Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], November 05, 1914, Page 12, Image 12

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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12
SCHOOL AND COLLEGE
.^CONVENTION OF TEACHERS
MORE THAN 2000 IN THIS CITY
SOME NOTED EDUCATORS SPEAK
Hampden and Hampshire County As
sociations Unite in Annual Con
vention—Officers Elected.
There was an attendance of more than
E2OO teachers at the combined sessions
of the 67th annual convention of the
Hampden county teachers’ association
and the 20th annual convention of the
Hampshire county teachers’ association
held in this city Friday. Of this num
ber 1800 were members of the Hampden
county association. The Auditorium was
about half-filled at the general session
in the afternoon. The morning was de
voted to six departmental meetings held
in the technical and central high schools,
the Art museum and the mahogany room
of the Auditorium. Many interesling ad
dresses on various phases of secondary
school work were made by well-known
educators and state educational officials.
Preceding the general session in the Audi
torium, the business meetings of both or
ganizations were held in that building.
(Ifficers were elected for the coming year,
and strong resolutions were adopted by
both bodies favoring the erection ot an
institution for the feeble-minded in
(Western Massachusetts. The first speak
er at the general session was Warren
P. Landers, secretary of the Massachu
setts total abstinence league, who briefly
outlined the new approach in teaching
temperance to school children by instruct
ing them in its effect in lowering effi
ciency. The cantata. "The Village Black
smith.” was beautifully rendered by the
chorus of the Ludlow high school. The
last speaker was I»r Thomas M. Balliet.
dean of the school of pedadogy of New
York university, who presented the argu
ments for close co-operation of academic
and vocational teaching.
Officers were elected at the business
meetings as follows: Hampden county as
sociation—President, Murtach M. S. Mo
riarty of Holyoke; vice-president, John
R. Fausey of West Springfield; treas
urer, J. W. Riddle of Springfield; secre
tary, Miss Katherine G. Shiue of Hol
yoke: delegate to the state convention.
Walter E. Gushee of Ludlow; delegate
to the council of education meeting at
Boston, John A. Callahan of Holyoke.
The Hampshire county association
president, C. J. Richards of Northamp
ton; vice-presidents. L. O. Merrill of
Huntington. •A. It. Lewis of Belchertown
and Miss Elizabeth Purrington of Hay
denville; secretary and treasurer. Miss
Etta M. Warner of Northampton.
The Hampshire county association
passed a resolution expressing its belief
that special recognition by the state
should be given rural teachers of special
ability and adaptability to their work, this
recognition if possible to be an increase
in salary. Irving Winslow of Westfield
presented a long report to the Hampden
county association of the meeting of the
state teachers' association in Boston last
year. The resolutions favoring the estab
lishment of an institution for the feeble
minded in this part of the state were
passed in view of the presence of large
numbers of feeble-minded children iu the
public schools to the lowering of efficiency
in administration and injustice to both
feeble-minded and normal children.
Problems ot Secondary Education.
The high school department jes-ion was
attended by ahont 150 teachers, who
listened to papers by Prof Philip H.
Churchman of Clark university, on the
"Cult of incompetency." and by George
L. Fox of the university school of New
Haven, who compared the intellectual
quality of American and English second
ary schools to the distinct disadvantage of
the former. Charles W. Marshall of Am
herst presided.
Mr For on English Schools.
In speaking of English seven da i v schools
Mr Fox defined them as the educational
institutions where English boys and girls
from 13 to 19 were prepared for the uni
versities, medical schools, army and navy
colleges and business life. While most of
them were large boarding schools, a very
considerable number of them were local
day schools. He described the classroom
work seen at Rugby school, which much
surpassed work done by pupils of similar
age in this country. Written statements
made by pupils of the work done in the
school showed that the English boy before
entering the university nt 19 covered in
mathematics, classics, modern languages
and history as much as the American boy
covers before going to college and in the
first two years of the college course. Mr
Fox also read from the courses of study
of different schools in proof of the same
thing.
The grammar and practice in composi
tion in ancient and modem languages is
followed with a thoroughness and detail
that is wholly unknown in this country.
Passages from Shakespeare and George
Eliot are often given tor translation into
Latin to boys in the two highest classes
of these schools, tasks which gradual'*
students in American colleges would find
it difficult to perform. The most talented
pupils wore trained in original composi
tion in Latin and Greek.
More Difficult Examination.
The character of the examinations for
Scholarships in these schools and those for
the Oxford and Cambridge school certifi
cates showed far more difficult tests than
are given to pupils of similar age in this
country. Textbooks in different subjects,
like algebra, geometry, trigonometry, his
tory, classics and modern languages are
no much more difficult than those used in
this country that an attempt to use them
here would meet with a most vigorous
protest from pupils, parents and teachers.
The Rhodes scholars from the United
States, though graduates of colleges, found
themselves unable to compete with En
glish boys just entering the university
from the secondary schools, who were
three or four years younger than they, iu
the great honor examinations of the Ox
ford schools. There is a great difference
between the fearless and triumphant way
in which the English boy faces and passes
at different stages of his career difficult
examinations, and the nervous alarm that
many American boys feel when they at
tempt the much easier tests for entrance
into college in this country, if they do not
try to slip in by certificate.
Grammar School Topics.
Superintendent John R. Fausey of the
West Springfield public schools, presided
at the sessions of the school department,
one of the largest sections of the conven
tion. Several hundred grammar school
teachers, principals and supervisors were
present. Charles S. Chapin, siiperintend
ent of the Montclair (N. J.) state normal
school, spoke on "English in the grammar
schools” and Prof Herman H. Horne of
New York university discussed the “Art
of questioning.”
