5
E.—ll
nor can they reproduce the complexity of actual trade conditions. (2.) The school can anel ought to give an orderly concise presentation of actual life, conditions over a range of trades, anel at the same time give cultural education in English, English literature, and social stuelies, &c. Koos classifies the forms of organization as primarily two :- (I.) The "multiple-curriculum type," which consists in the provision 'of two or more curricula (viz., acaelemic, commercial, agricultural, industrial, domestic soiemce) with certain constants (viz., English, social stuelies, science, physical training). About 25 per cent, eif the junior high schools are organized on these lines. The objection to this form is their assumption that the", pupil has found his vocation. There shoulel be full preliminary exploration. (2.) The " constants-with-variables type," which is the generally adopted form. It makes for greater curricular flexibility. There is here real exploration for guidance. A cultural basis of English, social studies, and physical education is insisted upon. The socially integrating potency of social science is never forgotten in the American school. There is in the. United States a steady increase in the popularity of the vocational curricula,. The short " try-out " courses in magnificently equipped school-shops supplemented by " life-career " theoretical courses and by periodical visits to city shops and factories gives proper perspective for a choice eif life-work, and alsei endow a pupil with broad social sympathies. In school-shops I was repeatedly given evidence of the redemption of the retareled —the translation of the incipient Bolshevik into the usefully employed citizen who has found himself. Consequently the fixation of specialized courses in commerce, agriculture, professional life, or industrial life at the 7th Grade is generally regarded as a mistake. At that age a pupil is led aside by novelty or influenced by social prestige. He newels a preliminary survey of a broad range of subjects in the junior high school, and, is then allowed to take intensified work in his selected province!. This scheme functions directly for a more contented and more efficient democracy. It directly antagonizes the educational charlatanry of the; transfer of specialized abilities, anel it meets at this preadolescent and e;arly adolescent stage the dawning of self-consciousness, when new aspirations stir the pupil's being, and when he needs something more than facts. The average junior high school is fully equipped with a, range of school-shops for course's in woexlwork, sheet metal, printing, electrical engineering, automobile work, mechanical engineering, &c. The commercial side has special rooms for stenography and typewriting, and for book-keeping with proper appliances. For instance, thirty pupils will each be provided with the standard Remington or Underwood typewriter, and the touch method of instruction and phonographic dictation are adopted. The latitude given to vocational aims imposes a severe tax on programmemanipulation, but the administrative labour thereby entailed is fully rewarded by the provision of a full range of eelucational, vocational, social, anel recreational interests. To elo anything like justice to the organization and equipment of the American junior high school would necessitate the compilation of a volume. In this condensed survey it is only possible to emphasize the main points. Although the mechanical arts are so generously provided for in these schools, New Zealand secondary schools make much more satisfactory provision for practical experimental science. The laboratory provision in these Californian schools was disappointingly meagre, and the' teaching was practically all demonstration work with apparently limited appliances. Although the demonstration method makes for' speed, it must surely be> supplemented with inelivieiual work to ensure scientific thoroughness. As regards specific subjects, arithmetic is much more severely practical than with us, anel deals with banking methods, investments, mortgages, building and loan societies, taxes, and public finance', anel life insurance as its main province.. There seems to be, a growing depreciation of the educational value of foreign languages for the average' pupil. Social studies comprise a very satisfactory range of history (national and European), civics, elementary economics (comprising fundamental conceptions of wealth, poverty, capital, labour, &c), and human anel social geography. Very great importance is attacheel to oral work in the, vernacular. Indeed, throughout the American educational system facility in oral English is very highly valued. Spelling is no longer the; conventional bugbear. Ayers' statistics show that the average 6th Grade pupil can spell 92 per cent, of the 975 words which the average adult uses in writing. Therefore many teachers ascertain the eighty-five words which each individual pupil spells wrongly anei bring him up to standard. This will give; some; idea of the practical character of many schoolrooms. All "frills" anel traditional truckling to prescriptive custom are: cut out. But there is no attempt to discard or even to depreciate the; spiritual elements. The efflorescence of education finels its due place. The curriculum fully recognizes the! highest cultural influence of music, literature, and graphic art. Practically evesry school has its orchestra and band, and music and art arc an integral part of every curriculum. The', correlation of drawing with shop-work is always insisted upon. In mathematics a great deal of traditional algebra, geometry, anei trigonometry is discarded, and the work is made as concrete and practical as possible. The extra-curricular activities of the school are recognized as an agency of broad humanizing value, anel their socializing opportunities are fully exploited. I consieler that the students' self-governing scheme which I investigated at Los Angeles schools is superior altogether to the! British prefeotorial or monitorial organization. The' American schools in ciuestion discipline! themselves from within. The magisterial authority practically confines itself to class-room operations. The general meetings, the social functions, the out-of-school discipline is mainly in the' haneis of the students' representatives' executive, elected after due hustings propaganda by democratic ballot vote!. New Zealand schools may be superior in the more thorough organization of military training and in the more general participation in out-of-school games, but they have not evolved a system of internal discipline compared to what I witnessed in operation at certain Los Angeles institutions. As a practical training for democratic citizenship it appeared to me an admirable feature.
Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.
By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.
Your session has expired.