The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-02-22
) EVELO OPMENT OF ED UCATION TOLD BY DR. THOMPSON Narrow and Partial Education Must Be Destroyed, Says
 Noted Teacher. URGES HIGH SCHOOLING
 FOR CONN. CHILDREN Also FaVOrs Pre- vocational Work for Boys at Widest
 Possible Range.

In a forceful and comprehensive ad- dress delivered in the auditorium of tie high school Wednesday afternoon Dr. Frank V. Thompson told Bridge port public school teachers and prin- cipalS that the two big features of American educational development will be the junior high and continua- tion schools.
 The dev' lopment and adaptation to life of these branches of the school system would help to lessen the aLarmingly large percentage of boys and girls who at present do not reach the high school. This percentage is now in the neighborhood of 90 per cent, he said.
 Russia is today in a state of pit fable collapse" he declared, because the lack of education for the masses has prevented the development of a constructive program to carry out their political and social ideals. We are in danger of creating a ruling class that shall have in some degree the potentialities for destruc- t5on that have brought Russia to her present situation.
 What we need is the development of that type of junior high school which provides a prevocationaI try | ing-out in the widest possible range | of occupations academic, commercial and professional, as well as indus trial'
 The speaker said that he was not worried about the 10 per cent that mach hiCh cPhnn1. bot Io ing cared for with reasonable success under the present organization. The burden today is the 90 per cent con stituting the mass of the people. Dr. Thompson pleaded with the tell ing force of fact and logic for "the extension of the continuation school until every boy and girl who leaves school before arriving at what may | be called welI-rounded citizenship shall be cared for educationally until that state has been reached" | Massachusetts has fought for ten years for compulsory continuation schools This year with Gods help we shall win. What we shall then have won for Massachusetts must come for the country as a whole''
 "The situations created by the pres ent war;" he argued, ''are bringing home to us with tremendous force the fact that our present educational or ganization and policy are not ade- quate to create an efficient democracy democracy that can survive in the conflict with world autocracy. "We must come. to see that effi- ciency is not monopoly of autoc- racy. We must not discard efficiency | of organization simply because that efficiency and that organization have been most highly developed by au- tocracy. We can and must adapt the machinery of efficient autocracy to the needs of a democracy which must be made efficient or perish.
 "Whcre the education of this coun- try has most conspicuously failed has Ibeen in the failure to recognize the
 many phases of character and activ- Iity which make up the complete cit
 izen, and to provide proper training
 for each.'
 Following the analysis of John Dewey, these phases are, he showed
 production, consumption or apprecia- tion, the parental relationships, anc citizenship.
 "In the past we have trained almos exclusively for the appreciation or en' joyment phase.
 Knowledge for the sake of knowl- edge has been our motto; the ope1 book our symbol Such education l!
 narrow and partial. It must not bt
 destroyed, but it must give way II
 port to education directed toward th'
 other equally important phases O life.'