Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-16
Proportion of Man Teachers
Growing in the United States

be more able to deal with the adult
problems that will confront him.
Education Is Growth.-When
child grows from what he is one day
into what he is the next day, the great
progress of education is taking place.
AS long as its growth continues, tduca-
ton is developing. It Is the duty and
function of the school teachers to see
that this growth Is encouraged to con-
tinue day by day. If this growth Is a
constant process during school life,
then it will continue after the child
leaves school. Growth that begins In
school and continues throughout life Is
the great goal of modern educations
Education Is q Social Process
Education in America must be ecuca-
ton for democracy. IF education Is life
and growth, then it must be life within
o social group. 1t was believed at one
time that education was best accom-
plished in a quiet place. where the
learner was uninterrupted. It may be
true that learning takes place under
such conditions, but education is much
more than learning. It Is living. Schools
must be democratic communities,
wherein children live natural, demo-
cratic lives with their companions ana
grow into adulthood with good citizen
ship a part of their experience. In
sharp contrast to this method Is the
one which would have children learn
the rules and edictS for good citizen
ship. These rules may be taught in
democratic schools, by teachers
who are autocratic. Hence, the differ
ence between the two methods is that,
in the first case, the children, through
experience, are good citizens. while by
the second method, through knowledge,
hnu tn Io rood
ZenS.
Education Is the Continuous Recon-
struction of Experience.-The activities
of each day are based on past expert
ence, Every day Of a child's life Is con-
ditioned upon previous days. However,
If education Is growth, some new ele-
ment also is added. When the new ex-
perience is added to the old, 1t is all re-
organized in the light of the new ex-
] periences. This forms new basis for
experiences to come later. The recon-
, Struction or reorganization Of expert
ence adds to the meaning of the expert
ence and increases ability to direct the
course of subsequent experience"
Thus, in view of Deweys philosophy.
the teachers problem, as far as child
and subject matter are concerned, is
to see that the child and not the cur
riculum is served. In other words, when
the child and the curriculum are In
conflict, it is the curriculum and not the
child that should be adjusted. -
The modern philosophy of Dewey
and others who are recognized as au-
| thorities in educational matters criti-
cizes the old-fashioned idea of educa-
tional values, which resulted mainly In
representation, an example Of which
is cited by Dewey as follows:
when child is assigned certain
problem and told that he must accom-
plish it, because it will help him when
he grows up, he will naturally think
that because it will be long time be-
fore he is grown up, he will have a
long time to solve the problem. How
ever, if a real problem is assigned to
the pupil, and he sees the connection
between the problem and his present
status, he will do the problem now,
and not some time between the present
and adult life"