USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The Religious Education Association : proceedings of the first annual convention, Chicago, February 10-12, 1903 > Part 10
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This, then, is one of the subjects which the contem- plated organization proposes to itself-to reach the homes of our land with the purest literature and, as far as may be, to organize the homes into circles for the cul- tivation of high ideals, so that the very tone and charac- ter of this nursery of civilization shall be made and kept pure and safe. It is more than mere accident that the early apostolic church was so commonly organized in the family, in the home, the household. For this was put- ting the saving salt into the very spring and fountain of all the social life of the people. Nor is it an accident
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that today, after all the persecution, the exile, the oppression, and the robbery that man has been able to devise and execute against the Jewish people, that great race, without country, without social or political power or prestige, is still everywhere intact; the family life is practically the same, the invincible citadel of its national and religious ideals.
When we shall have made the home intelligent, pure, and religious, we shall have saved and established our nation and our country. For the family is the fountain- head of our civilization.
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION THROUGH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS
CHARLES H. THURBER, PH.D., EDITOR EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATIONS OF MESSRS. GINN & CO., BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
United in the topic of this paper are two subjects, as to the relations of which there is difference of opinion and difference of practice as well. In a pamphlet recently issued by the Paulist Fathers I find this statement of the Catholic position : "Nor do they believe that morality and religion are separable; that men will revere the law if they ignore the lawgiver. Now, since morality has divine sanction, to attempt to teach its principles without reference to the Divinity is to ignore the lawgiver ; yet just as surely as you speak of the Lawgiver, so surely do you trench on the ground of doctrinal teaching." That this view is held by other religious bodies is sufficiently proved by the multitude of denominational schools. And yet, in practice, so far as the public schools are concerned, religion and morality are no more connected than two remote planets whose orbits never meet. Nobody, I take it, objects to the teaching of morality in the public schools; generally it is recognized in some formal way in the curriculum. But specific religious teaching is practically banished by law from every public school in this country, so far as I am informed.
This is a very modern condition. The fathers of our common schools had no such notion. Luther had as much as anyone to do with starting state support of popular education, and with him the maintenance of schools was always for two purposes-the welfare of the. church and the prosperity of the state. He says :
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I maintain that the civil authorities are under obligation to com- pel the people to send their children to school. . . . . For our rulers are certainly bound to maintain the spiritual and secular offices and callings. . . . . If the government can compel such citizens as ate fit for military service to bear spear and rifle, to mount ramparts and perform other martial duties in time of war, how much more has it a right to compel the people to send their children to school, because in this case we are warring with the devil whose object it is secretly to exhaust our cities and principalities of strong men, to destroy the kernel and leave a shell of ignorant and helpless people, whom he can sport and juggle with at pleasure. That is starving out a city or country, destroying it without a struggle, and without its knowledge.
Of the Reformation, Breal says that "it contracted the obligation of placing everyone in a condition to save himself by reading and studying the Bible." Luther, who did so much to furnish a powerful motive for read- ing the Bible by translating it into the vernacular, sup- plied the chief reading material of the next three centuries.
And what of Ignatius of Loyola, the great Catholic educator of Luther's generation? The Jesuit society which he founded has always devoted itself chiefly to education, and the very first sentence in the Ratio Studi- orum refers to the "abundant practical fruit to be gath- cred from this manifold labor of the schools," that fruit being "the knowledge and love of the Creator." On a statue of Christ before one of their colleges is this inscription:
For Thee these meadows smile, and, on the hill-top smoothed away, these beds bedeck themselves with flowers ; and the youth from every clime unfolds, in virtue and in science, the hopes of Christian manhood.
The Jesuits have dealt with secondary and higher educa- tion, it is true, but the other teaching bodies that arose in the Catholic church to care for elementary education and the education of women were, it need scarcely be said, permeated with the same religious spirit.
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Comenius, the good Moravian bishop, who has been called the "Father of the Common School," writes :
That only I call a school, which is truly officina hominum, where minds are instructed in wisdom to penetrate all things, where souls and their affections are guided to the universal harmony of the virtues, and hearts are allured to divine love.
Pestalozzi, one of the noblest names adorning any pro- fession, writes :
I am unwilling to bring these letters to an end without touching on what I may call the keystone of my whole system. Is the love of God encouraged by these principles which I hold to be the only sound basis for the development of humanity ?
Rousseau, who did much more for education than he generally gets credit for, and who had boxed the com- pass as regards religious belief, so far from leaving morality and religion out of his system of education for the natural man and woman, gives them both a very important place. He could preach better than he prac- ticed. Today, however, some might disagree with his dictum that -
Every girl ought to follow the religion of her mother, and every wife that of her husband. If this religion be false, the docility which makes the mother and the daughter submit to the order of nature wipes out, in God's sight, the sin of error. Being incapable of judging for themselves, they ought to accept the decision of their fathers and husbands as that of the church.
