Evening Star Newspaper, September 13, 1931, Page 93

{ I he Sunday St WASHINGTON, D. C B SEPTEMBER 13, REPORT URGES SUPERIOR NMENT FOR PUPILS ENVIRO Committee BY CHARLES B. DEGGES. RCHITECTURAL embellishments and the accompanying refine- ments of finish which are being built into Washington’s school | buildings play a definite role in the education of youth. The colonnades, the marble facing in corridors and lobbies, the artistic cornices and quality draperies which are regular equip- ment of school auditoriums, the more elaborate wood trim that marks the interior of buildings—in short, the “doo-dads” which in the recent past have aroused congressional ire—all constitute considerably more than the creation of a “pretty” school house to blend with archi- tectural traditions that are making here a handsome Capital. J After many months of painstaking study of District schools, their teachers and their pupils, a select committee of public school edu- A After Long Study Surroundings Are Important Factor in Character Education. Finds Better | cators have asserted that “the physical surroundings of any school | must be on a par or above the physical surroundings to which the children are accustomed.” of Miss Bertie Backus, principal of have placed a premium on refined These educators, under the chairmanship | the Alice Deal Junior High School, | atmosphere. “Doo-dads’ have been lifted from the ranks of extravagance to the select staff of educational requisites. DR. Freeman Quoted. Miss Backus' committee was the grcup appointed by Dr. Frank W. Ballou, superintendent of schools, to participate in the framing of a program of character education. In the foreword of its preliminary report, which was*made public recently. the committee quoted Dr. Frank N. Freeman from the Journal of Educational Sociology in es- tablishing the philosophy of the basis of its program. “All of education.” the quotation as- gerted, “has conceivably an influence on conduct, and all elements or pro- cedures in education which may influ- ence conduct must be taken into ac- count in a scheme of character edu- cation.” . With this as a basis, the committee speaks for the school as an institu- tion “The school Tecognizes the fact that its faculty, its curricula, its life, its activities, profoundly affect the char- acter of its boys and girls,” it asserts “The school accepts the responsibility for making all of its character training positive and effective in the lives of its pupils—makes its program and evaluates its work from this point of view It recognizes, however, that the most effective character training for boys and girls is the handling of everyday situations in the light of character-training principles — that traits of honesty. reliability, courtesy, and the like are not the starting point but the end product of our work with children.” And in accepting this responsibility, which is little short of tremendous, t character education committee has ‘ecided that the school can do three things to promote character educa- tien. The school can provide an en- vironment in which the instincts, I traditions, and ideals that make for social progress find the soil and cultivation that promote growth, while instinets, habits. traditions end ideals that are antisocial are weed>d out and die for lack of nourishment. Certain Principles Essential. ‘Then, the committee believes, #chool can—and should—provide child with an understanding of the ideals and standards that society has fourd valuable in promoting the wel- | fare of the human race. And finally, these educators are convinced the | school is able to set up situations for the practice of ideals and standards in a natural setting for boys and girls; in a setting. that is. which con- stitutes the most logical stage for the children’s activities. n_definite principles are essen- in the opirion of the Character cation Committee, if the school is ‘o provide “an environment for growth in character.” There must be plent; of room, for one thing: room for free- dom of movement for the student bodies, room for the organization of individual- jstic groups of these pupils and room enough for the privacy which is essen- tial to the development of power to think. | “Sanitary provisions must be used to encourage cleanliness, orderliness, | self-respect and feeling of privacy.” is the second of the general principles | governing environment in the schools Fundamental and even elemental as| this seems, it carries with it perhaps one | of the broadest bases for indictment of ystem as a whole. Mos al's public school building lack even an approach to an adequate number of wash basins if, for instance. children are to be expected to keep their hands. soiled in the common toils of the classroom, clean. As many school buildings are without heated water for this service, that, the Charac ter Education Committee indicates, is only one of many similar means toward the end of perfect character education. Then there is the third general prin- ciple: That the physical surroundings of the school must equal or surpass those of the child’s