Superintendent Chapin said that it is
reasonable to demand of th e schools that
they teach every boy and girl to express
themselves clearly and correctly in writ
ten composition. Yet it is a persistent
complaint that the schools have failed to
do this. The causes of Oris very appar
ent failure are, first, the difficulty of the
English language, secondly, that all Amer
ican life, the street, the home, many news
»apcrs and magazines, popular speech and;
the slang habit, tend to tear down all that
the school has taught. Teachers should
cease to attempt to teach English as an
isolated subject. It is impossible to ex
press ideas unless one thinks ideas. Hence
the real problem of the teacher of En
glish is to teach pupils to think. All sub
jects of composition should be real ones,
drawn from the experience or observation
of the pupil.
F. G. Nichols to Commercial Depart
ment.
The sessions of the commercial depart
ment were held in one of the second-floor
class rooms of central high school, and
consisted of the presentation of two pa
pers by Frederick G. Nichols, director of
business education in the public schools of
Rochester. N. Y. Mr Nichols’s first topic
was "The organization of the high school
commercial course” and the second. "The
group method versus the individual meth
od in teaching bookkeeping.”
Manual Arts Department.
The only speaker at the meeting of the
manual arts department in the mahogany
room was Willis B. Anthony of the Fitch
burg normal school, whose subject was
“Bringing real life to school.” His ad
dress was a discussion of the report of a
committee appointed by the Boston manual
training club to investigate the function of
manual training iu the scheme of general
education.
The Rural School and Its Work.
Clinton J. Richards, vice-president of the
Hampshire association, presided at the
sessions of the rural schools department,
the general question before which was.
"What can be done to improve our rural
schools?” The possibilities of improve
ment by the community were discussed by
John A. Scheuerle. secretary of the Hamp
den county improvement ieague: by the
local officials. F. G. Wadsworth, state
agent for rural schools; by the teacher.
Miss Ethel H. Nash ot the extension serv
ice of the Massachusetts agricultural col
lege: by the normal school. Miss Hannah
P. Waterman of the North Adams normal
school; by the Massachusetts agricultural
college, by Prof Orion A. Morton of the
extension service of that institution; by
the state. William Orr. deputy commis
sioner of education and formerly principal
of the central high school.
There is great need of co-operation be
tween the community and the schools. Mr
Scheuerle said. Most communities are
rather indifferent to the needs of the
school. To overcame this indifference vol
unteer service on the part of the com
munity should be encouraged. The mem
bers of the community should, greet the
new teachers, holding a reception for them
at the beginning of the school year to in
dieate the interest of the community in
the teachers' work. The parents and other
taxpayers who contribute to the support
of the school should visit it frequently
and became familiar with his needs in
equipment. Mr Scheuerle concluded his
talk with a plea for more adequite salaries
for the teachers of the rural schools. In
one town in Hampden county, be said, the
expenditure for the transportation of
pupils to the schools is greater than the
amount spent for salaries. The rural
school curriculum should be more closely
connected with the work of the children
in the home, and credit on the school rec
ords might well be given for work done
by the pupils outside of school, such as
practical work in agriculture and cultural
work in music and other artistic sub
jects.
The local school authorities, said Mr
Wadsworth, are the school committee and
the superintendent, and upon them falls
the responsibility for directing the work
of education in the community. The school
committee may improve the rural school
conditions in many ways by bringing to
bear upon the situation an enthusiasm,
business ability and a broad vision. With
these elements as a background the school
committee will be prepared to begin the
development of a large program of rural
school improvement.
tine of the most necessary factors under
lying the improvement of rural school
conditions is the development of a large
program of school imporvements. This
program should be based on a careful
surrey of existing conditions. The needs
of the school should be tabulated in the
order of their improvements and the im
mediate effect of the contemplated im
provements upon the school and the ulti
mate effect upon the community should be
considered.
The sunerin"ondent is the professional
educational officer in the community and
upon him falls the responsibility for the
introduction and development of plans to
make effective improvements within the
schools. One of the most important duties
of the superintendent in relation to rural
school improvements is that of Tainin.’
teachers. It is highly essential that the
superintendent have back of him a staff
of teachers working in harmony, each
knowing the general policy of the su
perintendent and school committee and all
working together for the desired end.
Normal School and Rural Schools.
The normal school's part in the solution
of the problem of the improvement of the
rural schools, Miss Waterman said, includes
the necessity of the faculty and students of
the school obtaining a wider knowledge
of rural school conditions by visiting rural
schools and talking with rural teachers
and parents. Superintendents whose
work includes the supervision of rural
schools should meet frequently for consul
tation and the exchange of ideas. Normal
school instructors should have a wider
familiarity with rural school conditions and
provision should be made for practice teach
ing by students in the small one and two
room country schools in which they are
likely to be called upon to teach after they
graduate.
