The sun., 1919-07-13

;
Notion," BY President Arthur TtoininO
Hadley Of Yale University IN Harpers
lMa0dstno. Copyright 1919, Harper &
brothers
HERE is one thing which We can
and must do. without waiting
for agreement as to the prin-
Iclples on which the American college
course can be arranged. We must
provide better teaching. This Is the
need which most impresses itself on
students who return from the war to
complete their college course. Except
where they are taking up professional
studies with a view of shortening the
time which they must spend in the law
school or the medical school, they are
choosing their courses OF instruction for
the sake Of the men who teach them
rather than for the subjects taught. AS
q result OF a years experience In the
army they are impressed with the fact
that the specific knowledge that you get
in school courses counts for compare
lively little that the methods and ideals
Of work count for almost everything.
The great obstacle to first-rate teach
ing is the short supply of good teach
era. The reason for that shortage OF
supply is that the salaries OF the teach
ing profession have been unfairly low
for many years and are more conspicu-
ously so now than ever before. This
difficulty is not peculiar to our colleges
and high schools. It Is being felt
through all the parts of our educational
system. And as long as the present
salary scale prevails the number or
hrst-class men who go into the teaching
profession will be too small to meet the
wants of the community.
ta al vi
remedy must go to the roots OF the
matter. 1t is net enough to pay in
creased salaries TO a few first-class men.
We must enable the first-class teacher
10 earn more as we'll as to receive more.
We must give him the chance to work
under conditions of maximum efficiency,
10 that he can furnish good teaching to
as large a number OF students as posi-
Bile. To secure this result there must
Sbe active cooperation on the part OF the
pupils. Why is a law class of 200 an
easier thing for a first rate teacher to
handle than q history class Of one-third
the NUMBER Because every student in
the law class has a personal interest
In learning all he can. 1t Is for his
obvious interest to listen to every sug-
gestion Of the professor. to follow all
the discussions of the class room as
closely as If he himself were taking
part, and to spend his spare hours In
the library reading cases which Illus
trate the subjects taught, with only that
minimum amount of guidance which will
enable him to find his own way. This
i Is why law teachers do efficient work.
and why they can be paid salaries which
are higher than those that any other
teachers as n class command The law
student knows that he himself Is re-
sponsible for nlneteen-twentieths of the
work of his own education. and that
no excuses will be accepted by the
courts IL he fails to meet the response
bility.
But public opinion in America too
often encourages the college or high
school student to think that the teacher
Is responsible for making him study. II
, he fails to pass an examination his par
ents and friends say that It was the
fault of bad teaching. If he is censured
for laziness they say that the teacher
should have made the subject more in
steresting. Public opinion in Europe
places full share of responsibility for
failure upon the student. AS long as
we fail TO do this we put our teachers
at a disadvantage and compel them to
work under conditions of minimum eff
fciency. To expect first class results
under such system is folly.
VI HlBHeT tuuCdtlOb VI
the community can never be solved un-
less we realize that it Is a national and
not an individual one. an economic and
not a psychological one. We have sew
eral hundreds of thousands of young
men and women to train each year. We
have only limited number of teachers
competent to train them, and a limited
portion OF the nations wealth which we
are prepared to spend on such training.
To utilize the means at our command.
We must put the responsibility for edu-
cation upon the pupils and the parents
OF the pupils to an extent which we have
hitherto been unwilling to do. For this
purpose there are three means at our
disposal. each of which has been tried
and proved servIceable In other coun-
tries.
The first Is an adequate and intelligent
use OF examinations. There is a wide
spread prejudice against this whole sys-
tenn because examiners have set papers
20 unskilfully that they were worse than
no test at all. But the fact that the
system has been misapplied or admin
istered by unframed men must not blind
US TO the fact that an examination paper
set by a man who knows his business.
and preferably not by the teacher him
self is the most potent method OF getting
the pupils to do as much as possible of
the work themselves instead of leaving
It wholly 10 the teacher. The thing that
has kept German students hardest at