home. That there should be. for instance, attractively planted grounds surrounding the school: | finish and equipment in which utility has been tempered with art, and, with- al, a building so designed that it will blend harmoriously with its setting and contribute its share of beauty to the creation of cultured ~atmosphere— | these, evidently. are what the Character | Education Committee would have. And | these are the things which Albert Har- ris, the municipal architect, has been | producing on his crowded drawing boards | Duty Assignments Suggested. These refinements which raise a | &chool from the low level of a learning shop to a veritable. temple of eculture have definite places in the program of education which their champions wculd provide. A suggestion of the Character | Education Committee. for instance, is 1o assign responsibilities for the care of the various aspects cf the school to| specific class for nurture. The sixth | grade. perhaps. might care for the | attractive fencing that would be pro- | vided, ascertaining when it needs re- | pair and even making minor repairs. The fifth grade could hold itself respon- | sible for the seeding and training of the | lawn, while another class might care for the plants within the building. And ‘when a task is well done the committee would have the administrative and teaching forces of the school recognize it and commend the children responsi- ble for the bit of fine achievement. The committee believes the character education that would result from a re- finement of school atmosphere would be concrete. A sensitiveness to the physi- | cal conditicns which surround him would be developed in the pupil. The habit of accepting responsibility for the physical condition of his surroundings | would be encouraged, together with a realization that true freedom grows cut of order. Then, too, the committee is convinced that an appreciation of the rights of others and of the value of | teamwork in bhuman society would be developed. Other concrete results of this refinement, the experts hoid, would be the establishment of the habit ®f judging one's own work and that of others in relation to an accepted standard; the founding of pride, loyalty, | the the | tion, respect for one's self and one's sur-| roundings, and the formation of the habit of identifying one's self with one’s physical surroundings Given a physical environment, whether it be “on a par or above the physical surroundings to which the children are accustomed.” the school automatically sets up a social environ- ment which affects character. The experts, in their report. declared the sehool has a responsibility for develop- ing the social self in each pupil. It fuzther bears the responsibility for ac- quainting children with the accepted standards of conduct in social situa- tions, the report holds. In meeting these dual responsibilities, the school should provide social situations in its own daily life for the practice of ideals and standards, and it should establish situations of this sort within the school building itself, the committee believes. Co-operative Relationship. If this proper social atmosphere 1s to be set up as an attribute of character education, one of the first things which must be accomplished is the establish- ment of a co-operative relationship be- tween the pupils and their teachers This is definitely asserted by the char- acter education surveyors in their statement that the relationship be- tween pupils and teachers should be “clearly understood and of order.” Life within tk embracing teacher and ta opportunities for training in in_mutual helpfulness, friendli- ness, politeness and loyalty, the com- mittee believes. Teacher-pupil relations offer training in proper _adult-child relationships, | mutual confidence, Tespect for person- | | ality and deference to leadership, the report contends. In this connection, the character education experts would | have social functions within the school building because such affairs offer op- portunities for acquainting pupils with the best social standards and for de- | veloping & group morale. | From this apparently simple pro- gram in social environment, toe com- mittee expects the pupil to derive an ease in adjusting himself to the proper relation to various groups in socie Then, it believes. an individual per- sonality would be developed through proper association with the pupil's peers. Of course, physical and social en- vironment are not the only factors in character education. Intellectual en- | vironment created by the school's pro- gram of work also is essential. This is recognized by the committee which, in discussing intellectual atmosphere of | the school. recalled the three main pur- poses of public education. These are: | 1. The development of personal effi- ciency at the individual's highest level of achievement. 