THE PROBLEMS OE VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN THE SOUTH BY DAVID SPENCE HILL [Reprinted from, School and Society, Vol. I., No. 8, Pages 257-263, February 20, 1915 ] \7 &,*{. H [Reprinted from School and Society, Vol. I., No. 8, Pages 257-263, February 20, 1915] THE PROBLEMS OF VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN THE SOUTH Whether we discuss vocational guidance the north or the south, in the east or the west, there lies at bottom the matter of human labor, drudgery and work. To at- tack the problems of vocational guidance in the south demands consideration, first of all, of the essential facts regarding human capacity for work and vocation. We may then inquire into what is being done in the effort to organize the vocational guidance of youth, and, lastly, we shall propose sev- eral topics for emphasis with regard to the extension of organized vocational guidance in the south. Work to-day is distinguished from mere drudgery and toil. Drudgery is more fa- miliar than work to millions of mankind because of their lack of opportunity, or lack of physical well-being, or because of mental arrest, or on account of maladjust- ment of individual and of activity. In- gredients of drudgery are too long hours, uninteresting tasks, unpleasant supervi- sion. Work, at its best in human life, is something more than the mechanical con- version of energy such as motion of wheels into heat or light or electricity. Work means effort, conscious movement directed toward a remote goal. It is not mere pain- ful movement nor is it an incessant insect- like being-busy that accomplishes little. Work at its best is not only purposeful ac- tivity directed to a future end, it is also activity tinctured with the spirit of play, and perhaps in the course of evolution both the physical and mental bases of work and play have a common development, as, for example, in the inborn tendency to con- structiveness. This instinct of construc- tiveness has later developments both in the make-believe creations of childish hands and also in the production of things of value — houses, bridges, ships, which are largely too the product of economic pres- sure. The rich results of the work of the creative artist, or inventor, or statesman come through prodigious activities, and in these play and work have blended. Experimental, genetic, pedagogical and social studies of work, physical and mental, recently have made clearer the meanings and significance of drudgery, toil, fatigue and of play. We know that work, defined as conscious effort toward a future reward, has uniformities in process, and a knowl- edge of these uniformities gives us control, a result that is the ultimate end of many sciences. In efficient work there is always mental concentration, pleasurable interest, organization of details, elimination of non- essential movements. Work, with sufficient repetition and with sufficient intensity, tends to become more accurate, more speedy, less conscious, thus with every achievement equipping the organism for more and better work. The curve of prog- ress in work has been plotted, the plateau of temporary halting — that abyss of failure to the untrained worker— the effects, gen- eralized or specialized, of practise have been tabulated, the relative advantages of short and long periods at work, of different distributions of rest and activity — finally, the physical and mental factors and effects lo 4i S M 2 SCHOOL AND SOCIETY of excessive fatigue — all these topics sug- gest phases of work under systematic in- vestigation to-day, even if not yet com- pf^tely understood. Vocation should mean life-work and fio^hmg less. Life-work ideally is the ac- tual adjustment of the individual through education meeting opportunity. They who undertake that new aspect of conscious evo- lution — organized vocational guidance — therefore are superficial in method if they do not understandingly unravel the tangle of interdependent factors that determines the career of boys and girls. Opportunity must be known, sifted, exhibited; this means a knowledge of economic and social conditions, of the status of local industries, commerce, trades, professions, occupations. The individual must be known; this does not imply a mere knowledge of that non-exist- ent phantom the “average boy or girl” por- trayed in text-books on psychology and physiology ; it is a demand that we be able to know the individual by a method more sure than casual observation, phrenological chicanery or physiognomic delusion. In the study of individuals will be encountered also the complex factor of personal choice — an inevitable presence in all fitting of hiunan beings into appropriate grooves or grooves to fit human beings. These references to the nature and com- plexity of work and vocation considered as human capacities of superlative value pre- pare us to consider some specific observa- tions that bear directly upon the problem of vocational guidance in the south. First, what is being done about organized voca- tional guidance in the south? In order to obtain the answer to this question our Division of Educational Research sent the following letter to the superintendents of schools in southern cities and towns : Dear Sir: The problem of vocational guidance doubtless is an issue that is becoming more urgent in the educational work of our southern cities. So far as I know there is no definite organization or bureau for vocational guidance in any city of the south. In studying this matter, however, I am taking the pains to make inquiry, and I am there- fore writing this letter to the superintendents of schools in the chief cities of the south. Will you kindly answer the following questions? 1. Do you know of any definite effort under- taken by competent persons in your city to organ- ize a bureau or department for the vocational guidance of boys and girls? If so, please send us as complete information as possible concerning the history of this organization. 