Prof Morton, in dismissing the assistance
rendered by the Massachusetts agricul
tural college to the improving of the rural
schools, said that all the investigations of
the country life commission seemed to in
dicate that there was a general feeling
throughout the country that the courses
of study outlined for rural schools had
been based very largely on similar courses
outlined for city schools; that the text
books were open to the same criticism, and
that the teachers were too often city
minded rather than country-minded. It is
encouraging, however, to know that there
are a few teachers and superintendents in
each state who realize that the first duty
of a rural school-teacher is to lead the
boys and girls to understand, to appreci
ate and to use to the greatest extent pos
sible his or her environment. Such a re
adjustment should be comparatively simple,
because Nature is first in time and first
in importance of all the influences upon
the mind of the child. It is natural for
children to observe, think about and talk
about the flowers, the vegetables, the fruits,
the foliage, the insects, the birds, the ani
mals and the neighborhood activities and
industries. These are among the funda
mental sources of thought und inspiration
for all children. These constitute the en
vironment of the country child, the richest
und most interesting environment in the
world.
Prof Morton then enumerated the ways
in which the Massachusetts agricultural
college is ready to assist in the rural edu
cation problem of the stale. The land
scape gardening department is interested
in the improvement of school grounds. Ad
vice and help in school and home garden
ing instruction will be given any rural
teachers to apply to the extension serv
ice. Forty-two thousand pupils and 1400
teachers have been assisted in educational
work during the past year by the college.
Canning and packing demonstrations are
given at the schools and the summer
courses of the college include much work
that is of value ta the rural teacher.
Mr Orr spoke of what the state can do
to improve the rural schools.
.Walter E. Gushee of Ludlow, president
(THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 191?.
of the Hampden county association, pre
sided at the general session in the after
noon in the Auditorium. After the busi
ness meetings he introduced as the first
speaker Warren P. Landers. Mr Lan
ders said in opening that the new approach
in teaching children the evils of alcohol
.must be from the point of view of effi
ciency. Its evil effects in business and
athletics must be made clear. Business
demands efficiency and leaders in sports
are equally insistent.
Following Mr Lander's address the Lud
low high school chorus uuder the direc
tion of Miss Ellen L. Toomey rendered
the cantata “The village blacksmith,” an
adaption from Longfellow’s poem. The
cantata was beautifully sung and it was
heartily applauded. Mrs Weeks sang as
soloist. Immediately after the cantata
Hr Balliet spoke upon "Organizing edu
cation on a vocational basis.” He argued
that vocational and academic education
are inseparable and should not be con
sidered as distinct branches since their
purpose for the children of the secondary
schools is one of general education. His
address in part was as follows:—
The Address ot Dr Balliet.
We are just waking up in this country
to the fact that we are far behind Europe
in providing vocational education. It is
only within the last dozen years that edu
cators and the public have come to recog
nize the fact that the public schools must
do more than give the child general train
ing: that it must, above all things, fit him
to do a specific work in life which is of
value to society and by which he can
earn a comfortable living. In Germany
there is not a calling requiring skill for
which there is not a school in which one
can fit himself for it. This means na
tional efficiency as well as education. But
we are still in the habit of contrasting
sharply liberal or general education with
vocational training, as if the two were ut
terly distinct. I wish to point out both
the sphere and the limitations of vocation
al education.
It is a fundamental principle that all ef
fective education of any kind must appeal
to the pupil's native interest, and the main
sources of this interest are the racial in
stincts. Any education that is not grafted
upon these deep, inherited, racial interests
is soon’ shed by the mind and does not
touch character deeply. A little child has
a very broad curiosity to know things and
his curriculum should minister to this cu
riosity. He is generally most deeply in
terested in knowing things in order to en
able him to do things. In short, his intel
lectual interest can be roused most deeply
by some form of handwork of which all
children are fond. Therefore handwork for
the purpose of general education should
be much more largely introduced into our
elementary schools than is now done, and
their book work should be duly correlated
with it in so far as it may be possible.
Such handwork is not specific vocational
training, but it enables children to dis
cover in what line their talents lie and en
ables them to choose a vocation at the
proper time with more intelligence.
Time for Vocational Education.
A curriculum made up of book study
alone does not enable a child whose talents
are of a mechanical sort to discover these
talents: he can only discover that he is
dull in book work, and he is usually con
sidered stupid by the teacher and" often
even by the parent. When the proper time
comes the school must provide vocational
education, and that time comes during the
period of adolescence. There is a voca
tional instinct and a vocational interest
which develops in the child during his
teens, and often during his early teens.
This is the time that he becomes interest
ed in every study which has a bearing
either directly or indirectly upon the call
ing which he has in mind. Then is the
time that he can be induced voluntarily to
pursue a study which he naturally dislikes,
provided it has a bearing on his future
calling. A boy who has an ambition to
become an engineer and islikes mathe
matics will form an interest in mathe
matics as soon as he is made to see its
essential connection with engineering.
In all training schools as well as technical
schools the mathematical, the science and
the English courses should bo closely re
lated to the vocational training and the
vocational interest which is deepest at that
time should be the basis of the whole cur
riculum. The highest ideal in education
is not harmonious development, as we
have been in the habit of thinking, but the
education of the individual along the lines
of his greatest endowment and as broadly
as possible. There is no reason why the
education which fits for life in the broad
est sense should not be the best education
to develop the innate powers of the in
dividual. There is no contrast between
general education and vocational educa
tion when the latter is conceived in this
broad way.
Education for Leisure.
But we must bear in mind that voca
tional education in the usual sense is not
the only education the individual needs.
It is not only education for work but
also education for leisure that he needs.
The eight-hour law for the working
classes will soon become general, when
working people will have eight hours for
leisure and eignt hours for sleep, besides
the eight hours for work. Education
must train them also to use their leisure
in the proper way and to find their en
joyment in things that are elevating in
stead of debasing. It is here where much
of what we used to call cultural training
must find its place, such as an interest
in art, in music, in literature and in sci
ence.