2. Common integrat- ing experiences for the promotion of democratic citizenship, and 3. The | training of large groups of citizens in | methods of problem solving. Improved Guidance Stressed. | Hence, Miss Backus and her associates | believe that school curricula must ln<‘ clude not merely the raw materials of | education—the reading. the writing and the arithmetic of fable—but it must | embrace materials for developing lhe‘ whole personality of the children who undertake it. Among other things, man- | ual arts must be recognized ard placed | on a basis of greater appreciation. The | school. too, should provide improved | guidance for the pupil, the committee | contends. | “Guidance” is another word for counsel in educational circles today. | More sympathetic counsel for children | would reduce the startling waste of time through the pursuit of Wrong, or at best, inadvisable courses. In soms | citles teachers are employed as full-| time counsellors for pupils and they be- | come the confidantes of the boys and | girls In their schools. As yet, Washing- ton has not progressed in the new edu- cation sufficiently far to warrant the expenditure of teacher salaries for | “mere” counselling. So guidance stil | is in the realm of extra-curricular ac-| tivities for teachers who do what thoy | choose in this direction before class in | the morning, nf;‘ recess, and at the end he school day. | DrA‘nd in the midst of their study of| the atmosphere in which boys and girls are to seek learning, the members of Miss Backus’ committee indicated they mean also to set their profession’s house in order. If children are to secure the character education which the School Board has determined to provide, the teachers who administer that training| must themselves develop a broad pro- fessional outldok. The character edu- cation group believes this responsibility oes even higher than teachers by mak- fng the same demands of the admin- istrators of the school system. These administrators, the -committee declares in its preliminary report, must show vision and leadership and they and the teachers must display happy co-oper- ation with one another. In going further into their study of character education the school system’s committee has pointed out that in a complex civilization “there must be some directing an co-ordinating agency if we are to unify and conservc the work of home, school and community.” School Logical Leader. “The school,” it declares, “is the| logical leader, since it works with all the children of all the ple.” ‘The committee therefore has strongly recommended that there be additional study in six specific fields: 1. Co-operation of home and school. 3. A program for adult education, T (Continued on Eightl, Page.), ‘ 1931 construction pleted or will provi school either com- nearing completion tem with new and mo accommodat.ons for 3.92) puplls with the opening of school this Fall. The Alice Deal Junior High School at Reno, designed to relieve the | congestion in the schools of the Chevy Chase-Cleveland Park district, will ac- | r | extensible building, will provide facili- commodate 600 pupils. The Eijot Ju- nior High School. located near the East- ern High School, will provide for 600 children also. ! (platoon) The Horace Mann (clementary) School In Wesley Heights will replace a de the District public | group of four crowded portables with modern _accommodations for 320 chil- dren. Similarly, the new Lafayette school at Northampton and Broad Branch roads will accommodate an- other 320 children. The Crosby Noyes school at Tenth and Franklin_streets northeast, the first unit of a 24-room ties for 160 pupils formerly quarteres in frame portables. The Charles Young school on Twenty-fourth | street north of Benning road, will ac- commodate 400 children. The capacity of the Congress Heights school will be increased by 160 through that building’s new addition. The ad- dition to the Whittier school at Fifth and Sheridan stre:ts, will accommodate 320. The addition to the Deanwood will provide facilities for 160 children | while the additions to the Gordon Ju- | nior High School and the Anthony Bowen school will accommodate 400 nd 480 pupils respectively. e (left The schools shown are: Top, | cau; EDUCATION OPEN TO ALL DECLARED IMPROVEMENT !Complaints of Overcrow in Good Grace Coming ding of Professions Not From Those Who Have Acquired Position, Says Dean. BY DR. CHARLES PERGLER, Former Minister of Czechoslovakia to Japan and one of his coun- try’s leading political figures, w. ho now is dean of the graduate department of National University. i nomic and social conditions. HE beginning of the school year brings in its train a renewal of discussion of educational problems, some of them hardy peren- nials, constantly with us, others new, arising from new eco- College registration for a number of years has been on the in- crease, and this has brought about a complaint that many incompe-. tent individuals seek a higher education and of the overcrowding of professions. The fact, of course, is that this rush for college education is sed by the increasing complexities of modern life which call for a thigher degree of education than a simpler society demand. A com- ,blicated social organism calls for better knowledge, general and spe- | cialized, and men and women