and how to go without food; how to shoulder arms and
+how to march. But the schools all along the line did help to give them
+ideals, did train them in team-play; did instil into them the
+principles of democracy and the love of country, so that when the need
+came they arose as one man to repel the foe. And the study of
+arithmetic, geography, and grammar; of chemistry, physics, and medicine;
+of Latin, Greek, and history has, in each case, made its contribution to
+the preparation of home workers, soldiers, scientific experts, financial
+managers, and statesmen--has helped to make each an individual of
+initiative.
+
+Under the guidance of our educational leaders, following principles that
+they had workt out, the schools of the country were moving quietly
+along, each one of the 750,000 teachers doing faithfully the work at
+hand day by day. We had never thought of war as a possibility for us,
+and of course preparation for it had not been made, in the slightest
+degree, a part of the work of the schools. But when war, with all its
+horrors, was finally forced upon us and we needed statesmen and
+scientists and military leaders to guide and direct, they were at hand
+in the graduates of our colleges and universities--broadly trained men
+capable of assimilating, or learning, or in other ways gaining quickly,
+the specific form of efficiency needed in the particular activity
+assigned. And when we needed soldiers they were at hand in the person of
+our boys of the schools, both common and high, from every nook and
+corner of the land--boys and men who merely needed direction and
+leadership, capable of at once falling into line and quickly taking on
+the professional phase of their training. Could we have asked our
+schools to do more? The supreme test had come, and it was being met in a
+manner gratifying to all. The boys and the girls, the men and the women,
+on the farm, in the store, in the home, in the workshop, in the schools
+and colleges, have responded "Here am I. Show me what you want me to do,
+and I will do it even unto death." It was done, and they did it. The
+schools had nobly demonstrated their efficiency.
+
+To be sure, all this was not done without making mistakes. Not all the
+products of all the schools were able to rise to the occasion and to be
+depended upon in our hour of need. When the great national search-light
+was trained upon the product of the schools, seeking leaders of infinite
+variety and number, and likewise hosts of followers to do definite and
+difficult things, many deficient ones were discovered--some deficient in
+mental caliber, some weak in moral fiber, some lacking in physical
+stamina. And right here is to be seen the only serious failure of our
+schools. Not every boy, not every girl, had been made as efficient as
+could have been desired. But, happily, in our great numbers enough were
+found to do even the stupendous work at hand, and to do it well. In
+spite of moral lapses, not a few, in spite of instances of mental
+incompetence, far too many, and in spite of physical handicaps,
+distressingly large--in spite of all this, I say, the United States
+surprised the world with the quickness with which we pulled ourselves
+together, and with the marvelous efficiency with which we mobilized all
+our resources. Many losses of course there were--losses of men, losses
+of days, losses of dollars. But when all is said and done, the losses
+were slight when compared with the accomplishments. Credit to whom
+credit is due! But because of these losses unthinking men immediately
+began to criticise the schools. They should have been trade schools, or
+industrial schools or military schools--any kind of schools that they
+were not. And how clearly it was being demonstrated, we were told, that
+the time formerly spent on music and drawing, art and literature,
+algebra and geometry, history and Latin, had all been wasted! How much
+better it would have been if, instead of these "frills," the children
+had been given "practical subjects"! (Practical. Save the mark. One is
+tempted here to go off on a by-path and discuss the topic, "What is
+Practical?") Thus the criticism of the unthinking--of the laymen who
+went off at half-cock.
+
+And this criticism was deepened and strengthened and extended and made
+more vehement, again by the unthinking, when the fine results of the
+Plattsburgh experiment were revealed, in which, thru the processes of
+intensive training, men were quickly whipt into shape for new, and
+difficult, and responsible undertakings. And the equally good results
+that came from the officers' training schools, in which college boys by
+a similar program were metamorphosed, almost at over-night, into capable
+army officers, had the same effect. How signally had the schools failed!
+And these long years spent in school and college, "dawdling over the
+frills," had been to no effect, whereas "a few weeks under _intelligent_
+educational direction accomplishes marvels."
+
+And the same has further illustration. Ministers of the Gospel selected
+for chaplains, physicians and surgeons chosen for medical service,
+nurses for the Red Cross, engineers for various forms of engineering,
+and many others have all been given this short period of intensive
+training and, to their credit and ours be it said, all responded
+quickly. But the conclusion drawn by the unthinking has been, all along
+the line, that the later efficiency of these men which has gained for us
+the plaudits and the gratitude of the world was due to this short period
+of intensive training, "under men who were intelligent enough to know
+just what was needed and just how to go about to secure it"--men not
+hampered by any pedagogical nonsense or grown stale over a long attempt
+to discriminate between the "infinity of nothingness and the nothingness
+of infinity" (as one might summarize a rather common criticism), rather
+than to the former years of patient toil, and discipline, and
+accomplishment which had really laid the foundation so well that all
+were able thus to respond. The common school, the high school, the
+college, and the professional school was dis-credited, one and all, in
+favor of a short-cut method analogous to the so-called "Business
+College,"--a short-cut method that could result only in disaster if
+applied without the appropriate preparation.
+
+How long it does take people to realize that real education is a slow
+process! that it takes years and years and years of varied experiences
+for the processes of assimilation and development to bring about the
+fine fruitage of stable character!
+
+And the Government, too (I suppose we can criticize Washington just a
+little now without serious danger of being sent to jail), must have had
+the same point of view in regard to the general management of education
+since, during the war, it did not entrust its educational war program
+into the hands of the National Bureau of Education. It did have the War
+Department and the Navy Department and the Treasury Department manage
+their respective phases of war activities. Why was not the Department of
+Education called on to direct the educational work? Had it been, the S.
+A. T. C. fiasco, as well as some other blunders, would doubtless have
+been avoided. But the thought (or was it the lack of thought?) must have
+been that most anybody outside of the teaching profession would know
+better how to get educational results than any one from within. A
+similar point of view is generally discernible in the election of boards
+of education in towns and cities thruout the country--any one is
+satisfactory save those who know definitely what should be going on
+inside of the school house.
+
+Perhaps all this was to be expected. I rather think so. But I confess to
+surprise when I find such criticism being echoed from within--from men
+who should know better, as, for example, the two quoted at the beginning
+of this article. The explanation, I suppose, is that, timid in nature,
+they have become panicky and lost their bearings. Perhaps they were
+suffering from a mild form of brain-storm, and have temporarily slipt
+back into the ranks of the unthinking.
+
+Let us analyze the situation and see if we can discover just what the
+war did reveal as to the short-*comings of our educational system. Let
+us then try to locate the responsibility.
+
+One of the most serious of the educational shortcomings thus revealed is
+a high percentage of illiteracy--nearly eight per cent, I understand,
+the country over. The seriousness of such a situation can scarcely be
+overestimated. It was serious in time of war--the inability of a
+soldier to read orders, or to follow written directions, or to make
+written reports, especially when one takes into consideration the myriad
+forms of war service just recently used, would limit his possibilities
+of service and cripple himself and all his companions. But illiteracy is
+even more serious in times of peace, for then such individuals are not
+immediately under the direction of intelligent officers and thus
+prevented from the disastrous results of their own ignorant actions.
+Think for a moment of what it means in a democracy and for a democracy
+to have one out of every ten (disregarding children) of the possible
+directing forces of the government unable to read or write!
+
+But when we add to this statement of mere illiteracy the fact that a
+large percentage of these illiterates are of foreign birth or extraction
+and have never learned either to speak or understand the language of
+their adopted country, the situation is seen to be even more serious in
+potentiality, both in peace and war. Our authorities have been too lax,
+it seems, in not requiring that all children of foreign extraction,
+whether foreign or American born, be educated in the English language.
+In communities thickly settled by alien peoples they have too often
+allowed the schools to be conducted in the vernaculars of the people--a
+German school here, an Austrian school there, and an Italian school over
+yonder, and so on. And it goes without saying that in schools in which
+children are instructed in alien tongues 'tis not the American spirit
+that is inculcated nor American ideals that take root. No one would
+challenge the statement that here is a defect in the execution of our
+educational program, and one that must be remedied at any cost.
+
+Still another serious weakness as revealed by the merciless hand of war
+is that of physical shortcoming. A large number of men were rejected for
+service and a still larger number accepted only for limited service
+because of physical disability as shown by the medical examinations. I
+have not the figures at hand, but 'tis common knowledge that the
+situation is considered grave. Eye defects, ear defects, defective
+teeth, weak lungs, flat feet, round shoulders, spinal curvature,
+unsymmetrical development, and many other defects were discovered in
+great numbers. Perhaps nothing but a rigid medical examination by a
+military officer would ever have opened our eyes to the real situation.
+But this did. The revelations came as a surprise to nearly all except
+the educational leaders of the country. They have known, all the time,
+what the situation has been and, for a generation, have been trying to
+combat it.
+
+Again the question is raised as to whether these defects, or weaknesses,
+of American education, in both fields mentioned, as serious as they have
+been seen to be for war, are not even a more serious menace when looked
+upon from the point of view of peace, and therefore, even tho the war
+has been won, of such commanding importance as to demand our immediate
+and continued attention.
+
+One might go on and name other shortcomings in the working out of our
+educational program that have been more clearly brought to the surface
+during the critical days of our warfare. But this article is not
+intended to be a catalog. The two mentioned are fundamental and
+far-reaching. Illiteracy and physical disability! Weakness along these
+lines strikes at the very roots of national life and of individual
+well-being. And if, as a nation and as individuals, we are ever going to
+enter into our inheritance, these defects must be remedied. But before
+trying to discuss remedies, it will be well to locate responsibility.
+Are our basic educational principles unsound, or merely our educational
+practises unsatisfactory? Are the educational leaders of the country all
+wrong in theory? Have their heads been so high among the clouds that
+they have not seen the real boy and his homely task? Or have they seen
+clearly and mapt out wisely, whereas the public, relatively unthinking
+upon technical matters and always slow to act in new fields, has not
+been ready to follow? Is it in theory or in practise where the real
+shortcoming is to be found? The answer to the question is vital. If in
+theory, then is the situation serious indeed for that would mean that
+our psychology is wrong--that our whole philosophy of life and of
+government has been built upon error. Truly, then, after all these
+years, the "educational forces" would need to "redeem" themselves so as
+not to be "a greater laughing stock than we have ever been before." But
+if the weakness lies merely in our practise, not yet having been able to
+attain to our ideals, then, tho serious, it would be but child's play,
+comparatively speaking, to put ourselves right. We should need to take
+courage, redouble our efforts, and all that, but should not need to
+start all over again.
+
+How shall we account for the illiteracy revealed among both alien and
+native born? Not by faulty methods of teaching can it be explained, nor
+by anything else that teachers have done or have not done. Illiterates
+have not attended the schools. It is due either to insufficient
+legislation or to non-enforcement of laws, doubtless more the latter
+save in the case of adult aliens.
+
+From the very beginning of our colonial life, early in the 17th century,
+universal education has been a part of both our educational and our
+governmental creeds. A program of compulsory education was early found
+necessary, early adopted, and never abandoned. Beginning in
+Massachusetts and going south and west, following considerably behind
+but then keeping almost even pace with settlement and development after
+statehood had come, legislation has decreed that every child born into
+the land or coming into it by immigration shall enjoy the advantages of
+education, at least to the extent of knowing how to read and write the
+English language. Every state in the Union has compulsory attendance
+laws upon its statute books. These laws are not as thorogoing as they
+should be in many cases but yet, even as they are, if enforced, they
+should leave almost no illiteracy among people whose childhood has been
+spent in this country. For the least satisfactory laws--those of some of
+the Southern states, Georgia, for example, require school attendance for
+at least four months of each year between the ages of eight and
+fourteen. But illiteracy, even among our own people, has been
+revealed--too much of it. The laws have not been enforced. There is the
+sore spot. Why have they not been enforced? But of that later.
+
+The education of adult aliens is another matter, and a very different
+one. As a problem it is almost new. That is, it has been only in
+relatively recent years that it has been recognized as such. True, for
+several years some of the states most largely affected, such as
+Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and others have been
+wrestling with it, but not very much has yet been attempted toward
+introducing the compulsory features. And private agencies,
+philanthropic, industrial, religious, political, and others have also
+done good work. But all that had thus far been done had accomplisht
+little more, at the outbreak of the war, than to open our eyes to the
+existence of a problem. And in our leisurely way we were going about its
+solution. But war came. The European nations were aflame. We had many
+Europeans in our midst. Investigations were made. The universal draft
+was adopted. The revelations were startling. It was discovered that in
+1910 there were in the United States 2,953,011 white persons of foreign
+birth, 10 years of age and over, unable to speak the English language.
+Of these 56,805 were from ten to fifteen years of age, 330,994 between
+fifteen and twenty-one, and 2,565,212 twenty-one and over. Note the
+number, _more than two and a half millions, twenty-one years of age and
+over--men grown, fathers of families, many of them_--unable to speak the
+language of their adopted country! And of these 788,631 were
+illiterate--unable to read or write in any language!
+
+Nothing short of legal requirements on a large scale, and rigidly
+enforced, absolutely free of cost to the immigrant, can ever remove the
+menace. The law-making bodies of the country, both State and Federal,
+must act and act quickly or this growing menace will get beyond our
+control.
+
+And the long catalog of physical defects--what shall be said of them?
+Shall they be charged against the "educational forces" of the country?
+Are they a disgrace from which we must "redeem" ourselves so that we
+shall not become the "greater laughing stock"? It is perfectly evident
+that somebody has blundered because the whole sad list of defects is,
+speaking broadly, preventive and, for the most part, also remediable.
+But where lies the responsibility--upon the home, the school, or
+society? Of course, primarily, upon the home; the child comes from the
+home, goes to the home, is a part of the home, is under the immediate
+control of the home. But yet, many homes, especially homes of alien
+peoples, are not sufficiently intelligent to have entrusted to them
+matters of such far-reaching importance. And many others are not
+financially able to have proper attention given.
+
+But the school does know. And it, or what it represents, is abundantly
+able financially to handle the matter. It knows clearly how the child
+with physical defects is hampered in trying to perform its school work;
+it knows, too, how seriously the entire work of the school is interfered
+with when there are many such in the room; and it also knows the
+handicap under which such unfortunate children face life when school
+days are over. And the school knows, too, the preventive and remediable
+natures of these defects. Possessing all this knowledge, why has it not
+acted? To make a long story short, it has acted. To the extent of its
+authority and with all the influence and power at its command it has
+acted, has been acting for many years, and is still acting. For more
+than a generation the educational forces of the country have been
+engaged in a nation-wide educational campaign designed to make clear to
+the homes of the country and to the voters of the country the growing
+seriousness of the situation. On the lecture platform and from the
+Gospel pulpit, in the educational press and in the popular magazine,
+aye, in the daily newspaper, in private conversation and in public
+discussion, in season and out of season, they have labored unceasingly
+to acquaint the public with the facts and to urge preventive and
+remedial action. To the unselfish work of these leaders of educational
+thought and action, supplemented by the generous assistance of the
+medical profession, is due the fact of our present-day intelligence in
+regard to the matter. Educators have been deeply interested, thoroly
+alive, and intelligently at work. How they have agitated the matter of
+better ventilation and better lighting of schoolhouses! How they have
+pleaded for medical inspection and appropriate medical treatment of
+school children! How they have urged the employment of the school nurse!
+How they have workt for the playground and the gymnasium and for sane
+methods of handling the same!
+
+But they do not form the court of last appeal. They have no authority.
+They all stand in about the same anomalous position as does the man
+nominally at the head of the educational activities of the country--the
+United States Commissioner of Education. They may gather statistics,
+make reports, and suggest action. But that is all. Tho possessing full
+knowledge of the situation, tho knowing just how to proceed to usher in
+a better day, they are not permitted to take any action. Responsible? Of
+course they are not responsible. "Redeem" themselves? From what, pray?
+"Laughing stock"? How long, oh! how long, will our great army of
+teachers, three-fourths of a million strong, be unappreciated,
+belittled, and maligned!
+
+Who, then, is responsible? In the last analysis there is but one
+answer--the public itself. Since the community at large as well as the
+individual afflicted is, in the final outcome, a sufferer in every case
+of physical disability, as also in that of illiteracy, it is its duty,
+as a mesure of self-protection, at least, to assume direction. Adequate
+information is at hand as to desirable methods of procedure.
+Demonstrations a-plenty have been given to prove that the program
+suggested is feasible, inexpensive, and beneficial. This has been
+brought about thru the action of a few small groups who have thus
+presented clear and convincing object lessons. But why must we say "a
+few"? Why is not such work nation-wide? That is a longer story. It
+follows.
+
+The United States of America is a Republic--a representative
+democracy--a government in which all the people participate. And the
+government of the United States is a Federal government. It is made up
+of a group of States, each one exercising supervision and control over
+its local matters. And education has thus far been considered a local
+matter. And in many ways that soverenty has been still further divided.
+We have as a smaller unit of school organization the county, and a
+smaller one yet, the township, and, in many states, a still smaller one,
+the school district, containing, in many instances, only a few square
+miles of territory and, of course, a very limited population. But in
+some respects, within certain limits, each of these small units is a law
+unto itself, having much to say as to the length of the school term, the
+character of the teaching, and many other phases including such as the
+one under consideration.
+
+For these reasons it frequently happens that side by side are school
+districts, or townships, or counties, with widely differing educational
+programs. Here is one with attractive buildings, well ventilated and
+well lighted, well equipt in every way, in the hands of competent
+teachers, with physician and nurses subject to call. But just over the
+imaginary line is another with nothing quite satisfactory. They are just
+living up to the strict letter of the State's requirement and that is
+all. Not one dollar is being spent that represents the community's
+voluntary contribution to the welfare of its child life or to the future
+well-being of humanity.
+
+And why? Just because we are a Democracy. Just because our action must
+be the united action of many, representing the average intelligence of
+the entire governmental unit and not that of its most intelligent
+members. For this reason a democracy is always slow to act along new
+lines. The majority of the people have to be convinced of the wisdom of
+the new mesure. And education is itself always a slow process. People
+change their minds slowly. Slowness of action is one of the prices we
+have to pay for our democracy. On the other hand, an absolute monarchy
+can act quickly, for there may be but one individual to assimilate the
+new idea or to be convinced of the wisdom of the proposed change.
+
+These facts are easily made clear by historical references, and,
+happily, in the very matter under discussion--educational procedure. In
+the eighteenth century Prussia, under the two great Hohenzollern kings,
+Frederick William I and his son, Frederick the Great, the two ruling
+from 1713 to 1786, made most rapid strides in education. Both were
+practically absolute rulers, but they were benevolent and far-sighted,
+and the educational reforms that they inaugurated were basic and
+far-reaching, such as state-control and support, compulsory attendance,
+and the professional education of teachers. Being absolute in authority,
+all they needed to do was to promulgate the decrees and order their
+execution. The result was that, educationally, Prussia immediately
+forged ahead of all the other European countries.
+
+England, on the other hand, was a limited monarchy. Her king could not
+have acted thus even if he so desired. Such mesures had to have the
+sanction of Parliament, which would have to hark back to an enlightened
+public opinion since Parliament was a representative body. And public
+opinion, especially in matters of education, is slow of creation. As a
+matter of fact, even tho the English people were much in advance of the
+Germans in civilization and in all the refinements of life, it was not
+till 1833 that England as a government took her first step looking
+toward the education of her children thru appropriating money. And the
+grant of that Act was only a paltry L20,000 a year to be used by two
+religious societies for the erection of school houses. And it was an
+entire generation later, even 1870, before they adopted the necessary
+principles of compulsory attendance and local taxation. More than a
+hundred years behind Prussia, England was, in the management of
+educational affairs!
+
+Another illustration of the slow action of democracy is nearer at hand
+both in time and space, even in our own country. For one reason or
+another, rather, for many reasons, education was at a low-water mark in
+the United States the latter part of the eighteenth and the first part
+of the nineteenth centuries. Thoughtful men, progressive educators,
+prominent statesmen, searching for the cause and for the remedy, found
+the one in the poor character of the teaching being done and the other
+in the establishment of the State Normal School patterned after those of
+Germany. This was first suggested in 1816 in Connecticut and pretty
+faithfully kept before the people of New England thereafter. But in
+spite of every effort, including a campaign of education and the
+establishment of private normal schools for the purposes of
+demonstration, it was not till 1838 that the Massachusetts legislature
+could be induced to act. And she would not have done so then had it not
+been that a very prominent man of Boston, a friend of the cause, Mr.
+Edmund Dwight, showed his faith in the movement by making a generous
+contribution out of his private funds. Note, too, this action from
+another point of view--the amount of Democracy's initial contribution
+toward this new great movement in America: Mr. Dwight's gift of $10,000
+was evenly matched by that of the wealthy state of Massachusetts! And
+the $20,000 was the amount planned for the establishment of _three new
+normal schools_ and their maintenance _for three years!_ That amount
+to-day would scarcely build a coal shed for each of three new normal
+schools!
+
+But I am not advocating monarchical methods even to hasten so good a
+cause as educational improvement. I am merely accounting for our
+slowness of action in needed reform. For several reasons I should be
+decidedly opposed to adopting such a program of centralization even if
+we could. In the first place, not every absolute monarch would act as
+did Frederick the Great. There are few benevolent despots. In France
+during the seventeenth centuries the Louises were just as absolute as
+were the Fredericks in Germany. But they were not interested in
+education for the people. Again, Germany's system of education, tho
+objectively efficient, has been far from satisfactory because not based
+on sane moral principles. And that fact, by the way, has finally been
+Germany's undoing. Now, we can scarcely conceive of Democracy erecting
+an educational structure on an unsatisfactory moral foundation.
+
+And still again, the action of an absolute monarch, in all such matters
+as education, tho perhaps temporarily rapid, is not permanent. Remove
+the guiding spirit and it slips back. An illustration will assist. Again
+Germany furnishes it. The little duchy of Gotha, just south of Prussia,
+serves us. During the Thirty Years' War Gotha had suffered greatly. Near
+its close, in 1640, Duke Ernest the Pious became its ruler. He had at
+heart the good of his people. He believed that education could be a very
+important factor in their upbuilding, and at once put into effect a
+progressive program. His people were greatly bettered and his duchy
+became a fine object lesson for other German States. But Duke Ernest
+died. And his educational reforms, not springing from the people
+themselves, followed him not long after.
+
+A few years ago President Diaz, Mexico's benevolent despot of nearly
+half a century, died. And his people, never having been taught how to
+rule themselves nor practised in the art, went to pieces.
+
+Democracy is slow but she is apt to be sure. Her action in educational
+matters is often provokingly dilatory, but she holds what she gains and
+thus continues to progress. She does not take a step forward until she
+is sure of her ground, but then she stands firm. Her actions are the
+results of deliberate thought based on adequate data gathered from
+actual experiments and not to be shaken. Democracy would not give up
+universal education nor take one step backward in the matter of
+compulsory attendance to secure it. She would not part with her
+elementary normal schools for anything in the world. And when once she
+sees her duty clear she will add to her school workers, in every
+community, the physician, the nurse, and the playground director. She
+will do it and, quickly noting improvements, soon wonder why she had not
+done it long before.
+
+Since so much emphasis has been placed on the conservative nature of
+Democracy and on its consequent slowness of action, a word should be
+added as to its possibilities in emergency. Tho we were slow in entering
+the Great War, once our duty was clear we acted with a promptness, a
+unanimity, and an efficiency that surprised both friend and foe, giving
+heart to the one and consternation to the other. Tho a democracy, we
+invested our chief executive with a power and an authority beyond that
+possest by any monarch in the world.
+
+So let us not be discouraged. The situation is not as bad as it might
+be. Our fundamental principles are sound. We are working along right
+lines and accomplishing good results. Our shortcomings, our weaknesses,
+our failures, if you wish to call them such, are seen only when our
+record is compared with a perfect score. The schools have not yet
+attained to 100 per cent efficiency; that is, the country over. Here and
+there, under the favorable conditions of an intelligent citizenry
+willing to follow expert leadership even to the extent of providing
+adequate funds, are schools and departments of schools of approximately
+100 per cent efficiency. And these, as Democracy's experiments, assure
+us of other advance steps. They are object lessons. Thus Democracy
+always advances.
+
+Finally, what shall we say? What shall we do? Not to "redeem" ourselves,
+oh, no! not that! but to approximate the 100 per cent efficiency all
+along the line? What? Why, knowing that we are headed aright, keep
+steadily forward with our eyes on the goal, refusing to be stampeded by
+the unthinking critic of whom Democracy always has a plenty. Take
+courage! Speed up!
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+ON THE FIRING LINE IN EDUCATION
+
+_President's Address delivered at the Annual Banquet of the Fortnightly
+Club, Grand Forks, North Dakota, June 4, 1917_
+
+
+The plan of the military campaign is worked out in the quiet, away back
+in the rear, sometimes at considerable distance from the place of actual
+hostilities. It is worked out quietly, usually slowly, and attracts but
+little attention. But when worked out and ready to be put into
+operation, the plan is taken forward and activities begin. Supplies are
+gotten ready, men stationed, guns loaded, the firing line is formed.
+Here is where the battle is to be fought, where an attempt is to be made
+to carry out the plans formed in the quiet, back there in the rear.
+Activity characterizes the scene. Advances are being made, new things
+being done. Every effort is put forth to realize the plans.
+
+It is not different in education. In the quiet of the laboratories and
+the study, thoughtful men consider conditions, form plans, and develop
+theories of educational betterment that have to be tried out, out in the
+open. A firing line has to be formed, a place where new things are to be
+done different from the regular conventional activities. The humdrum,
+prosaic, traditional, everyday work goes on, in the main, all around but
+at these points where some advances are being tried, a new and it is
+hoped better program tested. All eyes are centered, all minds eager. The
+analogy is not inapt.
+
+It is my purpose to discuss briefly some of the things that are
+happening on our educational firing lines. I want to bring to your
+attention first, however, the plan of the great educational campaign
+upon which we have entered, the goal before us at the present time, and
+then take up a few of the relatively new and typical positions being
+taken by leaders of educational thought, having the realization of that
+goal in view. This will present to you some of the things that are
+actually being done in a few progressive communities and point out
+possibilities for others.
+
+
+SOCIAL BETTERMENT, THE DOMINANT MOTIVE IN EDUCATION
+
+If I interpret aright the present-day educational thought, the dominant
+motive in it all is social in character. That is to say, in all of our
+plans for the education of children we keep them in mind as future
+members of society, acting with one another and all working together for
+the common good and for the betterment of the race. And around this
+motive, or back of it, or being used by it as a means, can be grouped
+all the significant educational practises of the time.
+
+Formerly the motive was largely psychological. That is, the school
+effected its organization, chose its curriculum, worked out its program,
+and decided upon its methods in order that it might assist the child in
+the development of its instincts and capacities, thus enabling him to
+realize his own personality. The great French educator, Rousseau, living
+in the eighteenth century, was responsible for this movement and it was
+a notable advance beyond the haphazard and aimless practise of the time.
+Pestalozzi, the great Swiss educational reformer, Froebel, the German
+apostle of childhood, and Herbart, the psychological genius of the
+Fatherland, were disciples of Rousseau and worked out from his point of
+view, trying to put it into practise in the school-rooms.
+
+And here was the firing line in education for many a long day. True,
+none of these later men ignored social relationships as did Rousseau.
+True, a strong case could be made out, if one should wish to defend the
+thesis, that these distinguished followers of Rousseau, even tho
+carrying out his program in the main, were likewise inaugurating the new
+sociological movement. But yet it was not sufficiently clear to dominate
+even in their own minds. The individual stood out beyond the mass. He
+filled the stage. Nor did they clearly pass it on to others. As a matter
+of fact, what the immediate followers of these men got from them was the
+theory of individualism in its better form.
+
+The best definition of education that can be given from this point of
+view is _the development of an inner life_. That is what Rousseau wanted
+to bring about and Pestalozzi and Froebel, and our own Colonel Parker of
+more recent times, the modern apostle of childhood, had the same vision.
+And so to Froebel and these others, likewise, the school was an
+institution in which each child should discover his own individuality,
+work out his own personality, and develop harmoniously all his powers.
+True, in that environment and doing all that, the child is going to
+learn the relationships of society, and thus the school might become a
+means for social progress as well as the instrument of individual
+development. But this was incidental. The development of the inner life
+was the goal. Fashioned in the quiet, in the study, away from the haunts
+of man, this became the program and the rallying cry, and out on the
+firing line it was striven for. On the educational battlefields of both
+Europe and America, where redoubts were being stormed and advance
+positions taken, this was the one great end in view. It eventuated in
+the child study movement of the present generation that is now at its
+height and that has done so much to mitigate the severities of the old
+time school room practises and likewise greatly aided in putting
+education on a scientific basis.
+
+The immediate followers, I say, of the great European quartet of
+educators had the above worthy goal in view; but with their followers,
+many of them, especially the noisy ones, the modern sophists, it
+degenerated into a theory of pure individualism of the most selfish
+type. The theory of getting on in the world, every man for himself,
+became rampant. The school came to be looked upon as an institution in
+which children could learn how to get ahead of the rest of the
+community, and education as merely another weapon to use in making
+society contribute more to purse and pleasure. And on the firing line,
+formed by these noisy agitators, mistaken by many as educational
+leaders, these were the things striven for. But this aberration was only
+temporary. The real educational leaders, in trying to realize the goal
+of Rousseau and Pestalozzi and to do it having to combat this movement
+of wildcat educational speculation, gradually came to see a more
+important truth even than the one they were seeking. As on many another
+firing line, victories by the wayside have clarified our vision and
+given us new perspectives, and a goal, not at first recognized, looms
+large upon the horizon.
+
+For thru all this struggle we have learned that the first business of
+the public school is to teach the child to live in the world in which he
+finds himself, to understand his share in it and to perform it because,
+after all, unless people learn to adapt themselves to other individuals
+and communities, disorder and chaos follow. In it all we have come to
+see that education is the best instrument for regenerating society.
+
+Not individual development, then, the selfish view of Rousseau, not even
+the harmonious development of all the faculties, the one-sided, somewhat
+restricted, or undeveloped, view of Pestalozzi and others of his
+followers, surely not individual efficiency for personal gain, the
+selfish view of crass materialism, but social efficiency is the
+present-day motive in education. And the definition of education takes
+on a different color. Not merely the development of inner life but in
+conjunction with that or in addition to it, _the development in the
+individual of the power of adjustment to an ever changing social
+environment_. And likewise the school becomes more than a place in which
+the child can discover himself. Aye, it is the instrument that democracy
+has fashioned for realizing its broad and humanitarian ideal. Democracy
+is ever striving for closer and more harmonious relation between its
+members, a greater degree of social justice, and the school is its
+efficient means.
+
+These two tendencies, the psychological and the sociological,--only two
+since the narrow individualistic was never accepted and is now being
+rapidly eliminated--these two are not antagonistic nor mutually
+exclusive. The difference is largely in point of view or emphasis. One
+may say that they are but the two sides of the same shield but the fact
+remains that there _are_ two sides. There is a difference and the change
+came as suggested. And the change has modified conditions on the firing
+line. Ever since Mr. Spencer asked his suggestive question, "what
+knowledge is of most worth," the question of educational values has been
+raised and the curriculum has come under close scrutiny. The result has
+been a modification. The purely linguistic and literary, that which does
+not function directly for preparation in life and society, is slowly
+giving way to that which deals with the facts and forces of nature and
+of social institutions.
+
+Thus far I have tried to make plain the great educational campaign in
+which we are engaged, as seen on the firing line,--to point out the goal
+before us, universal education, of course, and social efficiency for
+each member of the group. That suggests at once as a definition of
+education, the one made famous by Herbert Spencer more than a half
+century ago, "_Preparation for complete living._" That was good as a
+start in the new direction, but one of the most prominent generals of
+our educational forces now commanding at the front, John Dewey of
+Columbia University, has suggested a modification which brings it up to
+date and gives the key-note of explanation to the tactics now in vogue
+out there in the front ranks. He says that instead of being the
+preparation for life, education is life itself. Some without trying to
+probe deeply into the thought back of the trenchant expression, have
+said that this was a mere play upon words. But Dewey is not a man who
+plays with words. What he meant by the statement is that the child is
+best prepared for life as an adult by living the right kind of life as a
+child. That is by living a life that has real meaning to him now, a
+normal natural life, putting forth those activities that spring from
+within, not merely sitting behind a narrow desk trying to memorize wordy
+descriptions of complicated facts thought to be useful to him later on.
+And when we go out and see what they are doing on the firing line we
+shall see just that being done.
+
+
+CHILD STUDY
+
+But perhaps I should guard against a possible misapprehension. In
+eliminating the materialistic point of view in individualism--narrow
+individual development for personal gain--we have not thrown aside the
+goal of development suggested by Rousseau and Pestalozzi. Advanced
+educational thought has that prominently in mind--the discovery of the
+child's latent powers--his possibilities--his tastes--his "bent" and the
+development of the same. But while with them that was the goal, the end
+in view, and a somewhat selfish one, even tho not crassly materialistic,
+it has become, with us, a means to a larger end, namely, social
+betterment. The child must be known and developed to enable it to be
+able to contribute its largest quota to the welfare of society.
+
+With this general direction of educational activity made plain, and
+incidentally the character of the activities along the entire battle
+front, let us pass to a consideration of a few specific activities that
+will illustrate the general movement. Let us bear in mind that we have
+in view, in the first place, the individual child whose tastes and
+aptitudes we must discover and, on the basis of discovery, whose fullest
+development, consistent with the rights of others, we must seek. And the
+reason for this, you know, is that only as this is done and he is
+prepared to do that kind of work in the world for which his tastes best
+adapt him--only thus can he be made the most efficient member of society
+possible. Because, as Plato said, centuries ago, "Society is but the
+individual writ large"--a collection of individuals. The foundation of
+all things in social life is the individual.
+
+Now, I'll admit, at once, that that is not the program of the rank and
+file of the schools. It should be, but it isn't. What the schools are
+trying to do, in the main, is to teach the children a lot of facts that
+tradition says would be well for them to know when they become adults,
+wholly irrespective of the child's present attitude toward these
+facts--whether or not they have meaning for him. What the high schools
+are trying to do is to teach the relatively few who survive this grade
+program, in addition to these elementary tradition-directed facts of
+knowledge, a lot more of meaningless matter prescribed by the colleges
+and listed under that alluring title, "entrance requirements." And as a
+result of these programs the schools are sending altogether too many of
+their boys and girls into society unacquainted with themselves, and
+ill-fitted for any useful occupation, and therefore out of sympathy with
+the serious work of the world. They are misfits in the social and
+economic world and are obliged to take their places in the ranks of the
+lowest-paid of unskilled labor--and work up if they can.
