■ ■'..■■
:■.,".:■•<•:.■
Glass L-±:j?\f)U
Book J"^ v^T
Gopyriglit]f__
COPYRIGHT DEPOSET.
s
^
^
SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
A MANUAL OF MODERN
SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
BY
HENRY EASTMAN BENNETT
PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY
GINN AND COMPANY
BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON
ATLANTA • DALLAS • COLUMBUS • SAN FRANCISCO
#&
COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY
HENRY EASTMAN BENNETT
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
417-7
AUG -6 1917
Cfte gtfteneeunt grcgj
GINN AND COMPANY • PRO-
PRIETORS ■ BOSTON • U.S.A.
/
©CI.A473038
fa> t
PREFACE
This work is the outcome of many years of experience
in school management and supervision, as well as in the
teaching of these subjects in college and normal-school
classes. Its aim is first of all to be practical and genuinely
helpful to teachers, and in the next place to set higher
ideals in this field than are usually associated with the
practical attitude. Experience has convinced the author
that the gap between theory and practice is more imaginary
than necessary, and this work is largely an effort to bridge
that chasm. I have tried to reconcile conflicting theories
and to outline a concrete plan of procedure in which many
of the fine but uncorrelated and fragmentary discussions
may be harmonized. It is recognized that many widely
known statements, even some included in the "Readings"
given in the text, are more or less in conflict with the posi-
tions taken here ; but they are also in conflict with each
other. As the book is for learners rather than for critical
argument, attention has not been directed toward these dis-
agreements in particular, but every effort has been made to
encourage independence of thought. The point of view' is
further set forth in the first chapter.
I have had in mind the average school of average oppor-
tunities and the teacher of average ability. The temptation
to think in terms of ideal schools and experimental schools
has been put aside with reluctance. The discussions have
been directed away from the peculiar problems of the rural
ungraded school, with its one untrained teacher, and from
those of the impersonal unit in the huge municipal machine,
iv SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
though it is hoped there is something of value for both
these, and I have thought rather of the community school
of medium size, where the larger part of American teaching
and learning is done.
My deep obligation is acknowledged to the hundreds of
William and Mary men whose responsiveness has been an
important guide to the things most worth while in this dis-
cussion ; to the earnest corps of teachers in the Training
School at Williamsburg, who have cooperated by testing out
the more radical statements in daily practice ; and to my wife
and to my colleagues, Professor George O. Ferguson, Jr.,
now of Colgate University, and Professor John W. Ritchie,
for their patient and discriminating criticisms during the
preparation of the book. I am also indebted, for extracts
and illustrations used, to the kindness of Dr. John Dewey,
Dr. Lewis M. Terman, Dr. Clarence A. Perry, the JVIac-
millan Company, Houghton Mifflin Company, Miss Flora J.
Cooke, Miss Mary E. Murphy, Superintendent R. E. Hall,
Director W. H. Magee, and others.
H. E. B.
Williamsburg, Virginia
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I. EFFICIENCY IN MANAGEMENT i
Scope of school management. Economy. Demonstrable results.
Management as educative as instruction. Pupil's interest and
school's welfare do not conflict. The form and the spirit. Gen-
eralizations and illustrations. Conservatism, criticism, and rad-
icalism. Suggestions to students.
CHAPTER II. THE SCHOOL GROUNDS 9
A glance backward. Central location. Sanitary surroundings.
The teacher's responsibility. The space required. Using dis-
advantages. Beautifying sensibly. Cleaning up and keeping up.
Where decency is in danger. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER III. BUILDINGS 19
In retrospect. Medieval origins. Modern tendencies. The stand-
ard classroom. Corridors. Doors. Stairways. Cloakrooms.
Toilets. Are children destructive ? The remedy. " Destructive-
ness " diverted. Advantages. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER IV. LIGHTING 28
Eyestrain. Its causes. Aggravations. Its effects. The pity of it.
Principles of lighting. Window requirements. Wall coloring.
Window shades. Which direction ? Remedying defective light-
ing. Lighting limitations. Books. The teacher's opportunity.
Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER V. HEAT AND VENTILATION 37
Master-teachers and fresh air. Outdoor classes. Open-air rooms.
Window ventilation. Window boards. Flushing and drafts.
Fresh air. What is fresh air ? Oxygen and energy. The real
temperature problem. Humidity. What is the ventilation prob-
lem ? Direct radiation. Gravity systems and the jacketed stove.
Hot-air furnace. Ventilation standards. Precautions. Forced
circulation. Larger systems. Foot-drying. Humidifying. Test-
ing the air. Summary of practical rules. Problems. Readings.
v
vi SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
PAGE
CHAPTER VI. SEATS AND DESKS . 53
Seats of the past. " The bugbear of school hygiene." Essentials
of a good desk : Construction ; Finish ; Single ; Seat ; Back,
Desk top ; Book box ; Inkwells ; Movable desks ; Adjustments.
The hygiene of sitting. Seating and posture training. Reno-
vating defaced desks. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER VII. APPARATUS 62
Two ways of wasting. The useful and the useless. Pupil-made
apparatus. Instruments of precision. Familiar contrivances.
Good tools. Primary materials. Arithmetic measures. Maps.
Stereopticon. Library. Museum. Phonograph. Playground
equipment. Care of equipment. General principles quoted.
Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER VIII. SCHOOL HOUSEKEEPING 75
Standards and traditions. Janitors. Floor cleaning. Dusting.
Disinfecting. Chalk dust. Catch-alls. Educative values and
pupil participation. Summary of N. E. A. recommendations.
Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER IX. HEALTH RESPONSIBILITY OF THE
SCHOOL ./> 84
A growing responsibility. A pressing social problem. Sanitary
dangers and ideals. General precautions. Infectious sprays.
Drinking-cup dangers. Clean hands. The rural water supply.
Segregation of suspects. Communicable diseases among school
children. A civic lesson. The hope of human progress. Prob-
lems. Readings.
CHAPTER X. HEALTH INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION 95
The four responsibilities. The waste from physical defects.
Medical inspectors. Dental inspection. Examination by special-
ists. School nurses. Teacher as medical inspector. Eye tests.
Hearing tests. Health records. Reports. Special consideration
of defectives. Instruction the higher purpose. Competition in
health training. The health ideal. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XL THE COURSE OF STUDY 109
Early courses. State and city tendencies. Types of courses.
The time-limit fallacy. Shifting bases of course of study. True
functions of the course. Its adaptability. Teacher's use of the
course. The measure of good teaching. The cause of bad teach-
ing. Problems. Readings.
CONTENTS vii
PAGE
CHAPTER XII. ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL ... 119
Origin of class instruction. The trend to the mechanical. Un-
graded schools. Values of grading. Factory organization or
craftsmanship? Eight and four or six and six. Departmental
teaching. Aims of modern organization. Indictment of the
mechanical systems. Does grading grade ? Semiannual grades.
Shorter intervals. Special classes. Cambridge " double-track "
plan. Pueblo or individual plan. Batavia plan. Flexible or
shifting group plan. Flexible subject grouping. Differentiated
courses. Essentials of flexibility. Values of flexibility. Problems.
Readings.
CHAPTER XIII. PROMOTIONS AND PUPIL PROGRESS . 138
Promoting machinery. Nonpromotions. Examinations as basis
of promotions. Informal tests. Daily grades. Teacher's judg-
ment. Combinations. Cooperative classification. Principles of
promotion. Pupil participation. Partial promotions. Conditions.
Continuous promoting. Efficiency advancement. Scientific tests
and scales. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XIV. MARKING SYSTEMS 150
Frequency. Numerical grades. Qualitative terms. Letters.
Departmental variations. Normal distribution. Relative ranking.
Awarding honors oy chance. Instructive grading. Problems.
Readings.
CHAPTER XV. REPORTS TO PARENTS 159
Effects of the usual type of report. What the report should do.
A satisfactory form. Its use. Specimen comments. Effects on
teaching. Problems.
CHAPTER XVI. THE DAILY SCHEDULE 167
Traditional forms. Principles of the schedule. I. Physiological
considerations. Fatigue. II. Pedagogical considerations. Reflex
influences. The " elastic schedule." Illustrative program. Pro-
gram for a small high school. A Montessori program. The Gary
program. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XVII. HOME STUDY AND STUDY PROGRAMS 184
The indictment of home study. Its regulation. Study programs.
Double periods. After-school periods. Segregated study plan.
." Form subjects." Individual needs. Concentration during work
hours. Knowledge and culture study. Latitude in home-study
requirements. Training for leisure. Contributions to home life.
Problems. Readings.
vm SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
PAGE
CHAPTER XVIII. GETTING STARTED RIGHT 194
Readiness of the teacher. Readiness of the plant. Class rolls.
Course of study interpreted. First impressions. Work of the
first days. Not too many changes. Study habits. A clean slate
for a bad record. Getting in tune for the day. A moment of
reverence. Devotional (?) exercises. Their aim. Bible as litera-
ture. Routine or reverence ? Singing. Educative and socializing
exercises. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XIX. ROUTINE 206
Pros and cons. Function of routine. Laws of routine. An illus-
tration. Results. Pupil initiative. Persistency. Fire drills.
Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XX. ELIMINATING WASTE IN TEACHING
AND STUDY . 215
Some types of waste. Useless material. Lack of aim. Planning
lessons : Aim ; Motivation ; Type and steps of lesson. Value of
writing plan. Written plan a guide to criticism. Form of plan.
When plan-writing becomes unnecessary. Self-criticism. Prog-
ress notes. Eliminating superfluous drill. Waste in lack of
thoroughness. What is " thoroughness " ? What errors are inex-
cusable ? Making the list of " inexcusables." Social motivation.
Grammatical weeks. Waste in study. Study is selective thinking.
Dead-level study is waste. Assignment. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XXI. WORK AND DRUDGERY 229
Play and work. Routine and drudgery. Aims, — fleeting and
abiding. Is drudgery blessed ? Dewey on work and drudgery.
The meaning of drudgery. What makes for character ? Life has
no need for drudges. Summary principles. Drudgery in teach-
ing. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XXII. MARKING EXERCISES 239
The drudgery of marking papers. Prevents good teaching.
Marking papers fails of its purpose. Eliminating needless mis-
takes. Application of the taboo. Values of grading by pupils,
— to the graders, — ■ to the writers. An illustration. Some mis-
conceptions. Variations. Makes for economy and definiteness.
Exact grades required. Value in questions of taste. The
teacher's study and marking of the papers. Instructive
comments. Problems. Readings.
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER XXIII. MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 250
Motives defined. Classification. The child is a social being.
Interested in school work directly. Normal motives social and
mixed. Eorms and evidences of social control. Multiple social
groups. Sympathy limited by knowledge. Success of socialized
school work. Methods of using the social motive. Group com-
petition. Contributions to the class group in "content" studies.
In "form" studies. ^Remedying deficiencies. Group self-
correction. Social shortcomings of family and school. Princi-
ples of motivation. Meaning of incentive. Use of incentives.
Classification of incentives. Principles of incentives. Problems.
Readings.
CHAPTER XXIV. PUNISHMENT 269
Negative incentives. Punishment through the ages. Principles
of punishment; Promotes affection; "Lightning principle";
Last resort or first aid ; Penalty schedules ; Educative aspects ;
Natural punishment ; Social penalties. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XXV. CONSTRUCTIVE GOVERNMENT .... 281
What is order'' Transition of government to social control.
Government must vary with the governed. Success of the demo-
cratic spirit in school. School cities. Liberty grows with capac-
ity for it. Results of unnecessary restrictions. Values of self-
direction. Initiating social rule. Self-made restrictions — few
but infallible. Restrictions imposed by authority. Rules for the
teacher's protection. Enforcement of laws by pupils. Selection
of monitors. Installation. Need of infallible persistency. Social
control of punctuality and attendance. Good citizenship in
school elections. Caution. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XXVI. CORRECTIVE GOVERNMENT 293
Constructive versus corrective government. Simple deprivation.
Innocent wrongdoing. School justice never blind. Manipulat-
ing motives and diagnosing conduct. Dishonesty a symptom, not
a motive. Fighting. Profanity. Vice versus virility. As to the
girls. Authority and rebellion. Commands versus obedience.
The authority of fairness and courtesy. Threatening versus do-
ing. Real teacher-courage. Conclusion. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XXVII. COMMUNITY COOPERATION .... 304
School as the center of education. The foundation of society.
The unifier of modern life. Community correlations. The press.
x SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
PAGE
" The movies." Other public entertainments. School and public
service ; reciprocal benefits. Systematic instruction by public
officials. The courts. Legislative bodies. Commercial bodies
and welfare organizations. Efficiency of children in public work.
Boy Scouts. School savings bank. Industries of the commu-
nity. Educative materials as advertising. Railroad cooperation.
Instruction by housekeepers. Instruction by tradesmen. School-
home gardens. Medical counsel. School credits for home work.
Values of credit scheme. Other plans. Instruction by " home
projects." Utilizing neighborhood knowledge. Supervision and
exhibition of home work. The church. The obligation is mutual.
Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XXVIII. SCHOOL EXTENSION 324
Unrestricted service the new ideal. Waste through an idle plant.
The summer close-down. Vacation schools. All-year sessions.
Part-time study. Evening schools. The continuation school
firmly established. Vocational guidance. Center of community
life. Supervision of social activities. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XXIX. SPECIAL DAYS AND OCCASIONS . . 336
A teaching device. Occasion gives teaching aim. Honoring or
dishonoring. Recreation is not celebration. Relative importance.
Form and aim. Resulting attitudes. Reaching the patrons.
Special weeks. Practical points. School fairs. Power of prizes.
The parade. Problems. Readings.
CHAPTER XXX. THE TEACHER'S RIGHTS AND DUTIES 347
Friction and lubrication. Rights and duties: 1. Regulations.
2. Contract. 3. Accepting position. 4. Right to a place. 5. Ten-
ure. 6. Indorsements. 7. Exemption from interference. 8. In
loco parentis. 9. Right of punishment. 10. Courses and methods.
11. Personal conduct. 12. Cooperation. 13. Courtesy. Problems.
Readings.
CHAPTER XXXI. TEACHER SELF-MANAGEMENT ... 356
Self-management in school management. Academic preparation.
Common facts. Quacks and teachers. Professional study. A
continuing process. Keeping physically fit. How to fill a full
day yet fuller. Apportioning the day. Upward climbing. A work
schedule. The folly of worry. Personality complex but attainable.
" The best policy." Tact and its uses. Politeness — a teaching
power. Cheerfulness. Patience. Courage to trust. Firmness.
Initiative. Personal appearance. Cleanliness and taste. Friend-
ship. " — But the greatest of these." Readings.
INDEX
371
SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
CHAPTER I
EFFICIENCY IN MANAGEMENT
Scope of school management. The field of this subject
lies anywhere between the specific problems of instruction in
the narrow sense and the broad questions of administration
and supervision. The lines of demarcation will necessarily
fluctuate and overlap, rendering any definition of the subject
arbitrary and of little use. Any topic may be regarded as
legitimately in this field which aims to guide the teacher
in securing school conditions, spiritual or material, favorable
to educative progress. We may discuss anything from sani-
tary finger nails to national ideals, provided we are thereby
clarifying our conceptions of the school conditions under
which real educative results are best attained.
To avoid mere wandering about in so boundless a field
it is essential that we be guided by certain principles. The
following" statements will serve as selective criteria for the
discussions which follow.
Economy. Good management begins with economy. The
management of a school, as of any other enterprise, has
for its prime purpose the securing of the largest possible re-
turns for the expenditure involved. Money paid for schools
and the yet more valuable time of children are the invest-
ments intrusted by the public to the hands of teachers.
Results, in the form of practical efficiency, mental power,
character, and that intangible product called culture, are the
2 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
returns demanded. Inducing the people to increase their
investment in schools is an important part of school ad-
ministration, but the problem of school management is to
give them as much as possible for their money, — to use no
money for which value is not returned. Educators should
realize too that this is the surest way to secure larger in-
vestments in the educational plant.
Demonstrable results. The time has come when results
should be of a more demonstrable and largely measurable
sort. Merely spending so many hours a year in ''complet-
ing" time-hallowed "courses" in traditional "subjects" can
no longer be accepted without challenge as adequate proof
of efficiency. Nor should a school or system be measured
by tests of its own devising. To encourage investment the
net profits of an industry should be measurable directly by
the investors. Objective measures of efficiency, somewhat
scientific, are being developed in the educational world.
However, an increasing ability to read appreciatively, to cal-
culate accurately, to converse intelligently, to take an interest
in the best things of life and to do well the things that
most need doing — such results should be almost as obvious
to parents and taxpayers as are dividend checks.
Management as educative as instruction. The processes
of school management are inherently educative in the high-
est sense. It has been said that school is not a preparation
for life ; it is life. We may say that school is a preparation
for life because it is life. Certainly school life is as real to
those who are engaged in it as is business or industry . or
society. It is business and industry and society. The moral
and social problems and the problems of practical work are
as genuine and the motives as fundamental as any in later
life. Class instruction in the formal subjects affords no dis-
ciplinary training of more permanent value than the prac-
tical and social situations of the child's school life. No
EFFICIENCY IN MANAGEMENT 3
examination takes a pupil's measure so effectively as his
daily intercourse with his fellow pupils. No habits derivable
from the problems of arithmetic are more useful than those
which may be derived from the problems of getting along
with one's fellows. A fixed attitude of sympathy, justice,
and cooperation toward the individuals and the social units
which constitute the school counts more for good citizen-
ship than the profoundest knowledge of history or the
rarest appreciation of poetry. Furthermore, the very in-
struction itself can be motivated and vitalized in no way
better than by using the problems of school organization
as object lessons or as centers of correlation. Good man-
agement will seize upon every school situation as a sig-
nificant opportunity for instruction or training. This by
no means implies a " preachy " attitude on the part of
the teacher. So genuine are the problems of school life
that the teacher needs only to appreciate them fully to
avoid any occasion for shamming.
Pupil's interest and school's welfare do not conflict.
The highest interests of the school and of the individual
pupil are identical. Each problem of management is to
be considered both in the light of the educative signifi-
cance for the individual pupil and that of the smooth run-
ning of the school machinery. Particularly in matters of
discipline these interests seem often to conflict. Granted
that, in schools as in nations, the government exists only
for the good of the governed, there still remains the dif-
ficult choice between the view that "the school is noth-
ing; the child is all" and the opinion that "the interests
of any individual must give way before those of the group
of which he is a member." We hold that either the sac-
rifice of the school for the pupil or of the pupil for the
school is but a half-solution of any problem of manage-
ment. It is but a makeshift at best. When the problem
4 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
is truly solved, the best interests of both school and child
will be found identical.
The form and the spirit. " The letter killeth ; the spirit
maketh alive." Every great pedagogical idea, once the
divine enthusiasm of its discovery cools off, tends to settle
down in practice as lifeless formulas, systems, and methods.
Ruts and routine are lines of least resistance, and all sorts
of school processes tend to fall into them. In their right-
ful use they are invaluable ; elsewhere they are deadening
and ruinous. The best policies of school management soon
become formalized and spiritless unless some warm-blooded
enthusiasm keeps everlastingly vitalizing the forms. Ideals
of management should have as a central aim the keeping
of teachers' methods plastic and their ideas from petrifying.
The best thing that can be said of a plan of organization
is that it forces teachers to deal with ever-varying souls
and individual needs rather than zvith static subjects and
systems. Let us value any scheme of teaching as well for
its reflex effect upon the teacher as for its direct effect upon
the child and the school.
Generalizations and illustrations. A textbook cannot well
be a storybook, and yet principles are understood, and they
are remembered, and they can be applied in just about
the degree that they are thought oitt as specific cases. An
author condenses into his general statements an accumu-
lation of particular instances and experiences. The reader
will appreciate these statements in just the measure that
he applies them back again to cases. It would be an easy
matter to gather countless illustrative stories and pictures
to illuminate every chapter of a work on school manage-
ment. But anyone who has been a teacher or a pupil, or
who will intelligently observe either, can gather the requisite
illustrations from his own experiences. The effort of gather-
ing these and the thinking involved in making the application
EFFICIENCY IN MANAGFMENT 5
of principles to them is precisely the most profitable exer-
cise involved in the study of the subject. It is the author's
part in such a discussion to develop principles ; it is the
reader's part to illustrate them.
Conservatism, criticism, and radicalism. As to method
of study we must steer between two clangers. On the one
hand, there is our natural affection for those practices to
which we have long been accustomed ; on the other, there
is the fascination of glowing but untested visions. Long
experience makes us conservative. When the ideas about
which we have centered our whole system of thinking are
attacked, we feel called to a stubborn defense as of our
ancient shrines against the inroads of ruthless vandals.
But the young are prone to find little charm in the prosy
past and see a universal panacea in every plausible plan.
The past needs no defense. Its fundamental soundness may
be taken for granted. Out of it has come all the good of
the present and will come all the better of the future. But
the true way to honor the past is to improve upon it. The
only way to preserve it is to search out its weaknesses and
remedy them. On the other hand, there is no universal
solvent for pedagogical difficulties, nor will there ever be.
As fast as one small problem of school management is
mastered another one will be confronted. Progress must
be slow and always difficult. Every slight contribution puts
the art on a higher plane and every step forward is infi-
nitely worth while because it brings us — not to the goal,
but to the next step.
SUGGESTIONS TO STUDENTS
1. Think of this subject not as something to be prepared for
recitation or required for promotion but as practical suggestions
for making your teaching more valuable to yourself and to those
you are employed to serve. As you read, keep constantly in mind
6 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
the question, " What is there in this which I can make use of in
my teaching ? "
2. Read always with a problem in mind. With the aid of the
sideheads, challenge the text as to what it has to offer on each
point discussed. At the end of each paragraph or chapter raise
the question as to what you have got from it worth remem-
bering. Re-read whenever necessary to make the points clear
enough for you to sum them up in your own words. Review
frequently the ideas that seem to you most worth while.
3. Recall or imagine a special case which illustrates each situa-
tion discussed. Think the statements into concrete instances.
Preferably keep in .mind some particular school — one you have
taught or attended, or one you expect to teach. The problems at
the end of each chapter are intended to guide you in this inde-
pendent application. Substitute or add other problems for your
own solution. Solve each as genuinely as though you had to meet
it in reality. Such thinking requires time and effort, but nothing
less can make a good teacher out of a poor one or out of one who
is not yet a teacher. The situations discussed are not so rare but
that the reader can furnish illustrations as well as the author.
Doing so will prove the most useful phase of the reading.
4. Note that the "Problems" are not intended to test the
reader's knowledge of the text. The thoughtful reader will con-
stantly organize and review what he has read and what he has
thought about his reading if he expects to retain what he has
learned. The paragraph heads, summarized in the Table of Con-
tents, will afford the necessary guide for reviewing and testing.
5. The references given as "Readings" have been selected
with a view mainly to their ready accessibility. They are mostly
either well-known texts or else government publications which
may be had free or at a nominal cost. Read as many of these as
you can and any of the other parallel discussions to be found in
great abundance in educational reference works, periodicals, and
books. Compare different statements carefully where they do
not seem to be in agreement. Apparently conflicting statements
are often due to slightly different use of technical words, or the
difference between technical and popular usages of certain terms.
EFFICIENCY IN MANAGEMENT 7
Thoroughness in such questions is usually " many-sidedness."
Understanding fully is not a drilling-in of the statement of one
authority but seeing the matter in all its aspects.
6. After getting as many opinions of a question as practicable
formulate your own conclusion. It is not necessary to accept the
author's statements, much less to reject them. The main thing is
to test them out with cases until you can accept them or can write
out statements which will better stand your tests.
7. Take time to write out in your own words the conclusions
of most importance which you reach. Thus you make them clear
and lasting. You can scarcely be sure of mastery otherwise. Well-
kept notebooks used constantly in reviewing are of inestimable
value in making what you have learned permanently useful.
8. Form the habit of weighing the advantages and disadvan-
tages of any actual or proposed plan. Nothing so clarifies thought
as to write the " pros and cons " in parallel columns. Do not be
content to feel that a thing is right or wrong. The feeling is a
mere vague idea, an unformulated reason. Respect the feeling —
it may be true ; but do not desist until you can state the reason
with precision.
9. So long as there are reasons for and against a given policy
— and this is true of all matters worthy of much discussion — it
should be neither adopted nor rejected but should be modified.
The ideal policy will have all the advantages and avoid the disad-
vantages. We may never reach the ideal, but our real progress will
be always toward it and we may approach infinitely near. Avoid
" taking sides " and thus going off at a tangent. Aim for the center
of the problem which is always somewhere between the two sides.
10. Do not fall into the easy habit of ascribing the difficulties
encountered to the faults of the children, of the parents, of offi-
cials, of teachers, or to lack of funds. The schools are retarded
not by any one of these but by all of them. They will be improved
not by waiting for any one but by improvement of all. Put no
faith in a solution which seeks to better one in spite of the others.
The true solution involves progress in all of these factors, but
the teacher's part begins at home. It should not end there, but it
must besfin there.
8 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
11. Study constantly the motives and conduct of children — on
the street, at their homes, at school, everywhere. Study children,
especially when you are free from the responsibility of directing
them. Study them sympathetically, seeking to learn what they do
and why they do it, rather than what they ought to do or why.
Learn children in order to teach them.
12. Do not seek for detailed directions or rule-of- thumb regula-
tions. Strive rather for right attitudes, points of view, and a solid
basis of knowledge, concrete experiences, and observations, and
organize these into broad principles. Rise above the letter of rules
to the spirit of the professional teacher.
CHAPTER II
THE SCHOOL GROUNDS
A glance backward. In ancient Greece the schools where
children were taught ordinarily had no grounds of their
own, but in every city there was a public gymnasium, a sort
of "community center" for the sport, recreation, and gen-
eral improvement of youths and men. Here were large
covered and uncovered running tracks, splendid groves in-
closed by impressive colonnades, and great porches where
philosophers and citizens were accustomed to gather for
disputations and a social hour. Wealthy teachers in both
Greece and Rome had private gardens where their rich
pupils assembled for instruction. In medieval times the
monasteries and cloistral schools were inclosed in walled
parks or gardens, and this ecclesiastical tradition is carried
out in the modern college campus. Schools for children
were tolerated in some humble corners of the sacred pre-
cincts, and this custom has been perpetuated in the pleasant
settings of many European elementary schools.
The typical American public school of democratic ideals
and plebeian origin, founded on the rights of all the chil-
dren rather than preparation for the clergy or charity for
the poor, had little thought expended on its environment.
In the cities unlovely graveled play areas were sometimes
provided where land was not too expensive. In the coun-
try some cheap quarter-acre of otherwise useless land was
regarded as quite sufficient. Now, with greater wealth and
a clearer conception of the future of public education, our
cities are buying back land at enormous cost to convert
9
io SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
into parks and playgrounds, primarily for the school chil-
dren, even though not contiguous to the schools. These
grounds are being equipped with elaborate apparatus and
supervised by trained instructors, making them an integral
and expensive part of the educational plant. The bare jail-
yard sort of ground open only at recess time is being dis-
placed by the permanent, well-equipped play park, open to
every child and adult who will make proper use of it, day-
time and evening, Saturdays, holidays, and vacation times.
We are getting back to the Athenian gymnasium ideal but
with the child as the center. In the country districts a move-
ment has begun which will ultimately give to every standard
school ample space not only for playgrounds, groves, and
gardens but also for a permanent teacher's home.
Central location. A first consideration in the selection
of a site for the school building is its central location with
reference to the population which it is to serve. Due regard
must be had to probable areas of development and shifting
population, to other present and prospective schools, to ac-
cessibility of lines of travel, and, especially in rural sections,
to present or prospective routes of pupil transportation.
Sanitary surroundings. More important than any small
difference in centrality is a location sufficiently removed
from the noise, dust, smoke, and physical dangers of fac-
tories, railroads, or busy streets. A stagnant pool, a swamp,
a stable or other source of disagreeable odors or breeding
place for noxious insects and germs, is a disgraceful envi-
ronment for an enlightened community to tolerate in the
school life of its children.
The teacher's responsibility. But teachers do not ordi-
narily locate schools, and it must be confessed that a large
proportion of American schools are badly situated. There-
fore the part of the teacher is to make a virtue of necessity
and seize upon the blunders of the past generation to afford
THE SCHOOL GROUNDS II
object lessons and training for the next. Some teaching
opportunities arising from bad location are as follows :
i. Mapping the district and determining the center of
population and the relative desirability of various possible
school sites. Such work constitutes an unusually interest-
ing " group-project " for classes in map drawing, geography,
and arithmetic. Many schools are located by school boards
in ignorance of just such data as a grammar or high-school
grade might assemble as a profitable class exercise.
2. Where the location of the school imperils health or
safety, the teacher has no choice but to undertake the edu-
cation of the community as an incident to the education
of the children. Public meetings, the press, and the pulpit
are reliable allies in arousing public opinion on these ques-
tions. Where a state law covers the case, it should be
invoked by the teacher, if necessary, against the community
for the community's good. Health authorities may be called
upon when school authorities are persistently negligent.
3. It may well happen that where protests and injunctions
would fail to get a mire drained or a stable yard cleaned up,
a vivid study of real mosquitoes and flies, of their metamor-
phoses and breeding habits, of the germs they carry and
the diseases they cause, may result in a campaign that will
move the school or rid the place of malaria and typhoid
and antagonize no one. A microscopic study of dust-laden
atmosphere or of impure water would insure interest in
their contents.
4. Where pupils are unduly exposed to danger of acci-
dent, a wide-awake teacher would assuredly have some inter-
ested railroad man, policeman, or factory superintendent
make vivid to the children how accidents occur and how
they are to be avoided. In such an environment "safety
first " and " first aid to the injured " should take precedence
in the curriculum over any "basic subjects."
12 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
5. Such instruction must be prolonged into training.
Knowledge must crystallize into habits. A dusty or smoky
environment obligates the teacher to obtain somehow ample
lavatory facilities and to insist upon clean hands until these
become habitual ; to have each child provided with a desk
cloth and to train him in the use of it. The prevalence of
flies implies persistent training in trapping, "swatting,"
screening, and " clean-up " movements.
The space required. The size of the lot should be as
great as possible in the city, and at least three or four acres
in the country. There should be provision for a dignified,
uncrowded approach in the front with liberal grass plots and
possibly flower beds. There should be three playgrounds
separated unobtrusively by the buildings, paths, and shrub-
bery ; one for the large boys, one for the large girls, and
one for the little children. The boys' ground should have
room for a baseball diamond, becoming a " gridiron " in
season, and for heavy gymnastic apparatus. The girls
require space for tennis courts and for free play as well as
shady places for walking and sitting. The little ones need
room for swings, seesaws, and the like, as well as for
running and hiding games. There should be liberal space
for school gardens. Where needed, hitching sheds should
be provided for those who drive to school. A most attrac-
tive and desirable feature is a simple summerhouse which
can serve as an open-air schoolroom.
Using disadvantages. Needless to say, it is the rarely
fortunate teacher who finds all these conditions in the play-
ground of his school. But it is a basis of our discussion
that good teachers are ever on the lookout for " the bless-
ings of adversity " and zealous to convert them into teach-
ing opportunities. Where adequate playgrounds are lacking,
an alert teacher will combine with the children to secure
some place in the neighborhood for the purpose. Instead
THE SCHOOL GROUNDS 13
of consuming limitless teaching energy during school hours
in repressing an unsatisfied play tendency or punishing chil-
dren for playing where they should not, the wise teacher will
utilize the desire for a playground to motivate the most edu-
cative work of getting one. There are probably neighboring
lots which can be cleaned up and improved in fair exchange
for the privilege of playing upon them. There is fine train-
ing in self-control and in the social suppression of lawless
ones among the pupils in the simple fact that, by the terms
of a bargain with the owner, damage to the adjoining prop-
erty or any objectionable disturbance arising from the play
will automatically cancel the privilege. The school offers no
better opportunities for developing social responsibility than
a playground which is secured upon the condition of its
being properly kept and controlled by the pupils. Here they
learn that by natural rather than arbitrary laws privileges are
contingent upon their right use.
Where vacant lots are not available, some cities are setting
aside certain blocks on the less-used streets as play areas
during specified hours. During this time traffic is diverted
to other channels. In return for this recognition of their
rights the children practice the fundamental lessons of good
citizenship by respecting the rights of the public. They
learn that it pays them' to be courteous to passers-by, con-
siderate of residents, helpful to the authorities, and to be
regarded as desirable, cooperating citizens.
Beautifying sensibly. Where adequate land has been
provided there is still the problem of making it attractive.
The Arbor Day movement attacked this problem years ago.
Numerous interesting bulletins with instructions have been
issued on this subject. Only a few general suggestions may
be attempted here.
1 . Do not begin the improvements with criticisms of your
predecessors and inauguration of elaborate reforms. Rather
14 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
find by careful investigation just what the predecessors tried
to do and, if practicable, do it. Build upon the foundations
already laid.
2. Make only the sort of improvements that are reasonably
sure to be permanently successful and enjoyable. " Fussy "
structures which are soon broken down, undertakings half
finished and abandoned, trees that do not live and things that
children care nothing for, instill most deplorable lessons and
counteract the best teaching of civic pride or practical aesthetics.
3. Utility first. Provide liberally for playgrounds, walks,
and gardens. Plant primarily for serviceable screens, wind-
breaks, and shade. Taboo perishing flower beds. Use hardy
vines — ivy, honeysuckle, climbing roses, and Virginia creeper
— to cover unsightly walls and fences. Sheds and outhouses
may be screened by vine-covered lattice work or clumps of
evergreen shrubbery, converting the spots offensive to re-
finement into places of beauty.
4. Better than fences or trimmed hedges are dense masses
of shrubbery at the corners and artistically distributed along
the borders, low in front and high where screens are wanted
and along the background.
5 . Provide walks where they will be walked upon. Right
angles are seldom either useful or graceful. Whatever may
be said of the Boston streets, the best " laying off " is often
done by following approximately the paths which the chil-
dren have made. They are agreeable curves and go just
where they are needed. Sturdy clumps of shrubbery at
strategic points will prevent the making of too many paths.
With the help of the larger boys granolithic walks may be
laid at small cost.
6. In planting, avoid straight lines except for marking
boundaries. Clusters of shade trees, clumps and masses of
shrubbery, and broad, irregular open spaces contribute more
to beauty as well as to service.
THE SCHOOL GROUNDS 15
7. Plant vigorous, native trees, vines, and shrubs which
require little or no care. The growing season is during
vacation, when most school grounds have no care.
8. Particularly study the possibilities of natural features.
A little thought may convert a rock or stump into a thing
of great beauty or utility, while a spring or brook is a gold
mine of opportunity. Even a mosquito-breeding pool may
be made into a marvel of interest and attractiveness. Do
not sacrifice a single tree or shrub without long considera-
tion. The school yard should grow, as a house becomes a
home, by long planning and affectionate executing, little by
little. The life of each child through many school genera-
tions may be woven into the making of the yard.
9. Transplanting is a most educative activity for children
to participate in, but it is a complex art and cannot success-
fully be clone in ignorance. Much study of native plants,
and of the soils, seasons, and conditions favorable for trans-
planting, should precede any actual digging. It is cheaper
to pay for expert supervision than to have plants die.
Cleaning up and keeping up. The abiding problem of the
school yard, however, is one of cleanliness and the conserva-
tion of improvements already made. This cannot be trusted
to janitors. The responsibility rests upon the teachers, but
if the children do not have a part, an unexcelled educative
opportunity will be missed. School-yard ideals of serviceable
beauty and school-formed habits of thrifty neatness ought to
be reflected in many homes of the community. The sort of
standards that are reflected may be guessed in many Ameri-
can communities where the school premises, from the dilapi-
dated front gate to the unspeakable outhouses, offend every
sense of decency.
An enthusiastic ''clean-up day" at the start may be
desirable if conditions are very bad. Parents may be invited
to participate if needed. But a necessity for repeated
\6 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
" clean-ups " is certainly not creditable. Organization for
keeping things up counts for much more. Receptacles should
be provided for trash, and this involves the responsibility for
unending persistence in seeing that they are used and regu-
larly emptied. They should be inconspicuous but placed
where they will be used. Custodians elected at intervals by
the pupils, or appointed as reward for merit, should have
oversight of the grounds and see that they are always left
in as good condition as they are found or better. No
child or teacher is too good to help clean up the yard he
occupies — certainly not one who is none too good to help
litter it up. The school yard is a laboratory for teaching civic
tidiness. It is the most obvious advertisement of the kind
of influence the teachers are exerting in the lives of children.
Each child should likewise come to realize from this labora-
tory that his home yard is a glaring advertisement to the
community of his family's tastes and standards.
Where decency is in danger. Even with the recent effec-
tive campaigns against insanitary school privies, disgrace-
ful thousands of them still outrage the refinement and
commonest decency of American rural children. The self-
respecting teacher will tolerate no laxness in this matter.
Sanitary and sightly provision must be made by the authori-
ties. Laws and the regulations of health or educational
authorities should be invoked to compel compliance so far
as may be necessary. School should open with conditions
as nearly like those of a refined home as possible. Quiet,
frank talks with the children, boys and girls separately, will
probably be necessary if school traditions are bad. Such
talks should be constructive rather than critical — of refined
conditions and high ideals, of the standarda of ladies and
gentlemen, of confidence and cooperation. The aid of jani-
tors and older children must be enlisted to secure constant
watchfulness against the beginnings of uncleanliness or
THE SCHOOL GROUNDS 17
impropriety. Whatever the cost, every bad tendency must be
detected and crushed at the start. In one school an un-
speakably bad tradition of filthy writing and drawing on the
basement walls was entirely and permanently eliminated in a
few weeks by means of plain talks, followed up with records
kept by every teacher of the time each child was out of the
room, together with a system of inspections of the premises
made almost hourly for the first few days.
It is far from easy to eradicate deep-rooted customs and
build standards of refinement for a whole school at once.
But it has been clone, it can be clone, and the teacher worth
while will do it, however hard it may be. No true teacher
is above doing whatever may be necessary to get right ideals
and customs established in his school. Rather, he is above
neglecting it. The real test comes in keeping everlastingly
at it. Good impulses are quickly aroused in a school, but
habits are fixed only by incessant vigilance.
PROBLEMS
Make a study of some school yard, preferably the one with
which you are most familiar, as follows :
1. Make a list of the detrimental features of the site.
2. Which of these may be remedied by the teacher and the
school ? Propose plans for these remedies.
3. Which may be remedied by the School Board ? Sketch
plans and estimate costs.
4. How may each of these disadvantages be utilized to teach
some important lesson effectively ?
5. Make a diagram or write a description of the school yard
with its environment as it is and another as it should be.
6. Make a list of hardy trees, shrubs, and vines for school-yard
use in your neighborhood.
7. Make an abstract of the state and local laws and regulations
regarding school sites and premises.
SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
READINGS
Burks. Health and the School, chap. xv.
Burrage and Bailey. School Sanitation and Decoration, chap. i.
Culter and Stone. The Rural School, chap. ii.
Curtis. Play and Recreation, chaps, iv, v.
Dresslar. School Hygiene, chaps, ii, hi.
Eggleston and Bruere. The Work of the Rural School, chaps, viii, ix.
Foght. American Rural School, chap. ix.
Kern. Among Country Schools,. chap. iii.
Search. An Ideal School, chap. v.
Seerley. The Country School, chap. vi.
Bulletins, United States Bureau of Education
Bulletin No. j, 1910, "American Schoolhouses " (Dresslar).
Bulletin No. i2 : 191 4, " Rural Schoolhouses and Grounds " (Dresslar).
Bulletin No. 28, 1 91 2, " Cultivating School Grounds in Wake County "
(Judd).
Bulletin No. 40, 191 3 (No. 16, 191 2), "The Reorganized School
Playground " (Curtis).
Bulletin No. 17, 191 4, "Sanitary Survey of Schools of Orange
County" (Flannagan).
Public-Health Bulletin, Government Printing Office
Bulletin No. 37, " The Sanitary Privy " (Stiles).
Farmers' Bulletins, United States Department of Agriculture
Bulletin No. 218, 1905, "The School Garden."
Bulletin No. 134, 1907, "Tree-Planting on Rural School Grounds."
CHAPTER III
BUILDINGS
In retrospect. School architecture is a distinctly modern
problem. The Greek cities, we have said, had imposing
gymnasia for physical exercise and training. The Spartans
had barracks in which the boys lived together after the age
of seven, but they had no use for classrooms. There were
large buildings devoted to school purposes in Greece, but
they were private enterprises and represented no effort to
adapt architecture to educational needs. One at Chios, in
500 b.c, fell and killed 119 of the 120 pupils. Pausanias
tells us that sixty children were buried in the ruins of a
school building which was pulled down, Samson-like, by an
athlete who was crazed by defeat. Usually rooms for ele-
mentary schools were provided by the teachers in some public
or private building, in some unused space on the porches,
or in out-of-the-way corners of groves or market places.
In Rome the same custom prevailed. Temporary booths
(tabernae) or lean-to sheds opening on the public street were
constructed. Children sat upon the floor, where there was
one, or upon the stones of the streets. The more exclusive
schools of the later period seem to have been verandas or
annexes to the better class of buildings and were provided
with benches and often adorned with valuable works of art.
Medieval origins. Modern schools, however, trace their
ancestry not to classic but to medieval times. Then all
schools were of religious origin and mostly conducted as
adjuncts to the monasteries or cathedrals, as we have seen.
That traditional school architecture has descended from
*9
20 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
ecclesiastical sources is evidenced in the still common ves-
tigial towers, imitative of early churches but useless in school
economy ; in the arrangement adapted to a speaker and lis-
teners rather than to a company of active and cooperative
doers; in the meager windows distributed with reference to
external symmetry rather than to lighting or ventilation ;
and in the forbidding monastic impression everywhere domi-
nant. Some church schools and the conservative universities
still deviate little from the original ecclesiastical type.
The Lancastrian schools of a century ago were perhaps
the first attempt to construct buildings specially adapted for
the needs of elementary schools. These were lofty halls
with provision for as many as a thousand children in a single
room. They were provided with windows definitely intended
for adequate light and ventilation and were equipped with the
peculiar furniture and paraphernalia of monitorial instruction.
Modern tendencies. With the growing recognition of the
state's permanent responsibility for the education of all the
children there has been some progress in the character of
school buildings, but only within the past few years has the
problem had the best thought of architects and sanitary ex-
perts. So new is the spirit and so different are the aims
of the modern school from any of its predecessors, so com-
prehensive are the advances in scientific knowledge of its
needs, that nothing which is merely traditional in school
structure or arrangement is worth conserving. The whole
problem is being taken up ab initio, and here, at least,
we need have no reverence for the old. Externally, city
school buildings have been losing their somberness and tak-
ing on suggestions of the office building or even the modern
factory. In rural communities the miserable affairs, which
resembled nothing so much as primitive stables and corn-
cribs are giving way to unattractive imitations of city schools
or to quite attractive imitations of country cottages and
BUILDINGS 21
bungalows. In progressive small towns the school is rapidly
coming to be the typical "show-building" to which strangers
are directed with pride. Size, however, is by no means the
chief factor in beauty and attractiveness. Modest one-room
and two-room buildings in pleasing rural settings may be
made very beautiful at a low cost. In fact there is very
much to recommend the housing of rather large schools in
clusters of one- and two-room units connected by attractive
colonnades.
The standard classroom. Aside from fluctuating considera-
tions of taste and the abiding one of economy, the problem
of school building is primarily one of assembling standard-
ized rooms. The accepted principles have to do mainly with
the classroom units. The ideal for a grade room is very
definite. It is usually fixed at about twenty-eight feet wide
and thirty-two feet long. The dimensions may be changed
a couple of feet either way, if desired, but the proportions
should not be different. Such a room will conveniently
accommodate forty pupils. Larger classes should never be
permitted, and hence no provision should be made for them.
Smaller classes are always likely to grow. Besides introduc-
ing difficulties of class control by the teacher, a longer room
causes difficulties of vision and hearing for the pupils at the
rear ; and a wider room, for those at the front corners. The
height should be not less than eleven feet nor more than
thirteen feet. A higher room is harder to heat, ventilate,
and decorate effectively and unduly increases the cost of
construction.
Corridors. School corridors should be well lighted and
abundantly ventilated. They should have radiators or regis-
ters adapted for drying or warming the feet of the children
but should otherwise be unheated. This will aid in ventilat-
ing the rooms and afford a healthful change of temperature
without the disadvantages incident to going outside in stormy
22 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
weather or cooling the classroom too much. Corridors should
never be less than twelve feet in width and for large build-
ings must be considerably wider. No seats, lockers, cloak-
rooms, doorways, or stairways should interfere with the free
passageway.
Doors. Perfectly plain veneered doors are very attractive
and are rapidly gaining in popularity. They are made with-
out panels or any irregularities of surface and hence catch
no dust. Transoms are dust-catchers of the worst sort and
should be taboo. No part of a building should be dependent
on them for light or ventilation nor can teachers be trusted
to make right use of them. Classroom doors should open
inward. Neither double-swing doors nor any that open into
the corridors are satisfactory. A first principle of fire and
panic protection is that all outside doors must open outward
and be so fastened that they can never shut even the
smallest child helplessly inside. Outer doors are now com-
monly equipped with automatic latches so constructed that
the slightest push on the inside of the door will open it
even when locked against intrusion from outside.
Stairways. There should be at least two stairways, pref-
erably at opposite ends of the building, both for conven-
ience in passing the lines of children up and down and for
protection against fire. Ascending drafts in case of fire
inevitably follow an open stairway, so that even though it
be itself fireproof, a single stairway is likely to be the first
part of the building to become impassable. Children of the
upper floors can pass up or down two stairways in just half
the time they require with one. Even for routine purposes
the cost of an extra stairway is more than justified. In emer-
gencies it is invaluable. Where room is scarce the double
or intertwining stair doubles the capacity in the same space.
Long, straight flights should be avoided. They are seriously
fatiguing for pupils ascending and dangerous for the child
BUILDINGS 23
who may slip or be pushed over in descending. Flights of
less than six steps are objectionable in that they encourage
jumping from one landing to the next. Winding stairs are
intolerable. All turnings must be made by broad landings.
Doors must never open on stairs or landings.
Cloakrooms. For satisfactory cloakrooms the requirements
are (1) complete oversight by each teacher of his own pupils,
(2) protection against thievery, (3) light, (4) reasonable
warmth, (5) very thorough ventilation, and (6) economy in
space and construction of the building. Converting the cor-
ridor into a cloakroom spoils the one without successfully
obtaining the other. A good plan is to have a narrow room
at the front of each classroom with two doorways opening
into it. In such case it is well to have the foul-air exit in
the cloakroom and placed high so that the air passing from
the room out through the cloakroom thus affords a con-
stant drying current through the wraps. There should be at
least one small window in the cloakroom. An ingenious and
satisfactory plan is a long, cupboard-like closet placed in the
partition wall next to the flues and occupying only the same
depth as the flues. By means of sliding doors the entire area
of the closet opens to the classroom, bringing all the coat
and hat hooks, umbrella racks, overshoe shelves, etc. within
easy reach. When the wraps are in place the sliding doors
are closed and blackboards on their surfaces are available.
Below the blackboards these doors contain gratings, by
means of which the air passes from the room up through
the wraps to the outlet into the foul-air duct at the top of the
closet. The doors are made to run easily and noiselessly
and are managed by monitors. The entire cloakroom is
closed except when in full view of the teacher and of the
entire room. During school hours the wraps are being
thoroughly dried and aired. Cloakrooms of this sort could
readily be added to many old buildings.
24 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Toilets. When toilet rooms are located in a basement
there is even more- urgent need of careful oversight, clean-
liness, and thorough ventilation than when at a distance
from the building. It is a long step forward to have them
distributed on the several floors of the building, with still
better equipment and with ideals of cleanliness more nearly
like those of the best homes. By arranging in stacks, that
is, with those of each floor directly over those of the floor
below, the cost of space and of plumbing is not greatly
increased. In a few buildings separate toilets have been
provided opening off the cloakroom of each classroom, and
the most encouraging reports have been given of the effect
of this arrangement upon the morale of the school. In any
plan the aim is to prevent them from becoming congregating
places for the children, to keep them under the easy super-
vision of the teachers, and to make them such as will main-
tain the highest standards of refinement for the community.
Are children destructive ? Except on the occasions when
one may advise with reference to the construction of a new
building or secure modifications of an old one, the teacher's
opportunity in the matter of buildings is in training the chil-
dren in the care and protection of them. Among American
children generally there has been an appalling lack of re-
spect for paint, plaster, and window glass. Some children
seem to lack the capacity to get about in any house with-
out injuring it. Many feel that a school building belongs to
no one. They have no interest in its preservation but find
a peculiar pleasure in defacing and injuring it as much as
they dare. This is not due to any inherent " destructiveness "
or willful love of doing wrong but to bad school traditions
and to the suggestion given by the dilapidated and ill-kept
conditions of the buildings. A broken windowpane is very
suggestive. If it does not suggest a new one in its place, it
will suggest another broken one by its side. Any ambitious
BUILDINGS 25
boy likes the distinction of having made his mark in his
little world, and if he cannot get it on the school records in
a conspicuous place he will try the school walls. To him
there is genuine achievement in leaving an inscription where
all comers must see it.
The remedy. The remedy for this state of affairs — and
herein is the teacher's responsibility — is twofold : first, that
the building, however old and unworthy, be kept clean and
free from all those disfigurements which indicate vandalism ;
and, second, that with all the devices of instruction and
training there be developed in the pupils an interest in
the building and a pride in its appearance. The child who
has actively contributed to the cleaning or calcimining of
walls, whether by his labor or his pennies, will vigorously
defend them against further defacement. The boy who
takes a pride in putting his scrawls or carvings on a public
wall will take a far greater pride in putting a coat of paint
there. Children do not like to injure walls and desks. They
simply like to do some tiling to them. Though they do not
look very far ahead, they want to see the results of their ac-
tivities. Almost any boy would rather help put a windowpane
in than to break one out.
" Destructiveness " diverted. Let us, then, utilize the
children as far as possible in improving the building and
keeping it in repair and in an attractive condition. Try to
find something for each of them to do, even the smallest
— but especially the "mischievous, destructive" ones.
Within reasonable limits we can well afford to use regular
school time for this purpose. The least appreciation of
child nature will indicate that we cannot send children to
these tasks, we must lead them ; they are happy to work
•with us when they will not work for us. We do not get
such things done by requiring them but by allowing them.
A door painted by a boy as punishment will doubtless need
26 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
repainting in a very short time. It is his interest even more
than his painting that the wall needs. Just how much or
what kinds of improvements can thus be made will vary
mainly with the teacher's ingenuity and ability. With the
right guidance, the children can do or materially aid in
almost any sort of cleaning or repair work. At least, they
can give or help collect the money to pay a mechanic to do
the. work under their observation.
