The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-07-26
VOCATIONAL TRAINING.

We hear a great deal now about
what is commonly called voca-
tional training. By that expression
is understood a training that will
fit the pupil for the sterner phases
of life. Vocational training is the
catchword Of the hour. 1t sounds
serious, and in truth it is grave.
We should be the last to decry
such a training for our youth; it
is necessary, in a way, to fit the
rising generation for the material
interests Of life, if we wish to
keep step with material progress.
There is danger, nevertheless,
of OVERRIDING this vocational train
ing crusade. The danger lies pre-
cisely in the exaggerated view
many persons take of this matter.
Far be it from the ordinary editor
to bark back to the days Of yore
with wistful regret and to become
'laudator temporis acti, Sc pu-
ero." But try as one may, it is i'm
possible to divest the mind of the
conviction that true education
consists in mental and religious
development. Here we are speak
ing simply of the former. The
meaning is that we are getting
further and further away from the
idea of personal culture in our
education.
Formerly gentleman was al.
ways and everywhere a man OF
culture; now he may be simply a
money-maker who has surpassed
his fellows in business acumen OF
cleverness. In overalls he was a
gent )" in frock coat and top hat
he has been metamorphosed into
a gentleman. 1t would be wrong
to forget that culture has ever
entered into the composition Of q
gentleman. True, a gentleman
may be a man of simple acquire.
ments; but the sense in which we
use the term at present is that il
connote a certain degree of men
tai development superinduced by
a careful training in the potter
things of life.
1t is well that schools for voca.
| tiOnal training be opened and
supported by our people; it is well
also that such training be i'm
parted to our youth in order that
they be not unfit to cope with the
world of commerce and business
it is not well, however, that toe
much stress be laid upon this ma
terial part of their education. II
is not well, nay, it is harmful to
make these schools take preced.
ence over a thorough training that
will ensure culture in the broad
sense Of the term. Such materi.
alistic proclivities have had their
evident result in the status OF
present-day life. This is the age
Of strenuosity, of "red blood" OF
athletics for it's own sake, of the
material, the brute strength OF
the species. The Athenian will
ever stand before us as beauti
full figure of the combination Oh
brain and muscle, with the
supremacy of the former. Voca
tional development will tend tC
promote mere material progress
unless it be leavened with the
powerful force of mental growth
unless it be sweetened with some
thing higher than a mere agility
and alertness born of shrewdness
from contact with the world. We
should not lose sight Of the fac
that religion is more closely re
lated to the mind and the will thar
to the body and its perfected
faculties. The recent convention
of the Catholic Educational Asso
citation made a point Of insisting
on this vocational training. We
trust, however, that the beautiful
papers read anent higher educa
ton will also have their effect
and indeed, in a far broader field
AS Catholics we should not lag be
hind in any form of real progress
but we should beware of following
blindly where others lead, lest IL
time we find ourselves too closely
allied with those whose cry is
"Great is Bel"