But there- is a third kind of training
for which every individual must lx? fitted,
and that is. a training to fit him to dis
charge his duties as a citizen in a politi
cal sense. At present, the civics taught
in our schools consists of a study of the
national constitution and of the constitu
tion of the state in which the school is
situated, together with the study of the
duties of the more important public offi
cers. This is supposed to answer the
need of training for citizenship. To my
mind, such training is not only inadequate
but practically useless. It takes a deci
sion of the supreme court to determine
what a clause in the constitution means
in a particular case. Children have very |
little to do with constitution making after >
they are grown up. and some things must
be left till after year*:- to be' learned. Pre
paration for citizenship requiros a train
ing of a totally different kind to-day
which is now now given in schools.
First: To-day most of our political
questions are at bottom economic ques
tions and no one can form nn intelligent
opinion to express at the ballot box un
less ho has had at least an elementary
knowledge of economic science. Second:
A large number of the questions to be de
cided at the ballot box and by Legisla
tures rest on a sociological basis and no
one can understand them who does not
have at least an elementary knowledge of
sociology. Third: Questions of health are
no longer questions of personal health so
much as questions of public health.
Every pupil going through a high school
should be required to study the sciences
underlying these problems of public health
and should be required to pursue a specific
course in public hygiene. Fourth: In every
city there should be a course in the high
school dealing with the most important
city problems not included in the above.
These four lines of study should be com
pulsory upon every pupil in every high
school.
The Elective System.
One can readily see that this has an
important bearing on the question of the
elective system in schools. First: A pnpil
has the right to elect his calling or voca
tion, but after he has made his choice
it is for the school to prescribe what
studies he must pursue in order to fit
himself for it.
Second: Citizenship is ijot a calling
which the pupil has a right to elect or
not to elect; it is a duty which he is com
pelled to assume. Therefore, there can he
no election of studies which fit him
specifically to discharge his duties as a
citizen—such studies the community has
a right to prescribe.
Third: In the education for his leisure,
it is obvioua that the pupil must he al-
lowed absolute freedom in electing his
studies. He is to find his pleasure and en
joyment in these studies in future years
and. it is absurd to assume that what he
dislikes in school if he pursues it under
compulsion, will serve this purpose in his
life. The free play of the elective system
belongs io this section of the curriculum
and has a limited place in vocational edu
cation and has no place whatever in train
ing for citizenship.
Until about a dozen years ago it was
Universally assumed in this country by
the public and by educators that the
function of the public schools was to give
general training and not to teach specific
trades. When the first trade school, con
ducted at public expense, was organized
at Springfield, in 1898. there was not the
slightest interest in the subject in other
cities. To-day there are those who advo
cate that the whole curriculum should be
vocational in character. It is my purpose
to point out the function and the limita
tions of the vocational ideal in educa
tion.
That the public schools should, above
all else, fit a child at the proper age for
some definite calling in which he can earn
a comfortable living and render to society
a valuable service is without question.
That this should have been recognized in
this country only so recently is an amaz
ing fact. Life consists of things to be
done, and if education does not fit a child
to do some specific work of value, it fails
to educate him for life. We need, there
fore. trade schools of every variety. In
Germany there is no line of skilled labor
for which there is not a school in which
one can fit himself for it. We must come
to this in our own country and without
delay. We must give children in the ele
mentary schools more manual training
which will prepare them for the learning
of specific trades. We must establish
trade schools as day schools for children
of the properage. We must establish special
trade schools for those who must spend
part of their rime in shops. We must es
tablish a great varietv of evening trade
schools for those who cannot attend
school in the day time.
Education Affected All Along; Line.
All this is getting to be generally recog
nized. But few people recognize that the
vocational ideal is going to affect educa
tion all along the line and at some points
will necessitate revolutionary changes. We
have already differentiated our high schools
into three types—the literary, the commer
cial and the technical. In the West the
agricultural high school is in process of
evolution. This differentiation in secondary
schools is due to the recognition of the vo
cational ideal. In our colleges we are al
ready recognizing this ideal in what we
credit both toward the A. B. degree and
toward medical and other professional de
grees the last two years of college work.
The college course no longer serves mere
ly for general education, but the last two
years are given through the elective sys
tem a distinctively vocational bent.
Chicago university has divided the col
lege into junior college and senior college.
This is a temporary arrangement—the
senior college will ultimately, without
doubt, be transferred to the professional
schools and the junior college b<- added to
the strong high schools of the country and
the college, in its present form, will disap
pear. In the West certain high schools
have already undertaken two years of col
lege work. As soon as medical schools,
law schools and other professional schools
make two years of the present college the
standard for admission, the college will no
doubt disappear. No college can maintain
itself with a two-years’ course whether it
be the two lower or the two upper years.
Furthermore, if we add two years to our
present high school course, we shall give
students as broad, general preparatory
study as is given in the countries of con
tinental Europe, where there are no insti
tutions like the American colleges. The
American high school is likely to add also
two years of the elementary school course,
making a total curriculum of eight years,
somewhat like the secondary schools of
continental Europe. This is especially de
sirable to enable students who are to go to
universities to take up modern languages
earlier and modify their whole curriculum
with reference to their subsequent work
in the university. The objection that for
eign secondary schools' are not democratic
is nothing against out adopting with mod
ifications their organizations. Their un
democratic character lies not in their or
ganization but in the fact that they charge
tuition fees which shut out the poor, and
the classical typo, at least, gives a curricu
lum which is of little nractical value to
poor children who cannot afford to go to a
university.
