The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-09-25
Education
Continued from page u

Three questions arise. One il
that in this era Of c0mpetition
for bertfs at college. how do the
college connected graduates fare
in obtaining entrance? Second,
many Of the children attending
the college training schools ary
probably sons and daughters 81
college professors. from which
fact one may assume they have
richer home backgrounds and
more inherent brain power than
the students in the regula
schools. and wouldn't one expect
them to do well In college any
way? Third. what is the educa-
tional status Of those graduates
who do not go on to higher edu-
cation from the college training
schools?
It might be we'll to insert here
that these articles are not in
any way intended to Slight the
real value in including such sub
jects as creative art, music. for
eign languages, etc. in the ele-
mentary hool curriculum.
Their appreciation and under
standing aid UNNECESSARILY is
enriching life for all people.
These articles, rather. are in
tended to deal only with the OBJ
tanning Of what is usually called
a basic basic education.
Mayer Book Cited
For, according to a review of
Schools, published in 1861, I'M
derestimating the ability of chill
dren to work and learn is zap
pallingly prevalent" in U. s.
schools. while on the other hand
the "fatuous basal reader, +"
the frustrating of curiosity in
educational literature and a
host of other educational made
quacies, result in the fact that
"about one-third of all U. s.
children fail to achieve mini
mum standards in first grade"
This failure often continues and
deepens.
BY contrast, according to Ad-
miral Rickover as reported in
U. S. News and World Report,
Sept. l, 1862. English children
of II are one or two years ahead
of American children who have
finished the sixth grade. Re
member they started at age
five. He also states that schools
in England devote themselves to
providing a basic education that
prepares children for the reali-
ties of life. and leave the rest
to 1.-THE home, church and COM
munity."
A book entitled Education or
Indoctrination' written by Mary
L. Allen in 1855 charged that
education was being replaced by
social indoctrination and mental
development by personality de-
velopment. She closed her book
with the statement that in the
next ten years the United States
would probably have to make a
choice between education or in
doctrination.'
One may conclude that America
is, as she predicted, in the
throes of making the choice, if
one accepts as evidence such
articles as that found in Time
magazine. August 81, 1862, p. 81,
which details nine experiments
being tried in various schools
this year. These include the fol-
lowing starting smart three
year-eight-month olds to school
in a communicative experiment
at Warren, Pa; ungraded class
es from kindergarten through
high school at Newton, Mass;
inclusion of geometry in second
grade at Burlingame. Calf. Of
astronomy in fourth grade at
East Whittier, Calf, etc. etc.
The growing idea of returning
to traditional school subjects
with greater emphasis on them
and more effective teaching of
them, of placing children in lev
els of learning where they indi-
vidually belong. of challenging
each group on its own level, of
teaching children when they are
ready to learn, even if before
the age of six, surely heralds
nothing but a return to sanity,
to plain common sense.
Children, like adults, to para
phrase Noel Coward. are equal
only in that they have the
equality to be unequal. Ungrad-
ed schools (which spur stu
dents to complete subjects at
their own speeds) or separation
of students into ability groups
would seem to be nothing but an
application of common sense. It
would seem logical to let chill
dren compete with those they
can profitably mpete with,
rather than ssh G n ing them
willy nilly by some demo
cratic" alma hafic or hirthdoto