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Show Home and School League I -4 VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE. By Mrs, Oliver C Ralston. iSxpljiiwitory The following is another anoth-er ot a snrirM of .short articles dealing with vocational guidance!, a subject in which tho Ipjjjuo is very much interest-pd. interest-pd. It is tfiigfistpd that more local associations as-sociations miht profitably take up this topic, for discussion. , Professor llanus of Harvard says: Public education should direct j each pupil's attention to a vocation i to which ho may reasonably aspire-that aspire-that is, each pupil should be led gradually to realize that a suitable vocation, accessible to him. and. i adapted to him, is indispensable to a useful and happy life. As he ap- ! proachos tho end of his school career, ca-reer, whatever his ae may be, he should come to see that his vocation voca-tion will be not onlv a means of satisfying sat-isfying his personal wants and ambitions, am-bitions, but that it is the chief ; means of establishing significant re- Jations between himselt and his fellow men; it is also tho source of such public, service as he is capable capa-ble of and may be called upon to Tender. Public education should therefore provide for the development develop-ment of vocational purpose based on vocational enlightenment (vocational (voca-tional guidance), and should offer each pupil appropriate training for the vocation of his choice. Vocational guidance does not mean merely helping boys and girls to find work, but to find the kind of work they are best fitted bv nature and training to do well, ft does not mean prescribing a vocation; voca-tion; it does mean bringing to bear on the choice of the vocation organized or-ganized information and organized . common sense. The advocates of vocational guidance desire a change in the school curriculum curricu-lum to the extent of modifying the syllabi, materials and methods of presentation. pres-entation. By vitalizing many of the elementary and secondary courses a considerable amount of information can be given the children concerning the various industries and occupations which they might enter, and thus set them to thinking about their life careers. ca-reers. A few illustrations are given to. show such possibilities. The money value of education may be shown in developing develop-ing the various processes of arithmetic. arithme-tic. For instance, many mathematical problems of vocational value can come from the figures which I found in a leaflet in the United States bureau of education exhibit at the Panama-Pacific exposition: Uneducated laborers earn on the average $o00 per vear for ; forty years, a total of $20,000. High school graduates earn on the average $1000 per year for forty years, a total of $40,000. This education requires twelve vears of schooling of 180 davs ! each, a "total af 2160 days of school. If that many days of school add $20,000 to the income for life, then each dav at school adds $fl.f2. The child that stays out of school to earn less than nine dollars dol-lars per day is losing money, not making mak-ing money. A study of the more common occupations occupa-tions as to cost and income, seasonable character of work, preparation required, re-quired, stock equipment, etc., gives splendid practice in arithmetic as well as in developing good common sense in choosing a vocation. To quate from F. G. Bonser: Problems in the economics of living, liv-ing, values and cost of food,-clothing, insurance, health and entertainment, entertain-ment, if made concrete, have very significant values in relationship to choice of occupation. The proportions propor-tions of income to be spent for rent, for' food, for clothing and for other purposes is a problem worth attention. The need of thinking in terms of per cents is very essential. Buying soap at six bars for a quarters quar-ters rather than one bar at a time, for 5 cents each saves less than a cent a bar,, yet it does save 20 per cent. Twenty per cent on a wage af $40 a month is $8 nearly $100 a year! If both men and women could be trained in school in the economics of buying so that they would always think of buying in terms of per cents it would profoundly pro-foundly affect their standards of living for the better. Through the grades from the fifth to the eighth practically all problems in mathematics might well come from the daily problems of business, industry and household and general expenses' and would be invaluable in furnishing information in-formation basic to intelligent vocation-, al choices. Geography offers an excellent field of study in the problem of industry and commerce and can develop a very intel-I intel-I Hgent attitude toward occupation. I In the study of history the child mav acquire an intelligent understanding of : the present-day vocations by being abl$ ! I to trace the evolution of industry, com- , ; merce and occupations in general. I