After the close of the session Dr Bal
liet was given a reception in the mahog
any room by the Springfield teachers"
chib.
CHAPEL ATTENDANCE AT YALE.
Many Students Advocate Change —
The Present System.
Yale is busily discussing the advantages
and disadvantages of compulsory chapel.
Not only have many thoughtful letters
appeared in the News, some evoking dis
cussion of particular phases of religion,
but an open meeting of the university
debating association, largely attended by
undergraduates, has taken up a consid
eration of the desirability of abolishing
what many college students frankly re
gard as a Survival of medievalism and as
opposed to freedom of thought and reli
gion. The next stage in the crystalizing
of campus sentiment regarding compul
sory chapel will be a searching considera
tion of the problem by the newly-elected
senior council.
Although only a relatively small num
ber of those attending the open debat
ing meeting in Lampson lyceum voted, a
straw vote taken at the close of the meet
ing revealed the following standing: 1.
That compulsory chapel, both daily and
Sunday, be retained, with or without
changes, 86 votes. 2. That daily and
Sunday compulsory chapel be abolished,
73 votes. 3. That compulsory daily
chapel be abolished and compulsory Sun
day chapel be retained, 12 votes. 4.
That compulsory Sunday chapel be
abolished and compulsory daily chapel be
retained, 76 votes. Of the 86 men in favor
of retaining both daily and Sunday chapel,
several qualified their votes by requiring
changes in the present manner of holding
these services, one specifying a desire
tor greater freedom in choosing his
church on Sundays. One hundred
and sixty-one men wished the to
tal abolition. not the modification,
of either daily or Sunday chapel.
Thirty-five per cent of the votes cast
were in favor of retaining compulsory
chapel with or without changes, while 65
per cent were for partial or total aboli
tion of compulsory chapel.
FOR THE AMERICAN RED CROSS.
Princeton Is Collecting; Clothes nnd
Winding Bandage*.
Princeton students have begun an active
campaign in support of the work of the
American Red Cross. Already more than
two tons of clothing have been collected
and the campaign is scarcely started. The
most novel feature of the campaign is
probably the rolling of bandages by the
students for the wounded, which goes on
unceasingly. Winding machines have been
sent to the lipper class clubs by Mrs John
Grier Hibben, wife of the president of the
university, and it is said that all the un
bleached muslin in Princeton and Trenton
has been used up. One group of hoys has
rolled almost 21)00 yards.
The co-operation of the Princeton ath
letic association has been secured, and for
some of the football games they are add
ing one-half to the regular price of the
tickets and giving it to the Red Cross.
From one game alone $450 was raised.
There have been benefit moving picture
shows, the films and hall being rented by
friends of the university: a series of edi
torials in the college daily, encouraging
gifts; and nt least one raid on the dormi
tories for clothing to send to Belgium. Of
this excursion through the dormitories the
students had been forewarned and when
they handed their clothes to the commit
tee the suits were specially cleaned nnd
pressed and the shoes polished. A large
university automobile truck was filled in
one evening.
To further the cause of the Red Cross
at Princeton there is some likelihood that
the boys will ask the university co-opera
tive store to divide the usual 10 per cent
dividend this year, giving half to aid the
war sufferers. This co-operative dividend
is usually about SIO,OOO. Princeton’s
work is being carried on under Mrs Hib
ben, who is chairman of a committee of
15 leading undergraduates. The Red Cross
committee at Princeton has President John
Gner Hibben for its president and Prof
George B. McClellan, former mayor of
New York, as vice-president.
THE CITY’S EVENING SCHOOLS
WHERE SPRINGFIELD LEADS
Everything la Taught From the Three
Rs to nn Advanced Course in Elec
tricity.
The story of the evening schools of
Springfield is one of uninterrupted ad
vancement. At the lime of the incorpora
tion of Springfield as a city one was flour
ishing, and in 18S7 there was one at the
old Oak-street school. Soon afterward
others were opened at Indian Orchard,
Sixteen Acres and Elm street. The even
mg high school was begun in 1899. and
for 35 years the evening school of trades
bas been running, partly in conjunction
with the old mechanical arts school. This,
at the time of itq opening, was the only
one of the sort in the country conducted
at public expense. Truly. Springfield has
something to be proud of in the work it
has done educationally, especially along
the lines of the evening schools.
Probably one of the most interesting ex
periments tried in former years was the
establishment of the evening school of
trades. At that time there was not an
other one of the kind, supported solelv by
a municipality, in the United States, and
many a wise educator believed it doomed
to failure. In the first years its member
ship was small, and it was provided if
the total number attending ran below ti
certain figure the school should close its
doors. It is interesting to note that this
emergency has never occurred, and that,
in view of the constantly growing attend
ance, it is never likely to occur. This
year the registration at the evening school
of trades was 450. an increase of between
40 and 50 over last year. Authorities are
inclined to believe that, with its constant
ly increased attendance, lasting success is
assured.
Many courses are taught in this school,
all of which are free to the pupil. The
most popular course is that in mechanical
and architectural drawing, while others
that find a good enrolment are those in
machine shop practice, toolmaking, plumb
ing, general woodwork, electrical work for
younger boys, wiring, an advanced course
in the same line for those who have ob
tained a rudimentary knowledge of their
profession and who wish to learn the
theory as well as the practical elements,
and applied mathematics.