2. Please write your opinion concerning the values, local difficulties, and probable outcome of the vocational-guidance movement in your city, if such a movement is on foot. What will be the best kind of provision of this kind for the south? Your kind attention and cooperation will be ap- preciated. I am Sincerely yours, David Spence Hill, Director This letter was mailed to forty-one super- intendents in these cities of fourteen states : Alabama: Birmingham, Mobile. Arkansas: Little Rock. Florida: Jacksonville, Pensa- cola, Tampa. Georgia: Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah. Kentucky: Covington, Lexington, Louisville, Paducah. Louisiana: Baton Rouge, Shreveport. Maryland: Bal- timore. Mississippi: Jackson, Meridian, Vicksburg. North Carolina: Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington. Oklahoma: Okla- homa City. South Carolina: Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg. Ten- nessee: Chattanooga, Memphis, Nashville. Texas: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Hous- ton, San Antonio. Virginia: Lynchburg, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Richmond, Roanoke. So far as revealing any considerable in- terest in the movement for organized voca- tional guidance, the results of this ques- tionnaire are almost negative. Of the forty-one superintendents addressed replies were received from fifteen, distributed in: Richmond, Lynchburg and Norfolk, SCHOOL AND SOCIETY 3 Va. ; Charleston, S. C. ; Raleigh, N. C. ; Baltimore, Md. ; Mobile and Montgomery, Ala. ; Meridian, Miss. ; Columbus, Ga. ; Columbus, S. C. ; Birmingham, Ala. ; Little Rock, Ark. ; Covington, Ky. ; Houston, Texas — not including New Orleans, La. Of the fifteen replying twelve indicated that no definite effort is being undertaken in their respective cities to organize a bu- reau, department or division of vocational guidance. One can not speak definitely of those cities from which no reply was re- ceived, but it is not likely that the move- ment has taken root in any city of the south except in two or three instances. Interest in the movement for organized vocational guidance or some local study of the prob- lem was indicated in Birmingham, Little Rock, Houston and New Orleans. In one instance lack of adequate compulsory at- tendance laws and in another low finances were cited as obstacles to consideration of the matter. Superintendent Phillips, of Birmingham, reports a committee on vocational guidance. This committee has been quite active and has accomplished results in securing infor- mation and data regarding local conditions of employment and in the directing of young people in the schools with regard to the selection of life vocations. “I regard the work of this committee as exceedingly valuable,” writes the superintendent, “not simply in the way of securing information but in the practical assistance it has af- forded hundreds of young people whose work in school, whose choice of studies and future life-work have been determined after serious consideration and consultation.” Another important committee in Birming- ham is a committee on vocational education representing the United States Chamber of Commerce. This committee has held meet- ings in conjunction with the vocational guidance committee of the public schools. Superintendent Horn, of Houston, Texas, writes : I have always believed theoretically in the idea of vocational guidance, but I have never felt quite sure that the work has been so developed, up to the present, as to make it particularly valuable. In other words, we have been waiting for you, and some other gentlemen, to do a little more ex- perimenting before our own city goes into it. I am interested in the subject, however, and should be glad to know anything that may be of value as to results obtained. Superintendent R. C. Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, writes: We are studying the question thoroughly and shall be ready to make some recommendations later. In New Orleans, no separate bureau ex- ists for vocational guidance. Definite pre- liminary work has been done, however, in five particulars under the auspices of the public-school system and by civic organiza- tions. Since New Orleans is the largest City of the south a somewhat detailed con- sideration may prove interesting. 1. The Nicholls Industrial School for Girls recently organized in New Orleans, during its first year undertook, through the efforts of the principal, Miss Rita Johnson, to inform, encourage and attract girls in the grades who had expressed a desire to go to the vocational school or who were about to depart. This industrial school effected this beginning by means of (a) form letters, (b) a special committee to give information and advice, and (c) by bringing groups of girls to observe the work of the vocational school. 2. In New Orleans the Young Women’s Christian Association has recently pub- lished a booklet containing considerable in- formation about certain occupations of wo- men in New Orleans — a book intended to help young women to suitable occupations. 3. The Consumers’ League also has gath- ered data concerning the pay-rolls, hours of 4 SCHOOL AND SOCIETY labor, etc., of girls and women in New Or- leans which it is intended to publish for local nse. 4. Within the Division of Educational Research, Public Schools, for two years a system of systematic study of exceptional children has been carried on successfully. This cooperative method of studying chil- dren at the request of parents has been ac- complished through the systematic coopera- tion of teacher, psychologist, physician and social worker. Data obtained from these four sources are collected for each child studied. So far this laboratory method has been applied chiefly to exceptional children in an effort to determine their capacity for education and possible aptitudes for voca- tions. 