Advantages. The advantages of this policy of keeping
the building in good condition are obvious : It saves money
in the repairs and improvements made. It saves much
more by reducing the occasions for having them made. It
insures the buildings being kept in better shape. It affords
the most practicable instruction possible in the essential
manual and domestic arts. It inculcates a higher standard
of keeping things in repair, that should be reflected through-
out the community in the course of time. It develops a
school spirit and pride that will extend most advantageously
to other tasks and conduct. Finally, it is the very acme of
basic training in civic righteousness.
PROBLEMS
1. Compare some of the newest with some of the oldest school
buildings of similar size within your knowledge. What changes are
for greater educational utility ? Which merely indicate changes in
architectural style ?
2. Write a detailed criticism of one or more actual schoolrooms.
Which defects are practically serious? Which are only theoreti-
cally so ?
3. Criticize one or more school buildings on the basis of the
topics in this chapter. Which defects can be practically remedied ?
How ? Would such changes justify the cost ?
4. Study the plans of a number of buildings as given in the
readings selected below. Select one you regard as best for a school
BUILDINCS 27
the size of yours. Write a summary of its advantages over the one
you have. What modifications of the plan would be desirable to
adapt it to the site you have ?
5. Make a list of the repairs and small improvements needed in
an actual building that you are studying. To what extent could the
children be used in making these ? Make an estimate of the cost
with the aid of the children and without it.
READINGS
BRIGGS. Modern American School Buildings.
DRESSLAR. School Hygiene.
Button and Sxeijden. Administration of Public Education in the
United States, chaps, xi, xii.
Shaw. School Hygiene.
Wheelwright. School Architecture.
American School Board Journal. (A monthly journal of much practical
value in problems of construction, equipment, and administration.)
Cyclopedia of Education (edited by Paul Monroe). 1
Proceedings National Education Association! 2
Bulletins, United States Bureau of Education 3
Bulletin No. j", 19 10, "American Schoolhouses " (Dresslar).
Bulletin Xo. 48, 191 3, " School Hygiene" (Ryan).
Bulletin No. 32, 191 3, " Sanitary Schoolhouses. Legal Requirements
in Indiana and Ohio."
1 Monroe's Cyclopedia of Education (5 vols., The Macmillan Company)
is the most comprehensive reference work on all educational questions. It
is new, well organized and illustrated, and accurate. Its various articles
might be given as references in every chapter, but to avoid mere repetition
it will not again be cited.
2 The annual volumes of the Proceedings of the National Education
Association contain an extensive array of addresses delivered at the gen-
eral and departmental meetings of that association. They are well indexed
and, if accessible, should be consulted freely on any topic in which the
student seeks a broad view of current opinions.
3 The United States Bureau of Education, Washington, publishes a very
valuable series of bulletins on a wide range of practical educational prob-
lems. These may be secured free or at a nominal cost by addressing the
Bureau. The annual reports of the Commissioner of Education contain the
only complete statistical data of American education and the most compre-
hensive review of educational progress in this country and throughout the
world. These publications are reliable and should be freely used.
CHAPTER IV
LIGHTING
Eyestrain. Nature has not yet evolved an organ fully
adapted for the tremendous strain we put upon the eyes of
school children. The fact that over twenty-five per cent of
all pupils have seriously defective vision and that this pro-
portion regularly increases during the period of school life
indicates how we are overtaxing their eyes. Like other
organs, the eye tends to improve with right usage but is
easily and permanently injured by overstrain. The perma-
nent loss of visual efficiency — a cruel handicap to inflict
upon one at the beginning of life — is not the only pen-
alty for overtaxing the eyes. Unless relieved by the use of
glasses, chronic headaches and nervous affections are very
likely to follow, making mental concentration impossible
and resulting in retardation, discouragement, and early
elimination from school.
Its causes. Clear vision requires a focus of the light rays
upon the retina at the point of its greatest seeing power,
the fovea centralis. This necessitates (i) an exactly correct
accommodation or change in convexity of the lens varying
with the distance of the object ; (2) a suitable movement of
each eye to bring its fovea and pupil in line with the object ;
(3) a convergence of the two eyes so that both will have
the correct alinement at the same time — this degree of
convergence varies as the distance of the object ; (4) a cir-
cular contraction or expansion of the iris to control the
amount of light entering the eyeball — this varies with each
change in brightness. Each line of print read involves
28
LIGHTING 29
three to five jumps forward and one all the way back, and
at each jump there must be a new alinement and distance
adjustment of each eye and of the two in relation to each
other. All these adjustments, to say nothing of the move-
ments of the lids and glands not directly involved in vision,
are accomplished by means of marvelously accurate stimula-
tion and response of various sets of minute muscles. Be-
sides this there is an accompanying strain from constant
tensions and movements of the muscles of the neck and
back necessary to bring the head into a favorable position
for seeing, or of the arms to hold the book. With it all,
the instant discrimination of the numberless slight variations
of minute characters which constitute a page of reading matter
is itself a marvel of delicate adjustment to light stimulation.
When all this is considered we begin to appreciate something
of the enormous demands we are making on the sensory-
motor visual mechanism in the course of a day at school.
Aggravations. Under the most favorable conditions pos-
sible a curriculum consisting mainly of reading and writing
and other fine visual adjustments makes extremely heavy
demands upon the seeing mechanism. It is easy to see
how the strain is enormously aggravated (1) by a lack of
sufficient illumination to enable the words to stand out dis-
tinctly from their background ; (2) by light so placed that
shadows of the hand continuously play over the page on
which one is writing ; (3) by cross-lights which radiate
streaks of varying light and shade ; (4) by work placed too
near the eye and thus requiring a constant muscular strain
of convergence and accommodation ; (5) by work placed too
far and thus reducing the visual size and clearness ; (6) by
work placed at a wrong angle to the line of vision and thus
producing a foreshortening of the letters and contortion of
their shape as actually seen ; (7) by print too small for easy
discrimination ; (8) by highly calendered or shiny paper
30 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
which reflects the light in varying streaks of intensity ;
(9) by any bright area of light entering the eye from the
background or anywhere in the field of vision and thus
stimulating a contraction of the iris when clear vision of
the work demands its expansion. Further aggravation is
produced by any disturbance in the poise of the nervous
system due to fatigue, irritation, lack of general vigor,
strain of the neck muscles in adjusting the head to a good
seeing position, physical discomforts from improper seating
or the rival stimulation of other sense organs clamoring for
the center of attention. The situation is further compli-
cated by the particularly bad lighting conditions under which
most children study at night, by the intimate sympathy
between the visual organization and the general nervous and
bodily tone, and by the fact that a considerable proportion of
children begin school with eyes quite imperfect.
Its effects. The defects most common are those due to
the shape of the eyeball or lens. They are (1) myopia, or
nearsightedness, which is the result of an eyeball so long
or lens so convex that the light rays come to a focus before
they reach the retina ; (2) hypermetropia, or farsightedness,
due to an eyeball so short or lens so flat that the rays reach
the retina before they focus ; and (3) astigmatism, due to
any irregularity in the curvature of the cornea causing a dis-
torted image to be thrown upon the retina. Very few eyes
are so perfect that careful tests do not disclose some degree
of astigmatism. All these defects are often congenital, but
they are easily increased by eyestrain, especially in early
life. They are all due to lack of proper muscular control
or balance and in extreme forms produce squint or cross-
eyes. The strain necessary to secure a clear visual image
with these defective organs produces headache and nerv-
ous disorder. This in turn results in preventing mental
concentration and scholastic progress.
LIGHTING 31
The pity of it. Children so afflicted are often regarded
as merely stupid, lazy, or stubborn. The world to them is
a series of hazy and indefinite color impressions with little
distinctness of outline. The printed page is a confusion of
marks that fade and flow and dance about as they look at
and attempt to distinguish them. The most pathetic aspect is
that the afflicted ones have no way of knowing that they see
differently from other people. They have no other stand-
ards of clearness with which to compare their own. A
typical case is that of a manly fellow, from a family where
standards of honor and intellectual attainment were high,
who brought shame to his parents and was considered a
disgrace to his family because he persistently claimed to
feel bad or to have headaches at schooltime and study hour
but promptly forgot them at other times. Although strong
physically and apparently bright mentally, his infallible dis-
like of school and study resulted in his being badly retarded.
He hated school and everything associated with learning and
made every excuse to avoid them. Not until he was nearly
grown and the hope of an education was past was it discov-
ered that a defect of vision had made it impossible for him
to read without painful nervous strain. A pair of glasses
was all that he had needed to make him an interested and
successful student.
In addition to these defects, children are subject to many
sorts of inflammation of the eyes which are germ diseases,
mostly highly contagious, and which should be segregated
and treated as other forms of infection. These will be
discussed later.
Principles of lighting. It is bad enough that the modern
school demands five or six hours of reading and writing
each day of young children — not to mention the home
study under conditions we know not how bad. It is bar-
barous that we should deny them in school that which is
32 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
so essential to them and withal so abundant and cheap, —
daylight. The last word as to ideal lighting has not been
said, but the principles thus far accepted should be familiar
to every teacher.
1. There must be no light shining into the faces of the
children or brightly illuminated walls in front of them. Any
light within the field of vision stronger than that .reflected
from the book itself decreases the relative illumination of
the book, lessens the power of the eye to read it, and
causes continuous strain of adjustment.
2. Light should not come from the right or from behind
in such manner as to throw shadows from the hand, head,
or shoulders upon the work.
3. Light should not enter through distinctly separated
openings, causing cross-lights and areas of decidedly differ-
ent degrees of illumination.
4. Light should be received through the upper rather
than the lower portion of the windows. This better illu-
minates the side of the room opposite the windows ; it enables
the light to be reflected down from the ceiling rather than
up from the floor; it admits direct light from the sky instead
of that reflected from surrounding buildings and other ob-
structions. A foot at the top of a window ordinarily has
practical lighting efficiency equal to three feet at the bottom,
especially on the lower floors.
5. The light-admitting area of the windows should be
not less than one fifth the area of the floor space. One
fourth the floor area should be allowed in gloomy climates,
smoky locations, and in places where the light is much
obstructed by surrounding objects.
Window requirements. These conditions are all met by
having the windows on one side only, — the left ; by having
them extend from about thirty or forty inches above the floor
to as near the ceiling as the structure of the building will
LIGHTING 33
permit ; by having them begin some four or six feet from the
front end and extend clear to the rear end of the room; and
by having the divisions between them made to obstruct as little
light as possible, preferably steel mullions beveled inwardly.
Wall coloring. The ceilings down to the picture mold
should be white or cream, to reflect the high light evenly
down upon the desks. From the mold to the blackboard
should be some soft green or tan. The floor, baseboard, and
wall to the blackboard should be dull-finished and dark-toned.
The desk tops likewise should be finished dull and dark.
Window shades. In any room the lighting area which is
necessary on a dark day is altogether too much on a bright
day. Excessive light is as harmful as too little. Lighting
efficiency is therefore largely a matter of shades and their
management. A shade which cuts off the top light only is
poor for either lighting or ventilating purposes. Those which
roll from the bottom only are inconvenient and readily get
out of order. Two shades rolling from the middle in both
directions break up the mass of light into two separated
blocks. Inside shutters and Venetian blinds are generally
regarded as sources of unlimited trouble, though they have
certain advantages. Outside blinds control the light only by
cutting it off altogether or by cutting it up into a series of
alternate bars of light and darkness. They are decidedly
undesirable. The best solution seems to be the adjustable
shade which is raised or lowered bodily as easily as it is
rolled up or unrolled. There are several satisfactory forms
of adjustable shade fixtures on the market, and the cost is
very slight. Their value depends on the way they are used.
They do not adjust themselves automatically to the constantly
changing light.
Which direction ? North light is best, because it is more
even and it requires but little or no shading ; but it requires
larger window space to provide against dark days, and the
34 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
large north exposure makes heating more difficult. South
light is hardest to control on bright days ; hence south rooms
should be used, when practicable, for kindergartens, labora-
tories, etc., where the sunshine is desirable but less book
study is required. West rooms are best for primary grades
which are dismissed about noon, and east rooms for those
grades which are held to their desks later in the day.
Remedying defective lighting. A room with windows
badly arrranged can sometimes be improved with a little in-
genuity. A typical frame country school with two widely
separated windows on each side was quickly and attractively
converted into a well-lighted room by simply moving the two
windows from the right side and placing them between the
two on the left. New windows may often be inserted be-
tween old ones with little expense, and those on the wrong
side can be permanently sealed or closed with perfectly
opaque blinds. Any that may be in the front of the room
must be shuttered so that not a chink of light gets through.
Rear windows may well be retained for additional light on
dark days. Often a glass door may be substituted for a
solid one at little cost and much benefit. Prism glass placed
in the upper sash will help to distribute the light. The ribs
or prisms run vertically tend to throw the light to the dark
ends of the room and run horizontally throw it up against
the ceiling or across the room.
Lighting limitations. If satisfactory light cannot be got
to the children, by all means get the children to the light.
Almost any light may be fairly good if movable seats are
provided so that the children may adjust their work to the
place and position in which it is best illuminated. The
most perfect window-lighting arrangement cannot correctly
illuminate all the- desks all the time if they are stationary.
The most informal moving of chairs and benches to get the
children near the windows is better than strained eyes.
LIGHTING 35
Books. Books which arc printed on paper with a very
high gloss or in which the print used is too fine should
not be used for continuous study. Eighteen-point (great
primer) type should be used for the primary books and
nothing smaller than eleven-point (small pica) or ten-point
(long primer) for any books that children are to read.
The teacher's opportunity. The earnest teacher will not
be blind to his * duty and opportunity in the matter of his
pupils' eyes. He will spare no effort or influence within
his power to secure the correct construction of the building
or any alteration necessary to good lighting. He will see that
the shades are so manipulated and the children so seated as
to secure the best light conditions for all. The constant
movement of sun and clouds makes this a continuous re-
sponsibility. The architect can only make good lighting
possible. He cannot secure it day by day. Bright sunlight
must never shine into a pupil's eyes nor across his desk.
Much use of the eyes should never be required where the
light is either glaring or insufficient. Defective eyes should
be detected by use of the Snellen cards, which may be had
from almost any state health or educational department. Par-
ents should be urged to consult a reliable oculist and secure
the necessary treatment or glasses to relieve any defects
which may be discovered. These afflicted pupils should have
special consideration, being placed where the lighting is best
(not necessarily strongest), and should be relieved somewhat
from the tasks most trying to the eyes and be permitted fre-
quently to rest them completely. Pupils' headaches or a dull
1 The lack of a pronoun of common gender, singular number, is always
awkward in discussions of teachers and pupils. The current tendency to
use the feminine in referring to the teacher while retaining the masculine
in referring to the pupil seems to be justified on arithmetical grounds only.
Surely no other apology for the use of the masculine pronoun than the
grammatical rule is necessary in a work of this sort in which principals and
superintendents are referred to as well as elementary teachers.
36 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
feeling about the eyes should have careful consideration.
Particularly in poorly lighted rooms, schedules of work
should be so adjusted as to permit alternation of work
which requires much use of the eyes and that which does
not. All children should be encouraged to rest their eyes
occasionally by closing them or looking at distant objects.
They should be taught the hygiene and care of the eyes
and warned against reading at home in a lying or other bad
posture, in the dusk of the evening, or by any dim or un-
steady light. They should be particularly warned against read-
ing with the light in front, a practice which is very common
and very harmful.
PROBLEMS
1. Procure a Snellen test card and make a careful test and
record of the visual acuity of several persons..
2. Criticize the lighting of several rooms, good and bad, indi-
cating all defects and possible remedies.
3. Where could prism glass or ground glass be used to advan-
tage ? What effects would be secured ?
4. Where would you seat a nearsighted pupil ? Why ?
5. Would there be any advantage to a farsighted pupil to be
placed as far as possible from the blackboard ? What consideration
should be given this pupil ?
6. Prepare a scheme of colors for ceiling, walls, woodwork, and
furniture of selected classrooms. What difference would you make
between the coloring of a north and a south room ?
READINGS
Allen. Civics and Health, chap. vii.
Burgerstein. School Hygiene, chap. ii.
Dresslar. School Hygiene, chap. xv.
O'Shea. Dynamic Factors in Education, chap. xvii.
Rowe. Lighting of Schoolrooms.
Shaw. School Hygiene, chap. ix.
Terman. Hygiene of the School Child, chap. xiv.
CHAPTER V
HEAT AND VENTILATION
Master-teachers and fresh air. Socrates taught in the
streets, Plato in a grove ; Aristotle's school was called the
Peripatetic, because he taught walking about among the trees ;
the Stoics were named for the stoa, or porches, where their
classes were conducted ; the Epicureans met in the gardens
of Epicurus, and the Prince of Teachers taught by the sea-
side and wayside. The world's greatest teachers have ever
loved the freedom and the inspiration of the open.
Outdoor classes. School excursions and open-air schools
are among the most effective of our present-day teaching
agencies. The best device for supplying fresh air to chil-
dren is just to take them out into it. Why fear irregularity
or informality ? It is the regularity and formality of our
school settings that are deadening to inspiration. It is our
shut-in habits that are abnormal and depressing.
Any pleasant neighboring spot, somewhat shielded from
distractions and interruptions, shaded from the too bright
sunshine or sheltered from the too cold winds, should be a
frequent place of resort for the classes of any school. A
convenient band-stand, summerhouse, or group of seats in
a city park, a waterside pavilion, or a quiet wharf, is worth
more than much expensive equipment in getting a fine
school spirit and large educative results. At one charming
school a simple platform with roof supported on rustic posts
of cedar, half hidden in the tall shrubbery and shady trees
of the school grounds, constitutes a most useful and inex-
pensive part of the equipment. Such an open-air schoolroom
37
38 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
could be built by the larger boys at any school. The
plainest school-made tables and benches and a strip or two
of movable blackboard to hang against the posts when
needed are sufficient equipment. Such an outdoor room is
not devoted to one grade or to a class of invalids. It is
used by any grade when monotony, fatigue, or irritability
lower the standard of work and prevent mental concentra-
tion in the class. The class may remain but a few minutes
for a drill lesson, or it may be for a study-period, or, with
" furniture " pushed aside, they may engage in calisthenics,
games, or dancing.
Open-air rooms. Open-air rooms for the continuous use
of tubercular and anaemic children are now regarded as
essential in the construction of large modern schools. The
uniformly gratifying results in the way of physical and
mental gains on the part of all the afflicted children so pro-
vided for have not only made the policy a permanent one
throughout the civilized world but have raised a serious
discussion of the question of similar provision for normal
children.
Window ventilation. Next best to getting the children
out to the air is getting the air in to the children. It is too
commonly supposed that because there are openings where
the air might come into the room the air is struggling to
get in. Having openings is one thing ; getting the air
through them is another. When the rooms are not heated
or artificially ventilated, exhaled air is warmer than the
fresh and will therefore tend to rise. Openings at the top
of the room for its egress are, then, as important as those
lower down for the ingress" of fresh air. Ideal windows
would be flush with the ceiling and open their whole
length, offering not the slightest resistance to the flushing
out of all air. Even openings at different levels give little
assurance of sufficient circulation to meet the needs of a
I
jf
B>
|0
1;
[
"■
1
IaE ,
(S^''?1
V ii
■ - -i
i
^
IB
...
•tf 7
j0
TPl
OPEN-WINDOW ROOMS
Above, midwinter in an open-window room, Graham School, Chicago.
l!elow, a classroom converted into an open-window room by means of
draft screens, Moseley School, Chicago
HEAT AND VENTILATION 39
room full of children if no fan or breeze is driving. Open-
ings on opposite sides of the room are more effective, espe-
cially doors opening upon corridors through which the air
sweeps freely.
Window boards. Window boards are a very simple and
effective device for permitting free circulation through the
windows and yet preventing cold drafts from striking directly
upon the children. A board, six to ten inches wide, is
placed at the bottom just inside the inner stop. The win-
dow may then be raised nearly to the top of the board :
the current entering the room will be deflected upward by
the board and also between the upper and lower sashes. A
flower box in the window serves a similar function besides
its other values. Glass window boards have the advantage
of cutting off no light. In the open-window room of the
Moseley School, Chicago, draft screens resembling inverted
awnings of durable white goods are used in place of win-
dow boards. These are made to be removed or raised and
lowered easily and are used with windows wide open.
Flushing and drafts. Whatever the system of ventilation
or of heating and whatever the weather, occasionally during
the school day and always when the room is being cleaned,
the windows, especially at the top, and the doors should be
thrown wide open and the room freely and thoroughly
flushed out. Colds are not contracted from winds. A
continuous draft on a small portion of the person may dis-
turb the heat-regulating mechanism of the body and pro-
duce local congestion with serious results. The remedy is
not to lessen the air movement about the person but to
increase it. As Terman forcibly puts the case : " Instead
of fleeing from drafts we should seek them. As long as
we are healthy, it is only the little draft, which cools but a
small part of the body, that is injurious. The remedy for
draft, therefore, is more draft, coupled with the healthy
40 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
circulation that comes from sufficient exercise " (" Hygiene
of the School Child," p. 161).
Fresh air. Motionless, moistureless, lifeless indoor air
rests like a curse on the average school. We attain it at
enormous costs for air-tight buildings and elaborate thermo-
static systems of suppressing vitality.
Fresh air is the best-known preventive of anaemia, colds,
tuberculosis, and other ills and contagions that school
children are prone to contract.
Fresh air is the most effective preventive of disorder,
irritability, and friction in the management of a school.
Fresh air dissipates fatigue, inattention, and nervousness.
Fresh air is a large factor in cheerfulness, enthusiasm,
good spirits, and school pride.
Fresh air is indispensable to efficient and sustained
mental activity.
Fresh air is the cheapest, most abundant, most accessible,
and most delightful commodity with which school authorities
are concerned — and the most carefully excluded.
What is fresh air ? By fresh air we mean that which is
as nearly as possible like that outdoors on a fine, bracing,
invigorating day. It is this for which the human machine
has become adapted in the course of its evolution and in
which it functions to best advantage. Devisers of school-
ventilating systems have been assuming that essentials of
good air are a high and uniform temperature and freedom
from all appreciable currents, together with a low percent-
age of carbon dioxide and impurities. Recent investigations
have shown, on the contrary, that schoolroom conditions
cannot produce sufficient carbon dioxide or other substances
to be dangerous or to interfere materially with working effi-
ciency, that high and uniform temperatures are undesirable,
an'd that considerable motion in the atmosphere is particu-
larly necessary. The ventilation problem is not one of
TYPES OF SCHOOL WORK OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL WALLS
A school-directed home garden (see p. 315) and a simply constructed out-
door classroom (see p. 37)
HEAT AND VENTILATION 41
simply getting certain chemical or organic substances out
of the air, although some of these in undue quantities may
be deleterious, but is primarily one of getting physical con-
ditions of the atmosphere adapted to the best functioning
of the human organism.
It might well be a school-management proverb that "the
lack of fresh air is the root of all evil." For the want of fresh
air countless children are suffering all manner of temporary
and permanent ills and otherwise good teachers are being
recorded as failures. Out of doors, in Nature's laboratory,
where the green things are growing, an endless supply is
being constantly purified, humidified, and put into proper
circulation. It surrounds and bombards the schools. It is
only necessary not to shut it out.
Oxygen and energy. The power by which all study must
be accomplished is child energy. Oxygen only can convert
nutriment into energy. Vigorous brain action is dependent
on an abundant supply of food and its ready oxidation. But
this oxidation requires something quite different from mere
inhalation and exhalation of air. It is equally necessary that
the digestive processes make the nutritive materials ready
for oxidation, that the circulatory system transport the
munitions to every portion of the body, that the excretory
agencies actively remove toxic and deleterious substances,
that the neural and muscular cells which are to be ener-
gized shall be vigorously functioning and, specifically, that
the vasomotor and coordinated reflexes which automatically
control the thermic states of the body shall have the sort
of stimulation which is favorable for mental work.
All this is necessary to convert oxygen into thought
activity. To secure the combination, we need something
more than mere " pure " air. There must be air in motion
over the body and more vigorously through the lungs than
is possible to one sitting stooped over a book. There must
42 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
be frequent energetic and varied activity of the voluntary
muscles. There must be vigorous functioning of the vital
processes. There must be more or less stimulation of the
complex temperature adjustments of the body by changes
of surface temperature.
Before we go into a discussion of the methods of ventila-
tion, it will be well to get before us the requisites in the
related problems of schoolroom heat and humidity.
The real temperature problem. Uniformity of body tem-
perature is undoubtedly a prime essential to health. The
clinical thermometer is the physician's first test for abnormal
conditions, and a slight variation from the normal is occa-
sion for anxiety. But the thermometer under the tongue
registers nearly the same for a healthy person whether one
has been playing ball in July or riding through a snowstorm
in January. The temperature that counts for physical wel-
fare is regulated inside the body and is equally independent
of weather variations and steam-heating plants. The heating
problem, therefore, is not one of keeping the room at a con-
stant temperature but of keeping the body's automatic ther-
mic adjustments functioning. This is accomplished chiefly
by the vasomotor reactions which direct the blood flow to
the surface when the inner combustion is too great or sur-
face radiation too slow, or which send the blood inward when
heat production runs low or radiation high. The perfect
functioning of these adjustments and the atmospheric en-
vironment of a bracing day are the temperature conditions
most favorable to profitable brain activity.
The best school temperature for health and convenience
is from 65 ° to 68° Fahrenheit. The story of the open-air
schools, however, in which the frailest anaemic and tubercular
children have grown well and strong under the rigors of
northern winters without any artificial heat, has proved be-
yond question that if suitable clothing and nourishment are
HEAT AND VENTILATION 43
provided, the matter of heat is of small consequence. A
freezing temperature is entirely favorable to school work if
adequate wraps are provided.
Humidity. At a temperature of 68° air requires six times
as much moisture as it does at 20 to maintain the same
humidity. Thus when the cold air of outdoors is heated on
entering the schoolroom it becomes relatively very dry. The
atmosphere of Sahara is not nearly as dry as any air that has
been heated thirty degrees without being moistened. We
place wet garments by a stove to dry just because the heated
air is so extremely active in reestablishing its humidity. In
a schoolroom where humidifying has not been provided for,
the only accessible moist surfaces at which the recently dried
air can saturate its thirst are the mucous membranes of the
pupils' air passages, their eyes and delicate skins. Depriv-
ing these tissues of their normal dampness not only causes
much discomfort but interferes with their functioning and
renders them subject to serious disorders.
While dry air is most to be guarded against, a high
humidity with a high temperature prevents sweat evapora-
tion, increases the temperature and circulation at the surface
of the body, and thus interrupts the circulation of blood in
the brain and vital organs, making the atmosphere feel op-
pressive and rendering mental work difficult. On the other
hand, a high humidity with a low temperature produces a
) Have frequent breathing exercises and cultivate habits
of deep breathing among the children.
(c) Have frequent periods of active physical exercise, such
as manual work, calisthenics, singing, marching, games, or
outdoor play.
10. Whenever the class (or teacher) becomes dull, de-
pressed, or irritable, it is likely that fresh air and vigorous
movement are needed. Open the windows, exercise, or get
outdoors if practicable.
1 1 . Arrange to take the class out into the open for work
as much as possible. Get them accustomed to it, so that the
excitement of the occasion will not consume their attention.
12. So long as the air and the children are freely and
abundantly in motion and outdoor air has free access to
the children there need be no occasion for anxiety as to
ventilation.
13. Constant instruction and daily training should be
directed as forcibly as possible toward establishing those
habits of ventilation and exercise which make for a vigorous
and energetic race.
PROBLEMS
1. Make an abstract of your state laws or official regulations
with respect to the problems of this chapter.
2. Write a criticism of your school building as to its heating
and ventilation system.
52 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
3. Determine the net area of opening, at its smallest point, of
the fresh-air duct leading to the furnace (or stove). At what rate
must the current of air pass this point to supply thirty cubic feet
per minute for each child in school ?
4. Make a similar test of the fresh-air duct leading to your
classroom.
5. If an anemometer is available, measure the actual rate of
these currents.
6. Work out a diagram showing the actual course of the cur-
rents of air in your schoolroom on a cold day with the ventilating
system in use. (Smoking blotting paper or punk will indicate
the movements of the air.)
READINGS
Ayres. Open Air Schools.
Burgerstein. School Hygiene, chap. hi.
Burrage and Bailey. School Sanitation and Decoration, chap. iii.
Dresslar. "American Schoolhouses," Bulletin No. j, United States
Bureau of Education, tqio.
Dresslar. School Hygiene, chaps, x-xiv.
Kingsley. Open-Air Crusaders.
Shaw.. School Hygiene, chap. iv.
Terman. Hygiene of the School Child, chap. x.
CHAPTER VI
SEATS AND DESKS
Seats of the past. In classic times the youth had only
his knees on which to rest his scroll or waxen tablets. For a
seat he may have had a plain bench, but more commonly he
had the floor, pavement, or grass. However, the lack was
not serious, for reading and writing played a small part in his
education. In medieval days the monasteries were equipped
with benches capable of more or less physical torture, but
those who sought physical development and believed in bodily
vigor spurned literary studies altogether. Medieval writing
desks were, of course, of no standard shape or style, but for
those who wrote much they were usually pulpit-like affairs
with tops sloping from thirty to forty-five degrees and com-
monly made for writing while standing. In pioneer American
days the split log, with pegs driven into auger holes for legs,
was not an uncommon type of bench, while a slab supported
against the wall of the room served for a desk. This was
succeeded by the clumsy and comfortless homemade board
desk of various designs. As commerce entered the field of
school-desk making, the ideal has seemed to be rigidity.
Much has been done in working out a strong and attractive
steel construction with a high finish and tasteful lines. As
wood gave way before cast iron, so the latter is surrendering
the field to steel or semi-steel.
"The bugbear of school hygiene." The making of desks
of sanitary, durable, and attractive construction has kept
pace with other school progress. But in the matter of
meeting the hygienic needs of the pupil who is occupying
53
54 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
the seat, recent authorities have expressed the general
sentiment thus:
The bugbear of school hygiene for a long time has been the
school desk. — Burgerstein, " School Hygiene "
On the hygienic requirements of school desks . . . fundamental
requirements have scarcely been touched. It seems an indisputable
fact that the most serious defect of the average school-desk is that
it subjects the pupil to a posture that fosters spinal curvature,
cramped chest and defective vision. . . . Unless desk tops are set
at proper angle, children will not and cannot sit erect to do their
work. They will bend over their work day after day unless we
devise a practicable desk top that will necessitate erect normal
posture for all their work. — Dresslar, " School Hygiene "
School desks as at present made are undoubtedly demanding
abnormal positions and making them habitual. — Cyclopedia of
Education
Essentials of a good desk. The features to be sought in
an ideal desk include the following :
Construction should be strong, durable, and free from
corners or irregularities which will catch dust. As already
indicated, admirable progress has been made in these respects.
Finish should be sanitary, hygienic, and in good taste.
The best desks of to-day have a fine dead-black enamel
finish on the metal and a dull, soft-toned finish on the wood.
The use of light-colored woods finished in bright tones and
glossy surface is not in good taste or in harmony with the
studious purposes of the schoolroom unless perhaps in pri-
mary grades. Such finish reflects the light in a manner
trying to the eyes and lessens the efficient illumination of a
book resting upon it.
Desks should be single and separate. Double desks are
now tolerated only in cheaply equipped schools. The desk
which is attached to the seat in front is hardly less objec-
tionable than that intended for two children. In each case
SEATS AND DESKS 55
many annoyances arise, concentration is interfered with, and
there- are obvious sanitary disadvantages.
The scat should be narrower than the desk. This makes
for better posture and allows more room for the child to rise
and for exercises without unnecessarily wide aisles. Seats
should be of the chair or saddle type. The pronounced
double curve with a ridge near the front produces pressure
on the nerves and blood vessels just above the knee or else
tends to slide the buttocks forward, and often does both. It
also twists the spine severely if the child is seated sidewise
for writing, thus tending to develop spinal curvature.
Backs should be adjustable as to height and as to slant.
They should not be as high as the shoulder blades nor
touch the hips. They should support only the small of the
back. They should be practically solid, with no uneven ridges
or separate slats pressing upon the back. They should have
a vertically convex curve with possibly a slight horizontal
concavity. A slight resilience to the back will afford great
relief to tired pupils and conserve for school work much
energy ordinarily expended in resisting spinal jars. The
common type of back is rigid, curves away from the small
of the back, supports the shoulder blades, and cooperates
with the seat in pushing the hips forward.
The desk top should be adjustable for different kinds of
work. For modeling and most sorts of handwork a per-
fectly level top is desirable. For writing there may well be
a slant of less than ten degrees and a " minus distance," or
projection over the seat, of about two inches. For reading,
the book should be some six inches higher than the writing
level and slightly forward of the edge of the seat, and the
desk top should have a slant of about forty-five degrees.
The size and shape of the child, the size of the book and
the print, the condition of the eyes, and the light condi-
tions make the ideal position somewhat variable. Numerous
56 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
designs for adjustable desk tops have appeared in this country
and Europe during the last half century. Few of them have
been able to hold a place on the market. Most of them
were too complicated and cumbrous to be practicable. All
have failed chiefly in that they did. not support the book in
the position where it should be for reading. Merely to tilt
the top accomplishes little or nothing. It must be tilted,
thrust forward, and raised and should hold the book in
place. To be practicable, all this must be done in a single,
easy, and silent movement, the parts being so constructed
that they will not readily break, wear out, or get out of order.
The book box should be dust-proof and might well be thief-
proof. The ordinary bookshelf under the desk top is in the
way of the knees, cannot be readily seen or kept in order,
is inconvenient and insanitary, and encourages interference
by other pupils with the owner's possessions. The hinged
top has some advantages, but it cannot be opened without
moving everything from the top, the lid may be used as a
screen for mischief, and the box is still in the way of the
knees. The book drawer under the seat, common to movable
chair-desks, is a great improvement in all these respects.
This closes tight and may be made to lock. When it is open
it is in full view of the child as he sits at his desk and when
closed is entirely out of the way. Whatever the style of the
book box, an unending duty of the teacher is to see that
it is properly kept. Each book, tablet, and pencil should
have its place and be kept only there while habits of neat-
ness are being established. It is disgraceful to find books
destructively jammed inside of each other or with a month's
accumulation of trash behind them.
Inkwells should be nonbreakable, noncorrosive, easy to fill
and to clean, and such that they cannot get out of order.
Many kinds advertising these virtues are on the market.
The better ones are satisfactory if they are cared for, but
SEATS AND DESKS 57
none can keep itself In order. Vigilance and supervision
are the price of satisfaction here as elsewhere. With the
increasing use of fountain pens it is desirable that a well
be used which does not leave an unsightly hole in the top
of the desk if permanently removed. Unused wells — ink
and otherwise — are ever causing trouble.
Movable desks are now largely used for primary and
special classes. These are movable chairs each having its
own desk-top or writing surface suspended by some more or
less successful device. They are gradually replacing fixed
desks in many schools and will doubtless be in general use
ultimately for all grades. The projecting tops tend to render
some of them quite unstable. Those which fall over easily are
a source of annoyance and even of danger in case of panic.
The whole idea of children's seats being screwed immovably
to the floor in rigid lines is repugnant to the modern spirit
of school study and government. Group seating should be
possible to make group teaching fully successful. Movable
seats may be arranged in two or more distinct groups, sepa-
rated as far as desired ; they may be massed in different
parts of the room, gathered about the front for demonstra-
tions, faced in different directions, arranged in a circle or
amphitheatrical form, or pushed to the walls, leaving the
room free for games, folk-dancing, and the like. For pri-
mary grades they are becoming almost indispensable. They
make the classroom available for community center work of
various kinds, and by this increased usefulness of the school
building will doubtless prove an actual economy.
For practical economy, a movable desk which may be
readily converted from a good school desk into an equally
good auditorium seat has decided advantages. It makes it
possible to convert any classroom into a social gathering
room or a lecture room for adult evening classes. With
such seats an auditorium may readily be used for either
58 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
class or gymnasium purposes, or two classrooms may be
thrown together into a very good auditorium, since both the
facing and the spacing of the seats is easily changed.
HeigJit adjttstment of both seat and desk to the needs
of the individual child is available in many of the better-
grade desks and is in general demand. All seem to have
the inevitable objection that the adjustments will become
loose and squeaky in the course of time and that teachers
do neglect the adjusting unless constantly supervised. If
the desks are readily movable from room to room and an
abundant assortment of sizes is provided, very few adjust-
able-height desks, if any, need be provided. Otherwise at
least one fourth of the desks in a room should by all means
be adjustable in order to avoid serious physical strain upon
the children who do not fit the desks. The height of the
seat, according to Dresslar, should ordinarily be two sevenths
of the height of the child ; the height of the desk top
(front edge at writing slant) should be three sevenths, plus
an inch in the upper grades or plus half an inch in primary
grades. Owing to decided differences in the shape of grow-
ing children, this should undoubtedly be corrected for each
child separately. A long-legged growing boy and a roly-poly
girl are proportioned on quite different plans.
The hygiene of sitting. A healthful sitting position de-
mands that both hips and shoulders should be pushed back
and the small of the back pushed forward. This posture
expands the thoracic and abdominal cavities and encourages
the free activity of all the vital organs. It strengthens the
back and abdominal muscles. It practically necessitates deep
breathing and makes it a habit. No ventilating system can
possibly be as large a factor in getting good air into the lungs
of children as a seat which causes them to sit with chest
expanded. The system may ventilate the room, but it is
the posture that ventilates the child. If the seat, back, and
SEATS AND DESKS 59
desk top are adapted for it, this erect posture is the most
comfortable possible and can be longer sustained without
fatigue than any other.
The common type of seat and back tends to push both
hips and shoulders forward. In fact, the structure of the
spine is such that both alike will go forward, compressing
the thorax and abdomen, or both will go backward, expand-
ing these cavities. Let the reader try pushing the shoulders
forward and the hips back, or vice versa. The effect of the
usual desk is the gradual sliding down and doubling up so
familiar to every teacher and pupil. Not only does this com-
press lungs, heart, and digestive organs, suppressing their
functioning and weakening their resistance to disease, but
the spine, suspended from its two ends, tends to sag into
a permanent curvature, resulting in stooped shoulders and
a shambling gait.
If one sits erect, with book lying on the ordinary desk
top, the letters are too far away for proper visual focus and
are enormously foreshortened, with corresponding illegi-
bility and eyestrain. If he stand the book on end, he must
use both hands to hold it and slide down in the seat to
reduce the visual distance and the foreshortening. If he
lean over the desk to get the right distance, there is severe
strain on the back and neck muscles. In his natural and
rightful efforts to relieve this strain he rests his head on his
hands, with his eyes about eight inches from the book, neces-
sitating a severe strain of convergence, shading his book
with his arms, cramping the vital organs, bending spine, and
relaxing the supporting muscles. The most perfect lighting
is wasted when the book is not held in proper relation to the
eye and to the light. The correct position of the book places
it perpendicular to the line of vision, with the light shining
squarely upon the page, and fourteen to sixteen inches from
the eye, varying with the size of print and acuity of vision.
60 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Seating and posture training. Undoubtedly children need
training in good posture irrespective of the shape or adjust-
ment of the seats, but even incessant nagging by the teacher
for one position is ineffective training as against the nag-
ging of tired nature for any position but that one. Where
hygienic seats are not provided, it is even more imperative
that frequent change of work and position be provided in the
schedule and by the teacher's methods. The old-fashioned
recitation benches at the front of the room, however uncom-
fortable in themselves, may afford considerable relief through
mere change of position. Nervous and irritable children
suffer serious injury from misfit and uncomfortable seats.
Spinal curvature, anaemic conditions, weak eyes, and all
sorts of troubles in discipline are some of the evils which
are aggravated by bad seating. Cushions, foot rests, or what-
ever may reduce the waste of energy in nature's protests
against uncomfortable confinement to nonadjustable seats
should not be denied. However faithful the teacher's ad-
monitions, children lack muscular strength to sit erect for
any considerable length of time. This weakness of back
muscles is fostered by the usual method of seating but
overcome by habituation to seats correctly formed.
Renovating defaced desks. There are still some schools
where children have so little interest in their work and so
little respect for public property, so little realization that it
is their own property, that the marking and carving of
desk tops continue. In others the hieroglyphic inscriptions
of past ages of pupils yet disfigure the furniture and dis-
courage efforts to keep the room appearing well. By de-
voting fifteen minutes to scraping the desk tops a most
admirable lesson in manual training, as well as in thrift
and in property values, is taught, and a material increase in
value of school equipment is accomplished. Each child is
equipped with a piece or two of broken window glass and
SEATS AND DESKS 61
a little sandpaper. Where the cuts are very deep, the jani-
tor or a large boy with a plane should supplement their
efforts. A fresh coat of varnish stain applied on Friday
evening will be ready for use by Monday morning. The
boys of one town school more than paid for a good
manual-training outfit by renovating old desks which the
school authorities were about to throw away.
PROBLEMS
1. Observe a roomful of children studying. What proportion
of them assume a hygienic posture at their work and for what
proportion of the day ?
2. Describe the positions the children take in order to relieve
eyestrain and fatigue of the back muscles.
3. On how many of the books is the light falling squarely or so
as to illuminate adequately ?
4. What is the usual angle between the book and the child's
line of vision ?
5. What proportion are sitting with the small of the back curved
backward and the internal organs compressed ?
6. Ask the children to take a deep breath and note the change
of posture necessary to do so.
7. Arrange a comfortable seat with a restful support for the
small of the back. Then provide a support for your book in the
correct reading position, sixteen inches from the eye, at right
angles to the line of vision and with the light shining squarely
upon it. What advantages would there be in having children do
all their reading in such a position ?
READINGS
Bancroft. The Posture of School Children, chap. xxiv.
Burgersteix. School Hygiene, chap. iv.
Dresslar. School Hygiene, chap. v.
Term am. Hygiene of the School Child, p. 8i.
CHAPTER VII
APPARATUS
Two ways of wasting. There is as little economy in pay-
ing teachers salaries and denying them the apparatus neces-
sary to make their work effective as there is in employing
any other class of workers and denying them requisite tools.
About sixty per cent of the cost of the schools is paid for
teachers. Five dollars expended on apparatus for every hun-
dred paid the teachers would be invested at one hundred per
cent profit if it increased teaching efficiency only ten per
cent. The actual average expenditure for the purpose is
probably well within one per cent of the salaries, while it is
evident that the use of apparatus often adds as much as fifty
per cent to the value of the teaching. A niggardly policy as
to equipment thus wastes much of the school funds.
But there is another aspect to this problem of waste.
Much of the apparatus on the market is more profitable for
the dealer than for anyone else. Prices are often exorbitant
and educative values slight. The mode of purchase is too
often such as to make people suspicious of the wisdom of
the investment. Shrewd and extremely agreeable agents of
the supply houses have brought about the purchase of vast
quantities of charts and other equipment either totally worth-
less or practically so for the teachers and schools to which
it was supplied. School boards, professing no technical
knowledge, properly call upon the educators for a statement
of their needs. The teachers, regarding it as a mark of effi-
ciency to get everything possible for their schools, have
occasionally named amounts as large as they dared or listed
62
APPARATUS 63
everything in the supply company's catalogue which there
was a remote chance of using or getting. Some things are
" recommended " out of mere curiosity or a vague idea that
they would be nice things to have. Expert educators, like
other experts, are sometimes tempted to give advice which
the laity is in no position to question but which is not based
on a practical business consideration of the relation between
the client's need and his available means. Ambitious teach-
ers should remember that efficiency is attained by economy
of expenditure as truly as by magnitude of results. An
honest saving attitude should insure their asking for only
the materials that they will use and their using the materials
which they get. Teachers and officials should especially be
on their guard against the deplorable tendency to regard
a "public job" as legitimate opportunity for undue profit.
Printers, contractors, and dealers, often and without shame,
expect this form of graft and resent watchful economy on
the part of the buyer for the public. But for the frequent
exceptions it would seem superfluous to say that common
honesty demands that a teacher intrusted with selecting
equipment, should use the same watchfulness and strictness
that he would if he himself were to foot the bill.
The useful and the useless. Equipment is likely to be
more appreciated by the children and more profitably used
by the teachers if acquired gradually, a few pieces at a time
as needed, than if a "complete outfit," selected without
reference to the particular class, is " installed " all at once.
Simple equipment which will accomplish the purpose is far
more educative than the more elaborate. There is an in-
creased teaching value in the fact that the pupil sees just
how each part is made and put together and a still greater
value if he makes or assembles it himself. Elaborate in-
struments tend to destroy the value of a class demonstration
by losing the experiment in the instrument. Instruments of
64 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
precision for quantitative science work ; globes and maps
which must be accurate to be useful ; charts or models for
study in lieu of objects ; art models which must always be
true art to be valuable ; practical time-saving contrivances
entering only indirectly into the teaching, such as devices for
sharpening pencils, ruling, cleaning, facilitating the gathering,
dissecting, and preserving of specimens, — these things it is
economy to buy just so far as they will be used and cared for.
Charts for teaching, reading, writing, or spelling are often
worthless. The same is true of chart outlines of grammar,
civics, arithmetic, or any outlines which do for the children
the very organizing which it is the highest function of teach-
ing to get the children to do. Such charts encourage stilted
and deductive teaching at just the point where inductive
development and abundant freedom should prevail. The live
teacher and the blackboard are incomparably better for almost
any phase of teaching the fundamentals. Education is accom-
plished only by the pupil's thinking, and any apparatus which
purports to supply the thinking predigested should be re-
garded as a thought preventive. Textbooks may well provide
forms for outlines, and teachers can do no better reviewing
than working up outlines into chart form in class. A ready-
made organization and a stimulus to organization should be
regarded as at opposite poles of teaching value.
Pupil-made apparatus. A very great deal of the apparatus
should be made by the children themselves. It should never
be forgotten that making apparatus or assembling it is as
genuinely educative as any other task at which a pupil is
likely to be engaged, and the construction of it is usually
as directly instructive as any lecture, study, or experiment
in connection with which it is used. Making the apparatus
is so much more important than having it that a stock of
simple parts which may readily be assembled in different
ways for different purposes is to be preferred to an outfit of
APPARATUS 65
distinct and perfected pieces all ready for use. Lack of
time is not a valid objection to the preference for home-
made equipment, since time can be no better spent than
in making it. With a more elastic schedule and organi-
zation, it is not hard to find time for many things which
at first appear impossible. The brighter pupils arc in need
of occupation for spare time to keep them out of mischief.
Others simply cannot learn the abstract principles without
much of the concrete manual construction. If teachers
would but cease hurrying to " get over the ground " and
using themselves up in the futile grading-grind or in the
"preparing for experiments" in which pupils have no part
but to "see the thing go off," they could plan to make the
preparing as educative as the going off and give their pupils
the benefit of both. A wise teacher, instead of spending
an hour before the class getting ready and an hour after-
ward in putting things away or keeping the class waiting
while he performs the instructive preparation work, will so
adjust the classes that some pupil or small group will be
free to set up the apparatus for the class experiment and
another to clean and put away the parts afterward. Well-
organized groups can do these things quickly in the class
period, especially in high-school " laboratory periods." The
difference between an expert and a laborer is that the
laborer works his hands and his heels to save working his
head, while the expert makes use of his head first and
most. Many teachers seem striving to bring their occupa-
tion entirely within the class of common labor. Even the
consciences of the conscientious ones seem to drive their
hands and perfunctory brain processes rather than their
higher judgment. When their doing so robs the child of
opportunities for learning, these supposedly conscientious
ones are pedagogically as great sinners as those lazy ones
who do too little.
66 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Instruments of precision. Obviously, the whole purpose
of any piece of apparatus is to work. To the extent in which
the teacher's time or labor or ready-made apparatus is needed
to this end these must be provided or the experiment omitted.
Telling what ought to have happened if it had come out
right is best done without any apparatus. Object lessons in
failures are worse than none at all. Experiments that re-
quire delicate and complex apparatus are not necessary or
pedagogically wise in elementary courses. Advanced courses
are a very different matter. Instruments of precision must
necessarily be precise, and delicate measurements cannot be
made with crude equipment. But nature and the everyday
facts of industry and life afford such a wealth of experiments
of the most instructive sort that elementary science classes
have little need for the sort of experiment that pupils cannot
set up or find already set up and practically operative in the
neighborhood.
Familiar contrivances. Some of the ordinary commercial
electric and mechanical contrivances should be made familiar
because of their direct practical interest and importance.
The National Education Association has secured the publica-
tion and free distribution to members, by interested manu-
facturing concerns, of a series of charts and monographs
showing the principles and construction of the sewing ma-
chine and certain familiar electrical apparatus. This valuable
and suggestive series indicates that many ordinary instru-
ments and machines, accessible almost anywhere, might be
so used. A typewriter, electric fan, automobile, the tele-
phone, call bells, clocks, spectacles, microscope, a swing, a
warehouse truck, furnace, radiator, refrigerator, ice-cream
freezer, or any other familiar instrument or machine is an
ideal point of beginning for lessons in physics. Things
that are in actual use and demonstrating their worth daily
have peculiar value as teaching apparatus.
APPARATUS 67
Good tools. It is important also that the children be sup-
plied with adequate tools for making well and easily the
things they are required to make. A good equipment of
simple wood-working and metal-working tools and a supply
of stock materials can be bought for the cost of a very
few special instruments for demonstrating single principles.
There should be adequate equipment to demand of the chil-
dren that whatever work they do shall be done neatly and
accurately. Workmanlike products should be required as
far as possible, but these are possible only with good tools
well kept.
Primary materials. For primary reading, phonics, and
number work the sight or " flash " cards are quite valuable.
They are supplied, at little or no cost, in connection with
some primers. But a child by making such a card will re-
member what is on it better than he would by seeing it
many times ; and the card which a classmate made has a
meaning which a bought one cannot have. Even first-graders
can trace over the teacher's letters with brush or crayon, the
neatest cards being retained for permanent- class use. A set
of large rubber-stamp types may be used by the children in
making cards and charts. Restless children of older grades
are delighted with the "busy work" of making these cards
for the little ones. With large sheets of wrapping paper the
teacher and pupils may make charts, and these homemade
charts have a vital significance that ready-made ones never
can have. Even if a child has not the actual training of
making it, he feels that it belongs to his class and that it
is a help in his learning.
Arithmetic measures. For arithmetic there should be a
liberal supply of the standard weights and measures, and
these should be made use of for every possible purpose.