It is a notable fact in connection with
the evening school of trades that the ma
jority of the pupils who first enrol in the
various courses stay to complete their
term, something that has been conspicu
ous by its absence in connection with even
ing schools of past years. The daily at
tendance constitutes 82 per cent of the
total membership, a figure that is highly
creditable, especially in view of the diffi
culties with which most of the pupils have
to contend.
Women constitute on the average about
one-fourth of the total membership of the
school. Naturally the general run of the
courses is not adapted to them, but there
are some which have been arranged for
their benefit and for which special teach
ers have been secured. Among the
courses .which are thrown open to women
and monopolized by them are dressmaking,
sewing, millinery, cooking. domestic
science, applied design and home decora
tion. At first it was not considered feasi
ble to start a department for the teaching
of women, as most people did not believe
that there would be enough in a city the
size of Springfield to warrant the ex
pense. but the results that have been ob
tained have fully realized the expectations
of the most optimistic. Women and girls
have attended the school and have shown
an interest in it which more than justify
its continuance.
The trades school is not designed pri
marily to teach any single trade from the
beginning. Rather it is to meet the needs
of those mechanicians and other young
employes of large concerns who have start
ed in their profession with but a small
knowledge of its principles and who are
anxious to learn more. The plumbing
course, for instance, is calculated particu
larly to meet the requisitions of young
men who have become apprentices in the
trade, but who have few if any chances
for advancement until they learn more of
the fundamental principles, and get a
thorough insight of the theory of the whole
business. With this well in hand they
have 100 per cent more chance to succeed
than if they merely picked up what they
could under the tuition of n professional
plumber alone. It is essentially a school
for improvement. The average age of the
pupil is about 25. and each class is repre
sented by men and boys between 16 and
50 years of age. The desire of the older
men to enter the classes and gain a fresh
start is one of the most encouraging fea
tures of the whole school. As differentiat
ed from the other schools, it may be men
tioned that the majority of the pupils are
American born, being mechanics who have
spent, their early Jives in their particular
business, but who want to gain a more
complete mastery in it.
A large part of the attendance at the
evening high school, which is held in the
building of the central high school, is
made up of young people who have for
merly neglected branches of instruction
and training that were not at the time
considered immediately useful, but which
brighten the views and help the pupil to
get a better class of employment. At
first, the pupils here did not prize very
highly the diplomas given at graduation,
but when they began to see the high opin
ion which business men and manufacturers
had for them, they took more interest in
them and used every effort to secure theirs.
A new feature at the school this year is
the establishment, of a separate class for
students who wish to prepare to take civil
service examinations, and who formerly
were in the same classes as the others.
This change is designed to make the work
easier and more thorough.
Another change that has been put
through for the first time this season has
been the beginning of a special class for
foreigners who have received an education
in their own country, but who are un
familiar with our language. Previous to
this they sat with the American-born in
classes, but their difficulty with English
hampered them greatly, and at the same
time slowed up the work of the class.
There are about 30 members of this class,
and their first task is familiarizing them
selves with our language. It must not be
thought that all the pupils of the evening
high school are young people. Many of
them are men of 50 or thereabouts, men
with families, often clerks or bookkeepers,
who come to the evening high school to
learn the fundamentals of mathematics or
some other study. Most of the pupils have
little use for the “frills” of education. It
is the old substantial three R’s that they
want, although there are of course excep
tions. as, for instance, the man who a
short time ago specialized in French and
received a diploma for proficiency in that
language.
The primary evening schools are ad
mirably situated in being near the centers
of foreign population. That in the Chest
nut-street school gets to the large number
of foreign-born residents in the North end.
The Howard-street school is rignt in the
middle of the -South-end foreign colony,
and the evening school in the Indian Or
chard grammar school building cares for
the mill workers of that section of the city.
There were at the beginning of the term a
week or so ago 630 pupils enrolled in the
primary evening schools of the city. 227
being in the Chestnut-street school.. 225
in the Howard-street school, and 178 in
the Indian Orchard school. These figures,
especially those for the Indian Orchard
school, are considered very encouraging,
and the authorities are justified in con
gratulating themselves that they have
aroused the ambition of the men and wom
en of this city whose education was
neglected in their younger days but who
are ready and anxious to do their best
now toward remedying that defect. The
630 at the primary evening schools added
to the 450 at the evening school of trades
and the 580 for the evening high school
makes a grand total of 1660, which can be
equaled by few if any cities of the size of
Springfield.
Yet figures alone cannot begin to give
any idea of the enthusiasm with which
these men and women set themselves to
overcome obstacles in the way of their
getting an education. To understand
their spirit one should take a look some
evening into any one of the classrooms
devoted to the purpose, and see the pupils,
heads bent low over books, and muttering
aloud the unfamiliar words of a strange
tongue. It is highly important that, the
actual work begin when the school is first
opened, for if any time is spent in pre
liminary work the pupil loses interest and
becomes dissatisfied.
THE MONTESSORI METHOD.
Manual ot the System Provided la “Dr
Montessori's Own Handbook."
A manual of the Montessori system of
teaching young children is provided in “Dr
Montessori’s Own Handbook.” an authen
tic translation of which is published by
the Frederick A. Stokes company ($1).
The system, she tells us, as it follows the
natural physiological and psychological de
velopment of the child, divides itself into
three parts: Motor education, sensory edu
cation and language. Motor education is
the education of the child’s movements,
nnd mav be called muscular education; it
includes' manual work, gymnastic exercises
and rhythmic movements. Dressing and un
dressing are considered under the head of
“motor education.”
