The American School.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1366, 17 February 1912, Page 17

The American School.

Some of Its Latest Phases. ®_ ®

The following interesting ai'ticle by Mr. \V. S. J,ittlejohii, Principal of 1 the Scotdi College, Mellimi rue, uiul formerly hetulnnc-ter ol' -Nelson College. appeared rccOnfly in the "Argils":-

America lias nothing tliat could te ailed a national system oi' ecftication. Jll- - in few, if any, of Hie States is there von a State system. The school is largcy the object of municipal inlerest and iride. So if 1 write of what 1 paw in loston, 1 must not be held to speak for lassachusetts, and .still less for America t large. My visit fell in the month of line, at a time when the community, nil of course the schools, were engaged n commemorating the Battle of Bunker [ill. Add to this that the superintendent I f education had taken flight to Geruany in search of more light. Still, by he help of his cultured and courteous asistant, X was ablfr to see a great'deal and 0 form some idea of the trend anil spirit f the time?. 'Now, lest all that follows his paragraph should create a false imiression by seeming to put the field in a rrong perspective, let tne say liero at the intset that the' htib of the high-school ystem of Boston is tho Latin School, here are two of them, one for boys and ne for girls. Here the study of tho anient classics has a prominent place in he programme. These schools stand for he highest ideal in education in the lidst of a community that appreciates ulture. 'I'hcy increase from year to year, lid, if that be possible, they grow in mblic favour. In addition to these, there re nine ordinary high schools where the ioy or girl may for 'four years, and at 10 cost in the way of fees, choose from 1 curriculum of twenty or more subjects i good course of general education, with ; bias towards commerce or science or louschold arts or even literature. Beforo ;oing on, let me remark that a good deal if what I ain going to say applies to tho :ourse of work and the .manner of preonting it in these ordinary high schools, ind to tho elementary schools as well. A NEW BIAS. To-day, in Boston, there'is a fresh outlook—there is "a new spirit, a fresh bias in education". It has always been admitted that school training was necessary for vocations called cultural and professional, but in Boston within the last Few years it has come to bo recognised that-it is equally so for those called industrial. All education must' aim at 301116 definite calling in life, and for every calling there must be a well-considered scheme of training. So iu Boston tlie tide sets strongly in the direction of vocational education. Existing courses of study are being revised .to increaso their vocational value, and special courses and special schools are being established to meet these aims. So a few old class-rooms and many new ones arc being invaded by collections of tools and by power machines. Work is being done iu wood, in leather, and in metal. There are some rooms redolent of cookery, others where the mysteries of dressmaking aro being inculcated. Here some. are busy at book-binding, and there others are diligently engaged in millinery work. All thiS'applies more perhaps to the elementary school than to tho high school, for, as" we shall see, special high schools have teen started to '(leal with this class of work. Some pupils are sent by their parents to these courses to create in them a respect for honest toil; while others arc-thinking of'tho'day when they must earn their bread. But the most inter-ostiil'g-set' of' pupils"in' 'these '• special courses were those who-had been losing iutercst in their books, who had been unsatisfactory in their work, and, it may bo in their conduct, too, and who had been looking eagerly for the day when they would be freo to lpavo school. There is but one verdict in their case. They have improved in "appearance; .they : have become more awake ' and mature raiid have shown greater ability and ambition in their purely academic work. All this'sounds like bread-and-butter education run riot. We should do scant justice, however, to Boston's intelligence and'love of culture were we to leave tho matter "there. The pupil that lakes ono of tho special courses does a day's work of the samo duration as others do. If the school he attends provides, say, a course in iron work, he will give perhaps ten' hours a week to it. So that time must be taken from his academic studies. Nothing whatever is deducted from the important subjects, such as English, arithmetic, etc.; only ; two or three 'are dropped, such as physical training and science, and something more or less is taken from the others. Now ; a special class rarely exceeds' twenty pupils, so that each receives more individual attention than in'an ordinary class where the numbers are twice as great. If this bo borne in mind,-' ' and account