Foot rules and yardsticks and meter sticks, duly subdivided,
should grow familiar through constant use as pointers and
6S SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
rulers. Quart cups and peck measures may well be used
constantly and consciously as containers for every practicable
purpose. There will then be little to teach regarding them.
There may also be cube-root blocks where this topic is taught.
Beyond these little if anything should be bought. All sorts
of counters, even to an abacus, may be very profitably pre-
pared by the children themselves. Geometrical forms should
be constructed out of stiff paper as class exercises. The
materials for arithmetic teaching are at hand everywhere in
the very things to which arithmetic is intended to be applied.
Maps. A good set of maps, clear and not too detailed,
should be provided in every classroom. During the days or
weeks that a continent is being studied, its map should be
before the pupils' eyes constantly. There should be a simi-
larly vivid map of the state, county, or town. Few pieces
of equipment are more useful than outline blackboard maps.
These can be purchased on cloth blackboard which rolls up
as an ordinary map. They should be used very extensively
for drills and reviews and in almost every sort of geography
or history recitation with the aid of colored crayon in the
hands of the children. A globe of about twelve inches diam-
eter and a blackboard globe should also be accessible. The
best relief maps are so preposterously out of proportion and
out of all semblance to the things which they are supposed
to represent that they are of little use as models. Relief
maps may be made by the class with some benefit by using
a mixture of salt and flour, provided their disproportions
are appreciated. The sand table likewise can readily be
made by the pupils but should be used with caution. In
the presence of natural phenomena, that are abundant wher-
ever water falls or runs, illustrating erosion by means of the
sand table is a pitiful makeshift. Every creek, stream, gully,
or even a back yard after a heavy rain is a hundred times
better than the sand table.
APPARATUS 69
Several particularly valuable series of maps, which should
be freely used in the schools, may be had at a nominal
price from the United States Government. These include
the sectional topographic maps furnished by the United
States Geologic Survey, the pilot charts of the Hydrographic
Office, the meteorological charts and the daily weather maps
of the Weather Bureau and the maps of the Land Office
and Post Office departments.
Stereopticon. Some satisfactory form of stereopticon or
projectoscope should be a part of the equipment of every
school, if possible. With this there should be a constantly
growing accumulation of the best illustrative slides and pic-
tures attainable for the stud)' of geography, history, litera-
ture, art, science, and every other subject which can be
made to appeal through visual representation. The National
Geographical Magazine is particularly useful. A moving-
picture machine is, of course, desirable, but the expense of
getting the high-grade educational films is still so great,
especially of getting them at times when they will correlate
well with the studies, that their service must be mainly for
social-center uses supplementary to the courses of instruction
rather than an integral part of them.
Library. The school library is now so universally recog-
nized as an essential part of the school as to need no dis-
cussion. Provision should be made not only for bookcases
or shelves in which the books will be well protected but for
an adequate cataloguing and charging system. One excel-
lent measure of a teacher's efficiency is the extent to which
his pupils make use of the working part of the library ; but
to make any extensive use possible there must be a working
part, and that means a live, growing library, closely correlated
with the course of study.
Museum. A school museum, though less common as yet,
should be a most valuable adjunct of every school library.
yo SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
This should be incidentally a storage and display room for
special apparatus not in regular use, whether purchased or
homemade. It should contain the constantly growing col-
lections of relics, biological specimens, products, minerals,
pressed leaves, flowers, or butterflies ; also models, illustrative
material, and specimens of the best drawings and written
work of each year. It should grow not only by additions
but by substitution of better specimens for poorer ones.
It should represent the enthusiasm and industry of the
school rather than mere expenditure by the authorities.
Thus it will serve as a constant stimulus to intelligent
collecting and to excellence in achievement. No greater
reward should stimulate the child than the prospect of
having his specimens or his work placed in the permanent
museum. A system of labeling should be adopted which
will in itself be a standard of neatness and which will give
the scientific classification or other useful data, the date of,
accession, and particularly the name of the maker, collector,
or contributor. The collection may include anything from
primary spelling lists to traveling art exhibits, or from a
collection of postage stamps to a manufacturer's exhibit
of agricultural machinery.
Phonograph. A good phonograph which will play the best
standard records must now be regarded as an almost indis-
pensable adjunct of a well-equipped school. Its uses are so
numerous, entertaining, and instructive as to make it a most
profitable investment. Routine marching of classes ; regular
accompaniments for class singing, indoor and outdoor games,
gymnastics, calisthenics and folk-dancing ; vocal and instru-
mental instruction and community concerts, — for all of these
this instrument is invaluable.
Playground equipment. Playground equipment likewise
adds tremendously to the interest and power of the school.
Even a small school may have a sand bin, swings, a slide
APPARATUS 71
for the little children, horizontal bar, volley-ball and tether-
ball outfits, croquet set, basket-ball court, baseball diamonds,
running track, and jumping pit. Other apparatus may be
added as it may be found useful. Mr. II. S. Curtis shows
that, with the aid of the boys, an effective equipment for a
small school may be constructed for from eight to twenty
dollars. "Very likely to most rural teachers," he says, "the
program thus outlined seems ambitious, perhaps impossible
of realization. It does certainly require that the teacher
should have the cooperation of the children, and to some
extent the sympathy of the neighborhood as well. But if she
wishes the cooperation of the children, what better method
can there be than to do something in which they are inter-
ested ? It must be remembered too that it is quite as im-
portant and legitimate a part of modern education for the
children to learn to work for the common welfare as it is
to study arithmetic or geography ; that the most of the things
they will do will be the best kind of manual training and
may properly be done in school time if the directors are in
sympathy with the work." 1
Care of equipment. A reasonable sense of responsibility
for public property, any consideration for the teaching values
of the equipment or a care for the development of civic
righteousness among the children, would demand that ade-
quate provision be made for the careful protection and pres-
ervation of all books, apparatus, and equipment. This is
incomparably easier to do if the children are partners in
the matter and have spent time and energy in preparing
and collecting the materials. The apparatus which they have
helped to make they will be zealous in protecting from others
as well as in using carefully themselves. Their interest in the
protection and preservation of equipment may be made still
more keen by their cooperation in the making of cases and -
1 H. S. Curtis, Play and Recreation, p. 51. Ginn and Company.
72 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
cabinets for it and in cataloguing, checking, and caring for it.
Elected monitors are most desirable custodians. By all
means let there be full enjoyment of the sense of joint
ownership and joint responsibility. Dilapidated or disfigured
articles should invite not heedless handling and destruction
but careful repair or replacement by better specimens.
General principles quoted. The following admirable sum-
mary of this topic is given by Dr. F. B. Dresslar 1 :
The general principles which seem to be emerging to guide us
in the matter of school apparatus may be summed up and stated
.as follows :
i. The more thoroughly teachers are educated and trained for
their work, the less need for specially prepared and complicated
apparatus.
2. The better the curriculum is adjusted to the needs and
capabilities of children, the fewer requirements for experiments
or methods demanding apparatus beyond the power of the
teacher to supply.
3. The simpler the apparatus and the more natural the experi-
ment or method, the more satisfactory are the results for children
of the elementary and high-school grades.
4. Apparatus made by the pupils and teachers working to-
gether, or by the pupils themselves, often serves to impress the
essential purpose of an experiment to better advantage than more
perfect laboratory appliances furnished ready-made.
5. It is better for the pupils themselves to perform a simple
significant experiment illustrative of some important truth than it
is for the teacher to perform in their presence a more elaborate
experiment directed toward the same end.
6. School appliances designed to illustrate those forces and
phenomena of nature which have proved themselves significant
are more important than those which give spectacular results not
readily seen outside the schoolroom and less obviously related to
the immediate needs of life.
1 Article on Apparatus in Cyclopedia of Education, Vol. I. The Mac-
millan Company.
APPARATUS 73
7. Good teachers arc increasingly utilizing machine shops,
electric-lighting plants, water systems, scientific agriculture, and
manufacturing industries of all sorts to supplement school
experiments and to render them more significant.
There is a growing use of photographs, picture post cards,
illustrated magazines, stereopticon slides and projectoscopes to
bring distant scenes within reach of school children. The only
danger here is that such material may absorb an undue share
of time and the real world around them may never be made
significant.
PROBLEMS
1. From the records or from careful estimates for the past
few years determine what per cent of the cost of teachers in
your school or city has been expended on apparatus.
2. Estimating the increased value of the lessons in which it was
used, what profit on the investment would you say this apparatus
has earned during the past year ?
3. Estimate likewise the value of any special sets or pieces of
apparatus. Which of it is indispensable ? Which of it could be
dispensed with without detriment ?
4. Study the equipment listed in any supply company's cata-
logue as follows : (a) Which pieces are inherently instructive ?
(J?) Which are labor-savers ? (c) Which save labor that would in
itself be educative ? (d) For which could homemade equipment
be profitably substituted ? (e) Which would be used too little to
justify purchase for your school ?
5. List the physical principles involved in the construction of
several familiar machines and instruments, such as the typewriter,
telephone, gasoline motor, thermos bottle, etc. Would these be
satisfactory apparatus for teaching these principles ?
6. Study each available chart as follows : (a) Does it afford
information not readily accessible in objects or in textbooks ?
(b) Does it stimulate or forestall organization by the pupils ?
(V) Could it have been made by the class profitably ? (d) Sum-
marize all the arguments for and against its use.
74 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
7. Plan five collections of natural specimens or products of
your section the making of which would be particularly profitable
for the children in school.
8. Plan a library and museum for your school indicating
arrangement of shelves, cupboards, wall and cabinet displays.
If there is not a special room available, plan for utilizing avail-
able space in one or more classrooms or office rooms. If a
good beginning has already been made, plan improvements
and extensions.
9. Make an estimate of the cost of the improvements planned,
all labor and materials possible being contributed by the school.
10. Make similar plans and estimates for extensions and
improvements of the playground.
READINGS
Burks. Health and the School, chap. xv.
Curtis. Play and Recreation, chap. v.
Dodge and Kirchwey. Teaching of Geography in Elementary
Schools, chap. xvii.
Lincoln. Everyday Pedagogy, chap. iv.
United States Bureau of Education
Bulletin No. 35, 191 3, "A List of Books Suited to a High
School library."
Bulletin No. 48, 191 4, "The Educational Museum of the St. Louis
Public Schools."
CHAPTER VIII
SCHOOL HOUSEKEEPING
Standards and traditions. The housekeeping of a family
or of a community is not a matter of time or of means but
of standards. To set right living standards is among the
school's highest privileges. It is done not through study
and instruction but through ideals and training, not by set
courses in domestic arts but by daily effort and environment.
It is a sad commentary on the educative influence of a
public school that it inures its pupils to housekeeping con-
ditions which would be tolerated in only the worst of the
homes from which its pupils come. The most refined
children cannot attain their mental development in the
midst of littered and mud-tracked floors and walls disfigured
with scrawls and spitballs without losing some of their
dislike for coarseness and ugliness. Nor can the children
from the crudest homes learn in the midst of scrupulously
kept surroundings and tastefully tinted walls adorned with
masterpieces of art without imbibing something of an
enduring love and ambition for such environment. Most
of the formal lessons are of no greater practical value to
the community than is the subtle growth of ideals that
make for worthier manhood and womanhood, and not least
among these is the ideal of tasteful, well-kept surroundings.
The difference between the thrifty, well-kept appearance of
some communities and the shiftless, dilapidated appearance
of others is not one of wealth but of ideals. It is more eco-
nomical to keep things up than to let them run down. It is
cheaper to be neat and orderly than to be slovenly. But
75
76 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
neighborhood traditions far more than any doctrine or pre-
cept determine the way the people live. The peculiar and
serious sanitary dangers of the place where children congre-
gate for their daily work make another powerful argument
for the highest standards of school housekeeping.
Janitors. Trained or even intelligent janitors are too rare
to warrant educators in shifting this responsibility from their
own shoulders. Janitors must ordinarily be patiently trained,
systematically instructed, and ceaselessly supervised by those
in charge. It is economy to pay salaries sufficient to employ
janitors of ability and reliability. They should be such as
can manage the heating and ventilating apparatus with
economy and efficiency. They should be such as can aid
the management of the school by supervising the basements
and playgrounds and by taking entire charge of the premises
out of school hours. They should take an active pride in the
sanitary conditions and attractive appearances of the school.
But it must rest upon the teachers and principal in charge
to see that these things are done. There must be no blam-
ing of neglect upon the janitor. There must be no neglect
to blame. Some of the definite requirements of janitor
service are the following :
Floor cleaning. Floors must be cleaned daily in all rooms
that are in regular use. The cleaning must always be done
after the school is dismissed for the day and with windows
wide open. It must be done thoroughly with special atten-
tion to the corners and half-hidden crannies about the feet
of the desks. The advantage of desks that offer no such
broom-proof harbors for dirt is obvious. A schoolroom
should never be dry-swept. It is better to leave the dust
on the floor than to scatter the more dangerous part of it
through the air and over the furniture. Dry brooms remove
the larger trash which, though unsightly, is ordinarily not
insanitary ; but the dust, which there is reason to fear,
school HOUSEKEEPING yy
remains in the room, where hands and garments will gather
it up and breathing will gather it in. Several means are
used for preventing the rising of the dust. Sprinkling
leaves the dust in some spots unmoistened while converting
the rest into mud, most of which sticks to the floor until it
dries and returns to dust again. Moistened paper or saw-
dust strewn over the floor has the advantage that most of
the dust sticks to it and is swept out with it. ( )iled sawdust
is even better. This may be supplied very economically
by keeping a barrel of common sawdust and occasionally
sprinkling oil over the top, allowing it to drain through.
The sawdust is used from the top when the surplus oil
has thoroughly drained off. The application of the oil di-
rectly to the floor at intervals of a few weeks is perhaps as
effective for keeping down the dust, for dust which becomes
saturated with oil is too heavy to rise into the air, but the
sweeping is usually not as thorough and the excessive oil
is often quite objectionable, particularly to long skirts. It is
also more wasteful of oil.
Vacuum cleaning is undoubtedly the best solution of the
problem of getting dust out of the room. An installed
vacuum cleaner with proper attachments for reaching every
place in the room where dust or dirt can lodge is probably
the most hygienic and economical method in large schools.
Portable cleaners which suck up the dust but drive the same
air back into the room are said to act as redistributors of
bacteria and the finer dust particles. They should be used
with caution.
Dusting. The " deadly feather duster " must not be tol-
erated in school. Dry brushes of any kind merely move the
dust. They cannot remove it. The most effective method
of dusting furniture is wiping with large cloths, which
should be washed out frequently and very slightly oiled with
kerosene. A heavy oil should never be put on furniture
78 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
or in any place where hands and clothing must touch it.
A very little kerosene in the water in which the cloths are
rinsed out is perhaps sufficient. Just enough is wanted
to make the dust cling to the cloth but not enough for the
oil to cling to the desk. Desks should all be wiped off
every morning before school opens. The dust of the day
and of the sweeping settles during the night.
Disinfecting. At least once a month, and at any time
when there has been chance of infection by contagious
disease, all the desks and door-knobs, woodwork, stair-rails,
window-trim, and every place where dust might find lodg-
ment or germs cling with the oil and perspiration of the
hands should be thoroughly wiped off with a strong ap-
proved disinfectant. This thorough wiping is really not a
very tedious task if done with large cloths and in an orderly
and systematic routine. Globes and apparatus not readily
cleaned should be kept under cover when not in use.
The making of neat cambric covers for apparatus is an
appropriate exercise in domestic art for the smaller girls.
Chalk dust. Chief among dust problems is the one of
chalk dust. The direct injury which may be done to lungs
and air passages by the flying particles can hardly be over-
estimated. It is not the use of crayon that is harmful but
the dry erasing and the tapping of erasers together to rid
them of dust accumulations. Erasing with moist sponges
or cloths remedies this difficulty but introduces others, in
the 'way of keeping the sponges just moist enough to avoid
muddy streaks on the board. Chalk troughs which hold
both erasers and crayons out of the dust by means of wire
coverings or raised center strips are on the market or can
easily be provided by a janitor or manual-training class.
The construction of the chalk trough must permit its being
cleaned easily by the janitor. Eraser cleaners of various
types and degrees of efficiency are also available.
SCHOOL HOUSEKEEPING 79
Catch-alls. Constant watchfulness on the part of the
teacher is necessary to prevent accumulations of trash in
cupboards, closets, drawers, and other out-of-the-way nooks
and corners, and particularly in the desks of the pupils. In
the basement and storerooms a janitor of inferior sort is
very likely to have accumulations which violate all standards
of sanitation and fire protection.
Educative values and pupil participation. It is due the
children that they should receive not only the suggestive
values of good school housekeeping through the condi-
tions of the premises and building but also the direct
values through active participation in the process. Keep-
ing a room thoroughly clean is a fundamentally valuable
educative experience for any boy or girl. Too many of
them are deprived of this privilege at home. Dusting and
" tidying-up " a room should become genuinely pleasurable,
far more pleasurable than enduring a room that lacks it.
It is a poor class that would not rather keep its own
room cleaned up than to have the task done in slipshod
fashion by the janitor. At least the pupils should make
it possible to demand of the janitor thoroughness in the
sweeping and heavier tasks, by themselves doing the dust-
ing and lighter cleaning. Assuredly parents who do not
provide adequate funds for proper janitor service cannot
complain at having their children do anything necessary
to keep in a seemly and sanitary condition the place where
characters and ideals are being formed. Under wise guid-
ance the children themselves will come to take a pride in
the spotless condition of the room. Competition between
rooms may well be encouraged. It should become a matter
of pride and credit to each pupil that his own desk and its
immediate environment is always clean. He should gladly
pick up the trash when " somebody else put it there " rather
than have it there at all. Monitors with the backing of
So SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
the social spirit of the room will stimulate the less respon-
sive. The inside as well as the outside of every desk should
always be left in order. Each desk should be provided with
a dust cloth if necessary in order that it be kept spotless.
Monitors should see to it that the blackboards are left per-
fectly clean, the teacher's desk and every piece of apparatus
in proper order. Broom and dustpan should be convenient
so that mud tracked in may be promptly brushed up at any
time of the day.
Summary of National Education Association recommen-
dations. The following "Summary of Recommendations"
made by the Committee on Janitor Service to the Depart-
ment of Science Instruction of the National Education
Association (191 3) is a useful statement of how practical
and educative values are gotten through pupil cooperation.
Such supervision by pupils does more than secure effective
janitor service. It teaches facts of value which are not in
textbooks, and more important still are the habits and ideals
which it establishes.
To standardize janitor service, or school housekeeping, the first
step is to get the facts. Every building, as every room in it, has
its own conditions to be learned and controlled.
This can be done with least expense and greatest effectiveness
by enlisting pupils' cooperation. Expense is negligible. Effective-
ness is along three lines : (1) Practically constant supervision which
good housekeepers find indispensable ; (2) permanent records of
sanitary details in place of guesses and opinions ; (3) interest
of future voters and home-makers in such details by practice in
regulating them.
Health officers. Appoint a group of health officers in each class-
room, for periods so limited that each child has service once a year.
Credit their work to " physiology and hygiene," or " nature study,"
" domestic science," physics, chemistry, biology.
Temperature. Health officers shall read thermometers hourly,
record readings in a substantial book, chart them (for example
SCHOOL HOUSEKEEPING 81
nurses' clinical charts) on a blackboard reserved for it, where
pupils, principal, janitor, and visitors can see perhaps a week's
record at a glance. When conditions permit, they shall readjust
heat sources, ventilators, or windows to secure proper temperature,
which, when artificial heat is used, should never exceed 68° F.
Pupils over eight years of age can do this; sometimes younger.
Dustiness. In high schools health officers can measure or esti-
mate it by cultures, or by the " sugar method " recommended by
the Committee on Standard Methods for the Examination of Air.
The standard is two thousand particles (visible under a two-thirds
inch objective) to a cubic inch of air.
In elementary grades they can wipe surfaces with a clean cloth.
If dusting was properly done, nothing is wiped off. Floor, wood-
work, and furnishings should be as immaculate as in the best-kept
home or hospital. This test should come at the beginning of the
session.
Health officers should be responsible for the moist erasing of
chalk, but pupils should not be required to dust rooms. Officers
should record sweeping of room or corridor while pupils or teachers
are obliged to use the rooms. (Severe penalties for this violation
of sanitary rights should be enforced by school boards.)
Elementary pupils over eight years of age can do this, including
record keeping.
Relative humidity. Officers over eleven years of age can be
taught to use safely the whirling wet-dry bulb thermometer recom-
mended by the United States Weather Bureau. The danger of
breaking is lessened by tying to the back a stick projecting a few
inches beyond the bulbs. One instrument is enough for an ordi-
nary building. Relative humidity should be recorded and charted
about a half hour after the session opens. It can well be done
later also. Where possible, officers shall readjust artificial sources
of humidity (evaporating pans, steam radiators, etc.) or windows,
to maintain relative humidity at 50 per cent.
Air currents. When ventilating flues have no current indicators
of their own, officers should measure currents with an anemom-
eter (one is enough for the usual building), or estimate them
with candle or joss stick. Pupils over eleven can use them,
perhaps younger. The effectiveness of air currents is best learned
82 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
by comparing the smell of schoolroom air with that out of
doors- — -the standard of freshness. Air currents and freshness
should be recorded at least once at the middle of each session.
Officers should make such readjustments of windows or ventilators
as indicated.
Cleanliness. Cleanliness of washbowls, waterclosets, and of
any other part of building or yard should be recorded once each
session. Dirt on windows sometimes diminishes illumination one
quarter to one third, measured by a photometer. The instrument
is costly, and until a less expensive method is devised the opinion
of health officers can be given. Dirty windows are important in
rooms badly ventilated or specially exposed to smoke and dust.
Such windows sometimes need washing once in two weeks. Pupils
over eleven, possibly younger, can do this reporting.
General suggestions. Health officers from older grades can be
appointed for rooms where pupils are too young for any special
detail.
When a fault is found beyond pupils' function to remedy, it
should be reported immediately to the proper authority, probably
the principal. It is wise never to " interfere with the janitor."
This report and the result following should be stated in " Health
Officers' Permanent Records."
For other than classrooms and for corridors, groups can be
specially appointed, their duties being suitably modified.
Some, if not all, of these exercises' in practical sanitation can be
undertaken quietly at any time by any teacher in charge of any
room. One or the other is already proved practicable in individual
schools within the last ten years. The accumulated data will be
invaluable. It is the practical first step in reducing " school
diseases," including tuberculosis, which increases all through school
years (except in open-air schools) and among teachers has a
mortality rate higher than among the general public.
These facts will help demonstrate that school housekeepers,
like others, must be trained in sanitary methods. Janitors' salaries
and their supervisors' often equal and sometimes exceed salaries
of teachers, principals, and other trained workers whose responsi-
bilities are no more serious, and who are carefully prepared and
tested before appointment.
SCHOOL HOUSEKEEPING 83
PROBLEMS
1. Make an abstract of the regulations of your state, county, or
city regarding the cleaning of school buildings.
2. Inspect one or more schools thoroughly and make a detailed
report as to their cleanliness.
3. How much of the cleaning can reasonably be required of the
janitor service provided for each of these schools ?
4. How much should wisely be secured through the children?
5. Prepare a set of rules for janitors to guide them in keeping
the school cleaned properly. Study all such sets of rules you can
obtain and adapt the best points to your school. Include pro-
visions for corridors, stairs, etc.
6. Similarly sketch a set of regulations such as you would
seek to have the children of a given grade prepare for their own
government.
7. Study the advertising and, if practicable, samples of floor oils
and disinfectants for school use.
8. From supply-house catalogues and other advertising media,
make a comparative study of the advantages of brooms, brushes,
self-oiling brushes, vacuum cleaners, and other appliances for
cleaning.
READINGS
Allen. Civics and Health, chap. xiv.
Dresslar. School Hygiene, chap. xxiv.
Pruddex. Dust and its Dangers.
Putnam. School Janitors, Mothers and Health.
School Laws and Regulations (any available).
CHAPTER IX
HEALTH RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL
A growing responsibility. Until the present era the
Greeks were the world's most enlightened educators. With
them schooling was first of all a matter of physical and
spiritual development. In much less degree was it literary.
Their curriculum had in it little of books and much of
games. Their educated man became a model for sculptors.
Their schools created no problems of hygiene or contagion.
During the Middle Ages a contempt of the flesh, —
associated always with the World on one hand and with
the Devil on the other, — together with a blind dependence
on authority and writ, narrowed the meaning of education
to mere book study. Learning, unhappily, became associated
with frail bodies, spectacled eyes, and aloofness to the affairs
of men. This was bad enough for the individual scholar
but, with the advent of democracy's universal education,
modern schools have tended to impose the same medieval
bookishness upon all classes, and furthermore have infinitely
aggravated the difficulty by the sheer immensity of the edu-
cational machine. The modern school has caused its own
peculiar hygienic problems, and until quite recently it has
caused them much more rapidly than it has solved them.
Educational thinkers have always recognized the dangers
of making school life too confined and sedentary. Locke
and Rousseau plead eloquently for the " mens sana in cor-
pore sano." Vittorino da Feltre in the fourteenth century,
Salzmann in the seventeenth, and the Jesuits through several
centuries, allowed liberally for physical exercise in their
84
HEALTH RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL 85
systems of training. Others have permitted or expected it
but usually as something outside of, rather than essential to,
education proper. Formal recognition of hygienic dangers
arising from the school work itself, and legal provision to
combat them, seem to have begun with a French law of
1833. Official inspection of pupils and premises with refer-
ence to health conditions has been obligatory in all French
schools, public and private, since 1887. Germany was con-
siderably slower, while England and this country hardly
woke up to the subject until the twentieth century. Already,
however, there is more or less adequate medical inspection
and health supervision in all but the most backward school
systems, and the extension of such provisions is so rapid
that statistics regarding them become out of date before they
can be compiled and published.
A pressing social problem. Compulsory attendance,
whether compulsion is by law, public opinion, or family
ideals, has upset the process of natural selection which once
eliminated the unfit from school (along with most of the
fit). The schools have now become the great clearing
houses not only for intelligence, social ideals, and standards
but also for disease germs and whatever else may be passed
about among the children of the community. It is well.
The " common herd " share in the political and intellectual
prerogatives of the few and they as freely share with the
few those curses of disease and vice which are theirs by
virtue of their being a common herd. Thus the public
school is bringing about the biotherhood of man both by
making the knowledge of the few accessible to all and by
making the curses of the many the problem which all must
solve in self-preservation. Public education makes impera-
tive the conquest of contagion. Scarlet fever and diphtheria
must go the way of yellow fever. Colds and typhoid must
come to be considered like theft and arson. Crime may
86 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
be regarded more tolerantly as a disease, but disease less
tolerantly as a crime.
Sanitary dangers and ideals. The frequency and extent
of epidemics among school children and the terrible toll
they have taken are sufficient accusation against the school
as a disease-distributing agency. Few conditions could be
conceived of more favorable for the transmission of infection
than an insanitary school. Children come from every sort
of home environment ; they play in every sort of place ; they
come in contact with all grades of human beings, dogs,
cats, ash-barrels, back alleys, and worse. Their soiled hands,
sticky faces, and sweaty clothes are ideally adapted for
carrying germs. Contamination from any such source may
be readily distributed at school to every portion of the com-
munity by physical contact among the children, direct or
through the medium of pencils, books, drinking cups, towels,
or any other thing which they make use of in common.
On the other hand, prevention more than keeps pace with
the peril. "Safety first" applies to schools as well as to
factories. The schools " of the people, by the people and
for the people " shall at least not be guilty of those viola-
tions of public safety for which dairies, meat markets, and
other private enterprises are promptly put out of business.
So effectively have the precautionary measures been applied
in the better school systems that, instead of closing the
schools summarily on the appearance of an epidemic disease,
the school is regarded as the safest place for children to be.
Under proper sanitary conditions schools should no more
close to avoid contagion than hospitals should.
General precautions. Precautions against contagion include
at least the following : sanitary drinking fountains, lavatories,
and toilets ; elimination of common towels and drinking
cups ; insistence on clean hands, faces, and clothing ; keep-
ing hats and cloaks on separate and individual hooks or in
HEALTH RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL 87
private lockers ; prohibition of the chewing of pencils, pens,
and books, or of the exchange of these or of handkerchiefs
or other persona] belongings ; keeping the place free of
flies and of all sorts of vermin disease carriers; regular and
thorough cleaning of the rooms ; disinfecting of desks,
door-knobs, etc. ; abundant flushing out of the air of the
room ; as much sunshine as practicable ; and the prompt
exclusion or sufficient isolation of all affected pupils.
Infectious sprays. Spitting, coughing, and sneezing are
among the most dangerous of common practices. By this
means there are sprayed out into the air countless globules
of moisture to which microbes are clinging. These are
breathed in by pupils or settle upon their desks, books, or
persons and are soon communicated to their air passages
thus giving rise to epidemics of colds, grippe, or worse.
Every child should be vividly taught these dangers and
rigidly trained never to cough, sneeze, or spit except into
his handkerchief or other receptacle. The best receptacle
is a piece of paper that is immediately burned.
Drinking-cup dangers. Nature's favorite mode of trans-
porting germs is by the mouth. Common cups and open
buckets are now almost everywhere prohibited by law.
Individual cups in actual use are so troublesome as to be
almost impracticable. Keeping them separate and clean is
an unending nuisance, while the promiscuous lending results
in their being neither individual nor sanitary. Paper cups,
such as are provided in public places for a penny in the
slot, are sanitary but rather expensive. Children may quickly
learn to fold a sheet of clean writing paper into a very
satisfactory cup for a single drink. However, there is no
longer excuse for any of these inadequate makeshifts in a
school's equipment. Sanitary drinking fountains alone should
be tolerated as facilities for drinking. Where running water
is available they require no attention, and the best forms .come
88 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
as near to being perfectly sanitary as could be hoped for.
From the many forms on the market those should be selected
which the children cannot touch or inclose with their lips.
There are also sanitary fountains adapted for attaching
directly to a water cooler. These are sold at a very low
cost. It is incumbent upon the teacher to see that coolers
are emptied and rinsed out daily and scalded weekly. Rarely
can janitors be trusted to attend faithfully to the water
supply without supervision.
Clean hands. Clean hands must be made the conscious
ideal and the fixed habit of children, and the first step to
this end is the providing of abundant conveniences for
keeping them clean. The same water used by several chil-
dren or a basin which becomes grimy may well serve as a
medium for communication of disease rather than as
a preventive. The common towel is another evil which is
now quite commonly prohibited by law. Its dangers need
no discussion. Paper towels seem to be the most satisfac-
tory solution, but some instruction and watchfulness is
necessary to secure satisfaction and economy in their use.
Individual towels, like the individual cups, are likely to be
used pretty much in common and to become very much
soiled. If used, some efficient routine plan of oversight
is necessary.
The rural water supply. In rural sections where a local
water supply is depended upon, special consideration must
be given to this agency of contamination. Serious epi-
demics of typhoid and various bowel complaints have fre-
quently had their origin in the country-school water supply.
Few springs or small streams are sufficiently protected from
the drainage of pigstys, cow lots, and human habitations to
be fit for drinking. However clear and cold and sparkling,
such water supply should not be trusted unless frequently
passed upon by expert authority. Open school wells are
HEALTH RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL 89
a favorite repository for the tin cans or other trash which
children pick up about the premises. The far-off, myste-
rious splash in the darkness of the deep well is fascinating to a
small boy. With the aid of well-bucket and dipper the entire
well is almost certain to become a medium for the culture
and exchange of mouth-carried germs. The water which
is slopped about the curb soon trickles back into the well,
carrying the surface impurities with it. Many such spots
have become well-patronized hog-wallows, and even this has
not lessened the faith of the ignorant in the healthful qual-
ity of the cold, sparkling water which is drawn from the
depths by the slimy, "moss-covered bucket" which their
innocency knew. At least, the well should be closed,
a pump introduced, and the surrounding surface so pro-
tected by concrete that the drainage will be away from the
well and seepage into it impossible. A driven or bored
well is safer.
Segregation of suspects. In addition to these general
precautions ample provision must be made for the prompt
detection and elimination of every case of possible con-
tagion. The medical inspector and the school nurse are
the best agents for this protection, but where they are not
constantly accessible, and to supplement their offices where
they are, the teacher should be able to recognize the com-
moner symptoms and to take prompt and intelligent pre-
cautionary steps. To be on the safe side, every pupil
developing a fever, sore throat, or eruption of almost any
kind should be segregated from the school until the cause
is known and treated and until the proper health authority
has assumed responsibility for the case. The accompany-
ing table indicates briefly some of the more pronounced
symptoms of the frequent contagious diseases of children.
The length of time during which the affected one should be
excluded from school is also given and the time that children
90 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
who have been exposed to the disease but who do not
contract it should be segregated for the protection of others.
All books etc. which an affected pupil has used and with
which he has been in contact should be thoroughly dis-
infected or burned. His desk and other objects which
may have been infected by or in the same manner as him-
self should be well washed with a suitable disinfectant as
soon as he is suspected and segregated.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AMONG
SCHOOL CHILDREN
Diphtheria. Symptoms variable and difficult to determine. Sore
throat with white patches, swelling of lymph nodes in neck about
angle of jaw, great debility and lassitude. Exclude patient until
fully recovered and disinfected and cultures taken from nose and
throat on two successive days contain no diphtheria bacilli. Ex-
clude children exposed to disease until same culture tests have
been made as are required of patient. When diphtheria appears,
segregate promptly every child with sore throat until culture tests
have been made. Get instructions from the nearest health author-
ity as to taking cultures and getting them examined. Diphtheria
is very contagious and dangerous. It is frequently distributed by
means of infected milk supply.
Measles. Begins like cold in the head, with feverishness, run-
ning nose, inflamed and Watery eyes, and sneezing ; small crescent-
shaped groups of mulberry-tinted spots appear about the third
day ; rash first seen on forehead and face. Rash almost dis-
appears in cold air and returns in warmth. Exclude patient at
least ten days and until recovery and disinfection. Exclude ex-
posed pupils fifteen days from exposure to disease. Danger of
infection greatest before rash appears.
German measles. Less serious but hard to distinguish from
scarlet fever. Illness slight and sudden. Probably some feverish-
ness, sore throat and inflamed eyes but no cold in head. Lymph
nodes back of ears enlarged. Exclude patient as in measles and
those exposed from eleventh to twenty-second day after exposure.
HEALTH RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL 91
Scarlet fever. Onset is usually sudden, with headache, languor,
feverishness, sore throat, and often vomiting. Usually within
twenty-four hours the rash appears, finely spotted, evenly diffused,
and bright red. Rash is first seen on the neck and upper part of
chest, and lasts three to ten days, when it fades and the skin peels
in scales, flakes, or even large pieces. The tongue becomes whitish
with bright red spots. Eyes not watery or congested. Exclude at
least thirty days and until all discharges have ceased and person
is disinfected. Exclude others for seven days from last exposure
to disease. Very contagious. Dangerous both during attack and
from after effects. Peeling may last six or eight weeks. Great
variation in type of disease. Many slight cases not recognized
but equally infectious with serious ones. Milk specially apt to
convey infection.
Smallpox. Sudden onset of feverishness, backache, and sick-
ness. About third day a red rash of shotlike pimples, felt below
the skin and seen first about the face and wrists ; spots develop in
three days and then form little blisters, and after three days more
become yellowish and filled with matter. Scabs then form, which
fall off about the fourteenth day. Peculiarly infectious, especially
by any portion of skin or scab. Effectually prevented by vaccina-
tion. Exclude until complete recovery and disinfection. Exposed
pupils excluded for twentytwo days after exposure or seven days
after successful vaccination.
Whooping cough. Begins like cold in head with bronchitis and
sore throat and a cough which is worse at night. " Whooping "
develops in about two weeks. Vomiting after paroxysm of cough-
ing is a probable symptom. Exclude patient one week after last
characteristic cough and until disinfection. Exclude exposed pupils
fourteen days if no cough develops.
Mumps. Sickness, fever, and pain about angle of jaw. Glands
become swollen and tender, jaws stiff, and saliva sticky. Exclude
for two weeks and until after disinfection. Exclude exposed pupils
from fifteenth to twenty-second day after last exposure.
Chickenpox. Mild, possibly slight fever, rash appears on second
day as small pimples, which in about a day become filled with clear
fluid. Fluid becomes matter, spot dries, and crust falls off. Suc-
cessive crops may appear until tenth day. Exclude until all scales
92 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
are shed, spots have disappeared and person is disinfected ; at least
twelve days. Examine head for spots. Exclude exposed children
twenty-two days after exposure.
Sore throat (acute, septic form). Begins with sore throat and
weakness. Throat diffusely reddened and may show patches like
diphtheria. Exclude until recovery.
Disinfection of the person means that after complete recovery
the child shall be thoroughly washed with soap and water, teeth
brushed, mouth rinsed, throat gargled, and nose sprayed and
douched with an antiseptic solution and that all clothing shall be
thoroughly cleansed.
All these diseases are distributed principally by means
of month spray emitted in coughing or by discharges from
nose, mouth, or ears.
The information given here is intended only as first aid
to teachers who are compelled to rely on their own resources
in emergencies, and should never be made a substitute for
competent medical advice or the decision of health authori-
ties where these are accessible. The statement of symptoms
given is by no means sufficient to determine positively the
nature of the diseases, but should such symptoms be found,
the teacher should promptly segregate the case until expert
authority has passed upon it.
A civic lesson. It has already been pointed out that in
dealing with such situations one has a supreme opportunity
for teaching not only the immediate lessons of hygiene
and sanitation — and these should be made as effective as
possible by means of the object lessons so unfortunately
supplied — but also the broader lessons of civic virtue.
An invaluable problem for discussion is that of the right
of any individual to attend school or places of business
and amusement at the risk of spreading disease to others.
Untold sufferings arise from the lack of popular sympathy
with quarantines, fumigations, and sanitary regulations.
HEALTH RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL 93
The worst obstructions to efficiency in these measures are
the people whom they are intended to protect. It is for the
teachers of the land to make the next generation willing
and intelligent cooperators in all public sanitary measures.
The hope of human progress. Every child should be
made keenly conscious that diseases of the human body can
ordinarily be contracted only by receiving into the body
germs which have come, directly or indirectly, from a
diseased human body. Skin diseases are possible only from
contact with a diseased skin or with something that has
been in such contact. Intestinal disorders occur only from
germs which have come out of a diseased body and have
entered another body, usually through the mouth. Lung
and throat troubles must enter through the mouth or nose.
However many the media of transmission, a few precautions
will provide against them all. If the skin is kept clean, if
all wounds are kept disinfected and insect bites avoided,
if nothing contaminated enters the mouth and no sprayed
germs are drawn in with the breath, there could be no con-
tagion and there would be relatively very little sickness.
Even these simple principles may be summed up in one, —
cleanliness of the person and of that which is taken into it.
As nearly all infections are taken into the system through
the mouth or through wounds, these gateways to the inner
system must be unceasingly guarded with antiseptic sentinels.
To jnst the degree in which universal instruction and train-
ing through the public schools makes these priiiciples of
cleanliness fundamental in the life of all classes of people
zvill human suffering be alleviated and human life prolonged.
If only they are used with sufficient regularity and in
sufficient abundance, Nature's disinfectants — supplied every-
where without cost and without stint — are the safest, surest,
pleasantest, and most completely satisfactory. Fresh air,
sunshine, pure water, exercise, rest ; vigorous, wholesome
94 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
living in school and out ; regular habits, personal cleanliness,
hard work, peace of mind, and good cheer — these are the
things that make school life safe and sanitary, hygienic and
happy. Unnatural conditions necessitate chemical disinfec-
tants, and while good school management must take cog-
nizance of such artificial protection, its ideal is always to
keep as far from the need of them as possible.
PROBLEMS
1. Read and summarize the laws or regulations regarding the
control of infectious diseases which apply to the schools of your
community.
2. Make actual inspection and report on the sanitary condi-
tions of as many schools as practicable. Indicate which of the
conditions might contribute to spread of disease. Make recom-
mendations and estimate cost of remedying these conditions.
3. Prepare an outline of instructions to be given and special
rules to be enforced at school (i) during an epidemic of grippe or
colds ; (2) in case diphtheria should be discovered among the
pupils.
4. Prepare a detailed statement as to the means of disinfecting
(1) desks, (2) books, and (3) room.
5 . From the best data available make an estimate of the money
loss on account of the children alone, due to the last epidemic in
your community. Include cost of time and of schooling wasted ; of
medical treatment. Make some statement of the inconvenience,
anxiety, and suffering caused. Consider also the incalculable loss
from deaths. Make a comparative statement of the probable cost
and inconvenience of taking steps to prevent such an epidemic.
READINGS
See next chapter.
CHAPTER X
HEALTH INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION
The four responsibilities. Tn pointing out in earlier
chapters that defective lighting, ventilation, heating, seating,
and other school conditions may actually produce eye defects,
spinal curvature, and nervous disorders and increase general
susceptibility to colds, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other
physical ills, we have sought to establish the first demand
of school hygiene ; namely, that no defect or disease shall
be caused by the school or by its requirements.
A second demand has been the burden of the preceding
chapter — that no disease shall be communicated through the
agency of the school.
The public school's responsibility, however, does not end
with these negative requirements. It is also demanded that,
as far as possible, the presence of disease or defect shall be
detected by the agency of the school and parents be advised
and guided in securing remedial treatment. This problem
is the purpose of the present chapter, but we may add here
that there is a fourth demand ; namely, the school shall provide
as a part of its curriculum such exercises and training as
shall relieve, so far as possible, existing physical defects
among the pupils and develop their physical capacities to the
fullest. The discussion of this fourth demand is not within
the scope of this work.
The waste from physical defects. Even though the
physical defect be not contagious, it reduces the learning
power and permanent efficiency of its possessor. The school
avoids wasting its own energies and the state protects itself
95
96 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
against the burden of helpless citizens by subjecting all
school children to thorough medical examination and super-
vision. The principle is but a logical extension of the whole
principle of public and compulsory education. Both com-
pulsory education and compulsory medical inspection are
primarily measures of economy and social self -protection.
Adenoids, decayed teeth, troublesome eyes, or other easily
remediable defects quite commonly mean one or more years
of retardation for the sufferer. Each year of retardation
means the loss to the state of the cost of educating the
child for the year. It further means the waste due to
the less efficient work of the teacher and of the entire class
which are hampered by the drag of the deficient pupil.
Worst of all, it probably means the waste of a large propor-
tion of the child's efficiency in subsequent years during and
after school life. Twenty-five to fifty per cent of the learn-
ing efficiency of a child may be lost because of some slight
defect of which he and his parents are ignorant but which
may easily be detected and remedied with the aid of
school inspections.
The extent of these nonepidemic defects among the
twenty million school children of the United States is indi-
cated by the following summary based upon the results of
many investigations : x
Not far from 2,000,000 (10 per cent) are suffering from a grave
form of malnutrition ; 10,000,000 (50 per cent) have enough de-
fective teeth to interfere seriously with health; at least 2,000,000
(10 per cent) suffer from obstructed breathing due to enlarged ton-
sils ; probably 2,000,000 (10 per cent) have enlarged cervical glands
which need attention, many of these being tuberculous ; at least
10,000,000 (50 per cent) are, or have been, infected with tuber-
culosis, of whom about 2,000,000 (10 per cent) will later succumb
to the disease ; 4,000,000 (20 per cent) have defective vision; over
1 Terman, Hygiene of the School Child, p. 8. Houghton Mifflin Company.
HEALTH [NSPECTION AND SUPERVISION 97
1,000,000 (5 percent) have defective hearing; about 1,000,000
(tj percent) have spinal curvature or some other deformity likely
to interfere with health; not far from 500,000 (2^ per cent)
have organic heart disease; and at least 1,000,000 (5 per cent)
are predisposed to some form of serious nervous disorder.
Medical inspectors. Medical inspection is now quite gen-
eral but is still occasionally provided by the health authori-
ties, charitable agencies, or individual initiative. It should
be and most commonly is regarded as a responsibility of
the school board and one hardly less important than instruc-
tion and equipment. Large cities should undoubtedly have
specialists in this particular work employed on full time.
Smaller cities should have competent physicians or nurses
to devote specified time to this duty. A few rural counties
have led the way in the employment of experienced experts
to have entire charge of the inspection and supervision of
the sanitary condition of the schools and physical condition
of the pupils. Where even a part of the time of an expert
cannot be regularly employed, there can usually be found a
public-spirited physician or one who desires to extend his
practice who will make at least one routine inspection annu-
ally without any charge whatever. Such enlightened self-
sacrifice usually profits a physician far more than it costs him.
Dental inspection. Dental inspection is commonly and
properly made quite distinct from the general medical in-
spection. In smaller communities local dentists are fre-
quently willing to make necessary dental inspections and
reports free of all charge. It is dignified and professional,
but none the less effective, advertising. One hundred and
nine cities of the United States had regular dental clinics,
free at least to those unable to pay, in the year 19 14. Most
conspicuous among these is the two million dollar Forsyth
Dental Infirmary for Children presented to the city of
Boston. A rapidly growing appreciation of the serious
98 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
effects of bad teeth upon general health and efficiency
should prompt every community to provide some adequate
treatment for those too poor to provide for themselves.
Such care may well be classed in the category of educa-
tional necessities which are the right of every child along
with free instruction and free books.
Dr. William H. Potter thus summarizes the school's
responsibility with reference to children's teeth : 1
i . In all public schools there should be careful instruction given
as to the nature of the teeth ; their uses ; the diseases which attack
them ; and the methods for preventing or diminishing these dis-
eases. Children and their parents should be taught that the clean-
ing of the teeth and their thorough use upon hard foods will much
reduce and perhaps prevent decay. School teachers must assume
an oversight in regard to their pupils' teeth.
2. Examinations of the teeth on all school children should be
made at least twice a year.
3. Establish in school buildings school dental clinics in charge
of dentists paid by the municipality. Add the services of a dental
nurse, if the law makes them possible. These school clinics are to
serve only those unable to consult a private dentist. A small fee
should be charged in every case if possible.
4. Begin work upon school children before serious decay has
occurred in their permanent teeth, and continue the supervision
and necessary repair work through the twelfth year.
Examination by specialists. Specialists in the eye, ear,
nose, and throat likewise serve themselves as well as the com-
munity when they accept an invitation to make free inspec-
tion at least of such children as may be specially referred to
them by the medical inspector or the teacher. In one town,
where adenoids were particularly prevalent, such an inspec-
tion was made by a specialist from a neighboring city with
the result that a series of "adenoid parties" were held. The
1 United States Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 18, 1913.
HEALTH INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION 99
specialist made a low rate for the operation and funds were
raised by subscription for the few who could not afford to pay.
Reliable opticians who advertise free examination can readily
be persuaded to make their examinations at the school.
School nurses. The utilizing of volunteer or part-time
inspectors, however, has certain disadvantages and is prob-
ably not as effective as the regular employment of a full-
time nurse. Medical Director Foster of Oakland, California,
has this to say in the way of comparison : J
When the mooted question of doctors on part time or nurses on'
full time came up, I favored the latter to do the routine work, but
under strict medical supervision, and six years' experience with
nurse help has strongly convinced me that we made no mistake.
It is a matter of true economy, for the nurse's full time can be
had for the same pay as the doctor's two or three hours. They
will do, hour for hour, as much work and do the required work
equally well. They are patient, painstaking, and persistent. They
do not stir up antagonisms and jealousies as does the average
doctor, for he will be accused, even if unjustly, of working for his
own betterment. . . . The nurse will meet resistance and abuse
with more tact and will overcome objections where the ordinary
doctor will fail. The objection that the nurse cannot properly
diagnose has no force. She can tell a decayed tooth or enlarged
tonsil, defective vision or granulated lids. She may not be able to
tell the exact defect of vision ; neither can many doctors. What
should be done with certain diseased conditions, she may not
know ; any half dozen doctors, taken at random, might have that
number of different opinions. What is required is to find the
defect, if it exists, and refer it to the family doctor or specialist
for a definite diagnosis and treatment, then follow up the case
and see that the work is done.
The school nurse is probably the best solution of the
problem of physical inspection and supervision. She is on
1 Proceedings of Eighth Congress of American School Hygiene Association,
p. 26.
IOO SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
duty constantly or makes daily visits according to the size
of the school. She is provided with clinic thermometer,
simple remedies, and first-aid equipment and should have
a cot ready in a quiet room for the occasional emergency.
To her the teachers refer every case of indisposition. She
should be competent to determine between the real and the
imagined or pretended. She should attend to the injuries
and slight ailments incident to a large group of children.
More serious cases she refers promptly to parents or physi-
cians. She should be particularly trained to recognize the
first symptoms of contagious diseases. She should make sys-
tematic medical inspections including eye and ear tests. She
should visit the classrooms and have an especial care for
hygienic and sanitary conditions. She should have an over-
sight of the defective, feeble, or nervous children at their
work and see that their special needs are provided for. She
should have general inspectorial and supervisory authority in
all matters of hygiene and sanitation regarding the school
and maintain the standards of school housekeeping. She
should visit the homes and advise with parents regarding
any questions of the children's physical welfare — medical
treatment, food, exercise, sleep, light for study, or cleanliness.
She should hold mothers' meetings and should follow up all
recommendations made in the physical inspections.
Teacher as medical inspector. But where neither nurse
nor other medical inspector is provided, and this still in-
cludes a large proportion of the children of America, it is
incumbent upon the teacher to perform as many of their
functions as possible. Any teacher may easily familiarize
himself with the symptoms of such common affections as
adenoids, enlarged tonsils, anaemia, hookworm, nervous dis-
orders, and troubles of the eye, ear, or throat. It does not re-
quire experience or expert knowledge to select those children
who should be recommended for expert examination.
HEALTH INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION ioi
Eye tests. One can quickly learn to use the Snellen
Test Cards for defective vision. These are usually supplied
to schools without cost by the local or state health authori-
ties, or they may be purchased for a few cents. Simple
directions come with the cards. It may be well to say that
care must be taken to avoid having the children become
familiar with the cards beforehand or while others are being
tested, in which case memory instead of vision might be
tested. It is necessary also to avoid pressure on the ball of
one eye by holding the hand against it while the other is
being tested ; also to keep the cards clean and bright and
to have the light shine squarely upon the card and not into
the eyes during the test. Carelessness in these simple
details sometimes begets confusing results and destroys
confidence in the tests.
Hearing tests. The simpler hearing tests are so affected
by varying conditions that they are not satisfactory for
school use. The "whisper test" may be useful after con-
siderable practice. The audiometer is too elaborate an
instrument to be used except for very thoroughgoing
examinations. The best practical test is a teacher suffi-
ciently sympathetic to recognize the difference between
deafness and dullness. If, while the children are attentive
to their studies, something is said to a child in a low tone
which those sitting near him hear and he does not, there
is some indication that his hearing is defective. Repeated
tests of this kind would be fairly conclusive, allowance being
made for the possibility that greater concentration on the
study accounts for the results. Deafness of one ear is
readily tested by closing the other.
