Vol. LXIX.

No. 5

Socialization of The Schools.

By BORIS BOGEN, Cincinnati.

The general progress of society has been always marked by a change of the forms and by an increase of scope of the different social institutions. The school, as one of the most important social factors, cannot afford to remain stationary.

At present it is impossible to limit the school's activity to the teaching of the 3 R's. The teacher of the day is not an instructor merely but an educator. The school is supposed to have a direct bearing upon our social relations and in a measure is held responsible for the moral and intellectual welfare of humanity.

Leo Tolstoi, while visiting schools in Germany, France, and England, wisely remarked, that if a person should undertake to judge these countries by the methods applied in their schools, he would suppose that the people were void of any energy, self-reliance, and inventive genius, that, in spite of the schools the people do possess all these merits, is due largely to other influences, the street, the press, the clubs, etc. And in many respects it is fortunate that the school system, with the lack of efficient methods with the mechanical tendencies of instruction, should not be the only agency of education.

We are beginning to appreciate the fact that the educational influences are not limited to school alone and that education is not confined to childhood only. Different supplementary institutions have sprung up as results of the demand for an educational activity beyond the scope of the school. It is remarkable how much sacrifice of private effort is put in the realization of these different educational forms of activity, which is chiefly performed by volunteer work. The conditions, however, are far from being satisfactory. The existing charitable and religious institutions cannot fill the demand. Educational influences must not be used as a means for teaching, a certain creed or religion-this, as a rule, is a hindrance to the proper development of character and is contrary to the spirit and tendencies of our modern times.

In many cases these institutions become sectarian and do not reach the people whom they could benefit most.

In New York city especially a great deal of educational work is done thru the initiative and selfactivity of the people themselves. In many cases the accommodations and facilities are exceedingly poor and obstruct the earnest and devoted endeavors of those who are willing to give freely of their time and energy for the uplift of their fellow men. In the congested districts we find hundreds of different educational organizations meeting in the halls in the rear of the saloons or in private rooms in the crowded

tenements.

In 1895 a self educational club was started in Ludlow street. This organization met once a week, pay

ing for a room from a dollar to two for each meeting. As the club was not in position to pay for a certain part of a year in advance it could not secure permanent quarters and was compelled to meet in different places each week. The room which was used for several purposes at different times, business meetings of lodges, weddings, dancing parties, etc., was not well suited for educational purposes.

The meetings were considerably disturbed by the rag-time music from the dancing hall below, at times they were interrupted by the noise from the bar-room. There was a lack of proper light, an absence of ventilation and very poor accommodations for the seating of the audience. Still the club prospered. The lectures given every Friday on different subjects, and the debates and discussions attracted one hundred to one hundred and fifty people. Gradually the club became an educational factor among the working men of the East side. In order to extend the usefulness of this organization, the members divided themselves into groups of five to ten persons, and meeting at their own homes studied special subjects, such as American history, civics, literature, natural science, political economy, and psychology.

Eventually this club found imitators. In 1898 a Workingmen's School was started on Clinton street (Arbeiter Schule). This organization occupied two adjacent rooms on the first floor in a tenement house. The classes were taught by volunteers, and the school was in session every evening from eight to eleven P. M., having an attendance of from 75 to 100 persons. The absence of blackboards, the lack of apparatus in teaching natural science, the benches and tables made by the pupils in a rather primitive fashion, and not even painted, did not produce a very imposing impression. But in spite of these drawbacks, the school was enthusiastically supported. The men and women who taught and the eagerness of those who learned was an inspiration.

This school continued its activity without improving its appearance for three successive years, when it was absorbed by a more ambitious enterprise finding expression in the Educational League, an institution which is the pride of the East-siders.

