Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-07-07
HOPE OF AMERICA
IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Subject Discussed by Dallas Lore
Sharp at Delaware College
Summer School.
Special Correspondence OF Every Fvening


Summer School in Wolf Hall last night.
His subject last night was Education for
Democracy" Tonight Mr.. Sharp will
lecture on Twenty years Teacher and
tomorrow night on THE Magical Chance
In his lecture last night Mr.. Sharp said
the hope of America ls the public schools
and that the general public must be
educated for the responsibilities Of citizen
ship. lie criticized the private schools Of
New England as taking away the oppor-
tunity of becoming more democratic by
nll children attending one common school
and said il would eventually have To come
TO that To improve conditions and citizen
ship. The speaker argued that the spirit
OF America must be formed before the
child is through the public schools
"Out OF the schools he said even more
than out of the churches comes the
thoughts that make us what We are
nationally" Mr.. Sharp in part said,
The average physical nge OF man is 33
his average educational age is is, or
thereabouts. A few men 20 on 10 school
after 1S, but they learn nothing fenda-
mental, for theories, methods and facts
are not fundamental: they belong 10 the
useiuI, the professional We live on and
learn, but the lessons from IL 10 10 are
only review and an application of
those we learned from o 10 10.
Il do not believe any system Of govern
ment can be better than it's average cit-
zens We are not born Democratic. We
have 10 be educated TO II. We are born
aristorrats.
Certainly no democracy can be better
than its educational system. for democ-
racy, more than any other political
program, Is program Of education
The ur,trff r,f stpspf,grurts - fhr frft4t ff
education, and never an inheritance |
You can get the spirit Of aristocracy by |
inheritance Mr.. Sharp said every child |
whether male or female iE born n Presl- /
dentin possibility and in this connection |
referred To the nominees of the two big /
political parties both from Ohio and both /
receiving their education in the common /
schools. Money birth and breeding do /
count in America but very little Look
nj these two men great many things /
come 10 us through money. birth and
breeding. but not the essential things
Education and purpose count a great deal
more We cpnnot make the United
States true Democracy without educa-
ton The real end Of American education
ls the knowledge and practise Of democ-
racy whatever other personal ends It may
serve
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"Qur present school concepts are %
as present school appropria-
tlons and programs. We must reconceive
the nations educational needs Ms recently
we conceived her military needs; and we
must oreete an educational machinery
as effective rs the military machinery to
meet the needs
'Amcricp is now divided educationally
against itself: wrong IN It's aims; weak IN
its purpose, feeble IN its support fatering
IN its faith and NOT only divided but
hostile, IN ita educational plans IL il
had enough thpt Is per cent Of our chill
dren do not pttend school at all, 10 ~ not
so bad for democracy however, as that the
other So per cent should Re divided ~
their education by private. parochial, in
dustrial, and the regular public schools.
until VIC can be said To have no common
program, no common edu-
cational purpose, no common edu-
cationa ldeel, no common school. Yet
what else but a common school be the
head of the corner Of democracy? We
must go to school. we must all 20 10 to
school, we must all 90 together to school
with common language yes. and COM
mon course Of study, common purpose,
faith, and enthusiasm for democracy.
characterization is not the great
problem before us. A few millions of
foreigners IN America need TO be Ameri-
canzed, but AL the millions OF Americans
in Americe. need TO be democra atized
Nothing less than this dare be our cduca-
tional aim.
Il have not worked on a new course Of
study. This Is plea n program. One
thing | know; we mus have q common
sehool for all the people; and all the people
must attend a common school, until
every American child has a common high
school education. This must be done
before we are safe for democracy. There
will be need of special schools a-plepty-for
the subnormal; private schools for the
feeble minded: vocational schools for the
slow and stubborn but for the normal.
one common school only; for rich and
poor, up to the end of the high school,
by. which time we are pretty nearly all
that we need TO be for purposes of democ-
racy."
ELASTIC PRO GpAM.
Mr.. Sharp said the new school program
should be elastic. Courses he said,
should be reduced to one universal course
and the school years reduced so that the
age of the average child in getting
through the high school would be 10
years He said that he would do away
with the so-called college preparatory
course, as any course that prepares a
child for citizenship should prepare him
for college.
The vocational training courses Mr..
Sharp claimed are menace to Democracy
Moreover" he said "the vocational
training is German, no matter how
we try TO clothe it. Such
training was in Germany and
is here. a deliberate attempt to create
working class, Vocational education be
fore the end of general high school course
is education backward, the training of
man into a machine, soul into pair of
hands" Let the boys be educated in the
schools the speaker said and they can
learn the trades when they go to he shops
after getting their education and leaving
school. Heads of industrial plants, he
said would rather have it that way.
Continuing he said, There must be
aboring class, educated as laboring
lass and I'VE must all belopu IL isn't /