+
+Now, what is being done on the firing lines to remedy this situation
+and to usher in the new day? Well, first, in our normal
+schools--institutions established and maintained for the simple purpose
+of preparing young people for teaching children--great emphasis is being
+placed upon the study of the child. It is felt that only as the teacher
+understands the child mind and the laws of its development can she
+direct that development aright. (That's a sensible point of view, isn't
+it? And yet it is only on the firing line in educational practise that
+we find it recognized. Without that factor of equipment, the teacher is
+teaching subjects, not boys and girls.) In many normal schools child
+study is one of the required subjects--no one may graduate or be
+recommended for a teaching position who has not taken it. It should be
+required in all--and will be a little later on. No person should be
+allowed to occupy the position of teacher of children who has not made
+such a study--and proved himself efficient in it. Boards of education
+should demand it even if some normal schools do not yet require it for
+graduation. It is far and away the most important part of the teacher's
+professional equipment.
+
+And then in our schools of education and teachers colleges--institutions
+set apart for preparing teachers for our high schools and for
+administrative positions--the study of adolescence is receiving
+increasing attention. The high school boy and the high school girl are
+being made the subjects of close, careful, scientific study. It is
+thought that in order to deal effectively with these young people the
+high school teacher should understand those marvelous changes--physical,
+mental, and moral--thru which they are passing. How else can one know
+how to check where checking is needed (and it usually is needed
+somewhere along the line); to guide where the pathway is obscure (and
+every adolescent is sure to pass thru valleys of darkness during the
+high school course); and to inspire where inspiration is lacking (and
+with some it is lacking a good deal of the time)--in a word, how else
+than thru a knowledge of the situation can one be the "philosopher,
+guide, and friend" that the adolescent always needs?
+
+Do you know that about one-fourth of all students who enter the freshman
+classes of our high schools, thruout the United States, drop out before
+the close of the first semester? Do you know, too, that the elimination
+continues right along until that one-fourth is made more than one-half
+before graduation day arrives? Now, these boys and girls enter full of
+hope and expectation, eager and ambitious for what the high school is
+supposed to do for them; they do not plan to drop out before completing
+the course--nor do their parents plan to have them do so. Why do they do
+it? What has changed their point of view and sent them from the school,
+sad and disappointed, and their parents dissatisfied with both school
+and child? What is it? Do you want me to tell you? The situation has
+been the subject of investigation in many places thruout the country,
+and the conclusion reached by thoughtful men and women, unbiased
+students of educational practises, is that, while many influences
+combine to bring about that unfortunate result, the chief cause of this
+high mortality is the unsympathetic attitude of high school teachers
+toward the adolescent. But, you may ask, why unsympathetic? Because they
+regard them as fickle, unstable, and irrational, and so have but little
+patience with them. I'll admit that the adolescent seems all that at
+times, but that is only on the surface. The developmental
+changes--physical and moral--thru which he is passing often make the
+life during this period one of turmoil. From fourteen to eighteen--the
+normal high school period--is frequently called the "storm and stress
+period" of life. Not having made a study of the situation, high school
+teachers, in the main, do not know the fundamental scientific facts, and
+therefore can not account for actions, points of view, signs of
+waywardness, lack of appreciation, poor lessons, etc., etc., that
+sometimes characterize the youth while a student in the high school.
+They often lay to an unclean mind what springs from a perfectly normal
+development of the sex function; they are sure that moral perversity is
+the basis of actions that are more correctly explained by reference to a
+moral nature merely in the process of development; they think that pure
+laziness alone explains the lack of vigorous work, whereas the boy is
+growing so fast that he has no strength for anything else; they scold
+him for being awkward and say it is due to carelessness and a slip-shod
+mind, because they do not know that the muscles sometimes grow faster
+than the bones, making accurate co-ordination a physical impossibility;
+in a word, to general, all round cussedness they charge behavior that
+should be referred to high blood pressure, aching bones, the knitting
+together by fiber growth of the various brain centers, and finally, to
+youthful enthusiasm, all of which are perfectly normal signs of
+developing youth. They do it because they do not know any better. They
+are ignorant of many things that touch, and vitally, the young people
+with whom they are working. But how could it be otherwise? They have
+never given any reflective thought to the matter. The term "half-baked"
+that they often apply to the adolescent in disgust, or in coarse jest,
+is, from this point of view, more applicable to themselves.
+
+That, I say,--the unsympathetic attitude of the high school teacher
+toward the adolescent--is the chief cause of the high mortality of high
+school students. That, coupled with another, that springs from the same
+fundamental situation--ignorance of the needs and points of view of the
+adolescent--tho not so chargeable to the individual class teacher as to
+the school system as a whole, local, state, and national, pretty nearly
+cover the ground. The other cause to which I refer is the course of
+study and program of activities that are so ill-adapted to the tastes,
+and needs, and capacities of adolescent boys and girls--studies and
+activities that have no real meaning to them and that fit them for
+nothing definite save college entrance where the same old process,
+meaningless to many, often goes on for another period.
+
+What is being done on the firing line to better such conditions? A good
+deal; quite a good deal. Normal schools and schools of education here
+and there, the former more than the latter, are now giving attention to
+the matter, requiring in some cases and urging in others, prospective
+teachers to become intelligent in regard to the lives they are to
+direct. It is being done at our own institution as at others. This year
+Dr. Todd has given instruction in child study to nearly one hundred
+young men and women who are looking forward to teaching in the grades,
+and I have had a group of some thirty-five or forty prospective high
+school teachers and superintendents who have been making a careful study
+of adolescence. I guarantee that these people will not make the crude
+and unfeeling blunders that I have mentioned as too common among high
+school teachers, as they run. These are firing-line activities. They
+were nearly new a dozen years ago. My introduction of such courses in
+our University was smiled at indulgently by some of my colleagues and
+sharply criticised, especially the work in adolescence, by others. They
+are not yet required of students preparing to teach, but have evidently
+demonstrated their value since, tho in no sense snap courses, they have
+become very popular.
+
+As illustrative of this work let me refer to a notable recent action of
+the legislature of Iowa. It has just passed an Act appropriating to the
+State University $25,000 a year for the purpose of financing what is
+called a "child-welfare" campaign. The plan is to make an exhaustive
+scientific study of the child from both the physiological and
+psychological points of view, to the end that it may be better known and
+thus more satisfactorily guided in its educational career.
+
+One other thing, in this same connection, is being done on our firing
+lines all over the country--something that is hoped will set the people
+at large, parents and citizens generally, to thinking sanely on
+educational matters and ere long rectify our blunders as to subjects of
+study and general school activities and thus result in sending the
+children out efficient workmen in suitable fields. I refer to addresses
+and discussions such as this and others, to articles in newspapers and
+magazines, and the educational press, and to even more extensive and
+thoro discussions put out in book form from time to time for the laymen.
+
+The old darkey says, "The world do move." We sometimes think it moves
+very slowly, but yet it "do move." Tho we can't see it move, we can, by
+looking back, see that it has moved.
+
+
+PHYSICAL EDUCATION
+
+Another thing for which we are fighting out on the firing lines is an
+adequate system of physical education. This would include periodical
+medical inspection of every child from the kindergarten up; it would
+also include the school nurse and the visiting nurse, and, as well, free
+public clinics for ear, eye, nose, throat, and tooth difficulties. It
+would also include, for mental and moral as well as physical ends,
+well-equipt playground and gymnasium facilities under the direction of
+men and women expert and skilful in those fields--and these would be in
+operation the entire year.
+
+The physical education of the child and adolescent should be as
+carefully planned, as scientifically workt out in a positive way, as the
+intellectual. Why not? Because you know--every intelligent person
+knows--that the physical is the basis for the mental and the moral. You
+know--we all know--that a sound, a healthy, a sane life can not be
+developt in an unsound or a diseased body. Then why are these activities
+merely on the firing lines and not a part of the regular program?
+Because ignorance, and prejudice, and selfishness, and stubbornness, and
+penuriousness are still keeping many people in the trenches. But they
+will be dislodged. Just as sure as fate they will be driven from cover.
+They are fighting a losing battle. They are standing in the way of an
+irresistible movement that is sure to engulf them. If there were time I
+should like to describe just what is being done along this line in some
+places and give the reflex influence of the same on the community. It
+has surely meant a new heaven and a new earth to many a child, and
+glimmerings of the same to many a community. But I pass to less
+spectacular matters, continuing to discuss principles rather than
+illustrations.
+
+
+THE EDUCATIONAL SURVEY
+
+Another matter of interest these days is the educational survey that has
+been taken up by many progressive communities. The plan is, as many of
+you know, to subject the school system of a city or community to a
+searching investigation in order to discover, if possible, its weak
+points, if it has any, to the end of their betterment. Experts are
+brought in who, without fear or favor, examine the system from all
+possible points of view--location and arrangement of school buildings
+including heating, lighting, and general health conditions, adequacy of
+playground and athletic facilities, the extent to which the schools are
+satisfying community needs in the way of equipt workmen and the needs of
+the young people for equipment for suitable work, the cost of the
+system, attendance, methods of teaching and supervision, course of
+study, etc. Outside experts are brought in for various reasons: known to
+have no personal interest in the outcome, their reports are likely to be
+received with greater respect; and, too, a local committee, thru
+nearness and very familiarity, would fail to notice features, good as
+well as bad, that might at once attract the attention of strangers. Many
+cities, ranging from 2500 to half a million people, have already availed
+themselves of the survey with, in the main, very gratifying results. Not
+only have cities used the survey, but other units of educational
+administration. There have been a few very significant and interesting
+rural school surveys by counties in several states. A similar study has
+been made of several State universities, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, for
+example. I notice that the legislature of Minnesota has just arranged
+for a survey of theirs. You all recall that such a survey was made of
+all the institutions of higher education of North Dakota only a short
+time ago. The general feeling is that it was well worth while. Such and
+even more extensive surveys have already been made in five other
+states--Oregon, Iowa, Washington, Colorado, and Wyoming. The end sought
+in each and all of these surveys, whether city schools, higher
+institutions, or state-wide systems, is greater efficiency--larger
+service to society. A survey of this character is usually followed by a
+detailed printed report that is generously distributed resulting in
+greater interest in the schools and a more intelligent appreciation of
+their work and their needs.
+
+
+VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
+
+Much has been said in recent years about vocational education. The
+schools have been severely criticised for not teaching trades. Many have
+demanded that that be the dominating motive in all our schools,
+especially in the high schools. The educational press, for the last
+decade, has kept the matter in the limelight. Books have been written
+calling attention to the heavy dropping out of school of pupils even
+before reaching high school age wholly unfitted to do anything above the
+most menial and lowest-paid work. They have argued strenuously and
+sometimes logically for better things. To this program the objection has
+been raised that children in these early years are not yet ready to
+choose their work of life; that they do not yet sufficiently know
+themselves--their own tastes and capacities for such serious choice; it
+has also been urged that to place before children such attractive
+objective features would result in swerving many from the normal pathway
+of their development and check it midway. The result has been what might
+be called a compromise, and the firing-line activities have been
+somewhat modified. Not vocational education but vocational guidance is
+now more nearly the thought. And this has a much larger content, a
+background, a more scientific basis, and one organically connected with
+the larger movement of which I have already spoken--the social motive
+in education supplemented by the individual involving the discovery and
+development of taste and capacity.
+
+I have already called attention to the high mortality of high school
+students. The reasons I have given are the lack of sympathy that the
+teacher has with the adolescent and the lack of meaning found in the
+work being done. The same facts account for the heavy elimination that
+takes place in the upper grades of the elementary school. But both are
+being remedied to some extent. The first thru the child-study movement
+and the second thru the matter of vocational guidance. And the two are
+very closely connected as one can see at a glance. Thru the child-study
+movement the teacher comes to know child nature so well that direct
+application can be made to the individual child and an intimate
+knowledge gained of his tastes, capacities, ambitions, and dominant
+interests. This will enable her to give the subject matter definite
+meaning in the early years, and, later on, when vocations begin to
+attract, the guiding may be intelligent and the final choice a suitable
+one. From the beginning of the adolescent period there should be
+opportunities furnished by the school or thru its co-operative effort
+for children to test themselves in various lines--academic lines,
+vocational lines. They should, in a word, be vocationally tempted in as
+many different directions as possible so as to come to know themselves
+so well that the final settling will not be haphazard. In these ways
+they should be guided into their vocations, definite ones, just as early
+in life as they can be adequately prepared for them. For example:--if
+his tastes and capacities fit a certain boy for merely a mechanical
+pursuit that requires but little academic learning, such as carpentry,
+plumbing, blacksmithing, brick laying, etc., he should, relatively early
+in the adolescent period, be thus guided, and not forced to attempt an
+academic course that can have no possible meaning to him. This would
+send him out, a productive member of society, happy in his work because
+suited to him and efficient in it because fitted for doing it well. If,
+on the other hand, tastes and capacities fit for academic or
+professional careers, such as medicine, law, teaching, or engineering,
+the principle would remain the same but the program would differ. The
+academic work, meaningless to the prospective plumber, or dressmaker,
+would be full of meaning to the embryo lawyer or teacher, and the period
+of preparation much prolonged.
+
+Such are the points of view that teachers should hold, and such the
+opportunities that schools should offer. And it is all being found out
+on the firing lines. This program is being carried out to some extent in
+many places in different parts of the country. The time is not very far
+distant when something of the kind will be demanded in all our towns.
+For out in the front ranks the high school is no longer regarded chiefly
+as a preparatory for college. Out there it is seen to possess a much
+larger function--assisting the child--every child--to form its own
+acquaintance and to begin the planning of its future. In other words,
+the thought on the firing line is that the high school is an institution
+established by a community for community purposes--to take its young
+people--all of them--and guide them thru the difficult and transitional
+period of adolescence, directing, inspiring, shaping, checking,
+developing for the largest manhood and womanhood possible and providing
+the community with efficient workmen in various lines.
+
+
+THE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST
+
+While there are many other activities, significant and interesting, that
+might well be considered in such a treatment as this, I shall close with
+a very brief mention of one more--the place and work of the educational
+psychologist in our modern system.
+
+One of the most significant of the newer movements in educational
+procedure is that termed _educational mesurements_, perhaps better
+called the _mesurement of intelligence_. About a generation ago it began
+to be observed that many children did not pass thru the grades with the
+regularity that was thought normal or desirable. Many were obliged to
+repeat grades--they did not "pass," to use the language of the schools.
+The more the matter was investigated, the more serious was it seen to
+be. Investigation has gone on until at last carefully gathered
+statistics tell us that almost, if not quite, one-half of all the
+children in the schools fail to progress thru the grades at the expected
+rate. For some reason, or for some combination of reasons, they are
+retarded from one to three years. And of the $400,000,000 annually spent
+to carry on the work of the schools it is estimated that from
+$40,000,000 to $50,000,000 go every year in attempts to teach these
+retarded ones what they have already tried but failed to learn. Here was
+a double loss, a financial one of large proportions and a human one of
+much more serious import. Why the retardation? And what could be done to
+check it?
+
+Thoughtful consideration was given to the matter with the following
+revelation: it was seen that in educational procedure all matters of
+grading, promotion, even choice of subject matter where there was a
+choice, were being handled on the basis of results of tests of
+information--possession of knowledge facts--rather than of ability or
+intelligence. This might not be so bad if the knowledge sought in these
+tests were knowledge necessary to have in order to function adequately
+in the new or advanced environment. But usually no such relationship
+could be traced. It was but another illustration of no present meaning
+connected with the work of the school. A remedy was sought, and is being
+sought, in trying to substitute for the information test a test of
+intelligence. It is generally admitted that neither one is an adequate
+mesure of the other. A child may have a very high grade of intelligence
+and yet make a very poor showing in the ordinary schoolroom test for
+knowledge, not that he has been unable to learn such facts but merely
+that his interests and attention have not been thus focust. On the other
+hand, it is entirely possible for one of low-grade intelligence to
+receive a very creditable "mark" in a test for information since it is
+frequently a test of verbal memory, that "great simulator of
+intelligence," as Binet calls it.
+
+One of the most interesting of the books bearing upon this new
+educational movement is _The Measurement of Intelligence_ by Professor
+Terman of Leland Stanford University. In the thoughts just exprest I
+have used material found in this book.
+
+So, for a few years now, educational psychologists have been trying to
+work out a series of tests of intelligence, so that children may be
+located on the basis of their general intelligence, or ability to
+accomplish results. The results so far are very promising as tending to
+eliminate much of the loss mentioned above. And out on our firing lines
+the educational psychologist is being looked upon as a necessity in any
+system looking forward to real efficiency. It is thought that thru the
+saving he could effect in the two directions cited his regular
+employment would be a matter of economic foresight. A few years ago it
+was the school physician who was being fought for out in the front
+ranks. He is now a fixture in every up-to-date school system, and it is
+the psychologist for whom battle is now being waged. And it is only a
+question of time when his position will be secure and the line pushed
+forward for another attack.
+
+I have discust with you briefly some of the interesting points of view
+of the education of to-day. I have tried to place before you, first,
+what I think to be its dominant motive--social betterment, made
+effective thru discovery and development of the individual's tastes and
+dominant interests. To show how this program is becoming established and
+worked out, I have touched upon various new lines of activity in
+sympathy with and contributing to the general movement. Thus I discust
+briefly the great child-study movement having for its goal knowledge of
+the individual child as a basis for its educational treatment. Following
+this I spoke of physical education--its beginning in many places and the
+great need for extension. Another activity named was the educational
+survey by means of which a community may have its own educational
+activity tested by impartial experts that its real efficiency may be
+known. Then followed brief discussion of the new movement for vocational
+guidance that is doing so much where being used to make the youth
+efficient and happy in his chosen and appropriate field of activity. I
+closed the discussion with a mention of a still newer movement having
+the same great ends in view--the employment of the educational
+psychologist. Firing-line activities all of these are, each vigorous and
+active in the great movement for educational betterment.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE RELATION OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY TO THE HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE STATE
+
+_An Address delivered before the Annual Conference of the North Dakota
+Superintendents and Principals at the University of North Dakota, May
+18, 1916_
+
+
+This is a topic of great interest to us all--to you in the field and to
+us here on the campus. The work of the two institutions is so closely
+related, each depends so much upon the other, that participation in the
+activities of one bespeaks interest in the other. But before we can
+discuss at all intelligently the matter of relationship it will be
+necessary to look at the two separately--objectively, as it were--to
+note the function of each and its place in the educational system of the
+State. What is the university? What is the high school? And what is the
+work of each? are questions that must first be answered.
+
+In the first place, of course, the two are but parts of a still larger
+whole, neither being an independent, self-sufficing entity. The larger
+whole is the educational system of the State, of which there is one
+other part equally important with the two named, even the elementary
+school. And all three parts forming the whole are creations of the
+State, devised, controlled, and maintained for a very definite
+purpose--namely, the welfare and happiness of our people.
+
+While it is true that the three parts are correlative, each
+supplementing the others and the system incomplete without all three,
+it is also true that they are co-ordinate, no one of the three being,
+_per se_, in authority over any other, nor any one subordinate to
+another. Let me put before you, very briefly, that we may all be
+thinking together, the system in its outlines and then discuss each of
+its parts, trying to discover its function and its node of work. Then we
+shall pass to the matter of relationship.
+
+The system as a whole covers and tries to provide for the entire school
+life of the individual. The elementary period, or department, includes,
+in the main, as now organized, the work of the first eight years of the
+child's school life and ministers to it from the age of six to fourteen
+years. The secondary, beginning where the elementary closes, carries on
+the work for four years and is followed by the higher, the colleges and
+the professional schools--the university.
+
+It may clarify matters somewhat and thus give us a clearer perspective,
+if, before, entering upon the discussion, I account for the system as we
+have it to-day.
+
+Our Colonial forefathers in the Old Bay State, back in the 17th century,
+in providing to meet the situation that prest upon them, unconsciously
+laid the foundations for an educational system that expanded with their
+expansion and developed with their development. But before taking the
+initial steps they did not wait to analyze the entire situation and upon
+logical or philosophical grounds map it out in its entirety. They had no
+such thought. They needed ministers of the Gospel and, since a knowledge
+of Latin was the one sure gateway to that profession, they established a
+Latin school almost as soon as they had set their own dwelling places
+in order. This was in 1635, and Harvard College followed the very next
+year to complete the preparation. It was an afterthought and came eleven
+years later when they legislated for an elementary school. And even tho
+we can see, in what they had then produced, the fundamental factors of
+our present somewhat complicated system, the people who were responsible
+for its organization were only dimly conscious of the significance of it
+all. They builded better than they knew. The broad outlines can not be
+improved. Details, of course, are ever changing as local conditions
+change, but from the very nature of things, the elementary, the
+secondary, and the higher schools have remained with us, each for a
+quite definite purpose and all working together for a common end. Let us
+look, therefore, for a moment, at each of the three and see for what it
+stands and what it should attempt to do.
+
+
+THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
+
+The fundamental purpose of the elementary school in a democracy is well
+stated in the first legislation on the continent touching elementary
+education, tho not mentioning the elementary school. It was in the
+Massachusetts colonies in 1642. The General Court passed an ordinance of
+which the following quotation gives the substance:
+
+"This Court, taking into consideration the great neglect of many parents
+and masters in the training of their children in labor and learning, and
+other employments which may be profitable to the commonwealth, do
+hereupon order and decree that in every town the chosen men appointed
+for managing the prudential affairs of the same shall henceforth stand
+charged with the care of the redress of this evil ... and for this end
+they, or the greater number of them, shall have the power to take
+account, from time to time, of all parents and masters, and of their
+children, concerning their calling and employment of their children,
+especially of their ability to read and understand the principles of
+religion and the capital laws of this country; and they shall have power
+... to put forth as apprentices the children of such as they shall find
+not to be able and fit to employ and to bring them up."
+
+Here was compulsory elementary education, that children might know how
+to read, might "understand the principles of religion and the capital
+laws of the State," and also that they might be taught to work. And why?
+For their own present and future welfare, and that they might be
+"profitable to the commonwealth," the document reads.
+
+It was for all the children of all the people. The same thought is with
+us to-day and, analyzed and stated in our present-day terminology, may
+be put about as follows:
+
+The elementary school is for all the people and aims to do for all three
+things: first, exercise a positive directive influence over the child's
+physical development; second, carry on, in a more systematic, scientific
+manner the training of the sense organs already begun by the home, thus
+opening up the life to the beauties of nature, art, and other forms of
+truth, and so providing for the development of the inner life of each in
+accordance with inherent leaning and capability; and, third, equip them
+with the tools of knowledge and give such knowledge facts and develop
+such points of view as will enable each to become a self-directing,
+constructive, and contributing member of his democratic community.
+
+Attendance upon the elementary school should, in the interests of all as
+individuals and of the State as an organization, be compulsory.
+
+
+THE HIGH SCHOOL
+
+The high school should likewise be for all, tho for a somewhat different
+purpose. While attendance should not be compulsory, the aim should be to
+make it universal. For a somewhat different purpose, I said; I should
+perhaps have said for an added purpose, because I would have the three
+ends of the elementary school kept constantly in view as fundamental
+bases. But, assuming that these things have been well done, the chief
+purpose of the high school should be to discover the child's latent
+powers, his dominant interests, and then, so far as these are wholesome,
+help him plan his education in their general direction. I might put it
+briefly thus: the chief function of the high school should be to help
+the child to become acquainted with himself and begin the planning of
+his future. Let us look at it carefully and see if it is not sound.
+
+At the conclusion of the elementary school, at the age of 14, the boys
+and girls are still children; they are developing, not developed, in
+either body or mind. They have not yet reached, in the main, the period
+of rapid acceleration of physical growth, intellectual expansion, or
+moral development; they are just reaching it; they are now in the early
+stages of that wonderful period of adolescence when the boy is being
+transformed into the man and the girl into the woman. They are neither
+children nor adults, yet manifesting the characteristics of both. They
+do not know themselves, nor does any one else know them intimately. How
+can they? They are not yet formed. They are in the process of formation.
+What will emerge as a result of the process, we know only in broad
+outlines--not at all in minute detail. So many factors are at work and
+there are possible so many combinations of factors that no one can tell;
+for it is during the period of adolescence that hereditary
+characteristics show themselves. Up to this time the child is a child of
+the race; during this period it becomes the offspring of its parents.
+And the factors of heredity--father, mother, ancestry--are mingling and
+clashing and combining with the factors of environment, and what the
+outcome is going to be, nobody knows, in specific cases, in advance.
+
+This is the period when the heart, the lungs, and the brain are being
+transformed, modified, whipt into shape for the performance of the
+duties of adulthood. It is a period when, in the intellectual realm,
+because of what is taking place in the physical, concepts are being
+clarified, relationships traced, ideas formed, things seen in the right
+perspective, and real reasoning begun. It is the period when, in the
+moral field, because of what is being accomplished in the physical and
+the intellectual, principles are being apprehended that will finally
+enable the individual to distinguish between right and wrong, to
+organize on principle rather than upon expediency his relationships with
+his fellows, and eventually to become a free moral agent,
+self-controlled and self-directed. It is the period, therefore, when
+ideals are being formed, habits fixt, character shaped, life plans
+matured, and professions chosen.
+
+And so, with such an individual and during such a period, what other
+function of the high school can begin to compare, either in importance
+or in appropriateness, with the one stated?
+
+It may be objected that I do not include in this function of the high
+school that which has been during a large portion of its history its
+foremost work--preparation for college. The seeming omission has not
+been accidental. I say the _seeming_ omission because, even tho not
+specifically stated, it is there, for all who should be encouraged to
+prepare for college. But it has not been made prominent since, in my
+judgment, it is of minor importance. Note again the function as
+suggested--to help the child know himself, find out what he wants to do
+and what he can do best, and then begin getting ready for doing it well.
+If the specific form of future activity decided upon in a particular
+instance should call for the contribution of the college, then of course
+the plan mentioned would include appropriate preparation.
+
+But from what point of view should the high school be regarded and for
+whom should it be planned? Should it be for the relatively few who go
+beyond, or for the great majority who do not? It is a fair question and
+admits of but one answer. The high schools of the State must, of course,
+give adequate preparation for entrance into the State university. Some
+of them must--not necessarily every one. It must be the preparatory
+school, since both are State institutions and the only ones occupying
+the field. But it should do vastly more than that. Being of the people,
+by the people, and for the people, it should be so handled as to serve
+all, not merely a few, of the people. It is perfectly plain, therefore,
+where the emphasis should be placed.
+
+Please do not misunderstand me; I am not looking upon this from any
+narrow point of view, I am not thinking merely of getting these children
+ready for jobs--certainly not all of them. I am not advocating the
+transforming of our high schools into trade schools--not at all. What I
+am urging primarily is a different point of view--and so enlarging and
+modifying our high school activities and equipment that all our
+children, instead of only a few, may find there a congenial atmosphere
+and activities suited to their tastes. If their tastes lie in the
+direction of carpentering, or of plumbing, or of dress-making, well and
+good; let them be thus developed and prepared to go out into their
+community somewhat equipt for remunerative toil and for community
+service. Why not? Are they not as worthy as those who have tastes and
+ambitions or a more literary character and who, therefore, look forward
+to the chair of the teacher, the office of the lawyer, or the practise
+of a physician? And is not the community under as much obligation to the
+one as to the other? Some fear that such a program would lessen the
+number preparing for college, that work of this objective character
+would be so attractive that all would choose it. These fears are
+groundless. Children are not all built that way. At any rate it would
+not lessen the number who ought to go to college--who are adapted to
+that kind of work. It would, of course, greatly increase the number
+attending high schools--holding those who now, because of lack of
+interest in the work offered, drop out of school entirely and thus swell
+the ranks of unskilled and unintelligent labor. And that is greatly
+worth while. My own feeling is, too, that out of the greatly increased
+attendance of the high school an even larger number than at present
+would find their way to the university, and that they would be better
+equipt in point of view and purpose than are many who enter under
+present conditions. This suggestion is made not to keep boys and girls
+out of the university, but to send them there with a purpose.
+
+But there is oftentimes a misapprehension as to these two possible
+programs for the high schools. Preparation for college and preparation
+for life are by no means antagonistic. Preparation for college is the
+only kind of preparation for life for him who goes to college. And for
+him who, during his high school course, plans to go to college, but who
+at its close, finds himself unable to do so, for economic or other
+reasons, it should still be the best possible preparation for life that
+he could have made, and it will be if, as I am urging, it has all the
+time been based upon his own nature and seeking his normal development
+in the direction of his dominant interests. And preparation for life
+should be the very best kind of preparation for college, for him who
+later changes his plans and goes to college as well as for him who does
+not, since the college itself should be regarded as merely completing
+preparation for life. But a great many, the majority, no doubt, will not
+go to college, should not go to college, or to put it better, perhaps,
+need not go to college. The activities of life, psychical as well as
+manual, for which they are best adapted by native endowment, and in the
+performance of which they will, therefore, be happiest, and thru which
+they will, therefore, contribute most to the welfare of society, do not
+need for their satisfactory performance school preparation beyond the
+high school period. In other words, a great many boys and girls should
+not be urged to go to college. They should not if they do not have
+within them those characteristics of leadership which, developed, will
+make them leaders. The college graduate who, in later life, is a street
+car conductor, or a Pullman porter, or what-not, has largely wasted the
+time and money spent in college. And this is not because these
+occupations are not honorable, but because they do not call for that
+kind of preparation. And the kind of an individual who is at home as a
+street car conductor does not usually profit greatly by the work of the
+college. I will not put it as David Starr Jordan is said to have done,
+that "It does not pay to give a fifty-cent boy a five thousand dollar
+education." It is not a question of dollars and cents--rather one of
+fitness and of fitting. The so-called "fifty-cent boy" who may have been
+given the "five thousand dollar education" and because of its
+inappropriateness degenerated into a ten-cent man, might have been made
+into a thousand dollar man if he had been given the right kind of
+education. The boy who has the instincts of a blacksmith, who likes the
+shaping of iron and the shoeing of horses and the smell of the forge,
+will be a far happier and more useful member of society as a blacksmith
+than, made over by the college, as a lawyer without clients, a
+physician without patients, or a teacher always hunting a new position.
+
+I have discust the high school, as you see, from the point of view of
+the developmental needs of the children of the community. The outcome
+would have been practically the same had I looked upon it from the
+standpoint of the industrial needs of the community. I fully believe
+that a high school should be to-day just what it was originally planned
+to be back there in the first half of the nineteenth century--a school
+higher than the elementary, controlled by the community, in co-operation
+with the educational leaders of the State, serving the needs of the
+community, fitting its boys and girls for service in the community and
+discriminating, if at all, in the favor of the group of boys and girls
+who are not going to college, since that group is much the larger. Since
+boys and girls are nearer to us than industrial needs, I have chosen to
+look at the problem from that angle.
+
+I am well aware that my point of view in this entire matter is not quite
+in accord with the present-day program. The American high school still
+has preparation for college as the one dominant object. Its curriculum
+is planned for that end. It is rated at first, second, or third class,
+depending upon the degree in which it meets college entrance
+requirements--not upon the degree in which it serves the community needs
+or develops the community's children.
+
+I realize fully that the change suggested would involve quite a decided
+rearrangement of the ordinary high school program. With the time at my
+disposal it will be impossible to discuss the matter in detail, but it
+should be touched upon briefly to get the matter of relationship clearly
+before us.
+
+The first change would be in the matter of organization: instead of
+having the elementary school, as now, covering eight years and closing
+with the child at the age of 14, it should cover but six years, sending
+the child to the high school at about the age of 12, at which time,
+approximately, begin those physical and psychological changes earlier
+spoken of, as belonging to adolescence. And that thought has taken root,
+as we all know, in the junior high school movement. Six years is long
+enough to do well all that the elementary school should be expected to
+do. It certainly is as long as children can be held interested in the
+kind of work thought necessary for the child, and as long as he can be
+happy in the atmosphere of the ordinary elementary school. It is long
+enough for the laying of foundations. It is time something else should
+be taken up.
+
+Planning to meet the needs of adolescents, we must take the adolescents
+as they are--many of them not primarily students of books, but
+individuals of ceaseless activity, physical as well as mental, vastly
+more interested in the doing of things than in the learning of lessons.
+And we must provide a means whereby they can learn to do all sorts of
+things that have to be done in the community. The subject matter, the
+methods of handling young life, the atmosphere, the activities, and the
+ends in view, should be so changed or modified, or supplemented as to be
+appropriate to the new and changing personalities to be affected by
+them. The details would differ with different communities but the
+principle is adaptable to all.
+
+
+THE STATE UNIVERSITY
+
+With the functions of these two departments thus clearly in mind, let us
+look at the next in order--the State university. Fortunately this
+discussion need not detain us long since there is a quite well
+recognized unanimity of opinion in regard to its work.
+
+While the State university does many things, and some of them well, and
+while it can be said to have many ends in view, its one all-inclusive
+function is to prepare leaders for society. It must prepare leaders in
+law, that justice may be done; leaders in medicine that health may be
+preserved; leaders in engineering that the State's resources may be
+developed; leaders in education that the youth of the State may be
+educated; leaders in research that the boundaries of knowledge may be
+pushed out--leaders all along the line that character may be formed,
+statesmanship developed, and the welfare of the people secured and
+preserved. And the preparation of all these is not, primarily, that
+those prepared may achieve fame or amass fortunes, but that society may
+be better served.
+
+We are all agreed, in the United States, that elementary education
+should be universal. Many are now taking the position that I have
+already advanced that secondary education should likewise reach and
+serve all. But all stop at that point. No one even suggests a college
+education for every boy and girl. And the reason is found in the above
+statement of the function of the institution, since not all are suited
+to leadership. It takes only the relatively few who stand out clearly in
+their high school experiences as possessing the characteristics of
+leadership, and these few it develops, equips, locates.
+
+Coming a little closer to our subject--tho I think we have not been very
+far from it at any time--let us inquire as to this relationship along
+some more specific lines.
+
+It goes without saying that the relationship should be very cordial. The
+two institutions are creatures of the State, partners in the important
+work of educating the children of the State. Each has its own work to
+do, and neither has been given any authority over the other. At the same
+time each depends upon the other, neither being able to do its own work
+without the other's assistance. They should work hand in hand, each
+assisting the other in every possible way to realize its largest
+usefulness to the community and the State. In general, the high school
+should send its students to the university well equipt to do the lines
+of work for which they respectively apply. And the university, knowing
+in each case just what that work is to be, and the difficulties it
+presents, should be the judge as to the details of that equipment.
