Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-08-19
PRESENT EDUCA-
TIONAL TENDENCIES
A Report TO the Patrons of the In
dependent School District Of
Audubon
Object in Making the Report


own community. There is also the
thought that in discussing some of
the desirable plans for our school !
work, there should be goal toward !
which we can direct our efforts. AS .
opportunity for development then Of
fers itself from time to time, these |
general aims can be born in mind, |
and a well-rounded REIMBURSEMENT o.
the school will result.
Changed Social Conditions
There is no intention in the max
ing of this report to suggest that the |
work the school has been doing has |
been inefficient. On the contrary, |
the school has been very successful |
in the things it has attempted to do. |
The leading educators of today are |
convinced, however, that modern liv-
ing conditions force the school to &C |
cept greater responsibilities than IT
has ever had before. The environ |
ment of the boy and of the girl of
today is not by any means what the |
environment of the boy and girl of
4 thirty, forty, and more years ago was. |
The splendid health which so many
of our older people enjoy, their san
ity of vision, their capacity for work,
and their wholesome attitude toward
life in general, came to a great ex-
tent from educational forces not
found in a school house when they
were children. The home and the
community environment of the pres
ent can not extend the breadth of
training in the same way.
If one were to stop and think OIL
the differences in the environment of
| . hn l,tl 80 TOD ~ 1,
the child of thirty, forty, or more
years ago, one could enumerate doz-
ems of such differences which are
each in themselves important factors
in molding life differently. For in
stance, the earlier part of ghe history
of this country deals with the pion-
Ger period. Hard and incessant toll
in order to bring about the physical
| conquest of nature. was The lot of
| aost people The boy and girl OF
nat day were trained TO accomplish
., 81 Ia the 9 hoJl OF experience. \
! cod many OF the things II cd IN tbs
! homes and ON the farms We're mad,
| : 80 4. TE1 dlGiguitie3 onteuded
with. furni he'd plenty 10 do los oye'
! ''r' - auan az alle 10 work. In he |
way OF ;, hoois. he opporlaa.iici foi
Guidance were few, ana whel |
hoo.s Were opened their eS .Ct.i
were usually OF short du.at,oi
iteading w'!siEg aGl ari hmlej
Fa"o fhr Oaiy subjects cnlph4'i Cd |
Familiarity 10 some extent W. |
h.Sa sub 'eGts. d! Tin EuishCd he cG
u atcd from the uacGucated person
The explanation OF This is that lhe,',
"+s little need for much schooling
..tut Cadl .GL3 = those dayS.l II wa
. 3'G.C chen 0 lie suGIc sui H.
many callings without much previous
training outside of what had been
received through daily experience.
In a way, schooling was not neces-
sity. 1t was the school of experience
and not in an ordinary school that
a large share of our successful men
and women acquired traits and abil-
tiles which made ii possible for them
to live sueful lives.
Conditions such as these have ma
terially changed, however, and the
boy and the girl of today live in an
entirely different environment. Ma
chineTy, steam and electricity with all
of their modern developments, have
changed the life of the country won
derfully. The factory system with
all of its improved and labor saving
machinery has provided the neces-
stiles of life more abundantly. In
many cases one man can do the work
OF forty or fifty. The telephone en-
ables a person to transact ten and
more times as much business as for
merly. Railroads furnish cheap
and easy means OF transportation and
the telegraph and cable have practi-
cally eliminated time and space.
Automobiles have made neighbors
of people who formerly thought that
they lived at great distances from
each other. In every way, there has
been an increasing completely in our
living, and the home has become
more and more dependent on trade and
commercial channels for supplying =
its wants. AS result We find that
the boy and girl of today have much
more leisure time than boys and
girls formerly had, and in a large !
number of cases, this leisure time +,
is harmful. This is true for the city
and for the town child, and to some
extent for the rural child. Their
school of experience is not by any /.
means giving them the training :
which the boy and girl formerly re-
ceived.
AS result of this condition. we {
find that the modern school is hav- ,
ing to re-adjust itself quite complete
ly to new industrial and social condi-
tons, and that 1t is having to accept
larger responsibilities than ever be-
fore The word education has come
to have much broader meaping
than what has ordinarily been as {
cribed to it. Our own school here at
Audubon has conformed with this
thought TO some extent by giving /.
normal training work, some domestic
science and agriculture work, and S
other courses. Additional matters s
will have to be considered however,
md +. is with this idea in mind, that I
,his report is made.
Current Criticisms of Schools in
General
We have been hearing great Is
deal in our periodicals and magazines
about the so-called failure" OF the &
schools of this country. Much of
this criticism was prepared by writ &
ers who were extremists and as re- {
suit, they were dogmatic inN their I
statements. Obviously, but little
weight can be given to their opin-
ions. There is kind of criticism, {
however, that can not be overlooked {
and which must be considered. II S
comes from our leading educators,
from a good many of our teachers, {
and from our best social workers. S
They all agree that our schools do S
not serve as completely as they II
should, and yet these same persons 8
agree that the schools are better than
a l. In. he sutz IL