Part 14 (1/2)

The recognition of individual differences urged in section 1 necessitates a differentiation and a flexibility of the high school curriculum that is limited only by the social and individual needs to be served, the size of the school, and the availability of id inflexibility of the inherited course of study has contributed perhaps more than its full share to the waste product of the educational e froreater flexibility has already received attention and commendation One authority[57] states that ”one main cause of (HS) elimination is incapacity for and lack of interest in the sort of intellectual work demanded by the present courses of study,” and further that ”specialization of instruction for different pupils within one class is needed as well as specialization of the curriculum for different classes” There must be less of the assuime they must fit or else fail repeatedly where they do not fit Theoretically considerable progress has already been made in the differentiation of curricula, but in practice the opportunity that is offered to the pupils to profit thereby is curtailed, because of the rigid organization of courses and the uniform requirements that are dictated by ade entrance needs of the minority The only permissible limitations to the variables of the curriculum should be such as aim to secure a reasonable continuity and sequence of subjects in one or more of the fields selected One of the chief barriers to a eneral flexibility has been the notion of inequality between the classical and all other types of education This assumption has had its foundations heavily shaken of late The quality of response which it elicits has come to receive precedence over the name by which a subject happens to be classified ”France has conized at least officially the exact parity between the scientific education and the classical education”[58] Indeed one ain be seriously questioned, because of the elevation of scientific training and accoreat world wars as well as in its adaptation for the direct and purposeful dealing with the problems of h school does the situation demand a relatively flexible curriculuery or failure

Inglis h school may operate by a process of differentiation rather than by a wholesale elimination[59] The pupil surely cannot know in advance what he is best fitted for, but the school must help him find that out, if it is to render a very valuable service, and one at all co his h school especially aihted in the senior high school Yet neither the organization nor the purpose of the two are so far apart as to excuse the helplessness of the latter in this important duty

There is apparently no constitutional impediment to a still further extension of the principle of flexibility and to theof loss by what has been a costly trial and errorthe pupils and the subjects to each other Short unit courses are not unfamiliar in certain educational fields, and they lend themselves very readily to definite and specific needs Their usefulness arded as a warrant of a wider adoption of theh they are as yet e or instruction to roup in a lier novel A unit course of an extensive nature is also conceivable, for instance, a seht allow a division into two approximately equal portions If then both teacher and pupil feel, when one unit is co subject or that his work is hopeless in that subject, he ed with a failure of only one point, that is, just one-half the failure of a semester's work in the subject--or one-fourth that for a whole year with no semester divisions Even if this scheme would not work equally well in all subjects, it ianization to employ it in the ones adapted It is not incredible that, as the people y have beco, their eht by e of failures, such as is found for Latin and mathematics usually, or for science as reported in St Louis, where it was required of all and yielded the highest percentage of failures Now the teaching of reater difficulty than is involved in overco text-book methods and the conservatism of convention The project device, as employed in vocational education, will also lend itself in many instances to the unit division of work The first consequence of this plan will be a reduction of failures for the pupil in those subjects whose continued pursuit would mean increased failure

The second consequence may be to relieve teachers of hopeless cases of er have intolerable subjects imposed on them the teachers will come to demand only tolerable work in the subjects of their choice The third consequence will probably be to encourage pupils to find the out subjects at less risk of such cumulative failures as are disclosed in section 3 of the preceding chapter

4 PROVISION FOR THE DIRECTION OF THE PUPILS' STUDY

The forested in the first three sections of this chapter for the diminution of failures will find their natural cul the pupils to help the in most school practice

Every improvement of the school adaptation still assuh study But the high schoolIt cannot be trusted to intuition or to individual discovery Real, earnest studying is hard work The teachers have usually presupposed habits of study on the part of the pupils, but one of the important lessons for the school to teach the pupil is how to use his mind and his books effectively and efficiently Even the simplest kinds of apprenticeshi+p instruct the novice in the use of each device and in the handling of each tool to a degree which the school hly abstract and colorifies drudgery as a genuine virtue ER Breslich refers to this fact,[61]