+
+On the other hand, the university should not make requirements for
+beginning its work that are beyond the capacity of the ordinary high
+school student. Nor should it definitely require or legislate against
+specific subjects upon which there is no general agreement among
+educational leaders. Something is wrong somewhere, in the matter of
+educational values, when some colleges absolutely prescribe for entrance
+certain subjects for which others will give no credit at all: for
+example, at the present time 91 colleges in the United States require at
+least one unit of natural science and 8 colleges will not accept a
+single unit; again, 13 require 2 units of natural science and 22 will
+not accept the two. Until we know a little better than we do at present
+what we are doing and why we are doing it, it might be well to move
+slowly in legislating for or against specific subjects. The university
+should keep in mind the fact that the high school has other duties to
+perform--and possibly more important ones--than preparing a few students
+for the university.
+
+I am glad to say that in this matter of entrance requirements the two
+institutions are gradually coming closer together. The university is
+coming to have greater respect for and more confidence in the high
+school and its work. Whereas in the earlier days all entrance work was
+rigidly prescribed, now, in nearly all of our higher institutions,
+several units are open to free choice from a list of accepted subjects.
+In a goodly number these units may be chosen from any subjects offered
+by an approved high school. And, too, there are five institutions of
+good standing that allow the entire 15 units to be thus chosen. Our own,
+as you doubtless know, is much more generous in this matter than the
+great majority. It gives a margin of 5 units to be thus selected. I
+think there are but 9 institutions in the whole country more liberal. As
+you know, too, in all our colleges save Engineering we specifically
+require but 4 units--3 in English and 1 in mathematics. From the others
+free election among groups is allowed. The movement here and elsewhere
+seems to be in the direction of requiring the completion of a full
+four-year high school course, with increasing flexibility as to specific
+subjects. And that seems wise.
+
+It gives me pleasure, at this point, to say that the relationship
+between the University of North Dakota and the high schools of the State
+has ever been most cordial. I think there has never been a time when the
+two, tho differing at times in details, have not co-operated in the most
+frank and cordial manner to bring about the best good of both and to
+secure the best service to the State. Neither one has been selfish,
+trying to secure undue advantage over the other. Where domination of the
+university over the high school can be seen--as it most certainly can be
+seen--and even tho, as I have said, the work of the high school is what
+it ought not to be--mainly a preparation for the university--_this_
+University and _these_ high schools are not at fault. It is not a local
+situation. It is nation-wide, and even nation-wide as it is, it does not
+include, consciously and directly, the State universities. The older
+colleges and universities did dominate, but the relation between the
+State university and the high school has ever been cordial. They have
+always recognized their partnership and have acted in accordance with
+it. But yet we have all been caught in the maelstrom, and it would be
+difficult for any one institution or any one State to get out of it. So
+no immediate or rapid change can be expected. Large bodies move slowly.
+The change will come, but it will come gradually thru claiming a little
+here and granting a little there.
+
+But before leaving this topic of entrance requirements, I desire to
+refer to one of its broad factors and touch, incidentally, upon the
+large matter of university attendance in general. In discussing the high
+school, and again the university, I have tried to make clear the fact
+that not all high school students should be urged or expected to go on
+to the university. Remember that the high schools should be made to
+serve all the youth of the State but that the university's work is to
+take but the choice ones of these, or, better yet, the scholarly output
+of the high schools, and equip them for leadership in society, and the
+point is clear. It is a new problem but coming to be a very real one.
+Going to college is getting to be the fashion--almost a fad in some
+places. We all know that a goodly number of students, boys and girls
+alike, enter the universities, East and West, every year who have no
+characteristics of leadership, who are not fitted for real university
+work, either in academic equipment, maturity of judgment, point of view,
+or earnestness of purpose. Many of these young people are wholly worthy,
+well meaning, and ambitious in a weak way, but they have been misguided.
+They have listened to the attractive preaching of the popular but
+unintelligent gospel of college attendance for all and, caught by the
+glamor--the foot-ball, the track meet, the declamation contest, the
+fraternity pin, the Junior prom, etc.--have answered the hail of "All
+aboard for the University!" without knowing what university work really
+is or what it is for.
+
+The college and the university are also coming to be thought a
+convenient place for rich fathers to dump their incorrigible sons and
+marriageable daughters for a few years. And in some sections these rich
+fathers are increasing in numbers at an alarming rate. The presence of
+all such people (they can not be called students) in various classes is
+a drag, and the wheels of the institution are clogged. These people
+themselves are soon disillusioned but ashamed to quit; the home people
+are dissatisfied with results; the university is unjustly blamed for not
+developing them into leaders--there is trouble all around. I am not
+speaking of our own institution alone; others are experiencing the same
+difficulty and are seeking a way out. Michigan University, for example,
+is now urging its alumni to discriminate carefully in sending students
+to their Alma Mater; it wants only those fitted by nature as well as by
+the preparatory school.
+
+As said above, this is coming to be a real problem and difficult of
+solution. What shall be the relationship of the university to the high
+school touching these various classes of its graduates? Should it
+receive them all? If not, where shall the line be drawn? And who shall
+draw it? Shall one factor of the entrance requirements be the
+recommendation of the high school principal or superintendent? Would it
+be well for the high school to have two distinct grades: one for local
+graduation and a higher for university entrance? That is done in some
+places. The entire matter is worthy of careful thought of both high
+school and university.
+
+With the discussion of one more point of contact, the preparation of
+teachers for the high schools, I am thru.
+
+If, as stated above, the great function of the State university is to
+provide leaders for society, then, in a broad way it is easy to answer
+the question as to what it should do for the preparation of teachers for
+high schools--it should prepare them. For where else is clear-headed,
+unselfish leadership more needed than in the high schools from the
+students of which are being selected, thru direction and competition,
+the boys and girls who are to pass out to the colleges and then into the
+world as leaders? We all know that that is what happens. The man or
+woman, untouched by college or university, who yet occupies a
+responsible position of leadership is an exception to the rule. And
+where else than in a university can preparation for high school teaching
+be secured? But of what sort should be this preparation? The answer to
+the question in general has long been clear--it should be professional
+as well as academic in character. Mere acquaintance with the subject to
+be taught is no longer held adequate by people at all intelligent along
+educational lines. And during the progress of the movement that has
+demonstrated to us the need of professional preparation, there has been
+worked out also, along somewhat general lines, the details of this
+preparation. We are now, the country over, in approximate agreement that
+it should cover the History of Education, Philosophy of Education,
+Psychology, including the study of adolescence, and Methods of Teaching.
+Institutions differ somewhat in minor matters within these broad fields,
+but the development of the movement in the United States has resulted in
+approximately the above program--professional preparation for all
+teachers in the high school and that along the four lines suggested. But
+the movement has gone much farther than suggested by my statement. The
+results are found in something more authoritative and more permanent
+than tentative agreement among educational leaders, or even among
+educational institutions. The law-making bodies of the land have taken a
+part, and by legal enactment have required about what I have suggested.
+The State of North Dakota, for example, requires professional equipment
+of every teacher within its borders--no, not quite, it does not require
+it of its teachers in the special schools--the reform school, the
+schools for the deaf, blind, and the feeble minded--nor in its
+institutions of higher education, including the normal schools and the
+University. And in this North Dakota does not differ from other states
+of the Union. But it is strange, isn't it? that the state absolutely
+requires professional preparation of all its elementary and secondary
+teachers and yet does not require it of those whom it engages to equip
+them? Some of them have it, of course, and the majority of those who
+give the specifically professional courses, but the greater number of
+all teachers in the higher institutions are lacking in this respect.
+That doesn't mean that all university teachers are poor teachers. Many
+of them have learned how to teach in the crude and expensive school of
+experience. They have, at last, the professional equipment, but gained
+at high cost. Perhaps this lack of professional equipment accounts, in a
+mesure, for the admittedly poor character of much of the teaching in our
+colleges, normal schools, and universities.
+
+But to come back to the high school and the preparation of high school
+teachers. What does North Dakota require, and how does the University
+meet the requirement?
+
+All teachers in classified high schools, save special teachers of music
+and drawing, are required to hold certificates that presuppose
+proficiency in psychology, history of education, principles of
+education, school administration, and methods. Special teachers in
+music and drawing are required to have covered in professional lines
+only psychology and pedagogy. But in cases where the certificate is
+granted on the basis of college work instead of on results of an
+examination, the law requires that the applicant shall have covered at
+least two year-courses, or sixteen semester hours, of professional work,
+and it recommends that this be distributed among the four great fields:
+history of education, principles of education, methods of teaching, and
+school management.
+
+The School of Education has been organized within the University for the
+specific purpose of preparing teachers for the high schools of the
+State. To graduate from the School of Education and thus receive the
+B.A. degree and the Bachelor's Diploma in teaching, which is accredited
+by law as a first-grade professional certificate, and also to be
+recommended for teaching specific subjects in the high-school, an
+applicant is required, first, to have specialized, academically, in the
+subject to be taught. The amount of work required for this specializing
+varies with the different subjects, but in most cases it is from 20 to
+24 semester hours. Recall what is meant by the work of a semester hour
+and you will easily see how broad our academic requirement is. It means
+that in addition to one's high school work he is required to carry the
+subject in practically daily recitation for from 2-1/2 to 3 years in the
+University. To some that may seem too much, but we feel that the first
+requirement for teaching in the high school should be a thoro grounding
+in the subjects to be taught.
+
+The academic matter thus disposed of, let us note the professional. For
+this, in its various phases, we require 20 semester hours covering
+psychology, history of education, secondary education, philosophy of
+education, and methods of teaching academic subjects in which the
+student has been specializing and which he expects to teach. The course
+in methods includes observation and practise teaching of the same
+subjects in the Model High School under expert supervision. Many of our
+students voluntarily take more than 20 hours, but that is all that is
+required. We have cut down the professional requirement to the minimum
+so as to leave ample opportunity within the course for thoro mastery of
+the subjects to be taught, and also for general culture and the
+development of broad-mindedness, not being willing to send teachers into
+the high schools as narrow specialists.
+
+Were there time I should like to go more into detail in regard to these
+various requirements and try to show the contribution of each; but I
+must pass on to speak of another way by means of which the University
+enables students to meet the legal requirements for teaching in the high
+schools--thru the College of Arts. A student who graduates from the
+College of Arts and who has had, during the progress of this course, 16
+hours of Education is, upon application to the State Board of Education
+and the payment of a fee of $5, granted a first grade professional
+certificate. But this method of preparation is seen to be quite
+unsatisfactory when contrasted with the one just outlined. The Arts
+student is a relatively free lance, practically wholly so in the choice
+and arrangements of his professional work. In the School of Education
+the program is for all the professional subjects, save general
+psychology, to be taken after the beginning of the junior year and so
+immediately prior to the actual work of teaching, and too, when the
+student is relatively mature. But with the Arts student, it may all be
+taken much earlier, during relative immaturity and making a long period
+elapse between it and the work of teaching--quite long enough for the
+influence of the professional atmosphere, always valuable in such
+matters, to be wholly lost. The question of the professional work of the
+School of Education student is carefully planned to meet the ends in
+view. Each course has its definite contribution. The Arts student may,
+and often does, select courses that are not the most appropriate for
+high school teaching: for example, instead of a course in adolescence he
+may select one in child study which deals only with the child in the
+grades. Instead of a special methods course in the subjects he plans to
+teach in high school, he may select a course in methods in elementary
+subjects; and he may not take any course in secondary education nor have
+any practise teaching in the Model High School. The work may be--quite
+often is--ill-arranged and of little value as a professional preparation
+for high school teacher.
+
+I have dwelt upon this contrast because the University and its School of
+Education has suffered by the laxness of this second mode of
+preparation. Some of the people who thus go out are not good
+representative products of the institution's professional activity.
+
+Just a closing word as to this phase of the subject. You see what we are
+trying to do and how we are trying to do it. From the work of the young
+people whom we have sent you from time to time, how successful have we
+been? Our work as to time and content of courses and our general
+equipment are about the same as found in similar institutions in other
+states. We differ somewhat, of course, in personalities and in
+individual point of view but, taking everything together, we are doing
+the best we know how with the material that you send us as students. How
+does our product suit you? What criticism have you to make and what
+changes to suggest?
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE UNIVERSITY AND THE TEACHER
+
+_An Address delivered at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada,
+March 30, 1916, in the Exchange Lectureship existing between the
+University of Manitoba and the University of North Dakota. It was
+printed in the "American Schoolmaster," December, 1916_
+
+
+Having accepted the kind invitation of the University of Manitoba to be
+one of the exchange lecturers from the University of North Dakota, for
+the current year, I made inquiry as to the nature of the different
+groups of people whom I should be expected to address. I did this so as
+to be able to select appropriate themes for discussion.
+
+For this gathering, therefore, semi-popular in character and made up, as
+I was told it would be, of the more thoughtful and intelligent people of
+the community, University, and city, I selected as my topic for
+discussion, "The University and the Teacher."
+
+To a group of educated men and women who have visions--people who are
+characteristically looking beyond the present and trying to plan for the
+development of a great democratic state and for the welfare of a free
+people, I know of no line of thought more appropriate or suggestive.
+This is true because in such a state and with such a people, the state
+or provincial university is the recognized leader of thought and action.
+And this is true since the one great function of such an institution is
+to take the choice youth and maidens from the various sections of the
+state and, thru the work of the class room day in and day out, week by
+week, year after year, give them knowledge, shape their opinions, mold
+their characters, and develop their minds, and then send them back into
+society as recognized leaders of the next generation.
+
+The topic is doubly suggestive when we stop to inquire as to what makes
+a university or any other institution of learning--what it is that
+really gives it its reputation, its character, its influence. What is
+it, anyway? Its towering brick walls? Its libraries and its
+laboratories? Its athletic prowess? Its beautiful campus? Why, no, of
+course not. Not any one of these nor all of them combined, complete and
+extended and excellent as they may be, or as useful as they all are,
+ever yet made or ever can make a great university. A real university, or
+any other institution of learning, is made up of the men and the women
+who form its student and its teaching bodies. The character of the
+institution, its very life blood, is drawn from them. Their points of
+view, their motives, their scholarships, their visions, their
+aspirations, make it what it is in every instance.
+
+You recall that ex-President Garfield's description of a university
+included only two factors as essential--the teacher and the student. The
+external equipment--buildings, libraries, laboratories--what not--is
+merely a tool in their hands. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not
+inveighing against these things; they are necessary. What I am insisting
+upon is that not _things_ but _teachers_ make a university. And so my
+topic, "The University and the Teacher," launches us at once into the
+midst of a great big thought. So big, indeed, it is, that it goes
+without saying that it cannot be adequately handled in the brief space
+of a single address. Only certain phases of the large topic can be
+touched upon at all, and they treated but briefly.
+
+But, after all, the function of a speaker, certainly upon such an
+occasion as this, is not merely to give information. It is not to speak
+with finality upon any subject. Is it not, rather, to direct the
+thoughts of the listeners along worthy lines? For any good that shall
+result from the meeting together of speaker and audience will be the
+direct outcome of their thoughts and not of his words. So, after having
+thus spoken briefly of the university as a whole--of its place in the
+state, its great influence and that of its teaching body--I invite you
+to think with me as I touch the subject here and there briefly
+discussing these three sub-topics: 1. The Kind of Teachers the
+University should Employ; 2. The University Teacher in His Classroom; 3.
+The University's Attitude Toward the Preparation of Teachers. Our first
+discussion, then, will be of
+
+
+THE KIND OF TEACHERS THE UNIVERSITY SHOULD EMPLOY
+
+A few moments ago I said that the one great function of a State
+University was to provide the State with a competent leadership. That
+involves, however, a subsidiary function of such great importance,
+especially as we regard the teaching force, that an added word is needed
+both to prevent misunderstanding and to make clear the line of
+discussion of this sub-topic. The development of a competent leadership
+_is_ the all-embracing function of such an institution, but that can not
+be done save as the institution is, at the same time, thru some or all
+of its teachers, keeping fully abreast, or well in the lead, of the
+discovery of new knowledge and of new applications of knowledge in the
+various fields of human endeavor. And this is true because men can not
+be leaders in any field of action unless they possess the fullest and
+latest items of knowledge obtainable in that particular field, and again
+because real leadership can not be developed save thru the use, as
+educative material, of the fullest and latest.
+
+What kind of teachers should the university employ? Clearly, teachers
+who can do these two things: men of open and enquiring minds, men of
+imagination, men who are hungry and thirsty for knowledge, men of
+research--men of the laboratory and the library. But that is but one
+side; we must also have men of vision, men of great breadth of view, men
+of broad human sympathies, men who can take this knowledge, old and new,
+and with it, as educative material, help to shape opinions, and mold
+characters, and fashion destinies, thus transforming crude, unstable,
+and immature youth into men and women of virtue, and knowledge, and
+courage, and sanity, and poise, into whose trust, therefore, can be
+placed the guiding of a great, free, developing people--men of the
+classroom, teachers and inspirers of youth.
+
+The question may well be asked if I mean two _groups_ of teachers, a
+_research_ group and a _teaching_ group, neither one acting within the
+field of the other. Not necessarily and certainly not absolutely. To
+quite an extent the two functions should overlap since each supplements
+the other. The man of research should also be a teacher in order both to
+keep his human sympathies alive and as a spur to still further search.
+And every teacher should be, to some extent, a man of research so that
+thru his own joy in discovery he will be able to kindle a like fire in
+the minds of others, thus keeping the spirit of discovery alive and
+active in the land, and also that he may invite his students to drink at
+a living stream instead of a stagnant pool. The teacher who is not also
+a student, and continually working at it, is usually but a poor teacher.
+But while all this is true, it is probably true also that no person is
+equally successful in both fields. Some men are primarily teachers--are
+in their element in the classroom engaged with the problems of the
+student but only indifferently successful in the laboratory, while
+others, at home in the laboratory, are somewhat out of place and
+ill-at-ease in the classroom. I shall not attempt to say which of the
+two functions is the more important or the more useful. Both are needed
+and, as said before, both are needed, to some extent, in each. But, in
+the main, where characteristics are marked, the shoemaker should be
+allowed to stick to his last. It is a very wise procedure that is more
+and more being followed at the present time, in American universities,
+of recognizing such differences and making provision for research
+professorships that include no teaching duties whatever. The percentage
+of these should be small, of course.
+
+What kind of a teacher should the university employ, then? The teacher
+who is eager to push the boundaries of human knowledge a little beyond
+the point yet reached and who also greatly desires to take knowledge as
+an instrument and with it develop boys and girls and equip them for
+leadership in the great world of action. So far as possible the two
+kinds of service should be performed by the same person, but yet that is
+immaterial--the material thing being that both kinds be performed.
+
+What kind of teachers should the university employ? Why, teachers who
+not only desire to do these two things, but who also know how to do
+them. If one is to do research work, he should know how to do it,
+economically and efficiently. His preparation should have included a
+certain amount of reflection upon the reasons for research and of
+training in the manner of conducting the same. Likewise, if he is to be
+a teacher, he should be well grounded in the theory and art of teaching.
+If he is going to shape opinions, mold character, give points of view,
+develop human minds, then it goes without saying that his preparation
+should have included a very thoro study of the human mind in its various
+relationships, activities, and stages of development. If a teacher is
+expected to equip young men and women for the duties of life as leaders
+in the great social, economic, and political activities, he must also
+possess great stores of knowledge, and likewise know how to impart that
+knowledge so that it will become equally the possession of others.
+
+
+THE UNIVERSITY TEACHER IN HIS CLASSROOM
+
+The second of my three topics, "The University Teacher in His
+Classroom," is an even more intimate one than the one just treated. It
+is so intimate that perhaps discretion would be the better part of
+valor, but since I am at a considerable distance from the people and the
+institutions I am discussing, I feel that I can proceed with comparative
+safety.
+
+There is abroad at the present time considerable hostile criticism of
+our higher education. Our graduates, it is said, are not able "to
+connect up"; "it takes them two or three years after they get out to
+find themselves"; "they first have to get rid of a lot of theoretical
+notions that have been given them before they can learn the practical
+things of life." President Foster of Reed College, Oregon, puts it thus:
+"It is possible to graduate from almost any college without an idea in
+one's head." Professor Wenley, Head of the Department of Philosophy in
+Michigan University, had about the same thought when he gave me his
+original definition of an American college as "A so-called institution
+of higher learning whose chief accomplishment is the inoculation of
+innocent youth against education." Or shall we put it in the words of
+our friend Mr. Dooley: "Nowadays when a lad goes to college, the
+prisidint takes him into a Turkish room, gives him a cigareet an' says:
+Me dear boy, what special branch iv larnin wud ye like to have studied
+f'r ye be our compitint perfessors?"
+
+Such are some of the caustic remarks that we occasionally hear. Of
+course the situation is always exaggerated in such criticisms; but, as
+the old saw puts it, "Where there's so much smoke, there must be some
+fire." Where does the trouble lie? All sorts of guesses have been made,
+and some careful investigations entered into in an effort to discover
+the cause. The outcome of all such consideration, so far as I am able to
+learn, throws the responsibility upon the teacher rather than upon the
+institution as a whole, and upon his teaching ability rather than upon
+any lack of knowledge. We cannot teach, it is said. In spite of the
+knowledge that we possess, we do not know how to present that knowledge
+so that another can gain it. Nicholas Murray Butler, the brainy
+President of Columbia University, says, "The teaching of many very
+famous men [in colleges and universities] is distinctly poor; sometimes
+it is even worse."
+
+These are rather interesting statements and worthy of thought. What is
+meant by teaching, anyway? Teaching involves a double process and two
+persons, both active upon the same matter. Both must be successful for
+either to be. Teaching is causing to learn, and when there is no
+learning, there can have been no teaching. "Learning is not merely the
+correlative idea of teaching, but is one of its constituent elements."
+No matter how much an instructor may know, no matter how much he may say
+nor what he may do, if he doesn't cause the student to put forth those
+mental activities that result in learning, he doesn't teach. And it is
+claimed that, in many cases, our university instructors do not know how
+to do this. He knows but he does not know how to cause another to know,
+is a common criticism.
+
+I suppose it is true, tho loyalty makes me rather dislike to admit it,
+that with us the poorest teaching in our entire educational system is
+done in colleges and universities. My own observation both as a student
+and as a teacher all along the line leads me to say that, in the main,
+our best teaching is done in the elementary grades, second best in the
+high schools, and poorest in the higher institutions. Another puts it
+thus: "We have excellent teaching in the lower primary grades and in the
+graduate schools, but between these two extremes, we can call it
+teaching only by courtesy." Another, the president of a State
+University, is reported to have said, "I have resolved never again to
+turn my undergraduates over to young Ph. D.'s. It takes five years to
+make a commonsense teacher of a raw doctor fresh from three years of
+graduate work."
+
+If these statements are true, and I am afraid that there's much of truth
+in them, the situation is rather serious. Still, it isn't at all
+surprising when one takes the whole matter into consideration. For
+relatively few university instructors have given any attention to the
+matter of teaching itself. They have studied the subject matter with
+which they are to deal. They have become proficient so far as knowledge
+is concerned. No fault can be found with them touching the matter of
+erudition. But they have not given any reflective thought to the art of
+teaching. They have not made a study of the human mind in its
+development in order to know how it receives knowledge as mental
+nourishment, and to understand the assimilative process; they have not
+given themselves to a systematic and scientific study of human life so
+as to know how to handle it in its various moods and characteristics.
+How differently these good people would have planned if they had
+expected to practise Law, or Medicine or to enter the Ministry! In every
+such case they would have made professional preparation for their work.
+Isn't it strange that any one should think that this profession--the
+most important--could be practised with success in its higher realms, by
+people who have never given its practise one moment's attention?
+President Butler, in giving reasons for poor college teaching, says,
+"Too few instructors are interested in education."
+
+I am reminded of Socrates' shrewd parody of a supposed speech of
+Euthydemus who, totally ignorant of statecraft, desired election to an
+important position in the government of the city of Athens. It is
+suggestive here: "I, O man of Athens, have never learned the medical art
+from any one, nor have been desirous that any physician should be my
+instructor; for I have constantly been on my guard, not only against
+learning anything of the art from any one, but even against appearing to
+have learned anything; nevertheless confer on me this medical
+appointment, for I will endeavor to learn by making experiments upon
+you." Comment is unnecessary.
+
+There are three kinds of knowledge that every teacher should possess,
+that every successful teacher does possess: first, knowledge of the
+subject matter with which he deals; second, knowledge of the human mind
+which he is trying to stimulate; and third, knowledge of the way to
+bring these two together in a helpful manner. Of the three, I am afraid
+that university instructors have, in the main, but the first. At any
+rate, all they know of the other two is of an empirical character and
+what they have picked up incidentally. There are exceptions, to be sure.
+Every worthy institution has them, striking exceptions, too, some of
+them are. A few of our older men have become good teachers thru practise
+and experiment, and an occasional young man now comes with professional
+preparation. But yet, as in so many other matters, the exceptions merely
+prove the rule.
+
+Thus equipt, or rather with this serious lack of equipment, the young
+university instructor begins his work. If he is, to use the words of the
+university president just quoted, "a raw doctor fresh from three years
+of graduate work," he probably begins by copying the methods of
+procedure of his own recent instructors. He tries to set these immature
+boys and girls at research problems and, in classroom, tries to impart
+information by the lecture method.
+
+How well I remember such an instance in my own freshman days. I fell
+into the hands of such an instructor in Greek. We were reading that most
+charming of Greek stories--_The Odyssey_. Textual criticism was this
+man's hobby, and we were put to work trying to compare texts, to delve
+into the intricacies of form and structure--trying to improve upon
+Homer! Such information as we could not find he gave us, in the formal
+lecture, day after day. But when we got it, we did not want it because
+we did not know what to do with it. Now, I am not quarreling with
+textual criticism. It would have been all right for that young doctor
+(he was younger than I was at that time) to deal with the facts of
+textual criticism, with some people, at some time, but it was all wrong
+for him to attempt to give those facts to us in our freshman year in the
+College of Arts. They were not adapted to our intellectual needs. They
+did not fit into our mental stomachs. We could not keep them down, or
+in, or something. But the pathetic fact was that the instructor did not
+know that they did not fit. I, being older than many in the class and
+thus appreciating better the barrenness of the Greek pasture in which we
+were trying to graze, finally managed, by a little skilful maneuver, to
+escape and to join another group that happened to be in the care of a
+real teacher who knew not only Homer but, as well, freshman boys and
+girls, the reasons for teaching Homer to freshmen boys and girls, and
+how to do it. He was acquainted with both the science and the art of
+teaching. Oh, how green was the pasture here, and how abundant and how
+nutritious the food! In all my university experience I recall nothing
+more delightful.
+
+But this is ancient history? Yes, I know it is. But yet, I am sorry to
+say, history repeats itself. Those three great mistakes that that young
+doctor made in my Greek class some twenty or more years ago are being
+made this very year by young doctors and by old doctors and by many who
+are not doctors at all, in one subject or another, in well-nigh every
+college or university in the United States. Our instructors do not know
+well enough how to adapt knowledge to human needs; they have the
+erroneous notion that the chief function of an educational institution
+is to impart information; and, too, many of them are afflicted with the
+lecture craze.
+
+Touching these three mistakes, let me say, briefly: first, as to the
+adaptation of knowledge: the word _education_ is derived from the Latin
+_educo_, _educare_, and means _to nourish_, and nourishment, physical,
+mental, or moral, is never secured save as the food is adapted to the
+organism. And just as much care as our scientific dietitians give to our
+dining-room service, our university instructors should give to the
+mental and moral pabulum that they serve to their students, especially
+the lower classes if not the entire body of undergraduates. They should
+know this knowledge as mental nourishment; they should know the
+condition of the mind, and they should know how to select and prepare
+this food for digestion and assimilation.
+
+As to the second mistake, the undue emphasis upon the mere imparting of
+knowledge: let me quote a few words from President Wilson, uttered when
+President of Princeton University: "We should remember," said he, "that
+information is not education. The greater part of the work that we are
+doing in our colleges to-day is to impart information." I am afraid that
+he is correct. I am very much afraid that that is mainly what we are
+doing. But it is wrong. The greater part of our work should not be to
+impart knowledge. It should be to assist in interpreting the knowledge
+that the student himself gets--to fit it to his own life needs and to
+help him learn how to study and how to think for himself. In other
+words, this information in which we deal should not be an end in itself,
+but a _means_ to an end. And that end should be development, mental
+power, point of view--character. To be sure, we must deal in knowledge
+facts (do not, I beg of you, misunderstand me) but not for the mere
+possession of those facts.
+
+And lastly the lecture craze, under the domination of which otherwise
+sensible people get into the habit of supplying information to students
+who already know how to read instead of telling them where to find it
+and then discussing it with them. How common it is! But why? Simply
+because it is easy. How much easier it is than to conduct a real live
+recitation in which there is the give and take, the action and reaction,
+of eager vigorous young minds, where the instructor is the agency of
+interpretation and the inspiration! To conduct such an exercise with
+from thirty to fifty bright college students and keep them on the alert
+is no lazy man's task. It requires brains and skill, whereas anybody can
+do the other thing! President Foster is correct in saying, "There should
+be fewer lectures ... the easiest of all methods of instruction."
+
+Again let me give an illustration drawn from my own sad experience, just
+to show what at least some of this lecturing is. This, you see, is
+getting to be a confession as well as an exposition. I was taking a
+course in the History of Philosophy. It was given by a man well known in
+the educational world, then and now. He was well thought of both as a
+teacher and a man. He read his lectures from manuscript. We were
+supposed to put into our note books every golden word that dropt from
+his inspired lips. And the most of us tried to do so, and in the effort
+got down some that were not golden. I did as the rest did till one day,
+fresh from the lecture, I went into the library and chanced upon a copy
+of Burt's "History of Greek Philosophy." I opened it and shortly found
+the very discussion, and some of the very sentences, word for word, that
+I had just copied with so much labor into my note book. And they were in
+print, too, so much easier to read than my note book writing! I at once
+sent to the publisher for a copy of the book and took no more notes in
+that course. Nor did I take any more courses under that instructor.
+
+And so it was in a course in history--only there the kind old professor
+was naive enough to tell us the name of the book from which he got his
+lectures. And again, let me say that history repeats itself. Am I wrong
+in my criticism? Let me quote from one whose words carry more weight
+than do mine--Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia
+University--(Ed. Rev. Apr., 1915, p. 399): "To use--or rather to
+abuse--the academic lecture by making it a medium for the conveyance of
+mere information is to shut one's eyes to the fact that the art of
+printing has been discovered. The proper use of the lecture is the
+critical interpretation by the older scholar of the information which
+the younger has gained for himself. Its object is to inspire and to
+guide and by no means merely to inform."
+
+I do not mean to condemn the lecture method absolutely. There are
+certain lines of work in which it is quite necessary. This is true in
+some advanced courses, especially in the sciences, where an instructor
+is doing both lines of university work--carrying on research and giving
+his advanced students the results of his findings. Of course these have
+not yet been embodied in a text or other printed form and cannot be thus
+given.
+
+And this same justification can be urged for some of the work in our
+professional schools where both the material used and the end sought are
+different. In still another line of work the lecture is permissible--if
+it deal with a relatively new subject or with new phases of an old
+subject not yet covered by a satisfactory text. But here it need not
+continue long because some enterprising instructor will soon satisfy the
+need. The formal lecture has therefore no place in the earlier and but
+slight place in the later years of undergraduate work. Its place should
+be taken by the text and reference book and the class discussion. One
+of the finest accomplishments that we can help our students to gain is
+the ability to master the book.
+
+Then, in conclusion, touching the matter of teaching, fidelity to truth
+compels me to admit, tho reluctantly, that much of it is very poor. It
+satisfies the external demands and that is about all. It is not of a
+character to kindle enthusiasm nor to develop high ideals of
+scholarship. Much of it, I said, not all. Every institution has some
+good teachers, some very excellent ones, but no institution is
+overstockt with species of that genus. The great majority of our
+undergraduates are poorly taught. That examination mortality is not
+greater than it is is due to two fine qualities, one in the student body
+and the other in the instructors. It speaks eloquently of the initiative
+of the students, and demonstrates that instructors can be fair even if
+they can't teach. Many times we know that we are to blame for the poor
+work of the student and, knowing it, will not visit the penalty upon the
+unoffending head.
+
+The reason for this lamentable situation can be traced to two practises:
+In the first place, up to the present time, as said before, very few
+prospective college teachers have made any professional preparation for
+their work as teachers. In the second place, it is the almost universal
+custom to place the freshmen and sophomores, by all means our largest
+classes and the ones in greatest need of skilled teachers, in the hands
+of young instructors who have not yet learned how to teach. Relief will
+come thru two changes; first, when either the State or the governing
+board of the college shall demand professional preparation of every one
+allowed to occupy a teaching position, just as we do now for positions
+in the elementary and secondary schools. And if any one should raise a
+question as to the value of such preparation, my only but all-sufficient
+answer is to point to the universally recognized improvement in the
+character of teaching in those parts of our educational system since
+that requirement was put into effect. And the second needed change is
+this--for Presidents seeking teachers to ask candidates two questions
+instead of one as heretofore: first, of course, the question should be,
+"What do you know?" Satisfied as to that, let the second come clear and
+strong, "Can you teach?" And until an affirmative answer is
+demonstrated, let the appointment be withheld. It might be salutary,
+too, in dealing with the forces on the ground, to follow President
+Foster's suggestion given in these words: "It would be well if more
+teachers were dismissed because they fail to stimulate thinking of any
+kind."
+
+I come now to the last of my three sub-topics,
+
+
+THE UNIVERSITY'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE PREPARATION OF TEACHERS FOR THE
+SCHOOLS OF THE STATE
+
+Fortunately, its discussion need not detain us long. What should be that
+attitude? If you will analyze the relationship existing between the
+teachers of a state and that state's progress and development, and then
+recall my brief discussion of the function of a State University--to
+provide leaders--the answer to the question is at once apparent. The
+logic of the situation is clear. For what other body of people in a
+state are so clearly the state's leaders as the teachers? Always
+intellectually and, for the most part, in these days, morally and
+physically, the teachers in our schools mold the coming generation and
+guide it into paths of progress and accomplishment. This is true of the
+teachers of a state more than of any other group of people within its
+borders not excepting the ministry.
+
+We have, in the States, a system of State Normal Schools maintained for
+the purpose of preparing teachers for the elementary schools. Each state
+of the Union has from one to a dozen of these institutions. North Dakota
+has three. The course of study covers from one to two years' work in
+advance of a four-year high school course. In the East it is usually two
+years, in the West, one. This work is partly academic and partly
+professional and is always supposed to include a certain amount of
+practise teaching under expert supervision.
