USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wakefield > Town annual report of the officers of Wakefield Massachusetts : including the vital statistics for the year 1909-1912 > Part 9
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on pages 127 to 135, also the expenditures for the evening school, the tuition account and list of unpaid bills.
Signed, CHARLES E. MONTAGUE, M. D., Chairman, MRS. IDA FARR MILLER, Secretary, ASHTON H. THAYER, Treasurer, MISS ELIZA M. GREENWOOD, H. LEE M. PIKE, A. H. BOARDMAN.
Report of the Superintendent of Schools
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE :
I hereby submit my fifth annual report. In submitting this report there is likely to be a general similarity from year to year, and the public may feel that about the same things will be mentioned. However, this same public ought to welcome a report of school conditions, and recommendations which mean progress and efficiency for the school system. I am of the opinion that every community wants the best schools, and the most done for the pupils which will make them efficient men and women.
We might speak of school accommodations, since every year we are obliged to mention more or less crowded conditions. These crowded conditions remain and will continue until the taxpayers fully realize that inefficiency in school work is the inevitable result of overcrowded buildings. We are expected to turn out a certain product and it is right and proper that such results should be expected, but without proper equipment we can not be held responsible for results. With double grades in rooms where one grade ought to be; with 48 to 54 pupils in grades where there should be not more than 35 to 40 ; with over 30 pupils to a class in the High School where no greater number than 25 should be, and added to this a general shifting about in every conceivable manner to accommodate even these, it really follows that our
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accommodations are inadequate. It seems to me that the average citizen does not fully realize the true conditions under which the school work is being done. The Town has been willing to grant quite liberal appropriations for school purposes, yet to bring these appropriations within what appears to the public a reasonable cost it is necessary every year to cut out many essentials that are needed.
EQUIPMENT FOR EFFICIENCY, OR VOCATIONAL TRAINING
There are other equipments than school accommodations for housing pupils. Efficiency, or the fullest development of each individual pupil is also a matter of deepest concern. It is true that education may be defined as the development of character and the training for good citizenship, but education means more than this. It may mean "preparation for complete living," "the organization of experiences that shall serve to modify and render more efficient man's adjustment to his environments ;" or, "the preparation for life's worthy interests and activities through par- ticipation in them." It may mean any and all of these ; in fact, all converge to the same end-the complete development of the individual that he may be able to participate in life's activities. From this point of view what shall we say as to our equipment? Have we the facilities for developing the individual that he may be not only a good citizen but also a useful citizen and one who is able to adjust himself to his environments and to take some part in life's activities ?
I believe the time has come when every community should give to all boys and girls the opportunity, to a greater or less degree, of vocational training. It is a fact, that many boys and girls tired of the study of books leave school at the age of fourteen and ap- ply for work in our factories and mercantile establishments and who are wholly unfit to assume responsibility of any kind, and know nothing of work. These factories and mercantile establish- ments say they do not want these same boys and girls, and they are therefore agreed in the opinion that these young people should remain in school a longer time-at any rate until they are sixteen years of age. The parents, however, feel the need of the wages
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that may be earned by these boys and girls, but the money they may be able to earn, is very little. Employers say that, should these pupils remain in school until sixteen the development would insure a greater capacity for earning; when asked what instruction is of most value, answer,-vocational instruction. This suggestion is not made on the basis of money getting, but rather on the basis of efficiency. The boy at fourteen is undevel- oped mentally and physicially, yet many of them have lost interest in books and in school generally. They have no aim; they drift first into one thing and then into another and after two or three years, many have lost all desire for steady employment. This is evidence, then, that at the age of fourteen provision should be made for teaching vocations. It gives an added interest to school life. It places before the pupil the possibility of getting something which will be of real value to him.
At the age of fourteen our school curriculum may well be diver- gent. There are three lines of development which may be fol- lowed. First,-the class of pupils who are naturally inclined to pursue the study of literature, mathematics, and the classics, which carries them forward to a preparation for the professions ; a second class is inclined toward the study of commercial branches which leads into commercial pursuits ; a third class, by no means weaker in mental ability than the first class nor any the less sus- ceptible to culture, tends towards the arts and sciences, vocations, trades. We should give equal opportunity to the one class as to the other. Equip the schools with facilities for work with ma- chines ; learn weaving, chair making, metal working, making of shoes, rattan products ; carpentry, dressmaking, millinery, cook- ing, sewing, mechanical and free hand drawing. At present we have courses in our High School leading to the classics and the commercial pursuits. It is evident to one who has observed the work of different pupils in the High School, that many who have not seemed interested and who leave, might have been kept in school had there been an opportunity to devote a part of the time to vocational training. This vocational training pursued in the schools is not, as thought by some, the only work to be done by these pupils. A portion of the time is to be devoted to academic training in the following subjects : English, Mathematics, History,
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Physiology, Civics, Spelling, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, and possibly a modern language.