Health records. Whoever makes the medical inspection,
a complete card-index record should be kept of the physical
history of every child. Compact forms for these records have
been prepared by various health authorities, are published
102 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
in the several works on medical inspection of schools, and
have to some extent been standardized and put on the
market by dealers. The forms provide for a full inspection
record, attendance summary, vital statistics, and health record
for the entire school life of the child.
Reports. A report of the findings should be sent to the
parents at any time that it is believed further medical exam-
ination or treatment may be necessary. Caution is necessary,
however, to avoid hasty and unreliable reports. Parents
should not be unduly alarmed or antagonized. A teacher
inexperienced in diagnosis and looking for symptoms will
probably find enough of them to arouse a panic if parents
take the reports seriously. Even expert inspections have
frequently proved hopelessly unreliable and contradictory
when followed up. Inspections, certainly those by teachers,
may best be confined to the more evident defects or those
which affect school progress directly and should be several
times repeated lest parents be disturbed by unfounded
guesses and the inspecting be brought into contempt. A
printed form is a rather unsympathetic means of telling a
parent that his child is suffering from a defect or disease.
Any case of the kind is worthy of a sympathetic, interested
personal note from the teacher or nurse. Even then igno-
rant parents and those unaccustomed to such oversight of
their children are likely to be alarmed or offended. To
accomplish any actual results in the physical improvement
of the children, it is necessary to have a sympathetic touch
with the parents and to follow up the recommendations with
inquiries and probably personal visits and consultations.
Special consideration of defectives. Special consideration
should always be extended to the child afflicted with any
defect, yet the truly considerate teacher will avoid calling
attention to it or making the unfortunate one more con-
scious of his trouble than necessary. The sufferer from
HEALTH INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION 103
weak vision will be seated in the best light. The one hard
of hearing will be seated near the teacher, and it is an act
of kindness to him not to speak very loud when addressing
him but to look directly at him and to articulate distinctly.
Any partially deaf person will bear witness that being
shouted at is painfully embarrassing and is little or no aid to
hearing. The nervous child should by all means be allowed
frequent opportunity for change of position and of occupa-
tion. The frail ones should be given lighter tasks, shorter
hours, and occasional complete rest. Cushions, foot-rests,
and other means of relieving physical strain should not be
denied to any child who does not abuse the privilege of
using them. They may well be as large a factor in re-
lieving fatigue and increasing efficiency for a frail child
subjected to the harsh conditions of school as for his
parents in the home or in the office.
Instruction the higher purpose. However effective the
inspection and reporting, however close the touch with
parents, and however thorough the follow-up, the large
opportunity for the teacher is in making use of these occa-
sions for effective instruction in physiology and hygiene.
The golden time for instruction in oral hygiene is when
a dental inspection has brought home to every child the
need for constant care of the teeth. Instruction in the care
of the eyes can never be so effective as when some of the
class have just been referred to an oculist for treatment.
Private conferences and advice to individuals may well
supplement such of the opportune instruction as would be
permissible with the whole class. The occasion may be
suitable for certain instruction in sexual problems to the
boys and girls separately.
The following, taken from the source quoted above in
regard to school nurses, is an effective statement of this
important matter :
104 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
The personality of the workers is of utmost importance. It
may be needless to say that they must be deeply interested in
their work and imbued with a true missionary spirit. They must
love children and be diplomatic, patient, tactful, and persistent.
They cannot attain the best success if their aim is merely to build
up statistics of examinations made or operations performed. The
removal of defects is one object and the one visible to the general
public, but it is subordinate to the educational. I do not underrate
repair work, but it is a means to the end. Every successful opera-
tion is an object lesson to all who know the child, but could we
remove all defects by the turning of the hand the next generation
would be as bad. The real problem is prevention. The curing of
defects without showing the way of prevention is like bailing a
leaky boat, a never-ending task.
Competition in health training. The following from the
Peninsula School Fair Catalogue (Williamsburg, Virginia)
indicates one means of keeping health instruction vividly
before the children and fixing instruction into habit. This
also secures much valuable data which could hardly be
secured or tabulated otherwise.
School contest in composition. Three prizes of five dollars each
will be awarded, one to the school of each class exhibiting the
best series of papers on " Malaria " bound together as a connected
book on the subject.
This should be the work of as many pupils of the school as
practicable working in groups or individually. Assistance should
be drawn from every source possible except in the actual com-
posing and preparing of the papers and book, which must be
done by the pupils themselves.
The following topics are suggested for the several papers of
the book : History of Malaria ; Its Cost in Time, Money, Energy,
and Life ; Nature and Treatment of the Disease ; Cause of
Malaria ; Life History of the Malaria Mosquito ; Prevention and
Final Eradication; Community Survey of Malaria Cases, of Breed-
ing Places for Mosquitoes, and of efforts, especially of the school
itself, to prevent malaria.
HEALTH INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION 105
Health and attendance contest. A prize of ten dollars will be
awarded to die ungraded school or to the room in a graded school
making the best record and report of health and attendance for
one hundred and twenty school days, from about October 1 to
about April 2, on the following plan:
The pupils of any room entering this contest shall each month or
oftcner elect one or more of their number to keep faithfully the re-
quired record every day. The record should be made in the morning
and corrected for the day in the afternoon. Absences for unknown
cause must be inquired into and recorded accurately as soon as
possible. No guess or hearsay is permissible in this record.
When the actual count for the 120 successive school days is
ready, the report is to be carefully made out as follows :
1. Show the totals recorded under each head given below for
the whole time.
2. Multiply each total by the penalty number shown in paren-
thesis after that head.
3. Eind the sum of all these products.
4. Divide this sum by the number of pupils enrolled.
5. This quotient is the "health-attendance index," and the
room making the lowest index number on an approved report
will be awarded the prize in this contest.
Items to be Recorded
1. Number of pupils sitting in wet shoes (5)
2. Number not having or not using handkerchief when needed . (3)
3. Number failing to brush teeth before coming to school ... (3)
4. Number having toothache (3)
5. Number having headache (4)
6. Number having cough or cold in the head (4)
7. Number regularly breathing through mouth (usually means
adenoids) (2)
8. Number having sore throat (4)
9. Number with sores or eruptions on face or hands. (Do not
count cuts or bruises unless they are infected and become
running sores) (4)
10. Number present and ill otherwise than as above (3)
1 1 . Number absent because ill with diphtheria ....... (5)
106 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
1 2. Number absent because ill with scarlet fever ' • (5)
13. Number absent because ill with whooping cough (5)
14. Number absent because ill with mumps (r\
15. Number absent because ill with any other contagious disease . (4)
16. Number absent because ill with typhoid fever (5)
1 7. Number absent because ill with malarial fever (4)
18. Number absent because ill with any other disease or illness . (4)
19. Number absent because quarantined to protect school . . . (1)
20. Number absent because of fear of contagion at school ... (5)
21. Number absent because needed to help at home (1)
22. Number absent because of any other important reason ... (2)
23. Number absent because of lack of interest, misconduct, or
trivial reason not approved by teacher (5)
The teacher must certify that the record has been faithfully and
accurately kept by the pupils. The superintendent will check up
these reports as far as practicable and throw out any which are
found to be unreliable.
The health ideal. At all times let us bear in mind that
the school's responsibility and interest is for health, not dis-
ease ; that we have health inspections, not disease inspec-
tions ; that instruction should be of health and cleanliness,
not of sickness and dirt. People who exercise, energize,
and Fletcherize ; who love fresh air, sunshine, and cleanli-
ness ; who are cheerful, careful, and busy, — such people
are healthy, happy, and hearty. These are the thoughts to
keep before the pupils. Dwelling on the unwholesome tends
to make children morbid. Rather keep them thinking of the
joys of being sound, the glorious luxury of keeping clean,
the fun of being vigorous and energetic, and you contribute
most effectively to making them so. There is every reason
why school life should be the most wholesome life for teacher
and pupil, why school should be the safest and happiest place
for all to be, why eyes and lungs and nerves and backs and
digestions and tempers should be better there than anywhere
else. Let us keep our minds on this ideal and make it true.
HEALTH INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION 107
PROBLEMS
1. Counting the average cost of a year's schooling at $30
per child and the loss of efficiency due to any one of the defects
mentioned in the estimate quoted from Terman at ten per cent,
how much of the money spent for schools in the United States
is wasted because of these defects?
2. Supposing health supervision would save fifty per cent of
the loss in school work due to these causes, how much would the
schools be justified in expending for the supervision on the ground
of economy alone ?
3. If the medical inspection and supervision of your schools is
not already adequate, make plans and estimate costs of making
it so.
4. Compare several forms of medical inspection record cards
and prepare a form which you think includes the best features of
them all.
5. After preparing yourself carefully for the task, it would be
well to make a few practice examinations of the eyes, ears, and
general physical conditions among your pupils or fellow students.
If possible, compare your results with the official medical inspec-
tion records for the same persons.
6. If a nurse is not already provided, make practicable plans
for the employment and for the duties of a school nurse for your
school.
7. With the aid of necessary works on physiology and medical
inspection, prepare a list of the most common physical defects
among school children and the symptoms of each.
READINGS
Allen. Civics and Health.
Ayres. Health Work in the Public Schools.
Burks. Health and the School.
Burgersteix. School Hygiene, Parts II and III.
Cornell. Health and Medical Inspection of School Children.
Cubberly. Public School Administration, chap. xx.
Dresslar. School Hygiene, chaps, xx-xxiii.
108 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Eggleston and Bruere. The Work of the Rural School, chap. iii.
Gulick and Ayres. The Medical Inspection of Schools.
Hoag. The Health Index of Children.
Hoag and Term an. Health Work in the Schools.
Kirkpatrick. Fundamentals of Child Study, chap. xvii.
Rapeer. Educational Hygiene.
Rowe. Physical Nature of the Child, chap. xiii.
Shaw. School Hygiene, chaps, xi-xii.
Tanner. The Child, chap. iii.
Terman. The Hygiene of the School Child.
Warner. The Study of Children, chap. xii.
Bulletins, United States Bureau of Education
Bulletin No. 16, 191 3, "Bibliography of Medical Inspection and
Health Supervision."
Bulletin No. 18, 191 3, "The Fifteenth International Congress on
Hygiene and Demography " (Dresslar).
Bulletin No. 44, 191 3, "Organized Health Work in Schools"
(Hoag).
Bulletin No. 48, 191 3, "School Hygiene" (Ryan).
Bulletin No. 52, 191 3, " Sanitary Schoolhouses. Legal Requirements
in Indiana and Ohio."
Bulletin No. 10, 191 4, "Physical Growth and School Progress"
(Baldwin).
Bulletin No. 17, 191 4, " Sanitary Survey of the Schools of Orange
County, Va." (Flannagan).
Bulletin No. 20, 1914, "The Rural School and Hookworm Dis-
ease " (Ferrell).
Bulletin No. 40, 19 14, "Care of the Health of Boys in Girard
College."
Bulletin No. 4, 191 5, "The Health of School Children" (Heck).
Bulletin No. 21, 1915, " Schoolhouse Sanitation " (Cook).
Bulletin No. so, 191 5, " Health of School, Children — II " (Heck).
Public-Health Bulletin, Government Printing Office
Bulletin A T o. 77, " Rural School Sanitation."
CHAPTER XI
THE COURSE OF STUDY
Early courses. As early as 1528 the Electorate of Saxony
had adopted a graded plan of studies prepared by Melanch-
thon, Luther's learned associate, for a uniform state system
of schools. It provided for three grades of uncertain length
as to time but of extensive content. For example, the first
grade or class was taught reading and writing (of Latin) from
a primer prepared by Melanchthon himself, the Creed, the
Lord's Prayer, the Commandments, and several prescribed
classical selections. From this plan the national school
system idea of modern times has grown.
In 1 599 the Jesuits adopted their famous Ratio Studiorum,
the finished product of sixty years of experience and critical
study of their plans of education. With a single revision in
1832, it has been followed continuously in their schools. In
it the studies and daily routine of life of pupils and teachers
are detailed at length.
State and city tendencies. Almost every theorist and
organizer of schools has outlined in some form his concep-
tion of the selection of human wisdom that should be taught
to the rising generation. With the development of state
and national systems of schools these selected courses have
taken on an official character and have tended to become
formal and prescriptive. The democratic origin of the
American state systems has prevented a high degree of
centralization, and we find the various state departments
of education publishing courses of study ranging all the
way from the barest statements of subjects to be taught
109
no SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
or texts required to be used, to quite valuable manuals of
elementary methods. The lack of any highly centralized
organization or sufficient corps of inspectors to enforce a
detailed course of study, such as are found in France and
Germany, has caused our state courses to be suggestive
rather than prescriptive. The city systems, however, hav-
ing usually a close-knit and competent organization, have
frequently run to the extremes of prescribed detail. The
common criticism has been that they have destroyed the
initiative and dampened the spontaneity and enthusiasm of
teachers. Too much prescription has been usual in the
cities, where teachers are better paid and able to act inde-
pendently, and little or no guidance in the country, where
salaries are low and teachers are inexperienced.
In form, the course of study is essentially a statement
of the work to be covered by the school. It is usually
divided to show the assignment for each term, occasion-
ally for each month or week, and, in extreme cases, it
dictates the material for each lesson. It is said that a
French National Minister of Education once boasted that
he could look at his watch and tell exactly what every child
in the public schools of France was doing at the moment.
Types of courses. The traditional mechanical course
makes its assignments in terms of "page limits" in the
prescribed textbooks in each subject. Such an outline has
no value except to count time for the "lock step" into
which it is intended to force the progress of the pupil.
A common result is to have the pupils marking time some
days and crowding over longer assignments than they can
possibly digest at others. " We have to get over the ground "
is perhaps the commonest excuse for all the sins of ineffi-
cient teachers ; as though covering ground were in any
sense a function of the school. Better courses are out-
lined in topics, with or without page references to specific
THE COURSE OF STUDY i 1 1
texts. But these also do little more than to indicate the
ground to be covered or, at least, are so interpreted by the
teachers. As the ground or scope of subject matter to be
covered is taken from the experience of the best teachers
and schools, it may be taken for granted that it is always
a little more than the average teacher and school can do
well. The effect almost universally is that the course of
study is an excuse for wasteful haste.
Still other courses prescribe in more or less detail the
methods to be used in teaching the several topics. These
commonly reflect the bias or hobby of the course-maker.
The weaker teachers direct their efforts and professional
development toward attaining the idiosyncrasies of the out-
line. The stronger ones are hampered in their initiative
by the feeling that they will be judged by their approxima-
tion to the directions given rather than by their efficiency in
child development.
The time-limit fallacy. Much work has been done in the
way of investigating how much time or what proportion of
the time in various schools is devoted to each of the studies.
The function of such data is to indicate what has been done,
not what ought to be. The conclusions from such studies
would tend to show that the time factor has little or nothing
to do with the results attained. In fact, the best educative
results are attained, if conditions of organization permit,
when the divisions of the pupils' work into subjects is largely
lost in the correlations and concentrations of better teaching.
What could be of less concern in a course of study than the
question of how much time daily or weekly shall be given
to the recitation of any particular subject ? Even the most
stupid supervision of factory hands would recognize that one
should continue at a particular task until it is done and that
one should not keep on doing it after it is done. In the
nature of things different pupils do not require the same
112 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
amount of time to do the same task, much less do they need
the same time at a given sort of exercise to secure the same
developmental results.
In any grade the pupils should practice writing in propor-
tion to their need for that training. When one has attained
a certain proficiency as a penman the work is done, and he
no longer has any business in a writing class. When one
has got from his arithmetic study the abilities for which it
was intended, why should he continue at it ? To set five
hours a week for a pupil to do what he can do in three is
only a little worse than limiting another of less ability to five
hours to do that which will require him eight. Obviously it
should not be a function of the course of study to prescribe
the time to be devoted to study tasks.
Shifting bases of course of study. Any course of study is
a selection from the whole inheritance of human achieve-
ment, chosen and arranged by the authorities according to
supposed values and adaptability for preparing the child for
life. Few authorities, however, have a sufficient mastery
of that human achievement to enable them to choose unerr-
ingly, and they are by no means agreed on the basis of selec-
tion or the grounds of adaptability. Wherefore mere tradition
has usually been the dominant factor in determining the
content of our courses of study. If the ideal course were
some definite thing, we might ultimately attain it by a con-
servative evolution, but the choice of a course rests directly
upon four fundamental bases, each of which is itself a
changing one :
(i) Changing knowledge of the child's nature and capaci-
ties ; (2) changing knowledge of the effects which different
activities and studies have upon that nature and those capaci-
ties ; (3) a swiftly changing body of human knowledge and
experience available for educative purposes ; (4) changing
ideals of what constitutes a well-educated man.
THE COURSE OF STUDY 113
In each of these respects the changes have been so decided
within the past few years that no merely traditional cur-
riculum can be justified. National and community ideals,
prospective occupations of the majority of the pupils, the
teaching force, the equipment and length of term, are some
of the other factors which necessitate changes in curriculum
from place to place, as well as from time to time.
True functions of the course. For such reasons no course
of study can be regarded as permanent or as ideal. What
it should seek to do is not to set limits to the teacher's
activity nor prescribe the exact lines of class progress, but,
like other forms of supervision, to set up ideals, to fix mini-
mum standards, to clarify aims, and to afford as much as
possible of practical aid and suggestion. The functions of
a useful course of study may be summarized thus :
1. Clarify the teaching aims at each stage of the child's
advancement and in every subject of study required. These
aims should be in terms of the pupil's abilities which are
to be established.
2. Indicate the sort of pupil-activity which is essential in
order that these particular abilities may be developed.
3. Indicate the lesson materials or subject matter available
in the prescribed texts, supplementary books, reference works,
apparatus, and natural and social environment, through the
use of which the necessary pupil-activity may conveniently
and profitably be stimulated.
4 . Suggest the methods and motivation particularly adapted
to securing the necessary pupil-activity most economically and
effectively, with references and other helps for the teacher's
guidance.
5. Suggest practical tests of the abilities sought, by which
a teacher may know positively that the results have been
attained and may demonstrate these results to supervisors
or parents and to the pupils themselves.
H4 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Its adaptability. Such a course of study should be and
by its very organization will be readily adaptable to (i) vary-
ing conditions of school organization ; (2) varying length
of term, equipment, and resources ; (3) varying methods,
preparation, and abilities of teachers ; (4) varying local inter-
ests, ideals, and environment ; (5) varying individual capacities
of pupils.
The grade teacher does not make the course of study and
is not likely to be provided with an ideal course — if indeed
the ideal could be reduced to print. Our purpose here, then,
is not to advise as to the making of the course but to indi-
cate what it is that the teacher should look for in the one
that is provided.
Teacher's use of the course. Whatever be its form, such
ideas as these must govern the teacher's interpretation of
his course of study before he 'is really prepared to make
intelligent use of it. We may repeat the points given above
in the form of questions which the teacher should put
before himself in preparing to use any section of the
course assigned.
1. What particular part does this assignment have in the
education of the children ? What useful habit or skill is it
intended to establish ? What ideals, attitudes, ambitions, is
it supposed to arouse ? What knowledge is to be imparted
for future use and in what connections or with what degrees
of vividness should it be established in order to function
effectively in the use expected of it ?
2. If we recognize that all educative growth of whatever
sort results only from activity of the pupil, what kind of pupil-
activity is essential to get the particular pupil-development
expected of this assignment ?
3. What text lesson has been provided by the authors or
prescribed by the supervisory authorities or is otherwise ac-
cessible for' the economical and effective stimulation of pupils
THE COURSE OK STUDY
115
to the particular educative activity desired ? Ordinarily this
is the one function which the courses as provided do accom-
plish and from this one clue the teacher must determine
the rest.
4. With the books and equipment as our materials and
the required pupil-activity as our aim, what teaching device,
methods, motivation, class exercise, or other activity of the
teacher is best for getting the desired results ?
5 . How may one know when the result has been attained ?
when to continue the process ? when to discontinue ? when
to vary ? What thing can a pupil do, or what will he do or
want to do and try to do, when that definite educative result
has been accomplished that he could not or would not do
before? How may this be demonstrated to parents and pupils
to win their appreciation and cooperation in connection with
subsequent assignments or in promotions and retardations ?
6. When these fundamental questions have been decided,
just how must they be varied for the particular conditions
and community environments in which one is teaching at
the time? How may local situations and resources be utilized
for motivation ? What correlations and concentrations of the
subjects and topics are made desirable by the local conditions
or by the peculiar interests and experiences of pupils or
of the teacher ? What variations should be made for ex-
ceptional individuals ? In short, every pedagogical consider-
ation is binding upon the teacher, regardless of the course
of study. Its intent is to fulfill and not to defeat the
principles of good teaching.
The measure of good teaching. It will be objected that
such an analysis of the usual course is beyond the capacity
of the ordinary teacher. From this objection we may reach
three conclusions : first, that we should not have the usual
'course ; and second, that we should not have ordinary
teachers ; and third, that whatever the character of the
Il6 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
course or of the teachers, their educative value to the chil-
dren is in direct proportion to the clearness with which the
teacher has analyzed the task assigned in just this manner.
Whether the printed outline has merely set page limits or
has been constructively helpful, the teacher can follow it and
teach only by knowing the abilities or educative results
sought for, the pupil-activity necessary to attain such results,
the way by which the lesson material may be used to bring
about the activity intended, and by knowing when the thing
to be done has been done. Vaguely and indefinitely, at
least, every teacher is conscious of just these things ; but
if this consciousness is vague and indefinite so, likewise, are
the results of his teaching. A more adequate analysis along
the lines indicated will mean more adequate results.
The cause of bad teaching. Countless teachers have
taught arithmetic under a vague impression or perhaps a
specific authoritative statement that the teaching of arith-
metic to a pupil trains him to reason and prepares him for
the business of life, when it was easily demonstrable that
the reasoning habits resulting from that arithmetic teaching
were positively pernicious and as preparation for business it
was worthless. This may have been due to the fact that the
pupil was required to "think about" combinations which
should have been drilled into mechanical, unthinking re-
sponse, or that he was "drilled to an automatic profi-
ciency " on analyses and principles in which the maximum
of attention — the very opposite of automatic response — is
essential. This illustration could be paralleled in every sub-
ject taught in the school and is typical of just what makes
bad teaching bad.
The first step in the betterment of the work of any
teacher is to let him into the secret of what it is he is
trying to do. The next is to disclose the same esoterics-
to the pupil. Whatever can be done to guide or even to
THE COURSE OF STUDY 117
force the teacher to thinking on these things is just so
much toward making had teaching good. The poorer the
teacher the more imperative such thinking is. He it well
done or poorly, it is the measure of the excellence of his
teaching. At the very least it keeps a teacher growing
instead of petrifying.
PROBLEMS
1. Compare several courses of study with reference to their
relative helpfulness. What are the features which contribute most
to this helpfulness ?
2. Which features would tend to lessen the teacher's initia-
tive ? Which would impose useless restrictions as to rate of
progress ? Which indicate assignments in terms of development
of pupils ? Which in terms of topics ? Which in page limits ?
3. Classify the courses as (1) information or knowledge courses,
(2) development courses (Cubberly).
4. Compare the courses with reference to the content prescribed.
What provision is made for the special needs of the city, county, or
state for which it is prepared ? What provision for different schools
and localities within the area in which it is used ? What oppor-
tunity or aid is given the teacher for adapting his teaching to local
needs and temporary circumstances ? How can it be adapted to
the needs of pupils of differing abilities ?
5. Compare a recent course with one twenty or more years
old. What difference do you note in the content provided ? What
difference in educative aim seems to be involved ?
6. Compare, in the same manner, a course for rural schools
with one for city schools.
7. Interpret according to the questions under "Teacher's use
of the course " as given in this chapter, the work assigned for
some particular grade in a particular course.
8. Can you discover instances in which pupils have passed
" through " or " over " subjects or grades but do not give evi-
dence of having gotten the sort of development that the course-
makers intended the subject or grade to accomplish ?
n8 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
READINGS
Bagley. Educational Values.
Chancellor. Class Teaching and Management, chap. iv.
Chancellor. Our Schools, chap. xii.
Charters. Methods of Teaching.
Cubberly. Public School Administration, chap. xvii.
Dutton and Snedden. Administration of Public Education in the
United States, chap, xviii.
Gordy. A Broader Elementary Education.
Klapper. Principles of Educational Practice, chaps, vi-ix.
McMurry. Course of Study in the Eight Grades.
Monroe (Snedden). Principles of Secondary Education, chap. v.
Munsterberg. Psychology and the Teacher, chap. xxv.
Parker. Methods of Teaching in High Schools, chap. iv.
Payne. Public Elementary School Curricula.
Prince. Courses and Methods.
Warner. The Study of Children, chap. xi.
Report of the Committee of Fifteen, National Education Association.
Report of the Committee of Ten, National Education Association.
United States Bureau of Education Bulletin
Bulletin jVo.j8, 191 3, " Economy of Time in Education."
CHAPTER XII
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL
Origin of class instruction. John Sturm at Strassburg
in 1538 introduced the time element into his course of
study. Melanchthon's course had designated the things
to be learned and the order of their being taken up, but
it assumed that a pupil would continue upon a given assign-
ment until it was learned and no longer. Sturm sought to
make the product of two constants, the time and the texts,
and two variables, the teacher and the pupil, produce a
constant educative result. Great as have been the advan-
tages of the grade organization of schools, to which Sturm
was thus an important contributor, this fallacy has been
hard to live down.
At his time lectures were delivered in the universities to
large audiences, but grading was not thought of except in the
final examination of candidates for degrees. For nearly three
centuries after the time of Sturm the actual teaching and recit-
ing of lessons was still a purely individual matter in nearly
all schools. Comenius (1 592-1670) advocated class instruc-
tion and with keen insight pointed out its advantages apd in-
dicated the method. But this was in his "Didactica Magna,"
a work which was very little known until well into the last
century. Jean Baptiste La Salle, about 1695, wrote the
" Conduct of" the Christian Schools as a detailed guide
for the Brethren of the Christian Schools, a Catholic order
devoted to primary charity education. In this work he ex-
pounded the method of class teaching in great detail and
may well be called the inventor of class instruction.
119
120 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
But the real impetus to class organization was given at
the close of the eighteenth century when Joseph Lancaster,
simultaneously with Dr. Bell, developed among the poor
children of London a scheme whereby one teacher could
teach as many as a thousand children at a time. This was
the "monitorial system," and it consisted in organizing the
children like an army and promulgating lessons through
a series of monitors as a general would issue commands
through his officers. This was widely hailed as a marvelous
solution of the problem of universal education which the
recent social revolutions had then made prominent in the
dreams of statesmen. In time it was discovered, as was neatly
said, that it was a means whereby at next to no cost at all
a community could secure next to no education at all. But
before the reaction took place the plan had been widely intro-
duced and the right of all children to an education was recog-
nized. It was gradually superseded in England by the
Dutch plan of pupil-teachers, which made permanent appren-
tice teachers of certain older pupils, and in this country by
the organization of large schools on the annual grade plan.
The trend to the mechanical. During the nineteenth
century the tendency in American cities was toward elabo-
rate mechanical organization. Rigid courses of study, lock-
step methods of teaching, inelastic methods of marking and
grading, and promotions by rule and per cents had well-
nigh eclipsed consideration of the individual pupil. Red tape
and routine were rampant. Smaller towns imitated big ones
with their forms, blanks, regulations, and systems ; and only
in the country schools of one teacher with no professional
knowledge, and little academic, did much ' teaching of
individuals survive.
Ungraded schools. Seeley has summarized the advantages
of an ungraded or "mixed" school as follows: (i) The
child learns to be self-reliant. (2) It encourages individual
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 121
work. (3) It furnishes an opportunity for children to learn
from the recitations of higher classes. (4) There are not so
many outside distractions for the country child. (5) Country
school affords opportunity to study nature at first hand.
(6) It trains to responsibility. So far as the work in the
school is concerned it would seem that the third of these
arguments largely contradicts the fourth. The three last
mentioned are advantages of country life rather than of
an ungraded condition of the schools. More effective
teaching rather than the mere fact of lack of organization
in the school should attain all the advantages mentioned.
Values of grading. Ungraded public schools are such
solely because of a lack of pupils, equipment, supervision,
or teaching force to make grading practicable. Wherever
possible these ungraded schools are being consolidated into
central graded schools. That they should have been de-
fended at all means simply that the organization of the
larger schools has done some things that should have been
left undone. There is no good thing in education which
can be done with small means which should not be better
done with means more adequate. If a good thing is lost
in larger organization, the conditions and not the fact of
the organization should be attacked.
The advantages sought in the organization of schools
were the following :
1. Economy in plant and equipment and more especially
in the teaching force, making universal education possible.
2. Specialization in the work of the teacher, thus securing
higher special preparation, concentration on fewer problems,
expert ability developing through experience in a narrower
field, and greater economy of effort and refinement of
methods.
3. Standardization of courses of study, textbooks, equip-
ment, and supervision.
122 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
4. Social and intellectual values of having pupils work in
homogeneous groups. The stimulation of competition with
one's peers, or the "speeding-up" of factory parlance.
Factory organization or craftsmanship? In short, the
advantages are precisely those obtained by organization in any
large industry, — uniformity, economy, and efficiency through
specialization and system. But the limitation of values in
these factory methods when applied to schools arises from the
fact that children are not inert materials to be manufactured
into a uniform product. With materials never identical and
with laborers in the educational factory working through their
own diverse personalities and multiform spiritual processes in-
stead of through uniform machines, the products must neces-
sarily be individual ; the task, that of a craftsman rather than
of a factory operative. The effect of organization upon fac-
tory workers is to make them like their machines, — blindly
obedient, unthinking, doing automatically and without varia-
tion that which the systematizing head has predetermined.
Supervision of craftsmen would seek rather to suggest, stimu-
late, inspire ; to free the worker of needless routine, to keep
him in the best spirit for his work, to hold up high ideals,
to criticize constructively, to keep individuality sacred.
A hard problem of supervision is to make craftsmanship
organization effective when only factory-hand laborers are
available. It is the problem of fitting ideal policies to actual
conditions. The proportion of professionally trained teachers
is yet small, and even the graduates of short normal courses
are lacking in academic breadth and cultural ideals. The
majority appear to be dependent on detailed methods and
rule-of-thumb directions. However, since the perfunctory
operatives cannot make good teachers, whatever the super-
vision, factory organization should not be allowed to destroy
the initiative of the true craftsmen nor the growth of those
promising ones who may become such.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 123
Eight and four or six and six. It is usual in America
to organize the public schools above the kindergarten into
four primary grades and four grammar grades, these eight
years (occasionally seven or nine) constituting the elemen-
tal}' school, and four years more known as high school or
secondary instruction. Completion of these grades, with
certain restrictions as to work covered, will admit to most
American colleges. Of late there has been much advocacy
and increasing development of the " six and six " plan, in
which there are six years of elementary work and six of high
school, the latter six divided into three years of "junior"
and three years of " senior " high school. Reasons for this
change given by United States Commissioner Claxton are
the following : the transition to high-school methods corre-
sponds more closely with the beginning of adolescence or
the change from childhood to youth ; the present course
is weakest in the seventh and eighth grades ; the begin-
ning year of the junior high school will be the best place
to begin departmental instruction ; the expansion of the
work of the secondary schools in languages and mathe-
matics will result in a considerable gain in time and will
approximate the standards of European schools ; a further
differentiation of the courses in the senior high schools is
practicable ; the beginning of high school work just at the
end of the compulsory period has confirmed an idea that
only elementary education is needed ; it better solves the
problem of housing the classes.
Departmental teaching. In departmental teaching a
teacher is assigned to one or more subjects in several
grades, instead of being assigned to entire charge of all
subjects in a single grade. It assumes that a teacher should
be primarily a specialist in the content and method of the
subjects he teaches. The other plan regards him rather as
a specialist in children of the age he is teaching and the
124 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
subject matter as presumed in his preparation. In the
primary grades certainly the teacher is first of all in loco
matris, and subject specialization would be absurd. In
college and high-school teaching the pupil has less need
of parental oversight, while the subjects are sufficiently
advanced to require a specialist to teach them effectively.
Just when the ideal point of transition is reached has been
long in question. As indicated above, the sixth grade is
perhaps the best place for this change. In every grade
every pupil should have some one teacher to whom he looks
for advice and guidance, someone who is interested in him
personally and who is responsible for his conduct in the
same degree that a grade teacher is for the children of his
grade. Every high-school group should have some member
of the teaching corps as advisory teacher who will keep
their records, supervise their study periods, and have general
charge of them except in the teaching of lessons assigned to
other teachers. No child should be at school without feel-
ing that someone is his own teacher. This feeling of mu-
tual interest and confidence may be increased by keeping
the same teacher in charge of a given group throughout
their entire high-school course. Where this close personal
relation is made permanent, however, some element of per-
sonal choice on the part of teacher or pupil should enter
into the selection of advisers for the groups.
Aims of modern organization. Modern school organiza-
tion, which seeks to get away from mere mechanism and to
make teaching vital, develops rather than directs its teachers.
It suggests, sets ideals, fixes aims and standards, inspires,
and then it holds the teacher rigidly responsible for results
in terms of real capacities developed in the children. It
keeps the teachers studying the individual pupils, keeps
them diagnosing individual defects and seeking causes and
remedies ; keeps them appreciating superior abilities and
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 125
developing them to the utmost ; it prevents them hiding in
cowardly formality behind chance percentages in arbitrary
examinations. It makes the teacher conscious that he cannot
blandly wash his hands of responsibility for a pupil by merely
marking him "failed," but that it is the teacher who fails
if he does not make the most of whatever possibilities there
may be in a given child. Fifty per cent on grammar and
high standing in constructiveness, determination, and prac-
tical usefulness is no more " failure " than one hundred per
cent on grammar and half efficiency in the other attain-
ments. Educational tradition has reduced but a few forms of
mental and moral attainment to lessons, textbooks, and ex-
amination grades. Modern organization is seeking to free
these from the shackles of tradition and bring many others
to due recognition. It also regards the teacher's health,
happiness, and enthusiasm as teaching values worthy of
monetary investment, and it counts friction and discourage-
ment as waste no less real than financial loss. It uses
formality and routine as labor-saving devices in the field
of external nonessentials, but makes the heart of teach-
ing something more spiritual than mere courses, methods,
systems, and facts.
Indictment of the mechanical systems. The indictment
of the mere mechanical organization that has become tradi-
tional may be summed up : It is based on the false assump-
tion that all children can or should advance at a uniform
rate, that they can be assorted into grades of homogeneous
capacities and separated grade from grade by fixed and uni-
form intervals. At the end of a session, work below an
arbitrary standard of attainment, as determined by notori-
ously defective measurements, is rejected as " failure " and
counted as nothing, regardless of the actual development of
the pupil. The pupil is required to repeat the work of the
term in precisely the same manner that he went over it
126 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
before, insuring that the defects of the previous term will
be repeated in the second in the same manner and for the
same reason. He becomes discouraged and paralyzed with
his sense of failure ; or he becomes resentful, ascribing his
defeat to the injustice of teachers or the good fortune of his
quicker-minded fellow pupils ; he loses interest and ambition,
which are the only forces by which he can progress ; he turns
to idleness and mischief, thus insuring a second failure, and
the second failure almost inevitably leads to early elimina-
tion from the school altogether — the worst failure of which
any school system can be guilty. To avoid this ruinous and
humiliating disgrace of " failure," sensitive children often
break down in health from overstudy and anxiety. Mean-
while other children show the prescribed attainment with
very little educative effort, development, or character build-
ing. Having much time unemployed in study, this abler
group discharges an enormous amount of energy into the
usual occupations of idle hands. For lack of effort they
soon acquire habits of inattention and mischief and of work-
ing far below their maximum capacity — which last is the
surest guarantee of ultimate worthjessness. Ambition to ad-
vance beyond the slower members of the class is thwarted
by impassable gaps between the ambitious child and the next
grade above. There is no provision made for him to bridge
the gap, and if he jumps it, his preparation is defective for
much of the work in the grades above.
Such a system fosters impersonal, routine teaching and
promoting. The work becomes a monotonous grind ; the
grade, a Procrustean bed. It reduces subjects and parts of
subjects to a dead level and discourages originality and
initiative in pupil or teacher. It suppresses genius and ambi-
tion and makes supervision mechanical and arbitrary. The
social values possible to a class recitation are destroyed by
the rigidity of the grouping.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 127
Does grading grade? How utterly the formal grading
systems fail to do the very thing they purport to do — sort
the children according to their mental capacity — is shown
by numerous scientific tests made within the past decade.
Tests of the " Reasoning Ability of Children of the 4th,
5th, and 6th Grades," made by Dr. Bonser in 19 10, showed
that.cjo per cent of the 4 A pupils tested were superior to the
poorest of the 5 A pupils, and that 79 per cent of them were
better than the poorest of the 6 A pupils. The same results
showed 1 5 per cent of the pupils of this grade to be better
than the middle pupil of the 5 A grade, and 5 per cent of
them to be better than the middle pupil of the 6 A grade.
Thorndike concludes that " the result of actual school grad-
ing is to pick the most able for the highest grade hardly four
times in ten." The fundamental abilities in arithmetic are
usually regarded as the chief basis of grading, yet the Courtis
tests in just these abilities show that there will be found in
any fourth grade, pupils whose ability is equal to that of the
average pupil of the seventh grade or to that of more than
a fourth of the eighth-grade pupils ; and that there will be
found in the eighth grade, pupils whose ability in these
arithmetic fundamentals is below the average ability in the
fifth grade or that of a third of the pupils in the fourth
grade. These results are taken from thousands of classes in
the best cities and schools of the country, and will be found
typical almost everywhere, regardless of rigidity of grading.
Semiannual grades. The first step toward relieving the
overmechanizing of city school systems was the introduc-
tion of semiannual instead of annual grades. This involves
starting a new class of beginners twice a year, having twice
as many grades as there are years in the course, and graduat-
ing two groups annually. By this means the evils of retarda-
tion and the obstacles to acceleration are, at most, but half
as great. The half-year interval is not so great but that the
128 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
ambitious child may make up his deficiencies and overtake
the grade ahead by means of vacation and private study.
The plan is in very general use. It is capable of the same
improvements as the annual grade plan and is subject, in
less degree, to the same evils of mechanical rigidity.
Shorter intervals. Still shorter intervals between classes,
six to ten weeks, have been advocated and have proved, suc-
cessful where the size of the schools insures a sufficient
number of teachers. Dr. W. T. Harris had such a system
in St. Louis as early as 1870 and said of it, " Should it be
necessary to put back a pupil to a lower class, he finds it at
just the stage of progress which will enable him to review
and strengthen those portions of his course that need it."
Special classes. Dr. Harris also sought to remedy the
waste arising from misfits in the grades by establishing special
schools and classes. Such special classes have been largely
introduced in recent years. They are unquestionably neces-
sary for the physically and mentally deficient who cannot
profit by the regular instruction of the school, but the normal
child who has merely got a little behind his class should
be able to find his level in the regular school. Cubberly
names twenty-two kinds of special classes which have been
organized to provide for those who cannot be fitted into the
regular work.
Cambridge "double-track" plan. In Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts, the " double-track " plan was devised by dividing
the grammar-school course of study in two ways. It was
divided (1) into four parts, each of which would constitute
a year's work for the more capable pupils, and (2) into six
parts, each being a year's work for a slow pupil. More
recently it has been applied to the entire elementary course.
This is divided into eight yearly grades of three terms each
and also into six grades of three terms each, except that the
last year in each course is divided into, two parts. This gives
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 129
the rapid group one-third more work than the slow ones in
each term and provides five different points at term ends at
which the two divisions are together, if both sections start
at the beginning of every term. Transfers may be made from
one to the other at any of these five points. Any given pupil
may thus complete the course in anywhere from eighteen to
twenty-four terms without being turned back at any time.
This plan is adaptable only for large school systems and as
a permanent policy. It cannot well be tried out in less than
eight years. It tends to keep the poorest pupils together
and in many particulars may be made as mechanical as any
other plan.
Pueblo or individual plan. A radical plan of escape from
the Procrustean systems of grading was that adopted by
Superintendent Search at Pueblo, Colorado. He abolished
class recitations on the ground that they are full of "dead
time " and that " they reflect on the honesty of the pupil's
preparation." Occasional class exercises were for the pur-
pose of presenting fundamental principles or working direc-
tions. There was no attempt to keep pupils together, but
each task must be finished before the next was undertaken
and every part of every lesson was recited by each individ-
ual. No home study was permitted and very large discretion
was given the pupil as to the direction of his time in school.
It was claimed that this plan relieved physical strain ; trained
independent, self-reliant workers ; that more and better work
was done; more supplementary work could be accomplished,
and that there was more enthusiasm and less discouragement
than under the grade system.
Batavia plan. Superintendent Kennedy of Batavia,
New York, introduced a plan of supplying additional
teachers to cooperate with the regular class teachers by
supervising the study of pupils individually. This plan
admirably combines the advantages of class recitation and
130 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
of individual training. The essence of it is that it pro-
vides for individual instruction at regular periods by com-
petent teachers and on a definite pedagogical basis, as a
supplement to the usual class work. As the principle may
be adapted to almost any conditions and may be used by
one teacher in a room by providing study periods, it has
been very widely used with generally favorable results. The
danger is " that the weaker pupils will be still further weak-
ened by a ' coaching ' process that does nothing whatsoever
for their real education." This, however, is a fault of the
instruction and not of the plan. The technique of individual
instruction in plans of this sort necessitates that (i) nothing
be told the child and nothing done for him but that he be
stimulated and directed to finding out and doing for him-
self, that is, instruction must be by "development"; (2) ini-
tiative in helping must be taken by the teacher rather than
at the call of the pupil ; (3) no instruction shall be given
upon the advanced lesson. It must never degenerate into
helping children to get their lessons. Teachers must dis-
cover in class recitation and by individual testing the needs
of each child and direct the particular exercise which will
remedy the deficiency. Attention to individuals aims to pre-
vent retardation, to accelerate the progress of the class, and
to aid more capable pupils to get into more advanced classes.
The value of the system depends on the spirit in which it
is carried out, but the need for individual instruction and
for separate supervised study periods has been established
beyond question.
Flexible or shifting group plan. In various cities — Seattle,
Denver, and Elizabeth, New Jersey, being among the pio-
neers ■ — there have been adopted plans of organization vary-
ing somewhat in detail from a plan outlined by Dr. W. T.
Harris in the St. Louis reports of about 1870. The essence
of all these is flexible grading, with groups progressing
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 131
through the course of study at varying rates and pupils
transferred from group to group at any time according to
their individual needs. Under such a plan the beginning
grade is tentatively separated into two groups at the end
of the first week or two, one group consisting of the most
capable third or half of the class. The slower group may
be divided again after a month or so of further trial. The.
groups remain in the same room under the instruction of
the same teacher and in some exercises are taught together
as a single class. Each group advances along the prescribed
course of study as rapidly as it can do the work satisfac-
torily. At the end of the year the middle group will have
just about covered the requirements for the grade ; the slow
group will lack about a fourth of completing the require-
ments, and the rapid group will probably be one fourth
through the work of the next session. During the second
or third term the fast group will have overtaken the slow
group which started one term earlier. These are then merged
and proceed as one until another separation becomes desir-
able. Some of the members of the section overtaken will
be caught up and taken ahead with the more rapidly mov-
ing group, and some of the rapidly moving section will be
left to go for a while at the slower pace. Before long the
middle group will have overtaken this same slow group
and the rapid group will have overtaken the next group
ahead. There is thus a constant merging and reclassifying,
each group changing its personnel and taking its grade
name, as 4 A, 5 B, etc., from its position in the course at
the time. In each group there may be pupils who are going
through the course at every possible rate of progress. Each
child has the opportunity by outstripping his group to
pass presently into one that moves more rapidly. If always
among the best, he will finish an eight-year course in six
to six and a half years. If always among the slowest he
132 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
will require ten years or more. In neither case is there any
reason for skipping or for being turned back over any por-
tion of the work. The pupil who falls behind because of
absence may do the lost work in a lower group while con-
tinuing to advance with his own class or he may drop back
into the next section and then work his way up by keeping
at the head. The sifting is upward instead of downward.
There are no "failures," but the poorest pupils advance
only so fast as they are made thorough on the essentials.
The abler ones increase their speed much as a man runs
up a moving stairway, by moving from step to step as the
steps themselves move upward.
With semiannual or shorter intervals between the admis-
sion of new classes, pupils should ordinarily advance from
room to room only at the end of the term. Any teacher
may thus be called upon to teach groups as much as a half
term above or below that prescribed for his grade. A pupil
might skip a given room without skipping any of its work.
Flexible subject grouping. The grouping and advance-
ment in the plan just outlined is based primarily upon
fundamental attainments in the formal or basic subjects. It
is usual to have distinct grouping in reading and number
work in the primary classes ; and in arithmetic, language,
geography, and history in the grammar grades. It will fre-
quently happen that a pupil will make rapid progress in one
subject while slow in another. This makes his particular
weakness evident to himself and to his teacher, and he may
devote more of his time and effort to that branch which is
difficult for him and less to that in which he excels, until his
rate of progress is fairly balanced. He may drop some sub-
ject entirely while he is catching up in another. When a
disparity of this sort is characteristic of many pupils it is an
indication that the course of study is not well balanced or
the teacher's methods need revision. In those subjects in
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 133
which attainment is mure difficult to determine, as reading,
or less essential to advancement, as penmanship or spelling,
instead of two or three groups to a grade there may be only-
one. In these subjects minimum capacities to do certain
things should be prescribed as the necessary work of the
grade. Abler pupils should be stimulated to higher attain-
ments and the time they save through their greater abilities
may be given either to enriching the work of any course or
to more rapid progress in any subject. In the last year of
the course there should be sufficient latitude in every sub-
ject for those groups which would finish in the midst of a
term to have abundant profitable occupation until the end
of the session.
Differentiated courses. This particular idea — varying
breadth of the work for varying abilities rather than vary-
ing rates of progress through the course — is made the basis
of the form of organization known as the " differentiated
course " plan, worked out at Santa Barbara, California. A
course was prepared prescribing the minimum requirements
for each grade, a second course indicated additional work
which should supplement the minimum course for abler pu-
pils, and a third course included still further enrichments.
All pupils go forward at the same rate, but the extent of
the instruction received in each grade is in proportion to
the ability of the group.
Essentials of flexibility. The essential element of any
plan of organization which seeks to preserve the individu-
ality and to develop the varying possibilities of every child
seems to be flexibility. Until there are far more reliable
means of determining whether apparent deficiencies of chil-
dren are real or whether temporary limitations are perma-
nent, even the wisest teachers should be very slow to separate
children into permanent divisions. It is not nature's law
that children should grow at an even rate. They develop
134 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
by fits and starts. Their interests and their moods are
changeable. In the effort to provide different sorts and
grades of instruction to fit the needs of different sorts and
grades of children, let us not assume that we have the knowl-
edge or skill to fit the one to the other except in a general
way. We must not forget that, whatever the native pos-
sibilities of a child, our putting him in a special class and
confining him to special kinds of instruction may give him
the bias we assumed that he had or may prevent the devel-
oping of the possibilities we assumed that he did not have.
Permanent groupings tend to get any mind into a narrow
rut at the time it most needs breadth. They fail to develop
leadership in the stronger minds and fail to stimulate the
weaker or less ambitious children. For these reasons, what-
ever the size of the teaching corps, every teacher should
have not less than two groups in charge at all times, with
the continuous necessity of reclassifying the pupils accord-
ing to their attainments. The teacher of such flexible groups
should feel the constant responsibility for individual instruc-
tion, for strengthening the weaker pupils and discovering
the talent of the stronger ones. Under individual teaching
the weaker pupils get the larger portion of the teacher's
time and the stronger ones have more opportunity to rely
upon themselves.
Values of flexibility. The plan of flexible groups, com-
bined perhaps with the differentiated course in some or all
branches and certainly with the study periods and individual
instruction of the Batavia system, seems to embody all the
ideals of grading. Some of its advantages may be summed
up thus :
i. Its flexibility permits almost endless adaptations to
varying conditions.
2. Individual instruction and class organization are both
provided for, and any variation of these may be utilized.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 135
3. The evils of retardation and the difficulties of accelera-
tion are mostly removed. Every child is placed where he
may work to the limit of his capacity and progress directly
as he succeeds. It need never be said that "to some there
is effort without success ; to others success without effort."
4. The incentive of advancement is constantly present
to every child ; the reward for earnestness always sure, and
in direct proportion to effort.
5. The pressure is even throughout the session, not con-
centrated into a dangerous strain at the time of examinations
for promotion.
6. It measures pupil and teacher alike by results, in terms
of the pupil-capacities developed.
7. The individual needs of each pupil become the prime
study of the teacher and the supervisor. This makes for
good teaching and a progressive teaching corps.
8. The teacher must have a specific reason at any time for
the precise classification of each child, and this reason becomes
a guide for his teaching and for the child's own efforts.
9. The attention of pupils, teachers, and supervising
authorities and the content of the course of study are
centered upon abilities developed instead of ground covered
or time spent on a topic.
10. The continual and inexhaustible stream of bright
pupils coming up from below affords a constant stimulus
to those who are going at a slower rate. There is no per-
manent segregation of slow pupils into one class.
1 1 . The plan may be made to combine every time-saving
routine device in class organization and yet preserve personal
touch and individual attention in instruction.
Teachers who are mentally lazy and those who are pro-
fessionally ossified invariably object to a flexible system of
the sort. The very heart of it is that it keeps them think-
ing, and demands an unending adjustment of course and
136 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
method to immediate needs. Inaction and petrifaction can-
not operate such a plan. Perhaps the greatest merit of the
whole flexible scheme is that teachers of that sort must
change or make their inefficiency obvious. Inexperienced
and untrained teachers will find it only a little more difficult
than a rigid routine system at first, and if worthy, they will
quickly improve by means of its very requirements. If they
cannot improve, they should not teach. Such a system
inevitably means teacher- growth.
PROBLEMS
1. Investigate and sketch the school history of several children
who failed in or repeated one or more grades in a rigid system
of gradation.
2. If possible, find the per cent of failures among pupils who
have previously repeated some grade and compare with the per-
centage for the whole school. Does repeating a grade seem to
tend to more or less thoroughness ?
3. State the desirable and objectionable features of the grading
system used in your schools.
4. Describe the best features of any grading system of your
acquaintance which you regard as particularly good.