Not to weary your patience further with quotations from the pedagogical fathers, let me say in a word that their views prevailed. They prevail today in the public schools of Germany and England. They prevailed far into this century in our own country. In Massachu- setts, for more than a century and a half from the found- ing of the public schools,
Dogmatic religious instruction was given in them without let or hin- drance. This was one object that the founders of these schools had in view in founding them. . .. . The free use in the schools of the shorter catechism gave no offense. The frequent visits of the min-
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ister to the school to catechize the children were taken as a matter of course. In fact, the minister had a definite educational status assigned him by the school law.
That this attitude was not peculiar to Massachusetts is shown in the famous passage from the Ordinance of 1787, creating the Northwest Territory : " Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good gov- ernment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."
Montesquieu says: "It is in the republican form of government that the whole power of education is abso- lutely needed." If there were not good ground for believing that today we are in danger of departing from the order of the Ordinance of 1787 - first religion, then morality, then knowledge-and reading it first knowl- edge, then more knowledge, then more knowledge still, and are not using quite the whole power of education as Montesquieu declared a republic must-if this were not so, this Convention would not be in session.
The causes that are responsible for the new condition are very complex. The change took place so gradually that no one can tell when it happened. In Massachusetts we find, in IS27, a law declaring "that school commit- tees should never direct to be used or purchased in any of the town schools any schoolbooks which were calcu- lated to favor the tenets of any particular sect of Chris- tians." This was, in great measure, only a recognition of a condition that already existed, for such a law could not have been placed on the statute books if the public sentiment to enforce it were not already powerful. But the New England Primer and the catechism did not leave the schools all at once. They were saying farewell for half a century. The multiplying of religious sects con- tributed powerfully to the movement. Since the schools could not teach the peculiar doctrines of every denomi- nation, they became neutral ground. This was the easiest way out of that difficulty.
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But another element entered in, less obvious, difficult to catch in the act, perhaps for the most part uncon- scious, yet, we must believe, most powerful. This was a subtle political feeling, rather than doctrine, that is part and parcel of our national idea. In regard to the schools, this influence, I believe, shows itself in two directions. The new nation was inclined at first to break with all the forms of the government against which it had rebelled. Many of the colonists had crossed the seas to escape from a state church; and while they seized the opportunity, as in Massachusetts, to make their own church the state church, yet when other denominations grew powerful, the natural tendency was to separate state and church absolutely, so that the spec- tacle of one denomination tyrannizing over another might not be repeated in the New World.
On the other hand, it soon became evident that the new nation had a most interesting and important experiment on its hands. This was nothing less than the reconstruc- tion of the Tower of Babel. Immigrants streamed in from every land, speaking all the tongues that sprang up from Babel's ruins, and out of them a homogeneous people had to be constructed. What was the agency to rely on to do the work ? Not the church, manifestly, for every ship brought a new sect. So it must be the school, and so the school became "the symbol of an eternal unifying spirit." Some such underlying forces as these must have wrought for present conditions, for, although there is no central school authority in the United States and each state acted by itself when the time carne, each being a law unto itself in school matters, yet the result was every- where practically the same.
Now it is time to look seriously at the present situa- tion. What are the facts as to moral and religious teach- ing in our schools today ? No one, to my knowledge, has studied that question so thoroughly as an English
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scholar, who came over here on the Gilchrist foundation some three years ago especially to look into this very matter, and published two substantial volumes giving the result of his inquiry. In these pages we may sec ourselves as others see us. Professor Mark, in summing up his observations, finds that -
With the exception of the partly scientific, partly moralizing teaching of temperance under the name of physiology, it is very uncommon to find anything upon the time-table under the name of character lessons or lessons in morals. The direct moral teaching is : (a) in connection with the formation of good habits, such as cleanliness or kindness ; (b) taken up as part of the opening exercises for the first five, ten, or fifteen minutes of morning school; or (c) associated with class mottoes, or with selected quotations written upon the blackboard.
The Massachusetts state law contains this paragraph :
It shall be the duty of all instructors of youth to exert their best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and youth, committed to their care and instruction, the principles of piety and justice and a sacred regard of truth; love of their country, humanity, and uni- versal benevolence ; sobriety, industry, and frugality ; chastity, mod- eration, and temperance ; and those other virtues which are the orna- ment of human society, and the basis upon which a republican con- stitution is founded ; and it shall be the duty of such instructors to endeavor to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will admit, into a clear understanding of the tendency of the above-mentioned virtues to preserve and perfect a republican constitution, and secure the blessings of liberty, as well as to promote their future happiness, and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the opposite vices.