+
+The elementary teachers thus provided for by the normal schools, there
+are left for preparation at the university teachers for the secondary
+schools, for city superintendencies, special teachers of various kinds,
+and teachers for college and university positions. And this latter is a
+work, it seems to me, the State University must perform. They are
+already doing this, to quite an extent, for the high schools; a few are
+doing it well and the rest are working in that direction. A few, too,
+are taking up the more advanced phases of the work and are competent to
+prepare for college teaching. The movement is strongly on.
+
+It may not be uninteresting for me to trace this movement briefly as it
+has developed with us. For it has been a development. Our system of
+education was not planned at the beginning from a careful theoretical
+study of our present or prospective educational needs, but has grown up,
+little by little, step by step, to meet and satisfy from time to time
+present and pressing needs.
+
+The movement for the professional preparation of teachers began in the
+first quarter of the nineteenth century in Massachusetts. That state,
+with others, was suffering from an educational declension that had been
+going on for a long time. Matters were getting serious. Finally, a few
+clear-headed, far-seeing leaders made an analysis of the situation
+hoping to bring about a betterment of conditions. They quickly put the
+finger upon the sore spot--the poor quality of teaching being done in
+the schools. A remedy was sought. It was found in the European Normal
+Schools, an institution devoted to the professional preparation of
+teachers for the elementary schools. An agitation was begun for its
+establishment on this side of the water. After many weary years the
+efforts were crowned with success when, in 1838, the State Legislature
+of Massachusetts planned for the equipment of three. Thru their work the
+character of the teaching in the elementary schools was at once
+improved. Other states followed the example and this new institution
+soon began its westward sweep, following the development of the country.
+
+This early work, however, had in mind the improvement of teachers for
+only the common schools, rural and urban. Indeed, at that time no one
+even suggested that any other teacher needs special preparation. But
+when, after the Civil War, the high schools began to develop so
+markedly, the problem of teachers became a pressing one. Since teachers
+with normal school preparation were everywhere being recognized as
+superior to all others in the elementary schools, it was the most
+natural thing in the world for those in charge of the new high schools
+to demand professional preparation of their teachers.
+
+But where could it be obtained? Not in the normal schools, because it
+should be of different character than that planned for elementary
+teachers. To make a long story short, the universities and colleges took
+the matter up and provided the professional work thought necessary by
+adding Departments of Education. Michigan University was the first to
+act when, in 1878, the Regents established a chair called the "Theory
+and Art of Teaching." The example was followed by others, and, tho
+limited in scope and experimental in character, it was at once seen to
+be justified in the improved character of high school teaching.
+Improvements were sure to follow. The next step was the expansion of the
+department of education into the Teachers College, or School of
+Education, as it is getting to be called, which is now recognized as a
+professional school of equal rank with the School of Law or the School
+of Medicine. An essential element of its equipment is a high school for
+observation and practise under expert supervision, just as an elementary
+practise school is an essential part of a well equipt normal school.
+
+New York University, in the city of New York, was the first to move in
+this direction. This was in 1890. For fifteen years progress was slow
+and halting and confined to private institutions. But it was justifying
+itself. In 1905 the University of North Dakota effected the larger
+organization, the first of the State universities to do so. During the
+last five or six years, however, several others have fallen into line
+including such institutions as Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The
+institutions that have not yet effected this change and thus organized
+schools of education still maintain their Departments of Education and
+thus try to satisfy the need. The University of North Dakota was also
+one of the very first to make use of the high school for observation and
+practise, and in all lines of development has been recognized as
+occupying an advanced position. Other institutions, older and larger,
+contemplating a change, have frequently advised with us. If this mention
+seems borne of institutional pride, I trust that it will also be
+regarded as pardonable.
+
+Thus the movement--not the result of a theoretical formulation, but a
+situation forced upon us by the logic of events. It is as logical,
+however, and as irrevocable, as tho produced by deductive reasoning. An
+explanation of a statement made earlier in the paper as to the relative
+teaching abilities of elementary, secondary, and higher teachers, can
+now be seen in the periods of development of the corresponding
+professional schools.
+
+What should be the attitude of the university toward the education of
+teachers? Let us follow the development a little farther.
+
+During the last few years another very interesting phase of the movement
+has begun to show itself. You will recall that as soon as professional
+preparation demonstrated its usefulness in improving the character of
+elementary teaching, it was demanded for teachers in the secondary
+schools. And now that it has proved efficient in that field, it is
+being demanded in the field next higher--the colleges and universities.
+And this demand, like the others, is no longer confined to professional
+schools or educational journals--to the people from the inside. It is
+being taken up by laymen, even the daily papers, and prest with some
+vigor. To give the point of view, I give a single quotation from an
+editorial in a recent issue of the Minneapolis _Journal_: "None of our
+graduate schools require any course in education or teaching methods, or
+any previous experience in teaching work for a Ph. D. degree, except, of
+course, in the field of education, where theory is cultivated, if not
+practised. May it not be found that the best method to increase the
+teaching efficiency of the undergraduate instruction in colleges and
+universities will be to provide every graduate student with definite and
+detailed instruction in teaching methods for his chosen subject?"
+
+This demand, thus clearly voiced, and coming from many sides, will
+continue until granted as has been the case with each of the others. And
+as a result the teaching of our undergraduates will be improved. To do
+this added work, however, will not require another institution. The
+present universities, thru their Schools of Education, amplified and
+strengthened, will supply the need.
+
+Just as the University, thru its Medical School, provides its community
+with skilled physicians and public health officers to secure and
+preserve public health, and thru its Law School performs a similar
+service in sending out men who become competent lawyers and judges to
+secure the administration of justice, and thru its College of
+Engineering, its engineers to safeguard property, public welfare and
+life itself, so, thru its School of Education, it must provide its
+teachers for all these and other advanced fields. And all this service
+must be performed not that individual citizens may be better prepared to
+make a living, amass a fortune, or achieve fame, but that the community
+may be served.
+
+So the School of Education, now given equal rank with other professional
+schools of the university, must ere long be recognized, by virtue of the
+work thus forced upon it, as, in a very definite way, superior to them
+all in opportunity and responsibility.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE EYE PROBLEM IN THE SCHOOLS
+
+_A Paper read before the 1914 meeting of the North Dakota State
+Association of Opticians. It was printed in the May, 1914, issue of "The
+Optical Journal and Review," also in the same issue of "The Keystone"_
+
+
+I do not know how fully people appreciate the importance of the eye as
+an agent, or factor, of human cultivation. Judging from the amount of
+work it is being made to do in our schools and in nearly all our
+processes of education, we might perhaps be led to feel that its
+importance is fully appreciated, indeed, that it is being looked upon as
+the sole factor, or agent. But, on the other hand, this very excessive
+use, especially in the early school years, leading, as it does in such a
+large percentage of cases, to serious impairment of vision, almost tells
+us that its great value is not appreciated. If it were, should we be
+likely to abuse it as we do in these early years and thus render it
+incapable of performing its larger, fuller use later on? The attitude
+seems rather to be that its conservation is not thought to be necessary.
+That, however, springs from ignorance rather than from studied
+disregard.
+
+But let us look for a moment at the processes of education and note
+where the eye comes in. If there is anything upon which leading
+educators are now practically agreed, or upon which they tend to agree,
+it is that education as a process is a matter of development rather than
+the learning of knowledge facts. Now, that development is analogous to
+the growth and development of the plant, that is, it is brought about
+thru nourishment. In the plant this nourishment is taken in thru the
+roots, becomes absorbed and assimilated and thus ministers to growth and
+development. In the child, looking at it from the physical point of view
+and having in mind psychical, not physical, nourishment, the sense
+organs serve this purpose. Did you ever stop to think that the sense
+organs form the only connecting link between the great outside world,
+which serves as raw material for the nourishment, and the inner life of
+the child, the development of which we are seeking? Did you ever stop to
+think that these sense organs, the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue,
+and the surface of the body as the organ of touch, form the only
+possible avenue of approach to that inner life? Cut off, or close up,
+these avenues and no development of this inner life would be possible in
+the slightest degree. Thus considered, these same sense organs, simple
+as they seem to be, leap into importance that almost staggers one's
+thought. The most priceless possession of any child, I often say to my
+classes in education, is made up of their eyes, their ears, their noses,
+their tongues, and their finger tips--simply because thru them is poured
+the nourishment that sustains psychic life and ministers to the
+development of the same.
+
+Of these five sense organs, the eye is, par excellence, the one of
+value. More psychic nourishment is poured into the laboratory of psychic
+life thru this one channel alone than thru all others combined. Indeed,
+one of our most eminent scientific psychologists after making most
+careful investigation of the matter, estimates that the eye's
+contribution is about 74% as against the other 26% that comes thru all
+the other sources. If this relative value of the eye be even
+approximately correct, how eminently important it is that it be studied
+with close scientific accuracy, that it be guarded with the utmost and
+intelligent jealousy, and that it be cared for with the most scrupulous
+fidelity!
+
+But what is the situation? The Optician and the Oculist have made the
+most careful, scientific study of the eye. They know it thoroly, both
+its possibilities of service and its limitations. And they have told the
+rest of us all about it. But let us see how intelligent we are in the
+use of the knowledge they have given us. They tell us that the eye of
+the child is undeveloped and that in the undeveloped state it should not
+be much used on small or close work. In other words, the child's eye is
+far-sighted. But at the age of six years we place the child in the
+school room, put a book in its hands, and compel its use, eyes or no
+eyes, as long as the child remains in any institution of learning. Why,
+gentlemen, we have gone mad on this book proposition. We act as tho we
+think that it is only in the book that knowledge can be found. We act as
+tho we think that it is only thru the printed page that psychic
+nourishment can reach the inner life of the child, whereas, as a matter
+of fact, both the knowledge and the nourishment that are appropriate to
+the child in all its early years are better obtained thru direct contact
+with the great outside world itself and by direct communication from the
+lips of the teacher. If this fact were fully appreciated and acted upon,
+we should, in two very definite ways, conserve this very important
+organ; for we should use the eyes upon objects at a greater distance
+thus preventing unnecessary strain, and allow other organs of sense to
+share with the eye in the work of gathering information and of
+appropriating mental nourishment.
+
+Please do not misunderstand me. I am not underestimating the place and
+value of books, nor decrying their use. They are the storehouse of
+knowledge and the source of inspiration, but not for children. Our young
+children in school and out of school read too much--are too much tied to
+the book. Thru this prolonged and close use of the eye upon small and
+nearby objects for which, in its undeveloped condition, it is not
+fitted, the organ is permanently weakened and rendered incapable of its
+legitimate use later in life when the book is a necessity. And again,
+this excessive use of the eye causes an atrophy of the other organs that
+is really serious.
+
+Nor is this all. The Optician and the Oculist have studied the matter so
+carefully and know the eye so thoroly in its various stages of
+development that they know exactly the size of type that children of
+various ages should use. And they know, too, the kind of paper that
+should be used in books for children. And they have told us all about
+it. But we systematically disregard all this information gained with
+such painstaking care, and instead of using the large clear type and the
+unglazed, soft tinted paper recommended, we persist in tolerating the
+unsatisfactory merely because it is a little cheaper. Penny wise and
+pound foolish we surely are. What we save now we shall have to pay later
+on with compound interest besides compelling our children to undergo
+physical pain and mental handicap.
+
+And yet again. We are told by our scientific friends the relative
+amounts of window and floor space that the schoolroom should have in
+order to be adequately lighted! Not one in ten has as much window space
+as it should have, and a good portion of what has been provided is
+frequently covered up by shades thru the teacher's perverted notion of
+relative values--seeming to have greater appreciation for certain
+so-called artistic effects than for eye comfort and safety in work. And
+then again, these scientific friends of ours have told us that there
+should be in the schoolroom no cross lights; that the light should not
+shine upon the blackboards nor into the faces of the children, but that
+it should come only from the rear and the left and from above. They have
+found out, too, and told us, the proper shades of color for the
+walls--scientific knowledge, all of it, and therefore thoroly reliable.
+But how systematically do we disregard all this valuable information! In
+the construction of a new school building there is nothing that should
+receive more careful and scientific consideration than the matter of
+lighting, but too often the architect is either entirely ignorant of the
+entire matter, or else is selfishly interested in so-called
+architectural effects.
+
+I do not mean that we all disregard all these things, that we have no
+school houses properly constructed, no school books properly printed,
+and no teachers intelligent and sensible in their handling of boys and
+girls. Not at all. During the last twenty years we have made long
+strides in advance along many of these lines in many places. But the
+bright spots are still the exception and not the rule. The friends of
+children and of the race need to keep vigilantly at work.
+
+Now, let us look at the matter from another point of view. Let us ask
+what are the results of this persistent and widespread disregard of the
+normal conditions under which the eye should work and of the fundamental
+laws of eye development. What do we find? Why, we find just what you are
+prepared to expect after considering the above disregard. We find that,
+whereas at the beginning of school life the percentage of school
+children suffering from visual defects is relatively small, that
+percentage increases as we ascend the grades. In other words, the
+regular, systematic work of our schools is all the time weakening the
+eyes--all the time causing serious visual defects. Gulick and Ayers came
+to this conclusion as one of the results of their exhaustive
+investigation, made in 1908, which culminated in the well known work on
+"Medical Inspection of Schools," published at that time. This is all the
+more striking since they found that the prevalence of other physical
+defects steadily decreases as the years pass.
+
+An investigation carried on in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1907-1908,
+illustrates the point under discussion; 20% of all children in grades
+one to three inclusive were found to have defective vision, whereas in
+grades nine to twelve inclusive 40.5% were found thus handicapped. In
+some parts of Germany the increase in defective vision as children
+ascend the grades is seen to be much more marked than in our own
+country. In one particular study that comes to mind, a study of
+short-sightedness alone (published, however, some years ago) it was
+shown that the increase was from practically none at all to
+approximately 100%. In other words, the work of the schools had made
+practically every child near-sighted. And the general tendency seems to
+be in this direction. Indeed, I know of but one study in which a
+contrary tendency has been observed. And that was in a rural
+district--St. Louis County, Missouri--where a study was made about four
+years ago. Under the conditions observed there, the frequency of
+short-sightedness seemed to diminish with increasing age. And the
+reasons for this local tendency, being so directly contrary to the
+general tendency, men have been trying to understand. Various
+suggestions have been made such as the atmosphere of the rural as
+against the city districts being, in the main, more favorable from
+hygienic points of view; or the fewer pupils in the classes in school,
+thus enabling the teachers to give more personal attention so preventing
+undue eye-strain; and the shorter school year maintained in the country
+giving the children less prolonged periods of eye-strain. But whatever
+be the explanation of this interesting exception, it yet remains true
+that the regular work of the school, week in, week out, year after year,
+causes the eyes of our children to deteriorate, or at least the two go
+hand in hand with grounds for a very strong suspicion in the minds of
+those who have expert knowledge of the general situation that the one is
+the cause of the other.
+
+With this point established, namely, that the work of the schools is but
+ill-adapted to the structure the nature of the child's eye, resulting in
+steady deterioration, let us try to see how widespread is such
+deterioration and how serious. This can best be done briefly thru the
+use of a few statistics taken from the results of investigations that
+have been made as to the physical conditions of our school children.
+From these results I disregard all figures save those that bear on the
+matter of visual defects since that is our one topic of discussion.
+
+In Cleveland, Ohio, in 1906-1907, a very exhaustive and illuminating
+investigation was made under the general supervision of Dr. Wallin, one
+of the most eminent authorities on the relationship of the physical and
+the mental in the work of our schools. Dr. Wallin called to his
+assistance many experts, both medical and physical, and his report was a
+very noteworthy one from many points of view. I touch only two or three
+points here and there. In one school, the Mayflower, located in a fine
+residence section of the city, 972 pupils were examined, and 20% of them
+found to be suffering from some rather serious form of eye defect. In an
+East End school, another of the so-called better class of schools, 668
+children were examined and 32.4% found with defective vision. Even more
+startling than these were the results found in a school of about the
+same size in what was called a "congested" district of the city. Six
+hundred and sixteen were examined and 71.1% found defective.
+
+Another very significant fact was brought to light by this
+investigation--the disregard paid to the whole matter by parents and
+teachers. Perhaps I should not include teachers in speaking of this
+disregard since they have, at best, but advisory power. In the East End
+school, out of the 668 children examined, 216, or 32.4% were found
+defective, but only 43, or 6.4%, were being relieved by the use of
+glasses. And in the "congested" district the disparity was even more
+striking since out of the 437, or 71.1% of the entire number who had
+visual defects, only 11, or 1.8%, were being relieved.
+
+In one investigation made in New York City in 1908, 1,442 pupils were
+considered, and 42% found suffering from eye defects. In Jefferson City,
+Missouri, in 1908, the results of the examination of 1,000 white
+children showed 36.5% suffering from somewhat serious visual defects;
+and many others in lesser degrees. Of these 1,000 children, 410, or 41%,
+were found to need the assistance of glasses, but only 38, or 3.8%, were
+being thus assisted.
+
+In Los Angeles, California, in 1909, 5,000 children were examined, and
+61% found to be suffering from the same trouble. Again, in Philadelphia,
+in 1909, the well-known Dr. Risley found, in an examination of 2,422
+children, that 44.7% were continual sufferers from some form of eye
+trouble. I could easily cite similar results from many more studies, but
+surely these are sufficient. These are startling facts, and very serious
+when we think merely of this one fact alone without considering it in
+its relationship to anything else. But when we stop to consider the fact
+that these sufferers are children, in the schools, and are thus
+handicapped in their work of education--in their efforts to fit
+themselves for the struggle of life--it assumes even larger proportions
+and becomes truly appalling.
+
+What does it mean? Why, it means, in terms of the school man,
+retardation and elimination. To the layman those words may need
+interpretation. Retardation means the checking of a pupil in his
+educational progress thru the grades, necessitating the spending of a
+longer period than that which is considered normal. For example, a
+normal pupil is one who enters school at six years of age and is
+promoted each year regularly; or "a pupil whose age and grade correspond
+to this standard." Thus, the standard age for a second grade pupil,
+during the year, is 7 years; for a fourth grade, 9 years; and for an
+eighth grade, 13 years; or in every case, five more than the number of
+his grade. If one is older than the number of his grade plus five, he is
+retarded by the amount of the difference; thus a twelve-year-old child
+in the sixth grade is retarded one year since a sixth-grade child should
+be but eleven years old. Somehow he has lost a year. Thru failure to do
+satisfactory work such a child has had to repeat the work of some one of
+his grades. Elimination means the dropping out of a child from school
+altogether before the regular course is completed. We find relatively
+little elimination in the lower grades since the compulsory attendance
+laws require attendance. But just as soon as the upper limit of age is
+reached there is much of it.
+
+I do not know how closely you have followed this matter of retardation
+in the schools and elimination from them, but I think sufficiently to
+render it unnecessary for me to discuss the matter at length. Let me
+refer to but one study which is typical as showing the seriousness of
+the situation. In 1907, Mr. S. L. Heeter, at that time Superintendent of
+Schools in St. Paul, Minnesota, working under instruction of his Board
+of School Inspectors, made a very careful investigation as to the matter
+of retardation in the schools of that city. You may be surprised to
+learn some of the results. He found more than one-half, exactly 56%, of
+all the children in the schools at least one year behind normal grade,
+and many of them much more than one year behind. To be exact: 12,672
+children were below grade. Of these, 6,328 were one year behind; 3,650
+were two years behind; 1,689 were three years behind; 651 were four
+years behind; 221 were five years behind, and 133 were six years behind.
+Now, what is the cause of such a serious situation? Mr. Heeter, in his
+report of his findings, speaks as follows:
+
+"There are evidently many causes of this phenomenal retardation--yet it
+seems likely that one of the largest factors ... is physiological, and
+that more attention given in our schools to the bodily conditions of our
+children will throw new light on our educational problems, and even on
+the subject of backward children, and of delinquency itself." "It
+appears," he goes on to say, "that the schools have been too exclusively
+concerned about the minds of children and too little concerned about
+their bodies. Much time and energy and money have been wasted in trying
+to make all children equal in mental power, without regard to physical
+inequalities, until now waste products are clogging our educational
+machinery." And Mr. Heeter's conclusion is that of all who have studied
+the matter with any care.
+
+Let me now show the relationship existing between the two, that is,
+between retardation and physical defects. I can do it briefly by
+referring to the work of Dr. Cronin in New York City. This is but one
+instance, but it is typical of conditions. A few years ago, as chief
+Medical Inspector of the schools of New York City, Dr. Cronin read a
+paper before the School Hygiene Association of America in which he made
+the statement that an examination of all children reported as backward
+by various teachers revealed 95% of them as physically defective.
+
+Thus, in a hasty way, but I think correctly, I have thrown the chief
+burden of backwardness in school, or retardation, upon physical defects.
+But our special topic is eye trouble. How much of this burden must be
+referred to this specific source? It is difficult to say exactly. But
+knowing as we do the great prevalence of eye defects among school
+children, from 20% to 71%, you remember, depending somewhat upon
+locality and environment; and knowing, too, the close relationship
+existing between the eyes of our children and the work of the schools
+(this school work, you know, is nearly all done with the eyes. It should
+not be, but it is); knowing all this, it is not beside the mark to say
+that a very large percentage of the retardation must be laid at its
+doors.
+
+And what are we going to do about it? What should be done? The reform is
+easily seen to be a many-sided one. It is educational--our teachers
+should come to know that the book is only one, and not the chief one, of
+the many sources of knowledge open to the child; it is physiological--we
+should all know the eye better than we do, its normal use and its
+limitations; the reform is architectural--our architects and boards of
+education should realize that the seating and the lighting of school
+houses should receive most careful consideration; the reform is
+economic--we should come to appreciate the unwisdom of being "penny wise
+and pound foolish," and recall the old saw, "a stitch in time saves
+nine"; the reform is medical--we should get our people to see that thoro
+and regular medical inspection of all our school children is the only
+sensible method of procedure. And so I might go on naming phase after
+phase of the problem. It is so many-sided that we can not hope for its
+immediate and perfectly satisfactory solution. But there are certain
+quite specific ends in view that should at once and all the time be kept
+before us. Touching the matter of medical inspection, our state law,
+instead of being merely permissive should be mandatory, and should be
+made to apply to every school community in the state. Of course, the cry
+of expense would be at once raised, but it could easily be shown, were
+there time at my disposal, that it would be an economic mesure rather
+than one increasing the cost of our schools. Because every time that a
+child repeats a grade in school, that year's school work in the life of
+the child has cost the city or school community twice as much as it
+should. Whenever, as in the case of St. Paul, already cited, a child is
+two, three, or six years behind normal grade, there is an extra heavy
+burden of taxation placed on the city. Medical inspection, wherever it
+has been made effective, has resulted in lowering, very materially, the
+amount of retardation. And it is looked upon as saving the community
+very much more than it has cost, saying nothing at all about the added
+effectiveness of the child for the work of the school nor of his greater
+happiness. This statement could easily be substantiated were there time.
+But that is not necessary. It is so apparent that he who runs may read.
+
+But the time when we can expect such a law to be put in force is, I am
+afraid, considerably removed from the present. Large bodies move slowly;
+we must have patience. We must keep steadily at it preaching the good
+gospel of reform. But in the meantime can we not hasten the glad day of
+full and complete medical inspection, and at the same time bring relief
+to a very large number of little sufferers, by throwing emphasis,
+whenever the opportunity offers, upon the phase of the subject that is
+before us this morning? The eye trouble is the chiefest of all those of
+a physical nature. It has far more to do in causing retardation of our
+boys and girls than any of the other physical defects, and therefore
+should receive its own prompt and vigorous attention irrespective of
+everything else. Upon this one point let us have immediate relief and
+keep it up as rapidly as possible. Let us adopt some program of action
+which will bring relief as quickly as possible to children suffering
+from visual defects. For I have no sympathy with the position taken by
+that foolish mother (perhaps I should be charitable and merely say
+"ignorant" mother. I think she was both ignorant and foolish), who said
+to me when I was urging her to have glasses fitted for her little girl,
+"Why, Mr. Ladd, I can't bear to think of Mary wearing glasses. I am
+going to keep them away from her just as long as she can possibly get
+along without them." I replied, "My good woman, if you have any regard
+for the comfort and well-being of your little girl, or if you care for
+her progress in school, instead of keeping glasses away from her as long
+as possible, you should see to it that she has the best that can be
+procured just as soon as they can be of the slightest assistance." I
+went on to tell her that it was entirely possible that the use of the
+glasses at that time for a year or two might enable her to do without
+them permanently later on. But she did not get them; of course not. They
+would not have added to the attractiveness of the little face. How hard
+it is for the unreflecting to deny themselves a present pleasure,
+whether in money or pride, for a future good!
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE HOME, THE CHURCH, AND THE SCHOOL
+
+_An Extension Lecture delivered in many places in North Dakota and
+Minnesota_
+
+
+It goes without saying, I am sure, that these three great
+institutions--the Home, the Church, and the School--fundamental as they
+are in the life of each, and even of civilization itself, can not be
+adequately handled in the brief time given to a single address. But yet
+I think that in that time we can account for each, roughly trace its
+interesting career, and locate it in our complex life of to-day with
+function briefly stated. And in it all, or out of it all, directly or
+indirectly, I think we shall see the relationship existing between the
+three. This relationship, so strong and so vital, the appreciation of
+which is so necessary for constructive action and large results in life,
+I particularly desire to make appear. And it is this relationship that
+gives appropriateness to the handling of the three in a single address
+tho each, from a different point of view, might well be made the center
+of an entire evening's consideration.
+
+The home, the church, and the school! What troops of memories arise
+around each as we turn our gaze backward! How sweet and sacred appears
+the home as we recall mother and father, sister and brother, in the old
+home setting in the early days of our pilgrimage! How solemn and
+hallowed seems the church as we go back in thought to our first
+connections with it in Sunday school, in its communion service, and to
+our own entrance as members! And how fascinating and joyful, even the
+sometimes tinged with regret or apprehension, the school as we retrace
+our pathway over the years of its associations! The home, the church,
+and the school--but the first of these is the home.
+
+
+THE HOME
+
+Let me ask you, therefore, to think with me first of the home--of that
+institution which in its very inception, more than any other, was
+God-inspired; that institution which from its very beginning up to the
+present hour has, more than any other, reflected the spirit and purpose
+of God--that institution whose center is the child and whose function
+that child's development--_the home_. It is the most ancient of all the
+institutions of man. Organized and set apart at the very dawn of human
+life, when the morning stars were singing together, the divine Voice
+gave it sanction and stated its function: "Be fruitful and multiply, and
+replenish the earth." And the institution, as the ages have passed, has
+never once lapsed and never repudiated its origin or its work. Still it
+has advanced so far and improved so much in outward appearance, at any
+rate, and developed so greatly that, as we know it to-day, we may almost
+call it a modern institution, so modern indeed and so different from all
+others as to merit the name of American institution.
+
+Students of history have so laid bare the conditions of living and of
+home life in the past as to reveal to us the fact that the home, as we
+know it and love it, did not exist prior to our own day. In all former
+periods, even tho glorious to look back upon, some of them, golden days
+as they were of the world's upward struggle, we search in vain for our
+kind of a home. The home of the American workman to-day is provided with
+more comforts and conveniences, has in it more of the elements of
+culture and refinement, is more eloquent of love and the higher life
+than was the home of the ruler of a few generations ago. And the chief
+factors in it all, those which bind all together and give meaning, are
+the honored place given the wife and mother and, springing from that,
+love, love of parent for child and child for parent. For we all know,
+when we come to think of it, that our love of home and dear ones is ever
+our motive for action as we explore new fields and mark out new paths,
+overcome obstacles and surmount difficulties--in a word, carry the
+banners of civilization to new heights!
+
+The home of all people, in all ages of the world's history, but
+especially as we know it to-day, is the one thing for which men live and
+work. Stop the first man you meet on the street,--"rich man, poor man,
+beggar-man, thief, doctor, lawyer, butcher, priest,"--any man, going
+along with a preoccupied mind, thinking of the case he is to plead, the
+trade he is to make, the book he is to write. Get into this man's mind,
+down below this particular thing that is on the surface of it, and down
+there there is one picture that you wilt always find, the picture of a
+cozy corner somewhere, of a woman sitting by the table or before the
+fire, of two or three growing girls, and a boy or two that look like
+him. Meet him wherever you will, find him in whatever occupation, or in
+whatever stage of spiritual or intellectual development; whenever you
+get under his jacket, whether it be a blouse or a tuxedo, you'll find
+this picture hanging on the wall of his heart. Ninety-nine men out of
+every hundred say, with Robert Burns:
+
+  "To make a happy fire-side clime
+    For weans and wife,
+  That's the true pathos and sublime
+    Of human life."
+
+And the young man of to-day, looking forth into the years that are to
+come, picturing himself as and where he would like to be, who sees
+himself alone, without the joys and companionship of wife and child, the
+young man who doesn't plan to have a home of his own to which he can
+lead the choice of his heart and in which he may multiply, thru the
+development of his own offspring, his powers of usefulness,--such a
+young man is a selfish monstrosity. And the young woman who isn't
+longing for a home of her own--for a little kingdom in which as Queen,
+she may rule jointly with a chosen King in loving ministration to their
+natural subjects--such a young woman is an abnormal specimen. The desire
+of every little girl for a doll, the craving of every boy for an animal
+pet, is but the manifestation of the deep-seated instinct of parenthood.
+Do nothing to stifle it. Minister to its growth and development. And
+young man--young woman, you who have left behind the days of knee
+trousers and short dresses, and with them have laid aside the doll and
+the pet, think it not weakness when you find yourself irresistibly
+drawn by the sweet smile of an innocent babe or by the childish prattle
+of one a little farther on. Be not ashamed when, under such influence,
+you picture yourself the center of a home, and in this connection think
+of him or her whom you would like to have share it with you. It is the
+sweetest influence that can ever come into your life. Rightly regarded
+and used, it will do more for your happiness and usefulness than any or
+all others that will ever come to you.
+
+But when the crucial moment comes--when the die is to be cast and the
+promise asked and given that will bind the two lives together, halt for
+a moment until one asks and the other answers this "Woman's Question."
+
+
+THE WOMAN'S QUESTION
+
+  "Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing
+     Ever made by the Hand above--
+  A woman's heart and a woman's life
+     And a woman's wonderful love?
+
+  "You have written my lesson of duty out;
+     Manlike you have questioned me;
+  Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul
+     Until I question thee.
+
+  "You require your mutton shall always be hot,
+     Your stockings and shirts shall be whole.
+  I require your heart to be true as God's stars
+     And as pure as Heaven your soul.
+
+  "You require a cook for your mutton and beef.
+     I require a far better thing.
+  A seamstress you're wanting for stockings and shirts,
+     I look for a man and a king.
+
+  "A king for a beautiful realm called home,
+     And a man that the Maker, God,
+  Shall look upon as He did the first
+     And say, 'It is very good.'
+
+  "I am fair and young, but the rose will fade
+     From my soft fair cheek some day;
+  Will you love me then 'mid the falling leaves
+     As you did in the bloom of May?
+
+  "Is your heart an ocean so strong and deep
+     I may launch my all on its tide?
+  A loving woman finds Heaven or hell
+     On the day she is made a bride.
+
+  "I require all things that are grand and true,
+     All things that a man should be,
+  If you promise me this, I would stake my life
+     To be all you demand of me.
+
+  "If you can not do this, a seamstress and cook
+     You can hire with little to pay.
+  But a woman's heart and a woman's life
+     Are not to be won that way."
+
+Yes, Bobby Burns was right when he said,
+
+  "To make a happy fire-side clime,
+     For weans and wife,
+  That's the true pathos and sublime
+     Of human life."
+
+Exactly what is God's ultimate purpose for the human race, I think no
+one knows. And I am not sure that we need to know. Where clear vision is
+not granted we walk by faith. But even if the ultimate end is not
+clearly portrayed, even if we are kept in the dark as to the great
+outcome, we do know pretty well His method of procedure. A careful study
+of the past and a critical analysis of the data now at hand looking to
+the future enable us to grasp with some clearness the leading outlines
+of the program. From generation to generation, from century to century,
+from age to age, as time has rolled on, there has been a gradual moving
+onward and upward, a steady improvement both in the refining and
+civilizing of man's own being and in bringing that being into
+sympathetic relations with the external world, that is, a gradual
+development of man's own powers, and an ever increasing control of the
+forces of nature. In spite of the fact that this progress has been, at
+times, painfully slow, it has never once ceased, and during the last
+century it has moved on with constantly accelerating speed until to-day
+the human race stands upon the highest point ever reached. I have
+absolutely no sympathy with that narrow pessimism which is always
+talking about "the good old times." All in all, there never was a time
+in the history of the world when man knew so much as to-day; there never
+was a time when his life was so ministered to by the forces of nature;
+never a time when his heart was so tender, when it responded so quickly
+to human suffering, never a time when all forms of evil were so quickly
+condemned nor when so much good was being done. The long program seems
+to have been for each age and each generation to hand on to its
+successors the legacy received, but increased and strengthened and
+bettered. How much longer this upward movement is to continue, how much
+more the race is to know and do, how much better it is to be, no one
+knows. God's ultimate purpose, His great object in view--we may not be
+able to grasp, but certainly it is not difficult for us to note the
+general direction of the movement. It is upward.
+
+In all this, wherein does the home come, and what is its function? Is it
+not, has it not been from the very beginning the Divine agency used for
+doing this great work? Was not the home instituted, endowed with the
+divine power of love, and consecrated for the perpetuation of the race?
+"Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth." True, as many times
+pointed out, our toils and our struggles, our earnings and our
+productions, incidentally give us pleasure and satisfaction and power,
+but yet even these are but a means to an end,--that parents may beget,
+rear, and educate their children in such a way that they can carry the
+banner of civilization a little higher--lift society to a higher level
+and draw mankind nearer to God.
+
+So it is that the center and circumference of the home is the child. In
+the child the home finds its meaning, its excuse, and its justification.
+It exists, then, that the child may be adequately prepared for doing its
+great work in the world. Whatever else it may do, on the side, it has
+one great problem. The child! The child! The best crop the farmer
+raises, the best article the manufacturer puts on the market, the best
+ware the merchant handles, the best case the lawyer pleads, the best
+sermon the minister preaches--or at least that which gives meaning to
+all of these--the child! "The fruit of all the past and the seed of all
+the future." God bless the home and God bless its best fruitage--the
+child!