of energy are exerting all their strength | to obtain it. That is the simple explanation of overcrowding, so-called, and the complaints in regard to it do not come with especially good grace from those who already possess it. It is altogether too reminis- cent of the attitude of a certain type of trade union which narrowly and quite short-sightedly limits in its particular trade the number of apprentices. Question of Rights. By what right, moral or of any other kind, am I or any one else entitled to dictate that my profession, trade or | business shall not be entered by others? And what is an infallible measure of | overcrowding? Time was, and it is not ss very dis- tant, either, when a high school edu- cation was considered adequate to en- ter into business life, or upon the study of any profession. Today we demand more, and where is there a business man who, in selecting a secretary, does | not prefer one who has acquired knowl- | institutions ; thoughts. edge beyond that given by a high school? To men whom democracy is' not merely a political concept, but a way of life, increased educational facilities are a national blessing and any move- ment to limit them, either by arbitrary standards or making them inaccessible in any fashion to those not born with cilver spoons in their mouths, repre- sents a clearly retrograde tendenc: The country today is studded with we call institutions of higher learning. The objection can- not be, at any rate should not be, to| their number, or even to their increase, but rather to the fact that only too often we confuse education with an ac- | cumulation of credits often in unrelated subjects. Students, for instance, are required to take subjects ulinately useful, or even necessary, for the engi- neer, although the engineering profes- sion’ is the remotest one from their The reform, if any, should lead to a proper co-ordination of studies, based upon the student’s ca- pacity and inclination, rather than in the direction of requiring a specific number of hours only. It is a matter of education, not of credits merely. law Study Difficulties. Confusion of credits with capacity for real study, is clearest to me in the legal sphere, with which I am most familiar, of course. To enter upon the study of law rTequires not merely a certain amount_of preliminary knowledge, but more often a maturity of mind which only years or a certain amount of ex- verience can give. So, while a sound general education is necessary, rigidity and arbitrariness of so-called standards is apt to defeat the very ends sought, :'ixz. improvement in the legal profes- sion. The ideal is. and must be in a nation opposed to soclal stratification, to make education accessible to all seeking it. There can never be such a thing as overeducation of a nation or any of its parts. It is a striking thing that for instance in Europe the labor movement has established schools which give what may properly be denominated higher education. Similar attempts have been made in this country. I have known many a minor whose knowledge of eco- nomics was quite impressive, if some- times one-sided, not due to his own fault, but simply because in his quest for more knowledge he was driven. for lack of otner opportunities, to lectures conducted only too often by men them- selves one-sided, of a single track mind. There can never be overcrowding im the field of knowledge. 'HIGH SCHOOL NOW ESSENTIAL LIFE TRAINING, KRAMER SAYS T New Attendance Laws and Requircments of Cultural Preparation Increase En- rollment in Varied Courses. BY STEPHE) First Assistant . KRAMER, ntendent of Schools ODAY the high school course is y becoming an equipment for life for every boy and girl. Our attendance laws are so drawn as to practically require of the great majority of pupils attendance of at least two years in the high school. More potent than | law, however, is the social expectancy | which is developing in regard to | graduation of a high school as being | ployment. a proper and a necessary equipment for every boy or girl applying for em- It does not appear un- | reasonable to expect that in the near | future 1l occupations will be carried |on to a very large degree by persons , colleges and universities. {and more all pupils are looking for- | Who have had full high school train- ng. The high school is no longer ex- clusively or even to a great degree a school for preparation for entrance into Since more | ward to high school education, the high school must adjust itself so that it | shall be a place where it will be pos- | sible for all | to right), Eliot Junior High School and | boys and girls to enjov a happy. | Lafayette School; second row, Crosby‘sucl'::slul | contact. Noyes School and Charles Young (pla- toon) School; center row (left), addi- | tion to Congress Heights School (oval) | addition to Gordon Junior High School | and (right) Anthony Bowen School; | fourth row, Horace Mann School and | addition to Deanwood School, and bot- | tom row, Alice Deal Junior High School. Completion of these schools marks one of the largest single building pro- grams