5. How could you embody some of the advantages of flexible
grading in your school system, even though the plan as a whole
were not adopted ? What features of it could be adopted in a
single grade, even without adoption by other grades ?
READINGS
Ayres. Laggards in our Schools.
Bagley. Classroom Management, chap. xiv.
Chancellor. Class Teaching and Management, chap. vii.
Colgrove. The Teacher and the School, chap. v.
Cubberly. Public School Administration, chap, xviii.
Dutton. School Management, chap. vi.
Dutton and Snedden. Administration of Public Education in the
United States, chap. xix.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 137
GILBERT. The School and its Life, chap. vii.
GORDY. A Broader Elementary Education, chap. xxi.
Hinsdale. Studies in Education, chap. xiv.
JONES. Teaching Children to Study.
McMURRY. Elementary School Standards, chaps, viii, ix.
MUNSTERBERG. Psychology and the Teacher, chap, xxviii.
PERRY. Management of a City School, chap. x.
SEARCH. The Ideal School,' chaps, i, iii, vii.
SEELEY. New School Management, chap. vi.
STRAYER and THORNDIKE. Educational Administration, Part IV.
TOMPKINS. School Management, pp. 1-24.
United States Bureau of Education Bulletins
Bulletin No. 14, 191 1, " Provision for Exceptional Children in the
Public Schools " (Van Sickle, ct al.).
Bulletin No. 42, 191 5, "Advancement of a Teacher with the Class"
(Mahoney).
United States Commissioner of Education
Report, 1891-1892, pp. 601-636.
Report, 1 898-1 899, pp. 330-346.
CHAPTER XIII
PROMOTIONS AND PUPIL PROGRESS
Promoting machinery. Every teacher has found difficulty
at the close of the term in satisfying himself as to whether
certain pupils should or should not be promoted. It is
probable that he has found still more difficulty in satisfying
other interested parties on this point. To avoid just these
difficulties teaching traditions and school systems have built
up an artificial mechanism of examinations, grades, and term
marks to take the place of the teacher's decision and to
bear the responsibility in the matter of promotions. Sup-
ported by figures that " cannot lie," the teacher smugly
assumes that his promoting machinery " is perfectly fair,
because it treats all just alike." In fact, treating all just
alike would necessarily be grossly unjust to all but a few ;
for children, being quite unlike each other, need quite
different treatment. And if it were just, it would still be
impossible, for what affects one child in one way is sure
to affect another child in another way.
Nonpromotions. In a rigid grading system the promo-
tion problem is truly the root of many evils. The doubtful
pupil if promoted is likely to suffer through his poor prep-
aration, while from his nonpromotion arise most of the
disorders of the classroom, most of the discouragement, the
sullenness and resentment, the charges of partiality and
unfairness, together with endless friction, complications, and
perhaps official interference. One failure tends to beget
others, and the repetition of a grade is the first step to
elimination from school on one excuse or another. The
138
PROMOTIONS AND PUPIL PROGRESS 139
consummate waste and crown of dishonor of a school system
is the pupils it cannot hold, for elimination from school does
not include elimination from the society for which the school
was established. Sparta avoided a burdensome class of citi-
zens, because those who were to be eliminated from educa-
tion were first eliminated from the state by being abandoned
to the wild beasts. Our civilization clings desperately to the
mere existence of each individual, though often neglecting
the greater duty of making that existence worth while to
the individual and to society.
There are teachers — a host of them — who pride them-
selves that they head a certain proportion of their classes
every year toward elimination, — that a certain part of their
work is always waste. They call it "thoroughness" because
they " never pass more than eighty per cent of any grade,"
whereas tJioroughiuss and the number passing have abso-
lutely nothing to do with each other. In some schools,
traditions would damn a teacher who did not "fail" some
of every class. (Note the transitive use of the verb " fail.")
The evils of retardation probably cannot be wholly avoided
so long as grading systems are nonflexible. It is, then, all
the more necessary to inflict the evil with the greatest dis-
cretion and to turn back only those who certainly cannot
profit by continuing longer with the same class. When
demotion is unavoidable, it is all important to have the sym-
pathy of the child and of his parents, and thus avoid the
most serious evils arising from disappointment and lack of
confidence. The pupil should feel that there is nothing
arbitrary or accidental in the decision and that the lower
grade is just the place where he can profit most. This is
not "soft pedagogy" but hard sense, for the factor which
contributes most to his next year's work and to his ultimate
success is his attitude toward his classification and toward
his teachers.
140 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
The customary agencies for determining the problem of
promotions are examinations, tests, written work, grades on
daily recitation, and the teacher's judgment. It is not prac-
ticable to discuss here the various teaching values of these
devices. Each is of large importance in pedagogical econ-
omy, but our task here is to weigh them as criteria by
which to judge the fitness of the doubtfid pupil for promotion.
Examinations as basis of promotions. The formal exam-
ination, despite its educative usefulness, has been thoroughly
discredited as a sole basis of promotion. Let us summarize
its status as such.
i . It is not a reliable measure of attainment. Three sources
of chance enter into its use ; the child's physical and mental
condition at the time of the examination, the scope of the
particular questions asked, and the different standards among
teachers or of the same teacher at different times. Every
day some pupils are unable to do themselves justice, while at
the close of the fatiguing term, with all the strain of examina-
tion conditions, it is certain that several members of almost
any class will be in no shape to disclose their true ability on
paper. Out of perhaps a hundred comprehensive questions
on a course, usually ten are asked. It is possible that among
several children of a grade who are able to answer just the
same proportion of the hundred possible questions, one might
know all of the ten actually asked, another half of that ten,
and another none at all. While this extreme variation is
unlikely, it is very commonly true that of two children of
equal knowledge and ability, one gets 78 per cent on a given
examination — and passes; tKe other 73 per cent — and fails.
A like difference between failing and passing marks may
easily be due to the condition of the teacher at the time of
grading. It may arise out of the difference between the
teacher's mental condition when starting in on a pile of
papers at eight o'clock p.m., and when finishing them at
PROMOTIONS AND PUPIL PROGRESS 141
one a.m., while the variations due to the condition of his
digestion, the temper of the superintendent on his last visit,
or to the more intimate affairs of the teacher will make a
decided difference in the average of the class. An investiga-
tion made at the University of Wisconsin showed that a
large number of high-school teachers, all well prepared and
teaching practically identical courses, conditions being as
nearly standardized as can be found anywhere in this coun-
try, graded the same identical paper all the way from 54 per
cent to 96 per cent, with the majority grading close around
the passing mark, about as many "failing" as "passing"
the paper.
2. So far as the formal examination does test anything, it
tests appearances rather than real attainments, verbal memory
rather than more useful abilities, the crammed knowledge of
the examination day rather than the abilities which will be
available in later life.
3. It has a pernicious effect on a pupil's study and habits
of study. It puts a premium on neglecting work through
the term and on cramming just before examination. It re-
wards skill in " spotting the teacher," " bluffing," memoriz-
ing, and other temporary makeshifts rather than on a true
love of knowledge and desire for permanent growth.
4. It is the devil's own device for leading pupils into
temptation. Our civilization is disgraced by our putting this
premium on dishonesty. We have had to build around it a
special code of honor to meet the emergency. Supposedly
respectable young people are required to do something which
is parallel to being required to sign a pledge that they have
not stolen anything whenever they are left alone in a
neighbor's house.
5. As an incentive to work, it fails to stimulate those who
are most in need of being aroused, while the oversensitive
and too ambitious are affected beyond reason or profit.
142 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
6. The physical strain arising from examination promo-
tions has brought nervous breakdown and even death to
hundreds of the most ambitious and deserving children.
The unspeakable horror and pity of child suicide has often
been chargeable to the same stupid requirement.
Examinations held monthly instead of once a term may
have the advantage of decreasing the strain at any one time
and of lessening the element of chance, but this plan multi-
plies the occasions of temptation, strain, and interruption
of regular work.
Informal tests. Informal and unexpected tests, oral or
written, devised to disclose specific needs to the pupil as
well as to the teacher and to correct the teaching process
from time to time, besides being among the most useful of
teaching devices are invaluable in determining the actual
abilities of the pupil. A record of these tests would be a
safe basis of judging what the pupil could do at the time
they were given. But, with good teaching, it should be
almost certain that each deficiency disclosed by the tests
would, by the very fact of its disclosure, be removed before
the end of the term. The tests are thus better records of
what the pupils have done than of what they can do.
Daily grades. The last objection would naturally apply
in some degree to the use of daily grades as a measure of
fitness for promotion. To a good teacher the finding of
a defect in recitation means its remedy in instruction. A
numerical record of daily recitations, too, will undoubtedly
discriminate in favor of that type of children who have assur-
ance and readiness rather than those of slower and deeper
thinking. Under, many teachers daily grades put a heavy
premium on "bluffing." The very keeping of such records
is cumbersome, interferes with the teacher's spontaneity
and enthusiasm, and forces many mechanical qualities into
the lesson. Marking up at the close of the lesson instead
PROMOTIONS AND PUPIL PROGRESS 143
of at the moment merely purchases reduced meehanism at
the cost of reduced accuracy in grading.
Teacher's judgment. The "teacher's judgment" is advo-
cated by some as the only safe criterion, but (1) this may
mean merely the teacher's likes and dislikes, or (2) granting
impartiality, it subjects the teacher to charges of partiality,
and (3) it assumes that a purely subjective judgment should
be used without rather than with the objective aids which
have been devised expressly to guide that judgment. Intelli-
gent judgment makes use of all the facts that can be obtained.
When the term " teacher's judgment " is used to exclude all
data except the judgment itself, it really means the teacher's
feeling, impression, or prejudice.
Combinations. Other plans of promotion combine two or
more of the factors mentioned above in various proportions,
to determine the vital question of promotion or demotion.
It is common to let examinations, tests, and teacher's judg-
ment each count one third ; or examinations one half, and
daily grades and teacher's opinion one fourth each.
Cooperative classification. A very successful plan is to
require every teacher to make out early in the term a tenta-
tive list of the pupils who are reasonably sure to pass, one
of those who will probably pass if their standing does fiot
fall lower, and one of those who are likely to fail unless
their work is improved. All of the last group, and any who
may fall into it from time to time, are specially warned,
stimulated, and strengthened at their points of weakness.
Parents are called into conference and everything possible
is done to get them over into the safe list. These lists are
frequently revised during the term in conference with the
principal. The uncertain list should be reduced to not
more than ten per cent of the class by the end of the term.
The hopeless ones will have been put back where they can
work with hope and profit as soon as the impossibility of
144 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
their catching up is conceded by all. All that must fail have
then been fully warned, have been given every guidance and
assistance, and are fully appreciative of both the necessity
and the reason for their failure to be promoted.
Principles of promotion. Following is a summary of prin-
ciples that should guide in the matter of promotion.
1. Promotion shall not be based on a single test nor a
set of tests given at a single time.
2. It shall not be dependent on a single sort of measure-
ment however often applied.
3. It shall not be dependent on any purely quantitative
or mathematical grade or combination of grades. There is
no 100 per' cent perfection in any mental trait nor is there
any zero point to be found among school children. Still
less is there any mathematical point, such as 75 per cent,
which marks the distinction between success and failure.
4. It shall be a gradual process, beginning when the
year's work begins and based on every task.
5. It shall be a cooperative process in which the child
is consciously participating. Definite standards of efficiency
by which the child can daily judge his own work shall be
kept before him. He shall be required to criticize constantly
his own attainments, discover his deficiencies, and record
his own standing.
6. The reports to parents, as discussed later, shall be
such as to keep them fully aware of the probability of
advancement and the means of avoiding demotion. No
friction should ever arise from questions of promotion.
7. Such can and should be the spirit of the school and
of its relations to parents that promotion would never be
thought of as a matter of favoritism. Neither teacher nor
pupil should regard promoting a child as favoring him or re-
tarding him as a point on which there could be a difference
of desire between them.
PROMOTIONS AND PUPIL PROGRESS 145
) making the
standard of work out of the drill class rather than in it the basis
of promotion.
11. Make a practical list of " inexcusables " for the class
under observation.
228 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
READINGS
Chancellor. Class Teaching and Management, chap. v.
Charters. Methods of Teaching, chap. xxv.
Colgrove. The Teacher and the School, chaps, xviii, xix.
Dearborn. How to Learn Easily, chap. i.
Earhart. Types of Teaching, chaps, viii, xiv, xv.
Hall-Quest. Supervised Study.
McMurry, C. A. Method of the Recitation, chap. xiv.
McMurry, F. M. How to Study, and Teaching How to Study.
O'Shea. Everyday Problems in Teaching, chap. vi.
Parker. Methods of Teaching in High School, chaps, xvi, xxi.
Strayer. The Teaching Process, chap. vii.
Strayer and Norsworthy. How to Teach, chap. xiv.
Swift. Mind in the Making, chaps, i, ix, x.
Whipple. How to Study Effectively.
United States Bureau of Education
Bulletin No. j8, 1913, " Economy of Time in Education."
CHAPTER XXI
WORK AND DRUDGERY
Play and work. Play, we are told, is activity performed
because of the satisfaction afforded the doer in the process
itself, while ivork has its incentive in some reward beyond
itself which the worker seeks. The distinction seems to be
largely lost when play becomes professionalized or when
one comes to love his work for its own sake rather than
for its rewards, for then one's play becomes his work and
his work becomes play. Often what is work for one is
play for another, and vice versa. We have all heard of the
man who cleared his garden of stones by drawing a face
on the fence and inviting, several boys to come and throw
stones at it. He turned work into play. It is the activity
itself that every healthy person enjoys, and the mere fact
of its being useful does not ordinarily rob it of its attrac-
tiveness. Also it is the activity itself that is educative. But
it is the law of all animal nature that- any activity which is
agreeable tends to be repeated, while that which is disagree-
able tends by the very fact of its unpleasantness to be in-
hibited. That which is done pleasurably, in other words,
is more readily and more permanently learned than that
which is done without interest.
Routine and drudgery. Routine, as we have already
seen, is the. sort of activity which by frequent repetition
becomes easy and self-directive. It is work, in that it is
not done for its own sake, but work in which the effort
and attention required to perform it have been reduced to a
minimum. When work becomes so hard and so continuous
229
230 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
that interest in the end is lost in fatigue or in dislike of
the process itself, when routine duties must be performed
to the point where the purpose is lost sight of and the
effort-reducing influences of habit formation do not reduce
the necessary strain and attention so that the work may go
on automatically while other interests occupy the mind, then
work becomes drudgery. Play is interesting for its own sake,
work for the sake of something beyond itself ; but drudgery
is without interest. Drudgery is disheartening, depressing,
and grows harder instead of easier with repetition — except
so far as habit may ultimately come to the rescue.
Aims, — fleeting and abiding. Nature has provided that
the lower forms of life and man in his simpler processes
shall act in response to immediate stimuli, to interests that
look no farther than the moment of acting. Such are play
and such are other activities which satisfy some need or
desire of the instant. The condition of civilization, how-
ever, is that man shall by means of his intellect foresee
needs of the morrow, of the winter, of old age, or of future
generations and shall feel an interest in these sufficient to
outweigh all but the most urgent of his immediate interests.
These higher and more distant purposes become tremen-
dous forces in determining the conduct of civilized adults
and to a much less degree that of the immature — children
and savages. The aim of education is to substitute these
larger purposes of civilized humanity for the push and pull of
momentary impulses as the determining factors in human con-
duct. Not to eliminate the latter, but to subject them to the
aims and judgment of the intelligence. To state it another
way, the aim of education is to establish the power and habit
of working persistently, consecutively, and determinedly
toward ends which are foreseen ; to establish the capacity
for " endurance against obstacles and through hindrances."
It is a " demand for continuity in the face of difficulties."
WORK AND DRUDGERY 23 1
Is drudgery blessed ? Now, because the characteristic of
drudgery is that it affords difficulties and necessitates the
suppression of immediate desires, it has become traditional
that drudgery, per se, develops character ; that it trains one
to act independently of his inclinations, to respond to the
call of duty or purpose rather than of pleasure. If this
were true, drudgery would indeed be our supreme educative
asset. Hut is it true ? Our purpose is not to incapacitate
one for responding to momentary interests but to capacitate
him to have enduring purposes, which will outweigh the
others when they conflict. The driving force in drudgery
is not a dominating purpose ruling from within but a grind-
ing necessity imposed from without. Merely doing the
thing required can at best develop a perfunctory habit. The
development of character is the development of ruling pur-
poses. One learns to act independently of his temporary
impulses, not negatively by being coerced into the doing of
certain tasks, but positively by acquiring guiding ideals.
Servile submission to external necessity develops no trait of
character but servility. Power to respond continuously to
a sense of duty can come only through finding satisfaction
in acting from a sense of duty. The love of doing right
for right's sake is fostered only by finding the joy in doing
right for right's sake. The fundamental mistake of the
advocates of the " Blessed be drudgery " theory is the
assumption that the child's character is developed by
the teacher's purposes.
Dewey on work and drudgery. The distinction is stated
by Professor John Dewey in his forceful monograph, " In-
terest and Effort." He says :
There seems to be no better name for the acts of using inter-
mediate means, or appliances, to reach ends than work. When
employed in this way, however, work must be distinguished from
labor and from toil and drudgery. Labor means a form of work
232 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
in which the direct result accomplished is of value only as a means
of exchange for something else. It is an economic term, being
applied to that form of work where the product is paid for, and
the money paid is used for objects of more direct value. Toil
implies unusual arduousness in the task, involving fatigue. Drudg-
ery is an activity which in itself is quite disagreeable, performed
under the constraint of some quite extraneous need (p. 78).
If one means by a task simply an undertaking involving diffi-
culties that have to be overcome, then children, youth, and adults
alike require tasks in order that there may be continued develop-
ment. But if one means by a task something that has no interest,
makes no appeal, that is wholly alien and hence uncongenial, the
matter is quite different. Tasks in the former sense are educative
because they supply an indispensable stimulus to thinking, to re-
flective inquiry. Tasks in the latter sense signify nothing but sheer
strain, constraint, and the need of some external motivation for
keeping at them. They are //;zeducative because they fail to intro-
duce a clearer consciousness of ends and a search for proper means
of realization. They are wzVeducative because they deaden and
stupefy ; they lead to that confused and dulled state of mind that
always attends an action carried on without a realizing sense of
what it is all about. They are also jw^educative because they lead
to dependence upon external ends ; the child works simply because
of the pressure of the task master and diverts his energies just in
the degree in which this pressure is relaxed ; or he works because
of some alien inducement — -to get some reward that has no
intrinsic connection with what he is doing (p. 54).
The meaning of drudgery. A school task, then, contrib-
utes to the making of character in just about the degree
that it is self-directed ; impelled by enduring purposes from
within rather than by compulsion from without. The work
that a child does through a sense of duty or a sense of obliga-
tion, through a pride of self-control or a desire to give
pleasure to others, — such acts are work motivated in the
highest degree. They are as far from drudgery as possible.
Tasks that are done through a fear of punishment, through
WORK AND DRUDGERY 233
the domineering presence of the master, through any coer-
cion that the toiler would avoid if he could, — these are the
tasks that make for servility, for weakness of character, for
obedience to the impulse of the moment. It is just as truly
a yielding to momentary interest to struggle on through labor
under the prodding of fear or of necessity as to yield to the
^iren call of sensuous pleasure. Drudgery is like work in
the lack of an intrinsic attractiveness in the doing, but it is
like play in the lack of an abiding purpose ; it affords the
toil but lacks either the primitive or the civilized reason for
toiling. It tends neither to establish a process through its
agreeableness nor to justify it through its reasonableness.
Just one tiling is zvorse for character building than doing
one's duty through compulsion from without — and that is
not doing it, whatever the reason.
What makes for character ? Without the requisite pupil-
activity there is no possibility of education. The thing that
ought to be done must be done whether one wants to do it
or not, but the character development consists not in being
made to do what one does not want to do but in wanting
to do what one ought to do. Character lies not in some
overt thing having been done but in something having been
done for the sake of a high ideal. The gratuitous exercise
of will power, the gritty determination to overcome difficul-
ties for the sake of overcoming, to do the hard thing because
it is hard — these are the very foundation stones of strong
character. The teacher who leads a child to such splendid
achievement has done a noble thing. But he has done some-
thing as different as possible from exercising his own will
power upon the child, from determining for the child that
he must overcome the difficulties.
Life has no need for drudges. Life is full of duties that
can be made easy through intelligent reduction to routine.
Life is full of work — hard work — limitless things to be
234 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
done that are worth while doing and doing well. And there
is reward, near or far, *for doing things well and for work-
ing hard and faithfully. The world needs workers, doers of
intelligent, purposeful, hard, wholesome work, and the world
pays them and respects them. But the meanest walks of
life -are already cluttered with drudges, those who toil aim-
lessly, hopelessly, painfully, and must be driven to every step
of their tasks. They get little for their service and are usu-
ally not worth that little. If power must be perpetually
directed from without, mule power or steam power is in-
comparably cheaper and better than human muscle power.
Self-directing intelligence is the commodity that makes any
person valuable to himself and others. This is developed
by work — not by drudgery. If one must be a driven
drudge in life, surely he needs no training for it in school.
Mere drudgery cannot educate.
Summary principles. We may sum up the foregoing dis-
cussion in a few principles, with their application to practical
problems :
1. Education is possible only through the pupil 's activity.
Whatever is done leaves some educative result.
2. The same pupil-activity may be made play or work or
drudgery according to the manner of its motivation. It has
already been shown that much of it may profitably be re-
duced to routine. Such common devices of the primary
teacher as number games and story dramatizations give a
play quality to lessons which must otherwise be work or
drudgery. So does the spelling match or other forms of
competitive recitation. The very attitude or tone of the
teacher may make the difference between spiritless toil and
spirited play; for example, contrast the pupils' response to
an imperious " Now, every one of you get that lesson and
be quick about it," with the effect of a smiling " Let us see
which one of the class can finish this lesson first."
WORK AND DRUDGERY 235
3. School work naturally gravitates toward drudgery un-
less good teaching counteracts the tendency. The unbroken
regularity of daily lesson assignments inevitably tends to
sameness, to monotony, and often to the strain of unduly
heavy requirements if special care is not taken to avoid these
very tendencies. Any school work, because of its abstract-
ness and lack of immediate usefulness, will inevitably fall
into the form of drudgery by the mere fact of failure to con-
nect it with ever-renewed and quickening interests. At best,
teaching machinery will progressively consume more and
more of the available energy in friction and lost motion un-
less constantly lubricated with intelligent adaptation. It will
run constantly harder and heavier if the contact of the parts
with each other and with the driving force is not faithfully
adjusted wherever they are found to bind or drag.
4. Efficiency in learning is attained, according to natural
laws, when the learning act is either play or work or is re-
duced to routine, but drudgery is neither natural nor efficient
as a learning process. Wholly in infancy, almost wholly in
the kindergarten and in a decreasing degree throughout the
primary grades, the learning activities readily take the form
of pleasurable pby. This very pleasurableness is nature's
means of making the doing of new things easy for the young
and strengthening the tendency to retain permanently what
is learned. As the responsibilities of mature life approach,
there develops the capacity for continued self-direction in
response to permanent policies and distant aims which would
have no force in early childhood. One is driven through
the whole year's work for the sake of the annual promo-
tion, or drives himself through high school and college
for the sake of success in a chosen occupation ; or one toils
through long, hard tasks in order to excel his fellows ; or he
grapples with a problem that he may be victorious over its
difficulties. Continued striving to attain a purpose — this is
236 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
the characteristic of work. But tasks that are accomplished
only through the continued pushing, nagging, prodding of
some external force or will power is work done at the very
lowest standard of efficiency. The resultant learning is, of
necessity, very imperfectly accomplished, and the waste of
energy is enormous. The very disagreeableness through
psychological necessity increases the difficulty and reduces
the permanency of the connections made. Economy in
learning, then, consists in keeping all school tasks in the
plane of play or of zvork, — zvholly play in early childhood
and progressively making the transition to zvork as one
grows toward maturity, — ■ in reducing suitable activities
to routine Jiabits but allozving no learning to fall to the
wasteful level of drudgery.
5. The developmerit of character, increasing capacity for
persistent consecutive achievement without external com-
pulsion, is attained only by forming the habit of acting
from inner ideals and purposes. This is possible neither
through play nor drudgery but only through being accustomed
to consistent, well-motivated work.
6. Disappointment in attaining an end for which one has
worked faithfully begets discouragement and loss of confi-
dence in ideals and purposes. Aims too remote may stimu-
late for a time and then gradually lose their effectiveness.
It is therefore necessary in teaching to set up definite and
attainable ends, especially the sort that every child may suc-
ceed in reaching. Prizes have the objection that but very
few can possibly secure them. Even if they should stimu-
late all the class a first time, the great majority would soon
become immune to any stimulating effect. Promotions at long
intervals tend to be effective for only a short while before
the time they are determined. Perhaps the most reliable
and generally effective purpose for daily use is the love of
mastering difficulties, of solving the problem immediately
WORK AND DRUDGERY 237
in hand, or of overcoming an obstacle. To keep this sort
of purpose vital, tasks assigned must be carefully adjusted
to the pupil's capacities — hard enough to challenge strenu-
ous effort but not too hard to make ultimate success reason-
ably sure. Practically, this means that assignments must be
in terms of definite achievements, either objective or sub-
jective, which the pupil fully appreciates and knows when
he has reached.
Drudgery in teaching. It is hardly less important for
teaching efficiency than for learning efficiency that necessary
tasks should be so adjusted as never to fall into the waste-
fulness of drudgery. The drive of a daily schedule, of rules
and regulations, the custom of taking up written work and
returning it at a given time with certain sorts of correc-
tions, and the like, serve as an external impelling force quite
unlike an inner purpose or aim. Such tasks by their mo-
notony, by their heavy laboriousness, by the lack of any
feeling of definite achievement, lose the pleasing character
of play or the worth-while character of work. Because they
demand constant attention and cannot be done automatically
with success, however often repeated, they cannot be made
easy or economical by reducing them to routine. When a
considerable portion of the daily work of a teacher takes on
this dreary character, teaching becomes dreadful in its op-
pressive monotony, hopeless in its aimlessness, and almost
profitless in its uninspiring deadness. In the next chapter
we shall attempt to show how one typical sort of teaching
drudgery may be lifted to the plane of economical and inter-
esting work. It is our firm belief that whenever any task
of teacher or of pupil cannot be elevated from the plane of
drudgery there is something radically wrong with the assign-
ment of the task. Work must be done or there is no teach-
ing or learning, but the particular task or the particular form
or quantity of it or the manner of assignment which converts
238 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
it into drudgery is wrong. It is precisely this motivating
of tasks, of fitting them to worthy purposes and vital inter-
ests that constitutes good teaching and good management.
Neither study nor teaching is good if it is drudgery.
PROBLEMS
1. Observe carefully the day's work of a child in school and list
as many as practicable of his activities which are distinctly pleas-
urable and those which are unpleasant. In which of these groups
does he appear to make the more rapid progress in learning the
processes involved ?
2. Select typical activities which have the character of drudgery
and make suggestions for changing them, without sacrificing their
educative value, (a) to well-motivated work ; (b) to play.
3. Select forms of work and indicate means of converting them
into play without destroying their teaching value ; also of converting
play into work.
4. Give instances where work has dropped to the level of
drudgery : (a) through having the purposes of the pupil too
remote ; (i>) through too great monotony ; (c) through too heavy
tasks ; (d) through repeated lack of success in attaining the aim.
In each instance give your plan for remedying the fault.
READINGS
Darroch. Psychology in the Training of the Teacher, chap. v.
De Garmo. Interest and Education, chap. viii.
Dewey. Democracy and Education, chap. xv.
Dewey. Interest and Effort in Education.
Klapper. Principles of Educational Practice, chaps, xiii, xiv.
Moore. What is Education ? chap. viii.
Payot. The Education of the Will, chap, iv, p. iv.
Ruediger. The Principles of Education, p. 267.
Thorndike. Educational Psychology (Briefer Course), chaps, v, vi.
Thorndike. Principles of Teaching, chap. v.
CHAPTER XXII
MARKING EXERCISES
The drudgery of marking papers. In the gospel of good
teaching, as we have seen, there can be no such beatitude
as " Blessed be drudgery." Blessed be work, hard work,
persistent, relentless, purposeful work, but not drudgery.
It becomes then a most practical problem of school man-
agement to eliminate the drudgery — not by the neglect or
abandoning of a single task that is useful or profitable, but
by changing it somehow to interesting, wholesome, intelli-
gent work. There is practically universal agreement that of
all the tasks of the teacher, correcting pupils' exercises is
the nearest approximation to hopeless drudgery.
Prevents good teaching. The conscientious teacher ordi-
narily spends countless dreary hours, after school and late
at night, when mind and body are wearied, painfully mark-
ing the same ever-recurring mistakes by some more or less
elaborate system of symbols and affixing to pupils' efforts
valuations which can be justified by no logical or psycho-
logical reasoning. From papyrus in the British Museum we
learn that the schoolmasters of Egypt did the. same thing in
much the same way before the time of Abraham. It is the
assumption that this marking somehow increases the pupils'
abilities and directs the teaching process. But the work of
a tired mind is necessarily perfunctory. When one is weary
and correcting papers has become a bore, genuine judgments
as to the needs and progress of the writers is impossible,
and the marking degenerates into the mere indicating of
the more glaring and obvious errors — the " inexcusables."
2 39
240 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Rarely indeed does such marking suggest improvements in
one's mode of instructing or leave one in a sufficiently vigo-
rous or interested mental condition to plan them. In order
to require enough written work to afford adequate training
for a class of thirty or forty, the teacher attempts to do
more of this sort of correcting than it is humanly possible
to do and keep himself fit even to do the correcting with
discretion, to say nothing of an intelligent study of the
work graded or attention to the many other out-of-school
duties of a teacher. The grinding drudgery of marking
papers often precludes the physical recreation, the social
relaxation, and the professional and general reading neces-
sary to growing efficiency.
Marking papers fails of its purpose. Only a powerful
sense of duty could drive a teacher to this slavish work of
endlessly marking papers. One must feel that it contributes
tremendously to the pupils' good. But what, in fact, is the
benefit that the pupil derives from it? Not uncommonly
when the paper is returned to him he merely glances at the
grade "given" him and drops the paper in the waste basket
or stuffs it in his desk — to await the cleaning day. If he
is required to correct the errors marked, he probably does
so in a mechanical fashion, only to repeat, the same blunders
in his next exercise. Even these are not corrected unless
the overburdened teacher still further loads himself with
the yet worse drudgery of re-reading the papers. Of all the
dead-level work of the school, perhaps that which leaves
the least permanent impression on the mind of a pupil is
the correction of his written work as ordinarily done by
his teacher.
Eliminating needless mistakes. The first step in elimi-
nating this drudgery is to stop the endless repetition of
the same mistakes. Errors 'in spelling common words, in
the fundamental arithmetic combinations, in capitalization,
MARKING EXERCISES 241
ordinary punctuation, indentation of paragraphs, and the
formation of letters, — ■ any definite things that have been
fully taught and are got wrong only through sheer careless-
ness, — such errors should not be tolerated. To correct
them over and over is to encourage a child in confusing
and unlearning what he has painfully learned, in slipping
back where he has laboriously climbed up, in doing wrong
what he can do right. It were better that he should not
be permitted to write than that he should repeatedly write
the same mistakes for the teacher to correct. The pupil
must feel a responsibility for the knowledge which he has.
He has no right to expect further instruction so long as he
fails to make use of present attainments. Absolute refusal
by the teacher to consider any paper marred by these inex-
cusable mistakes will soon develop in the pupil a habit of
criticizing his own work before handing it in, of making
sure that he is right as he goes along. No new lesson can
be so important as the using of the old.
Application of the taboo. The list of " inexcusables "
described in another chapter has been found a most effec-
tive means to this end. When pupils fully realize that
carelessness, instead of relieving them from a moment's
effort and care, enormously increases their immediate labor,
unnecessary mistakes will largely disappear. With the
elimination of carelessness will come the elimination of
mere drudgery in correcting. Then the attention of teacher
and pupils may be centered upon the new problem of the
lesson, on which the paper is intended to afford exercise.
Values of grading by pupils. It is this new problem
upon which the whole class needs all the training practi-
cable and upon which the mind should be focused in both
writing and judging the paper. For the teacher to do the
marking is to deprive the pupils of the most effective form
of training:. That inestimable socializing value which comes
242 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
from each pupil's measuring himself critically against his
fellows, testing himself by the standard of his peers, see-
ing himself in the light of their attainments — this is at its
best when one is critically examining the papers prepared
by his classmates. An attitude of critical, independent judg-
ment and a full-rounded, many-sided view of a problem is
attained in no way better than in judging numerous success-
ful and unsuccessful efforts at its solution. Why deprive
the pupils of these supreme educative opportunities ?
Values of grading to the graders. Are there rapid pupils
in need of " busy work " to occupy spare moments ? What
better employment than judging the papers of the class ?
Are there slow pupils whose mastery of the problem is
still imperfect ? What better drill is possible than the
grading of the same problem in a dozen to forty papers ?
What finer motivation for getting that question clear in
mind and knowing that it is clear ? Are there careless
ones ? How better motivate thoroughness than by having
them mark the papers of the others, knowing that each
mark will be jealously scrutinized by the author ?
Values of grading to the writers. It is in this fact, that
grading by one's peers is challenged, that its greatest value
lies*' The teacher's marks are accepted as a matter of course,
and the incident is regarded as closed as soon as one finds
" how much he gave me on it." Nothing more effectually
stops the thinking process than the teacher's authoritative
approval or disapproval of an answer in oral or written
recitation. Nothing more effectively sustains and projects
the mental activity than criticism by a member of the class.
Fortunate, indeed, that mistakes may occur in the pupils'
grading.
An illustration. An instructive incident came to the
writer's attention in a school where this plan of grading
by pupils was in use. V. was a recognized leader in a
MARKING EXERCISES 243
seventh-grade arithmetic class. He was rather more brilliant
than painstaking. On this occasion the papers of the whole
class had been given him to grade. By merest chance he
had misread one of the problems and graded every paper
incorrect which did not contain the same mistake that he
had made. The papers were returned to the class without
comment by the teacher. As always, every mark was
eagerly scrutinized by the author of each paper. Immedi-
ately a storm of indignation arose. Under the restrictions
of parliamentary procedure the aggrieved ones were given
an opportunity to state their case, and V. and those who
agreed with him, to answer. Then each side was required
to prove its position to the satisfaction of the class. The
next few minutes developed some of the clearest arith-
metical analyses and keenest debating ever attained in the
school. The principles of that problem were learned,
never to be forgotten, and V. had a remarkably effective
lesson of the kind he most needed. The teacher merely
presided, keeping everyone courteous and good-natured.
Some misconceptions. The pupil-grading plan was once
recommended to a meeting of teachers, and later one of
them reported that he had tried and abandoned it " because
the parents complained that it was making the smart pupils
snobbish ! " He had missed the whole point. A constant
change of those who do the grading is essential, and there
is less occasion for calling on the best pupils for this work
than for calling on the slower ones. Another teacher found
that certain chums and cliques were grading each other too
high ! He, too, caught only half the idea. Getting marks
for record is but an incidental aim in grading. Interest in
improving abilities should destroy all motive for deception,
while the constant oversight of the teacher and the constant
changing of the graders should make partiality impossible.
Ordinarily the pupil doing the grading places his name
244 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
on the paper, and failure ' to mark a mistake is not only
more serious than making the mistake in the first place
but subjects the careless or unfair marker to the constant
special watchfulness of the teacher. In the writer's own
experience in revising grades made by students he has had
occasion to raise the marks quite as often as to lower them.
Variations. Many variations of the grading plan may
be devised :
i. One pupil may grade all the papers for the class,
taking one or more evenings or study hours for the pur-
pose. This would ordinarily be a pupil who has more
spare time at his disposal than others or else one having
special need of practice on the particular problem of the
paper.
2. The lot may be given to a group to work on collec-
tively with full opportunity for conference and discussion.
These may be temporary groups for the purpose, or one
permanent class group may grade the papers of another
group. An advanced group may well review by means of
grading of papers for a lower group. Rival groups may
exchange papers, or rooms or schools may exchange.
3. The papers may be distributed among several pupils,
no one having enough to interfere with his regular tasks.
4. A most expeditious method is to have the papers
passed, one, two, or three steps to the right ; to the left ;
backward or forward ; or exchanged by rows in all possible
permutations. Under the precision of well-ordered routine
the passing and return of papers takes but an instant. By
constantly varying the order of exchange there is always a
new interest and a new social value in getting a paper to
judge. The essentials of the lesson are then reviewed
under the lead of the teacher or, better, of one pupil or
several of them in turn, and each paper is marked. At
a signal, papers are returned with routine promptness.
MARKING EXERCISES 245
Each pupil then reviews his own paper and indicates his ac-
ceptance or definite exceptions. They are then passed up in
order to the teacher. Each pupil has been over the points
of the exercise three times ; once in preparing it, once in
judging another paper, and finally in reviewing his own — at
least so far as his mistakes made it desirable that he should.
Makes for economy and definiteness. A moment's
thought will demonstrate that reviews, drills, and textbook
recitations can be far more rapidly and thoroughly con-
ducted in this manner than by any form of oral recitation,
provided the point to each question is very definite and
clear. Questions must be asked so that only one answer
can be correct and the essential part of that answer can be so
precisely stated that every pupil can know positively whether
an answer is correct or incorrect. Not that the answer
must be in certain words, but that the exact thought must
be clearly expressed.
The reflex effect upon the teacher of thus making his
instruction definite and of having definite evidence of
results is obvious. The . papers also afford a most con-
venient means of checking the progress of a grade and of
comparing grade with grade. These values should make
this plan of pupil grading popular with supervising officials.
Exact grades required. The grades given by pupils should
be indicated precisely on each question or point separately,
to insure care and to facilitate ready review by the author
and by the teacher. Symbols may be used likewise to indi-
cate errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and the like.
The grader should be held rigidly accountable for the
thoroughness and accuracy of his grading. The author
should have the inalienable right of appeal on any correc-
tion or valuation of his work. This appeal should ordinarily
be . referred to the class rather than to the teacher's fiat
for decision.
246 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Value in questions of taste. In matters of opinion or
taste, as in literary style, ethical judgments, and other
matters not susceptible of ready demonstration or positive
conclusion, there are even greater educative values in grad-
ing by pupils. In such questions the grader should express
his criticism concisely in words and be prepared to defend
his position. If the author does not accept the criticism,
it is a point on which the judgment of the class will doubt-
less need developing. It is then brought up in class for
discussion, the parties to the disagreement leading the
argument and being supported by all who have opinions
to offer on the subject. The debate is kept within parlia-
mentary limitations by the teacher, who acts as presiding
official. If there is a tendency to ramble and repeat, each
side may be required to reduce its points to writing on
the board, where all may see. If there is a contradiction
as to facts, authorities should be demanded of both. As
long as there is real difference of opinion, the question
is well worthy of being held over from day to day, while
materials are being gathered and prepared for presentation.
The curriculum can contain no lessons of greater educative
value than genuinely motivated discussions of this sort.
Whenever the teacher injects an authoritative decision, the
whole matter drops "with a dull and sickening thud."
It is not the co7iclusion but the genuine discussion that
is of value. Nevertheless, the whole discussion must be
a search for truth and light. Whenever the class is con-
vinced that one pupil is protracting an argument through
mere stubbornness, it should have the right to vote to
table the question or to register a decision. Pupils should
soon learn from the social pressure of the class that true
debating is not seeking unfair means of getting decisions
but is a genuine search for truth and quick admission of
error when found.
MARKING EXERCISES 247
Questions susceptible of ready verification by the indi-
vidual pupil would, of course, not be permitted to occupy
the time of the whole class. Teachers who think this a
slow or cumbersome method of getting papers graded should
remember that there is no educative value in merely getting
t/ie papers marked; that pupils' judgment is developed by
their own judging^ not by being judged by a teaelicr.
The teacher's study and marking of the papers. The
teacher will ordinarily take up the papers after the writers
of them have scrutinized the grading and indicated their
agreement or disagreement. He may then read all the
papers or none as may seem necessary, and record what-
ever marks may be desirable. Usually he will select a few
of the poorest to study the individual needs of the writers,
and some medium and some of the best from which to
study the needs of the class as a whole. Thus he guides
his further .procedure in his teaching. He may direct his
entire attention to some particular problem or aspect of the
work to determine the cause of some weakness in his teach-
ing. One soon learns that there are some pupils who need
close watching either in their writing or their grading, and
their work is selected with sufficient regularity to spur them
to the greatest care. Other papers one selects to check
on some individual instruction which has been given. Still
other papers are picked out from the pile for the sheer joy
of reading a good paper and watching the glorious unfolding
of capacities in a promising pupil. Obviously those selected
for study will vary from day to day as may be most helpful
in checking up one's daily progress notes and clearing his
mind as to his teaching problems.
Sometimes the teacher will return to the pupils only those
papers on which he has made comments, sometimes he will
return all of them, and sometimes none at all. It is best
that papers should come back to the pupil only when they
248 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
will be received and studied eagerly. If they are destined
to go unheeded to the wastebasket, let the teacher put them
there. Notebooks and many important papers should be kept
permanently by the pupil for future reference or comparison.
Instructive comments. The teacher's comments on the
papers should not be in symbols or grades ; they should be
personal and broad. He judges the pupil, not the paper.
Formality in his grading should be taboo and routine
marking abhorred. The following teachers' comments are
quoted at random :
Your penmanship is getting careless at times. You must
improve or return to the drill class. Do your best on every paper
and you will not need the writing drill.
Too many words here that add nothing to the meaning. Note
those I have underlined. Rewrite the page in the fewest words that
will express your exact meaning and hand in with this to-morrow.
A paper as neat as this is something to be proud of. Show it
to your parents and keep it as a model.
It is a pleasure to note the rapid improvement you are making
in the clearness and force of your statements. Make every paper
the best you can, and that best will soon become easy.
Look up exact meaning of words I have double-underlined.
Can you find others which express your meaning more precisely ?
Can you defend by actual instances the statements of your second
paragraph ?
There is no drudgery in marking papers in this manner.
There is no monotony, no weary driving when one is tired
and unfit to judge. In fact, there is very little in all school
life of more interest and greater educative efficiency than
marking papers and studying the progress of class and
individuals from day to day. Such a change from routine
grind to appreciative judging and planning lifts the work
from pedagogical ditch-digging to expert professional thinking
on the highest plane.
MARKING EXERCISES 249
PROBLEMS
1. Taking several sets of exercises at random from differ-
ent grades or classes, classify all errors as "excusable" and
" inexcusable."
2. Write a summary of the effects of permitting children to
hand in papers containing errors which they themselves might
have corrected.
3. Write a summary of the advantages of the correcting of
papers by pupils; (a) to the writers of the papers; (/>) to the
critics ; (c) to the teacher.
4. What objections are there to a teacher's purposely making
errors in his corrections as a means of challenging the watchful-
ness of the pupils ?
5. Watch carefully and make a precise statement of the reac-
tions of children when a set of papers marked by a teacher are
returned.
6. Make a similar study of the reactions when papers graded
by other children are returned.
7. Make broad, constructive criticisms on a few typical written
exercises and study the probable effect of the criticisms on the
pupils' work.
8. Write out all objections which occur to you to this plan of
pupil grading. Study the objections to see (a) if they are valid;
(b) by what adjustment the objections may be avoided and the
advantages retained.
READINGS
Carpenter, Baker, and Scott. The Teaching of English, chap, vii,
pp. 142, 242.
Kennedy. Fundamentals in Methods, p. 138.
Kendall and Mirick. How to Teach the Fundamental Subjects,
pp. 95-100.
CHAPTER XXIII
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES
Motives defined. No work in the physical world or the
mental goes on without motive power. All activity is but
the discharge of energy. Energy drives the train along
the track or piles up destruction in the wreck ; blasts a
tunnel through a mountain or a hole through a battleship ;
plans a crime, writes a book, or utters a prayer. Every
activity of a pupil, good or bad, is fundamentally a discharge
of energy. The child is primarily a dynamo, a mechanism
for bringing forces to school and releasing them. He comes
supplied with all the motive power necessary to make the
school work go. The teacher has no need to concern him-
self with a problem of " supplying motives " if by motives
we mean the forces which drive.
Motives, in this sense, are impulses incessantly impelling
the child to activity. They are not matters of theory, of
pedagogical ideals, of method, or of organization. They
are not incentives, which are external stimuli, as shown
later. They are facts, dominant facts of child life, present
and potent, whether we will or not, whether we recognize
them or not. They are neither good nor bad. Like electricity
or dynamite, they are forces having no moral character in
themselves but capable of limitless good or bad, according
as they are directed in harmony with or in antagonism to
the interests of society. All motives are subjective, internal,
and natural.
Classification. The motives, then, with which the school
has to deal are all the instinctive tendencies of childhood
250
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 251
with all their variations and modifications acquired through
experience. They diverge, converge, overlap, and inter-
mingle endlessly. In truth, they are not different forces
but different aspects or manifestations of the same infinitely
complex driving force, of vital energy, — of life. The child
that is " full of life " is full of motives and full of activity.
No classification of these aspects of life energy, of these
impulses, can be final or correct to the exclusion of any
other. Any inherited tendency which can be discovered
with sufficient distinctness to be named is an instinct. Simi-
larly, any attitude, habit, interest, or other acquired tendency
which is effective for directing or arousing conduct of any
sort may be regarded as an impulse or motive, and any listing
of such tendencies which serves a useful purpose is legitimate.
The following classification of motives will serve for the
present discussion to point out those aspects of child energy
with which we are particularly concerned.
I. Individualistic or Self-Seeking Tendencies
1. Virility — aspiration to "be a man," to be big or su-
perior ; and its counterpart, femininity — to be attractive,
admired, and womanly ; self-esteem.
2. Obedience or submission to guidance and protection,
changing, especially at adolescence, to self-reliance and
independence.
3. Self-assertion, combativeness, insistence on " rights."
4. Greed, acquisitiveness, ownership.
5. Pride, envy, and jealousy.
6. Partiality for one's own, — as one's parents, family,
friends, and possessions.
All these are more or less modified by and are even
dependent on the following :
252 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
II. Social or Group-Serving Tendencies
i. Fear of disapproval of others.
2. Desire for the approval of others, especially of one's
peers.
3. Cooperative impulse, seeking mutual welfare.
4. Spirit of service, complete unselfishness.
III. Tendencies which Motivate School Work
Directly
1 . Love of mental activity ; of sensory experiences, im-
agery, of rational and emotional processes of every kind.
(a) Interest in any situation which appeals to one as a
problem of significance ; curiosity, experimentation, puzzle-
solving.
(b) Interest in the new, unusual, vivid, striking.
(e) Interest in human beings — their doings, history, cus-
toms, emotions — and in personified things.
(d) Tendency to organize ideas, form concepts, classify,
systematize.
(e) Love of emotional excitement, whether occasion be
joyous, exalting, sad, horrible.
2. Love of physical activity.
(a) Play, dramatization, impersonations, etc.
(b) Constructiveness, love of achievement, attainment,
accomplishment, overcoming difficulties.
(c) Restlessness, organic need for much bodily move-
ment, physical energy, vigor.
3. {a) Tendency to imitate certain observed or suggested
movements, expressions, thought processes, and emotional
attitudes.
(b) Tendency to repeat acts and experiences which are
agreeable.
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 253
IV. ./Esthetic, Ethical and Religious
1. Love of beauty, harmony, rhythm, rhyme, etc.
2. Moral impulses, love of doing right, conseience.
3. Admiration for moral qualities in others.
4. Reverence, worship, religious aspiration and exaltation.
All these are teaching resources, ready for use or easily
aroused. They are the springs of action which the teacher
must direct if he would govern or teach. According as it
is directed the same impulse may impel the child to the
most virtuous conduct or to the most vicious. The same
innate motives may drive him successfully through all the
tasks of school years or they may drive him out of school.
The child is a social being. Both pedagogical discussions
and school practice have usually assumed that the efficient
forces of child life are individualistic, such as are named in
our group I, or even more primitive and animal-like impulses
than these. The truth is that the impulses of our second
group will completely overshadow and smother out those
of the self-seeking sort if given a reasonable chance.
Interested in school work directly. Quite as blind as the
failure to recognize the social motive in children has been
the oversight of the fact that children normally do love
well-adapted school work for its own sake. While much of
our arbitrary and abstract subject matter and much of our
unnatural methods of teaching are indeed distasteful, no
one who has studied children actually at work in a modern
well-taught elementary school can doubt that such interests
as we have listed in the third group are present and active
in the great majority of the children most of the time.
The children commonly do not work because of any extra-
neous incentive whatever. They work because the task is
pleasant in itself and is the strongest immediate interest.
These tendencies may indeed be starved or perverted, or
254 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
they may be discouraged by disagreeable effects following
early efforts at expression in school, such as being required
to " speak up " when they have nothing to say or " shut
up " when they want to say something, but they are none
the less real and efficient if wisely managed. As further
discussion of this matter would intrude upon the premises
of teaching methods, we shall turn to the social motive and
attempt to establish its validity as a basis of government.
Normal motives social and mixed. In very young chil-
dren, in those of abnormally low intellect, and in any per-
son under stress of passion or of physical needs, simple,
primitive, and individualistic impulses ordinarily dominate.
But civilized persons in normal activities are governed by
impulses more or less mixed or blended and mainly social.
We are first of all members of society. . Even our most
selfish aims in the business of life seek for us social pleasures,
popular approval, and distinction in the eyes of the public.
Our means of attaining these social ends are likewise fixed
by society rather than by ourselves. Our labor is done to
satisfy some need of the social organism, and we are paid
for our efforts by society at a valuation fixed by itself and
in coin of its own determining.
Forms and evidences of social control. The fear of disap-
proval manifests itself with the first " self-consciousness."
No fear of physical punishment is more keen than the
dread of ridicule, of being called " fraidy-cat " or "sissy" ;
of being forced to wear curls or kilts after one's fellows
think they should be discarded, or a style of dress that
" nobody 's wearing now." This fear of the disapproval of
one's peers is what makes effective " the rules of the game,"
whether of " I spy," football, poker, or stock speculation. It
selects our clothing, our automobiles, and our college ; it de-
termines the choice of our words, the steps of our dances,
and almost the last detail of our work and of our recreation.
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 255
On the positive side, the love of social approval is the
force which drives the wheels of the world's work — except,
as has been said, under pressure of strong emotion or phys-
ical want. It is the heart of all social, literary, financial,
and political ambition. It is the essence of leadership and
of competitive activity. The fear of disapproval prevents
wrongdoing ; the love of approval wins victories. The one
restrains within the bonds of propriety ; the other impels to
achievement. Together they give morality and efficiency ;
they make one's very selfishness social.