+
+
+THE CHURCH
+
+Thus the home--God's simple yet mighty agent in His great work of
+developing the human race. Its work was accepted and for a time all went
+well. Such preparation, mostly physical, as the child needed for its
+future work the home gave without difficulty. But this simple life could
+not continue indefinitely. One of the fundamental principles of life
+absolutely forbade man's standing still. The laws of growth and
+development pushed him on. Whether he would or not, he was compelled to
+move forward, just as the acorn, obeying the law of its being, changes
+its form, its size, and adds to its complexity. Little by little man,
+obeying these inexorable laws, began to develop. His mental, his moral,
+and his physical natures gradually assumed new forms--new needs and
+desires were born. More and more his vision became expanded until he
+could see into and mesurably appreciate the forces of nature. His life
+was becoming more complex. Now, this larger life, this greater
+complexity of life, in addition to its own complexity, added materially
+to the work of preparing the child for playing its part in this great
+onward movement.
+
+Such preparation as was needed by the child of the primitive home to
+equip it for playing its part as an adult would no longer suffice. The
+home must now do something more than satisfy the needs of the
+body--provide food, clothing, and shelter, and incidentally give
+opportunity to learn, mostly by imitation, how to do this for another
+generation of children. The spiritual life needed attention and, as
+well, the intellectual. Competition was growing keen, and each felt the
+need of a better equipment that he might play his part well in the
+larger life that was surely before him. And this larger outlook upon
+life was itself growing by what it was feeding upon and making its own
+demands for better things.
+
+But the home was handicapped. It felt the need, but with all other
+things that it had to do, had no time to take up these new duties. And
+again, the most of the homes, even if time had been abundant, did not
+know how to do the new work. So it set about finding a solution to its
+problem. This was found in the principle of the division of labor. It
+was seen that time would be saved and results much more satisfactorily
+reached by delegating to persons definitely prepared and set aside for
+that purpose certain phases of this work. So the church was instituted
+and, a little later, the school. To the church was delegated, speaking
+broadly, the religious and moral development of the child and to the
+school, the intellectual development.
+
+It was exactly the same principle that, later on, took from the home the
+weaving of cloth and the making of shoes and other industrial pursuits.
+With this added complexity of life, the homes could not profitably carry
+on all these varied activities--be, in addition to a home, also a tailor
+shop and a shoe factory, a church and a school. And so the homes of a
+community combined, selecting one man particularly adapted to that work
+to make all the shoes for the community, another the cloth, etc. And, in
+like manner, earlier in history, one was set aside to minister to the
+spiritual life, and one to teach the children. Both were offshoots of
+the home, delegated by the home to do a certain very definite portion of
+its work. Each took directions from the collective home and looked to it
+as the source of its authority. And such it was. The point is this: the
+home was the original educational institution and, as well, the original
+religious institution. At first it alone performed the work of all
+three: it was our home, our church, and school all in one. It finally
+established the others and merely delegated work to these supplemental
+agencies, so, at any time, it may withdraw that work from them. It is
+master of the situation. This withdrawal may be done either by the
+collective home or by any individual home. If any home represented here
+this evening, for any reason whatever, wishes to resume the religious
+function and alone direct the religious development of the children, no
+one can say it nay. And it is the same in regard to the school. If any
+parent here wishes to withdraw his children from the school and himself,
+either directly or indirectly, provide for their intellectual
+development, he has a perfect right to do so. Our compulsory attendance
+laws are satisfied when evidence is furnished of the child's
+advancement. Of course the church and the school, in this primitive
+stage, were both exceedingly crude--corresponding to the crude notions
+of religious and intellectual development then held by man, yet playing
+the same great part as now in the drama of life. I suppose it is true
+that these differentiations were at first only semi-conscious, but
+nevertheless they were real differentiations and had large influence
+upon the development of man.
+
+To trace the development of the church thru its early stages is not
+necessary for the purpose of this address, so I pass at once to the
+establishment of the Christian church which is in reality our
+representative of the same fundamental institution. Like the home and
+the school, the church began in a very humble way, and during the
+progress of the centuries passed thru many vicissitudes and underwent
+many changes. Let me speak very briefly of four stages, or periods, of
+the history of the Christian church: first, the primitive stage, that
+period of about 350 years following its birth when, in the main, motives
+were pure, ambitions unselfish, and ideals high. But, tho it was founded
+to provide the means of securing the religious development of the child
+and the race thru the perpetuation and extension of the teachings of
+Christ, and tho it was launched forth into its great career in the
+spirit of love and meekness and fellowship that characterized His life,
+it was not long, as history counts time, before that worthy function was
+entirely lost sight of, that spirit wholly cast aside, and the new
+institution entered upon its second period, becoming a mere political
+machine which, in its utter disregard of rights and justice, in the
+shrewdness and daring of its schemes, and in the blackness of its
+methods, almost surpassed even our own most skilful efforts in those
+directions. "My kingdom is not of this world," Christ had said, and yet
+the church, founded upon His teachings and led by men pretending to be
+His true representatives, had become, in very deed, a kingdom of this
+world. The possession and use of worldly power by the church had so
+blunted its moral sense that Dante, in the early part of the fourteenth
+century, felt forced to exclaim, and exclaimed with truth:
+
+                     "The Church of Rome,
+  Mixing two governments that ill assort,
+  Hath missed her footing, fall'n into the mire,
+  And there herself and burden much defiled."
+
+But Dante's criticism and other forces brought to bear drew back the
+erring leaders to some slight conception of their function and to some
+slight effort toward the performance of duty, tho neither conception nor
+performance took them back to their pristine merit. And the church
+entered another historical stage, the third, and one whose dominant
+thought and purpose prevails even up to modern times. Indeed, so
+recently has it passed that its dark outlines are even yet discoverable
+as we glance backward. In this new conception of the church and its work
+we find the function of the institution to be not religious development
+of the individual and of the race, as it had been at first, but merely
+technical salvation. And the institution may be pictured as a great
+lifeboat thrust out into the storm to save from destruction those who
+can be drawn within--_while all others perish_.
+
+You remember the painting of the picture, foreground and background, how
+the emphasis was thrown upon the world to come! This world was not man's
+home. He was a sojourner here, a wanderer. His citizenship was in
+Heaven. He was a pilgrim passing thru a strange and weary land, and the
+only purpose of the pilgrimage was a preparation for the life to come.
+The nature of man himself was corrupt. The world around him was evil.
+Alone and unaided he was powerless. He was lost both for this world and
+the next. The storms of life were about him, the great waves were ready
+to engulf him. But the church, as a lifeboat, was thrust out into the
+breakers, and upon certain stipulated conditions was ready to take him
+in. The church was represented as having received direct from the hands
+of God "the keys of heaven and hell," and as being able to open the
+gates of a better world to all true believers. But true believers, you
+know, were no longer the pure followers of the crucified Christ, simply
+those who would accept the man-made dogmas of the church. No matter how
+full of error the church was, no matter how corrupt her leaders, there
+could be no safety outside of her fold. Accept the dogma, salvation was
+sure; once within, all was well. Religious development was not sought.
+The character of the life, previous or prospective, mattered not.
+Acceptance of the dogma was the only requirement. So she taught--having
+departed Oh! so far from her character and program when given existence
+by the home and started out on her beneficent work. And so tight had her
+grip become that none dared dispute her claims. The child had outgrown
+her mother, that is, the church had, in its own conception, outgrown the
+home, and it repudiated her control. Indeed, she held the keys--she was
+the ark of safety.
+
+I have dwelt upon this because, with varying degrees of emphasis, that
+has been the conception of the church from medieval times almost to our
+own day. Indeed, I am not sure that it has entirely passed even at the
+present time. There are doubtless some people who continue thus to
+regard the church, and there is more than one branch of the institution
+whose definitely formulated statements of belief can be interpreted in
+no other way however much, as a practical fact, the members have
+departed from them.
+
+There are some branches of the church that still teach that the child,
+newly born into the world, fresh from the hand of God, is already
+corrupt, prone to evil, of its own volition choosing evil in preference
+to good. And, believing that, they require the parents when presenting
+the babe at the altar for holy baptism, to affirm that that pure and
+innocent babe has inherited an evil and corrupt nature, and that it was
+conceived and born in sin. A monstrous doctrine, violating not only
+every parental instinct, but as well all the principles of psychology
+and ethics. Yea, verily, the Dark Ages are not yet wholly past! Yes,
+there are doubtless some who still look upon the church as a lifeboat,
+and who think that that lifeboat should offer safety and protection to
+those alone who already have on the life preserver. In other words,
+there are still some who seem to think that church membership should be
+granted only to those whose character and belief already assure them of
+abundant entrance into the heavenly kingdom and who, therefore, do not
+really need church membership.
+
+But yet, on the whole, as a working conception, we have discarded the
+lifeboat idea and are now regarding the church rather as a great school,
+so to speak, in which all the children of men, thru the grace of God and
+mutual helpfulness, may gradually develop the Christian character and
+eventually come to be the very elect of God. No longer is it being
+regarded as merely an ark of safety, a lifeboat, ministering to the
+few, but as a great social beneficent institution shedding abroad upon
+all people its life-giving light and lifting all men nearer to God;
+true, giving her choicest blessings to those who come closest and
+partake most fully of her nature, but yet like the sun which shines upon
+all and both by direct and indirect rays warms and lightens all. Between
+the two views, what a contrast! And that change can not be better seen
+than by a contrast of the methods of work--the methods used to replenish
+the ranks, to offer the boon of membership to those deemed worthy or to
+those whom such boon could help.
+
+The old evangelism--you remember its key-note, the old revival meeting,
+in which skilful word painting presented the two extremes, heaven and
+hell. And when the emotional nature was wrought up to the desired pitch
+and fear to the right degree, a choice was demanded,--conversion, it was
+called. The newer evangelism--Christian nurture in the home and school,
+and the various agencies of the church--is not as spectacular as the
+old. It doesn't make as much noise nor draw to itself so much attention.
+Nor do results so readily lend themselves to figures and tabulation. It
+does not bring about certain times when large accessions are made to the
+church membership, feeling rather that a continuous stream, tho smaller,
+indicates a more healthy growth. But it recognizes the fact that human
+nature is not necessarily depraved, that, on the other hand, the
+Christian life is the natural life and that the child under the sweet
+influences of the home and school and church passes naturally from one
+stage to another often not knowing when the transitions take place.
+Christian nurture--_a continuous process_--in which development is the
+key-note, not conversion, a sudden transformation, a terrible wrenching
+of the whole being, is the church's present method of growth. Oh! the
+old has not entirely gone--here and there we occasionally see evidences
+of its presence. Professional evangelism we call it to-day. I ran across
+it in a recent trip East. A big, barnlike structure had been erected
+which was called "the tabernacle." Its floor was of sawdust sprinkled on
+the ground. Here for about a month a professional evangelist had
+harangued the curious crowds in immoderate, and oftentimes immodest
+language. Wit and sarcasm and slang and emotion had been freely used in
+his efforts to make sinners "hit the sawdust trail," to use his own
+spectacular language, as well as to extort money from the pockets of the
+attendants. He left the town $5,000 richer than when he entered and also
+carried with him, as advertising material, a long list of so-called
+converts. A travesty on the sacred work of the church! But such methods
+are to-day the exception and not the rule, and the exceptions merely
+prove the rule.
+
+And to-day church membership is graciously held out to all who need help
+in the work of perfecting character--to all who need assistance in
+leading the Christian life, as well as to those whose battles have
+already been fought and won. The question asked is no longer, "Have you
+attained?" but rather, "Do you wish to attain?" When an individual,
+child or adult, seeks entrance at the doors of an educational
+institution, the only condition imposed is assurance of his desire to be
+a learner. The doors swing open. And thank God the church is at last
+coming to the same position. And so we see her to-day well started upon
+the fourth stage of her development, accepting as her one great work
+that given her at birth so long ago--the religious development of the
+child and the race.
+
+
+THE SCHOOL
+
+The American school is a wonderful institution. In its absolute
+universality and impartiality, in its fine spirit of democracy both of
+teachers and pupils, there is nothing like it elsewhere in the world. It
+is a product of the genius of our people. Product? Yes, but, also,
+successively, the most influential cause of the genius of our people.
+From the first, in a somewhat remarkable degree, we have been a people
+knowing no social classes or distinctions. The caste idea, so prevalent
+in European countries, has ever been repugnant to us. And our schools,
+emanating from such a people, have had a powerful reflex influence in
+shaping the people and keeping those fine ideals ever before us. But let
+us go back and see whence it came--trace the connection between the
+complex, highly influential institution of to-day and the simple
+offshoot of the home of primitive times. Just when it was first
+instituted, nobody knows; but in essential features it is very ancient.
+Long before the beginning of the Christian era, as a supplementary agent
+of the home having in charge that one portion of its work, it was a
+well-recognized and highly esteemed institution.
+
+I have already called attention to the great changes that have taken
+place in the home and in the church as the centuries have passed. The
+school likewise has changed, and is to-day as far removed from its
+original prototype as either of the others. It has changed because the
+home has changed, and in its changes has kept pace with the changing
+ideals and added complexities of home life. At the very first, only the
+essentials--teacher and boy--were present: no building, the great
+out-of-doors furnished the room and the friendly tree the only
+protection from sun and storm; no course of study, no book--the teacher
+was all in all. But this stage passed and the next, that continued so
+long and is more characteristic, followed. Here we find the building and
+the book as well as the teacher and the boy. The boy's one task is to
+transfer the contents of the book to his own mental storehouse and the
+teacher's function to see that the transfer is made. Knowledge was the
+main element of the child's preparation, that the home demanded of its
+school. And this often but ill-fitted him for the performance of the
+duties of life. This period continued for many centuries, down almost to
+the present time. But another and a greater followed--a period in which
+not merely knowledge was demanded as an outcome of the school's
+activities, but something else very different, including that, it is
+true, but finer and greater than that--something toward which they are
+the contributing agents--a somewhat harmonious development of the entire
+life--physical, mental, and moral.
+
+Little by little, as time has passed, the home seems to have been
+throwing added burdens upon the school until now it sometimes looks as
+if the school is expected to give the entire preparation of the
+child--moral, physical, and manual, as well as mental. It sometimes
+seems as if the home had gone off on a vacation and left the school to
+do its work. Now, that statement implies a criticism of the home. On
+the other hand, it is frequently said by unfriendly critics of our
+public schools that the schools are all the time reaching out and, in a
+grasping way, more and more taking unto themselves the sacred rights and
+privileges of the home, even setting themselves up in authority over the
+home, aye, even alienating the affections of the children, making the
+home of none effect. Where does the truth lie? Has the home been so
+negligent of its duty, or has the school forgotten that it is the
+creature of the home? Which is the usurper? That is an interesting
+question. We can not go into it in detail, but let me suggest that it
+has all come about not so much from the unwarranted assumption of the
+school, nor the conscious and wilful neglect of the home as from the
+unconscious working out of a great principle fundamental in human
+development--namely, that the three phases of a child's life--the
+physical, the moral, and the intellectual,--can not be separately
+developed.
+
+At first the home had the three lines of work. Soon it delegated two of
+them to other agencies and then, thru inexperience or thoughtlessness,
+made the fatal mistake of withdrawing supervision, assuming that no
+oversight was necessary. Unwise and short-sighted! No individual would
+thus deal with any other interest. The farm, the store, the financial
+interest of any kind, even the thing that ministers to the pleasure of
+life, often receives more personal attention from the parent than does
+the school. And this situation is not peculiar to our own day. When I
+was a boy, in another and distant state, we used to sing a song called
+"The Parent and the School." The various verses showed that parents were
+in the habit of visiting every other known place--the theater, the
+concert, the fair, the sea, the neighbors, and each verse closed with
+the refrain, "And why don't they visit the school?" They should, but
+they did not then, nor do they to-day. Somehow, all along the line, the
+home has seemed to think that if it should satisfy the physical needs of
+the child in providing food and clothing and shelter, the school should
+develop the intellectual and the church the moral natures in different
+places and at different times, and under different conditions, and that
+in some mysterious manner the three could become satisfactorily blended
+into a harmonious life. Impossible! The three natures are so clearly
+interrelated, each depends so much upon the others, that the separate
+and independent development of any one is impossible.
+
+The spiritual _depends_ upon the intellectual as the house _rests_ upon
+the foundation. Its mental pictures, its concepts, its beliefs, come out
+of it, and are marred, misshapen, untrue, just to the extent to which
+that is faulty. Intelligence is necessary to religious belief and
+religious life. And the _intellectual_, in its foundation laying, can
+not stop short at that point any more than a plant can stop growing when
+its roots are well developed. The process once well begun is pushed on
+by the force from behind and must enter the higher realm. So I am not
+surprised that the school at times seems to be in charge of the entire
+work. And _physical conditions_ have so much to do with success in both
+fields that they must be considered by both. The three processes are not
+only interrelated, they are interlaced, intertwined, as the strands of a
+braided cord. And just as the cord would be incomplete, just as it
+would lack strength, if any of the strands were to be omitted, or if the
+braiding were to be haphazard, so the life would be incomplete,
+one-sided, weak, should these three processes not go on side by side
+under the fostering care of an intelligent unifying agency. Indeed, if
+there is any one thing that has been demonstrated beyond the
+peradventure of a doubt by modern research in the physical and psychical
+realms, it is the significant fact that life is a unity. The physical,
+the intellectual, and the moral are like the three leaves of the clover.
+And just as with the clover we must apply the nourishment to the root
+and not to the separated branches, so with the child we must so select
+and use our educative material that the three-fold development shall
+result from the single application.
+
+A simple illustration or two will help to make the point clear. All
+children study arithmetic in school. It is an intellectual activity and
+so clearly belongs to the school. Why do all study it? Because for the
+practical duties of life they need to know how to handle numbers. It is
+a practical study. Yes, but there is something else that the subject is
+supposed to yield or the extended time given to it could not be
+justified. It yields large fruitage in the development of the power of
+concentration and intellectual keenness. Yes, but better than that. All
+mathematical subjects, in that they require absolute accuracy and
+definiteness in their operations, are particularly helpful in developing
+those fine moral qualities of honesty, integrity, and upright dealing.
+Again, history is taught in the schools as an intellectual subject. In
+intellectual development alone it is worth all it costs. But over and
+above the value as a mental quickener it is to be placed as a builder of
+character, and ministering to the development of the moral and even the
+spiritual life. Nowhere else can the young so well learn that
+"righteousness exalteth a nation" and that "sin is a reproach to any
+people." In no other way so well as by the study of history can desired
+examples of noble character be placed before the young for imitation.
+Take but one other illustration, that of gymnastics and athletics--the
+entire program of play. For physical development? Yes, but in addition
+to that and finer than that, intellectual development of a high order
+thru the keener activity of the senses, the quicker and more accurate
+vision, the developed judgment, and finer discriminations. Yes, but
+better even than mere intellectual keenness there result from such
+activities the rare moral qualities of tolerance, respect for others,
+and self-control. And so I might go on and give illustration after
+illustration. It is not necessary. You catch my point. I am merely
+trying to demonstrate two facts: first, that the great breadth of the
+work of the school--embracing as it does, the development of the entire
+nature of the child, mental, moral, and physical, instead of merely the
+mental, that which was given her at first, is hers now not because of
+the home's neglect nor because the school has been unduly ambitious and
+grasping, but because we have come to see that life is a unity and can
+not be cut up into parts each separately developed. And secondly, I have
+tried to show that the school does interest itself in the moral life of
+the pupil. As a matter of fact, the school does more to develop morality
+and to lead toward a sane religious life than all other agencies
+combined. Our modern American school is a wonderful institution.
+
+But in spite of the fact that the school is broad in its ministrations,
+it can not stand alone. All three institutions are needed. But the three
+must work together and in harmony and intelligently, each assisting the
+others. And one of the three must act as the centralizing, the unifying,
+the combining agency and bring order out of that which would otherwise
+be chaos by recognizing the value of each contribution of each of the
+others, assigning it to its proper place and thus aptly blending the
+work of the three. Now, which shall be the centralizing force? Really,
+is there any question? Must it not be the original institution--the
+home--the one which saw the need of the others and called them into
+being--the one upon which the responsibility finally rests? And even tho
+many individual homes are weak, wholly incapable of doing themselves all
+the varied kinds of work needed, yet the collective institution can and
+must act. And even the individual home, efficient or inefficient,
+should, much more than it does, thus act within the limits of its own
+jurisdiction and up to the limits of its own power.
+
+And to whom does the school belong, anyway? To the Board of Education?
+Is it the private possession of the teachers? Does it exist to give
+teachers positions? Why, no, of course not. It is yours, and yours, and
+yours. They, both Board and teachers, are your servants, hired men and
+women, if you and they please--hired for pay to do your work, just as
+much as are the clerks in your stores, the harvest hands on the farms,
+or the maids in the kitchen. A different kind of work to be sure but,
+nevertheless, we are workmen for pay. And we need watching just as much
+as do the other workers. But let us put it in this way--we need
+intelligent, sympathetic co-operation, as an opportunity and as a spur
+for our best work and as a joy in it all--your constant kindly interest
+and your intelligent co-operation. I suppose that the situation is quite
+different in a city of this size from what it is in the large centers. I
+remember of talking, at one time, to an audience of teachers in a large
+city. I was astounded to learn that those teachers did not know, by
+sight even, the parents of one-half of their pupils, and many of them
+had been in the schools for a period of from three to four years. Whose
+fault was it? The teacher's or the parents? Why, what is the school? And
+whose is it? And what is it for? Whose fault was it? The question does
+not need an answer. It answers itself. But I urged those teachers to
+visit the homes--to become acquainted with the parents of their pupils
+so that they could know the atmosphere surrounding them and thus be
+better able to guide their development and minister to their varied
+needs. But I did not thus urge them because they had, up to that time,
+neglected their duty, rather because there seemed no prospect that the
+homes would embrace their opportunity and take the initiative.
+
+I fancy that here in the smaller place where everybody knows everybody
+it is very different. Doubtless there is not a teacher here whose
+acquaintance has not been made by both parents of every child in her or
+his room. Probably there is not one who has not been entertained in
+every home represented in the room. This should be the situation not
+primarily because parents owe teachers such attention, not because any
+such social responsibility rests upon them, but rather because the
+relationship thus created gives parents the best possible opportunity to
+co-operate with the school in doing that portion of the home's great
+work. No, parents do not "owe" it to the teachers, rather do they "owe"
+it to their children and the next generation. I am urging this program
+because it is the only way by which you can get the most and best
+service from the schools.
+
+It is true that parents may not understand all the subjects that are
+taught in the schools. Parents may not be acquainted with the methods of
+teaching so that they can be intelligent critics of schoolroom
+procedure. Never mind. That is not necessary. You do know boys and
+girls. Many of you could give us teachers valuable suggestions on the
+best ways of dealing with boys and girls. And there isn't one of you who
+could not assist the teacher in the work with your own children. And
+then there is another way to look upon it. It is altogether possible
+that this closer acquaintance with the school and with the
+teachers--with men and women who have made a careful, scientific study
+of boys and girls and of the art of teaching--it is altogether possible,
+I say, that this contact might react helpfully upon you and the home.
+You might possibly get suggestions from us that would help you in the
+home. The closer contact might be mutually helpful.
+
+And so, in this necessarily hurried manner we have passed in review
+these three great age-old yet very modern institutions--the home, the
+church, and the school. We have seen whence each has arisen, have noted
+the pathway trod, and caught a glimpse of its present-day function. And
+the close relationship, too, must have become plain as we passed along.
+No one of the three, we have seen, could stand alone. Each depends upon
+both the others and likewise lends them both assistance. For sane,
+all-round, constructive work in any one field, the contributions of all
+are seen to be needed.
+
+Let us, therefore, take an account of stock, as the business man says,
+and note our individual attitude and responsibility. As representing the
+home, let us look upon the other two as creatures of our own building
+still requiring direction and fostering care. Let our attitude toward
+them be neither patronizing nor coldly critical. As representing the
+church and the school, let us not forget the source of our being. We
+should not ignore the home nor attempt to dominate it. Let us, rather,
+seek to carry out its program, rendering a good account of our
+stewardship. Thus and thus only can the great work originally entrusted
+to the home be accomplished.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+NOBLESSE OBLIGE
+
+_A Convocation Address delivered at the University of North Dakota,
+January 29, 1916_
+
+
+There is no audience before which a speaker should have greater reason
+for apprehension than an audience made up largely of university
+students. There is no audience for which a speaker should more carefully
+choose his thoughts and the words for their expression than a university
+audience, nor one more worthy of earnest treatment. On the other hand,
+there is no audience that a speaker can address more inspiring than an
+audience made up of young men and women in the heyday of young life
+preparing for better and larger usefulness.
+
+All this is true because there is no other audience that can be gathered
+together whose future work can begin to compare, in far-reaching
+consequences, in possibilities for usefulness, with that of such an
+audience. There is no other company of people of equal number within
+whose keeping there is more of potential weal or woe for coming
+generations. And these things are true because university students of
+to-day are the world's leaders of to-morrow.
+
+This is not so trite a saying as the one that declares that the boys and
+girls of one generation are to be the men and women of the next, but it
+is just as true and just as significant. Indeed, I suppose it can not be
+called a trite saying in the true sense of the term. It has not been
+uttered so many times, is not now being used so commonly, as to indicate
+its universal acceptance. It is not so obviously true as to preclude
+challenge and argument. It is my purpose very briefly to examine the
+statement and from the conclusion reached connect the same with the
+thought of a beautiful proverb that has come down to us thru a long
+lapse of years--_Noblesse Oblige_--our privileges compel us.
+
+So far as I know there is no way of seeing the future save thru a study
+of the facts of the past and the indications of the present. The
+university students of a generation ago--where are they to-day?
+Positions of leadership to-day--filled by whom?
+
+Exhaustive and thoroly satisfactory statistics are not at hand, but such
+as we have speak eloquently in favor of the statement in question.
+Practically our only reliable statistics touching the matter are
+gathered from our biographical cyclopedias. A few years ago a very
+interesting study was made of the data found in the current issue of
+_Who's Who in America_. This book, you know, is made up of short
+biographies of such persons living at the time in the United States as
+have become real factors in the progress and achievement of the age, in
+other words, of men recognized as leaders in thought and action in the
+educational, political, military, and business realms.
+
+Of the whole number mentioned in the issue studied educational data were
+given of 11,019. Of that number 1,111 had enjoyed only elementary school
+advantages; 1,966 had added to these only the advantages of secondary
+education, but 7,942 had come from the colleges and universities. In
+other words, more than 72% of these leaders are shown to have received
+their final preparations for leadership within college walls.
+
+Figures as interesting have been gathered thru a use of _Appleton's
+Cyclopedia of Biography_. A few years ago careful study was made of an
+edition just then out and it was found that of the college graduates of
+America one out of every forty had gained sufficient distinction to
+merit recognition in that cyclopedia, whereas only one out of 10,000
+non-graduates, the public at large, had received such distinction. In
+other words, the college graduate had 250 chances to the other man's one
+for achieving leadership.
+
+Moreover, the higher institutions of learning have furnished every one
+of the Chief Justices of our Supreme Court, 75% of our Presidents, 70%
+of the membership of our two highest courts, and more than 50% of all
+our Congressmen. The last state-men is very significant when one recalls
+our method of selecting Congressmen--our political machinery and its
+devious modes of working. I have no authentic data of other fields, but
+all that one needs to do to satisfy himself practically as to other
+details is to call to his service his own knowledge of the general
+situation. In the communities with which you are acquainted, among the
+people whom you know either personally or by reputation, what are the
+facts? Who are the leaders? Where college people are found, are they
+leaders or followers?
+
+There are exceptions, of course. There come to you at once the names of
+men, a few of them, who, thru the exercise of their own inherent
+strength, unaided by college or university, have risen to deserved
+greatness. I have only to mention the names of our immortal Lincoln, or
+England's present David Lloyd George, in the field of statesmanship, or
+of Lord Strathcona or Sir William Van Horne, or James J. Hill, railroad
+kings and empire builders, in the business world, or of Luther Burbank,
+in the realm of science, to make the fact of exceptions perfectly clear.
+But they _are_ exceptions--that's the point--and exceptions merely prove
+the rule.
+
+And even as to the few it is scarcely necessary to say that their
+positions, tho of leadership, are, generally speaking, subordinate ones,
+they themselves even while leading in certain limited fields, are
+following the leadership of others in broader fields which include their
+own--and the ones followed are they of the broader training. This is
+especially true of men who have achieved success in the business world
+or in the political field. Their success, their leadership, is often
+more seeming than real,--depending as it does upon their
+advisers--broadly educated men. Take Lord Strathcona, for example, or
+Mr. Hill, as typical illustrations; with all their far-sightedness and
+their recognized ability, what could they have done, even in their own
+field of activity, had it not been for the trained physicist, the
+skilled chemist, and the engineer--products of the university--who gave
+them their rails, built their bridges, designed their engines, and in
+many ways made it possible for them to realize their dreams? They would
+have been powerless. Tho leaders, they followed, and their kind always
+will follow, the university student. They may hire this student and pay
+him his wage, but they are still indebted to him for leading them onward
+and upward.
+
+From a hasty survey, therefore, which, however, I am satisfied would
+yield the same fruitage no matter to what extent pushed, our statement
+seems to be justified.
+
+But let us look at it from another point of view. How is the matter
+regarded by those of the present time most deeply interested in the
+future well-being of man and of the nations of the world? By those
+people and those forces who feel the responsibility of providing
+leadership for the next generation? What steps are being taken to reach
+the end--to provide the leaders? On any hypothesis other than the one
+assumed in my initial statement can you account for the lavish
+expenditure for the endowment and maintenance of higher institutions of
+learning that so characterize our generation? From one side to the other
+of our broad land, aye, from distant lands and from the isles of the sea
+comes the same testimony: benevolent individuals seem to vie with one
+another in the munificence of their gifts for higher education. Even
+soveren states and great nations, under the guidance of far-seeing
+leaders, are planting these institutions and, in a truly generous
+manner, providing for their present and future needs.
+
+That the college is the only source from whence can come our supply of
+leaders is a real conviction in the minds of men the world over, is
+shown by a recent incident in war-stricken Europe. It was only a few
+months ago and during the terrible campaign in Eastern Poland, even
+while shells were bursting and men were dying, that the Central Powers
+stopt, as it were, in the mad rush of wanton destruction, to
+re-establish and reorganize the old University of Warsaw. More than
+that, they added to the old institution two new faculties, or colleges,
+as we would call them.
+
+Strange, isn't it? In the incident I can see but this logic: a
+recognition of the fact that, with the forces of destruction reaping
+such an awful harvest, their civilization was doomed unless some step
+could be taken, not, primarily, to check the present war but rather to
+provide, at its close, an adequate supply of leaders. That seemed to
+them the only way to prevent a permanent impoverishment and a dropping
+back into a state of, at least, temporary semi-barbarism as was so
+common during the early Middle Ages under analogous circumstances. And
+the step taken by those shrewd, coldly-calculating war lords was the
+strengthening of the forces of higher education. One reason why, during
+the Middle Ages, there was this frequent dropping back is the fact that
+this relationship between leadership and education was not recognized.
+
+Under the powerful impulse of this conviction, namely, that the
+well-equipt college as a part of the broad university community is the
+only source of leadership, men and states and provinces and nations are
+sacrificing for higher education as never before. New institutions are
+being founded and old ones strengthened. Magnificent buildings are being
+erected with seemingly little thought of cost provided only that they
+serve their purpose. Libraries so thoroly equipt as to leave nothing
+desired, laboratories unsurpast in completeness, vast gymnasiums
+containing every possible apparatus for bodily development, and other
+facilities of every kind and description, all irrespective of cost, are
+daily being added. And better than buildings and grounds, more vital
+than equipment and endowment, are the trained minds and pure hearts
+that, in ever increasing numbers, are being freely offered on the same
+shrine. Abilities, and training, and attainments that in the world of
+business would yield their possessors independent fortunes, or in the
+fields of authorship or politics result in honor and fame, are here
+freely offered. The material return rendered for such service is the
+merest pittance absolutely needed for family support, and the
+immaterial, but one's enshrinement in the heart of an occasional
+grateful student plus the consciousness of having done one's duty. Can
+such a generous outpouring of material and spiritual treasures be
+accounted for on any hypothesis other than a recognition of the great
+world's needs and a firm belief that those needs can be best satisfied
+thru an educated leadership? Nay, verily, all these things are being
+done because the best thought of the day feels, both instinctively and
+with reason, that only thus can the kingdom of God come among men.
+
+What unique, important, and responsible position the State or Provincial
+University occupies among civic institutions! What splendid
+opportunities for usefulness are his who is the executive head of such
+an institution! Aye, and what weighty responsibilities rest upon him!
+Fellow teachers, what manifold opportunities for usefulness are yours,
+and what weighty responsibilities rest upon you by virtue of the fact
+that you are teachers in such an institution! And my message to you is
+the same as to the student body--_Noblesse Oblige!_ Freely have you
+received, freely must you give. Tho the state does not, nor ever can,
+adequately pay you for your best services, still you must not falter.
+You must continue to live up to your own high ideals of your noble
+profession. The very acceptance of such positions in such an institution
+carries with it the obligation of performance--_Noblesse Oblige!_
+
+But who are these college and university students who have such a large
+and important future before them and for whose training and development,
+because of that future, such elaborate preparations are being made? The
+university man--who and what is he? Likewise the university woman? Let
+us answer the question simply and briefly by merely saying that, tho
+sometimes rude and crude because immature and undeveloped, they are yet
+the keenest, the brightest, the most far-seeing, the most promising
+young men and women of the land. They are the choice souls found, one
+here, another there, one in the hamlet and another on the farm, one in
+the city and another on the prairie, one in a palace, another in a sod
+house. They are a picked lot selected not only from the so-called upper
+ranks of thought and action, but as well from the highways and by-ways
+of our broad land, chosen because of intellectual strength and moral
+fiber, because of high ideals and lofty purposes; chosen by themselves,
+it may be true, but chosen nevertheless, thru their equipment of mind
+and heart. The very fact that you are here and others are not is
+testimony sufficient to your greater worth. Exceptions, to be true,
+there are, but none too many prove the rule. I am not saying these
+things in a spirit of flattery, not at all. I am merely stating facts,
+and thru these facts trying to help you catch the vision--to see your
+opportunity and accept the responsibilities. But note the
+significance--those already best equipt by the superior quality of
+their brain matter and of their mental fiber and of their moral nature
+and who therefore without further preparation would easily distance the
+others, are here giving themselves even better equipment. There can be
+no question as to the relative position of the two classes in the years
+to come--the one class is to furnish the leaders, the other the
+followers. The one is to form the ideals, to set the standards, to
+decide upon policies, to mark out courses, the other to try to reach the
+goals set. The two classes may be equally good morally, equally worthy
+of respect and honor because equally faithful in the performance of
+duties suited to their tastes and abilities, but yet, from the very
+nature of things, the one going ahead, the other following behind. And
+in the years to come your competitors will be not from among the
+non-college men and women--you have already put yourself out of their
+reach--but from among those who, like yourselves, ambitious for better
+and greater things, are to-day, in this and other similar institutions,
+using every means, straining every nerve, to attain the highest possible
+degree of efficiency for future service. You are not only to be leaders,
+but in some way you seem to know it instinctively and to be putting
+yourselves in a state of readiness.
