New Britain herald., 1929-09-10
ROGERS SAYS NORMAL PRODUCTS
 MENTALLY LIMITED
Continued From First Page)

Continued From First page) tions nor stand the pace of our in creasingly difficult colleges for wo- men. From the very beginning, therefore, the most intelligent hoys and girls in our public schools are handicapped by oaInG taught to think by teachers whose thinking is inferior
 For most Of the boys and girls 1t probably loes not matter But the saving remnant those who will go onto higher. more SD naializrd cduca- tion. those who would be the lead CTS of the future. come to college with the high school or even gram mar school minds and have to waste precious time catching up. All our American educators admit that the average French and German high school student is more than equal in intellectual grasp and in actual Knowledge to our exceptional col lege junior IL is this Wasteful three-year lag in our education tha; must be eliminated. not by pcGaGO- gic devices but by better teachers, which means, unescapab!y, better raid teachers That, and only that, will bring strong men teachers into the schools in the necessary num- bers
 No one knows better than l the devotion, the idealsm. the self-sac- rifice and selfishness, the laborious consclentiousness of most of our women teachers of long service. They are undcrpaid and overworNed: the human material is often difficult and unrewarding; they have 10 teach, under pressure, all sorts of local fads and fancies; they are be- ing driven mad with ncW-fangled pedagogical experiments. No men, l believe. can match them for effec- tiveness in the primary and grammar grades. or in certain high school subjects.
 CriticiZcs Women's Methods
 But they are not primarily inter ested in ideas, they tend to be pre- occupied with method and details. they have. generally, little inclination for mathematical, political and phil osophical thinking, they have an in clination to insist on abstract beliefs to be accepted docilely rather than the free give and take of criticism. The most common comment of men of college age is: You cant argue or discuss with a woman teacher. There is therefore, an enormous need of superior men teachers for boys and girls of high school age if we are to dsvelop in this country a widespread analytical and critical intelligence which at present does not exist.
 My authority for this is found in Q report published this summer by what is probably the most infuen- tial educational organization in America. the Columbia Teachers college.
 It reveals our American teaching as characterized by "a severe lack of stability, an excessive lack of in- dependence, by reaction manifested by infrequent and confused yielding
 
 inconsistency. and an obvious and significant lack of scientific attitude !, manifested by uncritical reactions along the habit worn and comfort able lines of tradition and authority.' Even in the dreadful jargon of It's phrasng the meaning Of the report is clear. When we remember how greatly our women teachers outnum- Der the men, the application IS, l think. obvious.
 More Men Attracted
 Better economic conditions Tn teaching are doubtless even today . attracting in large numbers college bred boys and girls who have the intellectual equipment the great mass of our elder women teachers lack. Against this must be set how ever, the undoubted fact that the average normal school product ot to- , day. the young woman teacher is inferior intellectually and culturally , to the normal school product of the past. Ony last week a Massachusetts normal school principal said pubHc- 2 lv that the normal schools must r somehow attract q better grade or young woman. From my own eH- :. perience 1 know that many of them, P apart from their pedagogical tram . ing. are incapable of intellectual et- fort, and are, culturally, very linn