in recent years. P.T. A ENPHASIZES CHILD IN 1981-32 Program Embraces Study of Phases of Children’s Charter. Emphasis will be placed on the school- children themselves by the District of Columbia Congress of Parents and Teachers during the 1931-32 school year, the program for which has just been completed. Each month, Mrs. Laura W. Buell, chairman of the Program Committee, has announced, the congress’ program will be presented by the organization's department dealing - with particular phases of the children’s charter of the congress. The first conference will be held October 20 by the Department of Organization under the chairman- ship of Mrs. Finis Morris, second vice president of the congress. _The November 17 conference will be given by the Department of Health and Mrs. Joseph Sln‘erfl, fifth vic: presi- dent, will preside” The Department of Extension and Education will present the December 15 meeting under the dual chairmanship of Seldon Ely, super- vising. principal of the fifth division of the public school system and third vice president of the Parent-Teacher Con- gress, and Dr. W. C. Rew of the George Washington Unive faculty. | | | | | PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT IS EXPECTED Kindergarten pupils Must Be Five by' November 1 in Classés September ASHINGTON'S public schools will_reopen Monday, Sep- tember 21, and before a month of the new year is completed school authorities expect the enrollments to reach the 80,000 mark. For the first time in the history of the school system the age limits for pupils are being enforced by congres- sional legislation, and children who are not 5 years of age by November 1 will not be permitted to enter the kinder- garten. School officials have been be- Sleged during the past week by scores of parents endeavoring to have the age limit waived (o accommodate children whose 5th birthday anniversaries fall a week or two after the 1st day of No- vember. The authority under which the school officials are excluding these children, however, is the legislative pro- viso' contained in the last appropria- tion act, which asserts: “No part of the foregoing appropria- tions for public schools shall be used for instructing children under 5 years of age except children entering during -the first half of the school year who 1681, ana ‘iildren chtering @uring the , an n_en second half of mmen who will TO REACH 80,000 Order to Start 21. | be 5 years of age by March 15, 1932 | One effect of this legislation is to | eliminate the so-called ‘“under-age”| kindergarten which for several years| was conducted at the Webster Ameri- canization School. Instead of this kindergarten, which was conducted by a trained kindergarten teacher, the Americanization School now will have a “nursery” in care of a “matron.” It was largely because of the under-age kindergartens, to which Reprgsentative Robert G. Simmons of Nebraska, chair- man of the Subcommittee on Appro- priations objected, that the strict 5- year age limit was set up. The retention of the one under-age kindergarten at the Webster School was urged because, it was pointed out. parents attending ‘the school's citizen- ship classes left their children in the kindergarten while they pursued their own studies. Mr. Simmons took the stand that if the kindergarten was only a nursery he would provide a nursery for that huilding and relieve the teacher for work elsewhere in her field. Plans for the enrollment of the pub- lic school children recently were an- nounced by Robert L. Haycock, as. sistant superintendent in of ele. mentary schools, and B Kramer, first assistant superintendent in_charge of high schools. Elementary school pupils who were promoted last Spring to high school are to report on Monday, September 21, to their new buildings. Elementary school children who are being promoted from one grade 8 a higher grade in the elementary schools are to report to their old rooms to be transferred in a group to their new classes, Certificates Requested. Little children who are being en- rolled in school for the first time this year are to be taken by their parents to the school building nearest their homes on Friday and Saturday of this earnest and industrious and constructive cultural The high school today is rapidly de- veloping a conception of culture and life preparation in other terms than in an exclusively academic sense. The high school must still carry the respon- sibility of offering to those headed for 2 higher education such training that | | they may find opportunity for instruc- tion which will efficiently prepare them for admission with full credit into the most exacting institutions in the land. The high school must, in addition, make an offering to the boy or girl aiming to step from high school edu~ cation directly into life, of courses so varied that they may choose that which may be most valuable to them in their preparation for life. This means an enriched and varied curriculum ad- justed to the needs. the interests, and the capacities of all children, ‘To this end your schools have en- deavored to provide a choice