I know that many courses of study presented for cities contain regulations similar in character to this law, and I presume that practically all do. Here is a form typical of many others :
In all grades teachers should embrace every convenient opportu- nity to instruct their pupils in morals and manners. The following list of topics will supply bases for many interesting talks :
Duty to parents, to brothers and sisters, to playmates, to the aged, to the poor and unfortunate, to the ignorant and stupid, to strangers and foreigners, to the public, to one's country.
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Home manners, table manners, school manners, street manners, manners in public assemblies and in public conveyances.
Industry, punctuality, order, economy, honesty, truthfulness, cleanliness, self-respect.
Other topics will be suggested to the thoughtful teacher by occurrences that come under her observation in the schoolroom and elsewhere.
This is all excellent, but there is one weak point where it would not be surprising to find the system breaking down every now and then, and I must digress for a mo- ment to offer a criticism and a positive suggestion. Is it to be expected that all teachers will, without any spe- cial preparation, be able to give "interesting talks," to quote the language of the ordinance, on all the difficult and delicate topics therein specified ? How many in this audience would like off-hand to face a body of forty to sixty children, the keenest critics in the world, and give them an "interesting talk " on their duty "to the ignor- ant and stupid "? With the best will in the world, the average teacher might not make the talk either interest- ing or profitable. This partly explains why direct moral or religious teaching is often thought to be of very doubtful value in the schoolroom. Moral or ethical knowledge no more comes naturally of itself to the teacher than to anyone else. It has to be learned like anything else; and especially if it is to be presented to others must it be learned in some orderly and sys- tematic way.
My constructive suggestion is this : Let provision be made for the teacher to learn this subject. I have not been able to examine the courses of study of many normal schools, nor many of the examination papers set for applicants for teachers' certificates, but my impression is that at present training in morals is nowhere recognized as a part of the teacher's preparation. That the teacher is expected to be of good moral character, and almost universally is so, goes without saying ; but the possession
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of personal morality no more qualifies for teaching moral- ity than does the fact that I personally (so far as any- body knows) possess a perfect outfit of bones, muscles, arteries, veins, lungs, stomach, liver, and all the rest, qualify me to be demonstrator in anatomy in a university medical school. It is certain that formal text-books in morals have never been successful in schools in this country. The instruction must come all from the lips of the teacher. All the more reason that we should see to it that the teacher is at least offered the opportunity for special preparation.
Direct religious exercises in public schools seldom go, or are allowed to go, farther than the reading of the Bible. The law in the several states varies not a little. In New York pupils cannot be compelled to attend religious services, and the law gives no authority, as a matter of right, to use any portion of the regular school hours in conducting any religious exercises at which the attendance of pupils is made compulsory. Some places -the cities of Rochester and Troy, for example, unless the rule has been changed very recently - forbid any religious exercises. Bnt the opening of the school with Bible reading and some form of prayer is generally con- sidered unobjectionable and desirable. This is per- mitted unless some one in the community objects and calls the matter to the attention of the state department, when the department immediately enforces the law. In other words, the Bible may be read, if no one objects, but must not be read if anyone objects. Massachusetts requires some portion of the Bible to be read daily in the public schools. In Missouri the trustees may com- pel Bible reading. In Illinois a student may be expelled for studying during the reading of the Bible. In Geor- gia the Bible must be used in the school. Iowa leaves the matter entirely to the judgment of the teacher and permits no dictation by either parents or trustees. In
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Arkansas the trustees settle the question. In North and South Dakota the Bible may not be excluded from any public school, and may be read daily for not to exceed ten minutes, at the option of the teacher. In most states that permit Bible reading no pupil can be com- pelled against his parents' wishes to take part in the read- ing or to be present during the reading. But in Maine a child expelled for refusing to read the Bible cannot recover damages. Arkansas forbids the granting of a certificate to a teacher who does not believe in a Supreme Being, and Rhode Island recommends the rejection of any teacher who is in the habit of ridiculing or scoffing at religion. Washington prohibits the read- ing of the Bible in the schools ; Arizona revokes the cer- tificate of any teacher who conducts religious exercises in school ; and in 1890 the supreme court of Wisconsin decided that the reading of the Bible in the public schools is unconstitutional. In 1869 the Cincinnati school board was upheld in forbidding the reading of the Bible. The same action was taken in Chicago in 1875, and in New Haven in 1878. New Hampshire requires that " the morning exercises of all the schools shall com- mence with the reading of the Scriptures, followed by the Lord's Prayer." Pennsylvania says : "The Scriptures come under the head of text-books, and they should not be omitted from the list;" in 1895 the Bible was read in 8712 per cent. of the schools of the state. Vir- ginia seems to have no law on the subject, but the Bible is generally read. South Carolina also has no law on the subject. The Bible is not read in any of the schools of Utah.
