Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-30
ZEAL FOR COMMON GOOD
HELD BIGGEST NEED TO-DAY
Training of Young Through Closer Co
operation for Welfare of All Tomorrow
Urged Upon Nations Educators.

there go countless other elements, M.
GLIDING newspapers. magazines, current
literature. drama, social life and aEntase-,
ments Of all kinds, / am limiting cur
consideration here TO the one innuereA
which supremely Affects our children,
the schools.
Today's world is. Of course, the prod
uct OF yesterdays schools. This Is
something we are prone to forget. 1t
Is also tragically true that today's-
schools are the reflection Of toaay'ss
world.
MoIding Power Of Schools.
II is this failure TO recongntze the
molding power of our schools which
marks the prevailing lack Of educa-
tional craftsmanship. With but the
rarest exceptions, we look upon school
and college both as means Of prepar-
ing youth to make q living Further
more, we hail the individual and bend
every effort to see that hts peculiar
needs, even his idiosyncrasies, are
needed.
No one could quarrel with this indi-
naturalization II 1t were producing on
the whole an improved type Of, man.
Business cycles, however, among many
other problems certainly open the.
question as to whether this is so. One
wonders why the immense research ia
cilitieS Of American universities are not
concentrated upon this type Of prob
lem rather than upon many abstrIIse
futiliGieS.
1t is not because in stressinx the
progress of the individual to self-sup-
port we have not yet succeeded in
American education, as European lead
ers feel they have also failed. in i'm
buing students with q sense Of the
common good. In Europe government
service is bred In the bone Exannira-
tons hold that out as o reward Five
thousand young Englishmen are needed
every year for the Empire" Though
many go Fundamentally and devotediy
into this service, no inconsiderable
number take 1t as the simplest and best
means of security
On the Continent 1t Is the chief de-
sire OF perhaps most who attain the
highest grades IN school and university
to become permanent part Of the pre-
Valling bureaucracy. Then, too, there
are the armies with their compulsory
military training. These virtually force
as necessary part of his education.
Lack Of CompuIsion.
In our country. however, every bow
and girl is free as the wind There is
certainly no compulsion from without
and little or none from within to serve
either the state or any one else.
III Is well that we have this free
dom. Compulsory service Of any kind
would tend TO kill the spirit that les
back Of our amazing technical ad-
vances. Furthermore, it would prevent
the growth of the social sense which
we must set about to develop. Az eooa
as we realize this, we shall have
dropped almost the last shackles. and
De ready for such educational proeress
as the world has never known.
europe feels this need Of q social
sense even more keenly than we. and
IS drifting into more and more btlreaII
cracy as means Of meeting it. Social
ism and Communism both, even where
most oppressed and suppressed. are
gaining strong footholds.
Back OF both Of these plans. lies the
compulsion Of the individual to live
according to what the leaders conceive
to be the needs of the group. Both are
an answer blind answer, as I be-
neYe-to the excess of indiyidualisrn
There IS growing tendency n this
country also to force the individual 20
group sense. Whatever we may think
OF prohibition it Illustrates exactly this
trend. II arose from fragrant CORPORATE
and individual abuses of liquor. and to
cure these, the American majority pro-
ceeded TO try to wipe out the use! Here
is another instance of the signal fail
ure Of our education to train individuals,
with 2 sense Of the common good, 20
have them realize that personal liberty
ends where public injury begins"
Clearly, then, the emphasis In Amer
lean education must change so rs 70
include with the efforts to produce
chiefly an efficient individual. the
definite purpose that he shall also
be fnbued with sense of the COM
mon good. Educational statesmen must
be developed who will simplify aims.
who win get away from complex. otter
silly platitudes, and set before our hosts
OF teachers and children q simple at
tainable ideal, and then get them al
working toward means to accomplish IL.
Social Zeal Much Needed.
The greatest need In modern educa-
ton is undoubtedly q zeal for the com
mon good, deep purpose to become
socially useful. Add this to the free
dom OF the individual to develop his
powers to the utmost, and we shall fnd
the type of man who will conduct his
affairs with a wisdom not now generally
apparent. It is of course one thing to
see and to state this need and quite
another to suggest how it may be met.
The main principles seem fairly clear. >
Once these are accepted, details and
methods will follow as the night the,day.
Parents, teachers. administrators and
students themselves will become CO..
operators in vast educational enter
prise-even the development in our
country OF finer and better men and
women.
The principle toward this result
which needs most emphasis seems to
me TO be cooperation Theoretically
perhaps good many educational lead
ers accept this, but actually they Law
thef stress upon methods and devices
which elevate the interests of the In
dividual as over against those Of the
group.