Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-12-01
COOPERATIVE EDUCATION.


''The watchword of the nineteenth
century has been Individual Liberty,
that of the twentieth will be Co
operation"
All nature teaches that the chief
function of life-the great object of
being, toward which all the vital forces
tend-is the propagation of the species.
The next great duty of life Is the
proper care and training of the young
so that they Will be fitted to lead
proper life. Now 1t seems a little
strange at first when we realize that
the most important lesson which the
individual can learn, both for his own
good and also for the good of posterlty
is TO know how to live, that greater
care is not given, both by the parents
and by the community in general, to
the fitting of the young for real life.
Cooperation, as means and as
method of education, has not been
sufficiently tried. In olden times the
education OF the children of the mobiles
was often entrusted to slaves. In mod
ern times so inharmonious generally is
the school-life OF the child with the
real life which 1t is compelled to lead
perfect system of education. The
school world in which the aver
age child lives for few years is as {
foreign land or rather as dream-land
when compared to the real world in
which it is compelled to live out its life.
AS n general rule parents pay either
directly or indirectly sum of money
for the education of their children,
and feel when this is done that they
have discharged their obligations. In
many instances those who have the
direct charge of the training of the
young are not in closest sympathy
with the parents. AT any rate there
is always the element of chance to be
considered. We pay SO much and II is
hit or miss: and no one knows which,
till the smoke has cleared, and then
1t Is too late to fire again. This risk
is no doubt the main cause of the
great conservatism which prevails in
education Next to religion, education
Is the most conservative of our insti-
tutions.
Notwithstanding the rapid progress
of our times and the trend of the
thought of today. there is yet wide
gulf between the school and the every
day life of the Individual. The many
educational movements of our time,
such as Chatauqua Circles, systems OF
Manual Training, and University Elk
tensions. but lend additional evidence
to this conclusion.
To my mind the solution of this i'm
portant problem Is to be found in Co
operative Education, and my object Is
to call attention to few principles
which seem to me to bear out this
conclusion. In a community like ours
with the young people organized into
| Improvement Associations and other
societies of a similar purport. 1t seems
to me that 1t would be quite feasible
to get all, both youth and adult to
unite in a grand Cooperative Eduoa-
tional Association for The general good
and advancement of all. Such an as
ISOLATION. II properly conducted.
would bridge or fill up the great chasm
which now yawns between the school
life of the child and the everyday life
of the men and women. Such an as
| ISOLATION need cost no money, but
could be conducted and maintained
by the combined efforts of the individ-
| uals composing 1t.
Let us for moment imagine CONF
'munity organized into a Cooperative
| Educator Association: Every man,
| woman and child belongs to the soci-
ETY. and has personal interest in it's
| general welfare. Every individual no
| matter how illlterate, knows some
| thing or has had some experience
which the rest of the community does
not know or has not had. The black
| smith can tell something about iron;
| the carpenter, of wood: the mason, of
| stone; the shoe maker, of leather; that
| woman knows something about max
| ing bread; this one, of butter: the
other. of preserving fruit, etc. Every
| Individual has his little private fund
| of knowledge or secret. and the object
would be to elicit this FOR the benefit
of the whole. What valuable fund
of practical information could thus be
brought together IL each would con-
tribute his mite to the general store.
IL Il 10.
the giving, but rather the richerl But
of far more Importance than this would
| be the respect for honest toll which
| would grow up in the community
through the recognition which all use
| full callings would receive by the So
ciety. And thus very soon every In
dividual would become n recognized
unit Of value IN the commonwealth.
OF course in a short article Il is pos
sible to indicate but few OF the lead
ing thoughts bearing upon Corpora
tive Education, and no attempt can he
made to- show in detail just how such
"A system should be put into practical
operation. But 1t seems plain to me
that a system could be worked out
upon the lines Indicated which would
utilize the good in each individual for
the public and private advancement OF
an concerned.
Perhaps IT viii make my position
clearer and more effective to place as
a summary the propositions upon
which my argumeu for Co-operative
| Education are based:
Flrst--The sum OF the KNOWLEDGE Of
the individuals of community is
greater than that OF any one individ-
ual Of that community.
Second r. Each Individual knows
something which no one else In the
community knows.
rhird-This system would c-use to
ayse n respect for all honest callinge
and make the school life and every
day life one.
Fourth The Great Community
school would cost no money ns il
would be Of necessity self-supnortiui.
ORSON HOWARD.