New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-24

many poor parents who would other
wise resent the apparent loss OF time
and effort on the part of chlld
physically able 10 work and thus TO
assist in bearing its share of the lam
lily burden.
The first aim OF popular education
should be directed toward producing
practical results. Unskilled labor IS
the cheapest kind Of labor. Skilled
labor usually means productive labor,
because behind the individual there Is
the impetus OF intelligence. guided by
knowledge. acquired as the result OF
education in some form. The trend OF
instruction in the higher grades
should, therefore. be toward providing
such store of useful knowledge OF
practical things as will prove of ma
terial assistance 70 the individual when
he commences 70 earn a livelihood.
The tendency TO educate our youth
of both sexes for clerical work is
somewhat marked. Such training
dooms the individual TO enter into com
petition for a place in the ranks OF
unproductive labor, notwithstanding
that skill may be required. The cleri-
cal labor market is overstocked and
teeming with those who have entered
the race and who have realized the
hopelessness of their cases almost
from the onset. Vocational training
will do much 10 relieve the situation,
and the time which the unsuccessful
seeker COR work will be obliged 20 APP
, plv TO additional school studies may
i well be directed to some line Of voca-
| tional training and Will be. time well
spent Il may not be necessary 10 &C
uuire much more than a liking for
some branch Of trade. but the latent
feeling or taste, once aroused, VIII
grow and develop. and, in the end,
serve the purposes OF the individual by
directing his natural inclinations and
proclivties toward pathway along
which he may travel toward liveli-
hood or to economic independence.
The purposes of the course Of study
IN either the public elementary or high
schools should not be. necessarily. the
graduation of a child, desirable as such
a purpose may be. Every grade and
every part of the course OF study
should Of itself represent some phase
or factor complete and concrete IN
character. True, no subject Of In
struction can he exhausted gin any
single grade OF the course, but. a.
least, the subject should be so dealt
with as 10 form crystallized mass,
in contradistinction 10 dependence
upon additional efforts in a higher
grade 10 reach a crucial point or a
possible stopping place.
A high school course is particularly
susceptible of such treatment, because
Of the departmental method ofiinstruc-
tion and because of the pOss bility OF
concentration on the part of The stu
dent 10 certain lines OF study. This
may mean. in the case Of a pupil un-
fortunately situated. as herein de-
picted. who is pupil only because he
cannot procure work for the present.
and whose expectations Of high school
studies are limited TO what he can
obtain In one year, that he could elect
20 take just such subjects as would d.
rectly benefit him in the walk Of life
which he may have chosen 10 follow.
Thus he would have the opportunity 20
concentrate and 10 perfect himself
along some specific line OF useful
knowledge.
Notwithstanding the hardships 10
himself and his family, realization OF
the added efficiency which such pupil
will thus acquire may Offset the in
conveniences and even distress 20 be
encountered. In the end this may prove
20 be not only a blessing in disguise.
but also the ultimate means OF placing
him in a better position IN the world
than il the European war, the lack OF
work, the cold and the hunger had
never existed.