On the whole, motor education needs
little special apparatus, while the educa
tion of the senses requires a considerable
stock of “didactic material.” including
such things as cubes, prisms, colored tab
lets, paper geometrical forms, solid insets,
etc. For example, there is a set of cylin
ders, of graded sizes, and a frame with
circular holes into which each cylinder
exactly fits. One task for the child is to
place each cylinder in its right place.
The child makes mistakes, and learns, so
the theory goes, from his mistakes. “Color
spools” are used to develop the child’s
“color memory.” The system proceeds to
the teaching of writing—at about the age
of four years. Here the child touches
sandpaper letters before he tries to copy
them on paper; the principle of co-ordina
tion runs throughout the system.
One of the interesting features of the
system is the “lesson cf silence,” in which
the child is taught to be absolutely quiet
and motionless. “When immobility is ob
tained. the room is half-darkened, or else
the children close their eyes, or cover them
with their bands.” The children are said
to enjoy this exercise very much; “they
might be said to be wrapped in medita
tion.” Probably, however, they are not
actually so engaged, but one is willing to
accept Dr Montessori’s assurance that
their “souls expand.”
“Dr Montessori’s Own Handbook” is
meant to be read in conjunction with
"The Montessori Method.” If some of the
directions in the manual are obscure in
purpose, no doubt in the larger work the
dark places are made plain. It should be
remembered that Dr Montessori has done
her teaching in a type of school to which
she has given the name of the "children’s
house,” and that her method, or methods,
grew out of her attempts to show defec
tive children how to conduct themselves
like normal children. This may explain
why some of her directions seem to be
only unnecessarily labored formulations of
what goes on in every nursery without
relation to any special system or theory.
She has been obliged to correct Nature,
and, when her .system is applied to normal
children, it seems that her mechanism is
by no means so necessary as she thinks it.
However, some kindergarten theory has to
be “the rage.”
REISINGER BEQUESTS.
Columbia Given SIOO,OOO anil Harvard
$50,000.
The will of Hugo Reisinger, merchant
and art collector, and son-in-law of the
late Adolphus Busch, the St Louis brew
er, was filed for probate at New York
Thursday. Almost his entire estate, val
ued at more than $400,000, was be
queathed to charitable and public insti
tutions. Columbia university received a
bequest of SIOO,OOO and Harvard univer
versity was left $50,000. All of the per
sons who were employed by Mr Reisinger
are provided for in the will.
The bequest to Harvard is to be used
for the buying of books, paintings and
other subjects of art for the Germanic
museum. The Columbia university bequest
is for the establishment of a chair of art
history. The royal national museum. Ber
lin, and the Neue Pinakothek, Munich,
are each bequeathed $50,000 for the buy
ing of modern paintings. The Metropoli
tan art museum of New York city also is
given $50,000 to be used solely for the
buying of paintings and sculptures bj'
German artists. The will provides that
the residue of the estate shall be used for
establishing nnd maintaining a hospital
for poor children in Wiesbaden, Ger. Prof
Kuno Francke, curator of the Germanic
museum at Harvard, William A. Jenner
and Frederick Dessin are named as ex
ecutors.
MT HOLYOKE ALUMNAE.
Hampshire Association Holds Meeting;
at Northampton,
The fall meeting of the Hampshire as
sociation of Mount Holyoke alumnae was
held Saturday afternoon at the Clarke
school tn Northampton, the hostesses be
ing Miss Caroline A. Yale, principal of
the school, and Miss Bessie Leonard. In
teresting talks were given by Miss Mary
Evans, former principal of Lake Erie
seminary, on her experiences in Scotland,
and Miss Clara Bodman on a trip around
the world. Miss Anna C. Edwards of
Easthampton. former principal of Mount
Holyoke, expressed her appreciation of
the interest of the association, which ob
tained for her a degree, conferred at the
last commencement exercises. In the bus
iness period a program committee was
appointed, comprising Miss Eleanor May
her Mrs C. A. Buffum and Mrs J. N.
Lyman all of Easthampton. Mrs Will
iam Cowls of Amherst was appointed a
delegate to the meeting of the Mount
Holyoke alumnae council, which will be
held in January. Resolutions in memory
of the late Miss Mary F. Clark of North
ampton were adopted. Refreshments were
served. The attendance was large, num
bering about 75.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING CLASS
To Be Organized In Titi* City.
The work of organizing the training
class for vocational teachers to be held in
the vocational school in this city has
been somewhat delayed, but it is now
practically certain that the first con-
ference will be held the 16th. All
applicants for entrance in the class
will meet at the vocational school
some day this week. They will be
met by Charles R. Allen, state agent for
industrial training, and he will explain
the purpose of the course and go over
the requirements for admission. The
weeding out process by which the 15 men
who will take the course will be selected
will be started at this meeting. Those
applicants whoso qualifications seem
doubtful will meet with Mr Allen again
on November 11 for final examination.
PROF TOUD’S RETURN.
Amherst Man Gives War Impressions
in Russia.
From Our Special Correspondent.
Amherst, ; aturday, October 31.
