Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 63, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1913 — The Purpose of the School [ARTICLE]

The Purpose of the School

In any undertaking it is always qf |jhe utmost .importance to have a clear view of the thing to be done before formulating a plan of action. This is particularly true of any such undertaking as that of the public, school. We of the.present generation did not originate this institution. We found it already at hand. It is ours however, whether wC shall continue to maintain it, and we have to maintain it. Why have we made this decision? What do we expect this institution to do tor us? Until there is a clear-cut concent of the thing to be done by the school it is impossible to plan the work of the school and devise ways and means for getting this work done. As far as we of Indiana are concerned, we have a very definite statement of what our fathers had in mind when they provided for public schools. From our state constitution we learn that they wanted knowledge and learning diffused generally throughout the community in order that the free government which they had set up at great cost might be preserved. In our day we arc less concerned about the preservation of our free government. We assume that it is firihly established But we haVe retained the institution which our fathers founded, and though we do not look upon it as an institution the main purpose, of which is the preservation of our free government, yet we do regard it as a very efficient means of securing the good things our fathers had in mind when they established this government. If we study carefully the movement which resulted in the establishment of this government we shall see it grow out of a conviction that man has certain inborn rights and that government ought to secure to man the liberty and the opportunity to act in harmony with these rights.

Without going further into the thought of this period we may straightway seize upon this principle of man’s welfare depending upon his acting in harmony with his nature and incorporate it in our conception of the purpose of the school. No doubt all persons are agreed that the purpose of the school is to fit individuals for some sort of activity. We may therefore say that the purpose of the school, the object we have in view in establishing and maintaining it, is to fit boys and girls for an activity which is in harmony with their native capacities aqd inclinations. It will be easily seen that this thought harmonizes well with that idea of the purpose of the school which is commonly held to nowadays by leading educators. They tell us that the school should fit bpys and, girls for the greatest possible efficiency as members of the community in which they live. This is but another way of saying that the school should fit boys and girls to be good citizens. The former statement is somewhat better because it is more definite. It gives -us the thought that a community is not an aggregation of unrelated individuals, but an organism of which the different individuals are members. No better of this thought can be found than that of Saint Paul. He represents the situation by comparing it to the relation which the various parts of the human body sustain to pne another. No two parts are exactly alike and no two parts have exactly the same function. This is true even of two organs so apparently alike as our two eyes and our two ears. Just as in the human body each separate part has its own particular function, so in a community each separate person has his own particular part to perform, and furthermore, just as the highest efficiency of the body is dependent upon the full and harmonious cooperation of each individual part,_ so the welfare of any community depends upon the full and efficient performance by each individual of that part of the work of the community which is his and his alone. By a very fortunate relation of things it happens that the welfare of the individual, as well as that of the community, is dependent upon the individual’s doing well the part which is his and his alone. We are all familiar with the sad experiences of individuals who have sought to do a work for which nature never intended them. To be

successful, efficient and happy each individual must do the work iy? was born to do. From the foregoing considerations It is therefore manifest that in attempting through the schools to fit boys and girls to act in harmony with their ..own individual natures we are en deavering to provide for the highest welfare of both the individual and the community. Taking this view of the situation it becomes clear that the educator has before him three well-defined problems when he thus undertakes to devise a system of education which shall be adapted to the work of preparing boys and girls to be efficient members of the community in which they live. He must first devise ways and means of discovering what the nature of each child is. Then he must determine the activity which is best for a child endowed with such a nature. And he must devise a course of study which will be most serviceable in flttiflg the child for this particular activity. In regard to the first problem, that of determining the peculiar nature of each child, much has been done, but much more remains to be done. There is great need of enlightenment as to tl*e means and methods of discovering the elements which enter into the nature of each individual child. Home and school and community will have to co-operate in this enterprise. Teachers and other school officials must study the child more with this aim in view. The school should look upon it as one of its most important functions so to act upon the child as to lead it to reveal its inherent traits and capacities. The course of study should provide as great a variety of activities as possible with this end in view. The home should likewise bring the child into active relations with a multitude of activities so that the child may have an opportunity of discovering that activity for which it lias the greatest inherent capacity.

It will be seen that the first problem is intimately connected with the second, that of determining the activity for whieh any given child is fitted by nature. Not a great deal has been done towards the solution of this problem. It is a very difficult problem. There are a few people of whom we say early in their lives that they were born for this or that particular work, and we feel quite confident that we know what we are talking about. But in the case of the great majori ty of persons -we feel unprepared to render any opinion as to what they were born to do. And not only do we feel thus unprepared to render an opinion as to what a given person is best fitted for, but we also feel that ho particular obligation rests upon us to render such an opinion. We think that the matter is in most cases beyond human ken. We have agreed to leave the matter to somebody else—generally to the individual himself. We leave him to find out for himself what his work shall be. Few of us are prepared to give him valuable advice regarding the matter even when he applies to us. That this is a deplorable situation is a well known fact. It would be impossible to adequately represent the evils growing out of this situation. We are all quite well acquainted with individuals who have gone through sad experiences because of -their failure to find the