of sub- jects sufficiently varied to meet the interests and needs of those who seek instruction at their hands. For those intent upon the university are offered | preparation tor meet every scholastic requirement of such institutions. In the modern high school curriculym there are few subjects positively re- quired. From a generous list the pupil may elect that which best suits his need. Music and drawing may be emphasized equally with any other subject. Foreign language may or may. not be taken as the pupil may elect. Commercial training. accounting. banking. manual arts in wood and metal are offered to those interested. Printing, auto me- chanics, applied electricity and me- chanical drawing are available in addi- tion to the standard courses in the usual academic subjects of English, history, mathematics, foreign languages and sciences. NAVY SEEN AS PERPETUAL SCHOOL BY When other schools are planning their reopening for a new term, it is interesting 1o mote that the school of the Navy never closes. Day in and day out, at home and abroad, the naval students afloat and ashore are striving constantly to increase their knowledge and eficiency of the Navy. Herewith is a review of that school—that is, the Navy—by a man whose maval duties qualify him to, present it, BY CAPT. EARL R. SHIPP, U. §. N, weck between 8 and 10 2.m. and be- | Training Division, Bursau of Navigation, tween 4 and 6 p.m. Parents have been requested to take with them also birth certificates and vaccination cards. Out-of-town students planning to en- ter the District senior high schools and students going to those echools from private institutions are to report to the Board of High School examiners at the Franklin Administration Building, Thirteenth and K streets, between 8:45 am and 4 pm. on Wednesday and Thursdey of this week. They should take with them credentials from their former schools indicating how much work they accomplished, so that their eligibility to enter high school may be determined. 300,000 Freshmen Forecast. ‘More than 300,000 young men and young women will enter the freshmen | classes of American colleges this year, according to an estimate by Dr. George B. Woods, dean of the college of liberal arts. Of this number, he predicts 20 per cent—60,000— will not continue be- yond the first year. Another 20 Navy Department. EARLY 40 years ago the official Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy began its report to the Secretary of the i Navy with the following state- ment: “It_is necessary to bear in mind that the United States Naval Academy is primarily a technical institution of highly special character, whose chief business is to teach the art of naval warfare.” ‘The mission of the Naval Academy, as summed up in this old report, still holds good for the education and training of every officer and every enlisted man in the naval service. But teaching men the art of naval warfare has undergone many changes in 40 years, and it will continue to change with every new de- velopment in naval ships. In the Navy, as elsewhere, highly de- veloped and specialized equipment calls for increased skill and knowledge on the part of those who are responsible for its operation. In .addition to his training in the strictly naval and mari- time phases of his profession, the naval second year. Only one-half of the original will zeceive in 1935, '+, officer of today must have much of the training in electrical and mechanical TRAINING CHIEF | engineering given to men who expect | to make a life work of those professions. | Aeronautics. radio, optics—these are only part of the additional subjects in | which the officer must be trained to keep pace with modern developments in | naval warfare. | . In training its enlisted men the Navy | is confronted with a task that is even | more difficult than that of training offi- cers, for here, too, the modern navy ]u}:’rflnnd.s a high-grade of specialized | skill. | The “jack of all trades and master | of none” has no place in the comple- | ment of a modern warship. The great | dynamos and other electrical equip- | ment, the engines, the powerful radio plant, the vast amount of ordnance material, the delicate instruments of precision used in modern naval war- fare, must all be operated by men thoroughly trained for the highly spe- cialized duties, they must perform. The complement of a modern battleship in- cludes men of nearly a hundred dif- ferent naval “ratings,” and each rating corresponds to a trade in civil life. Dependence on Youth. In building up its corps of officers, as | well as its enlisted personnel, the Navy | has learned to place its chief depen- dence upon American youth. VIt does not ask for men of proven worth in other lines of endeavor. It draws young men of good character and ability from every walk of life and depends upon training, experience, and proper incen- tives to produce its leaders, as well as its rank and file. It gives each man thinge: 3o move on Snd 13 as He proves ), move on up as proves his worth, that he would find in any other walk of life. ‘The Naval Academy is the