5. Finally, in New Orleans an organ- ized effort has been made recently by Superintendent Gwinn cooperating with the Division of Educational Research, to ob- tain information and to enlist the coopera- tion of parents of more than ten thousand children thirteen years of age and over. The forms used for this purpose besides space for the conventional data regarding age, grade, etc., gain from thousands of parents a consideration of such questions as : occupation, if any, in view for the boy or girl; what the boy or girl wants to do or be; training, if any, already received for the occupation ; intention of parent to send boy or girl to high school, college, industrial school, normal school, etc. There are four forms, two for the elementary schools and two for the high schools. The data thus ob- tained are to be used not only for analysis and comparisons, but also in the case of each school, as the basis of conferences, talks on vocation by the superintendents and selected speakers from various occupations. In addition to this a renewed effort is be- ing made to study the conditions involving each and every withdrawal from school for any cause. To this latter end, Miss Mary Railey, a trained social investigator, has been employed within the Division of Edu- cational Research. For the high schools personal visitations are being made to homes to secure data concerning each indi- vidual eliminated. For the elementary schools a special questionnaire is being used. All these efforts, it is hoped, will be co- ordinated usefully with the results of the vocational survey now being made in New Orleans for the Isaac Delgado Central Trades School for the establishment of which about one million dollars are avail- able. Included in the final report of this survey will be data concerning all of the chief occupations open to boys in New Orleans. This phase of the report will constitute a basis for informational work in future vocational guidance. We may now venture to state candidly some groups of important facts relevant to the inauguration of any complete organi- zations for vocational guidance of youth in the south — whether such organizations are maintained by the state, the city, the school board or by private philanthropy. We refer to the following matters : First: Special physical, social and eco- nomic conditions found in most of the southern states can not be safely ignored by constructive social and educational ivorlcers. We refer to the semi-tropical climate, the varied topography and also to the historical perspective, the population, the presence of millions of the negro race, the predominating occupational tendencies, etc. In the south objective opportunity is complicated by unique business and social conditions. New England, the West Coast, of course, also present unique conditions, but that large expanse of country called the south presents certain obvious char- acteristics that are singularly common to SCHOOL AND SOCIETY 5 the vast majority of its area and citizen- ship. Each community, however, will always have its special economic and social problems, and these demand provision for local investigations. For example, it has not been much of a problem with us to assimilate great numbers of immigrants. According to the 1914 edition of the United States Census (Abstract, p. 89) in Missis- sippi, Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, North and South Carolina, Ten- nessee, Georgia and Alabama the numbers of the white population who are of Amer- ican parentage range from 81 to 99 per cent. Massachusetts exhibits 33 per cent, of native American parentage, New York 36 per cent., Pennsylvania 56.5 per cent., Illinois 47 per cent., Oregon 64 per cent., California 49 per cent. These contrasts alone indicate that, first of all, we have in the south to deal with a predominating race in point of time longer imbued with American ideals and habits than the people of most of the other sections of the country. Therefore the south may be expected to exhibit a momentum which will prevent rapid innovations in education or vocation, whether imported from Europe or else- where. Immigration of the white races to the south has been slow. Moreover, there are present in the south 87 per cent, of all the negroes in the United States, millions of negroes who constitute a large fraction of the local populations, whose bringing here was clouded with injustice and disaster. The presence of these negroes, aside from the frequent agitations aroused by a minor- ity of white persons both in the north and the south, has always been and remains to- day a source of confusion, a factor in mor- bidity and mortality and of pedagogical and social difficulty. That state, city or town of white population which knows this race question as viewed only by observing the life of a small group of negroes does not comprehend the magnitude of the neces- sary problem weighing daily upon the white and colored people of the south. It is a source of felicitation to both the white and the negro races, in the south in partic- ular, that relatively little of disorder, of friction, that so much of mutual coopera- tion and helpfulness, exist when every day so many millions of negroes are crossing and re-crossing the path of the ascendant white race. The successful struggle of the negroes in winning place in the vocations of life, in gaining financial independence and improving sanitation— all against diffi- culties and in many instances under pathetic conditions, has the approval, the sympathy and the assistance of the white race of the south. Nevertheless, the ques- tions of vocational opportunities, guidance and choice are deeply complicated by the presence of this race. In the south, train- ing for vocation, providing opportunities for vocation, guiding the young away from incompetence, shiftlessness, unhealthful, vicious and hopeless occupations, into effi- ciency, energy, social service and individual realization, all these present two nearly separate groups of problems. This twofold problem makes difficult, although by no means renders hopeless, the situation in the south. In the cities of the south the industries of manufacture and transportation now grow. Professional service, medicine, law, the ministry, teaching, engineering, also invite with large opportunity and higher standards. But the south so far is pre- dominantly an agricultural region with here and there large mining activities and no inconsiderable fisheries. The cultiva- tion of cotton, of sugar cane, the lumber industry, the extraction of coal, iron, salt, sulphur and crude oil, the