The Todd eclipse party, composed of
Prof David Todd of Amherst college, his
wife. Mabel Loomis Todd, and their
daughter. Miss Millicent Todd, who were
for many weeks shut off from the world
in the heart of Russia, are now safe in
Amherst, bearing much interesting first
hand information from that war-racked
country. The war. they say. is of all
absorbing interest to all classes in that
great empire. The patriotism that has
been aroused is something most people be
lieved impassible under that arbitrary
government, and the hatred aroused
against Germany and the kaiser is most
bitter. The fighting between the Russians
and Austrians must have been even more
bloody than the newspaper reports have
led people to believe. Every train from
the front they say, bears large numbers
of wounded soldiers. Once they saw a
train of 40 cars filled to their utmost ca
pacity with wounded and maimed men.
The whole country is one great hospital;
even in Moscow, nearly 1000 miles from
the scene of fighting, the Red Cross hos
pitals are to be found on-every street and
on some of them a dozen or more. The
buildings on the estates of many of the
great noblemen have been transformed
into hospitals. On the estate where Prof
Todd’s party were guests, they were mak
ing preparations to receive 1000 wounded.
In some respects. Prof Todd states. Rus
sia is better off than most of the other
countries involved in this war; that is. a
large part of this season’s crops were har
vested before mobilization, and the wom
en are so accustomed to agricultural labor
that most of the crops can be grown even
when the able-bodied men are at the front.
Politically, too. Prof Todd believes Russia
is bound to gain from the war. The peo
ple are being knit together in a way that
no lesser calamity could have brought
about, and economically the struggle is
bound in time to stir Russia to needed im
provements.
Prof Todd reports that he was able to
get photographs of a total eclipse of the
sun on August 21. although the day was
somewhat cloudy. The party did not re
ceive a bit of mail from July 20 until they
reached Amherst Tuesday. They report
that they suffered no great hardships ex
cepting the inconvenience of protracted de
lays. and that there was no great danger,
but they were in constant fear of mines
while passing through the North sea. Thev
were repeatedly told of the danger by the
officers, and directed what to do in event
the ship should be blown up which, of
course, was not reassuring.
Harvard Musical Clubs Will Go West.
The Harvard faculty has granted the re
’ quest of the musical clubs for a western
trip in the Christmas recess. No such
trip was permitted a year ago. Two v< ars
ago the elnbs made the rounds of the
southern Atlanta states, so this will be
their first invasion of the West for some
time. The plan now followed by the
faculty in this legard is to allow a trip
every other year, first to the South am!
then to the West, thus visiting the same
section every fourth year. Nine cities are
at present on the scheduled route —Syra-
cuse, Cleveland, Chicago. Milwaukee. -St
Paul. Kansas City. St Louis, Cincinnati
and Detroit. It is possible that the con
cert in Cincinnati will be a dual one
with the Yald chibs, which will be making
their usual round at that tiipe: and a joint
affair with the clubs of the university of
Michigan may be arranged for Detroit.
In all the cities -the local Harvard clubs
will be hosts io the undergraduates and
will stand behind the concerts; the stu
dents are looking forward to the pleasant
entertainment with which the graduates
always welcome the representatives of the
college.
Oberlin’s Extension Lectures.
Announcement is made of a special
series of extension lectures by members
of the Oberlin faculty. These lectures
have been prepared for the convenience of
churches, schools, clubs, societies, etc., and
are offered to the public with no fees at
tached save the traveling expenses of the
speakers. Oberlin maintains a special
standing committee on relations between
the college. the community and the state,
and this extension work is part of the
general policy of the committee. The sub
jects include the teaching of elementary
arithmetic; democracy and efficiency; the
chemistry of common things; the organiza
tion, administration and equipment of a
plavground; the weather map and fore
casting- methods of teaching English com
position; relation of birds to insect pests;
the menace of special privilege; Sun lat
Sen and the awakening of China: modern
Germany; applications of psychology to
practical problems, and various aspects
of the drama. The series includes over
150 separate lectures. Dr S. B. Williams,
head of the department of physics, is
chairman of the committee in charge.
Former President Taft is soon to deliver
a series of lectures on constitutional law
at Harvard, according to an announcement
of the law school faculty at Cambridge
Thursday. Prof Taft’s lectures will prob
ably not supplement any regular course at
the school, but will be of a special charac
ter.
LIFE OFA HORSE IN WAR TIME.
British Officer Declares That on FirliiK
Line It Does Not Exceed Ten Daya.
That the average life of a horse on the
firing line in France is about 10 days was
the astonishing declaration of a British
army officer identified with the remount
department, who visited the Fiss. Doerr
& Carroll horse company's big mart in
East Twenty-fourth street. New York,
a few days ago. Horsemen were pre
pared to hear of unexampled wastage aft
er reading about the havoc wrought by
modern artillery and machine guns, but
this report indicates such slaughter as had
'not been dreamed of here, says the New
York Herald.
In the civil war in this country the
wastage of horses was at the rate of about
500 a day in the Union army, and the
service of a cavalry horse under an active
commander then averaged abmit four
months. During his Shenandoah valley
campaign Sheridan required 150 fresh
horses a day, nnd in eight months the cav
alry of the army of the Potomac was re
mounted twice, nearly 40,000 horses hav
ing been required.
If the British officer’s estimate of the
wastage is not wide of the mark it is a
foregone conclusion that before the car
nage ends there will be such a shortage of
horses as Europe has never seen. As
most of the animals which equipped the
vast armies now in the field were com
mandeered from farmers and others who
had been using them in agriculture and in
dustry, they will have to be replaced for
this work when pence is restored, and
this demand, added to that of the war,
will, it is believed seriously affect the price
of horses the world over during the next
few years.