The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-11-27
SOCIAL STUDIES .
IN HIGH SCHOOLS

made to meet the requirements OF
present-day citizenship and the needs
Of boys and girls as growing citizens
is told in a report on the Social stud
les in Secondary Education just pub
lished as a bulletin Of the United
States Bureau Of Education Of the De-
partment Of the Interior.
This report is the first to appear OF
the final reports Of the Commission on
the Reorganization Of Secondary Ed
ucation, which was appointed in 1919
by the National Education Assoc1a-
ton. The commission, organized in 16
committees which include in their
membership more than 200 ssuperin-
tendents, principals, and teachers rep
resenting nearly all the states Of the
Union, has been at work continuously
since its appointment. The report on
social studies comprised a six-year
program, embracing the work Of the
seventh and eighth grades and that of
the present four-year high SCHOOL.
While the civic-educationa1 value Of
all the social studies (such as history,
government, economics, and geogra-
phy) is kept in the foreground Of the
report, especial emphasis is given to
organized civics instruction, Of the
Community civtcs'' type in the
eighth and ninth years. The fact is
emphasized, however, that the pupil is
b member not only of a local commu-
nifty, but also Of national commu-
nifty. TT would be inexpressibly I'M
munfty life and relations should sup
plant a study Of national life and ma
tionaE civic relations. The two aspects
of life should clearly supplant each
other. - Questions of health, of
education, Of industry can no longer
be considered in their local bearings
alone. but must be dealt with in the
light Of material policy and to the end
of national efficiency
Other topics dealt with in Part II Of
the report are the civic relations Of
vocational life, the adaptation of civ
les to rural conditions, and the re1a-
lions of civics to history. In connec-
ton with the first Of these topics it is
said that the chief purpose should be
the development of an appreciation
Of the social significance Of all work;
of the social value and interdepend-
ence of all occupations; Of the social
responsibility Of the worker, not only
for the character Of his work, but for
the use Of it's fruits; of the opportuni-
ties and necessity for good citizenship
In vocational life; Of the duty Of the
community to the worker; of the ne
cessity for social control, governmental
and otherwise, of the economic activ-
tiles Of the community; and of the
part that government actually plays
in regulating the economic life of the
community and Of the Individual"
For the last year Of the high school
the report proposes a concrete study
of problems of democracy" These
problems will naturally vary from
year to year, and from class to class,
but they should be selected on the
ground "a of their immediate interest
to the class, and (2) of their vital i'm
portance to society" 1.-THE purposes
of secondary education and not the In
trinsic value of any particular body OF
knowledge should be the determining
consideration. = It is far less
important that the ado1escent youth
should acquire comprehensive know
ledge Of any or all Of the social sci
ences than it is that he should he
given experience and practice in the
observation of social phenomena as he
enc0unters them; that he should be
brought to understand that every So
cial problem is many-sided and COM
pier; and that he should acquire the
habit Of forming social judgments only
on the basis Of dispassionate consider
alton of all the facts available. This
= can best be accomplished by
dealing with actual situations as they
occur and by drafting into service the
materials Of all the social sciences as
occasion demands for thorough un-
derstanding of the situations in ques-
ton"
Part w of the report deals with
standards by which to test methods,
the preparation of teachers, and the
availability of text materials.