fisheries of Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, besides the growth of cereals and food products, occupy 6 SCHOOL AND SOCIETY the majority of our population, white and black. Most of the workers in these occu- pations need a general education, knowl- edge and habituation of hygiene more than specialized training for a trade or guidance thereto. Newcomers of brain and enter- prise as leaders are helping our leaders to resuscitate and to establish industries, and these furnish varied and enlarging oppor- tunities in the manufacturing and mechan- ical pursuits of our cities. In the night schools of New Orleans the 1,500 boys and young men represent two hundred occupations, and it is observed that here, as elsewhere, there is a tendency to fall into commercial occupations, as mes- senger and office boys, clerks, etc., and to miss more independent and developmental vocations in the mechanical trades. This tendency toward the “ white-sliirt-and-clean- hands jobs” is disastrous when it is incul- cated in the negro in his present stage of restricted opportunity, and is also un- wholesome to thousands of white youth for both individual and social reasons. The tendency in our cities for boys not to enter mechanical, manufacturing or build- ing trades is favored by four factors: A. The absence of adequate apprentice- ship and the lack of good industrial and trades schools. B. The predominance of unskilled labor in newly acquired factories, which is usually of low or middle-grade machine operatives. These machine proc- esses are utilizing young girls as operatives more and more, offer inadequate remunera- tion to men and are consequently shunned by boys and men of capacity in favor of the clerkship. C. The stable nature of the population, so far as boys are influenced by the occupations of fathers, is a factor in leading the city boy into few modern occu- pations requiring new skill and knowledge. Of the children of New Orleans 59 per cent, of the fathers of thirteen-year-old boys and 86 per cent, of the boys themselves are living in the city of their birth. D. The indirect influence of the old-type elemen- tary school, academy and high school and college which in the south perhaps more than in the north remains under the control of teachers of the classical wing in educa- tion. Secondly : Vocational guidance of a very real kind has long been in operation in the south, and the best elements of this guid- ance must be conserved. It is the changing industrial and occupational condition and growth of population that demands a new organization. The genius of the south has always been for home-making. Apartment, hotel and tenement-house life are innova- tions. The plantation home, the cabin and plot of gi’ound of the slave, the city man- sion and the humble cottage, are all symbols of home life. Home, neighborhood, church and school associations have been and are potent factors in guiding the choice and opening opportunity for youth in the south. When such influences are intelligent and able to make mental adjustment with the times, they embody the strongest types of personal appeal in vocational guidance. This note is perhaps sounded by Superin- tendent Chandler, of Richmond, who writes : I do not believe in the vocational guidance movement other than as it works itself out in the schools for definite work and the schools working to place these pupils. And again by Superintendent Dobie, of Norfolk : When pupils are graduated from the seventh grade of our elementary schools and are prepared to enter the high schools we offer them some five courses and endeavor to advise, direct or assist them in making a choice suitable to their needs as to the course of study in the high school, learn- ing as far as we can what they propose to do in life, and trying to prepare them, in this way, for it. With the recognition of the necessity of some kind of definite efforts at vocational SCHOOL AND SOCIETY 7 guidance throughout the country certain dangers are apparent in the movement. In the first place there are quacks not re- mote in principles and practise from phrenologists, astrologers and fortune tellers. More reliable, but not good leaders, are the illuminists who, really understand- ing by investigation something of the prob- lems and methods of good, organized guid- ance, nevertheless almost unconsciously come to pose as self-authorized authorities, speaking ex cathedra. Then there are the job-seekers, who, collecting bundles of ques- tionnaires, card indices and notes at six- weeks summer schools, return to the grade or high-school work of the local community, presently to appear as “lecturers” and even “specialists” and prospective direct- ors and counselors for a local bureau. It is indeed a difficult matter either for an individual or an organization to guide human beings successfully into their life work, so manifold and elusive are indi- vidual differences, so spotted with shoals are economic opportunities, so inadequate our expensive, slow-moving educational ma- chine — and so ignorant are we of human nature. It is a delusion to believe because a proposition seems logical that the con- clusion will prove satisfactory when ap- plied to the individual human organism. It is a question whether theoretical, defec- tive vocational guidance is harmful or worse than no guidance at all. On the other hand, our leaders and our efficient workers, many of them, have found their life work through the school of unchosen experience, that costliest of schools in which the survivors are a handful as com- pared with the multitudes who have suc- cumbed to its curriculum. The waste of potential human productiveness, the pres- ence of poverty, the absence of skill and knowledge in industry, the pretense in the professions, the misfits, and the wreckage of hopes, ambitions and love itself — some of these of late may be charged to the lack of organized vocational guidance, a necessity evoked by the complexity of our present civilization. David Spence Hill Division or Educational Research, Public Schools, :New Orleans, La. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/problemsofvocatoOOhill