Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1912-12-19
INDUS TRIAL WORK
IN GRADED SCHOOLS
BY s. a. cHALLMAN, STATE IN
sPEcToR or GRADED
SCHOOLS


that the public as we'll as many teach
ers have become utterly confused as
to Where it applies. So vague is the
termlnology at present that all kinds
OF work from paper cutting in the pri-
mary grade to technical work in The,
high school is included under the
same term. So comprehensive is the
general scheme of Industrial educa-
ton that it affects in q marked degree
the content and plan OF presentation
OF almost all our elementary school
subjects. In addition to this the
plans and purposes of teachers of in
dustrial work in our public schools
are not sufficiently formulated to al
low for anything like unity of aim or
method
If, however, we were to wait until
by virtue of the forces now at work,
we had come to some agreement as to
what constitutes effective industrial
activity in the public schools, we
would lose much of the spirit and en-
thuslasm which comes from entering
upon movement when it is new and
Vigorous. Enough has been accom-
pllshed so that the smaller schools
may with a reasonable degree of GER
tainty enter upon the work without
making any very serious mistakes.
In the very nature of the case
these schools are unprepared for any
extensive program both as to facili-
ties for work and as to teaching
force. The beginning must, there
fore in most instances be small and
depend to a large extent upon the per-
sonal element of the teacher.
The Problem
Recognizing the individual apti-
tudes and capacities of children for
the various callings in life and also
recognizing the responsibility of the
school to these children, the educator
OF today is confronted with three
J fold problem. It devolves upon him
to provide such courses as will train
first, the worker who merely deals
with the article produced, or the re-
suit to be achieved; second. the me-
J chanlc or professional man who in ad-
! dition to the workers problem adds
the conception of the means by which
1.-The work is done and understands the
| processes by which it is done; third,
the man who furnishes the ideas by
| which vocation is made Of such SER
vice to his fellow men, that in addi-
ton to his own contribution he may
employ either or both of the other
| Two classes in his enterprise The
stenographer and the horse-shoer be-
long in the first class, the chemist and
the foreman OF furniture manufac-
| tory in the second, the physician and
1.-the captain Of industry, be he man
ufacturer, trader, or farmer in the
third
With these divisions clearly in
mind. the question of how to arrange
courses so that we may train the chill
dren who are to fit into any one of
these positions in life is an exceeding
ly complex one. 1t is evident that
the work must be of such a nature
that it compels thought, but the
thought must necessarily vary in in
tensity in accordance with the condi-
tions previously stated, affecting the
capacity of pupils, and in addition
thereto in accordance with the sub
j sect under consideration, and the vi
sion of the teacher.
Of these factors the last is posi-
bly, the largest, as the teachers vision
and the ability to read the progress
of each Individual in the class will
determine the actual value of the
work done. If the idea is simply to
teach the making of models by means
of which the practical results may be
worked out, there is little hope of ev-
Ter seriously influencing the efficiency
or character of the pupil If its ain,
is merely that Of producing skilled
workman by practical exercises, the
mechanical attitude is. apt. to dwarf
the intellect and soul of the learner
Not what the industry may get out
Of the man, but what the man gets
out Of the industry ought to be the
touchstone of the success of our en-
deavor. Not what others do, but what
the community needs should be the
guiding principle of the undertaking
Nature and Character of the Work
| The ,schoolroom and the equipmen!
may be inadequate, and the opportun:
ity for the kind of work that counts
may; be small, but a teacher who is
really imbued with the spirit of doing
such work as will bring pupils in con.
tact with their industrial surround
inua will en,,~nnn1,nf nuorv rhchoo1a Tn