In 1896 reports on this subject were gathered from 946 superintendents, representing all parts of the coun- try. Of this number 454 reported the Bible as read in all their schools, 295 reported it as read in part of their schools, and 197 reported it as read in none of their
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schools.1 The law ranges, as you have observed, between absolute prohibition of Bible reading; permitting it when no one objects, but not otherwise; leaving it to the option of the local authorities, either trustees or teacher; and requiring it, either leaving the amount and method to the option of the teacher or prescribing a very limited amount of reading daily.
At the best, this is not much - not much of the Bible, and almost nothing in the way of effective teaching. But it is well to understand that there are laws governing this matter, and that we are not dealing with a question that can be settled off-hand in a religious gathering or a teachers' convention. If there is not more direct religious teaching in our schools, at least it is not the fault of the teachers. Nor can there be more than there is now, unless the laws are changed. Referring to the reasons I have suggested for the enactment of these laws, and with a knowledge of the lurking danger of sectarian strife, we cannot escape the conviction that we have here a most difficult and delicate problem.
But Kipling says that the American turns
A keen untroubled face, Home, to the instant need of things.
To state the problem clearly, with no blinking of unpleas- ant facts, is the first step toward discovering the " instant need." Is the problem insoluble ? If so, the sooner we make up our minds to that fact the better, that we may not spend our strength tilting against wind-mills. I cer- tainly have no ready-made answer. But I think I see the first step. I have often been appealed to by a pupil to help read a problem : "If I could only read it, I know
"See the report of the Chicago Woman's Educational Union, 1896; Bardeen's Common School Law, and Cooley on Torts. It is quite possible that some recent legislation which has not come to my attention may have modified slightly the laws as I have just stated them, but they are substan- tially accurate today.
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I could solve it." What teacher has not heard that wail ? The first step is to read our problem right. To that end we must have more facts, all the facts. This Conven- tion, or rather the organization which will, we all hope and believe, grow out of it in some permanent form, has, I take it, no more pressing duty than to get full and exact information bearing on every phase of this subject. The second practical, constructive suggestion that I ven- ture to offer is just this, that somebody get these facts. Professor Mark, to whom I have already referred, got a good many facts, and his reports will be of immense suggestiveness to whatever person or committee takes this investigation in hand. Only let the investigation be in strong hands, free from every chance of suspicion of ulterior motives. The first step must be the collection and classification of our material.
Did time permit, it would be interesting to see in detail what the other great civilized nations, especially France, Germany, and England, are doing for moral and religious training in the public schools. As you know, there is no divorce between church and state in Eng- land and Germany, and both provide as definitely for instruction in religion as in any other subject. Bauer- meister's great work gives no less than 338 huge pages to the details of the method and materials for religious instruction in the secondary schools, or high schools ; and, moreover, treats religion first of all the subjects of instruction. Latin comes next, with 255 pages, nearly 100 pages less than religion ; and the study of Latin is not neglected in Germany, as everyone knows. The official programs of instruction in the lower primary schools in France are divided into three parts, treating respectively of physical, intellectual, and moral educa- tion. Under the last head the work for each grade is indicated with great minuteness. This outline is most interesting and suggestive, and I wish there were time to
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give it in full. One subdivision is headed "The Soul," another " Duties toward God," and the word "God" frequently appears.
I am not yet fully persuaded that more emphasis upon the mere literary study of the Bible will result in much. The Bible was once almost the only reading book, in school and home. The appalling increase in printed matter-I will not say literature-made it inevitable that something else should be read in the sum total a great deal more than the Bible. Tastes change in litera- ture as in everything else. Every now and then we read of the " revival " of some author, a " Shakespeare revi- val," " Milton revival," " Dickens revival," and the like. There is no reason why there should not be a " Bible revival " as well. Let us hope there may be, and for literary purposes a revival of the King James version, too. Yet the mere literary study of the Bible will pro- duce, I imagine, mainly literary results.
But there are two mighty influences constantly, and one of them at least consciously, operative in our public schools in the interests of morality and to a large extent of religion. The first is the study of literature, which is gaining an ever larger place in our school curriculum. Great care is exercised in the selection of this literature, but the greatest care is none too great. The world's best literature mirrors the most instructive experience of the race. Here all the passions and the virtues that have ever lorded over the kingdom of man's soul are seen in their action, reaction, and results. Here the child may learn all the lessons of experience without paying the very large fees which that school exacts. Interest is spontaneous and genuine. Only, in order to bring out the lessons that should appear the teacher needs all culture and conscience, all tact and tenderness.
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