Space does not allow further illustrations, illus-trations, but from the above it is easily :seen how necessary and important it is for every teacher to avail herself of vocational vo-cational information and be able to so I apply it in the school room, vitalizing ! and motivating every subject so that each child under her care will be better equipped to make a wise and intelligent selection of his life vocation. THE STANDARDIZATION OF . I MANUAL TRAINING. By Milton Clauser, Supervisor of Mann- al Training, Salt Lake City i Public Schools. : Explanatory. The following is part of an address delivered by Mr. Clauser before the I'tah Educational assoeia- j tion durinc its recent convention, .fuuu-al .fuuu-al training teachers and superintendents superinten-dents throughout the state have made numerous requests that the addrr-ss he I printed in full. The remainder of the address will appear next week. Some years ao, this subject, "The .Standardization of Manual TrainiiiLf, ' ' would hae called up the picture of a row. of abstract joints. A little later it would have suggested a graded course of tool exercises. At another time it would have conjured up a ision of evolutionary development a scheme which considered it essential that a child evolve aain hv living over the experience expe-rience of the race from the stone ago to the forty centimeter age. Then again this subject would have hinted correlation with every subject in the curriculum from the cardial H 's through the foolish fads down to the ridiculous fancies. Then comes ft conglomerate picture of school repair shops, factory fac-tory methods, short courses in "Jack of all Trades," followed up by a number num-ber of ultra utilitarian courses forced upon manual training departments by educators who were more sinned uguinst than sinning and who, in turn, were spurred on. on the one hand, by men more interested in self -advertisement than in genuine manual training;, and on the other ly men who were more interested in-terested in the preparation of factory hands than in the education of children. chil-dren. This nightmare of moving pictures pic-tures can not do otherwise than make us feel that in a good many cases while the teacher was testing models the child was lost tinder a stack of useful product. Where material can be found for such a rapid succession of movements move-ments it surely cannot .be said that the subject lacks educational content. And the very fact that these movements have occurred in forty years would suggest sug-gest some live wires somewhere. However, How-ever, if anyone came here with the thought that from this motley of motives, mo-tives, material and methods, I should attempt to pick out some one narrow line as "The Course," he will be disappointed. dis-appointed. Webster's dictionary quotes Burke: "A disposition to preserve and an ability abil-ity to improve taken together, wTottld be my standard of a statesman." In like manner, I would say: a worthy standard of manual training should be a disposition to preserve the good that others have worked out, the ability to improve the things found wanting and the involved . .willingness to rccognizo such a criterion. I have already suggested the harm that has come i'rom extreme enthusiasts enthusi-asts and theorists. Yet, most of the aforementioned systems of manual training have enriched the work in some wav. The abstract .oint system was a very effective way ot teaeh'ing, in a limited time, a variety of fundamental tool processes. There are a very few of these basic exercises that perhaps can be better taught by this method than by any other. Ttiis system developed skill, but no initiative. It lacked interest in-terest in that it was correlated with nothing in or out of school. It was of some use to woodworkers, but did not greatly benefit the engineering courses which hung on to it longest. It had a wilting effect upon students and a fossilizing fos-silizing effect upon teachers. Its long life, like that of the turtle's, was due, not so much 'to its virility as to this external ossifying process, which made it proof against all outside influences. It was, as some one said, a classical course in wood, taught by teachera in a classical way. In the grades the abstract joint system sys-tem was replaced at a very early date by a hyphenated Swedish-American -system known as the Sloyd system. This was a well thought out, a systematic, educational scheme which, later on, was opposed most by those who understood it least. Sloyd primarily 'aimed at the development of the child. It claimed a more logical sequence of models in that it was based upon tool exercises and interest rather than upon joints. Sloyd introduced the finished object, the useful use-ful project, the correlated drawing course and the pedagogically-trained teacher. And with the introduction of all these ideas it never lost sight of the child to the extent that some latai movements have. Sloyd fell into