OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 13, 16 January 1926, Page 20

OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS

PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION

SUGGESTIONS FROM AMERICA

MOBB HYGIENIC AND EFFICI-

ENT METHODS,

' Suppose every school building >in the country were abandoned, that^»i stead of those irksome six hours ar day sitting cramped at a desk, con- ■ fined in a stnffy recitation room, every pnpii had six hours in the open air—' would that be ideal, or wouldn't it! Thousands npon thousands of school, children will say it certainly would be, for there are mighty few that don't dream of a millennium in which school houses are conspicuously absent, says the ' '.San Francisco Chronicle. " And it- •ia an interesting phase of modern education's trend that some of the most prominent educators in the United States and Europe quite agree with the pupils in saying: "Down with the Bchool houses." , .However, they dp not wish the buildings eliminated entirely, but saved for a rainy day, like umbrellas, overshoes, or a bank account. What is to be gained by this wholesale boycott of school buildings t It does not by any means mean that edu-i \'i': cation" is to be neglected, but .that a morethygienic, efficient method of education shall take the place of the rig-idly-routined, mechanical "brain factories" that now exist. Children are to be taught out of doors. On sunshiny days, the pnpila should be kept in the open air, the modernists say. There is no reason why history and geography should be crammed into the young mind at an unyielding school desk that threatens spinal curvature and nervous diseases, •when they could be taught -so much more, successfully and painlessly in " tho open air. 'i Dr. Augnste Bollier, the famous Swiss physician-educator who established the'first open-air school fol^tubercular and other invalid children, is now urging that perfectly healthful children ought to receive their education under the same • hygienic conditions. A "wandering" school, a mo- . bile institution where the, pupils go jmoying from place to [place, resting here for an open-air lesson in arithmetic, and there for instruction , in gramma*, the while stretching and .exorcising their littlo bodies in the fresh air and absorbing nature lore from Mother Nature herself—that's what Dr. Rollier suggests as the ideal institution of learning. It is an adaptation 0/ the original "pedagogue" syßtem, where the tutor walked abroad with the pupil, instructing as they „,.tramped about. • "There should be organised everywhere and for all children—evejifor those in good health—open-air sun schools of the kind we opened for delicato children some years ago at Cergnat, in the Alps," Dr. Bollier deelates. ■ '' The school should go wandering about in the open whenever the weath"er permits, instead of being confined in the inside of one building. In the country, of course, such a programme would be simple enough, but even in the city, I believe that much could be accomplished by use of the parks and public gardens. Why'give lessons indoors when the fields' and woods -offer so. much better environment, for - learning?' In'the- country' they should \ take place at the edge of the wood in a: sunlit clearing or ma meadow well open to the sun. In the city the municipal government could reserve spots in the parks or along the shore in the case of cities which are close to a lake or river or the sea. COMPLETE FREEDOM. '' Arrived -at the spot selected for the assembling, the children should assume, the costume proper for giving c.ojnplete freedom for work andplay. -"'Sit gDiug and coming the teacher <" ivould have many opportunities to gi\e simple lessons in nature studyand domestic economy so that no -time ■would be wasted. Such object lesßons strike the child-'s imagination and arouse 4n eager response. Jl "This Idirect and intimate contact with Mother Nature, in the midst of which even country children often live '■> as strangers, will help to elevate the child's soul by leading it to an understanding of the simple life. If, " from school age children are familiarised with Nature with an existence in „ the open air, they will be inatinetjvfely attracted toward healthful work^ and: will be suspicious of sedentary arid unwholesome occupations." ■ For a child to sit in one position for a long period is positively dangerous, Dr. Rollier insists, and it is of the utmost importance that the "pupil should be free to move about. The ordinary school desks which are nailtd to the floor and in which the children are "filed away" to keep the loom in order, are little more than criminal, he saya. , t "It is perfectly unnecessary to be seated in order to listen ,to a history or a geography lesson," Dr. Bollier insists. "The sitting position is the one least suited to the child, the one an which he most easily acquires unhealthy attitudes. It is important that the children should be allowed to vary their positions and above all for i them not to be obliged to remain 1 physically inactive during the greater part of six hours a day. Prolonged immobilisation at school desks is absolute nonsense and dangerous for all children because it encourages unhealthy postures of the chest and vertebral column." ' Open air schools snch as I>r. Rollier established in the Alps have long since' ' become an important part of every .•" modern school system in the United ' States, for the systems could hardly claim to be modern without them. But only the tubercular children are admitted as pupils. Such children are kept out in the open as much as - possible, and in rainy weather they ■'■■■'■ are taught in pavilions much like "". sleeping porches, with screens instead of glass in the windows, and a great ;: open fireplace for heating. Gas, hot "•" air, or steam changes the chemical ~i analysis of the air. But while these T-. delicate pupils have been receiving T, such good care, learning under ideal "2, conditions of ventilation, lighting, - heat, and food —for their diet is su-' ~-- perviacd also —many of the sturdier '-'' ones have been slowly ruining their health in the enclosed school room. If these open air schools go a long : way toward curing unhappy little in- " validSjWhat will the same conditions do to keep the healthy child in con- "■■■'■> Jimied health? tqi^.\ SCHOOL TOIFOBMS. s r3fhilc the question of outdoor »che«i*-for all children is being sorionflly. Chicago has opened np anather problem for argument Uniforms for the public schools! Cer-,