Self-interest is more completely socialized when society
is no longer regarded as a sort of external and antagonistic
alter ego, hedging individualistic impulses, but has become
thoroughly identified in interests with the narrower self.
When the individual is so merged into the group that he
finds his pleasure and profit in its gains and his griefs in
its misfortunes, he has attained tlic cooperative stage. This
" enlightened selfishness " means genuine teamwork without
the grand-stand plays. It is the bond of the much-discussed
"gang spirit" of adolescent boys. It is the substance of
the Boy-Scout movement. It will lead a boy to submit
to any suffering rather than " peach on the gang." It will
cause him joyfully to endure unlimited severity and monotony
of training before a football contest and the most painful
bruises and fractures in the course of the game — all for
the success of the team. Later in life his partnerships,
his church, his secret orders, are manifestations of the same
impulse, but it is never stronger or more faithful than
in adolescence.
Yet more exalted is the unselfish spirit of scr-eicc. Here
primitive individualism has wholly abdicated to the social
impulse. Little children love to give their pennies to the
far away heathen with no thought of return. They are hap-
piest in doing acts of unmixed affection. To be sure, their
256 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
impulses, social and individual alike, are objective and fleet-
ing, and they are lacking in a fixity of purpose that only
experience and developed mentality can establish, but it is
slander to assert that their motives are not often as purely
unselfish and generous as the best of our own. It is a sad
mistake to insist upon intruding a material and selfish re-
ward upon the child when his good deed is its own suf-
ficient reward. In adolescence this spirit of service is in its
most beautiful flower. Then are lives freely dedicated to social,
religious, or other unselfish causes. The price of personal
sacrifice is rather an added incentive than a deterrent.
Multiple social groups. Parallel with the varying degrees
in which the self is merged into society, we should note the
different groups which call forth the social response. There
may be several of these simultaneously without necessary
conflict. A man may be a devoted member of his church,
his firm, his political party, and his various fraternal organ-
izations without inconsistency. Only when his groups con-
flict with each other must he choose between them. So a
boy may be loyal to his family, his class, his school, his
gang, his team, and his fraternity. That in his loyalty he
should occasionally adhere to the gang in preference to the
school is due to two facts : first, that there is antagonism
between the two ; and second, that the gang is more in ac-
cord with his nature. The antagonism may be due in part
to evil tendencies in the gang, but the gang's hold upon him
is due to its essential boyishness. The former is incidental,
the latter is fundamental. The evil may be eliminated from
the gang, and the boyishness may be brought into the
school activities.
Sympathy limited by knowledge. The range of one's
social sympathy is measured by the breadth of his knowledge
and experience. Travel is the cure for sectionalism, and
knowledge for narrow prejudice. The same social impulse
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 257
may develop into a neighborhood feud, state loyalty, national
patriotism, or service to mankind. Partisan prejudice is the
signpost of the limit of one's knowledge. A chief responsi-
bility of the schools which society maintains is to broaden the
pupil's sympathies and to quicken his social consciousness.
Success of socialized school work. There are available
many interesting detailed accounts of the socialization of
work and play in school. In such works as the Year Books
of the Francis W. Parker School and in Scott's " Social
Education," Dewey's " Schools of To-morrow," and in other
books and periodicals, we have a revelation of the springs of
efficient and happy learning that makes one wonder whether
our whole traditional system of organization and studies is not
a grotesque blunder. Children have struggled so laboriously
and uninspiringly for pitifully meager results, while the pupils
of those radical schools seem to be playing their way into
rich experiences and large abilities. But we must forego the
temptation to introduce descriptions of these striking types
of the socialized school. We are concerned rather with that
more conservative use of the social motives which may be
applied by any teacher in any school with any schedule or
course of study. We must meet the teacher's chronic ex-
cuse — " no time for that sort of thing " — and the superin-
tendent's confidential complaint — "no teachers capable of
that sort of thing." Still it is true that the right sort of will
has always managed to find some sort of way, and superior
wills rather than superior means have accomplished all that
has been done.
Methods of using the social motive. The key to social
motivation is group cooperation in the solution of genuine
problems. In discussing the organization of the school, the
establishing of routine, the grading of exercises, and else-
where, we have found that this key opens the door to both
simplicity of government and increase of educative values.
258 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Practically, if not fundamentally, every problem of the course
of study through which the child must work his way is a
genuine problem for his solution. Its introduction into the
course may have been arbitrary and unnatural, but it is none
the less his problem if it is there. Therefore, without ven-
turing into that attractive wilderness of selecting a content
which will be self-motivating, we may consider the motivation
of the traditional school tasks.
Group competition. It is noticeable in school fairs and
exhibitions that almost any child is more intensely interested
in the contests of his class or his school than he is in those
in which he is an individual contestant. Few children are
more anxious to see their own names on the honor roll than
they are to have their class win a competitive distinction.
A manual-training or map-making project or study of some
practical local problem by a group arouses far more interest
and activity than solitary efforts of the same sort. Each
pupil gathers enthusiasm, knowledge, and lasting impressions
from all, and all from each. Only let each pupil recognize
that his personal problem is to attain a certain ability rather
than to '• get over the lesson," and instead of our demanding
that each get up the lesson without help we shall soon dis-
cover that self-organized cooperative study is best for both
weak and strong and is more truly educative than a large
proportion of the recitations that teachers conduct.
Contributions to the class group in " content " studies.
Daily recitations particularly are suffering from lack of social
motivation. In any " content subject " there is abundant
opportunity for individuals to make genuine contributions
to the knowledge of the class. Let each pupil offer to the
class any interesting facts which he may have gathered in
the library, at home, from his neighbors, from the teacher,
or wherever he can. Let the class as well as the pupil know
that this is their only instruction on these points and hold
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 259
them responsible for it. The pupil is not assigned a topic
on which he is to recite to the tcacJicr but one on which he
is to find out what facts he can and get the class to know
them. lie has a genuine audience to address and they a gen-
uine necessity for listening. Together they are a genuine
social organization for mutual progress. It is well for him
to review and test the class on his topic. One who has not
observed such a recitation cannot appreciate the increase of
earnestness and intelligence of study, clearness of topical
organization, forcefulness of expression, which result from
this change of attitude among the pupils. Incidentally, far
more material is presented and more active discussions are
aroused. As these reports by pupils constitute the exposition
and illustrations of the textbook skeleton of the lesson, the
latter may be learned almost incidentally and needs but to
be reviewed and properly emphasized by the teacher. Even
this may be done by the pupils in more advanced classes.
As in the plan for grading exercises, already discussed, there
is an attitude of active challenge toward the work of a peer
which is wholly lacking in the acceptance of authority from
the teacher and text. By being held responsible for the
knowledge of the class on his topic the pupil soon learns
the value of defmiteness of viewpoint and clearness of pres-
entation. Better language training can hardly be conceived.
From primary pupils to college seniors such socialization of
the study and recitation will prove effective if gradually and
appropriately introduced — not "adopted" as a system.
For best results pupils should have some choice in the
selection of topics. The socialization may be still further
accomplished by assigning occasional larger and more com-
plex tasks to groups of pupils. Such groups should be largely
self-organized and self-directed. If a genuine responsibility
rests upon them, it will be found that they will soon bring
pressure to bear upon the shirkers and in course of time
260 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
will seek to drive out the drones from their busy hives. The
teacher, of course, does not abandon them but constantly
studies the working of any plan he uses and adjusts it to meet
difficulties as they arise. _
In "form" studies. In formal subjects not only may the
same plan be utilized for the solution of more difficult prob-
lems, for bringing in practical problems from the home, farm,
or shop, but there is a particularly happy opportunity in
the eliminating of troublesome deficiencies.
Remedying deficiencies. In every class there are individuals
deficient in particular abilities — in spelling, multiplication,
writing, or other capacity. If the teacher has interpreted
the course of study into abilities to be attained rather than
ground to be covered, as we have elsewhere outlined, and the
particular ability demanded of the grade has been made en-
tirely clear to the pupils themselves ; if they have been shown
how vitally that ability will enter into all their subsequent
work, how the lack of it will increase their labor and retard
their progress at every point, — they will welcome the sugges-
tion of a voluntary " multiplication club," "spelling club," or
a " penmanship-improvement association." These are social
groups in the best sense, self-organized, self-directed, seek-
ing to meet a very genuine and pressing need. Their mutual
stimulation and helpfulness accomplish results in weeding
out deficiencies as the solitary drilling of a deficient and dis-
couraged individual cannot hope to do. Every teacher knows
that he who is asking the questions is commonly getting
better drill than one who is answering them. Most mere drill
work can be conducted by pupils as well as by the teacher,
and often by a deficient pupil with maximum total values.
Group self -correction. An excellent plan for social co-
operation of a different sort in eliminating common errors
of speech is described by Kendall and Mirick. 1 A teacher
1 How to Teach the Fundamental Subjects, p. 63.
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 261
was asked to prepare a list of such errors made by her class.
In the true social spirit she asked the children to help. For
two weeks each child was a detective, listing every error he
heard in or around the school. These lists were classified,
ami correct forms were put on the board and drilled upon.
Then each child became a policeman to enforce the laws of
good usage. Then competitive groups in correct speech were
organized on the pupils' initiative and daily bulletins posted.
" Thus by the end of about five weeks these pupils had be-
come thoroughly alive to the values in words and sentences,
and the teacher very wisely dropped this particular feature
of language training before interest flagged, transferring the
interest to the composition lessons." Note that last statement.
The success of such socialized incentives will depend
largely on the teacher's knowing how to suggest rather
than direct, to hint rather than tell, to respond to calls for
guidance rather than intrude plans, and in knowing when to
turn flagging attention to a new task or to a new means
of attack on the same problem.
Social shortcomings of family and school. In summary,
we may assert unqualifiedly that school children are pri-
marily social beings ; that social impulses are not only
present and competent to direct school work and conduct,
but that these forces are the dominant ones. Only the
failure of family and school government to adapt them-
selves to this supreme fact of child nature can account for
the widely prevailing idea and oft-repeated statement that
children are fundamentally selfish and nonsocial. Their
inferiority to adults in the social spirit, if it is true at all,
is merely in the lack of experience, of a background of
habits and farseeing purposes — deficiencies which charac-
terize all their other impulses as well and which it is the
responsibility of the educative process itself to correct.
Nevertheless, as Irving King has put it,
262 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
The school has tended to deal with its children as individuals,
when they are in reality social beings. It has tried to train them
as individuals in the virtues of truthfulness, justice, loyalty, fair
play, and lawfulness. As abstract statements these mean nothing
to the children, but, when illustrated by the intimate associations
of the playground, gang, club, or school itself, they stand out with
convincing force. 1
Principles of motivation. A few guiding principles which
will aid in determining the choice of motives may be
given :
1. No motive is good unless it motivates. It is the
softest of "soft pedagogy" to allow a duty to remain
undone because an appeal to a lofty motive brings no
response.
2. Tendencies strengthen by their exercise. Of several
impulses, give practice to the one that needs to be devel-
oped rather than to one that is already objectionably con-
spicuous ; for example, arouse the courage of the timid child
and the modesty of the brazen one.
3. Arouse higher motives in preference to lozver. The
latter are primitive, deep-rooted in our subhuman anteced-
ents, always present, easily actuated, and will take care of
themselves. The former are efficient but easily displaced
and need development. Do not permit a child to perform
a task through selfish rivalry which he will do through
cooperation or aesthetic interest.
4. Higher motives must grow, slowly, through long exer-
cise, nourishment, and encouragement. They cannot be
taught or given, nor can they grow through neglect or
disparagement. Because a child "lacks a sense of honor"
is reason enough for trusting him as much as possible.
Through little victories only does he gain strength for
bigger ones.
1 Education for Social Efficiency, p. 145.
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 263
5. Make permanent rather than temporary connections.
With a given sort of activity seek to connect the impulse
which should always motivate it. Composition work should
be done through a genuine desire to express thought, and
the study of literature through a love of its beauty, and its
dramatic interest. These should not be unnecessarily sup-
planted by a temporary rivalry for grades nor by a group
incentive.
6. Ideally, each task should set off its appropriate motive
directly. In Nature's education this is true, and it would
be true in an ideal curriculum taught with ideal methods.
This is the ultimate standard of economy and efficiency.
Students of childhood are coming surely to agreement on
the conclusion that any activity so foreign to the native
impulses of the child that it cannot directly stimulate an
effective motivation is by that fact not adapted to the stage
of the child's development. Intellectual tastes, like tastes
gastronomic, are normally good indices of one's real needs,
but both are easily perverted. Motives thus directly called
forth by the work itself, instead of by a mediating incentive,
are reasonably sure to be wholesome and well adapted.
Meaning of incentive. Restricting the use of motive, as
we have, to its original and principal meaning, we shall
likewise use incentive in its original sense as " that which
strikes up the tune," sets off the activity, stirs up or incites
the motive to action. The motive is the driving force ; the
incentive is the device which couples it to the task to be
performed. This distinction kept clearly in mind would
help to clear up much current confusion in technical dis-
cussions as well as in practice. 1
1 A careful comparison of the uses of the terms motive and incentive
among writers on education shows a serious lack of agreement. Popularly
and in most books they are used interchangeably, while works on school
management have generally made the word incentives cover, with various
differences, the whole field discussed in this chapter. White distinctly
264 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Use of incentives. The common error of the unscientific
teacher is to assume that the incentive affects the con-
duct directly. He is content to measure the efficacy of a
prize by the number or quality of essays written for it,
oblivious whether the motive aroused was greed, rivalry,
class spirit, or love of expression ; whether the winner in-
creased more in pride of conquest than in literary interest ;
whether the result is more or less of permanent tendency
to give literary expression to one's ideas.
Where there is a child there are motives in abundance.
Where there is a school there are tasks to be done. Idle-
ness and retardation are the results of tasks nonmotivated.
Mischief and disorder are due to motives without tasks.
School government and teaching is the business of connect-
ing child-motives to educative tasks, finding a safe outlet
for the one and an effective force for the other.
Incentives are all the devices known to teachers for
making these necessary connections. They include marks,
promotions, honor rolls, rewards, prizes, and punishments, —
all schemes intended to bring school activity to the plane of
genuine zuork by affording an aim outside of the process itself.
They also include contests, games, dramatization, excursions,
states that " the desires that thus incite or impel man to effort are called
motives or incentives," with a note that incentive is used for either a
desire or its object. Bagley, although criticizing White on the ground that
the child must be educated "when he is unable to see very far ahead,"
defines incentive as " the idea of a remote end toward which effort is to
be organized," and then speaks of pain stimuli as incentives.
Neither White's classification of incentives as natural and artificial nor
Bagley's as positive and negative will bear thorough analysis, nor does
either prevent its author from bringing into his discussion incentives that
are neither ideas nor desires nor the objects of desires. Both statements fail
in detailed application and have led to much confusion on the part of
numerous writers who have followed them. Similar difficulties are readily
noted in Dutton, Salisbury, Colgrove, Arnold, and others. The distinctions
in this chapter have proved useful in the author's own classes, but cannot
be further defended in the space here available.
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 265
and other devices seeking to make the process itself attractive
and thus approximating the character of educative play.
Even so, much of the pupil's daily work still remains on the
plane of drudgery — disagreeable and unmotivated.
Classification of incentives. Marks, passes, promotions,
graduations, and degrees are expected to set off the motive
forces of ambition and love of approbation. Their chief
defect is that they commonly supplant the natural interest
in school work and bring pupils to measure the worth of
all efforts in percentages and credits.
Honor rolls, distinctions, and other intangible individual
rewards arouse rivalry or emulation. They are mainly anti-
social and can ordinarily appeal to but the few who least
need their stimulation, unless they are made so common as
to be of little appeal to any.
Tangible rewards and prizes have the same defects as
the intangible and the further defect that they may appeal
to selfish greed, jealousy, or baser motives and reactions.
Commendation is a gentle, wholesome stimulus, with no
bad effects if wisely given for effort, which the child con-
trols, and not fornative ability, which is an hereditary gift.
Censure is as depressing as commendation is bracing.
Censure may serve as an effective restraint at times, but is
not to be compared in efficiency with an effective redirection
of the errant energy.
All punishment is repressive and depressive. It is some-
times discussed as the use of "negative incentives."
Principles of incentives. We may sum up our viewpoint
as to incentives in the following principles :
1. The best use of incentives is their elimination. This
is in the same sense that the highest service of the teacher
is to make himself unnecessary. The term " natural incen-
tives " is sometimes applied to this direct motivation of work.
In our meaning of the term all incentives are " artificial."
266 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
2. Give preference to the incentive which is temporary
and easily effaced. Its function is to make the connection
between motive and task, not to be the connection.
3. No incentive is good in itself, it must be judged
wholly by its effectiveness.
4. Never permit the incentive to become the end and
the educative process the means. A high-school pupil
happy to throw aside forever his Shakespeare and history
as soon as he secures his diploma is a shocking illustra-
tion of the confusion of means and ends. Study is not a
means to getting a diploma, but the diploma is a means
to stimulating study.
5. Avoid elaborate, complex incentives which divert atten-
tion and energy from the work ; machinery which con-
sumes the power. Such are most " systems " of marks and
" merits " and the more cumbersome student-government
organizations.
6. Incentives derive their effectiveness from the social
mind of the class. Promotions, distinctions, rewards, and
punishments are effective in proportion as they are respected.
A whipping may be a joke, a matter of pride, a chal-
lenge to combat, or the deepest humiliation. Remaining
after school to straighten up the room or to get a missed
lesson may be regarded as a coveted privilege or a dreaded
disgrace according to the associations established by class
traditions.
7. A given incentive may have entirely different effects
on different pupils under the same circumstances or on the
same pupils under different circumstances. Commonly there
must be a differentiation by the teacher as to the application
of the incentives among the pupils.
It is the business of the teacher to oversee and foresee
the operation of motives and so to manipulate incentives
as to attain the most educative results. Not disciplining
MOTIVES AND INCENTIVES 26J
children nor transmitting knowledge is the business of
teaching, but wisely choosing motives and "giving the tune"
to each so as to bring them into one grand social and
spiritual harmony.
PROBLEMS
1. Compare the distinction between motives and incentives as
given in this chapter with those given or implied in other works.
2. Compare the classification of motives with other lists of the
sort. What aspects of impulse seem to be emphasized in each ?
3. Observe individual children at work in school and out and
try to determine what sort of interest or impulse is impelling in
each case. Where you think the motives are mixed, seek to
analyze them into as elementary factors as possible.
4. Describe cases in which the teacher found it necessary to
find some specific incentive for a particular task. What incentives
were used ? What others in each case might have been used ?
5. Find instances, if you can, of the use of incentives (a) which
are not effective for the purposes intended ; (p) which tend to dis-
tract the attention from the task or lesson to the incentive rather
than to fix the attention directly on the lesson ; (c) which affect
different children in different ways.
6. Find instances (a) where you think a higher motive than
the one used would have been as effective for the purpose ;
(J>) where the motives used seem to be objectionable because of
the traits of character they tend to develop ; (/) where the motives
are themselves desirable but not as effective as they should be for
the immediate purposes.
7. Describe some cases in which the teacher has used some
extraneous incentive to get the attention and interest of the chil-
dren but presently the interest has passed over wholly into the
work itself.
8. Find as many different forms and applications as you can of
the social motive in school work.
268 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
READINGS
Adams. Herbartian Psychology Applied to Education, chap. x.
Bagley. Classroom Management, chap. xi.
Bain. Education as a Science, pp. 60-1 20.
Betts. The Mind and its Education, pp. 199, 234.
Keith. Elementary Education, chaps, vi-vii.
King. Education for Social Efficiency, chap. viii.
Kirkpatrick. Fundamentals of Child-Study, chap. iv.
O'Shea. Social Development and Education, chaps, i, xi, and xiii.
Pearson. The Vitalized School, chap. xv.
Scott. Social Education, chap. v.
Sisson. Essentials of Character, chaps, i and viii.
Strayer. A Brief Course in the Teaching Process, chap. ii.
Thorndike. Educational Psychology (Briefer Course), Part I.
White. School Management, pp. 105, 130.
Wilson, H. B. and G. M. Motivation of School Work, Part I.
CHAPTER XXIV
PUNISHMENT
Negative incentives. Disapproval, threats, and punish-
ments are often called " negative incentives." Their pur-
pose is not to arouse but to inhibit the functioning of
some motive. Instead of "giving the tune" they put a
quietus upon it. If education means the act of leading out,
of unfolding, of developing, then negative incentives a prion
are not educative. There is no growth through nonactivity,
no education in stopping activity. Children do not learn by
what they are prevented from doing nor by what is done to
them. They learn only by their own actions and reactions.
It is the reaction aroused that counts in the case of the nega-
tive incentive. This is not always the sort that is assumed
by the teacher.
Punishment through the ages. From the dim dawn of
Egyptian civilization comes the proverb, " A young fellow
has a back ; he hears when we strike it." Among the earli-
est Hebrew proverbs we have, " Foolishness is bound up in
the heart of a child ; but the rod of correction shall drive it
far from him." From those primitive days to the present,
" practical teachers " and " strong disciplinarians " have been
emphatic in precept and practice in making the rod the
symbol of education.
On the other hand, the greatest teachers and thinkers of
all times — of Scripture, of literature, and of educational his-
tory — have both practiced and advocated lenient methods.
Not on account of some soft sentiment or fear of brutalizing
the child have they taken this position, but because teaching
269
270 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
through punishment is hopelessly inefficient. Plato wrote :
" No study pursued under compulsion remains rooted in the
memory. Hence you must train children to their studies in a
playful manner and without the air of restraint." Among the
stern and harsh Romans, Martial, Cato, Cicero, and Seneca
protest against the policy of ruling by the rod. Quintilian,
the great Roman teacher and the only important writer of
ancient times on practical school government, makes a most
notable plea against severity in school discipline. Vittorino
da Feltre (1 378-1446), the next teacher of children to rise
to historical distinction, was renowned for his avoidance of
physical punishment, for the self-government of his boys,
and for a school spirit that caused his institution to be
known as the " Pleasant House." La Salle's " Conduct of
the Christian Schools' 1 ' (1720) gives elaborate rules for the
infliction of penalties worked out in amusing detail. But in
181 1 these Brethren of the Christian Schools considered
prohibiting corporal punishment, and in 1870 Frere Philip
said for them, " Imperative circumstances no longer permit
us to tolerate corporal punishment in our schools."
In modern times the list of those who denounce corporal
punishment as a means to education is practically identical
with the list of those who have contributed materially to
educational progress. Meanwhile the tens of thousands of
forgotten teachers have maintained the rule of the rod and
the sway of the switch and have persisted in misquoting
Scripture to the effect that sparing the rod per se spoils
the child.
Principles of punishment. We may organize our discussion
of punishment into the following principles :
1. Punishment primarily means to cause pain. This can
have no value in itself and must be justified, if at all, on the
ground of efficiency in obtaining conditions more favorable
for educative work.
PUNISHMENT 271
2. Merc submission, sullen or servile, is not a condition
favorable for educative work. It is more often wholly incom-
patible with learning, and yet it is often mistaken for an
indication of the efficacy of punishment inflicted.
3. Punishment of school children cannot be justified on
any theory of retribution. It is permissible only as it may
deter the punished one or others from objectionable conduct
and thus make desirable conduct possible. No pupil
" deserves " anything at the. hands of his teacher except
helpful encouragement and wise training.
4. The best possible deterrent of wrong conduct is right
conduct. No amount of punishment will prevent hands that
are idle from doing the devil's work, and no amount of devil
will get wholesomely busied hands into mischief.
5. Punishment cannot in itself be an incentive or motiva-
tion for mental work. The motivation is still to be accom-
plished when the punishment has made conditions favorable
for the work.
6. Must promote affection. Punishment which brings the
child and teacher into more sympathetic, friendly, and mu-
tually trustful relations is good, regardless of its form or its
severity. That punishment which ends in sullenness, resent-
ment, lack of confidence in the teacher, a feeling of injustice
or unwillingness to cooperate, has been a failure regardless
of refinement or brutality.
7. Radical as the statement may seem, the one test of
successful punishment is that it meets the approval of the
punished. Usually children may be brought to see the jus-
tice of any right punishment before it is inflicted. They will
even seek it through some innate sense of compensation.
At any rate, the incident should not be considered closed
until the corrected child has been drawn nearer to the
teacher than ever before, until there is a closer heart to
heart touch between them and more of mutual confidence,
272 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
affection, and trust. Only then has punishment been effec-
tive. Like a surgical operation, punishment is permissible
only under pathological necessity and is to be judged by the
subsequent health of the patient. The teacher who is con-
tent to punish a child "because he needs it" and consider
the correcting thus accomplished has even less excuse than
a surgeon who would perform a serious operation and leave
the patient to his own resources to recover from its effects.
It is not an operation that the patient needs, but health, not
punishment that the child is in need of, but right relations
with the teacher and with his fellows.
8. Punishment "as an example to the school " likewise
can be measured only in terms of the permanent attitude
of the children toward the teacher and toward their tasks.
Immediate results are very deceptive. " Obedience," " sub-
mission," and " maintaining authority " are likely to cover
the children's retreat to subtler and meaner disobedience
and defiance of authority.
9. " Lightning principle." Punishment which must be
constantly repeated to be effective, by that fact proves its in-
efficiency. Work done under continuous or repeated compul-
sion has slight educative value and engenders a repugnance
which usually does more harm than the work does good. A
small boy on being asked why lightning never strikes twice
in the same place, replied, " It does n't have to." Effective
punishment, likewise, doesn't have to strike repeatedly
in the same place. Children do not respect the sort that
does have to. Penalties lose their efficiency as they become
common. When " nothing but a licking will control that
boy," it is certain that the licking does not.
10. Punishment arising from the teacher's temper, tem-
perament, or nervousness, whatever the irritation or provoca-
tion, or inflicted for any other reason than a sincere and
sympathetic belief that the child or the school will be
PUNISHMENT 273
benefited thereby, is not a question of school management
at all. Such punishment belongs in the same category and
deserves the same consideration it would have if inflicted by
the irate teacher upon a fellow teacher or other citizen
outside of the schoolroom. Morally, psychologically, and
legally, if only it were possible to prove it, such an act is
neither more nor less than a crime.
1 1 . Except for the criminal sort just mentioned, corporal
punishment is not necessarily any more brutal or brutalizing
than keeping-in, nagging, scolding, and many forms of the
so-called " moral suasion." For small children particularly,
physical pain is as prompt a corrective and open to as few
real objections as any punishment that can be applied, pro-
vided always that the spirit of it and the conclusion of it
accord with the principles already stated.
12. Last resort or first aid? Corporal punishment should
never be regarded as a last resort — tradition to the contrary
notwithstanding. It is so immediate and tangible that it is
often the most effective and refined " first aid " to cure a
child's sullen or intractable mood. A prompt and kindly
switching, particularly by a mother or primary teacher, will
often bring a little one to repentant tears and affectionate
embraces in a few minutes, with no sting of humiliation and
with no rebellious mood settled into a habit. A "spoiled
child " may be brought to his senses, a mischievous con-
spiracy nipped in the bud, or a " bully " posing before the
class as superior to the rule of the school may have the
tables turned on him by rapid-fire corporal correction. A
child who knows that all other means of governing him have
been tried and have failed and that mere brute force is
the teacher's sole effective authority — the last resort — does
not respect that government even though for the moment
he may submit to it. He is being taught what all civiliza-
tion is seeking to make untrue — that physical force makes
274 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
ultimate right. Most assuredly he will exercise that right
whenever and wherever he believes that he possesses it.
When physical coercion is a last resort it is no resort for
school use. The unhappy child who has been governed all
his life by beatings, whose parents have found that " the
only way to do anything with him is to whip him," is hope-
lessly immune to educative benefits through physical com-
pulsion. He, more than most children, is susceptible to the
leading of genuine sympathy, appreciation, and trust. At
any rate, nothing else can lead him. One who cannot reach
such a child except through corporal punishment simply
cannot reach him at all.
Corporal punishment, like a powerful drug, is immediate
and severe in its effects and for that reason must be used
with particular discrimination. If used at all, it should be
used promptly and thoroughly before the disease is compli-
cated or aggravated. Continued use is the surest sign of
misuse. Many school boards prohibit it entirely. It is better
to give teachers full authority to use the rod and then remove
those who often find it necessary to do so.
13. Penalty schedules. Punishments predetermined by
rule to fit designated offenses not yet committed appeal to
many teachers as " fair for all alike " and may be approved
by the children for the same reason. But rules cannot con-
sider the spirit in which an offense is committed, the differ-
ent natures of children, home influences, special conditions,
and momentary temptations. The same offense cannot de-
serve precisely the same punishment on different occasions.
Nor, which is more to the point, can the same penalty have
precisely the same effect on different children. One may
be overcome with agonies of humiliation, disgrace haunting
his waking hours and terror his sleep, while another philo-
sophically considers the prescribed penalty a fair price to
pay for his fun or for his stupidity in getting caught at it.
PUNISHMENT 275
The ascribing of definite penalties to definite offenses tends
to cause children to regard the offenses as a list of pleasures
with prices attached. If one breaks a rule, the teacher owes
him a penalty ; if he gets a penalty amiss, he has but to
break a rule to get even. Furthermore, it is human nature
to believe that the thing which has a price is a thing of
value and to be desired.
In this connection it may be justifiable to digress for a
word on the psychology of specific prizes for definite tasks.
Here the prize is the good thing of value to be sought and
the lesson the hard thing or penalty which must be ex-
changed for it. The same boy who would whitewash a fence
to get money to buy a jackknife would trade the jackknife
for the privilege of whitewashing the fence if a Tom Sawyer
were at hand to manipulate incentives. A wise generation
of teachers, instead of making the child clean up the black-
boards because he does not know his lesson, permits him
to clean the blackboard because he does know his lesson.
14. Educative aspects. The only educative aspect of pun-
ishment consists in the association established in the pupil's
mind between the objectionable conduct and some disagree-
able, inhibiting idea. If the association is close, clear, and
infallible, the disagreeableness spreads to the idea of the
conduct and ultimately tends to inhibit it directly. If, how-
ever, the offense is sometimes undetected or unpunished
while punishment is imposed frequently by the same person
for various, offenses, the association is made between the
disagreeableness and the teacher rather than with the offense.
Thus the teacher comes to be dreaded as the inevitable evil,
while the offense is a sort of sporting risk. The forbidden
conduct, according to the law of association of ideas, comes
to* be per se a thing to be desired ; the penalty, a price to
be paid with always a gambling chance to avoid payment if
one is not caught. Sufficient skill in beating the game and
276 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
avoiding detection brings the same temptations it does to a
professional gambler.
The obvious adjustment to this psychological situation is,
first, if at times one be compelled to resort to punishment,
he must the more often and vividly impress himself upon
the child in pleasant and kindly relations. Do not let the
teacher be identified as a punisher nor the school as a place
of punishment. Second, punishment must not be used as
a preventive unless there is practical certainty of its being
applied every time the offense is committed. If the punish-
ment is dependent on the chance of detection, it is a chal-
lenge rather than a preventive. Make the offense and the
pun ishm en t inscparab le .
15. Natural punishment. Unlike other forms, "natural
punishment " is in itself educative. This consists in letting
the child suffer the penalties imposed by the laws of nature
or of society, letting him take the consequences of his act.
If he overeats or exposes himself, let him be sick and thus
learn better. If he climbs too high, let him fall. If he tears
his clothes or loses his toys, let him mend the damage or
suffer the loss. This policy has the enormous advantage of
reasonableness. Penalties are not associated with the teacher,
and wrongdoing no longer has the artificial sweetness of
forbidden fruit. Practical lessons of natural and social laws
are learned with a clearness that no telling can impart. More
than all, there is established a sense of one's responsibility
for his own conduct.
But nature's penalties are too uncertain, too erratic, and
often too severe. Her retribution for playing with guns, fire,
and railroad trains does not accord with our idea of justice.
It is too unevenly and too irregularly inflicted. The punish-
ment quite often precludes the possibility of reform on Che
part of the offender. Again, a large proportion of nature's
and of society's penalties are deferred too long to remedy
PUNISHMENT 277
the evil. Many are evident only in old age or in " the third
and fourth generation." Many are so gradual and indefinite
and so complicated with other circumstances of life that ages
of human experience have been necessary to discover the
connection of cause and effect. Wherefore coercion is often
necessary to supplement natural punishment. If nature were
really a good teacher, we would have no need for schools
or pedagogy.
If the natural penalty is sufficiently near and not too dan-
gerous, it is very wise to allow it to take its course. But
the relation between cause and effect must be made very
plain. The child is entitled to full and fair warning. But
it is important to discriminate between the chance of injury
and the certainty of it. To say " You will be hurt," when
in nine cases out of ten the warning is disproved by the
event, is to discredit the teacher's veracity and destroy the
very sense of responsibility which natural punishment seeks
to establish. To say "You might be hurt," explaining fully
the improbability and unexpectedness of the penalty but
balancing this against its severity, is to establish a profound
respect for the warning and for the policy of " safety first."
In school management natural punishment must usually
be artificially imposed. Some typical instances may be the
following : If a child wastes his schooltime in play, he
must make up the school work in playtime. If he is dis-
orderly in the enjoyment of a privilege, he is deprived of
the privilege. If he makes himself objectionable on the
playground, he is not allowed there. If he spoils the games
by his quarreling or unfairness, he is kept out of them. If
he does his work carelessly, it is not accepted and must be
done again. If he destroys his own possessions, he must go
without them. If he injures others or their property, he must
make good the loss, and this not from the parental purse but
by deprivation of something that he could otherwise enjoy.
278 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Grotesque misapplications of the principle occasionally
occur, as when a teacher compels a child to eat half a
dozen lunches because he has eaten his own before time,
or requires him to chew a wad of paper before the class
because he has been caught chewing gum, or washes out
his mouth with soap because he has used foul language.
Nothing could well be more wmatural than such penalties.
1 6. Social penalties. Finally, as we have seen that the
social motive is the most effective for work, so the most
effective and permanently valuable punishment is that in-
flicted by a group of one's peers. Puffer and other students
of children's groups have given innumerable instances of
the complete efficiency of the penalties inflicted by mem-
bers of a group upon one who had violated some rule or
standard of their adoption. It has been found that expul-
sions by college students under an honor system of govern-
ment are less erratic and more uniformly just than those
by faculty action. Numerous cases of punishment imposed
by the children of classrooms in the public schools upon
their own members show the same gratifying results. Pen-
alties inflicted by the children, whatever the formality or
the informality of the group government, are usually more
just, because evidence is more freely obtained and motives
are much better understood and appreciated by the children
than by the teacher. They are more effective, because the
social disapproval itself is more dreaded than any depriva-
tion and often makes other correction entirely unnecessary.
They are accepted by the punished one as a " square deal,"
because he realizes that they are not arbitrary and do not arise
from partiality or temper. They do not create friction be-
tween school authorities and parents, for even parents recog-
nize the justice of them. They enable the teacher to take
a helpful and kindly attitude toward the erring one, often
to become his advocate and thus gain a stronger hold upon
PUNISHMENT 279
him and save him for the school and for society. They
prevent the social sympathy of the class from going out
to the child as against the teacher, making the one a hero
and the other a tyrant in their sight. Social punishment
is natural punishment and gives an insight into the work-
ing and spirit of government. It accords with the spirit of
all the principles we have formulated. Its preventive effect
upon the class is the best possible, and the educative value
in training the moral judgment and in the development
of an esprit de corps on a high plane cannot be sur-
passed. Furthermore, all the teacher's power and authority
are held in reserve for use in case the class conduct
should go astray, gaining in dignity through its unused and
unknown possibilities.
As expressed by a writer in the Outlook: "Appar-
ently the philosophy of the thing is this : When punished
by your teacher you are a martyr in the eyes of your fel-
lows. When punished by your fellows you are a disgrace
to their community."
PROBLEMS
1. It is a traditional sort of statement among men that they
were frequently thrashed during their schooldays and that they
"never got a lick amiss." Gather from them and others precise
accounts of these cases of punishment and determine as well as
possible the effect of the whipping on (a) the work, (//) conduct,
(p) permanent attitudes toward school and teacher. Do the facts
seem to bear out the statements ? How far does the general tend-
ency to look back with pleasure upon all the hardships of boyhood
contribute to the opinion referred to ?
2. Investigate carefully several recent cases of corporal punish-
ment, particularly studying the effects upon the child's attitude
toward the teacher and the school work.
3. What are the rules and regulations in force in your school
regarding punishment ?
280 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
4. Consider any case of misbehavior and punishment which
has come to your attention and (a) propose better forms of pun-
ishment, (b) other treatment which you regard as better for this
case than punishment.
5. Consider the same treatment as having been inflicted upon
several different children, selecting those varying as much as
possible in temperament, age, and home surroundings.
6. Study any available cases of corporal punishment from the
viewpoint of this chapter in regard to their brutalizing effect or
their use as a last resort.
7. For each of the cases of punishment you have recorded
above propose some form of " natural punishment " if possible.
READINGS
Arnold. School and Class Management, chaps, x-xii.
Bain. Education as a Science, pp. 100-120.
Bagley. Classroom Management, chap. viii.
Bagley. School Discipline, chaps, x-xiv.
Coe. Education in Religion and Morals, chap. ix.
Compayre. Lectures on Pedagogy, pp. 463-476.
Griggs. Moral Education, chaps, xv, xvi.
Morehouse. The Discipline of the School, chap. x.
O'Shea. Social Development and Education, chap, xv
Puffer. The Boy and his Gang, chaps, xi-xiii.
Salisbury. School Management, chap. xiv.
Seeley. A New School Management, chap. viii.
Spencer. Education, chap. iii.
Weimar. The Way to the Heart of the Child, chap. vi.
White. School Management, pp. 190-217.
CHAPTER XXV
CONSTRUCTIVE GOVERNMENT
What is order? VVc have heard that "order is heaven's
first law," but if order means unnatural silence, straight
lines, rigid positions, and formality, there is little that is
heavenly about the places where it prevails. It is neither
heavenly nor natural. The elaborate, laborious silence, the
suppression of natural activity, known as " order " in many
schoolrooms, defies every precedent and violates every law
found in the order of nature. The one criterion of order-
liness in school is conduciveness to educative activity. Not
the sound of the "pin-drop" but the sound of happy in-
dustry is the test of good school order — ■ not tense restraint
but intense activity. The noise of children happy and busy
is not disorder unless it prevents others from being happy
and busy. The methods of orderly government consist not
in repressing activity so much as in stimulating it ; not in
continually stopping something but in " starting something,"
not in correcting but in directing ; not in pupil suppression
but in pupil expression.
Transition of government to social control. The govern-
ments of society, political and pedagogical alike, have passed
from the merely negative level to the • positive ; from pre-
venting mutual destruction to fostering mutual progress.
The assumption of the old regime was that subjects or chil-
dren had neither the intelligence nor the community of sym-
pathy to govern themselves. The new type of government
assumes that they never will, except through the exercise
of such intelligence and sympathy as they do have. School
281
282 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
monarchs, like political ones, erred in overestimating their
own fitness to rule and in underestimating the social capac-
ity of their subjects for self-rule. We entered the World
War to establish the rights of people to rule themselves ;
because " The world must be made safe for democracy."
The safety of democracy involves the development of people
in self-rule no less than the overthrow of the self-seeking
tyrannies. The latter is a task for armies ; the former is
one for schools. The wiser teachers become, the less dog-
matic and cocksure are they about their own methods and
policies and the more respect they have for child initiative
and social sympathy. Modern study of children has disclosed
undreamed-of resources for wise self-direction and has given
a new conception of the pedagogical divine right to rule.
Government must vary with the governed. It is the
nature of very young children to accept parental guidance
without question. Their capacity for self-direction is con-
sumed in managing their simple muscular coordinations.
The problem in governing them is how to mother them
wisely. The blunder of the schools has always been inertia.
They have sought to keep the children infants when in the
course of nature they became otherwise.
European universities, originally voluntary assemblies of
adult knowledge-seekers, have clung zealously to their demo-
cratic administration. The older American colleges, however,
have grown up rather from schools of boys and therefore
have had to adopt some form of student government to
get it. The principle was first ingrafted at the old College
of William and Mary as the " honor system " in 1779. Dur-
ing the past century various types of honor systems or plans
of student government have extended to American higher
institutions. Many of these assume responsibility only for
honesty in examinations, others extend their oversight to
hazing and thieving and, in some cases, to practically the
CONSTRUCTIVE GOVERNMENT 283
whole of the student's life. American high schools have
tended to mimic our colleges in many things, and elementary
schools too often mimic the high schools. Thus the toga
virilis of American school government, the honor system,
has been put on by many schools that would be better fitted
with administrative kilts.
Success of the democratic spirit in school. Still this
democratic tendency has resulted in better standards of
order, even in more rigid standards of silence and restraint,
for it has been self-restraint. By enlisting the cooperation
instead of the opposition of the child's social impulses,
it has been an easier, a more economical means of attain-
ing favorable working conditions. The evils of it are due
to installing a form, the benefits to developing a spirit. It
is the same old story, the inevitable, recurrent story of
politics, of art, of literature, of religion, of thought, — the
form without the spirit is void.
School cities. Few schools probably exhibit higher stand-
ards of quiet, busy orderliness than some of those in which
" school cities " exist. Their standards of conduct are fixed
in pupil legislative assemblies, while pupil courts, pupil
inspectors, pupil policemen, and pupil truant officers en-
force their laws and administer discipline. The teacher
retains, in varying degrees, an advisory relation and usually
the right of veto, but is often little more than an onlooker,
the royal figurehead of a limited monarchy. In these
school democracies, also, history has repeated itself with an
interesting faithfulness. Some of them have succeeded
magnificently and are enthusiastically heralded as the solu-
tion of all the ills of government. Some have failed utterly
because they were too suddenly "adopted" for an unpre-
pared citizenry. Others have worked well so long as the
original founder dominated, showing that however demo-
cratic in form they were dictatorships in fact. Still others,
284 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
through unwise meddling of the abdicating monarchs, unwill-
ing to let difficulties evolve their own solution, have brought
the whole of self-government into contempt as a meaning-
less mockery. And, true still to historical precedent, critics
of these school democracies have been prone to exaggerate
their newly developed evils and to forget the greater faults
of the old monarchies, ■ — ■ faults to which the critics were
so inured as perhaps never to have seen them at all.
No teacher of children can afford to be ignorant of the
working and spirit of the elaborate " school cities." Whether
or not they may be desirable for general adoption or for
any particular community, it cannot be questioned that they
show the limitless possibilities oixhildren for self-government.
Merely as a dramatization of the fundamental lessons of
civics they are a genuinely important contribution to modern
education. The aim of this volume, however, demands that
we limit our further discussion to a less radical type of
school government.
Liberty grows with capacity for it. The public school
is ideally situated for developing the capacity, for and the
forms of self-government pari passu. Starting with the
physical helplessness and natural docility of the primary
child, each privilege and responsibility should be assumed
by him just so far as he will use it wisely. He is free to do
whatever contributes to his work or comfort provided it does
not interfere with the work or comfort of any other. Restric-
tions should be imposed on no other ground than this and
should be as few as possible. One gets his drink or speaks
or leaves the room on precisely the same terms that he
should elsewhere, — that it interferes with no duty, that it
interferes with no one else, that it is done as a lady or gen-
tleman should do it. Children must learn through observa-
tion and trial just what it is that does annoy others and just
what does interfere with work.
CONSTRUCTIVE GOVERNMENT 2S5
Results of unnecessary restrictions. To require special
permission for leaving the room, getting a drink, speaking
to a neighbor, passing a book, or other natural and common
acts accomplishes several undesirable results. The very re-
striction gives such things an unnatural desirability and mul-
tiplies the frequency of the requests. The frequent requests,
whether by snapping of fingers or less objectionable means,
cause more distraction of both teacher and class than would
result from acting without permission. There is more or
less of immodesty, which all are forced to hear and to prac-
tice, that is quite opposed to refined training. All training
in discretion, all development of self-government in the
matters involved is forestalled. How can children be ex-
pected to do as ladies and gentlemen should do unless they
are given the chance to do as ladies and gentlemen do ?
Values of self -direction. Certain restrictions may be
found necessary and desirable, such as that no two shall
leave their seats at the same time, that none shall remain
out more than a specified number of minutes, that there
shall be no leaving within so many minutes of a recess. It
is far better that children themselves should apply these
restrictions than for the teacher to be burdened with them,
and experience shows that the children, with a little guid-
ance, will execute reasonable restrictions more effectively
than a teacher can. When one is teaching he cannot be
thinking of all these details for thirty children at once.
When doing the latter he cannot be teaching. Granting
permission relieves the child from any responsibility for the
wisdom of it. Refusal engenders resentment and a feeling
of injustice regardless of reasons.
As already indicated, prescribed rules and regulations tend
by psychological suggestion to make the proscribed conduct
attractive. A case in point is the classic instance of the
new master who promulgated a rule against sliding down the
286 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
woodshed roof. This amusement had not before occurred
to the boys, but by the next morning it was their favorite
occupation. Furthermore, imposed rules prevent any exer-
cise of the pupil's judgment as to the right and wrong of
his conduct. However desirable the conduct obtained by en-
forced regulation, it has a minimum of moral and educative
value. Children must have the opportunity to decide for
themselves, and the chance to decide wrong, if they are to
learn to decide right.
Initiating social rule. But the making of rules and regu-
lations, and the faithful carrying out by pupils of those
made, has the highest educative and moral value. So long
as their conduct remains unobjectionable, nothing could be
more absurd than to have rules restricting it. Whenever
there arises a sufficient reason for restriction, the children
will appreciate it. Then they should discuss freely and
frankly the restraints that should be imposed. Wide expe-
rience has shown that they will almost invariably impose
more severe restrictions upon themselves than a wise teacher
would. If whispering has become objectionable, almost any
grade will promptly vote to prohibit whispering utterly under
penalty of a whipping or protracted " keeping-in." They are
only too impetuous in making such rules. Then the teacher's
broader vision is needed to show them what these rules will
mean when enforced month after month. At the first, chil-
dren will impose and submit to their own penalties with
enthusiasm, but when the new wears off, the constant watch-
fulness and encouragement of the teacher is essential to
keep up pressure until the conduct they have sought to
• establish has become habitual.
Self-made restrictions — few but infallible. Only as real
need arises should children be encouraged to make rules for
their own regulation. But once adopted, with full knowledge
and free volition, enforcement should be infallible. To attain
CONSTRUCTIVE GOVERNMENT 287
this ideal, rules should be made only after mature thought
and discussion, only one or very few at a time, and with
ample provision for their systematic enforcement. The
teacher should warn pupils against, rather than urge them
to, radical action.
Normally, restrictive rules should pertain only to such con-
duct as is innocent in itself but becomes objectionable owing
to school conditions. That conduct which is wrong anywhere
must, of course, be prevented, but it should not be suggested
by specific regulation in advance. The assumption should be
respected that children in a school society are amenable to
and expect to obey political and moral laws and the rules
of propriety without special legislation.
Restrictions imposed by authority. Certain official regu-
lations, concerned mainly with routine procedure, are neces-
sary to expedite the business of a large school or system.
The reason for and value of these may well be made clear to
the children who are expected to observe them. There is no
good reason why they should not appreciate the significance
of such regulations, and many reasons why they should.
But the mere fact that the properly constituted authorities
have provided them for the benefit of the schools is reason
enough for unhesitating obedience. Individuals cannot ex-
pect to judge the wisdom of all laws made for their guidance,
but by participating in the making of some and understand-
ing fully the value of many others, a child can readily believe
that there is a rationality and not a mere arbitrary tyranny
in those rules which he does not understand. Thus he grows
up in the law-respecting attitude of a good citizen.
Rules for the teacher's protection. Systems of regulations,
as of penalties, marks, and promotions, are often adopted for
the express purpose of protecting teachers and officials from
the necessity of decision or from charges of partiality. The
wrathy parent is ever looming on the weak teacher's horizon.
288 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Such organization mechanizes the whole life of the school.
Pupil morality becomes literal, pharisaical, and artificial.
Teachers hide behind the letter of the law to establish in-
justice as well as justice. Officials fear to be conscientious,
sympathetic educators and become mere impersonal judges
of the technical type. Modern juvenile courts are primarily
sympathetic, informal, and free from technical and literal
restrictions. Why should schools retain the archaic policies
which political government has rejected as a failure ? Be-
sides, school government by impersonal statute does not
secure the support and confidence of parents. The teacher
who keeps in touch with parents, advises with them, takes
them into his confidence, and then uses his own best judg-
ment rather than hard and fast rules, is the teacher who
has the confidence and cooperation of parents.
Enforcement of laws by pupils. As legislation by the chil-
dren secures laws better adapted to their needs, more easily
enforced, and better appreciated, and trains the children in
ethical judgment, self-direction, and good citizenship ; so ex-
ecution of these laws by the pupils is more thorough, more
just, accomplished with less friction, insures sympathetic
cooperation, and trains the child to appreciate the position
of public officials and the significance of their work and to
cooperate in the responsibility of citizens.
Selection of monitors. Just as it is best to adopt laws
only as they become needed, so officials should be selected
for their enforcement in the school society only so far as
necessary to secure efficient government. Functionless offi-
cials bring government into disrepute quite as much as un-
enforced laws. As each law is passed, monitors may be
selected whose special duty is to enforce it. These monitors
may well be pupils who themselves are in danger of violating
the new law, but they certainly must be those in sympathy
with it. If it is desirable for a class to enforce a law which
CONSTRUCTIVE GOVERNMENT 289
they need, it is particularly desirable for an individual to have
the enforcing of a law which he needs. Obviously, care must
be taken to have monitors who are strong enough to en-
force the law upon themselves as well as upon others, or to
team them in such combinations that efficiency will surely
be attained. Short terms in office secure a succession of
" new brooms" and renewed assurances of faithfulness. The
actual selection of the monitors affords the highest oppor-
tunity for the exercise of social judgment by the pupils.
Here, particularly, the teacher should be always ready with
warning questions and suggestions, yet without intruding so
as to rob the children of their sense of responsibility.
Installation. Every appointment should terminate promptly
in case of inefficiency or neglect of duty. The duties and re-
sponsibilities should be clearly determined and made very
plain, with the assistance of the teacher, before monitors
are selected. If the duties are likely to be difficult or to
require much persistence, in which quality children are nota-
bly weak, the induction into office should be made formal
and impressive. Frequent conferences of the monitors with
each other and with the teacher help to keep up interest
and faithfulness.