+
+But does some one raise the objection that this theory of leadership
+does not seem to be in harmony with the spirit and genius of our
+American institutions; that under a democratic form of government all
+are equal; that all men, irrespective of intellectual attainment, share
+equally, not only before the law but in the very making of law; that in
+America all men are rulers? All this is true theoretically and, to a
+certain extent, practically, but it does not lessen the need of
+efficient leadership; it increases that need, or, at any rate, it makes
+it necessary that the number capable of efficient leadership be greatly
+increased. The very fact that all have a voice in the government, that
+all do share, consciously and potently, in its exercise and in its
+responsibilities, speaks more loudly than anything else can of the need
+of wise leadership. If the great mass of people were not factors, they
+would not have to be taken into account. They might need drivers but not
+leaders. But being factors and yet, in the main, not being capable of
+adequate analysis of our most complex and highly intricate problems,
+they must be provided with safe and efficient leaders. I believe in the
+honesty, in the good intentions, and in the good sense of the common
+people. But I do not believe in their ability to detect relations, to
+draw wise conclusions, and to formulate policies touching the
+complicated political, social, and economic conditions of our times.
+
+It is a well-recognized fact that, as some one has said, "speaking
+broadly, the striking disadvantage under which a democracy labors, as
+contrasted, let us say, with certain types of autocracy, lies in its
+inability to plan effectively with reference to remote goals.... What we
+call 'far ahead' thinking is difficult for the individual, but it is
+vastly more difficult for the group, and its difficulty is intensified
+in both cases if it demands large measures of present sacrifice." No,
+democracy must be led. Leaders they must have. If honest and
+disinterested ones are not at hand, selfish and dishonest ones will be
+accepted. I grant that leadership is not the greatest need of
+democracy, that, of course, is a higher level of knowledge and
+intelligence, but I do claim that leadership is, and always will be, the
+greatest _present_ need of democracy, since it is only thru that
+leadership that the higher intelligence can be reached, without loss,
+and in the shortest possible time.
+
+But again, do you point out certain great victories of the common
+people, so-called, when they have risen in the power of their might and,
+in the exercise of their right, have put down men who had assumed the
+right to lead them and were leading them astray? Do you point to the
+State of Missouri of a decade ago, and to New York City again and again,
+and to England a generation ago, as illustrations? True, in all these
+cases and in many others, notable victories had been gained by and for
+the people. But is it not also true that in every such case the people
+won victories because wisely led? Think you that corruption and
+violation of law would have been so checked in Missouri a decade ago and
+the breakers of law been so thoroly punished, had it not been for the
+clear-headed work of that fearless, public-spirited Joseph W. Folk? Does
+not Charles S. Whitman come to your mind when the great struggle in New
+York City is mentioned? And Hiram W. Johnson in California? And when we
+recall the victories of the people in our own Motherland across the
+sea, do we not have at once a mental picture of the "Grand Old Man,"
+William Ewart Gladstone? Had it not been for these leaders or others who
+might else have taken their places, half of the people whose votes
+helped win the victories would never have known that there were such
+victories to win. They would never have realized the extent to which
+they were being wronged and mis-ruled.
+
+Certain conditions were not quite satisfactory. All people felt, half
+unconsciously, that rights were not being respected, that justice was
+not being done--that something was wrong somewhere--but that was about
+all, about as far as they went or could go. But these leaders, who, in
+years gone by, in the colleges and the universities, had been trained to
+search for causes, to see relations, and to draw conclusions, had
+scented danger from afar. And to the task of ferreting out the evil and
+of finding remedies they devoted the strength of their splendidly equipt
+minds and the purity of their strong hearts. Following up the lead of
+surface manifestations they finally unearthed corporate greed, political
+domination, and Satanic selfishness in such kinds and amounts as to be
+really appalling. But they did not stop there--they searched for
+remedies and then went before the people and told them a plain simple
+tale of what they had found--of how grossly the people were being
+wronged--and they outlined programs of reform. The people believed them;
+they rallied to their standards, accepted their leadership, and won the
+victories. And such victories, in greater or less degree, are being won
+all over the land, thank God! And back of every one of them you can
+find, if you search, a smaller or larger edition of Folk, Whitman, or
+Gladstone.
+
+And how about the future? Are all the victories won? No more such work
+to do? Ah! the question does not need an answer. Then who are to be the
+leaders? Why not you? and you? and you? Depend upon it, they are going
+to be college men and college women, and who more capable or worthy than
+yourselves?
+
+There are two ways in which I want you young people to look upon this
+matter; in the first place, from the point of view of your own personal
+interests. Here are opportunities for advancement, openings the filling
+of which will bring to you worldly success, and honor and fame. Both by
+natural endowment and by special training you are fitted for the work.
+Seize, then, the opportunities and make the most of them, because the
+world and they that dwell therein belong to him who knows how to use
+them. From one point of view this is perfectly legitimate, and I urge
+it. It is not only one's right but one's duty to make the most of
+himself--to advance his own interests. The program becomes censurable
+only when it absorbs all else--when one's own interest is sought at the
+_expense_ of the interest of other people instead of in connection with
+it or as a step in its realization.
+
+Now, the other way in which I want you to regard the matter is from the
+point of view of the interests of the people at large. Let me put it
+like this: here is your body politic, the people of North Dakota,
+600,000 strong, or, better yet, the people of the United States, some
+hundred million in number, partners in ownership of our magnificent
+country, co-laborers in its administration, and sharers in the work of
+their own government and in the working out of their destinies--each
+with a share and an influence and each expected to participate. But so
+complicated are the matters needing consideration, so difficult of
+solution many of the problems arising, and so infinitely vast the whole
+undertaking that the great majority of the people, thru either
+immaturity or lack of training, often do not know what is best to do.
+And again, skilful manipulators, dishonest self-seekers, are ever at
+hand with plausible theories calculated to befog the untrained, deceive
+the unsuspecting, and to lead them all astray. Taking everything into
+consideration, the situation is extremely difficult. In a plain word,
+these untrained people, the product of the elementary schools, can not
+see far enough ahead to know that oftentimes the policy that seems most
+attractive is full of danger for the future. They are not qualified to
+weigh, and estimate, and decide. But there is a class among them,
+college-bred men and women, a small class, relatively, that is
+qualified. Thru long years of study, and investigation, and reflection,
+in institutions freely provided and generously maintained by the people
+now in need, they have attained such a knowledge of affairs and such an
+ability to cope with intricate problems as to make them efficient
+leaders--leaders capable of guiding aright the noble ship of state thru
+difficult and tortuous channels beset, on every side, by dangerous rocks
+and calamitous whirlpools. And among that class of efficient leaders
+you, young men and young women of the University of North Dakota, will
+soon be numbered. How shall you respond to the call of duty? Your State,
+by virtue of what she has done and is now doing for you, has a right to
+expect unselfishness and unstinted service in her own interests and in
+those of mankind. Shall she get it? Will you rise to the occasion and,
+even at a sacrifice of personal comfort, ease, esthetic enjoyment,
+money, give to her what is her due? Will you remember _Noblesse
+Oblige_? Of course you will. For there is a well-established principle,
+clearly stated in Holy Writ and sanctioned by the ages, that of those to
+whom much hath been given, much will also be required. _Noblesse
+Oblige_--your privileges compel you.
+
+Because the theory of the old motto, "_Paucis vivat humanum genus_,"
+"for the few live the many," is no longer maintained. The many do not
+live for the few. The reverse is true. The few live for the many. But
+yet, the service is not unrewarded--only a portion of the reward has
+come first. In your equipment you are being paid in advance. David Starr
+Jordan has happily clothed the thought in these words: "It is in the
+saving of the few who serve the many that the progress of civilization
+lies. In the march of the common man, and in the influence of the man
+uncommon who rises freely from the ranks, we have all of history that
+counts."
+
+And here I might stop. But a general statement, more or less abstract,
+needs practical illustration: the "how," the "when," and the "where" are
+perfectly legitimate questions for you to ask. Let us then throw a hasty
+glance upon some of the great activities that claim men's attention, and
+discover some of the openings awaiting you.
+
+_The teaching profession_ will draw heavily upon your ranks--that
+profession, full and rich in opportunities for usefulness beyond any and
+all others, is more and more looking for you, and waiting impatiently
+for your full equipment and thoro readiness. All of the higher positions
+must come to you and others like you. No others are, or will be,
+adequately prepared. In nearly all of our states the legal requirement
+for a high school teacher and, of course, for the high school principal
+and city superintendent is the completion of a full four-year college
+course including a certain specified amount of professional work. In
+some of the states, indeed, the requirement is of a full year beyond the
+undergraduate course, or the possession of a Master's degree, with the
+emphasis of this added year thrown upon the subjects to be taught and
+the manner of handling the same.
+
+So the facts are borne upon us that the desk of the high school
+principal, the office of the city superintendent, the chair of the
+college professor, the position of college and university president, is
+soon to be offered you. Are you ready for it? ready in academic
+equipment? ready in professional attainment? And are you equally well
+prepared in that even finer element--the possession of your soul by the
+spirit of _Noblesse Oblige_?
+
+I can not say, of course, to which of you here to-day a college
+presidency is to be offered, nor the professor's chair, nor any other
+specific position. Nor can I say just when the offer will come. But I
+can say, and with assurance, that all these positions and all others of
+leadership in the educational field will be offered to college men and
+college women, and in all probability as soon as they are well ready for
+them. Moreover, it can doubtless be said that they will be apportioned
+fairly on the basis of merit and fitness. And then you will have in your
+hands the shaping of the destinies of a great free people with all the
+emoluments, the opportunities, and the responsibilities that should
+accompany a work of such moment.
+
+And _the Gospel ministry_ can no longer look elsewhere. If it is to
+continue to wield its mighty influence for good, and to play its
+magnificent role of leadership in our developing civilization,
+especially among our rapidly increasing educated classes, it must more
+and more come into its rightful inheritance, so long withheld, of that
+broader conception of brotherhood and Christianity that forgets the
+letter of the law in magnifying its spirit--that puts life before dogma
+and character before creed. And this, fellow students, can never be
+without the broad university equipment.
+
+We have traveled far during these latter years. And no longer do we
+consider it sufficient that the minister of the Gospel know merely his
+Bible and his theology. In addition to these, aye, as a basis for these,
+it is now demanded (that is, if he be accorded a position of real
+leadership among thinking people) that he know as well his history and
+his sociology, his psychology and his biology, and indeed that he be
+acquainted with all the fields of human knowledge. Not only that, he
+must know life as it is lived to-day, and the thoughts and emotions of
+men as they are manifested in the give and take of actual life. And none
+of these can be obtained within the narrow confines of the old
+theological seminary. The modern university is the only institution in
+which the minister of the future can get it all and get it in the right
+order and in the correct admixture. In the laboratories, the libraries,
+and the classrooms he will delve deeply into the realms of science,
+literature, and art, and there and on the campus, in its varied
+activities, touch hands and exchange thoughts with the future lawyer,
+teacher, physician, engineer, business man, what-not, and thus gain
+tolerance, humility, catholicity of spirit, and the spirit of true
+democracy.
+
+Thus circumstanced during his preparatory years, he will go out capable
+of seeing things in their proper perspective. That's the kind of man
+that the ministry is calling to-day, and the call will be louder and
+more incessant as the years pass and the education of the people
+progresses. That's the kind of man we already have in some of our
+leading pulpits, and they are exerting a tremendous influence in all
+departments of life. But the supply is limited. There's not enough to go
+around. Many more are needed. Our universities must furnish them. Will
+this institution do its share? Will some of you young men, with your
+well-trained bodies, with your finely-disciplined minds, with your
+highly-cultured natures, with that fine balance of powers that means so
+much and that can accomplish so much for the world if thus used--will
+you turn aside from the beaten path that would be sure to lead to fame
+and power and worldly success and enter the more difficult but more
+useful field of the Christian ministry for the simple purpose of serving
+mankind? You are the kind of men we want, and I am sure that you will
+not disappoint us.
+
+And so I might go on, did time permit, and point out attractive and
+responsible openings in many different activities--the fields of
+engineering and journalism, the professions of medicine and law, the
+great world of business, even politics (should I not say, rather, and
+_especially_ politics?). It is not necessary to go farther into detail.
+You catch my thought. In one and all of these, positions of leadership
+are calling loudly for men and women of large knowledge, of trained
+minds, of broad outlook, and of splendid visions; and these
+characteristics are the fruitage of nothing less than the broad and
+comprehensive foundations laid in the college and the university. And
+you who have them are, by the very fact of possession, under obligation
+to use them for the public weal. How is it, young man, young woman? Are
+you going to mesure up to the twentieth century standard? Will you carry
+with you from this hall when you leave to-day, and from this institution
+when she honors you with her diploma, and out into the great activities
+of life,--will you carry with you, I ask, and make the basis of your
+actions in life, the thought of these two little words that have been
+engaging our attention this morning--_Noblesse Oblige_?
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
+
+_A Paper read before the Commercial Club of Grand Forks, North Dakota,
+January 24, 1911, and printed in the Grand Forks "Daily Herald," January
+29, 1911_
+
+
+In accepting an invitation to speak upon the topic assigned,
+"Improvements in Our Public Schools," I come not as a hostile critic,
+not even as an impartial observer viewing and commenting upon something
+belonging to another. Rather, I come as a sympathetic friend to talk
+about an institution in which I am vitally interested and of whose good
+work I am proud. Indeed, I am to discuss a great business industry, if
+you please, in which you and I are joint stockholders and for whose
+success we are alike responsible. And, too, I have been for so many
+years a teacher and so closely connected with educational work that I
+feel akin to every other man and woman engaged in that occupation.
+Knowing how easy it is to make mistakes and thus fall short of attaining
+our high ideals in this most trying and most difficult work, I am
+temperamentally inclined to magnify the difficulties and to overlook the
+shortcomings of educational workers. To be sure, in speaking upon
+"Improvements," I am admitting that improvements are possible. But the
+best friend of a person or an institution is one who talks frankly and
+honestly, admitting weaknesses, if such there be, and suggesting
+assistance. Such an attitude can not well be interpreted as a criticism
+either of men or mesures.
+
+A gentleman met me on the street a day or two ago and said, "I
+understand that you are going to find fault with our schools next
+Tuesday night. What for? I want you to understand that our schools are
+all right. Let well enough alone." A few days ago one of the local
+papers said of the schools, "The public schools of Grand Forks are
+recognized as the finest in the Northwest and the school system is
+up-to-date in every respect."
+
+And that idea seems to be chronic. Such expressions are common in our
+papers and from many of our people. The impression sought to be given is
+doubtless that of "Let well enough alone," or "Hands off." Now, Mr.
+Chairman, while this feeling clearly betokens a general confidence in
+the management of the schools of which those directly in charge may well
+take pride, nevertheless, it is not an altogether healthy condition of
+affairs.
+
+While I believe in a wise conservatism as against an unthinking
+radicalism, I am in no sense of the term a "stand-patter." The
+individual who has earned this picturesque title, I care not whether in
+the halls of Congress or in the ranks of the educators, is a foe to
+progress. A "stand-patter" is such because he is in a rut and either too
+lazy or too corrupt to get out.
+
+Things ought not to remain long as they are in any business, in any
+enterprise, in any institution. Civilization never stands still. The
+most dangerous attitude of mind that a man can hold is that of
+complacency, that of perfect satisfaction with things as they are. The
+good is always a foe to the best.
+
+No, gentlemen, our schools are not "up-to-date in every respect," not
+altogether the "finest" in the great Northwest. The Northwest, you
+know, is a pretty big place and has some pretty enterprising towns. But
+no individual town has, in all respects, the finest schools in the
+Northwest, or in any other place. Our schools are, like those of other
+cities, just a good strong average. Like every other system, it contains
+some good teachers and some not so good; some up-to-date methods of
+instruction are being used and some which should be improved; some
+features there are to be strongly commended and some, doubtless, that
+should be discontinued. And more than this, gentlemen, you have no right
+to demand, or expect, from your Superintendent and your Board of
+Education. They will be the very first to endorse all that I have
+admitted above. Indeed, that they do not hold that exaggerated opinion
+is clearly apparent from the fact that they are even now considering
+improvements. And may the day never dawn when we shall see no needed
+improvements for our public schools! Should such a time come, it would
+simply mean that in matters educational our eyes have become dimmed and
+that we are rapidly falling behind.
+
+Had the men of this city been "stand-patters" touching the city, Grand
+Forks would not be to-day what it is--the surprise and the admiration of
+every intelligent visitor. Were you men here to-night, in your civic
+relationship, "stand-patters," the promise of the future would be less
+bright than it is. During my early connection with Grand Forks I often
+wondered as to the secret of its enterprise. I was not long in
+discovering, however, that it was found in the spirit of this Commercial
+Club; a spirit, it is, of hope, of civic pride, of optimism, yet a
+spirit of almost divine discontent. You have all the time been proud of
+your city, but yet not satisfied with it; not satisfied, because you saw
+visions of a finer city into which yours might grow. Your city was not
+up-to-date--to help make it so you needed a street railway system; what
+did you do? Worked for it and--got it. Not yet up-to-date? A great
+auditorium was needed; you put your hand into your hip-pocket and lo! it
+arises in, what was it, thirty days? The goal not even yet in sight? No,
+because better pavement was imperative--and it came. Still something
+lacking? An up-to-date street lighting system--you put some of your men
+to work on it and it is now our pride and our neighbors' despair. And so
+I might go on, I do not need to. Only let me say that it will be a sad
+day for Grand Forks when we shall think that we have really reached the
+goal--when there is not something toward which we are striving.
+
+I am glad that, in this same spirit, you have now turned your gaze to
+the school house. Let us apply there the same principle of free,
+intelligent discussion and hearty, generous co-operation, each trying to
+outdo the other in loyalty and generous support, hoping, eventually, to
+make our schools the "finest in the Northwest," and "up-to-date in every
+respect."
+
+But this is a pretty big subject for treatment in an after-dinner talk
+of from 15 to 20 minutes. It involves so much, embracing within its
+scope, as it may, everything from finance to theology. The very function
+of the school, in the large, might well be considered under such a
+topic, and scores of details. I might well talk upon the education of
+teachers as I do before my classes, or upon educational
+psychology--vital subjects all, but scarcely appropriate here. It is,
+indeed, a large and interesting subject, lots of places to catch hold.
+Manifestly, I can treat it only superficially. All that I can do is
+merely in the line of suggestion, trying to direct your attention to
+some of the general features, somewhat objective in character.
+
+The first suggestion I have to make is along this very line--the
+greatness, the many-sidedness of the educational problem and the need of
+general community intelligence in regard to it. Indeed, there are many
+aspects of the school work, countless number of details touching books,
+courses of study, immediate and remote ends, as well as the larger
+philosophical bases, in which the public is deeply interested but
+imperfectly informed. Many a parent is ignorant as to what the schools
+are trying to do, and why? Not comprehending the end in view,
+unintelligent as to the means being used, and with little time or
+ability to investigate, friction often arises. The public and its
+educational system, the homes and the schools, the teachers and the
+parents, should in some way be brought closer together and an
+opportunity given for their mutual understanding. There are various ways
+in which this opportunity is given in different places: thru mothers'
+meetings, in some; thru home and school societies, in others; thru the
+establishment of what some call "visiting days," in others, etc. Great
+good is sure to result from a systematic use of any one of them.
+
+But we in Grand Forks are a very busy people; clubs and societies
+without number claim our attention and secure our membership; public
+meetings for the discussion of charities, health, morals, foods, etc.,
+saying nothing about church and social demands, are already taking us
+too often from homes in the evening, so that I hesitate to suggest
+another such activity even in the interests of so important a matter as
+the public schools. But believing very firmly as I do that the largest
+success of our schools can be secured only thru a cordial co-operation
+of the homes and the schools, and believing also that this co-operation
+rests upon intelligence as to the aims of the schools and the means that
+are being used, I am going to suggest a way of meeting the
+difficulty--namely, the utilization of another educational agency of
+large influence and philanthropic spirit--I refer to the Press. It is
+not my purpose to present here an extended eulogy of the Press. That is
+not necessary. You all know what a mighty factor it is in shaping public
+opinion. I merely call attention to the fact that it is an _educational_
+institution; that it appeals not, as do the schools, to the children,
+but to the parents of the children: and then that in Grand Forks it goes
+into almost every home in the city. I suggest that this agency be used
+to bring about a frank, open discussion, and therefore a better
+understanding, of the function and the work of our public
+schools--local, state, and national. For our people, in addition to
+being busy, are both intelligent and enterprising. They know the value
+of the Press. They are great readers. I have been surprised, again and
+again, at the large circulation enjoyed by both our enterprising
+dailies. I have also been surprised to know how closely all our people
+keep in touch with local happenings chronicled there. An educational
+column in one or both of the local papers in which the work of the
+schools, from taxation to lead pencils, could be discust, would be an
+innovation of great value. An open forum, so to speak, it might be, in
+which questions could be asked and answered, and also contributions made
+from the larger field of educational effort. Of course I do not suggest
+this as a place for the airing of personal feelings, of petty details,
+of minor matters, rather, an opportunity for discussing with and for an
+intelligent and enquiring people great educational questions,
+fundamental principles, and broad, humanitarian policies. All such
+matters, because fundamental in the development of civilization and
+because of universal interest, should and could be handled with frank
+simplicity. Such a discussion, constructive in character, could not fail
+of doing great good--of being very helpful to teachers and parents
+alike.
+
+Another suggestion that I want to make and an improvement that I am
+going to urge touches very closely the matter of efficiency of systems
+of education. Now, the efficiency of an educational institution or of a
+system of schools is often mesured by the success of those completing
+its course of study--of those profiting, to the full, by all that it
+offers. That is the point of view taken by those people who so greatly
+praise the work of the old district school of our boyhood days, "back
+East." They point to this man and that one, men who have achieved
+eminent success, whose only "schooling," perhaps, was received in the
+"little red school house" and therefore claim that it was a great
+institution for the making of men. But therein lurks a fallacy. Great
+men have issued from the "little red school house," it is true, but they
+became great not because of, but in spite of, the fact that the school
+house was "little" and was "red." In pointing to such men as these, as
+products, they forget the great silent multitude of boys and girls who
+were in the same "little red school house" but who were never heard of
+after they emerged. The pathetic feature of the old district school was
+the great number of children who fell by the wayside. And so, to-day, no
+educational institution should be rated as to efficiency by considering
+the success merely of those completing its courses. To form a correct
+estimate we must consider as well all those who entered and dropt out
+before completion.
+
+No system of schools is really efficient in which any considerable
+percentage of the children drop out before completing the elementary
+course of study. No system of schools is satisfactorily efficient which
+is so managed as to require, or even allow, any considerable percentage
+of the children to repeat grades, that is, to fail of promotion, making
+it necessary to go over the work the second time. Or, to put it in other
+words, in which any considerable percentage of the children are doing
+work in grades lower than their ages would suggest.
+
+This is the matter of retardation of which we are hearing so much in
+these days, and in regard to which Grand Forks, as well as other cities,
+suffers. In my judgment, there are two main causes of retardation: poor
+teaching and physical defects of the children. There are two ways by
+which satisfactory teaching can be secured: in the first place, by
+securing the best teachers available, and this, I am very sure, our
+Board of Education and our superintendent always try to do. In the
+second place, by improving the quality of work thus secured thru expert
+supervision on the part of the superintendent and the principals of the
+various schools. And this I am sure is not done to the extent that it
+might be were matters differently arranged. If another suggestion that I
+shall make later on is adopted, however, provision will be made for this
+improvement.
+
+Physical defects on the part of the children I named as the second cause
+of retardation. And the remedy for the major portion of this cause is
+found in my next suggestion--medical inspection of our school children.
+
+Estimating the conditions in Grand Forks on the basis of what has been
+discovered in many other places in which medical inspection is in
+operation, from 25% to 80% of the children in our schools are suffering
+from physical defects of some sort that interfere, to a greater or less
+degree, with the work of the school. There is no doubt in the minds of
+well-informed people that here is found a very fruitful cause of
+retardation, as seen both in grade-failure and in early dropping out of
+school. And very many of these defects are removable and, therefore, the
+retardation preventable.
+
+Now, the only seemingly valid reason that I have ever heard urged
+against the employment of the school physician is that of expense. It
+does cost something, I'll admit. All good things do. The necessary
+expense, however, is often overestimated. But let us see if we are not,
+even in hesitating at the expense, whatever it may be, wholly
+illogical. The city assumes the duty of educating the young, but if
+many of the young are not in a condition to receive that education,
+should we not logically see that the hindrances are removed? We enact
+compulsory attendance laws; should we not, where necessary, make it
+possible for the physically defective as well as others, to profit by
+such attendance? Otherwise, are we not wasting money?
+
+I have mentioned the expense, but there are two ways of looking at that.
+I am now going to advocate medical inspection as an economic mesure--as
+a money saver. Every child who repeats a grade is costing the city more
+than it should for its education. That is clearly apparent. How much
+that amounts to, in the aggregate, in Grand Forks, I do not know. But it
+is probably no small item. I have no doubt that, in the long run, the
+saving would pay the school physician. And then we should be clearly
+ahead in all the years saved by the various children, as well as the
+greater happiness and usefulness directly resulting from the improved
+situation. On the whole, it seems to me and to many others with whom I
+have talked that the next step forward that we should ask our Board of
+Education to take is the adoption of medical inspection.
+
+Another phase of the subject to which I desire to call your attention is
+that of the superintendency. And it isn't exactly like the old maid
+sister telling the mother of half a dozen lusty boys how to bring them
+up because, in addition to spending years in the study and teaching of
+educational matters, I have occupied the superintendent's office and
+tried to do his work.
+
+Historically, the superintendent of schools represents a development
+from the Board of Education, not from the teaching body. Originally, he
+was looked upon as the business manager of the Board, rather than an
+educator by profession. Quite specifically, he was, at first, often one
+of the regularly elected members of the Board, designated by the Board
+to attend to the details of the work, to keep the educational machine
+properly oiled, his selection seldom being dictated by any particular
+qualification of a professional character.
+
+But in this matter of education as in other matters, great changes have
+arisen. In those days teaching was not looked upon as a profession. It
+was merely a calling, a trade, a temporary activity requiring no special
+preparation. Anybody could teach and could teach any subject. Education
+was not recognized as a science. The function of the school was merely
+to give knowledge and it was not looked upon, as to-day, as a great
+social institution, largely responsible for the welfare of society and
+even for the stability of government. And as touching the child, not
+interesting itself with the formation of right habits of action, with
+the development of character, in a word, so handling the child and his
+environment as to bring about both the normal development of his inner
+life and the adequate shaping and preparing of that life to satisfy the
+demands that will later be met. Not at all.
+
+But great changes have arisen. Education has become a science, and its
+activities, its processes, are being based upon definite scientific
+principles. We are to-day demanding a professional preparation of all
+our teachers. We require them to know something about the child mind and
+the laws of its development. We expect them to know why they teach this
+subject and that, that is, the educational values of the various
+subjects, and the best manner of administering this educational food.
+Education, I say, is now looked upon as a _science_, closely allied to
+and continually assisted by its sister science of sociology, definitely
+based upon and springing out of the sciences of psychology and
+physiology, and even having its roots deep down in the sub-soil of
+biology.
+
+Together with this change of thought as to the function and work of the
+school, there has been a corresponding change as to the superintendent
+and his work. While we are not completely emancipated from the old rule
+of cut and try, from the old mechanical routine, the country as a whole
+has taken some long strides in advance. While some boards of education
+still look upon their superintendent as a chore boy, that idea has, on
+the whole, long since been abandoned. And the best educational thought
+of the country to-day regards the superintendent primarily as an
+educator, having to do with the inner, rather than the outer, phases of
+the school's activities. And our most progressive centers are looking
+upon him as a specialist, an educational expert, and demanding in him an
+educational and a professional equipment commensurate with the larger,
+more difficult, and most important work. He must be intimately
+acquainted with the sciences most closely related to his own and capable
+of drawing upon all the others for contributory assistance. And then, in
+carrying out the thought of this larger view and so shaping matters of
+detail as to profit by the superb equipment provided in the new
+superintendent, he has been freed from the routine work formerly done by
+him, thus giving the opportunity of studying the local problems and
+planning their solution.
+
+Now for my definite suggestion. It has taken me a long time to get to
+it, but I believe it is worth the time. I want you to look upon the
+superintendency of your schools as the largest, the most difficult, and
+most important position within the bestowal of the city. The mayor's job
+doesn't begin to compare with it. And then after you have so rated the
+position, I want you to free the man who holds it from all hack-work,
+from the details of business management, from anything and everything
+that now prevents him from making a careful, scientific, investigative
+study of fundamental educational problems that confront him right here
+in Grand Forks.
+
+And what are some of those problems, do you ask? Superintendent Kelly
+could doubtless name a score of them that he is waiting to get at but
+can not for want of time. Let me suggest a few that are confronting our
+superintendents all over the land. Nor can I do more than mention them.
+I name first this matter of retardation of which I have already spoken.
+Why is it that so many children fail of promotion and so have to repeat
+grades, thus adding to the expense of the schools? It no longer
+satisfies to say, "Because they do not study"--the question is, "Why do
+they not study?" Is it the fault of the child, the home, or the school?
+And, whosoever it is, how can the difficulty be removed? You would not
+in your business suffer a daily loss thru unnecessary friction--thru the
+unsatisfactory working of your machinery. You demand the largest and
+best output possible for the money expended. Why not the same in the
+biggest business enterprise of the city--your schools? But to prevent
+the friction, you must know the cause. I want the superintendent to have
+time to investigate these matters. All this applies as well to those who
+drop out before completing the course as to those merely repeating a
+grade. An analogous question: Why do so few, relatively, of the
+graduates of the eighth grade enter the high school? And why do so few
+of those who enter complete the course? Again, is it because they can
+see no real connection between the work of the high school and the work
+of life--because it doesn't seem to fit them for anything? These things
+should be investigated and, when reasons are found, the remedy applied.
+We should know the facts. But all these matters take time, and the days
+are only so long and a man's strength always limited. Exhausted by
+hack-work, no man can do constructive thinking. And so we go on in our
+waste of money and energy and life. The waste of soil, the waste of
+tools, in our farming communities, doesn't compare with this waste in
+seriousness. Let us adopt the principles of scientific conservation.
+
+And now, in keeping with the topic given me to discuss, "Improvement in
+Our Public Schools," I have given three quite definite suggestions: In
+the first place, I have recommended the utilization of the Press as an
+agent of improvement. That is, I have asked that there be established in
+one or both of your daily papers an educational column in charge of some
+competent person thru which the public could become better informed on
+school matters and thus able to co-operate more intelligently in the
+upbuilding of the schools. In the second place, I have urged that
+mesures be taken looking toward the adoption of regular and systematic
+medical inspection of all school children. And lastly, I have urged you
+to look upon your superintendent of schools as an educational expert
+rather than a business man. And, regarding him as such, I have asked you
+to free him from the petty details of office work and all mechanical
+drudgery so that his training and his abilities could be used for
+educational betterment.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+LOCAL WINTER SPORTS
+
+_A Paper read before the Franklin Club of Grand Forks, North Dakota,
+December 1, 1910, and printed in the Grand Forks "Daily Herald,"
+December 4, 1910_
+
+
+It is no longer necessary to offer an extended plea for a recognition of
+the value of physical training. The human race, in its upward climbing,
+long ago passed the stage where the body was looked upon as a hindrance
+to the soul in its aspirations. We have likewise gone beyond that higher
+stage in which the attitude toward the physical being was merely
+negative, and have clearly reached an altitude upon which we recognize a
+well-defined relationship between the physical man and the mental and
+spiritual man. We know now that only as each is healthy and thus in a
+condition to do its own work well, is the other able to act normally. As
+the great English philosopher, Locke, said, "A sound mind in a sound
+body is a brief but full description of a happy state in this world."
+This is a well-recognized article of our educational creed, not only,
+but even the conservative religious workers have accepted the principle,
+and we find inscribed over the entrances to our Christian Association
+buildings the word "body" as well as the word more commonly found in
+such connection, "spirit."
+
+But to go back just a moment: let us consider it from the standpoint of
+mere physical betterment. We know that a muscle unused means a muscle
+undeveloped, and that, on the contrary, intelligent, systematic use,
+with a definite purpose in view, will accomplish wonders in physical
+development. We know something as to what a physical trainer can do with
+a bunch of raw foot-ball material. We know how the gymnasium can
+metamorphose a loose-jointed, lop-sided, stoop-shouldered,
+shamble-gaited young fellow. We know what the brisk recruiting officer
+can do with the "awkward squad." In the one case as in the other, the
+physical training stands him upon his feet; it takes the kinks out of
+his back; it throws his head up; it unties the knots in his legs; it
+puts fire into his eye. The good red blood courses thru his veins, and
+even shows itself in his cheeks. He walks with an elastic step. Every
+organ of his body is doing its duty. He no longer needs liver pills,
+digestive tablets or wizard oil.
+
+I said "mere physical betterment," didn't I? Well, you can not have
+"mere" physical betterment. In every case suggested above, there is
+something better than physical improvement. Without knowing why, or how,
+the young fellow, after the training suggested, in addition to being a
+more perfectly functioning animal, a better working flesh-and-blood
+machine, is several rounds higher up on the ladder of manhood. He looks
+you in the eye. He gives your hand a regular Stearns grip. He dares to
+say that his soul is his own. And why? Because the life-giving oxygen is
+getting down into the long-neglected corners of his lungs. Because his
+heart is forcing this purified blood thru his veins building up his
+system and incidentally throwing off the waste and poisonous matter, so
+that, relieved of the dregs, the bodily organs can really function. And
+if that is true of the "gizzard" it is likewise true of the brain. He
+can feel more keenly, think more wisely. But all this can be done by
+physical exercise alone. Some of the best of these results can be
+obtained by the use of the mere punching bag; by running around the
+house, if you run often enough and fast enough; all alone with the dumb
+bells or Indian clubs, if you keep at it long enough, or even by walking
+out to the University on the railroad tracks and saving your street car
+nickels. But taken thus, these exercises constitute a mere medicine. And
+people don't take medicine until they have to. And for some strange
+reason they won't take this kind even then unless some doctor prescribes
+it in consideration of the payment of a good sized fee. Why is it?
