Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-10-27
NEW ERA SCHOOLING
By. H. Addington Bruce

NTHILE the World war was in progress,
wv it will be remembered, many believed
that the titanic struggle was certain
to usher in new era for the civilized world
an era Of greater democracy and higher
idealism And felt that to meet the
demands of this new era the educational
system should be radically changed.
One who thus felt was the German edu-
Gator, Paulsen, at that time directing educa
ton in Hamburg. He decided to try a dar-
ing experiment somewhat on the order of
that made in England by Principal O'Neill,
but larger scale and holder in that the
teachers cooperating in it were instructed
not even to attempt to interest their children
in any particular subject of study.
eve don't really know what the children
ought to learn Paulsen argued. "The world
is in state of fux, and no one knows the
future of these children. The only thing we
know is that they human beings, with a
right to live their own lives
1--WE shall give them freedom to live as
they want to live. We are not interested in
what they learn, are interested in the de-
velopment and free expression of their
souls"
Four schools in Hamburg were selected
for this experiment in educating solely by
indirect suggestion and the influence of the
school environment These schools have re-
Gently been visited by an American educator,
Mr. C.. W. Washburne, superintendent of
schools in Winnetka, Ill. Here is something
Of what he has to say regarding the unique
institutions in Hamburg:
children come to the school at the age
of six. The beginners start with a specified
teacher, but as they grow older they choose
their own teachers.
There are no grades. no regular classes,
no promotions. The children simply come to
school and live five six hours day with
their teachers. They talk freely with each
other. thew
They ask questions and the teachers are
there to answer them.
eff they do not want to learn to read or
write do something in arithmetic, no one
forces them, no one even tries to urge. them
to learn. In time every child does want~to
read and write, the teachers, say, and they
wait until this desire appears.
1.-THE children generally are well behaved,
though never in the conventional schoolrOom
way They are no less orderly without a
teacher than with one. They seem to read
and write and do simple arithmetic reason
they are more spontaneous, more real. than
in most schools and that they express them
selves much more freely"
[ would advise parents-and certainly
every school official and teacher-to send to
the United States bureau of education, in
Washington, D. c., for a copy of Mr.. Wash
burnes report on his investigation of these
Hamburg schools and other experimental
schools in Europe
Everybody knows that our school system.
as at present organized, is not producing the
results expected from it. Mr. Washburne's
findings. it seems to me, help both to make
clear why it is not producing the expected
results. and also to suggest some modifca-
tons that might prove of distinct value
although perhaps notifications not quite so
extreme those adopted by some of the
schools he visited.
(CODVrieht 1927