The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1914-02-27
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Z GOVERNMENT PLANS
Z CITIZENSHIP TRAINING
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With the cooperation OF the ma
tional municipal league and other or
ganiZatiCns long interested in the
problem of education for citizenship,
the United States Bureau of Educa-
ton Is undertaking a comprehen-
siye study of the whole problem of
civic education. The work will be
under the immediate direction of Mr..
Arthur w. Dunn, now of New York,
who made for himself a national rep
utation some years ago by his work
in this subject in the public schools
of Indianapolis.
In this field of activity the gov
ernment bureau of education hopes
to do officially and systematically
what has heretofore been attempt
ed by a number of organizations
working independently. Many civic
associations throughout the United
States have been agtating in be-
half cf education for citizenship;
valuable results have been obtained;
and many communities have made
important experiments in improving
citizenship through the schools and
through other agencies. The bureau
will seek to coordinate these hith
erto separate efforts; TO bring CO.
iu,laInn1ant on
has prevailed; to make known every
where the results of civic education
so far accomplished and to formu
late a constructive plan for definite
work in this important field.
One of the most pressing problems
in citizenship education is that of
properly equipped teachers. There
are few teachers that have had the
requisite special training. 1t will be
one of the vital tasks in the new
work to find out what can be done
to train men and women, whether
already in the service or just pre-
pairing to teach, for the definite re-
sponsibilities and possibilities of di-
rect instruction in citizenship.
Present methods of teaching civics
will be carefully investigated. Whe-
ther it is sufficient that children
should knew how the president is
elected, or that they should be able
to recite the constitution; to what
extent modern social and civic ques-
tions-clean streets, pure water, milk
supply, fire protection, means of
transportation, CO. operation, suffrage,
divorce, etc.-are to be considered:
These are the sort Of questions to
which the new corps of Investigators
will have to give some attention.
Special effort will be made to re-
port the many attempts on the part
of progressive communities to give
all school subjects more civic val
ue. In, Kansas City, Kas., for eX-
ample, the chemistry course in the
high school is in effect a course in
practical civics-such things as wa
ter and milk analysis, with Their
significance in community life, are
and high school students
serve in the municipal laboratories.
Cleveland teaches municipal prob
lens in the biology course. Indian
apolis has a course in community
in the elementary
schools. Vocational education and
school hygiene both have civic pha-
ses of immense Importance. These
and other practical matters in citi-
zenship training will be carefully
examined.
In announcing the bureaus new
work Commissioner ClaXton points
out that in the larger sense all eiu-
cation is really educa.io for cltl-
zenship; that not only is citizenship
co-eXtensiye with effective
in general, but that "the
hnal Justification of public taxation
for public education lies in the train
ing of young people for citizenship"