+Simply because we prize things in proportion to their cost?
+
+Now, we want these results and even better ones. And we don't want to
+pay the doctor's fees for this or any other kind of medicine in order to
+get them. What are we going to do about it? Isn't there some sugar
+coating that we can put on to these physical exercise pills to make them
+a little more palatable? Can't we in some way make ourselves believe
+that we are eating candy instead of taking quinine? For you know that we
+grown-ups have not lost all our powers of imagination. How often we play
+make believe, even yet! I'll tell you what we can do. Let's have this
+same physical exercise idea but introduce into it the element of sport
+which Webster defines as "that which diverts and makes mirth." Let's do
+these stunts "for the fun of it" instead of as a medicine. We'll get the
+results, just the same, and thus get double pay for our pains. I fancy
+that the skiing and the skating, the snow-shoeing and the curling of
+which we are to hear, all have that element tucked away somewhere in
+their anatomy.
+
+But you may ask me what more there is than the results already mentioned
+to be gotten from these physical exercises, if we succeed in covering up
+the quinine with Mr. Webster's molasses. I've used Indian clubs and dumb
+bells by the hour; I've walked to the University in season and out of
+season; I've even run around the house--and as a result have experienced
+the exhilaration that comes from such vigorous discipline. I've been
+better for it, physically, and therefore, of course, mentally. More
+oxygen, better blood, firmer bodily tissue including better nourished
+brain cells, have done their beneficent work. But yet, as I look back
+and see myself going thru these various maneuvers, I am fully confident
+of the fact that all this time I was also doing something else--that my
+poor brain cells, which really needed recuperation more than any other
+part of my body, that these brain cells were still at work, that I was
+all the time carrying on a more or less strenuous train of thought as
+exhaustive as tho I were seated in my study chair, or standing before my
+class in the recitation room. More than one lecture, or address, have I
+worked out while walking to and from the University.
+
+Now, one of the most important things for us to do is occasionally to
+stop thinking, or at least to stop thinking along our accustomed lines.
+We should give those few brain cells that are being made to work
+over-time a chance to rest once in a while. We are living too fast. Our
+lives are too intense. We are running our machines under high pressure,
+and some of them are already showing the results altho they are almost
+new. Unless there is a change, new ones will have to take their places
+ere long. The rate of speed of the life of the modern American business
+and professional man, the rate of speed of the life of the modern
+American society woman, is something terrific. We are wearing ourselves
+out before our time. Modern life is so complex, so exacting, so wearing,
+that we are losing all the joy of living. We are at our own firesides so
+seldom and for such short periods that we scarcely know our own little
+ones. Longfellow's "Children's Hour" that came "as a pause in the day's
+occupation," is almost wholly unknown in most American homes. There is
+no "pause" in the day's occupation. The occupation goes right on till
+after these "children" are soundly asleep in their beds and begins again
+before they are awake in the morning. And all this is true even of us,
+right here in this select circle, the "favored ones," many would call
+us.
+
+But I am not giving a diatribe on American life, so will not pursue the
+matter farther. All that I am trying to do is simply this: to call
+attention to the fact that we are living _fast_--faster than our
+physical and mental make-up can long stand; that we have already reached
+the danger point. And what are we going to do about it? Well, we shall
+have to do many things before the problems are all solved, the
+difficulties all met. As a slight relief, and to answer a question
+raised a little earlier in the paper, I am suggesting the sports--those
+activities that both rejuvenate the physical man and also "divert and
+make mirth." Into these we can not carry our teaching and our preaching
+and our making of social calls. The goods of the merchant, the notes of
+the banker, the briefs of the lawyer, the annoyances of the teacher, and
+the cares of the housewife, alike, would all have to be left behind. The
+mind could rest while the body and the spirit are being recreated. An
+hour a day, in the open air, with fears and anxieties and schemes all
+cast aside, in companionship with kindred spirits similarly divested of
+that which troubles and makes afraid, all engaged in recreative sports,
+would do more to make us physically well, morally strong, and civilly
+decent than all the pills of the doctors, all the texts of the
+preachers, and all the keys of the jailers!
+
+In keeping with the world-wide movement in this direction our own
+people, in their civic capacity, have already acted and have thus become
+the possessor of splendid park facilities which offer ample
+opportunities, when fully developed, for a sane out-of-door life of a
+population many times as large as ours at the present time. And as we
+all know, the Park Board has entered intelligently and systematically
+upon this matter of development and improvement. Much has already been
+done. Very much more is fully outlined in the minds of the Park Board. I
+think it is their purpose--and I fully believe that they will carry it
+out--to proceed in this matter of development just as rapidly as the
+people show, by their use of the facilities progressively offered, an
+appreciation.
+
+Nearly all the work done thus far, such as clearing away the rubbish,
+making the shady retreats usable, fitting up picnic grounds, caring for
+the tennis courts, golf links, and other game reserves, as well as
+erecting pavilions and other conveniences, has looked toward putting the
+grounds into condition for summer use. And the response on the part of
+the people has been gratifying. As rapidly as the parks have been put
+into shape, they have been generously used by an appreciative people. It
+has done my heart good, many times, especially on Sundays in the hot
+summer months, to see the numbers of people, and _the people_, who were
+really using the parks. They have been the people, in a large mesure,
+who can not easily get elsewhere the best things that the parks give.
+
+Thus far, as said, the plans for development have looked mainly toward
+summer use, But I am especially glad to note a recent improvement that
+shows that the Park Board has the winter use of the parks also
+definitely in mind. I refer to the new skating rink in Riverside Park.
+It is a most commendable institution. I very much hope that it will be
+extensively used, not only by the people living in that part of the
+city, but by those of all sections. It belongs to all of us. Here is an
+opportunity for a most delightful winter sport freely offered. If
+appreciated, as shown by its use, I have no doubt that it will be
+duplicated next winter, and on a larger scale, in Lincoln Park. And if
+we show that we appreciate this, other features will be added.
+
+Perhaps I should stop here, but I can not lose the opportunity of saying
+just a word to connect this topic with the great playground movement,
+and therefore in behalf of providing facilities for winter and summer
+sports alike, for our boys and girls--our young people.
+
+Do you realize fully that the boys and girls of to-day--yours and mine,
+yes, and just as truly those less favored--those into whose lives there
+comes but little cheer, into whose stomachs there goes but little
+nourishing food, and into whose lungs, but little oxygen--do you
+realize, I ask, that these boys and girls are to be the men and women of
+to-morrow, with all the responsibilities of the world resting upon their
+shoulders? Do we want them to enter upon the duties of life
+stoop-shouldered, flat-chested, spectacle-eyed? Do we want them to be
+anaemic, pessimistic, nervous wrecks? Do we want them to be mental
+weaklings and moral cowards? Do we want them even to approximate these
+conditions? No? Then, with all our provisions for their wants and their
+needs, let us be sure to develop those things which minister so largely
+to the development of the opposite characteristics. Prevention is not
+only cheaper than cure, it is also better. Let us see that our parks are
+developed with provisions for our boys and girls as well as for the
+adults. Let us see that playgrounds are scattered over our city and
+provision made for both winter and summer sports.
+
+In addition to the Riverside Park skating rink, I wish the City Council
+or the Board of Education would establish one on the grounds of the
+Winship school, another at the Central building, and still a third on
+the Belmont grounds. This could be done at nominal cost. What a splendid
+opportunity it would give to all the children of the city to engage in
+this most healthful and invigorating sport! It would give them their
+needed entertainment and relaxation in the pure, invigorating,
+out-of-door air. It would surround them with an emotional atmosphere
+that is at once normal, natural, and spiritually health-giving. Instead
+of these conditions, what do we find? Many of our young boys and girls
+and very many of those a little older--those just entering upon manhood
+and womanhood, when both emotional and physical atmosphere count for so
+much in the forming of habits and the choosing of ideals--many of these
+future men and women are finding their entertainment and their
+relaxation (and mind you, at the close of a day in school or in the
+evening after a day spent in the poorly ventilated office or store) in
+the moving-picture show or at the vaudeville. And in these places the
+air is apt to be both hot and impure, and all the physical conditions
+enervating. The emotional atmosphere, too, is sure to be abnormal,
+unnatural, and spiritually deadening. We find here, and in too large
+quantity to be a negligible factor, the atmosphere, the conditions, the
+associations, that help greatly to breed incorrigibles, truants, and
+laggards in our schools; that develop juvenile delinquents, hasty
+marriages, and early divorces; that send into the world paupers,
+grafters, and criminals. Not all the conditions are such in all such
+places, it is true, but as affecting young life these are usually the
+dominating ones.
+
+I am not condemning the theater. It has its legitimate place, and a
+large place it is, in normal, healthy, American life. I am merely
+declaiming against these lower forms as usually conducted for commercial
+gain--these perversions of the true theater idea--these institutions
+that deal so largely in the sensational elements and appeal so strongly
+to the passions. I am told that the cheap theater is the poor man's
+club. I very much doubt if that is its chief function or, rather, that
+its chief result is a wholesome quickening of the better nature of this
+poor man--that its chief accomplishment is to send him back to his home
+kinder, truer, and stronger, thru either the relaxation or the
+instruction, to grapple with the difficulties of life. I greatly fear
+that, as usually conducted, its influence upon the adult is at best but
+the temporary slaking of an unhealthy and never-satisfied thirst, and
+that upon the child and the adolescent it is a distinct blunting of all
+the finer sensibilities and elements of character. But even these lower
+forms are not all bad. There is enough of good in them to warrant an
+attempt at improvement rather than elimination. They can be improved,
+made clean, and wholesome, and thus become a positive factor in the
+development of right character. I doubt if it will be done, however,
+until some other motive than personal gain shall be responsible for
+their management. Still, as they are, they might be very greatly
+bettered if in some way those most deeply interested in the outcome
+could have a choice in the selection of the material to be used.
+
+One of the best ways to counteract the harmful influence of the poorly
+conducted moving picture show and the vaudeville is to develop something
+better to take their places. Let it be something that contains the
+life-giving principles, something that will appeal with equal force to
+the impressionable youth, and yet be clean and wholesome and natural.
+Shall we not look upon the public playground for the children, and the
+park system, for all, as a promising hope? And, properly developed,
+would they not soon come to act on the young, both physically and
+psychically, as a prevention, thus making a later cure unnecessary? And
+upon adults, might we not reasonably expect their use to tend toward
+making less attractive, and so to the eventual abandonment of, many of
+these practises and forms of entertainment and recreation that are now
+so sapping of both physical and psychical life?
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE FUNCTION OF TEACHERS COLLEGE
+
+_An Address delivered before the North Dakota State Teachers Association
+on December 27, 1906. It later appeared in the January and February,
+1910, issues of "Education"_
+
+
+Among the various educational institutions of the United States to-day,
+the one which, as it seems to me, is attracting the most intelligent
+attention on the part of our educational thinkers, and the one upon the
+right solution of whose problems depends, in a high degree, the success
+of our entire educational system, is the institution for the education
+of teachers. For we all have come, finally, to accept as true the
+statement of the old German writer, "School reform means schoolmaster
+reform," also that other, used so effectively in the days of our own
+early educational revival, "As is the teacher so is the school." And we
+are ready to-day to admit that those statements are true whether applied
+to the ungraded rural school with its noticeable lack of needed
+equipment, to the perfectly graded school of the city with every
+facility that human ingenuity can devise and money procure, or to the
+college and university where scholarship and culture are supposed to
+make their abode and contribute of their fullness. For I care not, and
+you care not, what be the physical and material equipment of the school;
+I care not, nor do you, what be the scholastic attainments of the one
+called teacher; if he isn't able to teach, that is, to cause to learn,
+we all know that the school, in just the mesure of his inability, is a
+failure. One thing further we all know, and that is this: one plank in
+our great educational platform is belief in the necessity of an
+institution set apart for the preparation of teachers. We are
+irrevocably committed to the idea. It is a part of our educational
+creed. Fortunately, in our educational evolution we have left far behind
+us the stage when the wisdom of that institution was seriously
+questioned. Our pedagogical forefathers, valiant explorers, discoverers,
+heroes, educational statesmen--Carter, Mann, Page, Sheldon and
+others--have left us this priceless heritage. It remains for us to-day
+merely to analyze the institution, agree upon the respective functions
+of its various types, and then apply ourselves with intelligent vigor
+each to the solution of his own problems.
+
+As we look around us, we clearly distinguish three distinct types of the
+institution under discussion. The oldest, best known, and most numerous
+is called the state normal school. It dates from the time of Horace Mann
+and Edmund Dwight, the former of whom recognized the need and knew how
+to inaugurate the movement, the latter, having unbounded faith in Mr.
+Mann, provided the funds. Nearly every state in the union has now one or
+more intelligently at work. All that have not, have practically the same
+thing under another name--normal departments in connection with the
+state universities.
+
+The next type, in order of time and numbers, as well, is found in
+connection with the higher educational institutions of the country. It
+has various names, as "Department of Education," "School of Education,"
+"Division of Education," "Pedagogical Department," "School of Pedagogy"
+and "Teachers College." Probably the name most common in the past has
+been "Department of Education," or "Pedagogical Department," tho in the
+developed form it is changing to "School of Education" or "Teachers
+College." Of these, there are at work, according to the 1909 report of
+the Commissioner of Education, 171. That is, there are 171 colleges and
+universities maintaining at least a department, or chair, of education,
+and giving professional instruction of college grade.
+
+The third type, latest in appearance and as yet fewest in number, but
+with fair promise of rapid increase and great usefulness, is the county
+school, called "County Normal Training Class" in Michigan and "County
+Training School" in Wisconsin, in which two states the movement is at
+its best. Indeed, I do not know of any other state in which the work has
+been thus definitely organized. Of these, Michigan had, a year ago,
+forty-one, and Wisconsin, twenty. Possibly in this connection one ought
+to mention the good work being done in high schools in several states,
+but seen at its best in Nebraska and New York. Yet this work is but an
+adjunct to the high school, and does not so clearly approach a separate
+institution.
+
+Of these three types it is the second which is the subject of the
+present discussion--whose function I seek. It is really immaterial
+whether we use, in the discussion, the appellation of Minnesota and say
+"College of Education," or that of Harvard and call it "Division of
+Education," or that of Columbia, Missouri, and North Dakota, and say
+"Teachers College." For they are all one and the same institution with
+but slightly different systems of organization. I use the latter term
+because more familiar and more likely, I think, as time passes, to
+prevail.
+
+But these three types are so closely connected that the function of one
+cannot be clearly seen alone. Therefore I propose very briefly to
+examine the establishment of each so as to learn why it was called into
+existence--what function it was originally expected to perform. I shall
+then briefly examine present conditions, trying to discover if any
+changes have taken place in the general educational situation of
+sufficient moment to make necessary a rearrangement or readjustment.
+Finally, I shall draw my conclusions as to present functions, and with a
+more careful analysis of certain factors state the reasons for those
+conclusions as briefly as possible.
+
+First, as to state normal schools: it is, of course, entirely
+unnecessary to go into details as to organization or early work of this
+institution in our country. I am stating what is known to all when I say
+that Horace Mann in Massachusetts, Henry Barnard in Connecticut, David
+Page in New York, and William Phelps in New Jersey had one and only one
+thought in view in working for the establishment of normal schools and
+for the development of their work. They, one and all, were seeking some
+means for providing better teachers for the common schools. No one, so
+far as I am able to discover, at this time even suggested that any other
+teachers needed a special preparation for their work. To be sure, the
+American high school was hardly under way when the normal school
+movement was inaugurated, in 1839, there being then but half a dozen in
+the entire country. Ten years later there were but eighteen. There was,
+however, in those days a large number of academies giving secondary
+instruction. But there was no thought of looking to the normal schools
+for academy teachers, they came from the colleges. Indeed, generally
+speaking, the academies and high schools as then being developed, were
+offering a higher grade of academic work than the normal schools, and
+they were rather assisting the latter in the production of teachers.
+This was especially true in New York, a movement having there been
+inaugurated by which, thru financial aid from the State, many of the
+academies were offering normal school instruction and sending out into
+the rural schools and city grades a very creditable product. And the
+character of the movement in the East has continued to be the character
+of the movement as it has swept Westward. I think there has not been
+established in the United States a single state normal school whose
+function has not been understood to be the preparation of teachers for
+the common schools. And by "common schools" I mean the first eight
+grades of the public school, including both rural and urban communities,
+for it has been only in recent years that we have carefully
+discriminated between the two.
+
+Next, let us look at the teachers college. Bear in mind that I use the
+term as referring to the institution, or department, under whatever name
+it may be known, that is doing professional work in the preparation of
+teachers in connection with colleges and universities. In taking up the
+topic, attention needs first to be called to two facts: the rapid
+development of our high school system and the high degree of success
+already attained by our normal schools.
+
+After the close of the Civil War our high schools began to
+multiply--rapidly from 1870 to 1880, by leaps and bounds from that time
+to the present. In 1870 there were 170; 1880, 800; 1890, 2,526; 1900,
+6,005; and in 1908, 8,960. (Annual reports of the Commissioner of
+Education.) But no sooner had the high school movement obtained good
+headway than the serious problem arose as to the supply of teachers. And
+so well, on the whole, had the normal school done its work that it had
+more than justified its existence. Thru its work the character of the
+teaching in the elementary schools had been greatly improved. Teachers,
+with normal school equipment, were everywhere recognized as superior to
+those otherwise trained or not trained at all. Very naturally, then,
+when the problem of high school teachers arose, professional preparation
+was demanded. But where could it be obtained and how?
+
+The state normal schools, true to their function of preparing teachers,
+tried to satisfy the additional demands placed upon them. They added to
+their equipment, modified and extended their courses, and in every way
+did all they could. Indeed, they did all that was done in a professional
+way for nearly a generation. But the high schools were increasing, both
+in numbers and in academic requirements of students and teachers. City
+school systems were being developed and extended in a most unprecedented
+manner, calling for skilled superintendents, supervisors, grade
+principals, special teachers, etc., until, finally, thoughtful men began
+to see that the impossible was being asked of the state normal schools.
+For two reasons, it was seen, they could not do the double work; in the
+first place, they had more than they could do in their original sphere
+of providing teachers for the elementary schools, and secondly, their
+academic possibilities, even increased as they had been in attempting
+the work, were clearly seen to be wholly inadequate. It was discovered,
+also, that, in spite of the efforts being put forth by the normal
+schools, the higher teaching positions--superintendencies, high school
+principalships, etc.--were going to men of collegiate attainment, even
+at the sacrifice of professional training which was then being
+recognized as very desirable.
+
+What was to be done? To make a long story short, the universities and
+colleges, with their more extended courses, better equipment, and
+stronger faculties, took the matter up and added educational departments
+in which could be given, with but slight additional outlay, both the
+academic and professional equipment thought to be needed by the high
+school teacher.
+
+This work was first clearly suggested and outlined at the annual meeting
+of the Michigan State Teachers' Association in 1870. Dr. W. H. Payne,
+then city superintendent of schools at Adrian, Michigan, read a notable
+address upon the subject, "The Relation Between the University and Our
+High Schools." Eight years later, the Regents of Michigan University
+established a chair of "Theory and Art of Teaching," and to it called
+the man who had, by the address just mentioned, offered a practical as
+well as a logical solution of the difficult problem.
+
+The example thus set by Michigan University was soon followed by
+others--Cornell, Ohio, Illinois, Harvard, Chicago and others, until now
+this new department is found in nearly every prominent college and
+university in the land. These are our teachers colleges or, rather, the
+sources from which they are springing. For, to be sure, not every
+pedagogical department found in a higher institution of learning, tho
+doing in a general way the same grade of work, should be called a
+teachers college. Tho having its roots in these, the teachers college
+proper differs from the most of them in several ways. The pedagogical
+department of a college, and too, a thoroly reputable college, may be,
+and usually is, merely one of the many departments of the institution,
+represented on its faculty by a single professor and offering but a
+limited range of professional work--a few courses in the history of
+education, principles of education, and "pedagogy," usually. A teachers
+college, on the other hand, has an organization and, sometimes, a
+financial status of its own. Its relationship to the institution as a
+whole is getting to be the same as that of the other professional
+schools. The movement is toward a separate faculty, headed by a dean,
+and representing all the different phases of both academic and
+professional work. While many of the members of the faculty do, and may
+continue to, give courses in the other colleges, they have a distinct,
+organic connection with the teachers college. The teachers college is
+also getting to have, as a vital part of its equipment, a model high
+school bearing to it the same relationship that the model, or practise,
+school bears to our normal schools. While this fulness of organization
+and equipment has not yet been reached by a large number, it has by
+several, among which are Columbia, Missouri, Chicago, and,
+approximately, North Dakota, with many others moving rapidly in the same
+direction.
+
+Just a few words, now, as to the third type mentioned, the county normal
+school: As already suggested, the line of demarcation was not early
+drawn between the urban and the rural school. But cities grew; city
+school systems were developed; the normal schools, in spite of rapid
+increase, were not able to keep up with the rapidly increasing demands.
+And, since the field for normal school graduates has ever been an open
+one, they have located where the remuneration has been the most
+generous. Now, cities and villages are, generally speaking, the centers
+of intelligence as well as of population and wealth. The people of these
+communities have appreciated the superiority of professionally prepared
+teachers, and they have been able to pay the added price. The result has
+been that they have appropriated practically the entire output of the
+normal schools. None have been left for the rural schools.
+
+And again, with these economic changes there came to be more and more
+clearly seen, as the years went by, a difference, internal and somewhat
+vital, between the schools of the rural and the urban communities,
+making in some ways a different sort of preparation desirable. Now, the
+state normal school, growing with the movement, and ever keenly alive to
+its opportunities for usefulness, noting clearly the location of its
+product, very wisely began to modify its work so as to make it better
+suited to the needs of its main customers--the well-graded schools of
+the city and village. And so it has resulted that, even if the normal
+schools could supply the demands for both country and city teachers, so
+far as numbers are concerned, the preparation given is not the most
+ideal for the former. And just as when professionally trained secondary
+teachers were needed a new institution was created for their
+preparation, in very recent years an institution has appeared to satisfy
+this new need, one whose function is as clearly announced, and one which
+seems to fit into the situation as well, and we have the county normal
+school of Michigan and Wisconsin, as mentioned above.
+
+Whether we shall see a rapid extension of this new movement, making the
+county normal school as fixt an institution as the state normal school
+has become, and as the teachers college bids fair to become, or whether,
+thru consolidation, the distinctive type of our rural school shall
+disappear and our state normal schools be increased in number to meet
+the larger demands, only the future can tell. This latter, however, will
+not be in our generation, and I confidently look for the former. I
+believe the general adoption and adaptation of the county normal school
+idea would be one of the most economical and speedy means of solving
+some of our most serious rural school problems. And I also believe that
+it should be our next step, if we can take but one step at a time,
+toward professional education of teachers.
+
+If I have analyzed aright the present situation, and have been fair in
+my all too brief account of the rise and development of these
+institutions, we see that we have in our midst to-day, as a result of
+the development of our educational system, and to keep pace with it,
+the development of the idea so long ago adopted--the value of the
+professional preparation of the teacher--three quite distinct types of
+an institution for such purpose. Enumerating now in order of grade of
+work rather than of historical development, we have (1) the county
+normal school, whose function is solely the preparation of teachers for
+the rural schools--sixty-one of them found only in Michigan and
+Wisconsin, sending into the rural schools of those states about 800
+fairly well equipt teachers each year; (2) the old state normal school
+of historic fame, whose function is the preparation of teachers for the
+elementary grades of our city and village schools--195 there were two
+years ago--and they sent out into the schools approximately 10,000
+teachers, mostly graduates; (3) the teachers college, found always in
+connection with a college of high rank or of a full-fledged university,
+offering work, both academic and professional, of full university grade
+and covering the full university period of four years. The number cannot
+be stated definitely, because the process that is transforming the old
+pedagogical departments into teachers colleges is at such varying stages
+of development. Its function is best stated in the words of the
+institution in which it was founded (Calendar of the University of
+Michigan for 1904-1905, p. 126):--
+
+     "1. To fit university students for the higher positions in the
+     public school service.
+
+     "2. To promote the study of educational science.
+
+     "3. To teach the history of education and of educational systems
+     and doctrines.
+
+     "4. To secure to teaching the rights, prerogatives and advantages
+     of a profession.
+
+     "5. To give a more perfect unity to our state educational system,
+     by bringing the secondary schools into closer relations with the
+     university."
+
+"Higher position in the public school service" meant, in the main, in
+the early days, city superintendencies and high school principalships.
+To these, others have been added, one by one, owing very largely to the
+great success of the movement and the growing appreciation of the value
+of professional preparation for occupants of such positions, until now
+they include city superintendencies, high school and grade
+principalships, subject supervisorships, high school, normal school, and
+college instructorships. Already the leading teachers colleges, the ones
+at Columbia, Missouri, and Chicago universities, are being definitely
+looked to for these later added and more responsible workmen.
+
+Thus far I have but stated historical facts known to all who are
+reasonably well informed touching the history of education and current
+educational practise in our country. I have done this all too briefly, I
+am well aware. But the reason that I could do it briefly is the fact
+that the readers of this journal are well informed upon the historical
+phases of the subject. All that I needed to do was to cull out and bring
+to the fore the pertinent facts. But the question now arises, is this
+differentiation logical? Are there any reasons, psychological, economic,
+or otherwise, for such differentiation? If there are, it is going to
+continue, and these types of the institution which now seem to have been
+given each such a definite and separate work to do are going to be
+relatively permanent. If not, we shall continue to cut and try, undoing
+to-morrow what was done to-day, and chaos will result.
+
+This institution, with its various types, is not one that has evolved
+from a careful theoretical study of our present or prospective
+educational needs, but one that has grown up, little by little, step by
+step, to meet and satisfy from time to time the present and pressing
+needs of the larger system of which it forms a part, and for the service
+of which it was called into existence. But is it not true that
+oftentimes the logic of events--the movements of history--reveal to us
+our fundamental principles, outline for us our policy of action, and
+even write out for us our program of procedure as correctly and even
+more irrevocably than philosophical formulation could do? Is not that
+especially likely to occur under such a form of government as ours? I
+think it has occurred in the present case.
+
+It is interesting to note in this connection the fact that the logic of
+events has led us, in our efforts to solve the difficult problem of the
+education of our teachers, to practically the same solution as that
+already reached by France and Germany, which countries proceeded more
+nearly along the pathway of theoretical philosophical formulation.
+
+I believe that at least two of these institutions, the state normal
+school and the teachers college, have come to stay, and with practically
+the functions outlined above. Of the county normal school, as said
+before, I do not feel quite so sure. I am led to the belief in the
+relative permanency of these types of professional school, not only by a
+knowledge of the history of their development, but also by the
+conviction, formed by a somewhat careful study of the entire problem,
+that there are fundamental reasons, psychological as well as economical,
+for the differentiation. In other words, my own somewhat careful study
+of the entire situation brings me to the same position that the logic of
+events has brought us all.
+
+As to the county normal school: it is so apparent as scarcely to need
+mention that the teacher of the rural school needs a preparation
+differing in many ways from that needed by the teacher of the city
+grades. The environment, physical, psychical, and social, is so
+different that a teacher equipt to do thoroly good work in either one
+place might signally fail in the other. And the present economic
+situation speaks with nearly the same insistence. Even if our state
+normal schools were sending out teachers ideally equipt for service in
+the rural communities, the remuneration there offered is, and for an
+indefinite time will remain, so low as practically to keep them out of
+the schools. Either we must have special institutions for the
+preparation of the teachers of the rural schools, or else those schools
+must, in the main, continue to do without professionally prepared
+teachers.
+
+Turning now to the other type, it is equally clear to me that the very
+character of the work in the elementary and secondary schools should be
+different one from the other, different as to discipline, ends in view,
+subjects of study, and methods of handling the same. In the elementary
+school the pupil is a child, with the mind, the tastes, the ambitions of
+a child, and he should be allowed to remain a child. The ends in view
+are right habits, right ideals, and knowledge facts. In the secondary
+school the student is an adolescent, with the mind of an adolescent,
+having peculiar and erratic tastes, changing ambitions, and conflicting
+emotions. He is neither child nor adult, but passing thru the most
+dangerous and critical period of his entire life. The ends in view are
+no longer merely habits, ideals, and knowledge facts, but, added to
+these, and now more important for emphasis because presumably right
+principles have already been established, breadth and fixity of
+character, self-acquaintance, scholarship, and culture. Tell me that the
+atmosphere, psychical and spiritual, and the training, academic and
+professional, that will produce the ideal teacher of the child will also
+produce the ideal teacher of the adolescent? Nay, verily! You might as
+well tell the florist that the American Beauty rose and the Snow Flower
+of the Northern forest will both reach perfection if grown side by side.
+Then surely we need different kinds of institutions. I cannot better
+conclude this thought than by using the words of Dr. Wm. T. Harris found
+in the introductory paragraph of an article on "The Future of the Normal
+School." (Ed. Rev., January, 1899, p. 1.) Dr. Harris says: "I have tried
+to set down in this paper the grounds for commending the normal school
+as it exists for its chosen work of preparing teachers for the
+elementary schools, and at the same time urging the need of training
+schools with different methods of preparation for the kindergarten,
+below, and for the secondary school, the college and the post-graduate
+school, above the elementary school."
+
+The reason just given, the psychological one, is alone sufficient for
+believing that the differentiation is logical. But let me add another,
+almost equally effective--an academic reason, directly academic and at
+the same time indirectly economic. This is found in the following words,
+taken from Dr. Payne's "Contributions to the Science of Education." (Am.
+Book Co., 1886, p. 538.) "If there is any well-established principle of
+school economy it is this: The scholarship of the teacher should be
+considerably broader than the scholarship of his most advanced pupil."
+Nobody now questions the statement.
+
+Upon the basis of that principle there is little criticism to be offered
+of the academic equipment of our normal school graduates as teachers in
+the grades. No normal school now completes its work with less than one
+full year beyond the completion of a four-year high school course, and
+two years beyond is rapidly getting to be the standard. So that normal
+school graduation gives the prospective teacher of the grades at least
+four years of academic, and from one to two years of professional and
+academic work beyond the point to be reached by "his most advanced
+pupil." To be sure, more would be better--a longer experience and a
+closer acquaintance with the great character forming subjects, such as
+literature, history, philosophy, etc. This would give breadth of view,
+clearness of perception, and a right perspective--elements of
+incomparable value in the equipment of the teacher. But yet, in view of
+our economic conditions and of a general lack of understanding and
+therefore of appreciation in the lay mind of the most vital and
+fundamental work of the teacher, we cannot yet hope for teachers ideally
+equipt. And our present standards, if insisted upon and the work thus
+far be thoro and clear and faithful, will give us increasingly better
+results and eventually lead to conditions more nearly ideal.
+
+But this judgment as to criticism must be very different when we look
+upon these graduates as possible teachers in the high school. The
+scholarship of such a teacher there would be but little, if any,
+"broader than the scholarship of his most advanced pupil." While there
+is to-day no uniform legislation touching the requirements as to
+qualifications of high school teachers in the United States, each state,
+and even each school, being largely a law unto itself, there is getting
+to be a very decided uniformity the country over as to practise, and in
+many ways this is much more significant than formal legislation would
+be. For without compulsion, the whole people, each section and each
+state, independent of all others, seemingly by the very necessity of the
+case, have fixt upon the same minimum standard of qualification for high
+school teachers. And that minimum is the completion of a full four-year
+collegiate course of instruction, including--indeed, in many cases,
+plus--a certain emphasis to be placed upon the subjects to be handled,
+and a certain amount of time devoted to strictly professional subjects.
+To be sure, in some states legislation has spoken, as in Minnesota,
+requiring completion of collegiate work, and practically so in North
+Dakota, requiring completion of such work for superintendencies and high
+school principalships, and strongly recommending the same for all
+teaching positions in the high school. In California a step farther has
+been taken in requiring, in addition to that, a full year of graduate
+study. The tendency, in several states, seems to be in the direction of
+the position taken by California. And with that tendency I am in
+sympathy.
+
+This movement upward, however, I do not want to see go any farther. I
+deprecate the tendency, seen in some quarters, of setting up as the
+symbol of the standard of qualification for the high school teacher, the
+doctor's degree. I do not want the boys and girls of our high schools
+taught, or rather directed in their upward development, by mere
+specialists--doctors of philosophy, who know everything about nothing,
+and nothing about everything. Nor do I want them directed by men and
+women who are obliged to "cipher on page twenty while the class is
+working on page nineteen." But I do want them directed by men and women
+who are thoroly acquainted with the subjects which they teach, and who
+know how to handle the same; but especially by men and women of broad,
+liberal culture, men and women whose lives have been enriched by the
+best there is in literature, history, art, science, and philosophy, and
+who know life, and are in warm sympathy with young life. Teachers thus
+equipt are able, from their high vantage point, to reach out here and
+there and take as educative material that which will contribute to the
+beautiful and strong development of each case at hand. And such an
+equipment, on its academic side, comes not short of the master's degree,
+or its equivalent.
+
+My authority for the statement made above as to the growing uniformity
+of practise in requiring as minimum qualification for high school
+teachers a full collegiate course, and as to the tendency in several
+states toward requiring, in addition, a full year of graduate study, is
+found in an extended correspondence with normal school principals and
+city and state superintendents representing the entire country.
+
+These facts as to present-day requirements seem to me to fix somewhat
+definitely the matters under discussion. Our normal schools, with
+possibly two or three exceptions, are not equipt to give the extended
+qualification now demanded for the high school teacher. Barring the two
+or three, the best of them do not pretend to carry the student more than
+two years beyond high school graduation. And whether it be one or two
+years, the work is, as it ought to be, mainly professional--not
+academic. Indeed, the presidents of many of our strongest normal schools
+insist that they do not do any strictly academic work. And if the lack
+is so great touching high school teachers, how much greater touching
+positions still higher.
