The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-07-09

Pills. SuCIle NOL&8SRs IiAHNts
interested in exact measurements and
rigid demonstration as in the uses of
things and the living and open aspects
Hof nature. While there Isl not likely
to be too much science of the disable
and interesting variety, there is be-
Elieyed TO be altogether too much I'm
the high school of that science which
would appeal particularly to- the
specialist.
20 We have come to a point In the
evolution of our public school system
when perhaps the paramount need IS
a. stricter evaluation of the facts Of
.fered. 1t has been altogether too read
lily assumed that the separate items OF
knowledge given in the various sci
#ences are intrinsically valuable.
"As a matter of fact there are the
widest differences among facts as to
their value in helping the individual to
Many facts which. are logically apart
of the extended sciences have but
slight or no actual value in the life
.of the individual. 1t accordingly
comes about that a student who re-
.ceives 100 in a given subject in school
may stand zero when confronted with
actual situations, out Of school. The
misit information of the older CLASH
cal institutions became notorious, but
is there not as great a misfit when a
person who has studied the tadpole
or the interior structure Of the cat,
for months, is unable to distinguish
breeds of cattle or judge the value OF
work horses that pass on the street?
And is not this disappointing aspect
Of science teaching the result of APP
plying college methods to high school
conditions? Is not disappointment due
to what might be called the classical
idea.-in science? Is there not, there
fore, need Of going through u vari-
Gus offerings in science in the second
airy schools and winnowing out such
material as does not meet tests Of ap-
plicability, in the home, On the farm,
or in the factory?
"3. There remains the large social
question Of what proportion industrial
and scientific studies should bear to
the total fund of knowledge offered in
the public schools. Scientific and in
branches prepare especially
for producing wealth. Our civic, polit-
ical and social sciences bear especially
upon the distribution Of wealth; while
the fine arts, ethics, literature, etc,
promote the interests Of the individual
specialization in the high school which
~disregards the social setting of the
student in his after life is evidently
unfortunate. While the production OF
wealth is a paramount social aim and
the ability OF the citizen to- perform
his individual task with efficiency and
| pleasure is an important function of
the public school, yet the Importance
of discriminating and alert citizenship
and well-ordered home and commun-
ity life must at the same time be given
due consideration.
Science teaching in the public
schools, moreover, can readily be
made to serve the double purpose OF
developing general culture and pro-
noting efficiency in vocational occupa-
tons. Science, therefore, should not
be taught in secondary schools .prim
arily for the purpose of impartins
| scientific knowledge for it's own sake
or for, gratifying the students curios-
ity. Where, for instance, economic
plant growth is the end sought, an &C
curate knowledge of the physiology, OF
plants, their development, diseases
natural enemies, and the effect Of fer
! ~tilizers and methods of tillage requir-
ed for their production, etc, Is the
chief consideration. This knowledge
may be considered superficial, from.
the scientific viewpoint, yet for the av-
erage student in the country high
school or consolidated school 1t is
about all that can be given within the
time that. may be allotted to the study
III poSotAJ NAN@ Not5toNaS~ ~ ~NSAS SNS
jecs of euqal importance. On the 9th
er hand, beginning with the study OF
algae and proceeding to the considera-
ton of osmosis and cellular structure
and making free use of the microscopes
Is calculated to awaken keen interest
yet the, student is apt to overlook thu
plant as a whole, and it's economic
production as well, on account of be.
ing absorbed in the study of its struc'
ture and it's theoretical relationship tt
other plants. Doubtless an occasion
al student, possessing special aptitude
may we'll afford to devote his time t
the Winnowing out, of scientific truth!
such as are related to the study O
osmosis, bacteria, fungi, or the variou!
intricate functions Of plant life ant
animal life and do SO with profit tt
himself and to society; but student:
in general AVE neither aptitude no
opportunity to put such a degree o
specialization into profitable use
Moreover, the public schools are no
calculated to make specialists nor t.
rediscover what scientists alread.
have fully established.
some of the purposes of ~introducin.
science in the public schools is to Leaf
the student into a love of nature; t.
create an. interest in n~eighborhoot
phenomena.
For agriculture, n especially TO
elementary agriculture, as adapted 70
the public schools, I question whethe
subject direct, rather than by stric
classification, separating agricultur
into botany. zoology. chemistry, ply
sizes, geology, etc, and presenting eac
different periods of time and by differ
ent instructors. The temptation Is al
ways present, even then, for the i'm
practical teacher to specialize on som
1 40 ~ w a ~ @+ hrn J1nh- of CniagonAAt N Gil a IL
the branch which he likes best, an
about which he knows most. BY S
a doing, the relation that one scienc
bears to others is not SO well under
to correctly c%orrelate, for real usefu,
ness, the scientific knowledge he al
tains from several sciences. This
! more especially noticeable when the
, are taught as separate and distins
subjects BY different teachers. Fe
!. subjects like agricultural science dc
pend Upon practically all of the sc
ences, and they cannot so well /
taught separately in the public schoo.
These matters are not being urge
? upon academic grounds but, instea
!, because Of the. fact that SO small
: schools is designed to enhance the u.s.
| %fulness of the pupil or enlist the er
thusiastic support OF the school ps
irons. s5
! teach from the standpoint of the eff
. cheney of the student seems to be Ii
; mentally small and the education;
! machinery for their production who'll
7 ~inadequate., The instructor fresh fro
the college laboratory rarely unde,
: stands or is in sympathy with the $,
: cial and vocational needs of comnao
8 everyday life. Too often the instru,
tion they offer is adapted for studen
having college ambition, but barren
2 service for the many who muSt&inarn