Need of infallible persistency. It is when the first enthu-
siasm has passed but the end is not yet fully attained that
the teacher's support and persistent watchfulness is most
needed. When the children are beginning to forget, the
teacher must be sure to remember. And teachers are but
little better than the children in this tendency to become
slack after the new has worn off. The "Progress Book"
should here serve as a valuable reminder. There should be
readily accessible a full record of every law that is passed,
with the names of monitors whose duty it is to enforce it ;
a record of all meetings and plans for enforcement. Such
record may well be kept by the children, if by their own
290 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
initiative, but it must be available where it will prevent the
teacher's forgetting. No routine, no drudgery of marking
papers, no worries or special cases of discipline must pre-
vent the teacher from seeing to it that once a rule has been
adopted by the children it is never neglected until its pur-
pose has been accomplished or it has been formally repealed.
Laws tacitly ignored make for bad citizenship. In school,
where training for citizenship is the prime purpose, laws are
quickly made and unmade, and there can be no excuse for
dead-letter laws. .
Social control of punctuality and attendance. The problem
of promptness and regularity of attendance has been most
successfully handled by a simple social device. A banner is
awarded monthly to the class making the best record in these
respects. In each room two l< class captains " are elected by
the pupils to keep the records under the supervision of the
teacher and to Enforce regularity. These captains bring a
powerful social pressure to bear directly upon each child who
tends to bring down the class standard. They investigate ex-
cuses, call upon parents,, and plead most successfully for the
removal of any home hindrances to perfect attendance. They
personally see to it that tardiness is not caused by loitering
along the way. They do all with a thoroughness and fair-
ness which the busy teacher cannot approximate. They also
take command of the marching in and out of the lines —
with the coveted banner at the head of the proud winners.
Good citizenship in school elections. As to the mode of
selecting monitors, many methods will be devised by the
children, but fitness for the office should be the sine qua non.
In bestowing a public office there must be no political pull,
partiality of the powers that be, or rewarding of a popular
favorite. This lesson cannot be learned too early, and it is
just as important for efficient government in school as in
the state.
CONSTRUCTIVE GOVERNMENT 291
Caution. The necessity for thoroughness and infallible
persistency emphasizes the necessity for few laws and simple
government. The government should grow rather than be
installed. The more elaborate school city may be effective
and may be a charming lesson in civics, but stability of gov-
ernment and development of self-control warn us to go slow.
A genius in organization will occasionally make a complex
form of government a thorough success, but a mere imitator
is more likely to make it a fad for a short while and after
that a joke. Woe unto that school whose government has
become a joke to its pupils !
PROBLEMS
1. Observe carefully several classrooms and make a written
analysis of the characteristics which seem to make for order in
each. Does silence seem to be indispensable to favorable work ?
2. Among the self-government schemes in actual operation,
which seem to be " top-heavy " ? Which seem to be regarded
rather as fads than as practical solutions of daily problems ? To
what extent do any of them fail to command respect ?
3. Just what transitions in self-government should be made,
grade by grade, from the kindergarten to college ?
4. Draw up a set of regulations such as you think some given
grade should adopt for itself. Tell how you would go about get-
ting such regulations adopted.
5. Examine any set of official regulations and indicate which of
them are apparently intended to protect teachers from criticism
and relieve them from the responsibility of making judgments.
6. Write a summary of all the means you can learn of for
securing promptness and regularity of attendance. Which of these
seems to have the greatest permanent educative value ? Why ?
READINGS
See next chapter.
CHAPTER XXVI
CORRECTIVE GOVERNMENT
Constructive versus corrective government. In the last
chapter our discussion assumed a normal situation, just such
a situation as prevails in well-managed schools everywhere and
will prevail where bad management does not make it other-
wise. In such schools government is constructive and edu-
cative, and serious problems of corrective discipline seldom
or never arise. But there are schools where bad traditions,
bad habits, and false ideals have grown up through misman-
agement, and to any school there may come pupils whose
conduct is evilly affected by influences beyond the pale of
school control. Because of the disorderly pupil and the dis-
orderly school a further discussion of the principles and
methods of government is advisable.
Simple deprivation. In those commonplace matters in
which the pupil has individual liberty to conduct himself
"as ladies and gentlemen do" the logical treatment of one
who abuses any privilege is merely to deprive him of that
privilege. This is " natural punishment " and educative in
the best sense, provided it is not made unnaturally severe
or lenient. The pupil should be conscious that the teacher
is a sympathetic friend, compelled much to his own regret
to impose the restriction for the protection of the school and
its standards of conduct. He should know that his teacher
is genuinely happy when there can be a renewal of complete
trust and restoration of all privileges. After a pupil has
been restored to full privileges — especially one of those
irrepressible pupils who finds it so hard to walk in the
292
CORRECTIVE GOVERNMENT 293
narrow way — the teacher should actively help him to retain
his good standing. Some secret word or sign of warning,
the holding up of a finger, always pleasantly and "just
between us two," helps to keep up a bond of sympathy and
is a practical form of cooperation. Such signs need not be
thought too childish. They are very effective among boys
and girls, and the great secret orders of men perpetuate
them with tremendous solemnity.
A pupil whose abuse of liberty has necessitated that he
get special permission to speak to another, to get a drink,
to leave the room, etc. should not be allowed to disturb the
class in getting that permission. He should not be allowed
to ask permission except when the teacher is not engaged in
a recitation or as may be otherwise most convenient. He
should know in advance that permission will be granted
only rarely and when clearly necessary. He may be required
to write his requests and submit them silently. The depri-
vation should be very real and not hastily removed, but
the spirit of the teacher toward him should be sympathetic
and helpful always.
Innocent wrongdoing. Aside from the abuse of liberties
there is conduct which is bad in itself, which would be bad
anywhere. If this is done innocently the remedy, of course,
is helpful instruction and sympathetic guidance. " Igno-
rance of the law " is the best possible excuse for the pupil,
whatever it may be for the criminal. But the pupil's igno-
rance is the teacher's responsibility and is quickly remedied.
It must not be pleaded a second time for the same offense.
School justice never blind. Conscious violation of the law
is an entirely different matter. But here, again, the teacher
must rise above the ideals of the criminal court and consider
motives rather than the overt act or technical law. Justice
to children is never blind. Blindness to their impelling
motives is never just. There must be no haggling over
294 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
legal technicalities, quibbling as to the precise connotation
of a written statute. First of all, let the child feel that the
teacher is his friend and advocate rather than his judge.
The penalty imposed is only to help him remember and to
keep him out of such trouble another time, to help him
to learn an important lesson before his ignorance becomes
more serious, and to protect the school from his misdoings
until he can learn to do as others do. The vital step is to
arouse right motives, to make the child anxious to do right,
desirous to be helped to self-control. If Ben Lindsey and
other judges of juvenile courts can deal thus with the
toughest outcasts of the slums on the short aquaintance of
the courtroom, surely no teacher in close touch with the
normal children of the school will dare to say " Impos-
sible " ! There is no normal child in our schools so hard
and abandoned that a truly sympathetic teacher cannot reach
his heart and his motives and deal with them directly.
Manipulating motives and diagnosing conduct. In dealing
with the errant motives involved in misconduct two objects
are in view : first, to prevent the motive from finding any
satisfaction in the misconduct ; and second, to redirect it into
right conduct in which it will find satisfaction. For example,
if a boy disturbs a room in order to show off before the
class, the punishment must bring him their contempt or
derision and must not permit him to pose as a hero or
martyr. What one does "just to annoy the teacher" must
never succeed in its purpose. He who tries too hard to
appear "smart" must be made to appear foolish. The
combative youth must have no chance to get into a physical
conflict with the teacher, unless it be of the sort that will
effectually convert his pugnacity into respectful admiration.
The cheat must submit to frequent additional and more
searching tests. The liar must lie in vain and thenceforth
prove his statements to have them accepted. The thief must
CORRECTIVE GOVERNMENT '295
pay high for his ill-gotten gains, and his access to the
property of others must be well guarded thereafter.
Dishonesty a symptom, not a motive. Dishonesty is not
a motive, it is a symptom of motives lacking natural means
of exercise. Cheating, lying, and stealing are the results of
stimulating perfectly good and normal impulses beyond the
means of satisfying them. One cheats in examination be-
cause of the very impulses of rivalry, desire for approval
and for promotion, which the examining and promoting
schemes were intended to stimulate. Either less stimula-
tion or better preparation would remove the temptation to
cheat. One lies to avoid impending punishment, to obtain
some undeserved reward or other advantage, or for the
sake of the admiration elicited by his yarns. If penalties and
rewards were never unjustly given or promised, if abundant
opportunities were afforded for the harmless play of the
imagination, for the love of expression, and for the dramatic
instinct school lies would be rare indeed. One steals for
the same reason that the starving waif takes the loaf of
bread, or the speculator waters railroad stock, - — because
his genuine needs or his degenerate desires are greater
than his actual resources. If just needs are provided for
and right thinking corrects abnormal desires, why should
there be stealing ? Behind the dishonesty we must find the
too heavy pressure and relieve it. We must locate the too
feeble resources and strengthen them. Meanwhile the dis-
honest act must be made to prove futile.
Fighting. Fighting may be an expression of cowardly
bullying ; it may be a desperate self-defense ; it may be
chivalrous protection of the weak ; it may be mere weak
imitation under the intentional suggestion of older boys,
a sort of mob spirit wickedly unloosed by others. Manifestly
the treatment of these different cases must be totally differ-
ent, and that, too, regardless of who was the actual physical
296 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
aggressor. Sometimes the fight itself disposes of the pun-
ishment and of the victory where they are most needed and
in proper proportions. Often the results are wholly unjust,
for might is not right. One may deserve commendation,
another humiliation, but it is extremely doubtful if com-
bativeness is ever remedied by further physical combat with
the teacher, or bullying remedied by the teacher's whipping
a fellow smaller than himself.
Profanity. Foul language and profanity in boys, and
probably all manner of sheer vileness, are due to misguided
virility. Boys want to appear manly, big, dominant, and
virile. Their highest ambition is to realize essential manli-
ness. On the street corner they see the strong, vital ones,
the doers, the heroic, daring fellows who have seen the
world and conquered it — according to their own testimony.
In the pulpit and schoolroom they see the effeminate,
proper, prosaic, humdrum individuals who never committed
an impropriety — judging by their righteous pose. A boy
whose limited experience prevents his seeing below the
surface of things, whose impulses incline to the concrete
heroism of a bandit rather than to the sublimated courage
of a Lincoln or a Lee, who sees action rather than ab-
straction, may be expected to admire the braggart of the
corner saloon who has trod all the paths that are dark and
devious rather than the prosy professor who is shocked by
a vigorous expletive.
Vice versus virility. The remedy for these worst of school
evils is not direct punishment for the offense — especially
as a very small proportion of such offenses are ever known
to the teacher — but is in letting the boys see still more of
life. Show them that the braggarts are not the men who
do and dare, but are the shallowest of imitations. Show
them that the vileness of these loafers is not a quality
which makes for any poor trifle of manliness they may
CORRECTIVE GOVERNMENT 297
possess. The vices are what they have in common with
the most despised and degraded of men, — the failures, the
helpless, the whining, cringing "down-and-outs." Show up
the braggarts, not as "awful," "dreadful," and "naughty,"
but as contemptible, despicable, and foolish. Fill the boys
with genuine stories of the heroes worth while, of men
who really do and dare. Show the clean, vigorous manli-
ness of explorers, soldiers, great athletes, and masters of
men. Do not exaggerate the minor vices beyond the facts
of daily observation. Show that some men may be strong,
capable leaders of men in spite of these vices, never because
of them. Get boys to seek the genuine elements of strength,
of manliness, of virility. Do not be too hasty to satisfy
their search by wise platitudes and moralizing. Keep them
hunting for manliness.
More than all, we need manly men for teachers. Strong,
vigorous, athletic men — men to whom the men of the
community look up ; men of whom the loafers and brag-
garts are afraid ; men with fists, if you please, but especially
men with backbones and men with hearts pumping clean,
red blood. Happily we are getting this new type of men
for our teaching and social work, for scout masters and
Y.M.C.A. leaders, and we are getting vigorous, virile, active
"stunts" for boys to do. And these are the real remedies,
the only remedies, for foulness and vileness.
As to the girls. We have spoken of boys and of men
teachers because their problem is the more serious — and
because we know more about it. It is similarly true that
the worst conduct of girls is due to womanliness misdirected,
and the remedy is a clearer appreciation of the hideous
shallowness of some women and -the genuine, wonderful
womanliness of others. Girls should know how false it is
that beauty is only skin-deep and how infinitely lovely is
the beauty of genuineness, wholesomeness, and earnest,
298 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
useful womanliness. It is perhaps because there is so much
more of splendid womanliness than of manliness in our
American teaching corps that the "boy problem" is so
much more serious than the girl problem. While a woman
cannot be expected to exemplify virility for the boys, she
can teach it if she is the right sort of woman. If a boy's
teachers must be effeminate, women are to be preferred.
Authority and rebellion. There are teachers who, bor-
rowing their ideals of authority from the military, regard
rebellion as the unpardonable sin of the school child. As
though driving slaves or mutinous sailors, outnumbered
forty to one, they say defiance of authority must be sup-
pressed with an iron hand. "The very existence of govern-
ment is imperiled if rebellion be not promptly nipped in
the bud." " The authority of the teacher must be preserved
at any cost." They seem to regard their own "authority"
as a sort of windbag which, once punctured, must inevitably
collapse. Perhaps this is true ! Their sort of government
is tyranny and fit only for slaves ; it develops subjects for
servility or for revolution. .
Democratic school government assumes that it is of the
pupils, by the pupils, and for the pupils. The authority
of the school is no more identified with the teacher than
with the pupils. That government derives its just powers
from the interests, if not indeed from the consent, of the gov-
erned is accepted by teachers and pupils alike. Rebellious
outbreaks are quite normal and will frequently recur. But
these are simply the natural eruptions of childhood and
adolescence. The child is rebelling as much against him-
self as against the school. So far from making deep-laid
plots to overthrow authority, he is as much surprised by
his own outbreaks as is the teacher. The child does not
know the symptoms or the significance of them. The
teacher ought to know both, and should be prepared to
CORRECTIVE GOVERNMENT 299
await quietly the end of the eruption and then sympatheti-
cally help the child to readjust himself. Especially important
at such times is it to avoid useless show of authority and
irritating, dictatorial ways. It is the nature of the adolescent
— and is it not of us all ? — to resent the domineering tone
more than the substance of actual control. Furthermore,
nothing could be more absolutely useless and foolish in
government than the domineering, " bossy " tone ; than a
scolding voice ; than nagging, recriminating, faultfinding,
threatening. Few things will more certainly undermine
dignity and authority
Commands versus obedience. Commands should be taboo
in school. Directions should be given in a friendly, coopera-
tive tone as one would talk to a partner, assuming that the
instructions are welcome. " Will you " and " thank you "
are keys to authority as well as to culture. These are the
sort of commands that freeborn citizens should be taught
to obey. Voluntary acquiescence in the requests of those
whose business it is to direct is far better obedience than
servile submission to a harsh imperative backed by a fear
of consequences. It is the type of obedience in which the
citizens of a democracy should be trained. It makes for
better citizenship, better loyalty and service to the govern-
ment, more law-abiding and useful manhood. It leaves no
tendency to " cut loose " when the back of the policeman
or teacher is turned.
The authority of fairness and courtesy. But suaviter iti
mo do implies fortiier in re. Give directions politely. If
there is reason for changing, be not slow or niggardly in
accepting suggestions. Leave yourself plenty of opportunity
for correcting your frequent errors and immature judgments.
There is no reason for making the children think you
infallible nor the slightest possibility of doing so. Confi-
dence is established not by being stubborn but by being
300 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
right. Such a habit of reasonableness makes it easy on
occasion to say, "Just take my word for it this time," or
to ask for immediate obedience without discussion. When
a tendency to quibble shows itself, or an oversmart insist-
ence on explanations, or if explanation is asked as a con-
dition of obedience, it is best to insist quietly that "we will
do this first and talk about it afterward." The very first
resistance to the velvet of courtesy should bring a gentle
pressure of the steel of authority. Make it easy to obey but
make it inevitable. Do not hurry the child when he is in
an irresponsible tantrum, but let him cool down to a reali-
zation of the unavoidable. Before directions take the form
of command, be absolutely sure that you have the authority,
the right, the support of higher officials, and that it is
worth while — then never give up. But this means that
commands must be given only after cool deliberation, only
when there can be no question of their justice.
Threatening versus doing. Threats, like peremptory com-
mands, have no place in the school. It is fair to warn a child
that "this must not be done," but it is important to leave
the consequence of doing it as an indefinite possibility, mak-
ing sure that if punishment is imposed the connection with
the offense is made perfectly clear. The hasty "I'll whip
you if you do that again " is about as subversive of perma-
nent good discipline as anything that could be devised.
Usually such a statement is a falsehood, and children are
not slow to realize this. Authority is indeed at a low ebb
when children do not even believe the teacher. Word once
given that a certain consequence zvill follow upon certain
conduct, it must follow as surely as things human can be
made sure. This means that threats must not be made in
anger or in haste but only after due thought and full cal-
culation of all immediate and ultimate consequences, practi-
cal, pedagogical, and legal. When all this has been thought
CORRECTIVE GOVERNMENT 301
out it will doubtless be found that the threat is not worth
the making. The carefully considered threat is not made.
Real teacher-courage. A despairing teacher may protest,
" When one is at his wits' end with a hundred distractions
and annoyances, how can he help threatening ? " To this
we can only reply that whether he can help threatening or
not, the threatening will not help him. " But if we have
threatened inadvisedly, promised unwisely, or commanded
unjustly, shall we pursue the mistake to the bitter end and
perhaps become involved in litigation with loss of position
and professional standing?" No! sticking to a wrong will
not make it right. There is just one way to remedy the
unjust command or threat ; that is, take it back. The
quicker, squarer, and franker the retraction, the better for
one's authority. As said above, no one believes you are
infallible, so why keep up the bluff ? Admit your mistake,
apologize for an injustice, — as a lady or gentleman should,
— and the children's respect for you will grow just as yours
does for the same sort of nobility in one of them. Of course
it is hard to acknowledge a wrong, — especially for a teacher,
— but it is just as incumbent on teachers as on other
mortals. Then, again, it serves to make one more careful
next time.
Conclusion. Discipline is required only in cases of emer-
gency. The basis of discipline is the diagnosis of motives.
For this, one needs a knowledge of children, a cool head,
and a sympathetic heart. And in one's diagnosis he must
never lose sight of the fundamental fact that the impulses
which impel boys are boy impulses. Boy conduct cannot be
successfully analyzed into the impulses of a prim and pre--
cise maiden lady nor those of a bespectacled bookworm.
We must read a boy's conduct through his eyes, not
through our own. This seemingly impossible thing is
entirely easy if only we utilize the social control of the
302 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
class. Offenses must be regarded as committed not against
the teacher but against the class. Standards of order are to
be established and to be enforced by the class rather than
by the teacher. The class is the better judge of motives
and can more efficiently restrain its individuals.
After all, the only real remedy for bad order is good
teaching. If we are unwilling for Satan to find work for
idle hands, we must find it first. Occupation the hands will
have. Teaching is not merely assigning tasks but making
them vital and genuine. When this is done there is no idle-
ness, no laziness, no mischief. This whole problem of disci-
pline is entirely beside the question for hundreds of teachers.
It is something with which they have little or no concern.
They are real teachers.
PROBLEMS
1. Analyze the impelling motives of as many cases as possible
of bad conduct of children, in school and out. (The habit of
doing this is invaluable for a teacher.)
2. When you have decided upon the probable motive in any
such case, determine the treatment which you think would most
effectively meet the needs of the particular case.
3. Find, by inquiry and observation and by recalling instances
during your school life, cases in which dealing with school dis-
orders by law or regulation complicated instead of relieved the
difficulty.
4. Can you find instances in which the punishment strengthened
instead of defeated the impulse which caused the misbehavior ?
5. Investigate a number of different cases of scho.ol fighting.
Point out the differences in cause among them and different treat-
ment appropriate for those involved. Can you give instances in
which different treatment of different individuals under the same
circumstances would be justifiable ?
6. Similarly, point out distinctions in other forms of miscon-
duct — profanity, falsehood, stealing, cheating, etc, — in which
CORRECTIVE GOVERNMENT 303
overt acts were similar but underlying causes were quite different.
What differences in discipline would be appropriate?
7. Considering as many instances as you can of ''rebellion
against the teacher's authority," which were premeditated plans to
undermine authority and which were mere uncontrollable outbreaks
of temper provoked by some harshness or supposed injustice ?
READINGS
ARNOLD. School and Class Management, chaps, iv, viii-xii.
BAGLEY. Classroom Management, chap. viii.
BAIN. Education as a Science, pp. 52-118.
COLGROVE. The Teacher and the School, chap. xxiv.
CRONSON. Pupil Self-Government.
DEWEY. Schools of To-morrow, chap. xi.
DUBOIS. The Natural Way.
Dutton. School Management, chap. viii.
Dutton and SNEDDEN. Administration of Public Education in the
United States, chap, xxviii.
GORDY. A Broader Elementary Education, chap, xxvii.
Griggs. Moral Education, chap. xiii.
KING. Education for Social Efficiency, chap. x.
O'SHEA. Everyday Problems in Teaching, chaps, i, ii.
O'Siiea. Social Development and Education, Part I and chap. xv.
PAGE. Theory and Practice of Teaching, chap. x.
Parker. Talks on Teaching, chaps, xxiv-xxv.
Puffer. The Boy and his Gang.
Sabin. Common Sense Didactics, chap. ix.
Scott. Social Education, chap. xii.
Seeley. New School Management, chaps, vii-x.
Swift. Mind in the Making, chaps, ii, iii.
Tompkins. School Management, p. 157.
CHAPTER XXVII
COMMUNITY COOPERATION
School as the center of education. Not all of a child's
education is in school — not even the major part. Every
experience of life, in just the proportion that it is vital,
just so far as it can affect subsequent conduct, is a factor
in education. Home, church, street, fields, and woods ;
work, play, reading, amusements, and conversations, — all
are as truly educative as school and study. But these others
are educative only incidentally, while the school has no other
reason for its existence. The school supplements, organizes,
and unifies these others. Education "begins at the cradle
and ends at the grave," but it is school that affords the
scheme of organization for it all. School provides the plan
and policies of life and that core of interests by which it is
determined from hour to hour which educative influences
shall be selected and assimilated from the limitless universe
of one's experiences. School life interprets all life. Our
school subjects are no Dinge an sick ; they have no reality in
themselves. They are but our means of apprehending our
out-of-school experiences. Giving the child school subjects
without relating them to life is not unlike supplying him
with elaborate machines without knowledge or opportunity
for their use ; tools without skill, plans, or materials.
The foundation of society. Education is society's means
of self-preservation. It is the means by which the social
whole secures a constantly renewed supply of members who
will seek its welfare through their own — not their own at
society's expense. It is the development of moral and
3°4
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 305
efficient members of society for which the schools exist, —
those who arc both "good and good for something." Tra-
dition has worn the paths of academic progress into such
deep ruts that many who travel therein are wholly unable
to see the goal to which they are traveling or the direction
of the course they are following. Teachers are often con-
tent to follow blindly the paths that have been trodden,
heedless of whither they lead. But the goal, whether or
not our paths shall lead there, is this useful and helpful
member of society, and it is the real business of the school
to focus upon this aim all of its own forces and, as far as
possible, those of the world outside of itself.
The unifier of modern life. Modern industrial organiza-
tion of society has brought about a very highly specialized
and complex order of affairs. Every individual's existence
is becoming more dependent on world-wide interrelations
and commercial cooperation. The work of the individual
finds its value only in the conjunction of countless streams
of diverse interests. Yet these very conditions of depend-
ence result in the laborers knowing less and less of
their own and of each other's part in the whole process.
Commercial progress makes for infinitely greater interde-
pendence with incomparably less community of sympathy.
Living becomes vicarious in form but selfish in spirit. To
meet this new condition the modern school has a new and
much broader responsibility than the schools of the simple
society of former generations. Its supreme task is no longer
merely academic training ; it is to unify the educative influ-
ences outside of itself, to reintegrate the interests and
sympathies which social and industrial tendencies are disin-
tegrating, to bridge gaps and weld together fragmentary
bits of experience afforded by out-of-school life, to make
out of the mystifying complexity of life as seen from the
angle of any individual outlook a rational, beneficent whole.
306 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
It is to show that the small contribution of every individual
is worthy and supremely important when intelligibly related
to the purpose and plan of the whole.
Community correlations. This unifying function of the
school is being accomplished by vitally interrelating the
work of the school with the life about it. Every school
subject finds its motivation and its materials in the imme-
diate environment. Classes in school read and write and
calculate and they talk and think about the things which
mean most to them out of school. The best books in
geography, , in history, in science, in ethics, in civics, in
industry, are nature and the neighborhood life. Here also
are the best laboratories, the motivating problems, the limit-
less source of materials and, in fact, the final justification
for including most subjects in the curriculum.
" The social trend " is the dominant note in current
educational thought and achievement. Correlation of school
work with community life is the burden of recent writings
and discussions. No longer is the school a thing apart ; it
is the heart of the community life. It contributes to every
institution and aspect of the life of the people, and all these
make their contributions to it.
It is not permissible here to go into the matter of the
correlation of studies with community activities. But the
problems of organization and government also find their
most effective means and their ultimate justification in
their adjustment to community life. Some of the profit-
able reciprocal relations which may readily be established
in almost any community are suggested.
The press. The press, itself a distinctively educative
force, offers special advantages for cooperation. Items of
school news bring the claims of public education to the
front and tend to develop school pride in both pupils and
people. Policies and needs of the school can thus be
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 307
brought constantly to the public attention. An " honor
roll" in public print affords a powerful incentive to indi-
vidual effort and group loyalty. The roll may be based
on promptness, regularity, scholarship, deportment, or any
combination of these which will accomplish the effect sought
at the time. It may be large, including all who do well,
or it may be small enough to be a decided distinction.
Like all incentives, its use should be discriminating and
varied — not routine.
Occasional publication of children's letters, compositions,
and drawings is a wholesome and effective stimulus. These
should not be primarily for "showing off" but should be
something of real value to the readers. They may be an
indication of the character of the work of the school, or
actual information of interest to the reading public. All
children above the primary grades are occasionally learning
facts which would be of interest to many of their elders
if well expressed. This applies particularly to the facts of
the home community and its life. The geography, geol-
ogy, birds, plants, soils, occupations, history, and traditions
of the neighborhood are always new to some of the com-
munity. Such local studies will bring to the front many
questions on which data is lacking. Let the local paper
be the medium for gathering ideas from the community as
well as for disseminating them. The papers are more than
repaid for publishing anything readable by the mere fact that
it is read. It pays the school as well as other advertisers to
keep itself in the public eye.
News columns afford materials for the study of current
events. The fact that there is much in them that is merely
sensational is an additional reason why the children should
early be trained to winnow the wheat from the chaff. These
are the papers they will read and do read. Why not teach
them to read wisely ? Why train them so laboriously to
3o8 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
read Addison's Spectator and what was news in the time
of Cicero, while leaving them helpless to read discrimi-
natingly the evening paper and what happened to-day
throughout the world ? The editorial columns discuss the
live problems of the day and the community. Whence
could children better draw themes for debate and studies
of living issues ? Daily market quotations afford an in-
exhaustible supply of vitalizing problems in the arithmetic
of stocks, brokerage, and commission. Advertising columns
show the trend of progress and standards of living, show
where information regarding industries may be accessible,
suggest many lines of study and afford materials therefor.
" The movies." Moving pictures afford an agency un-
equaled for teaching through the eye. In many quarters
they are being deplored as an agency unequaled for corrupt-
ing morals and interfering with home study. Quite logically,
therefore, progressive schools are now being equipped with
instruments of their own, and producers are preparing reels
which will be invaluable in the teaching of school sub-
jects. Where machines are not available these reels may
be secured for exhibition at the regular show houses under
conditions of advantage to both showman and schoolman.
Other public entertainments. Lyceum courses, lectures,
and concerts of every desirable kind have long been re-
garded as natural co-laborers with the school, and the
indorsement and support of educators is commonly sought
by them. This is right. All such agencies should be
welcomed by the school authorities as reinforcements, and
class work may well be readjusted to secure an effective
correlation. A few hours devoted to preparing for and
following up a good lecture or concert should produce far
greater educative dividends than the same time spent on
the routine of study. A course of study which is not adapt-
able to such variations is in danger of ossification.
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 309
School and public service ; reciprocal benefits. Govern-
ment, in every aspect with which the child is likely to
come into contact, is a peculiarly important part of the
community environment with which to relate the activities
of the school. It is becoming quite the usual custom in
many cities for classes to visit the various departments of
city government, studying them in every relation they bear
to the people. This has brought the children to feel an
interest and partnership in the work of these departments,
to become useful cooperators, and to get a sympathetic
insight which is sure to make them better citizens later
on. The effect on the departments themselves has been
decidedly wholesome. One city reports that the water-
works plant has never been so carefully kept as since it
has become the custom of the school children to visit it.
Everywhere the police force has benefited by a friendly,
cooperative attitude of the boys as much as the boys have
benefited by their loss of fear and gain in understanding of
the " cop." Needless restrictions on the boys have been
removed, places for them to play have been found and they
have been protected in that play, while they themselves have
reciprocated by avoiding play that interferes with the rights
or pleasures of others. There has been a marked decrease
in the destruction of public or exposed property. The boys
have become its defenders. Streets and parks are more
easily kept in order, though used more than ever by the
children. It is no longer necessary to start a blaze in order
to see the fire engine, as has often been true in the past.
The boy who has been courteously shown over the whole
fire department and had its operation explained will prove
a valuable ally in discovering or preventing fires and is
proud to do the right thing at the right time.
Systematic instruction by public officials. Quite com-
monly some competent person from the fire, police, water,
310 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
street, or other city department will give a series of talks
to the school children, explaining in more or less detail
the working of the department and showing how its effi-
ciency may be increased by the cooperation of the people.
The children, and through them their parents, thus have
the opportunity to become more useful citizens and to work
intelligently in raising the standards of their public service.
Such relations inevitably make the departmental officials
more conscious of their own deficiencies and more consci-
entious in their service.
The courts. In a similar way a first-hand study of the
courts brings the child into an appreciative understanding
of government on the restrictive side. Viewing its work-
ings from the side of the government, one comes to have a
respect for the law without the fear or antagonism so char-
acteristic of the boy on the street. While the child should
not see the more sordid cases, he may well have a chance to
see the perils of the sort of offenses that he is likely to fall
into and to understand the conditions which are likely to
lead to such offenses. A judge will often welcome the oppor-
tunity to impart to future citizens through occasional talks
those lessons which his experience shows they most need
as safeguards to their prospective citizenship. The weight
which such instruction would carry with it is obvious.
Legislative bodies. There could hardly be a more effective
training in good citizenship than to have pupils or represen-
tative committees from the high school attend the meetings
of the city council or board of county commissioners. The
live problems of public affairs may thus become the problems
for school study and debate. Parents are naturally consulted
for materials and opinions and thus derive a renewed inter-
est in these questions. It needs no argument to prove that a
lack of knowledge and consequent lack of interest in public
matters is the prime cause of official corruption. If such
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 311
meetings are not fit places for schoolboys and schoolgirls to
be, it is certainly time that citizens, young and old, should
take steps to see that they are made fit. As for understand-
ing public affairs, it should be remembered that they go
primarily to learn.
Commercial bodies and welfare organizations. In pro-
gressive communities there are various unofficial bodies
organized for the public welfare, such as chambers of com-
merce, business associations, and various welfare leagues.
These usually consist of the best people of the community
engaged in seeking its best interests. Their purpose can be
tremendously aided by seeking the interest and cooperation
of the school children, and the school can find no more
effective agency for teaching the highest lessons of civics.
In Winston- Salem, North Carolina, and some other cities
the Chamber of Commerce has admitted the high-school
boys to an affiliated membership and organized them into a
Junior Chamber devoted to a study of the same questions
and fostering of the same ideals and purposes. The civic
leagues, improvement associations, and women's clubs,
which have been such potent agencies for community better-
ment all over the country, have found the cooperation of
auxiliary or junior leagues to be an effective means of
accomplishing many of their purposes.
Efficiency of children in public work. This wise organiza-
tion and stimulation of school children has frequently been
followed by truly surprising results in the way of beautifying
or cleaning up a town. Their sharp eyes and busy hands
can accomplish wonders when directed by wholesome enthu-
siasm. Many trying forms of disorder and mischief with
which the constituted authorities are powerless to cope can
readily be controlled through the ubiquitous small boy. He
may at least be trusted not to engage in that which he is
appointed to suppress.
312 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
In Indianapolis pupil participation in the government of the
school leads naturally into pupil participation in the larger civic
life of the community of which the school itself is a part. Main-
taining order on the playground naturally extends to maintaining
order on the streets in the vicinity of the school. It is common
for committees of older boys to look after the safety of younger
children in crossing streets near the school. Solicitude for the
cleanliness and beauty of school grounds develops equal solicitude
for the cleanliness and beauty of adjoining streets, alleys, and va-
cant lots. School gardening quickly stimulates home gardening, and
whole neighborhoods have been transformed through the influence
of the schools. — Letter of United States Bureau of Education
Boy Scouts. The Boy Scout movement, which has swept
the world, is an untold power for educative progress. It
should have, and doubtless has, the unqualified support
and cooperation of school authorities everywhere. The Scout
spirit of manliness could with great profit be carried over
into much of the work of the school. Wherever modifica-
tion of schedule, course of study, or other accommodation
can bring about a more effective cooperation with the Scout
organization, the schools will doubtless be the gainers as
well as the Scouts.
School savings bank. The school savings bank affords
an unequaled practical agency for training in thrift. By
cooperation with a progressive bank, deposit books are pro-
vided. At stated times the teachers or other designated per-
sons receive deposits of one cent or more and transfer them
in a lump to the bank. The plan is so easily operated and
so readily responded to, especially by the poorer pupils, that
it should be in use everywhere, city and country.
The school savings bank of Public School No. 77 of Borough
of Queens, New York City, has had $4300 deposited in it in the
three years of its existence. More than half of this amount is still
on deposit either with the school bank or with a State Savings
Bank. — Letter of United States Bureau of Education
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 313
Industries of the community. Every industry of the com-
munity likewise has its values in assisting the school activi-
ties, both by the materials it affords for concrete, vitalized
instruction and in its lessons of organization and reciprocal
service to the community and to the industrial world. The
enlightened management of such concerns usually feels more
than repaid for any part it may take in making its opera-
tions clear to children, by the mere fact of having the pub-
lic attention called to them. "Visitors Welcome" has been
found to be much better advertising than " Keep Out," and
as a foundation for a large permanent prosperity children
are a most desirable class of consumers to keep in touch
with. A favorable impression on future consumers is re-
garded as a good investment. And for the school, few
forms of instruction are as effective and economical as these
industrial studies.
In one city a locomotive works equipped a small machine
shop for a high school and guaranteed to give employ-
ment to every boy graduating from the high school who
desired it. The investment was doubtless a good one. A
large dominant industry can well afford the materials and
equipment to make the local school a training school for its
future employees, and to contribute freely to turning the
thoughts of the community favorably towards its activities
and purposes.
Educative materials as advertising. Many progressive
manufacturing concerns have found it a desirable form of
advertising to supply schools in general with instructive ex-
hibits of pictures, models, specimens, and samples, showing
each step in the process by which the raw materials are con-
verted into the finished product. One large concern sup-
plies at a nominal cost a series "of lectures, illustrated with
stereopticon views and moving pictures — practically without
advertising — showing the historical development of the
314 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
industry in which it is engaged from primitive times to
the present. Others furnish views and facts from which
any person can readily develop a lecture. Another main-
tains a "service bureau" at considerable cost to cooperate
with schools in affording any facts, information, references,
or advice looking toward vitalizing instruction in the agri-
cultural industry in which it is interested.
Railroad cooperation. Railroads have usually proved valu-
able and willing aids in educational work, and their in-
formation bureaus afford splendid illustrative and instruc-
tive materials regarding any country or industry tributary to
their respective lines. Their activity in cooperation with the
state departments of agriculture or the state agricultural
colleges and with the health departments, maintaining ex-
perimental farms and furnishing lecture and exhibit trains,
shows the progress of enlightened selfishness and liberal
cooperation of these great corporations with the agencies
for public welfare.
Instruction by housekeepers. The superintendent of a
western town was without funds or equipment for introduc-
ing domestic science. He enlisted the aid of the best house-
keepers in town. At appointed times the class of girls visited
the homes of these ladies in turn. Each taught the girls in
her own way the thing which she could do best. One taught
how to make bread ; another, salad ; another, cake ; another,
butter. One taught how to clean a room ; another, how to
set the table and how to serve, etc. The girls rendered real
service where possible and brought materials for the cook-
ing. Thus everyone was benefited. The girls not only had
the direct instruction but incidentally gathered many ideas of
home-making. The highest housekeeping standards of the
community were made known in most of the homes, and
the cooperating ladies became profoundly interested in the
work and success of the school.
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 315
Instruction by tradesmen. The cooperation of carpenters,
blacksmiths, gardeners, and masters in other trades may be
secured at school or at their own shops to instruct the chil-
dren in those practical things which everyone ought to know.
The school may well reciprocate by helping to honor and
dignify craftsmanship everywhere and by encouraging the
children to render assistance of real value where possible.
School-home gardens. In any rural community or any
urban community where there are vacant lots and back yards
uncultivated, lessons from farmers and gardeners should have
a peculiarly immediate and practical, as well as educative,
value. Reports of the United States Commissioner of Edu-
cation indicate that these home gardens under school direc-
tion and guidance are coming to have a considerable economic
importance to the families of the children engaged in culti-
vating them, while their values in improving the conditions
of the yards and vacant lots, in keeping children from idling
on the streets, and in inspiring ideals of thrift and self-respect
are too obvious to need discussion. A paid and trained in-
structor is necessary to conduct this work on a large scale,
but the small beginnings can be profitably conducted by any
earnest teacher or public-spirited person with the advisory
assistance of some gardener. In 19 16 the total values of the
products of these school-home gardens amounted to many
thousands of dollars, and the movement is hopefully expected
to play no small part in relieving the strain of world-wide
food shortage. A number of school children have each pro-
duced more than one hundred dollars' worth of foodstuffs
in this way. Both directly and indirectly it is a movement of
national economic significance. The Bureau of Education
publishes a series of very practical School-Home Garden
Circulars which will be sent to any interested persons.
Medical counsel. A physician of high ideals may be of
incalculable value to the school. He can talk on moral and
316 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
hygienic problems with an authority and effectiveness beyond
the power of the teacher. Most of these professional men are
willing and well fitted to contribute to the general welfare in
this way. Their talks on personal hygiene clinch and drive
home with a tremendous force the lessons taught from the
texts. Medical and dental inspection, as discussed in another
chapter, also afford opportunities for the professional men of
the smaller communities to cooperate with reciprocal benefits.
School credits for home work. An interesting form of
cooperation with the homes'was devised by Mr. A. I. O'Reilly
of Polk County, Oregon, and has been extended with varia-
tions to many parts of the country. This is a plan of giv-
ing school credits for home work of various kinds, as indicated
by the following schedule of credits : 1
Building fire in the morning, 5 minutes ; milking a cow, 5 min-
utes ; cleaning out the barn, 1 o minutes ; splitting and carrying in
wood (12 hours' supply), 10 minutes; turning cream separator,
10 minutes; cleaning horse (each horse), 10 minutes; gather-
ing eggs, 1 o minutes ; feeding chickens, 5 minutes ; feeding
pigs, 5 minutes ; feeding horse, 5 minutes ; feeding cows, 5 min-
utes ; churning butter, 1 o minutes ; making butter, 1 o minutes ;
blacking stove, 5 minutes ; making and baking bread, 1 hour ;
making biscuits, 10 minutes; preparing the breakfast for family,
30 minutes ; preparing supper for family, 30 minutes ; washing
and wiping dishes (one meal), 1 5 minutes ; sweeping floor, 5 min-
utes ; dusting furniture (rugs, etc., one room), 5 minutes; scrub-
bing floor, 20 minutes ; making beds (must be made after school),
each bed 5 minutes ; washing, ironing, and starching own clothes
that are worn at school (each week), 2 hours ; bathing (each bath),
30 minutes ; arriving at school with clean hands, face, teeth, and
nails, and with hair combed, 1 o minutes ; practicing music lesson
(for 30 minutes), 10 minutes; retiring on or before 9 o'clock,
5 minutes ; bathing and dressing baby, 1 o minutes ; sleeping with
window boards in bedroom (each night), 5 minutes ; other work
1 Alderman, School Industrial Credit and Home Industrial Work.
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 317
not listed, reasonable credit. The conditions and rules of the
home-credit contest are given here:
1. No pupil is obliged to enter the contest.
2. Any pupil entering is free to quit at any time, but if any-
one quits without good cause, all credits he or she may have
earned will be forfeited.
3. Parent or guardian must send an itemized list (with signa-
ture affixed) to the teacher each morning. This list must contain
the record of the work each child has done daily.
4. Each day teacher will issue a credit voucher to the pupil.
This voucher will state the total number of minutes due the pupil
each day for home work.
5. At the close of the contest pupils will return vouchers to
teacher, the six pupils who have earned the greatest amount of
time, per the vouchers, receiving awards.
6. Contest closes when term of school closes.
7. Once each month the names of the six pupils who are in
the lead will be published in the county papers.
8. Ten per cent credit will be added to final examination
results of all pupils (except eighth graders) who enter and continue
in the contest.
9. When pupil has credits to the amount of one day earned,
by surrender of the credits and proper application to teacher he
may be granted a holiday, provided not more than one holiday may
be granted to a pupil each month.
10. Forfeitures — Dropping out of contest without cause, all
credits due ; unexcused absence, all credits due ; unexcused tardi-
ness, 25 per cent off all credits due; less than 90 per cent in
deportment for one month, 10 per cent off all credits due.
n. Awards — Three having highest credits, $3 each; three
having second highest, $2 each. Awards to be placed in a savings
bank to the credit of the pupil winning it. Funds for awards
furnished by the school-district board out of general fund.
Values of credit scheme. Without approving all details
of the plan as thus outlined, we may give some of the advan-
tages possible from such a credit system of cooperation
between home and school :
318 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
1. It trains in habits of health and industry without the
driving by parents so often necessary.
2. It meets a sore need in homes where parents them-
selves are ignorant, shiftless, or too indulgent.
3. It forms an adequate concrete starting point for ap-
plied instruction in hygiene, sanitation, and home ideals,
which otherwise may be difficult to apply without offense.
4. It may be made an effective center of correlation for
vital instruction in English, applied arithmetic, and reading.
5 . It develops a respect for the homely virtues and whole-
some living, for the routine duties of father and mother.
6. It successfully links the interests of home and school,
giving the parents a part in school life and thus increasing
their interest in it.
Other plans. In St. Louis a different plan of crediting for
home duties has been used with apparent success. There is a
monthly record containing blanks for grades on various forms
of characteristic home work as well as for the regular school
grades. The parent fills in the grade for home work on the
basis of the excellence and faithfulness of its performance
during the month, and the teacher accepts this grade as
equivalent to one required subject of the school course.
In Massachusetts some "home project" is required as a
part of all courses in agriculture given in the state-aided
schools. This "project" is some considerable and valuable
piece of work conducted faithfully under the approved
methods presented in the course. It may be the cultivation
of a patch of corn or potatoes, the raising of a pen of poultry
or pigs or the care of a cow for a season with scientific
feeding and milking and full records showing values,
tests, etc.
Instruction by " home projects." The homes, farms, and
shops of any community may constitute an equipment for
industrial teaching in many respects superior to any that
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 319
can be provided at school. Lessons in domestic arts and
sciences are most effective and least subject to the charge
of being impracticable fads when they consist in the actual
work of the homes guided and improved by class instruction
and credited on the basis of actual home-keeping efficiency.
The individual garden plot which each boy cultivates in his
own back yard or a neighboring vacant lot constitutes the
ideal laboratory for observation and practice of the members
of a class in agriculture. The value of the lessons is greatly
enhanced by the fact that the pupil receives the reward of
his study and care in the form of profits and products instead
of artificial and meaningless marks. Manual-training lessons
may be conducted in the form of useful work done at home.
Instead of a series of set and possibly useless exercises taking
many hours of sadly needed schooltime, the boys may find
their problems in the actual needs of the home. One desires
to make a new gate or prevent the old one from sagging,
another wants to put a shelf in the pantry for mother,
another to make a set of steps or a flower stand. Detailed
instructions, plans, and specifications can be worked out by
and for the whole class. Those interested in one particular
problem will work it out, reporting progress regularly to the
class. Others will be simultaneously working up other proj-
ects in which they are interested. This home correlation is
a boon to small and poorly equipped schools, and those
without adequate teaching force, in the utilizing of home
equipment and home time.
Utilizing neighborhood knowledge. A further advantage
of this correlated home work is that instead of the getting
of outside help or advice being considered a dishonorable
thing, as is usually true in academic work, it is regarded as
good, sound sense. Every encouragement is given to find
the best means of doing the task in hand by seeking in-
formation from every available source. What one does n't
320 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
know he finds out in the most economical way possible.
Parents, neighbors, locally famous cooks, master tradesmen,
and all who know are freely called upon for all they are
willing to impart. They may come to the school, or the
pupils may go to them.
Supervision and exhibition of home work. This corre-
lated home work should be fully reported and carefully
recorded for credit as school work. Teachers and pupils
should occasionally make tours of inspection and instruc-
tion to the homes where such work is being done. The
products should occasionally be massed as far as possible in
exhibits. A tl patrons' day " celebration or a special " home-
work day ' ' affords the right opportunity. Along with the
specimens of cake, bread, butter, jellies, fruits, etc. of the
cooking classes and the sewing and fancy work of the
domestic-arts pupils are shown basketry, mats, and carpen-
try work ; poultry, pigs, and garden products ; farm and stock
records. Photographs of back-yard improvements — taken
before and after — and of the large nonportable undertak-
ings make such specimens of the children's handiwork
also available for display and competition. Prizes should
be offered to stimulate such activities, and committees of
prominent citizens should be interested in providing and
awarding them.
The church. The church is the mother of education.
During the Dark Ages it was the church which preserved
all that was saved of learning and perpetuated the spirit
and agencies for disseminating it. Modern school systems —
elementary, secondary, and higher — arose through the ini-
tiative of the church. Now that the principle of public
education as a fundamental responsibility of government is
recognized there should continue to be the most cordial
relations between church and school. There should, of
course, not be tolerated the remotest effort to use the
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 321
public schools for sectarian ends nor to inject sectarian
beliefs or influences into its instruction or organization.
Ikit the ministers of the several denominations are usually
the most capable and willing people of the community for
contributing to the broader activities of the school and
effecting its wholesome correlation with the community.
Their learning and public spirit is usually at the disposal
of the teachers for the good of the schools. They often
visit the schools to give a word of cheer and encourage-
ment. In their pastoral work the various ministers can
do much to strengthen the hands of the teachers and to
secure the cooperation of parents by bringing about better
appreciation of the aims and purposes of the school. Their
close relation to their respective parishioners should count
much in securing harmony and the highest efficiency in
school affairs.
The obligation is mutual. On the other hand, it is the
duty of the teacher to show by precept and example that
he stands loyally for that older educational institution which
exists solely for whatever is noblest and highest in life.
He should honor and respect every church and work faith-
fully in his own. Like other good citizens he should not
attempt to be in every church but to be useful in some
church. With beliefs on which sincere, religious people
are divided, the school has absolutely nothing to do ; but
any study of realities brings us ultimately face to face with
the infinite and the unknowable, and here the true teacher
should reverently point his pupils toward God. It is not
necessary to teach religion, but it is vitally important to
teach religiously. We may leave the teaching of religion
to the churches, but we should help every child to feel that
the truths of religion and a better understanding of things
eternal and things divine is the most worth while of all the
learning of mankind.
322 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
PROBLEMS
1. In any recent course of study indicate the materials intended
specifically to relate the child to his environment.
2. What similar materials do you find in recent textbooks in
science, geography, etc. ?
3. From your own observation make a list of a number of
facts of nature, life, and industry in your community which you
regard as important for the children to be taught. Make another
list of textbook facts which you think might well be displaced by
the community facts if either must give way.
4. Sketch a plan for reorganizing your school so far as may
be advisable to bring it into thorough correlation (a) with the
industries of the community, (b) with the home life, (V) with the
public and governmental institutions, (d) with professional men
and interests.
5. Draw up a practical plan for encouraging home activities
adapted for the school under your consideration.
6. How would you answer the argument that the school has
already more than it can do to teach the fundamentals and ordi-
nary subjects without attempting to cover the whole community ?
READINGS
Carver. Principles of Rural Economics, chap. vi.
Dewey. Democracy and Education.
Dewey. The School and Society, chap. ii.
Dewey. Schools of To-morrow, chap. vii.
Eggleston and Bruere. The Work of the Rural School.
Hart. Educational Resources of Village and Rural Schools, chaps, ii,
v, vi, vii.
King. Education for Social Efficiency, chaps, iii-vi.
Scott. Social Education, chaps, v-vii.
Seerley. The Country School, chaps, ii, iii.
United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. j8j, School
Credit for Home Practice in Agriculture.
United States Bureau of Education Bulletins
Bulletin No. 23, 1913, "The Georgia Club at the State Normal
School for the Study of Rural Sociology " (Branson).
COMMUNITY COOPERATION 323
Bulletin No. 41, 1913, "Teaching Materials in Government Publi-
cations."
Bulletin No. 49, 191 3, " The Farragut School, a Tennessee Country-
Life High School " (Monahan and Phillips).
Bulletin A r o. 18, 191 4, "The Public School System of Gary, Indi-
ana " (Burris).
Bulletin No. 46, 191 4, " School Savings Banks" (Oberholzer).
Bullet ins Nos. 36-39, 191 4, " Education for the Home" (Andrews).
Bulletin No. /, 1915, " Cooking in the Vocational School " (O'Leary).
Bulletin No. //, 191 5, " Civic Education in Elementary Schools as
illustrated in Indianapolis " (Dunn).
Bulletin No. 23, 191 5, " The Teaching of Community Civics."
Bulletin No. 38, 191 5, "The University and the Municipality."
Bulletin No. 43, 191 5, "The Danish People's High School"
(Hegland).
Bulletin No. 8, 1 9 1 4, "The Massachusetts Home-Project Plan of
Vocational Agricultural Education " (Stimson).
Bulletin No. 40, 191 6, "Gardening in Elementary City Schools"
(Jarvis).
