Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-08-19

tions. The other classes of pupils,
who constitute a large majority of
all, have not been given the training
| that is most beneficial for them, and
hence they have not been properly
vocationalized. That is to say, the
schools have not properly functioned
in their lives and they have not re-
ceived the good that they should
have obtained. Their needs have
not beer taken care of by the tradi-
tional school work In many cases,
this has caused the dropping out of
school, especially on the part of
those children who are concrete
minded" rather than book mind
ed" In a good many of these cases
there is the judgment that after all,
that school can not give anything fur
Their than is needed The child him
self has come to the point where he
wants to live less in terms of books
and more in terms of things and peo-
pie. His awakened activity makes
him eager TO see more of the world
as il actually is and the school in
his case does not supply the necessary
and desirable means. Practical con
crete training of one kind or of an
other which will prepare him direct
ly for business, for farming, for shop
work, etc, is what he desires because
he is not going on into professional
or managerial positions. He wants
something that will function directly
into his life and which will help him
in having a service to sell besides
just his manual labor A good many
SrhnnlG n a hIn IN piuA thic Ia
sired training because of the lack of
facilities, and many pupils fall by the
wayside without having received
much help that will enable them to
adjust themselves industrially and
socially to conditions as they exist.
AS result, in a good many of our
schools, only from 20 to 80 per cent
of the children who enter the first
grade graduate from the high school.
1t is indeed a sad thing when boy
or girl takes up life's work without
being properly prepared.
The clear duty and responsibility
of the school is TO give the kinds of
work which different types of pu-
pills need. All children can not pos
olpig bt tdol III lHt anu
il is not democratic to offer only
such work as will lead TO the profess
sions, or which is largely desirable
because of its culture value. AL
though this work is needed in the
school, il is not the kind by any
means that will satisfy the needs of a
good many of the pupils. Our own
school here in Audubon has partially
solved the problem in Offering a nor
mai training course. some work in
agriculture, domestic science, etc,
but added adjustments of this char
acter should be made as opportunity
offers itself The man of tomorrow
must have a better. broader, and diff
ferent kind of training than did his
parents if he is to succeed under the
changed conditions. The school is
the only institution which can offer
such training Differentiated courses
must come so that the special needs
OF different types of pupils can be
satisfied. II is legitimate. for in
stance, to train one to become an ed
ucated worker with material things,
and to teach that manual work is
Just as honorable and desirable as
any other. In rural state like Iowa
this is especially true. Agriculture
and home making should be looked
upon as professions just &C much
as the law and medicine. Our lead
ing educators are convinced that just
as much training and development
comes from the right kind of voca-
tional work as in the study of the
so called culture subjects. This be-
ing true, it is certainly the duty of
the school to give the proper kind of
vocational training to the type of
pupil who needs it.
Lack of space prevents the pub