disrepute rather because be-cause the strain ran out than because of any inherent weakness. The supply of Sloyd-trained teachers was not equal to the' demand. The original body of men and women sent out from these schools, mostly to normal schools, were well prepared." But the adulteration and dilution of the Sloyd spirit that came with the second and third generations was its undoing. The teachers failed to adapt it to American life and conditions. condi-tions. They bought Swedish tools, used them "in Swedish ways to make Swedish models. Though the models had names, because of their Swedish nature, many of them were just as abstract ab-stract to American children as those in the abstract joint courses. In design they were inartistic almost to the point of being clumsy. The system had a too fixed course of models and failed to develop initiative. As a protest against the weakness of both the abstract joint system and the sloyd system a. wave of reform swept over the country which came to he known as the individual .initiative system. sys-tem. The individual initiative system was a protest against the old order of things, not only in the manual training train-ing courses, but also in the academic courses. It might be called the morning morn-ing star of a new educational evolution. evolu-tion. In places where this individual initiative was kept within bounds and supported bv progressive tool work, correlated cor-related with mechanical drawing and design, there resulted the best manual training this country has seen. While this movement brought as great a good a? anv of the waves that have swept the country, under it I have also seen some of the most abominable manual training I have ever seen "come across. This was the beginning of extremes. In a good many places the svstem went the limit in one bound. It not only did away entirely with abstract ab-stract joiuts and Swedish models, but also with the fixed course of models and the graded exercises. Here, now, for once, children could make what they pleased. And the results usually did not live to tell the tale. But what did that matter? The public and educators were pleased '. The boys were busy and worked as they had never worked before be-fore for a time! But when they lost interest after the noveity of the use of tools has worn off and would have no more of it, and the public refused to see anvthing in work that resulted in abominable designs, poor workmanship and equally poor finishes, educators were at a loss to know what to do. New movements wore now in demand. Someone hit upon the idea that evolution evolu-tion should be recognized by the manual man-ual training courses. And, as if henceforth hence-forth children were all to be Methuse-lahs, Methuse-lahs, good historical subject matler was transferred to the manual training department. de-partment. I heartily agree that we should recognize evolution in educational education-al work. But 1 cannot see that it helps evolution or history or manual training to have children reconstruct in a crude wnv all the implements and processes of the past ages, used in au ! industry, in order that thev may understand un-derstand that industry. I 'do not believe be-lieve it essential that children evolve again. About this time correlation received an inning. Here was a splendid and most helpful idea. But instead of correlating cor-relating the handwork with the related subjects of design, mechanical drawing, freehand, rough sketches and arithmetic, arithme-tic, it came to mean that manual training train-ing should be correlated with every subject sub-ject in the curriculum and a number out of it; but no subject was correlated with manual training. To such an extent ex-tent was this true in places thnt correlated cor-related manual training deteriorated into an advertising scheme for audu-bon audu-bon societies, women 's clubs, civic improvement im-provement associations and the making mak-ing of projects for other departments, nianv or which had no educational value whatever. Let me say here that things made for the school, under certain conditions, are the very best manual training projects. proj-ects. The harm conies in forcing them upon the class in overdoses and at inopportune in-opportune times. It is a waste of a boy 's and the teacher 's time to attempt at-tempt decimal fractions or mortise and tenon joints before the boy is ready; or to have the boys spend months on decimal fractions or making bookshelves book-shelves after they have ceased to be of educational value. The making of some birdhouses may be a most excellent thing, but we should not lose sight of the fact that the better the birdhouse, from a nature standpoint the poorer it usually is from a manual training standpoint, and vice versa. A flytrap or a birdhouse may be an admirable ad-mirable project for certain grades, but for a whole school to make them during dur-ing classtime every spring may be consistent con-sistent with nature study and civic improvement, im-provement, but it is not good manual training. 