Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1916-07-29
PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARK
ANSAS
No. z. Vocational Education,
by A. M. Jordan, Assistant Professo,
OF Education, University of

| Arkansas.
| me democratic spirit which has at
ast reached education says that there
must be equality of opportunity in
school work as we'll as in any other
work. What does this mean? It
means that all people must have that
preparation to live a life socially eff.
nclent. 10 be socially efficient man
must be able first of all to make a
| living; second, he must have prepare.
ton to fulfill his civic obligations,
ana nnally must be able to enjoy his
! leisure time. Note that in this philo-
sophy economic efficiency comes first.
And indeed why should it not? A
man who is unable to make a living
cannot be good citizen. Poverty IS
olrectly responsible for third of the
crime in our land. In fact, of the in
mates OF the prisons of the United
states as a whole, 76 per cent have
no definite occupation. On the other
hand, those of us who have followed
the great reformatories of our land
know that when these young erfmi,
nails are taught vocation along with
some other thing of lesser importance
that sometimes over SO per cent 20
out into the world and make good
citizens. Nor is that all. There are
ten million people in the United
States who have not enough to eat,
nor enough to wear, nor a respectable
place to live in for all the year. This
Is directly attributable to lack Of
training along lines that are neces.
sary. Now turning for minute or
two to the second phase of the ques-
ton, that of good citizenship, we find
that there is little done in the school
looking directly to the meeting of this
demand. A little text book civics.
something about history, and there
you have it all. Civic righteousness
demands healthy, moral and inter
ested person. Hygiene, community
c1vfcs, history that shows the present
on the background of the past cur.
rent events; these are some of the
things demanded. There is scarcely
a turn made looking directly to the
broader moral obligations of the com
ing citizen. In the enjoyment of leis.
ure time there is needed good music,
play, love for good literature, art
and other things.
But the case for vocational educa-
ton does not have to be argued: It
speaks for itself. The means of OBJ
tanning these ends is the trying ques-
ton. How is it to be done? Can 1t
be done with the equipment we have!
Will it cost more money? Can we
get the people interested? Along
just what lines will we proceed? Now,
vocational education is broader than
many people would think. It includes
professional education, home making.
commercial. Industrial and agricul-
tural
Professional education is well cared
for in our country. The universities
throughout the land prepare persons
for law, the ministry, medicine, teach.
ing or for whatever else one needs.
1t is said that America has as good
universities as has any country.
AO 1AOoL 1AlPO1 ICAL OCCupdtlOu OI
great majority of the women of our
country is home making, yet up to a
few years ago there was little If any
thing done looking directly to this
work. OF the children that die an
amazingly large per cent die before
they reach the end of their first year
These deaths are preventable in many
cases. If almost all women are to be
mistresses of homes sooner or later,
and if they are to have the care of
children they most certainly should
have some sort of direct preparation
for this work. Most model house.
wives" are very wasteful. Many of
these things could be corrected by
means of good course in Home Eco,
nomics. It seems that if the kitchen
is to be made place where drudgery
is not, something of the scientific and
artistic side of cooking must be en-
phasized. Sewing, of course, is need.
ed, for while clothes do not make the
man they certainly improve him in|
many ways. It is said that II you
take dirty "down-and-out" and dress
him in respectable clothes he will act
quite differently. Then again in sew
ing as in cooking, when the aim is a
work of art drudgery is to large ex.
tent lost. The home Is the consumer,
the ultimate consumer. Whatever en-
tiers the home is directly concerned
with the woman. Is the food pure
which she feeds her baby? Is the
milk full of bacteria? Has the water
been thoroughly cared for? These are
some of the questions that the mother
Is asking. If she is concerned about
these things how vitality is her life
bound up with the life OF the commun-
ity! again, the woman does most OF
the purchasing for the household. And
how necessary it is that she know
something about textiles, about pur-
chasing, about supply and demand, !
ard about all those things which de.
termine the purchasing power Of a
dollar.