Evening star., 1934-07-16
BY THOMAS n. HENRY.

body, education OF the mind, educa-
ton of the charaCter-but little edu-
cation Of the infinitely complex body
mind character pattern. which is the
real human being Here is the sig
nificant point OF this whole departure
In public education. Hitherto a child
has been considered as a sum-a body.
plus a mind. plus a basic emotional
pattern But everybody senses sub
ieCtively that such a sum of parts is
a hypothetical thing with no coun-
terpart in nature. The actual system
which constitutes the individual is
complex weaving Of all the parts
reacting upon each other.
The emotional pattern as well as
the intellect plays part in the child's
mastery Of reading or spelling. The
intellect, as well as the character,
plays a part in the small boys activi-
ties as a member of the neighbor-
hood gang. Proficiency in algebra
does not make a good citizen-but,
taken together with many other
things, it may be an essential bit of
equipment for any particular good
citizen.
Falls Below Possibilities.
Take. for example, a simple case,
often encountered. A boy happens
TO be in a class of intellectual su-
periods. He cannot keep up with
them. His course is one Of continual
failure. There Is none OF the Stimula-
ton. intellectual and moral. of oc-
casional triumphs. One result is
likely to be that the whole subject
matter of that class becomes intense
ly disagreeable. The boy. always dis
couraged, falls below his own intel
lee hal possibilities. He learns much
less than he is able to learn. He de-
velops a feeling of inferiority. 1t
does not end here. II his character
equipment happens to be of that sort
he may give up to a life of failure, al
ways expecting to fail, since he has
been conditioned to it, and conse-
quently more than likely always
actually to fail. 1t would perhaps
have been better if this individual
never had gone to school at all. so
far as his relations both to society
and to himself are concerned.
But he might take quite different
tack. The dull brain might be COM
bined with an aggressive character.
He might seek, and find, successes in
the activities of the gang and end
up as a robber of gas stations. etc.
1t is not natural for man to ac-
cept failure without seeking way out
and the way out is as likely as not
to be anti-Social. If it happens to
be a road of retreat rather than agrees
sion it leads to a perpetually miser-
able individual Education is just as
concerned with enabling a man to
live with himself as to live with others.
Would Go in Own Group.
The technique OF remedying such a
situation, as described by DR.. Frank
w. Ballou, superintendent of schools,
who will be in direct charge OF the
character education project, would be
to place the boy in a group OF ap-
proximately his own intellectual at
tainments where he would have a fair
share of success. Moral behavior and
school progress would not De con-
sidered as disconnected things, They
would be tied together in treatment OF
the individual as whole.
Most of the problems which would
ne encountered probably would be
rather more complicated than this.
All sorts of things enter into the de-
velopment of the individual as whole
home life, play life, effects OF motion
pictures, nature of outside reading, etc.
A recent study, for example, has
brought out the fact that a large per-
centage of American criminals are
native born of Immigrant parents. In
school they absorb American Ideas OF
living. At home the foreign culture is
preserved. There arises a conflict be-
tween the two and a criminal career
is one solution of this conflict. The
development of other solutions is one
of the objectiveS OF character eouca-
ton.
Another problem concerns how far
character can be trained along the
same lines as intellect-by study and
understanding. A few experiments
have indicated that there is an i'm
provement of moral behavior with un-
derstanding and that the boy OF high
intenigence quotient is somewhat less
likely to so to the bad than one OF oull
intellect.
Hope to Check Crime.
! The object of Senator Royal S. Cope
land in securing an appropriation for
character education here was that
something might be done in the
schools to check the increasing wave
of lawlessness in the country. Natu-
rally a start will be made with those
children who are obviously anu-soclaI
in their tendencies. There are a few
in all the schools. None Of the schools
/ selected for the experiment have more
/ than an average number of them. For
most Of these children good deal OF
data is already available with which
to make up the individual ''prohles,
data from the Juvenile Court, the
3 Child Guidance Clinic, probation and
truant officers, and others.
/ But character education is not
something for the obviously problem
/ children" For that matter, every
b Child ana every nIIIlhIl bcAAAS' ID a
problem. 1t is proposed gradually to
extend the system until it embraces
the school system as whole, as
! techniQues are worked out and data
/ becomes available.
/ II is no longer proposed 70 teach q
! child algebra OF geography for them
{ selves alone. II Is proposed to teach
a way of life. OF which algebra and
/ geography are elements. Above all
/ it Is proposed to consider the child as
! q whole realistically. II Is all frankly
/ experimental-not so far as technique
is concerned, but in the application Of
the technique to large group.
Character education is by no mean;
q new departure in the world.
Probably Earliest Form.
1t probably was the earliest form Of
education. From the beginning train
ing of character and training OF In
teIlect have gone hand in hand with
the chief emphasis, through mos
of human history, laid upon tbs
former. The formal education o.