USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1883 > Part 23
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The ranking of a school makes prominent a low motive for study, the wish, that is, to outdo one's neighbor; and in the haste to do this, children not unfrequently deceive, cheat, and lie. People are enough inclined by nature to get ahead of their neighbors. This sentiment should not be encouraged.
It often happens that a child with greater ability than the average, or with better opportunities at home, stands easily at the head of the class. Nothing is more natural than that such a pupil should think himself entitled to credit for an eminence not earned. A false pride comes in almost surely, which is quite sure of a fall. On the other hand, a pupil naturally slow but industrious and persistent, will be at the foot of his class and become, in so far as he is affected by the marks, discouraged; when the fact may be that, measured by his opportunities and his efforts, he ought to be at the head of the class. And where the competition is sharp, and emulation at its flood, did any one ever see a class of pupils without envy, jealousy, and worse? The next to the highest wants an explanation of this, that or the other mark, by which he was put below his neighbor. If such feelings are not noticed, they rankle. If there are no such feelings enkindled, then where is the use of the ranking ? It is not possible to have strong feeling about rank without, at the same time, these unlovely feelings.
Let it not be inferred from the above that this exaggerated kind of marking characterizes our schools. But marking for rank, in order to be just, must be as strict as that described above; and if we have it in a modified form-as a kind of estimate-then the very arguments by which it is defended fall of their own weight; the estimate if partly good may be wholly, or almost wholly, good.
Now, let us ask, what good comes of all this marking, either in its extreme or in its partial form? this waste of time and strength, this false motive and this awakening of unamiable passions? Either, it must be claimed, we arouse the ambition and get more work out of the children, or else it is a good thing in itself to compare children with one another; that is, it is & part of the teacher's work to send a report to Mr. A. to say that his boy is smarter or not so smart as the boy of Mr. B. As to the ambition : It is quite probable that full as much harm is done in school by over stimulating pupils as by under stimulating them; for the trouble always is that the stimulus most affects those who do not need it, and affects not at all those whom it might benefit. Suppose ten dull boys to be benefited ten per cent. by the stimulus, and one bright girl killed by it-and the case can be found-on which side, do you think, would the balance stand? Even throw into the scale a splendid school with a very " high standard," and the parents of the lost child, and the parents of other such children, would prefer to omit the stimulus.
But there will be after all a stratum of the poorest scholars who do not feel this stimulus at all-the very ones, as said above, who most need to be stimulated.
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Now is it not likely that, for the sake of arousing ambition, a better plan than marking, ranking, and comparing, can be found? Take all the time spent in this way and devote it thoughtfully and wisely to awakening a pro- found interest in the subject of study with the comparatively few pupils who need to be interested. The brightest three-fourths of the class do not need it. In the remaining quarter, the interest of one will spread to the others. It is not implied, here, that teachers do not now seek thus to interest the pupils ; it is only suggested that, to the time now spent in that way, most of the time given to marking and ranking be added.
As to the duty of teachers to compare pupils with one another and send the results to the parents : If there is anywhere an absurdity it is such a sugges- tion. Nobody sends a child to school expecting a report of his comparative weight, or height, or shade of skin, or color of hair. Nobody asks teachers to report weekly how many ounces more or less than the "average in the school" the boy has grown; and why not, as much as to expect them to report how much, comparatively, he has learned in school? that is, whether he has learned half as much or twice as much as the next boy? This comparing of one pupil with another, is very objectionable. If one does his best, nothing more should be required of him, though his neighbor has done twice as much. If another has done only half he might have done, he is to be blamed, though no one else has done half as much as he. The only just comparison is between what one has done and what he can do. The only just standard for any one is his own possibilities. It should be immaterial to any pupil what his neighbor has done; but it concerns him whether he has done his best. There is every diversity of talent among our pupils. It is our duty, not to make them iden- tical but to develop them. Children in the schools have all sorts of home influences to help or to hinder them. It is the teacher's business, not to unify those influences, but to help each pupil to adapt himself to his surroundings; to show him that the adverse must be withstood; and that favorable opportu- nities demand greater achievements.
What sort of a motive is this to hold up to a young person whose character you are forming in school : To see if you can outdo your neighbor-to stand one in a class of fifty ? How will the forty-ninth feel? If you were the forty- ninth, could you rejoice with the number one ?
There is a nobler aim in study which the youngest can be made to appre- ciate, the pure delight of learning. It may be said that children are slow to experience any such delight. But it is seen in many a school. Perhaps it is not seen in more because of this very ranking and marking. Sweep all that away and spend all the time in the other direction, and see if the real love of study will not do more for your pupils than all this artificial system of ranking.