+
+To be sure, the work of the normal schools might be sufficiently
+extended to enable them to do this additional and advanced work. New
+buildings might be erected, laboratory facilities increased, libraries
+enlarged, additional and stronger teachers provided, etc. But is it
+necessary? Is it wise? Is it likely to happen with our legislators
+holding the purse strings so tightly tied? To all such questions the
+answer must inevitably be negative. It is not necessary because not
+really needed for the preparation of elementary teachers, while for the
+preparation of secondary teachers other agencies are at hand. And if not
+needed the unwisdom of such an extension can scarcely be questioned.
+Certainly not, if, as urged above, different kinds of institutions are
+needed for the preparation of the two grades of teachers. Then, if both
+not needed and unwise, it is not likely to happen in any case where
+legislators are intelligently informed as to the situation.
+
+To indicate the feeling among many of our leading educators touching
+this point, it might be interesting, in closing, to give a brief summary
+of the correspondence mentioned above. This inquiry, was directed to all
+our state superintendents, to forty of the leading normal school
+principals representing all sections of the country, and to fifty-two
+leading and representative city superintendents. The following questions
+were asked:--
+
+     (1) Are your normal schools at the present time equipt to give
+     adequate preparation to prospective high school teachers?
+
+     (2) If you think they are not, would it be wise to add to their
+     present equipment such facilities as would enable them to give such
+     preparation, or can that work be better done in some other way?
+
+
+REPLIES FROM STATE SUPERINTENDENTS
+
+To question (1). Thirty-eight replies were received, of which
+twenty-nine were negative and nine affirmative. Of the nine, however,
+only one came from a state in which normal school facilities are at all
+superior to what may be termed a fair average, and in that state these
+facilities are found in only one of the five normal schools, whereas, in
+five of the nine, these facilities are inferior to what may be termed a
+fair average. In two of the nine, tho the state superintendents gave
+affirmative answers, the consensus of opinion of the normal school
+principals was negative. In a word, the nine affirmative replies
+indicate individual opinions, and result from a limited perspective.
+
+To question (2). Twenty-nine replies were received, of which fifteen
+were specifically negative, five specifically affirmative, and nine
+implied a misunderstanding of the question. But nearly all of the nine,
+as well as the fifteen, stated definitely or clearly implied that such
+work should be done in the colleges and universities.
+
+
+REPLIES FROM NORMAL SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
+
+To question (1). Twenty-eight replies were received, of which twenty
+were negative, and eight affirmative. Of the eight, three were from
+states having but one normal school each, and perhaps, therefore,
+admittedly strong; two from states having each one school much superior
+to the others of the same state, and referring specifically to that
+school. Of the remaining three, one was from a new state in the
+Northwest, one from a Southern state, and one stated that only in some
+branches was the equipment sufficient.
+
+To question (2). Twenty replies were received, of which sixteen were
+negative, and four affirmative. Of the four, not one said that all
+should be so equipt. Each suggested that perhaps it would be well thus
+to extend the equipment of one school in a state.
+
+
+REPLIES FROM CITY SUPERINTENDENTS
+
+To question (1). Thirty replies were received, of which twenty-eight
+were negative, and two affirmative. The two were from a state in which
+is to be found a single normal school, and that, one of the best.
+
+To question (2). Twenty-eight replies were received, of which twenty-six
+were negative, and two affirmative.
+
+To be sure, correspondence upon this point was not sufficiently extended
+to be conclusive, but yet my correspondents were, in the main, leaders
+in their respective lines, and therefore represent the best educational
+thought and practise of the times. The summary speaks clearly and to the
+point, and to the same point, note, that the logic of events has already
+brought us. The work of the normal school should continue to be, as it
+has been from the beginning, devoted to preparation of teachers for the
+grades, while prospective teachers in the high schools should seek their
+preparation in the teachers colleges, under whatever specific names
+known, where the professional phases of the work will be as much
+emphasized, but be different, and be differently handled as befitting
+the different character of the work to be done, and where they can
+receive the broader academic outlook and equipment absolutely essential
+to an adequate handling of the larger and more difficult situation.
+
+      NOTE.--Since the appearance of the January number of _Education_,
+     my attention has been called to the fact that in naming
+     institutions giving early attention to the preparation of secondary
+     teachers I omitted some that should have found a place in such an
+     enumeration. It is true that several others might well have been
+     mentioned. On page 286, line 5 (page 224, line 3 of this work), I
+     might well have added the School of Pedagogy of New York
+     University, also Clark, Stanford, California, and Teachers College,
+     Columbia, and again, "and others." And on page 289, line 18 (page
+     228, line 18 of this work), I certainly should have added the
+     School of Pedagogy of New York University and Clark University,
+     possibly others, for the work is progressing rapidly. But it was
+     the movement I had in mind rather than the specific contributions
+     of various institutions. The omissions were not born of any desire
+     to withhold from any institution the credit that it deserves.
+
+     Since this matter is again open, let me add an interesting fact in
+     regard to the New York University School of Pedagogy, just
+     mentioned. If I mistake not, we have here the first real "teachers
+     college," that is, the first instance in which we see a "Department
+     of Education," having merely equal standing with other departments
+     in a university, become, thru definite action of that university's
+     governing body, "a professional school of equal rank with the other
+     professional schools of the University." This change was made on
+     March 3, 1890. Judging by results, it has been amply justified. The
+     institution is doing a large and splendid work.--THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+CREDIT FOR QUALITY IN SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION
+
+_From the "Educational Review," March, 1909, and the "Western Journal of
+Education" (now the "American Schoolmaster"), May, 1909_
+
+
+In the _Educational Review_ for May, 1908, Mr. W. B. Secor had an
+article under the caption, "Credit for Quality in the Secondary School."
+Mr. Secor says, in his opening paragraph, "The present system of giving
+credit towards graduation in use in the secondary school, takes account
+mainly of the amount of work done.... The student who barely passes his
+work gets just the same amount of credit towards graduation as the one
+who passes high in the nineties. It is to be expected, then, that the
+student ... will reason something like this: I will be graduated if I
+pass my work in the seventies just the same as if I pass it in the
+nineties. What is the use of wasting time and effort in securing a high
+average?" He then suggests a system of marking which "would not only fix
+a minimum of quality, but would also recognize different degrees of
+quality by giving more credit toward graduation for high quality than
+for low," which system, he thinks, would also tend to "a strengthening
+of the intellectual life of the secondary school." Mr. Secor does not
+claim to be the originator of the idea, giving to President Hyde of
+Bowdoin that doubtful honor. He also refers to two articles in the
+_Educational Review_, one in the issue of April, 1905, written by
+Professor Thomas, of Columbia University, speaking of the system as just
+introduced into that institution, and the other in the issue of
+December, 1906, by Professor Kennedy, describing the system as then in
+use in the University of North Dakota. After these references have been
+cited, the system is discust from various points of view and its
+extension into the secondary field favored, tho, in his closing
+paragraph, Mr. Secor says, "Now the plan here proposed does not claim
+perfection. It may not even be a workable scheme when put to the test."
+
+Mr. Secor's article is but one of many evidences that the experiment now
+being tried in a few of our higher institutions of learning, of
+attempting to estimate and adequately reward quality as well as quantity
+of work done by students, is attracting considerable attention. It is
+not at all strange that these experiments are attracting attention, for
+the idea is taking and its justice seemingly so apparent. Because of
+this interest I desire to examine some parts of Mr. Secor's article and
+in the process of that examination briefly discuss the so-called
+"Credit-for-quality" idea. I shall be materially aided in such
+discussion by my experience with the practical workings of the system in
+the University of North Dakota, and shall take the opportunity of
+letting the educational world know how the system is working and how it
+is being regarded in the institution in which it has been receiving its
+most extensive and thoro trial. For while the system did not originate
+here, it was here first put into operation, and for years an earnest,
+honest, heroic effort has been put forth in its behalf. I might say,
+parenthetically, that the details of the system Mr. Secor suggests are
+almost identically the ones that have been in use in this institution.
+They were found to be faulty, however, and have been materially changed.
+
+I have read and re-read Mr. Secor's article with both interest and
+apprehension; with interest, because the "Credit-for-quality" idea has
+been engaging my thoughtful attention on both its practical and its
+theoretical sides for a considerable time; with apprehension, since the
+article seems to recommend the system for use in our secondary schools.
+I am sorry the recommendation has been made for the conclusions I have
+reached from my double study are very different from those being held by
+Mr. Secor. I seriously question the wisdom of extending the system at
+all, even when dealing with students of college rank, much more
+seriously, then, when applied to those of the secondary school who are
+four years younger, much less mature, and therefore less able to profit
+by the meritorious features and at the same time withstand the weakening
+influences attendant upon the system. Indeed, I think its adoption in
+the secondary schools would be nothing short of a calamity. Another
+reason why I feel impelled to speak is that reference is made in Mr.
+Secor's article to the working of the system in the institution with
+which I am connected as "highly satisfactory." In justice to the system
+itself and certainly in view of its suggested extension, that impression
+should not be allowed to go forth without modification or correction. I
+shall attempt, therefore, in this discussion, to do three things, tho I
+shall not try to separate the three spatially: (1) to discuss this
+marking system on its merits; (2) to report to the educational world our
+findings after an experience with it of five years, and (3) to urge
+against its extension into the secondary field.
+
+Let me say, at the outset, that I have been connected with the
+University of North Dakota for three years--the last three of the five
+during which the system has been in use. I have had all the time from
+one hundred to one hundred twenty-five students. The grading has had to
+be done three times a year, since our school year, up to the present
+time, has been separated into three terms. Let me also make plain the
+fact that in all I say I speak upon my own responsibility, not for the
+institution nor for its faculty, tho it is true that nearly, if not
+quite, half the faculty hold practically the same views regarding the
+system.
+
+It is true, as Mr. Secor says, that "the present system of giving credit
+towards graduation used in our secondary schools takes account mainly of
+the amount of work done." It passes upon quality, as he says, only "when
+it fixes a passing mark." It may also be true, as he takes for granted,
+that it would be desirable to give credit towards graduation for quality
+as well as for quantity, but of this I am very much in doubt, especially
+in dealing with secondary students. It does not sufficiently take into
+consideration the value of content, and that, it seems to me, is a
+factor that should not be disregarded. I think I value as highly as most
+men the discipline, or mental power, gained by close application;
+likewise, the habit of thoroness gained thru doing work well; but yet,
+in addition to those acquisitions, I confess that I also place high
+value upon knowledge as a possession. In other words, I want the
+student, both high school and college, to know something.
+
+I will gladly admit, however, that it is very desirable to secure from
+the student quality as well as quantity. That, I am inclined to think,
+is the main thing that Mr. Secor is really after. He thinks the best
+way, or, at any rate, a very good way, to get it is thru the device of
+giving extra credit toward graduation for the higher grades of work. My
+experience with the system does not lead me to that conclusion. Interest
+in the subject matter itself is always essential to the doing of a high
+quality of work. And such interest in the subject matter of school
+studies is scarcely secured by anything so artificial as rewards
+smacking of the market. So far as it can not be secured directly, and
+resort must be made to artificial incentives to secure it, I think that
+incentives can be found much more in keeping with the general spirit and
+purpose of education than the constant appeal to the commercial value of
+the grades being obtained. The ordinary monthly report card sent to the
+home, on which the quality of work being done in the various subjects is
+indicated by "excellent," "good," "poor," etc., and even by the too
+common "per cent," is artificial stimulus enough. Every teacher knows
+what an incentive the report card can be made. To be sure, teachers
+differ greatly in their ability to use this card skilfully, but
+so used it can exert great power. Not long ago I discust this
+"Credit-for-quality" matter with a class of about thirty university
+students, mostly freshmen, and, somewhat to my surprise, I discovered
+that with the majority of them the chief reason for desiring the "A"
+and "B" (our marks for extra credit toward graduation) was not that they
+bore the extra credit, but that the descriptive terms "excellent" and
+"good" secure extra appreciation from the home when term standings are
+reported. This might not be true of any large percentage of university
+students, certainly would not be of the upper classes. Added years have
+made them shrewder. Under the influence of our system they have become
+keener to appreciate a "bargain." But it certainly would be true of a
+very large percentage of secondary students.
+
+Considerable experience in the secondary schools leads me to doubt very
+much that the typical high school student reasons as Mr. Secor suggests
+in his first paragraph. Some do, of course, and so do some university
+students, but not the great body of either. Barring a small percentage,
+students as they run, in both high school and college, are an earnest
+lot of young people. They are in these institutions for a purpose. They
+are seeking, so far as their vision extends, well-developed manhood and
+womanhood. Their chief desire is not to slide thru. The two immediate
+ends normally in view are consciousness of progressive growth and
+appreciation from parent and teacher. How eager the majority are for
+this appreciation is well known to all. All the stimulus needed, in
+addition to what the subjects and the student's own desire furnish, the
+resourceful teacher has at hand wrapt up in his own personality. If any
+other stimulus is needed it can be given by a grading of diplomas as is
+now being done in many high schools and colleges. I hold that to add to
+the marks now in common use what may be called a monetary fringe is
+both unnecessary and really subversive of the true ends of the school
+work. As teachers we should seek to elevate ideals, not to lower them;
+to furnish right motives, not wrong ones; to place before the developing
+youth high incentives, not low ones.
+
+Mr. Secor says, "the proposed plan is superior to the present system in
+that it gives a natural and not an artificial incentive to high
+scholarship." By what process of reasoning he reaches the conclusion
+that mere "marks and honors" are more "unnatural" and "artificial" than
+the same marks and honors with a commercial tag appended, I fail to see.
+The truth of the matter is, both are artificial. As incentives, both are
+low, but it stands to reason that the latter is much lower than the
+former. The best friends of the system here, in the University of North
+Dakota, admit that, as an incentive, it is both artificial and low. Mr.
+Secor goes on to say, "the system" (that is, the "Credit-for-quality")
+"puts a premium on thorough-going scholarship by enabling the student to
+come up for graduation without being forced to study so many subjects
+that he is not able to do any of them well." If our secondary school
+courses are so arranged as to force the student "to study so many
+subjects that he is not able to do any of them well," then something is
+radically wrong with the courses of study. But no evil can be remedied
+by introducing a greater. As a matter of fact, the application of the
+system does not lead to "thorough-going scholarship," at least not in
+the University of North Dakota where, for five years, an honest and
+faithful effort has been made to secure that result. In all our
+discussions I have never heard one of its friends make that claim for
+it, altho the charge has been repeatedly made that it is destructive of
+scholarship. The writer goes on to say, "he" (the student) "may
+substitute depth for breadth, if he so desires, and is encouraged to do
+so." Shall we, in the secondary schools, encourage depth? Yes, to be
+sure, relative depth, but not too much of it, and not then at the
+expense of breadth. For is not the high school student in that stage of
+his development when he responds to the sense of breadth rather than
+that of depth? We could not make of him a student of research if we
+should try. Let us not try.
+
+In the last paragraph of the article referred to we find a hint of a
+lack of thoro conviction on the part of the writer himself. "It may not
+even be a workable scheme when put to the test," he says. Let me say
+that here, after five years' use, it is not proving to be satisfactorily
+"workable" even with students of college grade, and by a recent faculty
+action it has been entirely eliminated from our preparatory department.
+
+This lack of conviction on the part of Mr. Secor calls to mind an
+interesting bit of history connected with the movement. As said before,
+it did not originate in the University of North Dakota. Dr. William
+DeWitt Hyde, President of Bowdoin College, is responsible for the
+suggestion. He sketched the plan in an _Outlook_ article of August 2nd,
+1902, but evidently lacking the courage of his conviction did not
+introduce it into his own institution, preferring, seemingly, that the
+experiment be made elsewhere. This has been, from the start, very
+suggestive to me. I have some admiration for President Hyde's
+shrewdness. The University of North Dakota fell into the trap thus
+skilfully set. And it is easier to fall into a trap than to get out of
+it. As a matter of fact, the system is more on trial now, after five
+years' use, than ever before. Other institutions would do well to await
+further developments.
+
+In attempting to analyze the situation at the University of North
+Dakota, let me again refer to Mr. Secor's article. He says, "The plan,
+with some modifications, is at present being used in the University of
+North Dakota and in Columbia University with results that are reported
+to be highly satisfactory." To substantiate his statement he refers, in
+a foot-note, to the articles in the _Educational Review_ from which he
+got his information. Now, the conclusion that Mr. Secor reaches from
+reading these articles is hardly warranted by the articles themselves. I
+fear he read too much between the lines. Let us see: Professor Thomas
+wrote of the Columbia system more than three years ago, and only a
+couple of months after its adoption; nor does he say anything as to its
+success,--in fact, he could not, for there was nothing to say. He merely
+explained the new system and gave voice to his expectations. The
+Columbia system may be proving "highly satisfactory," but surely that
+article does not say that it is. And when the other article is analyzed,
+the case is found to be somewhat similar. Professor Kennedy wrote on the
+system in the University of North Dakota nearly two years ago, fully two
+academic years, for the article appeared in December, 1906, before the
+close of the first term of the year 1906-'07. Now two years in the life
+of an experiment of this kind is a long time. And Professor Kennedy in
+writing his article, did not put the case as strongly as does Mr. Secor
+from reading it. All that he said of its successful working was: "We ...
+thus far can truthfully say it is working itself out in desirable
+results--in more and better work than under the old plan." From these
+data, given when they were, Mr. Secor is certainly not justified in
+saying that "the plan ... is at present being used in the University of
+North Dakota with results that are reported to be highly satisfactory."
+
+Professor Kennedy's statement was his individual judgment at the time he
+wrote his article. A considerable number of his co-laborers would not
+then have agreed with him. He probably would not write even as strongly
+as that to-day. If he should, a still larger number would disagree. He
+might write as strongly of his own belief in the theoretical soundness
+of the system, but that is quite another matter. As a matter of fact,
+during the last two years the weaknesses of the system have become so
+much more apparent that many members of the faculty then favorable, or
+at least hopeful, have at last come to despair of ever being able to
+eliminate the objectionable features and strengthen the weak points
+sufficiently to warrant its retention.
+
+Professor Kennedy's article goes into detail as to the adoption of the
+plan, and clearly states its various changes up to the date of his
+writing. In our efforts, since then, to "improve" and "strengthen" it,
+various other changes have been made so that, as a matter of fact, one
+who knew it in its early history only would hardly recognise it as
+planned for use next year (quite different in detail from that now in
+use) save in the fundamental principle. That remains the same; the
+institution desires to secure a better quality of work from its
+students; it also desires to enable the student of exceptional ability
+or unusual industry to cut short his period of undergraduate study. To
+accomplish these ends it continues to use its so-called
+"Credit-for-quality" system of marking. This is done, altho a large and
+steadily increasing number of the faculty members feel that it does not
+do the first and that it overdoes the second.
+
+As to these ends: I think that no one on the faculty really feels that,
+on the whole, we are getting a better grade of work than should
+reasonably be expected without the system; or, to put it in another way,
+no one would be bold enough to say that our students are doing better
+work than the students of similar institutions that do not use the
+system. On the other hand, it is true that some who have come among us
+since the adoption of the system give the comparison the less favorable
+turn.
+
+Thru the operation of the system many can and do shorten their course;
+too many, I feel. Too many who have neither "exceptional ability" nor
+"unusual industry," unless it be ability "to work the Prof." and
+industry in that laudable enterprise. The course that normally takes
+four full years can be shortened from a portion of a term to a full
+year. Prior to June, 1908, the "time saved" could reach to a full year
+and a half. True, no one had actually completed a course in two and a
+half years, but one young lady's time was only slightly in excess of
+that and the excess was fully overbalanced by the time she gave to
+outside work--to library assistance for remuneration, and to
+journalism. And that gait was being struck by others. It only remained
+to be seen how long the wind would hold out. It was clearly possible.
+But the faculty became alarmed. Clearly recognizing the above stated
+possibility and being wholly unwilling thus to lower its high standard,
+it passed a resolution that arbitrarily limits the number of credits a
+student may receive in a given time to such an extent as to prevent
+graduation in less than three years. But several have gained, and others
+are gaining, sufficient surplus to enable them to complete their work in
+three years. From fifteen to twenty per cent, it is estimated, are
+enabled to shorten their course to that extent. Now some of these are
+thoroly good students, and, assuming that the system is sound in
+principle, well deserve to profit thereby. But others are just
+ordinarily good students, scarcely above the rank and file. In addition
+to those who complete their work in three years, some thirty or forty
+per cent more shorten it by lesser amounts, ranging all the way down to
+an inappreciable period.
+
+But aside from the system's failure in reaching one of its ends and its
+too great success in reaching the other, it has developed numerous and
+unfortunate evils that many regard as exceedingly serious, and revealed
+weaknesses that seem well nigh impossible to eliminate. Space allows
+scarcely more than an enumeration of these, but a mere enumeration is
+better than to deal wholly in general terms. (1) In the first place, I
+should say that the "Credit-for-quality" system of marking as used by us
+places before the students unworthy ideals. Students of university rank
+can be led to seek knowledge for knowledge's sake, truth for truth's
+sake. They can be taught to see farther ahead than the close of the
+term, and something more precious than an extra three-tenths of a
+credit. But this thought has already been sufficiently treated earlier
+in the article. (2) It leads to faulty methods of study and
+unsatisfactory final results. In the preparation of the lessons, a good
+recitation, rather than thoro understanding of the subject matter, is
+too apt to be the objective point. Many good students have told me that
+they find it difficult to resist the tendency to subordinate
+understanding to memory. (3) It may lead, often does, to unwise election
+of courses. Some teachers mark higher than others. Under the influence
+of our system students are very quick to learn these individual
+characteristics, and those who have developed the "itching palm" know
+how to profit by that knowledge. (4) It places students who receive
+extra credit for quality at a disadvantage in seeking to enter other
+institutions of learning. The credits thus gained will not be
+recognized. This would operate only in making the transfer during the
+undergraduate period, but it does there.[1] (5)
+
+
+    [1] Experience has shown that I was in error in the statement of
+    this sentence. It has been found to operate to the disadvantage of
+    our students entering other institutions in graduate as well as
+    undergraduate departments. Graduate schools have become very
+    particular, some of them not being satisfied without passing in
+    review well nigh the entire former school life of an applicant,
+    apparently to assure themselves that no short-cuts have been made.
+    This fact is an interesting confirmation of the position of this
+    article relative to the importance of content--when it pleads for
+    quantity, as well as quality.
+
+    This entire matter is made clear by referring to one instance.
+    Others could be cited. One of our graduates, Miss Ethel J. May,
+    a very strong student, "profited" by the so-called
+    "credit-for-quality" system to such an extent that she shortened her
+    undergraduate period of study by an entire year, receiving her
+    degree with honor. Then she taught for a few years with signal
+    success, later returning for graduate work. For her Master's degree
+    she spent an entire year in study, since the system did not operate
+    in the graduate department. Again she taught with success, later
+    entering the University of Illinois as an applicant for the
+    doctorate. Here it was that her troubles began, and all because she
+    had thus "profited" way back in her undergraduate days. She was told
+    that the year "saved" would now have to be made up--that the period
+    of study for her doctorate would have to be at least three years,
+    and this in spite of the fact that she held the degree of Master of
+    Arts from a state university of the first class, and was planning to
+    continue along the same lines of work. After considerable discussion
+    and institutional negotiation, this much of a concession was made:
+    "If your work proves to be excellent, your shortage will be
+    disregarded." So she went to work with that incubus, or
+    stimulus--whichever you wish to regard it--over her. Neither she nor
+    her committee knew how to plan her work, not knowing whether it was
+    to be for two years or for three. And not until the very close of
+    her year's work was her status determined--full credit then being
+    granted for her former degrees. Miss May's sane comment now is, "I
+    would not advise any one to try to shorten the regular four-year
+    undergraduate period of study."
+                                                        (Author 1918)
+
+
+It is demoralizing to both students and teachers. I refer to the
+inevitable outcome of such a system; some students (sometimes few and
+sometimes many) develop considerable skill in "working the Prof."
+Teachers offering elective courses are constantly under great temptation
+and students are shrewd enough to know it. And again, under the same
+count: it is freely claimed by both teachers and students that the
+cheating in examinations, of which we doubtless have our share (some
+claim much more than our share, tho personally I doubt it), is very
+greatly increased if not largely caused by our system of marking. In
+hopes of remedying this some of the students are now urging the
+adoption of the "honor system" of conducting examinations. (6) It is
+impossible to create uniform standards corresponding to our various
+grades. There are as many standards for each grade as there are
+instructors. A grade of work for which one instructor would give an "A"
+(1.3), another would give a "B" (1.2) and still another a "C" (1.0).
+Standards can not be fixt. To show how greatly they differ, in marking
+the work for the first term of this year one instructor gave only seven
+per cent of his students extra credit, while another thus rewarded more
+than seventy per cent of his. This range, however, is abnormal. But a
+range of twenty-five per cent to sixty-five per cent is not, even tho
+the two instructors have approximately the same students and do
+approximately the same grade of work. Other evils and weaknesses might
+be mentioned, but these are sufficient to show the tendency.
+
+On the other hand, what strong paints can be urged as an offset? The
+only ones I have ever heard offered are: (1) it is an incentive, and (2)
+it does enable students to shorten the period of undergraduate work. I
+grant them both, but I hold that the incentive is a low one--much lower
+than we need to use--and that the shortening of the course is far from
+being an unmixt blessing.
+
+Let me again refer to the matter of content, upon our value of which, to
+quite an extent, our estimate of the merit of the "Credit-for-quality"
+system must rest. The young people in our colleges and universities, in
+planning for lives of usefulness and success, place themselves in our
+hands for direction and guidance. Knowing that we are older, wiser,
+more learned, and more experienced than they, they ask our advice and,
+in the main, follow it. To the incentives we use in dealing with them,
+they respond; the motives we supply urge them on; the standards of value
+we erect for them, they use; and the ideals we place before them, they
+try to reach. All this places large responsibilities upon us. Are we
+wise in telling from fifteen to twenty per cent of these young people
+that three years is all the time that it is wise for them to spend in
+college work? They will all remain the full four years unless we plan
+differently for them. To be sure, there is no magic in the number four
+as numbering the years of one's college course, nor in three, nor in
+two, nor in any other number. But would not any normal student who
+spends four years in the college atmosphere, mingling with college
+people, both students and teachers, doing college work, drinking from
+the pure fountains of literature, of history, of philosophy, of science,
+of art, et cetera, be broader in range and more fully equipt for the
+varied and complicated duties of life and for life's enjoyment, than he
+would be with only three years thus spent? And is not the fourth year by
+far the best of the four? Why shall you and I discourage him from doing
+that which we know to be well for him and which he is willing to do? Why
+deny him the rare fruitage of that fourth year? Why say to him when he
+is just ready to enter into the enjoyments of his student life, "you
+would better go?" After all, is it not this very three-year student with
+his finer ability, his keener insight, and his greater industry who can
+most greatly profit by the extra year? Shall we not rather encourage him
+to stay longer and delve deeper and reach to the very heart of things?
+Whether looked at from the standpoint of the student's own advantage, or
+from that of the world at large, which is to profit by his equipment, is
+it not really the four-year or even the five-year student who would
+better be excused at the end of the third year? Instead of being in a
+hurry to send our choice students away, let us get them to do their high
+quality of work just the same, but to do it during four years instead of
+three. They are the very ones who will most readily respond to such
+appeals and they will so respond unless we put other notions into
+their heads. It is sometimes urged, in justification of the
+"Credit-for-quality" idea, that one student in three years can
+accomplish more, in gaining both knowledge and mental power, than
+another in four. There is no doubt about it. Some can do more in two
+years than others in four; some in one, and some with no college work
+can easily outstrip others with the best advantages. Shall we say to
+such an one, "you do not need to go to college--it would be time
+wasted"? By no means. Above all others we want him because he can most
+largely profit by what he gets, and we shall reap the reward later on.
+But supposing one student at the close of his third college year is
+better able to make his way in the world than another at the end of his
+fourth year, that is not the question at all. The function of the
+college is not to bring students to a level, but to develop each one to
+the utmost. Each should be considered separately and the question asked,
+"the longer or the shorter term--which will do the more for him?"
+
+Some other developments here can hardly fail to be of interest.
+Originally planned to operate in our entire institution, exclusive of
+the College of Law into which it was not allowed to enter, this system
+has gradually been eliminated from all the colleges save the College of
+Liberal Arts and Teachers College. True, in these colleges of exclusion
+the matter of content figures more prominently than in the others--the
+curricula are more fixt--but that is far from being the only reason for
+the exclusion. And even more suggestive as touching the secondary school
+extension recommended by the article under discussion, is our recent
+action excluding the system from our preparatory department, now being
+transformed into a model high school for Teachers College. This
+elimination, likewise, was in part due to the fixt number of courses
+demanded of all secondary schools, but yet, not largely so. When this
+matter came up for decision it needed no emphasis upon that point to
+carry the recommendation. It would have carried without those
+conditions. The strongest advocates of the system did not, by a single
+word, urge its retention in the Model High School. All felt, seemingly,
+that it was not well suited to students of that grade.
+
+     NOTE.--The reason for repeating this article here is largely
+     historical, tho interest in the matter discust occasionally crops
+     out even yet. It will be of interest to some who have not otherwise
+     heard of it to learn that the University of North Dakota long since
+     discarded the system. It was voted out completely early in the year
+     1910. And thus was realized Professor Kennedy's apprehension
+     exprest in his _Educational Review_ discussion of 1906: "We have, I
+     grant, had our doubts and fears, knowing well that many a promising
+     theory lies high and dry on the shoals of the past."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+  Academies, 221
+
+  Adolescent, 46-49, 54-56, 67, 68, 74, 81, 85, 219, 231
+
+  Adults, 211, 212, 213
+
+  Aliens, education of, 25
+
+  Alien people, 21
+
+  Appleton's Cyclopedia, 165
+
+  Arithmetic, 154
+
+  Ayers, 120
+
+  Barnard, Henry, 220
+
+  Bay State, Old, 64
+
+  Binet, 57
+
+  Boards of Education, 45, 156, 195
+
+  Bowdoin College, 243, 250
+
+  Burbank, Luther, 166
+
+  Burns, Robert, 136, 138
+
+  Bureau of Education, 19
+
+  Butler, Nicholas Murray, 96, 97, 103
+
+  California, 233, 234
+
+  Carter, 218
+
+  Child, the, 43, 44, 45, 68, 116, 117, 121, 140, 141, 147, 151, 154, 195
+
+  Child Study, 43, 45, 49, 54, 58, 85
+
+  Child-Welfare, 49
+
+  Church, 133, 141-159
+
+  Civil War, 107, 222
+
+  College, 69-82, 104, 110, 165, 167, 217-237
+     Law, 260
+     Liberal Arts, 84, 99, 260
+
+  College, Preparation for, 71, 73
+     Teachers, 45, 219-238
+
+  Commissioner of Education, 27
+
+  Community Service, 73
+
+  Connecticut, 31, 220
+
+  County Training School, 219
+
+  "Credit-for-Quality" System, 243-260
+
+  Cronin, Dr., 125
+
+  Dante, 144, 145
+
+  Democracy, 29, 31-34, 41, 65, 171, 172, 173, 180
+
+  Department of Education, 20
+
+  Dewey, John, 42, 43
+
+  Diaz, President, 31
+
+  Dooley, Mr., 95
+
+  Dwight, Edmund, 31, 218
+
+  Education
+     Boards of, 45, 84, 156, 195
+     Bureau of, 19
+     Department of, 108, 109, 218, 219, 223
+     Elementary, 65, 75
+     History of, 81, 82, 83, 84, 227, 228
+     Motive in, 38
+     Philosophy of, 81, 84
+     Physical, 50, 66, 155, 203
+     Principles of, 82, 83, 224
+     Professional, 81
+     School of in North Dakota, 82-85
+     School of, 83-85, 108-111, 218
+     Secondary, 75, 84, 85, 164
+     Universal, 24
+
+  Educational mesurements, 56
+
+  Educational psychologist, 56, 58, 59
+
+  Educational Review, 243, 251, 260
+
+  Educational Survey, 51, 52, 59
+
+  Elementary School, 65, 66, 67, 73, 74, 105, 106, 107, 108, 230, 231
+
+  England, 30, 173
+
+  Entrance requirements, 44, 48, 76, 80
+
+  Ernest, Duke, 32
+
+  Euthydemus, 98
+
+  Eye, 115-118, 120, 121, 129
+
+  Federal Government, 28
+
+  Folk, Joseph W., 173, 174
+
+  Foster, President, 95, 102, 105
+
+  France, 32, 229
+
+  Frederick the Great, 30, 32
+
+  Frederick William I, 30
+
+  Froebel, 39
+
+  Garfield, ex-President, 90
+
+  Georgia, 24
+
+  Germans, 30, 31
+
+  Germany, 32, 120, 229
+
+  Gladstone, William Ewart, 173, 174
+
+  Gotha, 32
+
+  Government, the, 19
+
+  Grand Forks, North Dakota, 186-199
+
+  Greek, 99, 100
+
+  Gulick, 120
+
+  Harris, Dr. William T., 231
+
+  Harvard College, 65, 219, 224
+
+  Heeter, S. L., 124, 125
+
+  Herbart, 39
+
+  High Schools, 44-47, 53, 55, 63-86, 107, 108, 220, 223, 233, 234,
+    247, 248
+
+  High School Teacher, 46-49, 80-85, 178, 222, 223, 228, 233-238
+
+  Hill, James J., 166
+
+  History, 154, 155
+
+  History of Education, 81, 82, 83, 84, 224
+
+  Home, 26, 66, 133-159
+
+  Homer, 99, 100
+
+  Hyde, President, 243, 250
+
+  Illiteracy, 20-24
+
+  Individualism, Theory of, 39, 43
+
+  Iowa, Legislature of, 49
+
+  Jefferson City, 120, 123
+
+  Johnson, Hiram W., 173
+
+  Jordan, David Starr, 72, 177
+
+  Kennedy, Professor, 244, 251, 252, 260
+
+  Law, School of, 108, 110
+
+  Leadership, 75-81, 163-181
+
+  Lecture method, 99-103
+
+  Lincoln, 166
+
+  Literature, 232, 234, 258
+
+  Lloyd-George, David, 166
+
+  Locke, 203
+
+  Longfellow, 207
+
+  Los Angeles, 123
+
+  Louises, the, of France, 32
+
+  McAdoo, Mr., 218, 220
+
+  Mann, Horace, 218, 220
+
+  Massachusetts, 24, 25, 31, 65, 107, 220
+
+  Medical Inspection, 22, 27, 193, 194
+
+  Medicine, School of, 108, 110
+
+  Methods of Teaching, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On the Firing Line in Education, by
+Adoniram Judson Ladd
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