Vocational training is not a new thing The newness about it is the fact that it is to be applied in a different manner than here- tofore. The State has come to see that her existence cannot de- pend upon a few. We have not questioned the advisability of training lawyers, physicians, ministers-all vocational, and the State itself has assumed to educate and train teachers which is vocational. Self protection and the possibility of holding her position in the commercial world has led the State also to recom- mend and to encourage by statute, the establishment of vocational schools. It would be unwise for any community to educate its boys and girls or any particular number of them for mere indus- trial pursuits. This would create caste, the thing which American citizens wish of all others to avoid. No system of education can afford to teach for vocational pursuits alone ; neither can any system afford to give pure intellectual training alone. It is the combination of the two in proportion to make for the greatest efficiency, that every pupil will have opportunity to develop his latent powers, and at the same time to give culture, develop char -. acter and train for citizenship.
The Massachusetts Commissioner of Education, Dr. Snedden, says in a recent article in the Educational Review. "It is well known, for example, that large numbers of boys, from twelve to fifteen years of age take little interest in their school studies, while their vocational interests are strong. The number of such children who now leave school at the earliest possible moment is disconcertingly large. But under present conditions their liberal education abruptly ceases when they withdraw from school, but too frequently the character of the industrial pursuits which they enter is such, owing to long hours, highly specialized labor, and unfavorable surroundings, as to deprive them of incentives to pre- serve and develop the little cultural training they have received. But if the public schools could provide for this class in the later years of their school work, opportunities for vocational experi- ence and training while still reserving a portion of time for the most vital cultural and civic teaching that could be derived, there can be hardly any doubt but that large numbers of such youth
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would make a far more effectual adjustment to the conditions of modern life than is now the case "
Dean Russell of the Teachers' College, Columbia University , N. Y., says in a recent article. "There is a concession of opinion that specialization should not begin before the twelfth or thir- teenth year of age. Some would defer it two years or more. With six years of good fundamental training, the child is ready at thirteen or fourteen to look forward to his life work. For those who go to college it is time to begin specialization along academic lines ; for those who are to become artisans or tradesmen, as soon as possible, it is time to begin vocational training. Specialization at the age of fourteen years should begin gradually, and in the vocational lines it should be essentially preparatory to the later years of trade school or apprentice training.
My point is, that when the boy or girl hears the call of voca- tional life, specialization should begin and gradually narrow into technical training for specific occupations."
It might be well to add some examples by way of illustration as to what is being done in different places. It has been my privilege to investigate the subject quite thoroughly during the past year or more, and some of the schools already established, both private and public, may be of interest. In our own state the most recent established are those at Lawrence, Beverly, Fitchburg, New Bedford, Northampton and Montague.
At Lawrence the school is under the direction of the city. and the state, and is supported by the city, the state, and by private funds. The school department has no control or direction, al- though the principal consults freely and often with the Superin- tendent of Schools with respect to the management and the work. "The work is confined largely to the study of manufactured articles in the textiles, tracing the raw material through the various ma- ยท chines performing and each part until the finished product is pro- duced. In addition to this there is a thorough course in electric- ity and its application. For the girls there are courses in sewing and cooking. There is no particular trade taught to any of the pupils, but the entire process and the handling of the machines is taught to all alike. These pupils are taken only after they have :reached fourteen years of age and have finished a certain amount
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of work in the public schools. Part of the time is devoted to the machine while the remainder is devoted to academic subjects -all pertaining to industrial work.
At Beverly the arrangement has been made with the United Shoe Machinery Company whereby boys, having become fourteen years of age, and having finished a portion of the Grammar School course, are given opportunity to work in the shop for remuner- ation during one week, while the next week is devoted to academic subjects in the High School. These subjects - English, Mathe- matics, History, Physics, etc., are taken, each specifically appli- cable to industrial and commercial pursuits. 'The same person teaching in the school instructs the same set of boys at the shop, thus giving to them the equality of supervision in both places. Here the School Department has supervision of the work, cooper- ating with the factory in joint responsibility.