Bulletin No. 6, 1 9 1 7, " Educative and Economic Possibilities of School-
directed Home Gardening in Richmond, Indiana" (Randall).
CHAPTER XXVIII
SCHOOL EXTENSION
Unrestricted service the new ideal. Our last chapter dealt
with some of the ways in which the modern school is seek-
ing to increase its usefulness by utilizing in the instruction
of pupils the interest and cooperation of the entire com-
munity. The public school reaches out and gathers in more
broadly only that it may more broadly and effectively serve.
If it boldly lays tribute on all institutions and all classes of
people that it can make use of, it no less actively seeks
out every class of the needy and tenders its services. In-
deed it forces its help on those who are blind to their own
needs. In seeking financial support and educative influences
alike, it takes from everyone according to his ability, but
only that it may spend itself in rendering to everyone
according to his need.
A progressive school system is no longer regarded as
fulfilling its duty if it is content to dispense a narrow cur-
riculum within traditional school hours to children of school
age. School hours now are all hours in which someone
can be found to be served with knowledge, training, or
wholesome enjoyment. School days are any days of the
year. School pupils are "all the children of all the people,"
regardless of health, mentality, poverty, family responsibili-
ties, interest of the parents in their education, or any other
thing but their need of schooling. Even here the modern
public school does not draw the line. Regardless of age,
the schools stand ready to help aliens to learn our language,
the unlettered to acquire academic knowledge and culture,
3 2 4
USING CLASSROOMS AT NIGHT
Above, The Games Club, Boston, Massachusetts. Below, a millinery
class, Vocational Night School, Richmond, Virginia
SCHOOL EXTENSION 325
mothers to learn the art of making homes and wisely bring-
ing up their children ; to extend to any and all who will
accept it whatever of learning or skill will best contribute to
the elevation and enrichment of their lives. Economical
efficiency for its method and limitless service for its aim —
this is the ideal of modern public education.
An expression of this broader ideal comes to us from
Pittsburgh :
The schools of the people should give to the children :
Ample provision for exercise and joyous play.
Buildings simple, but stately ; thoughtfully planned, skillfully
built, generously equipped.
A course of study offering training for service and appreciation ;
presenting in the order of their importance those things which con-
tribute to a strong, healthy body, an alert, sure mind, a fine,
steadfast spirit.
Those things in art or craft which develop to the full the latent
ability of each one to serve his fellows with dexterous hand, a lofty
mind, and a glad heart, rich in response to the beautiful and noble
in life.
Teachers who love children with a parent's love and books with
a scholar's fondness ; who find beauty and joy in service ; are
large of vision, learners always.
A training which leads from learning and doing on to wisdom,
to high ideals, to service as a sacred trust, to worthy citizenship,
to character.
And, having given these things to the children, the schools of
the people should also give to all citizens an exalted, neighborly
life more abundant, making the big red schoolhouse a radiating
center for the final good of all Americans and then for the world.
Waste through an idle plant. The need for enlighten-
ment is too widespread and the school plant is too valuable
for it to stand silent and idle all but five hours a day in
a hundred and eighty days of the year. The long vacation
itself has proved a serious problem. A costly school plant
326 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
stands closed and useless ; teachers, out of employment,
seek temporary occupation or go home and most unprofes-
sionally live on their parents ; while hundreds of children
idly roam the streets, become bad company for each other,
and forget much of what they learned during the past year.
Three or four months are lost in this idleness, while at least
another month is lost in starting and stopping the terms.
The summer close-down. The child who does not miss
a day spends less than one sixth of his waking hours at
school, while the average member of the school is there
less than one eighth of the time that his mind is active and
being educated. Commissioner Claxton estimates that less
than five per cent of school children go away from home
to spend the summer, less than ten per cent are engaged
in any profitable employment, while the remaining eighty-
five per cent are in the streets, alleys, and loafing places
without occupation or guidance.
Vacation schools. For these reasons some hundreds of
cities are now conducting " vacation schools." In most cases
the provision for them is still meager. Teachers are few,
and attendance, for the most part, consists of children who
are seeking to make up individual deficiencies and thus
avoid retardation. These quite commonly have the option
of falling behind their grades or making up the work in
vacation school. Special provision has sometimes been
made for a select few who are sufficiently advanced to skip
a grade by means of the summer attendance. To this ex-
tent the vacation school serves to even up the irregularities
of promotion in the regular terms. But it is the inevitable
consequence that special advantages for the few unusual
pupils will ultimately be considered the right of the many
average pupils. Thus the schools of the summer vacation
months are coming to be considered the right of every child,
and regular classes are being more and more conducted
SCHOOL EXTENSION 327
with some adjustment of credits to permit summer attend-
ance to count in accelerating progress through the grades.
All-year sessions. It is but a step from this to the full
recognition of summer work as part of the school year,
making an all-year-round school. Newark, New Jersey, the
pioneer in this movement, has found its all-year-school plan
exceedingly popular with both parents and children. Al-
though attendance is voluntary in summer and compulsory
during the remainder of the year, 84. 1 per cent of the regular-
term pupils attended the summer session, and the average
attendance of those enrolled was higher in summer than in
the other months. Both interest and scholarship are higher
for the elimination of the long period of enforced idleness.
Failures are fewer and the normal rate of progress covers
as much in three years as is accomplished in four under
the regular term plan. The schools are cooler and more
comfortable than the average home or the street where the
children would otherwise spend their time, and the regimen
of life is far more hygienic ; hence the health of children
is as good or better. Teachers are much better satisfied
with the prospect of longer employment and most of them
are applicants for it, although, as with the pupils, summer
work is optional. Instead of the plan's proving an additional
expense to the city, it has been found an actual saving. It
appears that the whole cost of educating each child is
decreased about ten per cent under this plan. It costs less
to give a child an elementary education in six years than
in eight.
Part-time study. To meet the needs of the many older
children whose time is required to help support themselves
or their families, there are being perfected in several cities
various part-time-study plans. This arrangement is effected
by means of the cooperation between school authorities and
the employers of youth. Children are permitted to attend
328 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
school part of the day and work the other part. Groups
are organized to alternate study time and work time with
other groups, thus affording regular employment and regular
instruction for the children as well as a uniform supply of
pupils for the schools and of laborers for the factories.
The groups may alternate by half-days, by days, or by
weeks, months, or terms. Some industries require help
only at certain hours or at certain seasons, and the school
seeks to adjust itself to meet this need. The courses also
are modified in collaboration with the employers so that
the instruction received is more or less successfully corre-
lated with the work which the children are doing.
This cooperative scheme is solving several problems for
the general good of all concerned. Instead of having to
contend with erratic and sometimes unwise legislation
against child labor and with the opposition of all friends of
the school and of childhood ; instead of having to employ
only the defective, delinquent, or desperately poor children
who cannot or will not attend school ; instead of having to
connive with parents and children to falsify age statements
and employment conditions ; employers are in hearty cooper-
ation with the school authorities and may secure a reliable
and desirable supply of child helpers by direct application
to the schools. Class work increases the interest and the
intelligence of the children in the particular employment
which they have. Parents, instead of having to choose be-
tween the education of the children or their assistance in
the hard problem of making ends meet, find that they can
get both advantages under restrictions which preserve the
health and welfare of the children and at the same time
prepare them for further progress and higher wages.
Schools secure the cooperation and friendly support of
many industrial forces which have hitherto been largely
antagonistic. Needy parents and pupils gain a new interest
SCHOOL EXTENSION 329
in the school when this proves the surest way to a job and
the only means of securing steady employment during the
school age. School lessons are vital when related to the
problems which affect this week's pay envelope.
The part-time plan is developing most rapidly in the
manufacturing centers, but is also well adapted for farming
and trucking sections, for large retail business communities,
for messenger and delivery service, and can be utilized
wherever numbers of children are employed. In Chicago
the retail druggists have a successful coordination whereby
high-school boys may spend a part of their time in phar-
macy apprentice work and receive credit for the same toward
graduation in a special pre-pharmacy course. In general,
children are benefited by a reasonable balance between
academic instruction and the exercise, training, and respon-
sibility of productive economic activity. Idling is the bane
of childhood, while work under natural, industrial regula-
tions is one of its blessings. It is well that the industrial-
education movement which is turning our schools into
shops should likewise turn the shops into schools, and still
better that it combine them both into a partnership for
mutual benefit and for the welfare of the child.
Evening schools. Those who must labor all day are also
the care of our modern public schools. For them, regard-
less of age, are provided evening schools in which anything
may be taught for which there is a demand. From the
" Moonlight Schools " of the Kentucky mountains, where
the fundamentals are taught to three generations of learners
at the same time, to the night high schools and vocational
classes of the most progressive cities every sort of ambition
for more knowledge or skill is provided for in evening
classes, free or at a nominal cost for materials. Salesman-
ship, journalism, art, music ; academic instruction of every
sort and grade from primer classes for non-English-speaking
330 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
aliens to college-entrance requirements ; printing, shoe-
making, carpentry, plumbing, mechanics, and every craft ;
domestic arts and science ; motherhood and sex-instruction ;
swimming, gymnastics, and dancing ; military drill, wireless
telegraphy, and aeronautics, — all are to be had for the
seeking, though not all in any one city as yet.
The continuation school firmly established. Some cities
are still dwarfed by lack of vision on the part of school
boards and councils. A few of them have but little more
than outgrown the conception of the public school as a
necessary evil, closely akin to the poorhouse and free hospi-
tal. All are still crippled for lack of funds. But led by
school superintendents of breadth and foresight and backed
by progressive citizens, welfare organizations, woman's clubs,
trades councils, and business associations, many sorts of con-
tinuation schools which were regarded as distorted visions
a few years ago are now firmly established by both law
and custom and are rapidly spreading to every section of
the country and every class of pupils. Pennsylvania has a
law limiting the labor of children under sixteen to fifty-one
hours per week, of which eight hours must be spent in a
continuation school. Wisconsin has a similar law, and other
states are getting into line on like plans.
The National Association of Manufacturers expresses the
industrial education ideal for the public schools in the fol-
lowing program, which they claim is favored by educators,
manufacturers, and representatives of labor.
i. Two-years' and three-years' apprenticeship courses elective
for children fourteen years of age and over who have had the
equivalent of six years of the elementary school ; with shop
teachers selected from the industries, and the instruction so coor-
dinated with local industries that graduates of the courses may be
credited with substantial allowances on their apprenticeships.
2. Elective vocational courses for high-school pupils.
HP**:
SB
f~
L •' ! . . .ju
*^jj ^1
FITTING THE SCHOOLS TO MISFIT PUPILS
Trade classes in the Prevocational School, Richmond, Virginia
SCHOOL EXTENSION 331
3. Evening continuation classes for adult workers, and day
continuation classes for employed workers under sixteen years
of age.
4. Practical training on real work and a commercial product.
5. Control by a committee of representatives of employers and
skilled employees under the direction of, and responsible to, the
regular board of public education, insuring close coordination
between the industrial schools and the regular public schools.
Vocational guidance. Another phase of the school's
responsibility now rapidly growing in importance and pos-
sibilities is that known as "vocational guidance." At first
this was confined to recommending to individual children
the sort of higher school or college which the adviser
thought they should attend or the sort of occupation which
he thought they would engage in most successfully. " This
conception is rapidly passing, however," says Commissioner
Claxton, "and among the leaders of the vocational-guidance
movement the chief function of their work is now regarded
as the study of vocational conditions and opportunities, and
the making of the resulting information available to boys
and girls. The most important service that can be rendered
the individual youth, under the name of vocational guidance,
is to set him to thinking, at the proper time, about the prob-
lem of choosing a life work as a problem to be seriously
faced and prepared for — to make him fully conscious of its
existence as a problem to be solved, and aware of the sources
of data having any bearing on its solution."
The movement, however, is being extended to the actual
assisting of pupils to secure employment, the supervision, of
the conditions under which they labor, and the advising with
them both before and after they leave school regarding all
matters pertaining to their employment. A considerable body
of practical literature and some scientific methods of deter-
mining fitness for certain occupations have been developed,
332 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
and in certain cities expert vocational advice which would
be beyond the capacity of the ordinary teacher is provided.
Center of community life. The efforts of the schools to
enrich life do not end even with their extension to every
phase of instruction which can be accomplished within and
without its walls. Whatever enters largely into the life of
the community, whether work, play, or amusement, if it can
be taken over and by wise direction and purer environment
be ennobled and made more worthy, that is a function of
the school ; that is a legitimate and wise use for the school
buildings and funds which are the property of the people,
contributed by the people, and for the people.
After the exactions of daily toil people must have a
period of relaxation, of personal freedom and pleasure, of
enjoyment. They crave companionship and the intercourse
of social groups. It is this need of humanity which the
saloons, dance-halls, gambling places, and low amusements
have seized upon as their opportunity. It is the satisfaction
of this social and recreational need which the schools, with
cheering success, are now reaching out to lift to a higher
plane. Many millions of profitable and delightful eve-
nings are now spent annually in recreational activities in the
public-school buildings. These include social and literary
clubs and gatherings, lectures, concerts, art exhibits, gym-
nastics, dancing, parties, dramatics, athletics — - everything
that meets a social need. Moving pictures of a high order
at a nominal price and free to children are a most popular
addition to this evening service. Milwaukee has installed
a large number of the best type of billiard tables in her
public schools.
Reports received by the Bureau of Education indicate that
somewhat over 500 cities held after-school occasions of a
social or recreational character during the school year end-
ing June, 1916. In about 150 of these cities there were
SCHOOL KXTKNSION 333
paid school extension workers other than teachers in the
regular night schools. In about the same number of cities
there were some schools in which the evening occasions
averaged once a week or oftencr during a period of thirty
weeks. School buildings were used as polling places in
133 cities and for holding primaries in 112 cities. The
Bureau regards these figures as an understatement of the
actual facts. This does not include at all the widespread
use of the buildings in a corresponding way in the country
districts and small towns.
Supervision of social activities. Supervision of these
community-center activities by competent persons is neces-
sary, and usually there must be guidance and instruction at
the first, though the aim is to make them unhampered and
to develop as much initiative in the participants as possible.
The people themselves recognize the moral and uplifting
atmosphere of the school and will not tolerate there the
objectionable sort of language and conduct they would freely
laugh over elsewhere. The very environment tends to lift
their amusements to a higher plane. The following regula-
tions of the school board of Joliet, Illinois, are typical of the
liberal and sane provisions of many cities.
In order that the public school plant may serve a wider com-
munity use, the board of school inspectors will, bear the expense
of lighting, heat, and janitor service when the school is used for
the following purposes :
1. Adult clubs or organizations for the discussion of educational,
civic, and community problems.
2. Public lectures, entertainments, or indoor recreational or
educational activities.
3. Club work among young people — literary, musical, dramatic,
social — under supervision arranged by the school authorities.
4. Political discussions may be permitted when announced in
advance and equal opportunity given for presentation of both sides
of the question, in accord with the American spirit of fair play.
334 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
The above activities must be determined and controlled by a
free organization of patrons and teachers of the community. The
present rule barring the use of tobacco on school premises must
be respected.
PROBLEMS
1. Draw up plans and, so far as practicable, make estimates of
the cost of introducing the following extension features into your
school system :
(a) Eight or ten weeks of vacation schools for deficient pupils only.
(b) Same for all pupils.
(c) Part-time classes to correlate with any local industries which
employ children under eighteen years of age.
(d) Evening classes for foreigners learning to speak English.
(e) Evening classes in such industrial training as may seem
desirable.
(/) Utilizing the schools for and supervising community literary
exercises — games, dancing, etc. — for groups of different ages.
(£-) Farmers', workmen's, or mothers' clubs, etc.
(ft) Musical, military, or other training.
2. Prepare a course of study for eight weeks' vacation school
which would meet the needs for the deficient pupils of the grammar
grades.
3. What plan would you adopt for persuading the people of the
importance of such opportunities if provided and for getting them
to make use of them ?
4. Make general recommendations as to such of these extension
activities as you think should be undertaken under the conditions
which prevail.
5. What industries in your community are of sufficient impor-
tance to justify adaptation of the school work to them in the way
of vocational training? Which would justify the part-time study
correlation ?
READINGS
Allen. Civics and Health, Part III.
Butterfield. Chapters in Social Progress.
Carver. Principles of Rural Economics, chap. vi.
SCHOOL EXTENSION 335
CUBBERl v. Rural Life and Education, chap. v.
Curtis. Play and Recreation, Part IV.
Dutton. School Management, chaps, i, xv-xviii.
DUTTON and SnEDDEN. Administration of Public Education in United
States, chap. xxxi.
EGGLESTON and BRUERE. The Work of the Rural School, chaps, ii, v,
vii.
GARBER. Current Activities and Influences in Education, chap. ii.
I [OLLISTER. The Administration of Education in a Democracy, chap. xx.
KING. Education for Social Efficiency, chaps, xvi, xvii.
LEAVITT. Examples of Industrial Education, chaps, x-xvi.
Perky. Unused Recreational Resources of the Average Community
(Pamphlet, Russell Sage Foundation).
Perry. Wider Use of the School Plant.
Puffer. Vocational Guidance.
Seerley. The Country School, chap. vii.
United States Bureau of Education Bulletins
Bui lei in No. 20, 191 2, "Readjustment of the Rural High School
to the Needs of the Community " (Brown).
Bulletin A T o. 4, 1914, "The School and the Start in Life"
(Bloomfield).
Bulletin 1X0. 13, 1915, "The Schoolhouse as the Polling Place"
(Ward).
Bulletin No. 28, 191 5, "The Extension of Public Education" (Perry).
Bulletin No. 38, 191 5, "The University and the Municipality."
Bulletin No. 41, 191 5, "Significant School Extension Records"
(Perry).
Bulletin No. 21, 191 6, "Vocational Secondary Education."
CHAPTER XXIX
SPECIAL DAYS AND OCCASIONS
A teaching device. The special day is a teaching device.
As such, its exercises should consist in the pupils' activity.
Its success will depend on the thoroughness with which it is
planned, the clearness with which the aim is kept in view,
the efficiency of the motivation, and the persistency with
which the lessons taught are followed up and applied. The
purpose of the occasion is to focus upon one particularly
important idea all the thought and efforts of the day, thereby
launching that idea into the current of the child's experience
and interests with an impetus that will insure its becoming
a factor in his life's ideals and attitudes. An effective domi-
nant ideal, such as is sought through the special-day exer-
cises, involves (i) the vivid and attractive presentation of
a body of relevant knowledge together with (2) the arousing
of appropriate emotional responses. Neither knowledge get-
ting nor any emotional state of permanent worth in conduct
can be attained by a passive pupil. The special-day exercise
is a means of intensifying educative activity.
Any truly great cause is as worthy of the time and effort
devoted to such special occasion as are the commonplace
topics of the course. Instead of being introduced at the
sacrifice of regular lessons, if properly correlated it should
most effectively motivate the study of the common subjects.
Geography and history are vitalized by anniversary celebra-
tions ; science, hygiene, and economic studies by Arbor Day,
Bird Day, Health Day, and similar events ; literature by
the birthdays of authors ; while every such occasion gives
33 6
SPECIAL DAYS AND OCCASIONS 337
unparalleled opportunity for training in the formal studies, —
composition, spelling, reading, and perhaps arithmetic. Public
speaking, singing, dramatics, and some other accomplish-
ments have little genuine motivation except on such special
occasions. The mere breaking into the low-pressure monot-
ony of daily work is often in itself a most profitable circum-
stance. Each such occasion should be made to contribute
genuine economy and efficiency to the regular work besides
affording its own peculiar values. It may sometimes be true
that special-day exercises are a waste of valuable time. If
so, that fault is with the utilizing and not with the possibili-
ties of the occasion. It is our purpose here not to discuss
methods of making these special occasions contribute to
general educative values, but to insist that they should do so.
Occasion gives teaching aim. As to the idea or cause for
which the day itself stands, the aim will vary with the par-
ticular occasion. There are the birthdays of national states-
men and heroes, in which the aim is to exalt in the minds
of all the people the virtues which these men exemplified,
to endear to each successive generation the causes for which
they stood, to vivify the historic facts which cluster about
them, and to dignify the country's history by enriching the
general knowledge of its great events and crises. Yet
how often is Washington's Birthday "observed" by merely
closing the schools and making it a day of idleness or of
mere pleasure-seeking.
There are the birthdays of state and local heroes of war
or of peace, of industry or of ideals. Individuals conspicuous
for any virtue or achievement which may be held up for the
admiration of the people and emulation of the youth are fit
subjects for such special honor. The proximity of their
homes, scenes of their labors, or results of their achieve-
ments should help to make the exercises concrete and more
effective. We say often that we seek to honor the great
338 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
ones whose achievements we celebrate. But the dead cannot
and the truly great would not be honored except through
our realizing their ideals and purposes, by our continuing the
work which they began, executing wisely what they planned,
and bringing to fruit in the lives of the young the seeds of
nobility which they strove to plant.
Great authors are honored by making their personalities
dear and their works familiar to the new generations of
readers. They can live only in the minds and hearts of
people. By projecting what is noble of their works into the
lives of pupils we immortalize them and ennoble mankind.
The public schools have a rare opportunity to serve humanity
by using rightly the birthdays of the best authors, but not
by making such occasions perfunctory.
Honoring or dishonoring. The anniversary celebrations
of great occasions of every sort bring each its own oppor-
tunity for instilling patriotism, love of state or town, loyalty
to some cause or ideal of supreme importance. An occasion
which stands for no high ideal is unworthy of celebration,
and a celebration which does not stand for that ideal is
unworthy of the occasion. It is a national dishonor that the
Fourth of July became so largely a day of mere noise, reck-
lessness, and riotous pleasure-seeking until rescued in some
degree by the campaign for a " sane Fourth " ; or that
Thanksgiving Day to many is a symbol of licensed gluttony.
It is Pagan that Easter should be impatiently awaited as the
signal for social excesses in reaction from onerous restric-
tions of Lent. It is worse than heathen that Christmas
should become a day of mere hilarity and dissipation.
Recreation is not celebration. All who work need days
of vacation, which means days of emptiness, of doing noth-
ing. We need days of relaxation, of letting down, of loosen-
ing rigidity and tension — of rational " cutting loose " if you
choose. We need days of recreation, of re-creation, renewing
SPECIAL DAYS AND OCCASIONS 339
vitality and strength, of upbuilding. But these are quite
different from days of celebration, of making someone or
something celeber — famous, renowned. They are very
different from holidays which are holy-days. The travesty
on civilization is not in the wretched misuse of the words,
but the tragic misuse of the days. A mark of every de-
generate age and nation has been a great multiplicity of
feasts and fasts in the name of patriotism or religion, but
devoted to license. Let it be a sacred trust of the public-
school teachers throughout our land to make sure that every
day which is observed in the name of any noble cause shall
leave the children of their schools a little nobler through a
better appreciation of that cause. Increase so far as need
be the days of relaxation and vacation, but let holy-days be
holy to some holy cause and let celebrations increase the
renown of some noble person or event. Holidays are not
hollow days.
Relative importance. Special days are set aside by various
authorities in the interest of sundry propaganda. It is rea-
sonably sure that these causes are all worthy. The danger
is that in attempting to observe them all, the celebrations
will become too common or too commonplace to be effective.
Many of them are suitably honored by being made the
special theme for morning exercises or the correlation
center for the day's reading and composition work. Others
will justify the interruption of the daily schedule and will
warrant more or less elaborate preparation and public exer-
cises. Not merely the importance of the cause itself but
the need of accenting it in the life of the pupils and of
the particular community must determine the degree of con-
sideration to be given it. Arbor Day needs emphasis in
the treeless plains and the barren boom-towns or factory
settlements, but not in beautifully shaded suburbs or in the
crowded city where there is no chance to plant a tree.
340 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Form and aim. Some of these special-day causes, such as
Peace Day and Flag Day, seek only a sentimental attitude.
Others, like Arbor Day, Bird Day, Good-Roads Day, or
Health Day, may seek to have the 'sentiment ripen immedi-
ately into concrete efforts. Still others are intended strictly
to initiate some practical movement for the community
good. Such might be a Clean-Up Day, City- Beautiful Day,
Better-Crops Day, Get-Acquainted Day, Fire-Protection Day,
and the like. Some of these occasions seek to educate the
children only, and some to influence children and parents
together. Some are local in interest and aim ; some are
as widespread as the nation or civilization. Some are
among the means by which the school reaches out for
varying materials with which to enrich its instruction of
the children ; others are means whereby the school ex-
tends its activities and resources for the benefit of all
the people.
Manifestly the nature and arrangement of the exercises
must vary quite decidedly according to which of these
numerous aims may prevail in any particular occasion. A
great abundance of suggestions and materials, arranged in
complete detail for such celebrations, is afforded in numer-
ous government and state bulletins, in educational periodi-
cals and books, and in the publications of the propagandists
supporting the movements. The all-important thing for the
teacher is to keep clearly in mind the aim and make sure
that what is done contributes to that aim and not merely
to " making the occasion a success."
Resulting attitudes. One must be careful that a wrong
emotional attitude is not aroused. Arbor Day was intended
to develop a tree-loving, tree-sparing, and tree-planting
people. In the first enthusiasm and general extension of
the celebrations thousands of school yards were filled with
trees stuck in without plan or care and destined to die. The
SPECIAL DAYS AND OCCASIONS 341
inevitable result in such cases was that tree-planting became
a travesty ; trees were wastefully destroyed, and lessons in
neglect and in the folly of planting trees were instilled.
Peace Day should result in a genuine love of righteous
peace and horror of needless war. Flag Day should inspire
a reverence lor the symbol of the nation and a willingness
to live or to die for the glory of the country. Road Day
should contribute tangibly to producing a nation of road-
builders. Says Commissioner Claxton, " The roads are not
built, because people do not understand their value nor
comprehend how much beauty they would contribute to
the country and how much pleasure to life. It is largely a
matter of sentiment and ideals. These ideals are most easily
created in childhood. What one would have in the State
of to-morrow must be put into the schools of to-day." The
same may be said of all great causes.
Reaching the patrons. Any important movement for local
progress or civic betterment, provided it is nonpartisan,
nonsectarian, and strictly for the community's good, may
be the subject of special school exercises. The more local
and pressing the need, the more vital will be the study and
discussion aroused. The fact that the school exercise does
not seem primarily an attempt to teach the parents gives
the teacher better opportunity for community service and
community leadership. It may be presumption, and would
probably be so regarded, to invite the citizens to school to
be instructed how to make their homes sanitary. But they
will gladly come to hear their own children read essays,
quotations, and scientific articles ; to hear debates, songs,
and dramatizations ; to study exhibits and hear addresses
of experts ; all bearing toward the same end.
Patrons' Day is a means of getting the parents to the
school — sometimes with the aim of showing them the prog-
ress the children are making by exercises and exhibits ;
342 • SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
sometimes for discussion of school problems to the end of a
better understanding and cooperation ; sometimes to get them
to contribute time or money for some school improvement ;
often for all of these ends. Where there is a domestic-
science class, lunches or refreshments are usually served
by the girls. Brief talks by school officials and patrons
tend to crystallize sentiment favorably to the improvement
of school facilities. It is not so much what is said as that
the people are talking themselves into school enthusiasm.
Very often these meetings are the means of initiating the
movement for new buildings or other extensive developments.
Special weeks. Under some conditions it is advisable to
devote a week instead of a day to certain ideals or policies.
In a school of small resources many feeble efforts had been
made without appreciable result to get industrial work under
way. An " Industrial Week " was planned. All regular
work was either based upon or waived in favor of the vari-
ous forms of manual work which were being inaugurated.
Meetings of older people were held nearly every day and
evening. Money was contributed, equipment secured, and
the work placed on a firm footing for future development.
Practical points. A few practical suggestions will close
our discussion of special days.
i. Go to headquarters and get the best plans and mate-
rials. The United States Bureau of Education, the state
departments, and the central offices of the agencies pro-
moting the causes usually furnish these free of charge.
2. Begin in time for considerable preliminary work by
the children. The occasion is the incentive, but the work-
ing up to it is the means of getting the children in thorough
sympathy with the cause. There should be more or less
gathering of data from the libraries, preparing of papers,
orations, and debates, drilling in songs and marches, and
arranging of exhibits, diagrams, and mottoes.
SPECIAL DAYS AND OCCASIONS 343
3. Enlist the cooperation of representative citizens by
giving them some part in either the program or the arrange-
ments. Remember that getting an individual identified with
a movement persuades him far more effectually than any sort
of argument. It also helps powerfully to persuade others.
4. In selecting children to participate in such exercises
use (a) those who have the ability to do well what they
undertake, but also (b) those who will bring into sympathy
the parents and others whom you are particularly interested
in reaching. One feels identified with a cause in which
his child is taking part. But this usually necessitates group
exercises or dramatization in which many of mediocre ability
may participate.
5. Have abundant action and movement. Short and
striking speeches driving home one point at a time are
more effective for children and for most people than long
and logical addresses. Plays and music will interest many
whom recitations and essays will bore. Graphic representa-
tions and dramatizations will be remembered when the logic
of addresses is forgotten. Most people favor a cause when
they are pleased with its presentation rather than because
they understand it.
6. Avoid arousing enthusiasm to no purpose. If some-
thing is to be done, get it started when interest is high.
Follow up the lesson of the day with frequent references
and applications in the work of the classroom.
School fairs. The school fair is a recent development
fraught with incalculable values in stimulating school work
and public interest. It is organized much as any other fair,
with contests, exhibits, and prizes. The existing school
administrative machinery makes the planning and organ-
ization a relatively simple matter. It may be held in con-
junction with an agricultural or other fair, but it is better
to let the schools have the entire stage to themselves. A
344 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
county or similar territory not too large for children and
people generally to come from the remotest part should
be included in the territory of the fair.
A fund for prizes is readily contributed by school boards,
county commissioners or supervisors, business and industrial
organizations, school leagues, merchants, and individuals. A
catalogue is issued as far in advance as possible, designating
the contests in which prizes are offered, the conditions of
each contest, the classes of competitors, and such rules as
may be necessary. Experience shows that a few clear rules
are all that is desirable. The catalogue may contain adver-
tising sufficient to pay for itself.
Only bona fide pupils of the public schools of the fair
district should be permitted to contest. These should be
divided into three classes : primary, grammar, and high-
school pupils, with separate contests for each, though pupils
of a lower class may compete against those in any higher
class. Some special prizes should also be offered for first-
grade and second-grade pupils. Group work may be encour-
aged by offering prizes for group projects more difficult and
pretentious than would ordinarily be possible for an indi-
vidual. Surprisingly fine results in academic and manual
work have been attained in this way. By offering prizes
for a wide range of achievements children of every type
are encouraged. Academic excellence and every sort of
handiwork, drawing, cooking, sewing, declamation, music,
athletics, gardening, and even health habits and regular
attendance may be effectively stimulated. Work done in
school or out of school should be included. Particular em-
phasis should be placed by means of more and larger prizes
on any particular accomplishments in which the schools are
weak. Whatever you would see developed in the schools, put
it in the prize list. Instruction of almost any kind will find its
way into the school when the children are sufficiently anxious
SPECIAL DAYS AND OCCASIONS 345
for it. The children will find someone in school or out of it
to show them how to do the thing for which a prize is offered.
Power of prizes. A prize of two to five dollars will
literally put hundreds of children determinedly and per-
sistently to work on most difficult tasks. The prize-winning
performance at one fair is taken by all the contestants as
the standard which they must excel at the next fair.
Standards of attainment advance by surprising leaps from
one annual fair to another. Parents soon decide that if
other children can accomplish such work as is exhibited,
their own shall not be denied the facilities or kind of
instruction that will give them like opportunities.
The objections to prize-giving previously mentioned are
not serious under the conditions of a fair in which many
schools are contesting. Particularly unobjectionable are prizes
offered for group projects — those offered to schools or to
grades or given for general excellence.
The parade. The parade is among the most intensely
interesting features of such an occasion. With band play-
ing, colors flying, school yells and songs much in evidence,
there is developed an enthusiasm and an esprit de corps
among the children and a thrill of pride among the parents
which perhaps nothing else in school life can equal. The
procession should pass a reviewing stand, where some com-
mittee of distinguished visitors awards the prize for excel-
lence in marching and general impression.
In a Virginia school fair one large rural school marched
with every boy and girl in blue-checked homespun, each
boy carrying a hoe and each girl a broom. Another school
had every child and teacher in a white " middy suit." Such
uniforms are so useful and cheap for general wear that the
cost is practically nothing, but the impression made by
several hundred children marching with uniforms, banners,
songs, and yells is one never to be forgotten.
346 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
PROBLEMS
1. Review the manner in which you have seen certain school
holidays observed and criticize according to actual educative effect.
2. Make a list of the special-day occasions which you think it
particularly desirable to observe in your school. Give reasons for
your choice.
3. Make plans for the observation of one or more of these,
pointing out the precise educative aim and the definite means of
attaining it.
4. Indicate special needs of your community which could be
contributed to by means of special exercises or meetings in which
children and parents might participate.
5. Prepare a plan for " Patrons' Day," beginning with the aims
or needs to be sought and indicating the means of attaining them.
6. Write out a general plan for a school fair, to include your
school with others. Indicate the sorts of school work you would
seek to stimulate and the contests you would organize in these.
READINGS
Settle. County School Fairs in Virginia.
Farmville (Virginia) State Normal School ; Training School Work for
Special Days.
United States Bureau of Education Bulletins
Bulletin No. 8, 191 2, " Peace Day" (Andrews).
Bulletin No. 26, 191 3, " Good Roads, Arbor Day" (Lipe).
Bulletin No. <{j, 191 3, "Agriculture and Rural Life Day" (Brooks).
CHAPTER XXX
THE TEACHER'S RIGHTS AND DUTIES
Friction and lubrication. All relations of persons to
each other involve opportunities for discord and conflict.
The relations of the teacher are particularly complex and
delicate and offer unlimited occasions for friction. Teaching
implies an unceasing adaptation to the idiosyncrasies of some
twoscore unsettled and irresponsible pupil personalities, of a
larger number of deeply concerned parents, and of a varying
number of supervisors, superintendents, and superincumbent
board members. We have seen that in its best development
teaching involves vital contact with almost every aspect of
the life of the community. And at every point of contact
there must be the lubrication of tact, good judgment, and
sympathy, if friction is to be avoided.
Rights and duties. Laws and regulations mark off the
line of contact and possible conflict. They indicate one's
rights and duties, and a teacher should know these clearly.
But laws mark the limits beyond which one may not go —
the maxima of rights and the minima of duty. The wise
teacher knows his rights that he may keep far within them.
He knows his duties that he may far exceed them. The
whole attitude of a teacher who declines every duty that is
not prescribed or demands every right that is not proscribed
is an incessant irritant and provocative of friction. He who
always "stands on his rights" soon plunges into wrongs.
That teacher who does only his duty fails in the duty that
is highest. It will be well, nevertheless, to outline some of
347
348 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
these rights and duties of teachers that we may the better
give more than is demanded of us and demand less than is
given us.
i. Regulations. It is a right of every teacher to receive
in convenient and easily understood form all legislation and
regulation relative to his work. Statutory requirements are
supplemented by regulations of various state and local boards
of education, boards of health, sanitary and fire commis-
sioners, superintendents, and other officials. There may be
numerous rules of the particular school and sundry routine
reports, requirements, and customs. All these should be
simplified, clarified, and codified, and supplied to each
teacher in black and white.
It is the teacher's duty to study these laws and regula-
tions thoroughly and to carry them out in spirit as well as in
letter — sympathetically and freely, not carpingly or grudg-
ingly. The letter of the law is the irreducible minimum of
requirements. It is the beginning, not the end, of duty.
2. Contract. A teacher having accepted an appointment
is entitled to a contract specifying the term of employment,
salary, mode of payment, hours of daily service, authorities
to whom one is subject, and extra duties. This is legally
binding on the board and no less so on the teacher. To
abandon a contract at one's convenience, knowing that
because of one's financial irresponsibility the board has no
legal redress, is dishonorable. Any contract may be termi-
nated and any position resigned after due notice and with
the consent of the employing authority. Quite properly,
superintendents are refusing to give indorsements to teachers
who violate their contracts. Often such teachers are black-
listed, and the laws of some states punish the violation of
contract by suspension of certificate.
3. Accepting position. One may apply for as many posi-
tions as he pleases ; the uncertainty of election makes this
THE TEACHER'S RIGHTS AND DUTIES 349
necessary. lie may decline to accept when elected. He
may ask for time in which to accept, though no board
is under obligations to grant the delay. But once having
signified his acceptance he is bound in honor to fill the
position unless freely released by the employing authority.
One may properly insist upon favorable sanitary or other
improvements being made as a condition of his acceptance,
but not as an excuse for breaking an engagement once
made. Having given his word, he is morally bound as truly
as if the contract were signed. As soon as he has accepted
a position he should withdraw his applications for any
others. School boards are often burdened with countless
wholly presumptuous and undesired applications which they
are under no obligations to consider, but applicants who
have been under consideration, or have good reason to sup-
pose that they have been, are entitled to know when they
have been rejected as well as when they have been ac-
cepted. The prompt information may be more necessary for
the unsuccessful applicant than for the successful one.
4. Right to a place. A teacher's only claim to any posi-
tion is his fitness for it. Of the candidates for a desirable
position there are often several among whom no one can
with certainty determine which has the greatest actual and
potential fitness. It is then that a personal acquaintance,
a word in time from a mutual friend, may determine the
selection. Until our system of preparing, measuring, and
selecting teachers is far more perfect, chance and less
creditable factors will often have much to do with the
selection of teachers. It may therefore be regarded as a
right and perhaps a duty of a young teacher to cultivate a
wide acquaintance among educational authorities and among
those who have influence with them. The leaders in other
professions seek business through cultivating influential
friends and acquaintances.
350 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
But this sort of doctrine quickly degenerates into mere
"pull" or boast. Friends worth while are not willing to be
used to bolster up pretensions not built on genuine worth.
Pompous self-praise and feminine wiles have been used so
often that school boards even in remote sections are be-
coming very suspicious. Frequent press notices bear their
own evidences of pretense. Whatever means one may be
tempted to use to get the attention of employing authorities,
— and none is better than a personal interview, — the only
sort of pressure that is professional or profitable is evidence
of fitness as shown by the record of previous achievement.
5. Tenure. School boards generally recognize the desira-
bility of retaining teachers as long as possible. In making
changes boards are often too slow for the good of the
schools. But it is the right of the teacher to feel that,
whatever the duration of the contract, one's tenure of posi-
tion is safe so long as his work is efficiently done. A suc-
cessful teacher should have no anxiety as to the permanency
of his position. On the other hand, the teacher has no
claim to a position except his fitness, and a board should
very properly resent any other effort to retain a place. The
use of personal friendships, social acquaintances, the inter-
vention of parents or pupils, or other efforts to place a board
in an awkward or difficult position, should be regarded as
a violation of professional ethics and of a proper sense of
honor. Any sort of appeal to social, sectarian, or political
pull as a means of holding to a position should be regarded
as a confession of lack of genuine worth.
6. Indorsements. On leaving a position or at any time
one may desire to apply for another- position he is entitled
to a fair and frank statement from his superintendent as to
his success in the work done. It will be a good day when
definite ratings without personal bias can be given. Then
any teacher should be entitled to know just how he is rated.
THE TEACHER'S RIGHTS AND DUTIES 351
As it is, superintendents and officials have been forced to
the policy of giving few or no indorsements into the hands
of the person indorsed, in order to protect themselves from
occasionally having to face the alternative of saying empty
nothings or writing frankly and having what they have writ-
ten converted into ashes and hard feelings. Worthy teachers
have no hesitancy in standing on their records and others
have no right to embarrass officials by asking for to-whom-
it-may-concern testimonials. Teachers have the right to give
a former or present superintendent as reference, and the
employing authorities should write to him for such frank,
confidential opinion as they may desire. One such direct
statement is usually more effective than many sent through
the teacher.
7. Exemption from interference. Every teacher is entitled
to protection from all interference in the discharge of his
duty. In several states the statutes specify that upbraiding
or insulting a teacher in the presence of his school is a
misdemeanor. In school not even parents may interfere
with the teacher's management or control of their own
children. But if the teacher is to enjoy this exemption
from interference in school, it imposes upon him an obli-
gation to keep in touch with parents out of school hours in
order to secure their confidence by sympathetic conferences
and consultations. A wise teacher will decline to discuss
discordant questions before the pupils, but will seek a better
understanding with the parent at some more appropriate time.
8. /// loco parentis. With some variation in laws and regu-
lations, it is pretty generally established that the teacher
has control of the child in school, on the school premises,
and on the way to and from school. He has no control
after the child has reached home, although many trouble-
some cases have arisen through the punishment of children
for offenses committed while loitering along the way after
352 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
they should have been at home. Obviously the wise policy,
in case there is any possible doubt of jurisdiction, is to go
to the parent in a spirit of helpful cooperation, to offer assist-
ance if desired, but to invite no trouble which can reasonably
be avoided. Certain aggressive young men and irritable old
ladies seem peculiarly prone to create discord by attempting
to extend their authority too far. This is usually resented
and quite often marks the end of one's usefulness in a
community. The right personal relations, indeed, render
kindly reproof, a word of caution, or a serious conference
more than welcome to either parent or child ; but punish-
ment by a questioned authority almost inevitably fails of its
purpose and leads to trouble.
9. Right of punishment. As already indicated the right
of the teacher with regard to corporal and other punishment
is often limited by state law or local regulation. These
restrictions have arisen from the growing realization that
the best teaching and the surest authority are not depend-
ent on physical coercion. A teacher who accepts a posi-
tion where such restrictions are in force owes it to his
position not to be finding fault with the regulations but to
prove that he is one of those teachers who do not need
the forbidden means to maintain authority. He should keep
the law to the letter and rise far above it in the spirit of his
teaching and discipline.
Could an adequate supply of competent teachers be
insured, it would undoubtedly be the wiser policy to vest
unlimited authority as to punishment in the teachers and
then hold them strictly responsible for the right exercise
of it. But boards must deal with teachers as they are, and
the restrictions seem to be justified by their successful
operation in many city systems.
10. Courses mid methods. It is the duty of the teacher
to carry out carefully and sympathetically whatever methods,
THE TEACHER'S RIGHTS AND DUTIES 353
courses, and plans of instruction the higher authorities may
formally prescribe. These should be given in no more detail
than is essential to secure necessary uniformity of results,
except as further details tend to assist with suggestions and
guidance for daily work.
It is the right of every teacher to plan the details and
methods of his work, so far as they are not prescribed in
advance, without fear of criticism or interference. No super-
intendent or supervisor has the right to criticize any teacher
before the class, and the supervisory function should in no wise
hamper the initiative and originality of the individual teacher.
11. Personal conduct. One is entitled to select his own
boarding place, his own mode of life, his own companion-
ships and associates. Outside of his prescribed duties his
time is his own to use as he sees fit. His forms and times
of recreation are subject to no authority but his own. He
is at liberty to attend any church or none.
On the other hand, he is unworthy to be a teacher who
does not recognize that he is a public personage, under the
public eye, and that his influence is leaving its impression
for good or ill, out of school as well as in it. He has no
more sacred duty than to keep himself above the suspicion
of evil and to forego many things which may be harmless
in themselves for the mere reason that they might be mis-
construed by some overcritical people of the community or
have a bad effect on the young whom his life may be con-
sciously or unconsciously influencing. It is a supreme duty
of a teacher to associate himself always and actively with
those influences which stand for righteousness, morality,
and community betterment.
12. Cooperation. Cooperation is both the teacher's right
and the teacher's duty. The co- means " together " and the
ope rati o)i means "work." The word does not mean "work
the other fellow," nor yet "everybody is boss." It means
354 SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
neither dictation by a superior nor submission by an inferior
in rank. Nor yet does it mean that the superior must not
lead or the inferior not obey. Leadership and obedience
are absolutely essential to effective organization, and effec-
tive organization is the very basis of successful cooperation.
Superintendents, principals, and teachers must all be ready
and glad to work, to do all that the contract calls for and
at times a great deal more. Each must do all his own
duty and also help the other where he can. " Bear ye one
another's burdens . . . but let every man prove his own
work . . . for every man shall bear his own burden."
Supervisory officials are selected by virtue of their fitness to
lead, guide, and aid the teacher in the ranks ; but effective
leadership consists in getting subordinates to think for them-
selves, to act independently, to have initiative, and to con-
fer upon general plans, even more than it consists in merely
working them. The higher official should seek, respect, and
carefully consider the suggestions and opinions of subordi-
nates. He should realize that the opinions of subordinates
are often much better for them to carry out than his own
can be. Nevertheless, it is his task to decide all problems
except the internal questions of the classroom ; and when
his decision is made, the cooperation of the subordinate is
simply obedience. Whatever may have been his own opinion,
the individual teacher owes his most loyal and hearty sup-
port to the policy adopted and the instructions given.
13. Courtesy. Finally, every teacher is entitled to cour-
tesy and deference from associates and superiors. But in
receiving it one is equally bound to render it. The rela-
tions between the members of any teaching corps should
be at least the same that should maintain between gentle-
men and ladies elsewhere. Not only is this a personal right
and duty, but it is a condition without which a wholesome
schoolroom spirit and example are impossible.
THE TEACHER'S RIGHTS AND DUTIES 355
PROBLEMS
1. From your state laws and local regulations list the pre-
scribed rights and duties of teachers. Indicate carefully the
■ mandatory duties and the prohibitions.
2. Make a statement of the legal relations of the teacher to
(
Justice not blind, 293
Lancastrian schools, 20, 120
La Salle, 1 19
Lesson, types of, 2 1 7 ; plans for, 2 1 7
Library, school, 69
Lighting, 2S
Location of school, 10
Love, government by, 369
Management, scope of, 1
Maps, 68
Marking systems, 150, 245, 247
Medical cooperation, 315
Medical inspection, 85, 97
Mechanical organization, 120, 125
Melanchthon, 109, 119
Methods of teaching, ?\j, 352
Monitorial schools, 1-20
Monitors, 288
Montessori program, 180
Morning exercises, 199, 203
Motivation, 133, 297 ; social, 224,
252 ; principles of, 262
Motives, 250, 294
Movable desks, 57
Moving pictures, 69, 308
Museums, school, 69
Myopia, 30
Natural punishment, 276, 292
Normal-distribution marking, 153
Nurse, school, 99
Obedience, of pupil, 299 ; of teacher,
354
Open-air schools, 38
Order, defined, 281
Organization, of school, 1 19 ; aims
of, 124
Oxygen and study, 41
Parade, school-fair, 345
Parents, report to, 159; relations
with, 287, 341
Part-time study, 327
Passing papers, routine of, 208
Patience, 367
1 'at ions' Day, 34 1
Personal appearance, 368
Personality, 363
Phonograph, 70
Planning lessons, 217
Play, 229, 252
Playgrounds, 12, 70
Politeness, 366
Position, securing, 34S ; tenure of, 350.
Posture, 58, 60
Preparation for teaching, 356
Press and school, 306
Privies, 16, 24
Prizes, 266, 275, 344
Problems, in study, 6, 225
Profanity, 295
Professional growth, 358, 362
Program, daily, 176
Progress notes, 220, 289
Promotions, 135, 145, 148
Public service, relations to, 309
Pueblo plan, 129
Punctuality, 290
Pupil participation, in community
life, 306, 309 ; in the work of the
home, 316; in celebrations, 343
Pupil participation in management,
educative value of, 2 ; grounds, 12,
15,16; buildings, 25 ; ventilation,
50 ; seats, 60 ; apparatus, 64 ;
playgrounds, 71; cleaning, 79;
promotions, 145 ; study programs,
187 ; first day, 198 ; morning ex-
ercises, 203; routine, 210; "in-
excusable" lists, 224; marking
papers, 241; recitations, 258;
punishment, 278 ; government,
281
Tupil-teachers, 120
Railroads, cooperation of, 314
Ratio Studiorum, 109
Rebellion, of pupils, 298
Recitation periods, 167
Recreation, in schedule, 169 ; versus
celebration, 338 ; teacher's, 360
Relative ranking, 154
Repairs, 25, 26, 60
Reports to parents, 159
Results, teaching, 2, 113, 220
374
SCHOOL EFFICIENCY
Rights, teacher's, 347
Routine, 206, 229
Rules and regulations, 8, 285, 290,
347
Sanitary conditions, 10, 86
Savings banks, school, 312
Schedule, daily, 167; study, 186;
teacher's, 362 .
School cities, 283
School extension, 324
School fairs, 104, 343
Seating, school, 53 ; hygiene of, 58
Segregated study plan, 188
Self-government, of pupil, 283 ; of
teacher, 356
Shifting group plan, 130
Sincerity, 364
Singing, values of, 202
Social activities, 332
Social government, 281
Social groups, 256
Social motives, 252, 278
Social problem (health), 85, 93
Social relations, 304
Special classes, 128
Special days, 336
Special weeks, 342
Spitting, 87
Stairways, 22
Stereopticon, 69
Study, suggestions for, 5 ; habits of,
186, 189, 197, 224; waste in, 224;
professional, 358
Study programs, 186
Sturm, 119
Summer sessions, 326
Sympathy, 256
Tact, 365
Teaching, measures of, 115; waste
in, 2 1 5 ; as affected by : eyestrain,
28 ; ventilation, 41 ; seating, 54,
60 ; apparatus, 62 ; physical de-
fects, 95; course of study, 115;
flexible grading, 135 ; grading sys-
tems, 139, 145; marking systems,
150, 156; reports to parents, 165;
schedule, 176; aims, 216; plans,
218; progress notes, 220; drudg-
ery, 237, 239; marking papers,
247 ; motives, 253, 257 ; incen-
tives, 264 ; punishment, 269, 275 ;
professional preparation, 357 ;
physical condition, 359; person-
ality, 363
Teeth, defective, 96 ; inspection of,
97
Temperature, 42, 80
Tests, informal, 142 ; scientific, 148
Textbooks, use of, 113
Thoroughness, 220, 222
Threats, 300
Time limits, 1 1 1
Time saving, 171, 215, 222, 360
Toilets, 16, 24
Towels, 88
Type in printing, 35
Types of teaching, 217
Ungraded schools, 120
Vacation schools, 326
Ventilation, systems of, 40 ; prob-
lem in, 41 ; standards of, 47 ; prin-
ciples of, 50
Vices, remedy for, 296
Virility, 296
Vocational guidance, 331
Wall, coloring, 33
Waste, in equipment, 62 ; from
physical defects, 95 ; in teaching,
215; in study, 224; in idle plant,
3 2 5
Water supply, 88
Wells, school, 88
Whispering, 286
"Window boards, 39
Window cleaning, 82
Window shades, 33
Window ventilation, 38
Windows, 32
Worry, folly of, 363