The Educational League, a school for the working classes, maintained by private donations, where teachers offered their services gratis availed itself of the possiblity of utilizing one of the public school buildings for its purposes. Proper pressure was brought upon the board of education and the school on Allen street was assigned for the activities of the Educational League. Unfortunately the arrangement did not prove successful. After a short time the Educational League was presented with a bill for janitor service amounting to sixty dollars a month. This imposition was, after considerable difficulties, combated and the Educational League was freed of further expenses. But the relations between the leaders of the League and the Educational author

ities had become strained, and the former decided to look for quarters elsewhere.

At present the League occupies its own house on Henry street. Its school numbers about forty teachers and over three hundred pupils. It is a pity that the work of this institution did not become a part of the city school system. But there are many similar enterprises which ought to be under municipal auspices; which continue to be carried on by private efforts.

The crowded streets in the congested districts of New York city, the prosperous business of the liquor saloons, the congregation of boys and girls in the dingy rooms of dancing academies, candy stores and so-called "clubs", the meetings of mumerous "gangs," the loafing around the cheap theaters, all indicates that a large part of the growing generation in the large cities is brought up without proper influences and is left to shift for itself. The problem is becoming too complicated to be left in the hands of private enterprise. The situation is becoming dangerous. Strenuous measures have become imperative.

In the face of all this to see the school buildings unused more than half of the time with all the facil

ities in accommodation that by right belong to the people seems to be a very unfortunate condition.

The time is ripe for the school to be transformed into a social center. The people are beginning to understand the need. Soon they will knock at the school doors and demand that they shall be open all the time and not for children only. They ask for a broader social use and activity.

The free lectures for the people are a grand beginning. The vacation schools and school roof gardens are a step forward. Clubs, recreation rooms, public gymnasia, reading rooms, etc., will inevitably follow. The school buildings must be used to their utmost capacity and the schools developed into social neighborhood centers.

The objections raised against the socialization of schools are of no real significance. It is said that the school-rooms must be empty at least half of the time in order to be properly aired for the pupils who congregate in large numbers during the day. Much is also laid to the overtaxing of janitor's service. It is claimed that the rooms cannot be kept clean if they are in constant use, and so the obstructionists argue on. That school-rooms can be used without any great inconvenience is proven by actual experience of private institutions. The Educational Alliance in New York city makes use of the class rooms for different purposes. In some institutions the class rooms are turned into a gymnasia, the manual training room into club quarters and even a dancing hall. The conservative's love for the screwed down desk is after all but a poor block in the way. The time is not far distant when the school desk will be stored away in museums with other instruments of child torture. The recent introduction of hidden board space, blackboards with shutter, does away with the objection of teachers who fear that the blackboard will lose its usefulness and that they will have extra work in restoring destroyed work. The modern cabinets for instruments and apparatus make also possible the careful preservation of all the appliances

of the school-room.

There is no necessity for educational clubs and other social gatherings to be restricted to private dwellings. If the schools will open their doors the extra expenses in maintaining the buildings, light and heat, janitor service, etc., will be insignificant com

pared with great benefits which will flow from the new conditions.

Besides the increased educational influences which the schools will be able to wield, the school itself will be greatly benefited. It will bring the school in closer contact with the home, which is the very basis and foundation of our social life. The parents will become more interested in the activities of the school, will appreciate more its workings and will better understand its progress. It is now "up to" the people to demand the extension of the scope of their common schools.

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Education in New Zealand. By JAMES HIGHT, M. A., Lecturer on Political Science, Canterbury University College, N. Z.

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New Zealand is a British colony, with responsible government, situated about 1,200 miles southeast of Australia. It is 104,751 square miles in area, or nearly as large as the United Kingdom, and the estimated population, in May, 1904, was 894,389. It has a foreign trade of about $130,000,000 and exports chiefly frozen meat, wool, gold, dairy produce, wheat, oats, kauri gum, phormium (flax), and timber. It was proclaimed a British colony in 1840, and its tem of education was placed on its present basis in 1877, tho, of course, many modifications have since been made in the superstructure. The three grades of education-primary, secondary, and universityare in New Zealand closely connected and are gradually being worked into a compact and unified system. There is little room left for private enterprise; the education of the people is monopolized by the State which provides endowments of land and annual grants of money towards defraying its cost.

