Visual Education (Jan 1923-Dec 1924)

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124 Visual Education aid, so that they may devote all their time for one or two or three years to meeting these exigencies that confront us? In this way we could secure a course of study in geography, in history, in English, and in other subjects that would function more economically and efficiently. "The Cost and the Fiscal Administration of Schools" — Dr. George D. Strayer, Teachers College, Columbia University. In the year 1910 the current expenses for public education in the United States amounted to $390,500,000. In 1920 we spent $970,930,000 for the current expenses of our public schools. . . . You can't segregate ignorance. You can't run a fence around it and shut it off from the rest of the community, from, the other parts of your city or your state. You must eradicate ignorance, or it will permeate the whole society. That's why society cannot afford to have backward school conditions anywhere, any more than it can afford to have plague spots of disease. This is the big problem. Its solution, and the safety of society, depend upon the willingness of the people to spend adequately for schools. Everywhere there is talk of retrenchment instead of recognition of the problem. The salvation of peaceful, orderly government rests on education, on fitting men and women for useful, happy lives. Only so can the causes of disorder be overcome. Instead of retrenchment we must recognize the need for large additional expenditures, for state aid and state supervision, extending the opportunities of education equally to every remote country district. It isn't a matter of what an individual poor section of a city or rural district can pay, of itself, but solely a question of its NEEDS. The biggest educational problem today is making people realize that we must spend money, and MORE money, or expect chaos. * # # "Budget Making and Spending by the County" A. F. Harman, Superintendent Montgomery Co. Schools, Montgomery, Ala. The country schools of America are as a rule poorly and inadequately financed. The budget maker immediately finds himself face to face with the difficulty of raising sufficient revenues for the proper conduct of schools. It is therefore the field and function of the county-wide budget maker to discover new sources or new methods of raising revenues. It is sometimes a wise principle in budget making deliberately to exceed the annual income — provided always that the law is not violated and that the return is ultimately in sight. Business is successfully conducted on the basis of loans and anticipated returns. Why not apply the same principle to the business ncation? .... Conduct your schools on a cash basis if possible; but if the cash is not available, exceed your annual income deliberately. We know that education pays. We cannot go backward. We must go forward. Optimism and courage are necessary for successful budget making. "Stimulating the Growth of Teachers"— Frederick H. Bair, Superintendent of Schools, Colorado Springs. In 50 years the enrollment of public schools has increased from 6,800,000 to 20,800,000. The rate, if anything, is increasing. The cosmopolitan make-up of this army of children makes it, potentially, as the old black preacher said, "de pandemonium of our liberties." Securing teaching leadership has been necessarily a matter of compromise. There seems to be a something soporific and ossifying about the general conditions of teaching. Consequently, anyone who visits classrooms constantly echoes with his whole soul the prayer of the old Missouri Sunday-school superintendent: "Oh, Lord, grant us a more active corpse of teachers." He prayed more wisely than he knew. Continued improvement comes squarely home to the superintendent. I shall outline the large elements in the problems, as I see them, and then develop each briefly. The first factor is personal : we should develop a more profound personal culture among superintendents and principals. The second is professional : we should set up standards of preparation and performance, we should give an edge to them by rewarding growth financially, and we should develop a free and full expression and participation in procedure by teachers. The third is public : we should, by frank and persistent publicity, educate the supporters of the school to demand and pay for growth in the teaching personnel. * * * "Cost Problems in Teacher Training"— F. W. Smith, Principal, City Normal School, Paterson, N. J. Fifteen million people in the United States are illiterates, or practically so. Millions are non-American. Millions are un-American or antiAmerican. These figures do not represent unconquerable forces, but forces that may be subdued and rendered harmless, or better, transformed into beneficent and constructive agents by the all-conquering power of broad, wise, far-reaching education. Thoroughly trained teachers are needed for this alluring work. TREES I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth's sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain, Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. —JOYCE KILMER. "The Relation of the Elementary School Principal to the General Testing Program" — Julia A. Mulrooney, Principal, Murray Hill School, Cleveland. A teacher should not teach school. She should teach children. The individual child must be studied if the school system would give to each his inborn right to an opportunity to learn that which it is possible for him to learn, and to grow in all the lines of growth that are open to him. Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man" has a modern prototype in the six ages of childhood, as defined by Dr. Bird T. Baldwin of Iowa: One: His age in years from the date of birth. Two : His school age in years since entrance into school. Three : His physical age, measured in growth of bone, muscle and nervous system. Four : His mental age, measured by intelligence tests. Five: His moral age, measured by his ability to distinguish right from wrong. Six: His social age, measured by his ability to meet and associate with other human beings. "The High School Principal's Responsibility for Vocational Guidance" — Edward Rynearson, Director of Vocational Guidance, Pittsburgh. The school is the one organization that is specifically fitted to do systematic, continuous guidance. In other words, guidance is the sole reason for the school. The object of vocational guidance is not to prescribe a vocation for the child, but to get the parents, teachers and child to bring to bear on the choice of a vocation organized information and organized common sense; not to decide for the child what he shall do, but to provide him with the necessary information so that he can choose wisely. * * * "What Constitutes American Citizenship"— Alvin Owsley, National Commander, American Legion. The will to serve has been America's contribution to civilization. The will to do and the will to serve are the first civic virtues. However, there is an additional necessity ; that is the knowledge of how to serve. This is a problem which can be solved only by education. The American Legion wishes to do all in its power to help education. The Legion is committed to the enforcement o f the compulsory attendance school laws. The Legion also is committed to the making of compulsory courses in American history and civics. . . This must be one nation, with a common cultural development based on a common language. . . . The Legion is opposed to letting down the bars on immigration at this time. We cannot admit more immigrants until we Americanize those already here.