Some one objects that without marking and ranking we can not have a "standard." If there is anything that will ruin schools, it is this idea of " standard" as it lies in the mind of certain teachers. It is an idol whose worship is worse than that of Juggernaut. It slaughters children mercilessly and relentlessly. A worshipper of this idol forgets the interest of the pupil, in keeping up the standard of the school.
It is our business to instruct, to help on, to train, to develop character and
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scholarship. Given fifty children, and the sublime opportunity to form and mould and guide them! It is contemptible-more, it is wicked-to keep the eyes on some ideal "standard," and crush or drive away the pupils. The "standard" is what your pupils are able to do profitably. Any other standard is ruinous, and ought to be destroyed. The pupils are of more importance than the school. Children were not made for schools; but the schools are made for the children.
Some one else objects that this competition and comparison is just what we all have to meet in life, and so it is beneficial for children to meet it in school. But it is not just what we meet in life. Competition, the jostling for place, and power, and precedence, there is, of course. But who is the teacher to mark, and rank, and average? Who fixes the per cent. of Rev. Mr. and his rank with the Rev. Mr. so-and-so? Who fixes the rank of Mr. lawyer - in his " class"? Nobody. In this competition the judges are many, and the judgments are not uniform concerning any individual. We, each of us, have the satisfaction of ranking high among our friends, though others rank us low. And such competition as this, there may be in school without the ranking and marking. Healthy emulation does not depend upon marks and ranking.
It should be noted that less and less importance is attached to mere marks year by year. Admission to the High School does not now depend upon the work of one great day; it depends upon the faithfulness of a pupil during the year. Promotion from grade to grade, or advancement from class to class in the lower schools is determined in the same way. Admission to some of our best colleges is now gained upon the recommendation of the teacher in the fitting schools : and this plan meets with favor more and more as the professors discover the improved quality of the students admitted. No lawyer from the professional school, no doctor from the medical school, no preacher from the seminary, and no teacher from the Normal School or from the department of Pedagogy in the college-no one of these has in his diploma, whatever the percentage of his rank, any surety of success in his calling. It is the vale- dictorian in his college class or in the High School, and the boy who " ranks one in a class of fifty," that is in great danger of turning out a fool : not that the work implied is not beneficial; but the conceit that goes with the " rank," that sublime consciousness of superiority, is worse to withstand in many cases than an "army with banners."
Now, in spite of all this, marks as a means in school discipline were invented to produce a good result. There is no doubt that they have been useful : there is no doubt that, in some places and with judicious limitations, they may be useful. Nor is there any doubt, that the whole system of marking and ranking will, at no distant day, give way to something better, just as the staging, which has been erected in putting up a building, and which has served its purpose, must come down, and no longer disfigure that . which it was instrumental in producing.
The evils of the marking system herein set forth as vigorously as circum- stances permit, are not descriptive of what is seen in any one school. Of the picture which has been sketched above, only a little shadow here and there, applies to our teachers. The evil is here, only in a partial form. But it is
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here, in this modified form. In the written examinations the idea has been abandoned, as far as possible, that this is a great day of reckoning, a day of final accounts, a day of all days in the term the most important. Each set of questions, in the hands of the teacher, has on the title-page this legend :
" These questions are not designed mainly as a test. They are meant to be suggestive of future teaching. The answers are not to be rigidly marked as a test for rank. Promotions depend chiefly upon daily work during the term.
" Pupils should enter upon the examination as upon an ordinary recitation, as far as possible. There should be no previous notice or parade about it. Nothing about the printed questions should interfere with that sensible teach- ing which is best for the pupils individually.
" There are always pupils in every school who can never make a display of the results of teaching. Good teaching, however, is not less effective with these than it is with the more brilliant pupils. The conscientious work which is done with the slow or dull, though not always seen, is to the credit of a teacher, and will be prolific of good results in the time to come. It is not always possible to foretell the power of a man by the promise of childhood, except in the one item of persevering industry. In teaching, the seed that does not at once spring up is by no means lost."
It has been the design in conducting these examinations to prevent the laborious and largely useless task of marking answers with scrupulous care, by hard-worked teachers, in the hours that ought to be devoted to sleep or to rest. In spite of all that has been done to prevent it, however, the practice of too rigid marking has continued, in many cases. All the emulation that is desirable may be secured without the ranking; and by abolishing it we may avoid the heart-burnings which it inevitably engenders among children. Moreover, in the absence of this artificial stimulus, the ambition to study for the sake of acquiring knowledge and power, instead of the mere wish to out- shine one's neighbor, is more likely to be awakened; and the study and all the school work will be done in a better way.
On this subject of marking and ranking three directions have been given : (1), That the standing shall be indicated by the letters; (2), that the rank in the class will be omitted; and (3), that pupils will not be seated according to rank.
The comparison of one child with another is no part of the business of a school. But here a caution may be necessary. These opinions are liable to be misconstrued. In avoiding too much, there is always danger of doing too little. Here, as everywhere, in steering clear of Scylla we are liable to strike Charybdis.