Primary System.

The primary system has been "free, secular, and compulsory" since 1877. At the end of 1902, there were 132,262 children enrolled on the books of the State primary schools, the number of such schools being 1,708. The being 1,708. The average rate per cent. of attendance during the year was 84.9, and the parliamentary grants for teachers' salaries totaled upwards of $2,200,000; for the same year the buildings grant reached nearly $250,000, most of it being spent in duties. The salaries of the principals of the larger schools range from $3,000 to $4,000, whilst those of assistant masters vary from $600 to $2,000, the average being about $1,200.

The University of New Zealand.

The University of New Zealand is an examining body which grants degrees on the results of examinations set by eminent scholars in the United Kingdom. То prepare students for these examinations there are four teaching colleges affiliated to the university, one each at Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland.

The successful and rapid growth of the university has been very marked. At the end of 1902 there were in the four affiliated institutions 54 professors and lecturers: the university has (since 1876) conferred 1,016 degrees on 819 persons: there were during 1902 more than 980 undergraduates pursuing the university course: and a total number of 1,434 came up at all the examinations of the year (inclusive of matriculation). The population of the Colony included, at the census of 1902, 85,124 persons between the ages of 16 and 21 years; and the figures given above are not at all unsat

isfactory for a young country. The Arts course extends over three years for a bachelor and four years for a master. There are also courses in Law, Medicine, Science, Music, Agriculture, Mining and Engineering (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Metallurgical). There are good technical colleges in connection with the teaching institutions. Thru its employment of British Examiners of high standing, the New Zealand university enjoys a reputation higher than that of any other Australasian university. Among its present examiners, for example, are Sir W. Ramsay in Chemistry, Professor Beddard in Zoology, Professor G. F. Stout in Mental Science, and Professor York Powell in History. The salaries of the professors at the teaching colleges range from $4,500 to $2,500. The university has produced some graduates of note, among them being Dr. Ernest Rutherford, professor of Physics at McGill university,

Montreal.

International Congress of Education. Universal Exposition, St. Louis, Sept. 19-25, 1904. The idea of the Congress grows out of the thought that the subdivision and multiplication of specialties in science has reached a stage at which investigators and scholars may derive both inspiration and profit from a general survey of the various fields of learning, planned with a view of bringing the scattered sciences into closer mutual relations. The central purpose is the unification of knowledge, an effort toward which seems appropriate on an occasion when the nations bring together an exhibit of their arts and industries. An assemblage is therefore to be convened at which leading representatives of theoretical and applied sciences shall set forth those general principles and fundamental conceptions which connect groups of sciences, review the historical development of special sciences, show their mutual relations and discuss their present problems.

The speakers to treat the various themes have been selected from among the foremost European and American scholars. The discussions will be arranged on the following general plan:

Opening of the Congress on Monday afternoon, September 19. Tuesday forenoon, addresses on main divisions of science and its applications, the general theme being the unification of each of the fields treated. These will be followed by two addresses on each of the twenty-four great departments of knowledge. The theme of one address in each case will be the Fundamental Conceptions and Methods, while the other will set forth the progress during the last century. The preceding addresses will be delivered by Americans, making the work of the first two days the contribution of American scholars.

On the third day, with the opening of the sections, the international work will begin. About 128 sectional meetings will be held on the four remaining days of the Congress, at each of which two papers will be read, the theme of one being suggested by the relations of the special branch treated to other branches; the other by its present problems. Three hours will be devoted to each sectional meeting, thus enabling each hearer to attend eight such meetings, if he so desires. The program is so arranged that related subjects will be treated, as far as possible, at different times. The addresses in each department are to be collected and published in a special volume.

