The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1916-07-13
Vocational Column
MORE INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION
NECESSARY
BY Burton Kelly

united states are engaged in soma
industrial pursuit for the sole pur-
pose Of making an honest living.
Thousands Of these people are work
ing along in a sort OF mechanical
way, doing possibly the best thew
know, but still are not very success.
full. Possibly many OF them are in
the class called educated" but their
condition is not what il should be.
think one great need of the peo.
pie OF this country is more educa-
ton in the industrial line. MANY
young men and young women spend
the first twenty or twenty-five years
OF their lives going over a lot ot
hard and technical studies. tho
greater part Of which is forgotten
before middle life. and consequently
has been OF but very little use 90
them. The reason for this is that
a large part Of what they study has
no bearing on their life work. or
business. In fact the school spiri,
has had a tendency in many cases
to divert the attention from the
practical side Of life.
think the school courses should
be so altered as 10 give the young
people chance 10 learn Something
that will be Of value 20 them in their
respective lines OF industry. or
course we must have our academies
and colleges with their classical
courses, but il is impossible for all
to be doctors. lawyers, professors.
etc. and consequently we should
have more vocational schools and
more vocational studies in our pub
lie schools.
We only have 20 examine the rec
ords and observe the progress OF
countries which emphasize the in
dustrial side Of education 10 see its
good results. For example we may
consider the schools Of Germany.
In that country every one is taught
some useful trade or occupation
something adapted 10 the needs OF
their particular locality and we can
see the economic results OF IL at the
present.
In preparing course Of study we
'a1not adhere 10 any fixed set OF
outlines. Different localities have
different problems just as the noun
tain people have problems different
from the people Of the "Blue Grass
Region" The people OF the city
have a different problem from the
people Of the country.
The boy who has completed a
high-school course evidently has q
greater knowledge OF classical
things than he otherwise would
have had; but he is very little bet.
ter prepared 20 make a living in the
industrial world than the boy who
had not had this work. Neither IL
the boy who has had no high school
work as we'll prepared as the one
who has, and consequentS, when
we consider how comparatively few
boys graduate from high school, we
see why society must suffer. In my
opinion a combination OF the high
school course with an industrial
course would come nearer 10 meet
ing the demands OF the people OF TO-
day
The boy who lives back in the
country and studies the things that
deal with the city is not getting the
things he needs: but nevertheless
this is true in many places. II has
been the custom for so long that the
parents have become used 10 IL and
many object seriously when a
thing practical and useful 10 their
teacher undertakes TO teach some
children.
But these things are becoming a
solutely necessary and IL the couifV
try is to prosper IL must not neg
lect TINS line OF work.
The time is at hand when the
farmer must know how 10 farm his
land probably and at the same time
build up the land, II he hopes to
succeed. He must also be a good
manager, have some business abil-
ity, and be able to meet strong COM
petition.
The world is demanding better
workmen and tradesmen. II is get
ting away from the old "hap-haz-
ard" way OF doing things. People
are paid for what they know as well
as for what they can do. There is
poor opportunity for the mao who
does not know how TO do something
worth while and how TO do II well.
To very large extent our happi-
ness depends upon our success In
life. Homes are made more pleas
ant and comfortable IL there is a
good income. Better education for