It is always well to compare a pupil with himself. The standard for him is, what it is possible for him, by industry, to attain. Each day and each year ought to be an advance upon the last; and every boy and girl ought to be sat- isfied with nothing but the best. Any simple plan for so comparing a pupil, is not objectionable. Every one of them ought to have it impressed upon his mind that his very best, every day, is what is expected of him. No elaborate system of figures is required for determining whether a pupil is doing his best, by a teacher who hears him recite every day. The report of individ- ual pupils, which a teacher can make from memory, is more nearly correct than any which can be derived from all his records, however elaborate.
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And it should not be understood from the remarks about a "standard " that there ought not to be an ideal standard of excellence. The standard is not to be held up as a terror to drive away and discourage pupils. An ideal excellence, superior attainments, noble achievement, is a good incentive to lure children on. We cannot have too much of it. But this ideal excellence is a spiritual thing ; it cannot be represented by a per cent. Like the heat and the sunlight, it may be seen and felt, but it cannot be measured and weighed.
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION.
The following communication to the Board was made, and action taken in accordance with it at the beginning of the present year ; the practical results will be awaited with interest :
" The subject of Industrial Education has received much attention for the . past few years, and it is now unsettled. In certain cities of the State experi- ments have been tried with great satisfaction to their friends, in the direction of furnishing training for pupils of the public schools in various kinds of manual labor.
" I suppose there is no question that much good has been done in these schools. This being granted, it should be remarked, however, that it does not follow that such schools ought to be opened in every city. If there is a good thing for one place, there may be a better for another.
" In the city of Boston, a carpenter's shop has been opened in a basement room of the Dwight School. Benches, tools, lumber and a teacher have been provided ; and a few boys, volunteers, from the Grammar schools, go there a certain number of hours a week, and are taught the first steps of the carpen- ter's trade. Only a small per cent. of the boys in this school, say five or six per cent., receive this instruction. The course of study is printed ; it consists first, of driving a nail-striking a square blow with the hammer; then of cutting a board with the saw; then planing a board-making a square edge; then, making joints, &c., &c. It is said that the boys who work in this shop a few hours each week, do not fall behind the others in scholarship, and all they learn of the trade is clear gain. So satisfactory has been the experiment thus far, that it is to be extended, and an appropriation of $2,500 has been made for the purpose of opening other similar schools in that city.
"The same interest has also been manifested in other cities in the State : and the State Board of Education has given the subject more or less attention ; and the members of that body look with favor upon these attempts to solve a problem of growing difficulty. The popular interest in industrial training, and the wide-spread demand for an education which shall prepare boys and girls to make their way in life, is of comparatively recent growth. Its cause . is not difficult to see.
"Formerly each man worked more by himself, and more independently, as a rule, than he does now. The shoemaker cut, crimped, lasted, pegged and finished the shoe throughout. Now he does only a single part. One man cuts; another trims; another pegs; another finishes. Then, he could teach
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his own boy in his own shop. Now, machinery largely does the work of men ; every place is crowded; and all a boy can do is to go to school or be idle. Then, the carpenter and the mason built the house entire. Now, the house is made in a dozen places, and the carpenter and the mason go to the spot and knock it together in a few days. The doors and sash, the stairs, the finish for cornice and window- cap, the mantel-piece, the hearth-stone, and the chimney- cap are all made outside. Samuel J. Tilden's dining-room finish for the new house in New York was made in a Worcester shop.
" What is true of the carpenter and the shoemaker, is true of other trades. Machinery, and division and sub-division of labor, have so revolutionized business, that there is in cities very little for boys and girls to do, and very little opportunity for their parents to teach them the trades by which they themselves earn their living, or any other business. Now the public schools are not organized for the purpose of teaching boys and girls trades; nor do they, nor have they ever assumed that they can warrant all pupils to become thrifty and prosperous men of business. All these schools claim is that a pupil whose wits and intelligence have been sharpened by study, is thereby better fitted to learn some business by which he can get a living-not that the school fits him to get a living by teaching him the details of any kind of business. A church and a temperance society, in like manner would not take the contract of securing to each of their members the ability to earn his living at once ; but to be good and temperate, helps in that direction.
" If there is anything which schools can do, however, which will better pre- pare the pupils for the duties of life, this is a good thing for them to under- take so far as they can without neglecting something more important. Now it is a question, it would seem, whether the best thing for pupils is a carpenter's shop, or some other kind of a shop in the basement of the school- house. Only part of the pupils can profit by it. It is expensive, and it covers only a small part of the field ; for not all would wish to learn any one trade, and too many trades in the basement would be confusing. The experiments tried in other cities will furnish data from which we may act more intelli- gently in future. It is not necessary, therefore, to recommend the opening of any shops, in the basements of our school-houses at present, both for the above reason and because all our basements are in use.
