JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 66, 10 December 1921, Page 5

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS

SOME OBSERVATIONS IN AMERICA , DEVELOPING NATURAL APTITUDES 'The shortening of the primary school 'Bourse, with tho object of gaining time for secondary and vocational education, is «. proposal that has 'had the attention of the Minister of Education lately. Much progress in this direction has been made in' Canada and the United States, mnd the matter received the attention of Mr. T. W. Wells, who was New Zealand’s delegate at the recent Imperial Conference of Teachars in Toronto. ""Ontario has not yet done anything fin this direction, but the Minister of {Education there told me that the junior high school was coming,” states Mr. Wells in, his report. “Manitoba has Several, but they were in recess when J passed through, and I was not able to retrace my steps so far to see them fin operation later. The junior ’high •chool, or intermediate school, as it is

sometimes called, is being very rapidly developed in the United States.. Ten years ago there were only some half dozen in the whole country. There are Mow more than’ 100 U, and. these ore being added to almost daily. I visited quite a number' of schools of this type, looked into their progress of work and methods of teaching, and I inquired, as fully as I could, into the reputation they are making for themselves. Though the schools that I visited varied considerably, in my opinion, in the qualify of their work, and though it seemed to ruo that several had been established without any well-thought-out plan of 'action or definite idea of aim. I found everywhere the greatest enthusiasm with regard to the schools and to the work that they are doing. I met with practically no ’hostile criticism at all. “‘Localities that at present have no •junior high schools aro preparing to establish them as soon as possible. I was again and again assured that these schools are justifying their existence because “1. They bridge the gap between the •loinontary and the ordinary high school. "i. They provide better educational, 'opportunity for a very largo number of children. "H. They have considerably increased the number of pupils continuing through the full high school course. “4. It is better for children of the »u»rly adolescent period, say, from 12 to 15 years of age, to bo taught together.

“5. The system usually followed in junior high schools of promoting halfrearly and of promoting by subjects, permits Of the morn rapid progress of the quicker children, while, if the slower ones have to repeat a half-year's work, it is not so long a delay as if they were kept back for 12 months. ‘‘6. By means of its ‘shop’ courses ths junior high school makes better provision than the ordinary high school can

do for individual differences in pupils and gives them an opportunity of 'trying out’ and discovering they’ own particular aptitudes, interests, and capaditiXfc;' thus saving loss of valuable time at a later period. “In several junior high schools that I

visited provision was made for the admission of rather older boys and girls, of lower educational attainmeiuts—-pupils who would probably never complete the academic course in the elementary school but for whom the 'shops’ of the junior high school offered an opportunity to develop on other lines. The general testimony was that pupils of this type did surprisingly good work when given the fuller opportunities of the junior high school. “Junior high schools of several distinct types exisi through the States, e.g., I visited some that consisted bi an additional ‘grade’ added to the ordinary elementary school—this would be the same as the addition of a Standard VII to our elementary school. Standards V. VI, and 'VII .hen forming the junior high school. In other cases, b transference of the classes corresponding to our Standards V and VI had been made to the high school, these classes with the lowest form at that school, then constituting tho junior high school or department. More -frequently, however, tho junior high school was organised as a separate institution, and it was this form of school that was almost always recommended to me. Tn Montclair, New Jersey, I hud the advantage of seeing iliesa three types working side by side, ! and Dr. Bliss, tho Superintendent of Education in that city, was very pronounced in declaring, as a result of his experience, in favour of the separate unit system. Ho declared it to be his Intention to alter types one and two, and to establish them as separate institutions at the earlies, opportunity. “ ‘Shop’ work is a distinctive feature of practically all junior high schools in the United States. Tho following were tho forms of industrial work that was most commonly provided—Woodwork, carpentering, etc., prin.ing, applied drawing, metal work, machine shop work, electrical work, pattern work, brick work, cement work, motor-car repair, forge work, painting, cooking, and sewing. The ‘shop’ sometimes consisted of one large building in which four or five of the above wore placed side by side. Sometime* there was a separate room for each activity. I enclose u ground plan of -he former. I was very much impressed with the keen interest displayed by the pupils in those shop activities, and with the remarkably good work that many of them were doing.

"One advantage of the local system of taxation that exists in the United States for school purposes is that school activi- . ties can be quickly inaugurated to meet the wants and needs of the community, zn one pchool that I visited .he parents had expressed a, desire that the children should be taught music a- school. Music rooms were soon added, pianos were purchased, and lessons in music were provided. Similarly, ‘shop” work, such, for instance, as motor-car repair, is provided to meet a local demand. “from what I. saw of these schools, the claims made on their behalf were fully justified, and I have confidence in recommending the institution of similar schools in our Dominion. I would, however. strongly advise tha- if it is decided to start them, we proceed slowly, setting up such a school in only one or two of our largest centres for a beginning, and that before this is done the course of studios and the correlation of that course with the Work of the elementary schools below and with the high school or the technical college above, should be carefully considered and. arranged.”