bo also taken of the' pupil's _ increased zest for, and inlerest in his books, it will bo ' understood why lib suffers littlo or nothing in comparison' with others. Not only have special courses in existing schools been arranged, but special schools have been established to meet the demand for vocational education. These schools—tho Mechanic Arts High School, the High School of Commerce, and the High School of Practical Arts for Girls—are the 'most interesting educational developments in Boston. The first of these provides boys with a four years' course in woodwork, pattern-mak-ing, forging, and machine shop work. In the early stages it had to' fight the inertia of thought and the apprehensions of skilled workmen: : But it is not a trade school. The programme includes mathematics, science, history, and languages; and these subjects are taught not from any utilitarian standpoint, but with a vifcw to developing a high order of intellectual activity. There were over 1100 boys at the school, which was indeed busy as a beehive. A TRAINING BUSINESS. _ The. High School of Commerce gives a thorough training in all that pertains to business: Lately there-has-been added a special fifth year's course, which is available to boys who have finished their four years in the ordinary high school. Again, this is not a business college, as that term is usually understood. Tho curriculum demands, among other things, English, two modern languages, history, geography, physics, and mathematics. The whole atmosphere is permeated with tho idea of choosing tho particular business in-which the pupil is likely to excel. To this end tho school has the hearty _ co-operation of the business men of the city. Enough oi them have been found to offer holiday employment for the boys of the second and.third years. After the vacation the boy returns with a' report of what may be called his summer apprenticeship, Moreover, at, weekly intervals business men address the pupils on special topic: covering the whole range of the industries of tho city. To use the language of commerce, the school supplies a felt want, and under such happy auspices cannoi miss success. Tho- High School of Practical Arts foi Girls has for its principal aim the art ol home-making, the sweet ordering of th< home. A house is maintained in connec tion with the school, where genera housekeeping is taught—the praetiea work of tho kitchen, the laundry, tin sick room, and the_ house generally. In struction, too, is given in dressmaking marketing, and such like. The programmi of studies includes English, history mathematics, chemistry, physics, biologyhygiene, and art. Since many of tin gins, have, froir. choice or necessity, t< earn a livelihood for a number of year before they can expect to be married, tin school provides several branches o industrial training of a high character 11' a girl is ready to go out to earn i living, a lady, who is known as the voca tional assistant, finds her a place, keep track of her, notes her success or failure and tides her over the rough places. N, wonder that the school is immensely popu lar. So the American sehoul of to-da; is a place of intensive preparation i'o activity in some special culling, and th time seems not far distant when th youth of Boston will be prepared for ever 'different line of Im-iness in the sun' way as they now are for the profession; A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM. I have not left room to do more Ilia ■ mention many matters that I find set on in my notebook—the large sum of ,L'(!O,OC spent annually in Massachusetts on his schools alone; the steady increaso in tli number of private schools, chicfly boart ins schools, on a denominational found;

tin 11; thi' healthy mixture of high ami low, rich am! poor, that one? sees in the ireo school; the somewhat inlonnal and t*a>y-goiii£ relations that oxist between teachcr iiii'.l lautfht in this democratic country; the* preponderance ot women I teacher?, amounting even in high schools to seven out of every thirteen; the standard of culture and professional ability of the leather.*; co-education, uiitfin- ? aiiv a matter of convenience or necr-Mtv \ in sparsely-populated dMrict>, bnt mow ■ looked 011 as a virtue; "ehctives, ' a prae- . tiee that leaves the pupil tt> elect or choose .it will his own .-objects, u practico which received a very (juahfied ap- A proval from the wt-11-hnown (.'ommittee 1 of Ten, and which i- vigorously condemned by overy university worth the \ name, ami must soon die; accrediting of • schools, a system by which a university, j having ])y periodic inspection satisfied i itself as to the continued eHiciency of a j. school, receives without examination the j pupils lhat have linished ihe course satis- ; lact-orily, ;i svslem of linking secondary i school to university that has not been 1 improved upon, in \ho opinion at least of the American educationist of to-day.