" All the good which the shop arrives at, and much more, can be secured in another way, and with a direct and positive benefit to the regular school work. One of the most important subjects of study in any school is the English Language; and the very best way to learn the proper use of the language is, to use it intelligently. Such a use enables one to acquire knowledge from all that has been written-to drink from the exhaustless fountains of literature and science. The first step in such a use of language is to have something to say. Expression is easy when there are ideas to express. You have only to tap a reservoir that is full and the water flows. It is hard pumping to any purpose from an empty well. Some of the most futile efforts at writing are made by pupils when they try to say some great thing about that of which they know nothing.
" It would be highly useful to give some chance for pupils to learn, not a little bit of carpentry or shoemaking, but the outline, the outside appearance
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of many trades, and then to write about what they have seen and learned. By such familiarity with the business carried on in the town, they not only learn this all-important use of language, but better still, they learn to investigate; and better than all, they may become familiar with many kinds of industry, and from them all, they may be in some measure prepared to select that occu- pation for which they each are best fitted.
" The tendency of schools, books and study, is largely in the direction of literary pursuits. A boy goes to school, to the High School and the college it may be, and he thinks of nothing as the practical outcome of it all, except the law, the ministry, medicine, school-teaching or journalism. The Technical schools and the Scientific schools have, in recent years, opened the field for a new ambition.
" Let us extend the effect of such schools into the Grammar and High Schools, and give, if not a scientific, at least a practical tendency to the instruction in these lower schools. Simultaneously with the grammar school studies, let us acquaint pupils with the business life which men and women-their fathers and mothers-are engaged in, in the vicinity of the school. It is unnecessary to elaborate this idea further. And now for the practical thing :-
"Let the pupils of Grade IX. for example, be divided into squads of six or eight boys, or six or eight girls each. Let the teacher or else some trusty pupil lead the squad. With the approval of the superintendent or overseer of the factory or shop, previously obtained, let a squad visit the place of business, and carefully observe all there is to be seen. So far as is possible, without interference with the work, let each pupil exercise the Yankee privilege of asking questions. From Cyclopedias and all other available sources, let each of these pupils learn all he can about the business which he has inspected ; and then after a few days of reflection, in order that he may digest and assimilate his knowledge, let him write out in simple language what he has learned. This is the lesson in language which has been so highly commended above.
"It will be seen that this plan followed through a series of years, familiarizes all the pupils with a great variety of industries. Each hears what the others have learned. Each may pursue the study of some one kind of business, or he may learn about several; and since there are some half-a-dozen of his mates who have seen the same as he, he may contrast their knowledge, as expressed, with his own. The details of this plan would be too full for com- plete expression here. The only interruption of school work would be the use of one half-day in a month or two. And there is nothing in this proposi- tion which would interfere with-it would rather aid-the opening of a shop-in-the-basement, if that shall be thought advisable.
"The Superintendent with the consent of the Visiting Committee, was authorized to dismiss any Ninth Grade School for the above purpose-not exceeding one half-day in two weeks till the end of the present School Year."
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THE BULLOCK HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY AND APPARATUS FUND.
In the report of the Schools for the year 1882 the history of this fund is given. The investment is in the care of the City Treasurer, Mr. William S. Barton, under whose careful manage- ment it has been increased from $1,000 to $1,500. The income is expended by the Principal of the High School, with the approval of the Chairman of the Committee on that School and the Superintendent of Schools.
The present state of this fund is shown in the following com- munication :
OFFICE OF THE CITY TREASURER,
Worcester, Mass., Dec. 21, 1883.
To A. P. MARBLE, Esq.,
Superintendent of Schools.
SIR :
The undersigned, as Treasurer, ex-officio, of the Bullock High School Library and Apparatus Fund, presents for your information, and that of the Honorable School Board, the following brief statement of receipts and payments, on account of said fund, during the last financial year, together with the balances carried forward, at the close of business, November 30, 1883 :-
Balance, Dec. 1, 1882, viz : Deposits in Savings Banks, $1,500 00
Cash on hand, 32 11
$1,532 11
Receipts during Year, viz : Dividends on Deposits,
$60 34
Total,
$1,592 45
Payments during year, viz : Sundry bills for Books, $88 53
Balance, Nov. 30, 1883, viz : Deposits in Savings Banks, $1,500 00
Cash on hand, 3 92
$1,503 92
$1,592 45
Respectfully submitted.
WM. S. BARTON, Treasurer.
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To CLOSE.
At the present time, the public need, most of all, to under- stand that the Public Schools were not organized originally to subserve every public interest directly ; that some of the benevolent enterprises of Society have heretofore been left to other agencies; and it is wise that some of them should be left there still.
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