At Fitchburg, the boys are divided into relays of ten, one week being devoted entirely to academic instruction in the High School, the next week giving the whole time to shop work in one of the large machine shops, where they receive a nominal wage. In both Beverly and Fitchburg the attempt is not to teach a trade but to make efficient apprentices who will soon become able to take charge of a machine and earn a living wage. In Lawrence the object is to fit boys to enter the factories, begin at the bottom and, because of the previous training received, will more rapidly advance and become efficient all round workmen. From these ranks will be developed intelligent workmen who'can turn their hands to any part of the business, and all things being equal be- come foremen and superintendents. The plan at New Bedford is similar to that at Lawrence, except that it is under the School Department. Both are purely vocational.
At Montague the work is purely agricultural, and of High School grade, thus developing intelligent and thoroughly equipped and scientific agriculturalists.
At Gloversville, N. Y., there has been organized, in connec- tion with the public schools, a plan for the making of gloves, an industry in which that town is particularly interested. The plan is not to teach any particular part of glove making, but to give a knowledge of the whole process. It is more an apprentice
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school, and fits the pupils that in a short time they may become efficient workmen.
Possibly the one place that has attracted as much attention as any is Columbus, Ga. Here in connection with the public school under the Board of Education has been established a department. of vocational training. There is an advisory board consisting of five members including superintendents or managers of various industries, men of education and technical training. This Board holds meetings once a month, examines the work and reports to the Board of Education after each meeting, thereby keeping the industrial interests in touch with the school at all times. The school is open to boys and girls over fourteen possessing sound bodies and school education equivalent to the first five or six grades. The vocations taught are practical carpentry, pattern making, lathe work, forging and machine work; in the textiles, carding, spinning, weaving, dyeing and designing. In this de- partment the girls receive the same instruction as the boys. In the business course the girls receive instruction in stenography, typewriting, bookkeeping and cabinet filing. All girls are re- quired to take cooking, care of the house, sanitation and decora- tive arts. All the courses are three years in length ; the number of hours, including shop work, is from forty-eight to fifty per week. The school is open from nine to four except Saturday when it closes at noon.
I have referred to the above men and places and quoted from addresses to show how intense is the interest in this vital question of giving equal opportunity to all classes. I trust the interest in this community will cause everyone to ask the questions, What are we doing to help the average man better to do his life work and better to realize his real inheritance as an American citizen ? Is it too costly to prepare the boys and girls for an existence that will be richer in itself because of their ability sooner to find their places in the activities of life? I hope this matter will soon be taken up by the Town. There is no time like the present.
SALARIES
In the matter of salaries for teachers no doubt the amount asked for as a whole seems to the public a large sum. Taking it
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as a matter of remuneration for the individual. however, it has far less significance. The fact has been published recently that living expenses have advanced about 37 per cent. This being the case. a salary of $400 to $600 which the town pays can scarcely be called a sufficient remuneration for an individual whose necessary expenses are high even when living expenses are normal. It must be remem- bered that this salary is paid for ten months only and the teacher is under expense for twelve months of the year. Estimate board and room at $6 per week, the average for today, and it amounts to. at least, $250 for ten months: wearing apparel costs at least $150 : books, stationery, and other necessary expenses to keep abreast with her profession will cost not less that >50: traveling expenses and means of entertainment, other incidentals as church expenses and the like will certainly cost $50 : counting no other expenses, not even for doctor's bills, and we have 8500. To one receiving even $600 there is little left for the summer vacation of two months. Then, too, each individual ought to be able to put aside something for the immediate future as well as for the remote future unless a system of pensions is established. The above is cited simply to show that our teachers are not overpaid although the lump sum seems large. It might be questioned whether they are not underpaid ?
As one has said : "We expect that our teachers will conform to the increased standards of living, and besides their professional duties they shall take their share of other forms of social services, that they shall provide for their own professional growth, attend lectures, read current literature, keep up with the times, take ad- vantage of opportunities offered by various summer schools and college courses. We are not willing that they shall cheapen their services in any way, nor that they shall in any way shun or shirk their obligations to church or other forms of community life. Of what other form of labor so poorly paid, are such demands required ?" The above is given with a full appreciation of the recent advance required by the town which was highly commend- able, yet it is fair that the Town should fully appreciate how much is actually received by the individual teacher and how much is really demanded in return.
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BACKWARD CHILDREN.
