The Elk Mountain pilot., 1924-09-04
FOR LIMITING EDUCATION


into live thing by real teacher
With the present almost inevitably low standard Of
the high school it is imperative for the colleges
qure further general training Public high schools very
wen prepared in anything This is unquestionably "a
handicap to the college we'll to the student himself
Better high school teachers urgently needed partcu
larly men who will make of teaching life work.
Suggested Remedies
The increase in numbers of students out of proper
ton to the college facilities for accepting them the
fault of one it natural condition which be
dealt with There only two ways of treating this
problem in the right manner. Either the institutions
must increase their facilities fast enough to keep
with the rapidly increasing student bodies else the
number of students accepted for training should be
strcted to total which may be cared by the
slowly growing facilities. The state universities
adopt the first alternatives private institutions ought to
adopt the second The trouble with the first plan that
the institutions which growing rapidly the
number of students first and prepare them aferward
This leaves them always at least behind in equip
ment In of the largest universities today the
tions large and numerous that lower classmen
get little than training and that very often
from classmen who have been appointed temporary
Instructors The larger the institution the greater the
tendency to handle the students few Of the
private institutions beginning to restrict their
bers to workable total but Of them still prefer 70
train thousand poorly when they could really educate
about five hundred Notably Stanford and vassar have
limited their numbers and admit only the students who
show the highest scholastic achievement
OF course many will rise up to say that it isn't dem
ocratc to restrict the number of students Intelligence
isn't democratic either Since it is neither possible
advisable to give college education to a 1t should be
given to those who will profit most by the training In
this real leaders will be developed to mankind
Sa far, infalble method has been found to deter
mine who shall go college. 1t is going to be very diff
cult not impossible, to find method which does not
fail and then; but this is why should
not try to find working basis for selecting the ap
pcant certain number who have the greatest possi
btes for leadership and capable Of the highest
velopment perfected intelligence test certified rec
ord of the students studies and other activities through
out his high school course statement the circur-
stances under which he has worked statement as
to his qualities of character such ambition, industry
this combination would probably the
caliber of the applicants far better than the
TEN of entrance examinations the fifteen units
quired work. Many colleges and universities making
changes along these lines in requirements In
doubtful cases, all of these records might be supplement-
ed by personal interview before committee of seec
tion. method of this be of great service
also in helping those with special endowments to find
their into special training This is very important
matter and the solution of it will affect undergraduate
training greatly 1t is impossible educate students in
crowded classes by the lecturequiz plan The future of
rstclass undergraduate training lies with those colleges
which, first of ALL content keep within reasonable
bounds to numbers
An Inequtable Plan
While the college may be the nfortunate victim of
ceumst in the of the students poor prepara
ton and the inordnate growth in numbers of students
it has but itself to blame the present organ
ization of college work. l.ts' hs-Efz
Partly from stress of numbers and partly from a
mistaken idea of efficiency in education
work in colleges has frequently been conducted
the wholesale PLAN Large numbers of students vary
ing ability and preparation have been grouped together
in the class and have been given same amount
of work to do This requires fewer instruct
and enables colleges carry larger bodies
but it asp gives tn of the worst features in
our system c.- - s.tTs
When class contains more than thirty students or
even than twenty five it is very difficult the
structor to have all of the students day.
result is that teachers get the class once
during the hour others get recitation from the entire
class every two three meetings. while good many
whole terms without recitations from ALL A few de-
spair of getting discussion from great and
gradually fall into the lecture quiz plan In the of
the generally accepted theory that student gets no
preston without expression system has gradually
almost unconciously gravitated one instruction
rather than education. Students both expression
and discussion The process largely
of memory requiring very little thinking the part of
the student Very little, nothing to stimulate
initiative in the individual, teach him how weigh
the ideas of others, how evolve ideas of his own
In Short the tendency is "bud in (nstruct) him
the ideas of others instead of drawing OUT (educating
his own ideas and developing his natural intelligence
Initiative needs to be developed far possible but
today attend college who have little native capacity
upon which to build
The second evil resulting from large ungraded class
is perhaps than the have just mentioned
First second third and fourth class Students with
different degrees of ability and preparation, all have the
work to do and handled together in the same