saying, ”so it happens that the preparation for the classwork, not the classwork itself burdens the lives of the pupils” The indefensibleness of the indiscri consists in the fact that it is not the load but the harness that is too heavy The harness isand burdensoht and the course to be followed in the lesson preparation are very ative and repressive though it be, should be extracted froement and failure are too often the best of testimony that teachers are not much concerned about how the pupil e a lesson The point is illustrated admirably by the report in the _Ladies Home Journal_, for January, 1913, of a request frothat the teacher of one of her children in school try teaching the child instead of just hearing the lessons which thethe pupils' study is soanization and procedure, which requires extra tiree of independence on the part of the pupils But here too the is are differentiation and specific direction as adapted to the needs of the subject, the topic or the pupils Itin all schools, in all subjects, or for all pupils In other words, its very purpose is defeated if it is overformalized An experieometry,[62] of practically the same size, ability, and time allowance for study, which indicated that the supervised pupils were the less dependent as judged by their success in tests consisting of new problems The pupils also liked the method, in spite of their early opposition, and no one failed, while two of the unsupervised class failed William Wiener also speaks of the wonderful self-control which springs froram[63] As to the need of extra teachers for the purpose there is not reement, since the plans of adaptation are so different in thehtly ireater renumeration Colvin er force of teachers required[64] But JS Brown finds that the failures are so largely reduced that with fewer repeaters there is a consequent saving in the teaching force[65] With a faculty of 66 teachers, he reports 38 classes in which there was no failure, and a eneral by the use of supervised study It is interesting and significant to note here that by allowing 100 daily pupil recitations to the teacher the repeated subjects reported in this study would require 87 teachers for one semester or 11 teachers for the full four years This fact represents s, equipment, heat, and other expenses will more than double the amount But such expense is incoles, and in disappointment in order to succeed later in only 667 per cent of the subjects repeated As none of the eight schools provided anythinghelp, and which often has a punitive suggestion to it, the possibility of saving many of these pupils from failure and repetition by the wise and helpful direction of their study is si is reported by WC Reavis to the effect that the poorer pupils--the ones who most need the direction--are the ones that supervised study helps theand good studying are but different aspects of the same process, but it would be an innovation to find this conception generally realized in the school practice

5 A GREATER RECOGNITION AND EXPOSITION OF THE FACTS AS REVEALED BY ACCURATE AND COMPLETE SCHOOL RECORDS

It is unfortunate that the detailed and complete records which tell the whole story about the failures in the school and for the individual are found in relatively few schools, even when on all sides business enterprises find a coether indispensable for their intelligent operation and administration The school still proceeds in its sphere toosuccesses This is possible because there is no question of self-support or of solvency to face, and because neither the teachers nor the institution are in danger of direct financial loss by their waste, duplication, or failures In the absence of records it is always possible to calmly assume that the facts are not so bad as for other schools which do report their recorded facts The prevailing unfamiliarity with statistical methods may also favor a skepticism as to their proper application to education, since it is not an exact science But the fact remains established that it is always possible to measure qualitative differences if stated in terms of their quantitative amounts

Admirable and complete as are the records for thetheeneral value and information are still quite securely hidden away in the files which contain the was the surprise expressed by the principals at the extensive and significant information which their own school records provided, when they received individual reports on the data collected and tabulated for this study Yet they received only the portions of the tabulations which seemed most likely to interest them

The principals do not have the time or the assistance to study in a collective way the facts which are provided by their own records, but they are entitled towith any co their records for approved purposes and in turn sharing their results with the school To proceed wisely in the administration of the school we must have a chance to know and discuss the facts It is not possible to know the facts without adequate records The absence of evidence gives proly, it is entirely incredible that the number, the repetition, and the accued after a fair exposition and discussion of the evidence presented in a collective and comprehensive form It may be necessary to ad that they will discredit all testih school teachers in general see their notions concerning the truth in any situation In regard to the relative number and time of the failures, the actual and relative success in repeated work, the advantage of repetition for later work, the relation of success to the size of the schedule, the influence of the nuraduation, and numbers of other vital facts, it could be said of the teachers in general that they siht they were doing what they were not The school records must be disclosed and utilized more fully if their value and ie source of satisfaction if this report helps to direct attention to the official school records, from which a frequent 'trial balance'

will help to rectify and clarify the school practice Both are needed

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER VII

The contributing factors found in the school must first be remedied, before responsibility for the failures can be fairly apportioned to the pupils

The provision of uniform conditions for all is based on the false doctrine of the uniformity of the human mind Such conditions may prove very unequal for some individuals, and achieve a functioning psychology to school practice, more adaptation and specialization are required to e of subjects is in general necessitated, but a change of the attitude which subjects pupils to the subjects seeenuineness of the pupil's response depends on the pupil and the subject A policy of coercion will usually beget only dislike or failure

Properly selected student advisers, appointed early, may transform the school for the pupil, save the pupil for the school, and his work froree of flexibility and specialization of the curriculum will help the pupil find what he is best fitted for, and thereby minimize waste This will include a virtual parity between the classical and scientific subjects

The reduction of some subjects to smaller units will tend to facilitate flexibility and a reduction of failures

The provision of directed study will help the pupils to help the demands it The harness is often heavier than the load Failures are inevitable

The plan of study directionneeds of pupils, subjects, and schools The poorer pupils are aided most They are made even more reliant on themselves The reduction of failures tends to balance any added expense

Records adequate and complete should be a part of the business and educational equipment of every school The exposition and use of these facts as recorded will then give direction to school progress, and dethrone the authority of assumption and opinion