tainly that ia not a new thing for | discussion, but Chicago has gone beyond the discussing point. It now requires <each of its school ma'ams to perform their duties attired in smart linen smocks, all just alike. It is by order of Superintendent of Schools : William M'Andrew, and some of the teachers like it and some of them don't. Of course, if a teacher is young and ►pretty and just out of college, the gay little bohemian smocks may be quite becoming. They will go beautifully with her chic bob'and her sport shoes. But what of the school teacher who is past middle age, and is wearing spectacles and ground-gripper shoes f 1 There are still many of that variety and they usually have superior merits ;.as teachers. And they claim the sniocks really make them look absurd. The jaunty effect disappears and they might just as well wear '' motherhu^bavds.'' Uniforming the teacher is generally regarded, however, as a step toward efficiency. • Everyone who has ever taught school knows how the pupils react towards what "teacher" wears. If shie appears day after day in thoroughly familiar school clothes and then suddenly appears in a new gown, why, there might as well be a holiday declared!.. There is no holding the attention; of the pupils. If she wears new eosfcnmes day after day, clothes whieh'she can hardly afford on the average, salary, these will also cause inattention.' tntra-flapperiah clothes are also disturbing to the student mind. \ ; . Uniforms for school children is another matter again. Private boarding schools nearly all require a uniform, how«ver easily modified it may be. Many public schools are thinking of acquiring it. Uniforms for school children are considered expedient, mainly oq the grounds of democracy, and for that reason they would naturally be even better for' public schools than for private schools, many educators say. The public Bchools mingle in their enrolments every class, financially and socially. The wearing apparel of the 'pupils is bound to be heterogeneous p proportion unless uniforms are required. When the poor little girl is clothed just as the richest little girl in the class is, then democracy holds sway and lessons may go on without the distractions of envy or pity, those who favour uniforms say. , With boys, the solution is more or less Teaehed in the student army'traini'ng corps which the Government has established in thousands !of high schools, and which require military uniforms of various sorts. The boys, through military training, have to a great extent conquered the "gangling age," and their uniforms have happily eliminated the stage that comes when the youngsters were realty too big for short trousers and too small for long. ECONOMY A FACTOR. > The economy of uniforms is a doubtful matter even yet, whether they be for teachers or for pupils. They naturally have to be moderately priced, and oven that means stretching the pocketbook beyond its accustomed limits . for the poorer pupils. On the other hand it likewise means buying more clothes for the wealthier children, whose mothers have made it a practice to allow, them to wear out their former "best" clothes at school. ' For children of the grammar grades, uniforms would be quite unnecessary since there is already so much uniformity to little folks' clothes, rich or poor. It is the junior high schools, and the preparatory schools where the issue comes up in its maximum importance. Sensible plain- uniforms heip out here in eliminating the frowsy, frilly little "school vamps" who just insist on ridiculous high heels, thin hose, and lacy frocks that are practically impossible for school attire when any activity is desired. They rip and split and topple over at the simplest of calisthenics. _ ! The advocates of uniforms for school children urge that they will be no disadvantage to the sons and daughters of wealthy parents and will be of great advantage to boys and, girls who come from only moderately well-to-do or very poor homes. Many of the latteT, it is thought, suffer from the feeling of inferiority that is impressed on them through having to get their Jessons by the side of children who are able to afford so much better clothes. If there is one place where perfect democracy should prevail, where individual merit alone should count and wealth or social position play no part, it is the publics chools. And it is believed that uniforming both pupils and teachers will .go a long way toward making the schools democratic. Altogether, it appears that the schools of the future, without buildings except for rainy weather, with both pupils and teachers sensibly attired for an abundance of activity, are really going to be ultra-efficient affairs. '