Simon Newcomb is the president of the Congress; Hugo Muensterberg and Albion W. Small are the vicepresidents.

New Books for Teachers.

A late publication of the University of the State of New York bears upon "Commercial Education in High Schools." It is one of the series on "Professional Education in the United States," and was prepared for publication by Inspector I. O. Crissy, of the state department of education. The bulletin embodies in a monograph on business education the work of a select committee of nine from the department of business education of the National Educational Association. This committee was appointed in 1902. Its work has covered two years and has included two annual meetings of the department of business education (one at Minneapolis, and one at Boston), num

erous sessions of the committee and a voluminous

correspondence. The work has been confined mainly to the formulation of a general course of procedure and a detailed course of study for business education in public high schools and academies thruout the United States, and it is the first systematic and thoro effort that has been made to that end.

The course of study recommended covers four years and, altho the studies of the last two years are mainly vocational, it will prove as strong in mental discipline and educational content as any course in the school. The contributors to the monograph have written from large experience and careful study, and their papers have had the benefit of the suggestions and criticism of the entire committee.

"Special Method in Geography.”*

In this new edition of his well-known work, Dr. McMurry has introduced much new matter, including a complete course of study and an excellent graded bibliography. The book now is a complete treatise, of which the course of study, altho printed at the end, is really the basis. The discussion is summed up in seventeen theses, which contain the following propositions:

1. Geography is a study of the earth as the home of man. Each important topic should be so treated as to illustrate this point of contact between man and the physical world.

2. Topics of pure science and of history are excluded from geography.

3. The general movement in geography is from the home neighborhood outward.

4. The course of study should bring each year a new set of topics. [He is opposed to the concentric method.]

5. A few important topics in each grade should be elaborately treated. These should be typical facts and form the basis of comparison for further classification and organization of knowledge.

6. Nearly all the facts of formal geographyposition, direction, names, and location of places, countries can be learned incidentally in connection. with large and interesting type subjects.

The first chapter discusses the "aim and general character of geography." Here the author elaborates his proposition that "geography is a study of the earth as the home of man." To study the earth merely as an object of nature is science. To study the doings of man as man is history. No such topics of pure science or pure history have a proper place in geography. In this science every topic has two faces-one toward nature and one toward man. This double

*By Charles A. McMurry. The Macmillan Co., 1903.

character is the distinguishing trait of a strictly geographical topic.

The criticism the author makes on past methods and books in geography is that the two-fold nature of the science was neglected and the mass of facts was too great and not properly organized. The use of typetopics makes it possible to classify the facts of geography under a few rubrics and to omit a vast body of information which has no value or has no proper place in geography. The concentric plan is definitely repudiated on the ground that each year should bring to view a totally new set of topics. The review of topics learned in the lower grades is accomplished by using the facts there learned as a basis of comparison in each succeeding year.

Geography should begin in the third year and should comprise in that grade these seven topics:

1. Food products, etc.

2. Building materials, etc.

3. Clothing materials, etc.

4. Local commerce, etc.

5. Local surface, etc.

6. Town and county government, etc.

7. Climate and seasons, etc.

In the fifth and sixth grades the United States and North America are studied, in the seventh year Europe, and in the eighth all the rest of the world.

As to method, Dr. McMurry says pertinently that knowledge of the subject is the first requisite. Mere method is not enough. During the third and fourth years oral teaching predominates. Later book and map study follows, together with blackboard work and oral description. Each topic must be grasped as a whole. If the type is a coal mine, then coal production the world over is to be grasped, with special reference to the United States for comparison. Children should not be required to learn a catalog of production about each one of the United States, but should learn a typical fact, like that of a particular coal mine, and then locate all the areas of coal production in the country and later in the whole world.