I would again call the attention of the Committee to the advis- ability of establishing a room in the town for the instruction of backward pupils,-call it a " mixed room" if you please,-but a room to which may be sent those children who have been two or three years in the same grade. Place here a teacher who has. force, sympathy, skill and good common sense, and transfer cer- tain pupils to this room from different grades and give them a. chance for that special individual instruction they so much need. In this room should be bench work and sewing as well as other branches, especially arithmetic, reading, English, spelling, geog- raphy, and hygeine. Some of these pupils may be able to go ahead and be placed again with the grade and finish the grammar school course, others will be able to get enough to make them fairly intelligent workmen. At any rate the special instruction. received will be much more than they can possibly receive if they remain with pupils who are much younger. To do this would seem to some an unnecessary expense, and a waste ; but a second thought will certainly reveal the fact that it is economy. These same pupils, otherwise, will soon drop out of school because they have reached the age limit, and they will have gained little or noth- ing under the present condition of things because their need is in- dividual and special. They are unable to do anything with their hands and are not sufficiently capable from an intellectual stand- point to originate, investigate, or to rely upon themselves to- assume any specific responsibility.
They are, therefore, unable to do anything but the simplest. kind of work and the community is obliged in some way to see. that they are employed in unskilled labor. If given a chance to develop even a slight degree of skill with their hands with what. intellectual training they might obtain from special instruction, they could be made self-supporting. This is economy in the end ..
AN EFFICIENT SCHOOL SYSTEM
An efficient school system for any community means as much: as the community demands. There is no community that willingly places a low standard for its schools. Everywhere the highest.
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educational standards are sought, and the product demanded must be that of the greatest practical efficiency.
Business men and others sometimes complain of the graduates of our schools because of their inability to perform, for instance, the simplest problems in interest, fractions or the like ; to write a concise letter in good form, or to grasp simple situations and to assume responsibility. There is no doubt but some of these com- plaints are well grounded, but is a system to be judged and passed upon as inefficient because of a failure to perform some specific operation in arithmetic given off hand and under irregular conditions.
True, the average pupil coming from our schools should be thoroughly and specifically acquainted with the simple forms of arithmetic and English, but are there not also other things neces- sary by which a pupil may be judged? It seems to me that the development of the pupil in character, health, judgment, responsi- bility, citizenship, participation in life's activities, adjustment to environment, have their part in an efficient system.
I believe, however, in some respects we are attempting too much. We hold to traditions tenaciously, although it is demon- strated over and over again that they are not educational or even practical in the development of an individual. We still believe that the same things in mathematics, geography, history and the ancient languages should be taught as they were taught forty years ago. We feel that it is impossible to omit certain portions of arithmetic and that every pupil must pursue the subjects of algebra and geometry ; that to omit the numerous map questions in the old geography is a sin; that we must pursue the subjects of Latin and Greek in the same old manner, learning all rules of syntax, form, etc., as well as reading a large number of books of various authors.
The efficient system would give greater attention to the real development of the child. I believe we lose sight of the child, and are too likely to think only of the course of study, the amount. of work in the different subjects to be covered during the year.
When we are able to throw aside the definite limits of the course of study and take into consideration what the child can do and what he OUGHT to do; when we as teachers are not bound by
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the covers of a book, or what we are to do in any one year ; when we can take the class, the individual, and develop them body and mind, make them capable of doing something, and doing that something with hand and brain according to the natural develop- ment of each individual with reference to his capabilities, then we shall have what may rightly be called an efficient system.
To do this means a greater study of conditions and a more practical study of "teacher psychology," I call it "teacher psy- chology" for want of a better name, because it means a psychol- ogy which the average teacher is able to understand, to interpret in terms of every day class work. She must be able to look into things and to realize that practical psychology means an applica- tion of the simple laws of the mind which are every day before her as a teacher.
These ordinary things seem simple to her, and yet she feels that she must reach after something large and scientific ; still a careful study of real child psychology will prove that a logical law exists which when followed will bring results of which she has not yet even dreamed. The teacher is the school-yet teaching must be done according to certain laws, which laws the teacher must know if she would make her teaching effective. This is an efficient system.
MUSIC
The music under Mr. Wilson, the supervisor, is moving as usual. In his report he states somewhat in detail the kind of work done in each year and comments upon the results as obtained in the different grades. With some grades he is securing the results desired while in others he finds the music considerably below this standard ; however, as a whole the work is quite satis- factory to him.
During the greater part of last year and thus far this year our school programs have been arranged that a short period-regular -is given to music each day, and not a long period twice or three times a week as heretofore. At the opening of the morning ses- sion the class sings one or two songs ; at the regular music period of the day, the effort is made to teach some definite thing and to drill on that already learned. This period, in fact, is devoted to
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real, definite, spirited music teaching ; as much effort is put into it and required as is given to a recitation in arithmetic.
By this means it is felt the music will receive what is due the subject, and places it upon a basis with every other. It is my firm belief that unless we place music, drawing, manual training and sewing upon a basis that requires real, definite work on the part of teacher and pupil, we shall not get from these subjects the results that the amount of money expended for their mainten- ance demands.
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