1 There is a splendid opportunity to cultivate community spirit by making projects, either individually or in groups, for the school or community. But manual training teachers sometimes some-times find themselves unequal to the occasion of creating the community spirit for an entire community. In such cases the-- boy considers the community spirit a punishment for efficient work. I have had boys come to me with tears in their e'es and say, "Can't. I make something for myself once? j have been working all year for the principal princi-pal and teacher. The boys who do poor work can work all the time for themselves. them-selves. M And if to this is added in-appreciation in-appreciation by an overaeademic teacher, teach-er, you can imagine how the boy feels. The useful cults under various aliases now put themselves forward more than ever before. There are the "large model advocates," who judge things by their size. If a class lays a few squares of cement sidewalk it will receive very little notice, though tlie boys have learned all there is to learn in the laying lay-ing of cement sidewalks. But if another an-other school lavs a cemeDt sidewalk around the block it will be advertised all over the country. The fact that the first group may have been taught half a dozen other equally useful things while the. first group is being deprived of very valuable school time is often , overlooked. i Again, one boy makes a small medicine medi-cine cabinet of fine design, having paneled doors and good finish. Another An-other boy nails a few boards in opposite op-posite corners of the school room and hangs, perhaps rather poorly, a few mill-made mill-made doors to them for .cupboards. The principal, who is a -large-model advocate, advo-cate, praises these cupboards to everyone every-one who will listen, while the boys and teacher throw up their hands and say, "What's the use if that is the kind of work that receives recognition?" No sane educator would object to the making of anything because it is useful. But there is such a thing as an ultra-useful course. To a fifth or sixth grade pupil a windmill, a piece of toy furniture, a drawing set or even an abstract ab-stract exercise may be most useful; while bookshelves and picture frames for a teacher he does not like may be an "abstract joint." A boy surely has some rights, and one of these is being a bov while he is a boy. T am not contradicting con-tradicting myself. A boy has spent fifteen fif-teen or twenty minutes in trying to blockplane the end of a board. I tell him that if he practices faithfullj' I will show him a wav: 1 will guarantee that he can knife line, saw off and blockplane such an end in less than three minutes. Then thai, exercise becomes be-comes a most vital and useful project. We find some of these ultra-useful courses where pupils of elementary erades are receiving specific training Tor particular jobs they wish to get. Such courses are plainly not made for the best interests of the pupil, but to make child labor more immediately profitable prof-itable to employers. Announcements. Patrons and teachers of the Columbus, Salt Lake City's newest school, will meet at the school Monday, March 19, to organize a Parent-Teacher association. associa-tion. The, meeting will be held at 3:45 p. ni. All patrons are urged to attend. The Emerson Parent-Teacher association associa-tion will hold its next regular meeting at the school Monday, March 19, at 8 p. m. A feature of the meeting will be the music rendered by the school under the direction of Miss Wilberta Whitney. The Irving Parent-Teacher association associa-tion will hold its next regular meeting Monday, March 19 at 8 p. m., in the Sugarhouse ward chapel. Milton Clauser, Clau-ser, supervisor of manual training, will address the meeting on "Vocational Education." All patrons and others interested in-terested are cordially invited to attend. The Oquirrh Parent-Teacher association associa-tion will hold its next meeting Friday afternoon, March 23, at 3:45, at the school. The Rev. P. A. Simpkin will address ad-dress the parents on "Purity of Life for Boys and Girls.' A cordial invitation invita-tion is extended to the parents and patrons pa-trons of the Oquirrh school. The Sumner Parent-Teacher association associa-tion will hold its next meeting at the school Monday, March 19, at 8 p. m. P. J. Sanders, director of boys' and girls' club work, will address the meeting meet-ing on "School Gardening." Mr. San ders 's address will be illustrated with colored slides showing the school gardening gar-dening and other club work of boys and girls in Salt Lake City and elsewhere. The feature film of the boys' and girls' matinee at the Paramount-Empress theater Saturday, March 24, at 10:15 a. m., will be "The Last Days of Pompeii," George Cline's greatest spectacle, spec-tacle, adapted from Lord Bulwer-Lyt-ton 's great novel. |
