The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1910-02-18
THEGREAT PROBLEM OF SCHOOL
AUTHORITIES
Prof. Axline Tells of the Rapidly
Changing Conditions Of Our
Public Schools
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be made nationally it is necessar
2 that the true conditions and tru
ideals of the school be understood
Without a knowledge of the true end
and aims of education, and with
out action in accordance with thes
ends and aims much more harm thai
= good may be done by the introduc
ton of untried reforms. A monke
wrench is good thing in its plac
but rather disastrous in the cylin
der of a threshing machine.
The rapid advancement In all line
the last quarter of a century ha
brought about change in the life O
the people of the country to which
we are SO close that we can not oh
Z tain a full realization of it. Thu
concentration of wealth in the hands
of the capitalists has brought abol1
q change In the commercial and soc
iologfcal conditions which are of ire
mendous Importance to every citizeg
j the country. Specialization in in.
dustries has caused q demand from
the commercial world for special
training which many have believed
50 important that all other, consld-
erations have, been allowed to sink
into the background. Keeping these
conditions in mind let US for mo-
ment consider the. ideals which should
govern the schools of the United
State today. / take it to be self
evident fact that the object Of the
public schools is to develop good citi-
zens. | can see no other purpose for
the expenditure of so much money
as has been expended by the several
states of this country, unless for the
purpose which have mentioned. The
development of good citizenship then
is the real purpose in view 1t is,
perhaps, necessary for us to analyze
Indictments ofgood citizenship. Good
citizens, I take 1t, possess these three
chief requisites: Good character,
for without good character man can
not be what he should be to his coun-
try; political and civic knowledge, for
without this knowledge no man can
tntelligently perform that browning
act of citizenship, the casting of his
ballot; ability to earn ones living,
for it is a matter of prime necessity
that one be able to take care of him
self and his own. / take it that
there are no truer words in the good
book than those in which it is said
He that pr0videth not for his own
is worse than an infidel." If L have
not erred in my conception of good
citizenship, the next question to be
considered Is the relative emphasis
to be placed upon each of these divis-
ions.
OF the three classes which are
most powerful in shaping the policy
of the public schools, the teachers.
statesmen and business. men, 1t is
probable that the teacher lays more
emphasis upon the first element, that
of good character; the statesman,
upon the second element that of civic
the business man, upon
the third element, that of business
efficiency and ability. For many
years the teacher has had practical
ly absolute control of the movements
which have developed the ideals of
the public schools. IN consequence,
the knowledge of economics and
civics, and the training for business
efficiency have not received the at
tention which they should have re-
ceived. Today the business man.
failing to obtain the recruits neces-
sary for his office, factory or shop,
Is demanding that we turn out Of
the schools boys and girls who are
able to take the necessary places in
.hese offices, factories and shops. So 4
nsistent has this demand become that
we find the subject of INDUSTRIAL
taking up great share of (,
he time in the discussions of every |
gathering. The tabled II
educational pendulum has swung from
he altrustic extremity to the mater {
alistic. II
BY dear experience we have learn 4
ID that demand, however. insist I
mt, may do for that which is no. 6
light; at the same time, so insistent
) demand lays claim to honest con- I
liberation. The great problem Of t
chool authorities, today is to deter "
nine how much attention shall be Il
iven to this demand; how much e
tress shall be laid upon industrial I
raining as compared with the train t
ng which will fit the child for civic II
lie and with the training for good y
haracter and culture. 8
The past ten years have seen s
1onderful growth in the attention 3
iven to manual training, growth 9
lmilar to that In the attention to g
brought about by the visit s
the business men of Massachusetts, v
} the London Exhibition Of 1897 or A
the advancement made in Germany o
fter the Centennial Exposition at Il
when her representative
.ouleaux reported to Berlin, "Our a
Khibits are schlecht und billig," Il
heap and nasty. 10
Educators are realizing that there Il
both culture and discipline In hand u
ork as well as brain work; or. rath- Il
:, that hand work necessitates brain d
ork Of the highest order and that e
lere must be place in the school "
n the concrete thinker as well as Il
II the abstract thinker. w n
The rapid and successful introduc- o
on Of manual training In the form a.
carpenter work, forge work, bas- y
etry, weaving, wood turning, ETC., 81
connection with the great demand q
n skilled workmen caused by the -