particular work which they were fitted to do. Can nothing be done* about it? It is a matter which is particularly urgent in this country of ours, where we are comparatively free from the tyranny of caste and each individual is largely free to enter whatsoever calling he chooses. Schoolmen are beginning to think that something can be done along this line. The public is asking that the schools fit boys and girls for definite vocations and schoolmen are trying to respond to this de mand. But the conscientious schoolman sees that he must pro ceed with great caution. Before he undertakes to fit John to be e printer and Henry to be a carpenter, he must know that printing is the right work for John and carpentry the right work for Henry. If he should lit John to be a printer when he should have been fitted to be a carpenter the last state of John is worse than the first. Such proceedure would simply be another illustration of that mal-ad-mipistration of affairs which wc are accustomed to describe as getting the cart before the horse. If wc are to offer instruction intended to fit boys and girls for definite vocations it is absolutely incumbent upon us to do our utmost to make sure that this instruction shall be given to boys and girls who are qualified by native endowment, experience, etc., to pursure successfully just these particular vocations. In the present strenuous advocacy of vocational aducation too little attention is being paid to this prase of the problem. It has not been wholly neglected, as I have already pointed out, but it needs more attention. The need for vocational education is growing more and more urgent every day. In our past, when raw materials and land were abundant, it was possible for a person to get on, to exist, to continue to have some sort of being, even though he had small skill in his vocation. But this is growing to be less and less the case as the years go by. There is yearly- less and less room here for those creatures whom we are accustomed to

describe as jacks of all trades but bosses of none. The future is for the man who is the boss of his job. This-will be the man who was born for his job and whb in youth was given the necessary training to fit him to work effectively at fits job. But before this training can be most wisely given it will be necessary for us to discover some means of ascertaining for what each child was born. It is obvious that it will be necessary for us to study the children more carefully than ever before. Wc have begun in a small way to do that in Rensselaer. The blanks which we recently sent - out and which the most of you kindly filled out for us, were a step in that direction. We shall endeavor to find out the individual capacities, attainments and needs of each child. We shalL also seek to discover his tastes and the, trend of his ambition. We shall further seek to learn the requirements, mental, moral and physical, of the various vocations and set these before the child and assist him in so far as may be possible to determine from a.study of these what vocation Is best adapted to his personality. It was with this in view that we asked the library board to place on its shelves certain booklets published by the Bostori Bureau of Vocational Guidance which contain information regarding a number of the most common of the vocations. At our request they have also procured certain ftooks on the subject of vocational guidance. These are for from being satisfactory, but they are helpful and stimulating. The third problem, that of providing appropriate training for each individual, is also a very difficult one, Obviously the schools ean not with their present equipment providie instruction in each of the many-vocations. If they can not do this then in what vocations shall they give instruction? It should be remarked in this connection that the schools have been vocational for a long time for such persons as later took up any of the learned professions, but they have not been so well adapted to the needs of persons desirous of entering other lines of work. The present demand is that they shall be made more helpful to these persons also. But it is not an easy matter to comply with this demand. As already said, the schools can not, with their present equipment, provide definite instruction in each of the many vocations. Which group of pupils shall be favored with instruction that will be directly helpful to them in their specific vocation? It would seem as fair a method as can be devised to decide the matter on the basis of the greatest good to the greatest number. There are certain lines of information and training which are useful to all, no matter what the specific vocation of each may be. These should certainly be provided first of all. These have been provided through the Introduction of reading, writing, spelling, etc. Then there are certain activities skill in which will be serviceable to the great majority.' Such are sewing for the girls, and work with tools and materials for the boys. Other activities of this class could be included and doubtless will be included in the work of the schools. Such would be domestic / science, bookkeeping, business law and business practices, etc. The next class of activities for which special training could be provided would be those of certain specific vocations. According to the above principle theseshould be those for which the largest number of pupils are preparing. That is, they should be determined by the nature of the community. In Rensselaer the subject chosen has been agriculture. Tt may be said in defense of this choice that the end in view is not solely that of fitting certain pupils to earn a living through the pursuit of agriculture, but it is also to contribute somewhat to the development of the vocation itself by thus emphasizing it- and recognizing its fundamental importance. In the above remarks conditions in Rensselaer have been most, in mind. In larger communities it is possible to provide instruction in a larger list of vocations. This paper his pointed out that it is highly desirable that this list be made as large as possible. But it seems probable that it will be a long time before the public schools can offer instruction in more than a very few of the specific vocations. Until such time the public school will have to serve chiefly two functions. It will have to offer instruc tion and training in subjects and activities which are of general utility and it will have to serve as a means of discovering the individuality of the boys and girls who come under its care aucLafford them guidance in their choice of a vocation. In these last two activities the school has done very little in

•the past. It will be obliged to do WuM in the future. Until It is successfully pursuiigtf these two activities It will fail in accomplishing that for which it was founded and is maintained. That it is being forced to give heed to these matters is one of the best results of the present agitation for instruction along vocational lines.

Snider’s products will be given a free demonstration at McFarland’s grocery Saturday, with free service of soups and other things all dqy. Everyone Invited to attend and get acquainted with this fine line.*