Such, in brief, is the course in geography as planned by Dr. McMurry. The discussion is well-reasoned and abundantly illustrated. What sort of results a course thus based on types would produce, has not, so far as the writer is aware, been demonstrated on a large scale. It must be admitted that the proposition is radical, but is supported by the analogy of the physical sciences. In biology, for instance, the pupil studies in the laboratory certain type animals, which serve as nuclei for the organization of future biological knowledge. The number of isolated facts is so great, that the type-method of study is the only one that makes it possible to master the universe. Riley estimates that there are ten million species of insects. To know all these is impossible for any one man; and it is also useless, for if one has mastered the essential facts of one insect, he has the master key to the insectworld.

In geography, also, there are millions of individual facts. The only way to know the earth as the home of man is to organize the information into a few typeforms and then subsume all new facts under one or another of these types. The new course of study in New York accomplishes the same result by means of the "causal series," which organizes all the facts around a few nuclei. For instance, a country has (1) certain resources (climate, soil, mineral deposits, water power, navigable rivers or lakes, harbors, fisheries, etc.). These resources determine the (2) industries and occupations of the people.. Industries have certain

(3) products; these must be distributed and sold, hencwe have (4) commerce. Centers of industry or come merce grow into (5) large cities, which are necessary to feed and clothe people. The preceding elements, combined with the traditions and racial characteristics of the people, give rise to certain forms and grades of (6) social development (schools, religion, books, wages, scale of living, railroads, telegraphs' government); and the entire series summed up constitutes the (7) power and influence of the nation or country.

This formula is applied to each of the important countries of the world.

Whether the New York plan or Dr. McMurry's is the better the writer is not prepared to say. Both plans aim at the same thing; both require a thoro mastery of the subject on the part of the teacher. But they differ widely in other respects. The New York plan is concentric; Dr. McMurry's plan is not. The New York plan includes in one of the grades topics of pure science (physiographic), while Dr. McMurry will not have any such admitted. The New York course is finished in four years; Dr. McMurry's course requires six years. JOSEPH S. TAYLOR, Pd.D., New York City. District Supt.

Dr. Sinclair's Contribution.

All who are interested in the present movement for placing the teaching profession on a proper basis both as regards equipment and salary should read The Possibility of a Science of Education, by S. B. Sinclair, Ph.D., published by the University of Chicago Press. This book demonstrates by a scholarly and convincing argument that there is a science of education, and that the teacher should possess special qualifications-vigorous personality, aptitude, scholarship, professional insight, experience, etc.-requirements not demanded of the unskilled laborer. It

further shows in a definite and practical way the special phases of qualification most helpful for the teacher's work, and the kind of professional training which is of most worth. The book is not simply an expression of opinion, it is the result of wide reading, careful research and practical experience.

Professor John Dewey says this: "Dr. Sinclair's book is sure to be profitable for thoughtful teachers. It considers in a sensible and judicious way the objections that have been urged to the professional training of teachers and shows how they rest upon a misunderstanding of the nature of the training to be given. Incidentally it gives an excellent and thoro discussion of the various factors which enter into education, a knowledge of which is requisite for the proper training of the teacher.

“The treatment while scientific is simple and clear, and fully illustrated with concrete practical examples which bring the points home to the experience of the teacher."

Loci Critici. Passages illustrative of critical theory and practice from Aristotle downwards. Selected, partly translated and arranged with notes by George Saintsbury, M.A.. Oxon., Professor of Rhetoric and Eng. Lit. in the University of Edinburgh.-Prof. Saintsbury has rendered students of literary criticism a distinct service in editing in convenient form the theories of the most important critics from the times of Aristotle to the days of Matthew Arnold. No comment is added except in matters of the lexical interpretation, since the purpose of the book is merely to make the best critical theory accessible to the student and leave the rest to the teacher. Altho great care has been exercised in making the selections, the French and German critics of the last century are not adequately represented, Herder and Schlegel being omitted altogether. On the whole, however, the book is of an exceptionally high order and will commend itself to serious students and teachers of English. (Ginn & Co., Boston and London. Price, $1.65.)