may allay any reasonable fears that you have been at fault. 5. The Criticisms do not Hold against the Teaching in Your Schools.-A prominent point in the objections is "an insufficient amount of reference to Americans of different racial ancestry, and to their contribution to the upbuilding of the nation." You will recognize the difficulty of finding any textbook of sufficient simplicity and brevity for school use, which book could contain personal references to all the worthy citizens of various nationalities who have contributed to the happiness and prosperity of America; but you will also be interested to know that in the new course of study in history, under preparation by your committee of teachers, particular stress is laid upon the fact that America is unique among the nations of the world in that its citizenry is composed of people of so many racial strains. The course of study emphasizes the belief of its framers that this is an element of strength in our national composition. The children are taught to discover and to appreciate the value of the gifts of character and temperament, which Americans of Swedish descent, Danish descent, German descent, Polish descent, Jewish descent, Bohemian descent, Greek descent, French descent, Spanish descent, Italian descent, English, or Irish, or Welch, or Scottish descent, Americans of African descent -in fact of every ancestry found in our population have contributed to the artistic, scholarly, scientific, and material wealth of the country. 6. Special Attention is Paid to the Contributors of All Races.-These purposes cannot completely be realized in any single study-as, for instance, in history-but are emphasized in the music, in the composition, in the literature, in the art, and in the assembly exercises of the school almost daily. Definite exercises correlating his tory and citizenship studies with geography; specifically require the children to discover and appreciate the services of the Ericcsons, the Riises, the Von Steubens, the DeKalbs, the Schurzes, the LaFayettes, the L'Enfants, the Hyam Solomons, the Strausses, the Pulaskis, the Kosciuszkos, the Dvoraks, the Carusos, the Farraguts, the Washingtons, the Barrys, the Sheridans, the Boyle O'Reillys, the Jeffersons, the Hugheses, the Carnegies, the Booker Washingtons, etc. 7. Recognition of the Gifts Brought by All the Peoples. Our children are also taught to realize how much of our progress in education we owe to the Americans of German lineage; of our arts, to those of French descent; of our architecture, to Spanish influence; of our music, to Italian; of our statesmanship and love of freedom, to Irish; of our thrift, to Scottish; of our form of government to English, of various other advantages, to designated people of other races. The emphasis on this is pronounced. As the syllabus says: "An appreciation of the value of the service of outstanding foreign-born citizens, an appreciation of their attitude toward their new citizenship, should be taught daily." 8. Summary. In conclusion, our Chicago course in history is not at fault in any of the points alleged. Our list of books includes those in use in progressive school systems of America, and endorsed by Catholic dioceses and Lutheran synods. If we are going to use history textbooks at all as supplementary aids we are dependent upon the present market. We are teaching our history from our own syllabus and outline and not as based on textbooks. (Signed) Mabel Crawford, Clarence E. De Butts, Flora C. Dunning, Joseph J. Gonnelly, Wm. Hedges, Morgan Hogge, Edward E. Keener, Chas. Krauskopf, Joseph F. Maclean, Don C. Rogers, Henry W. Summer, Jaroslav J. Zmrhal. Harnessing the School and City.-"Form and ceremony, stopping at that," says Malcolm McVickar, "are the curse of religion, of government, of education." The emotions aroused must be given action. To pledge allegiance to the Republic every day and do nothing for it is wicked. Evansville, Fairhaven, Lincoln, hundreds of cities, are writing into their courses of study specific until John grows up, gets rich, and gives a civic acts to be performed now, not deferred fountain to his town. Frank Rexford, of the New York City schools has for a dozen years had thousands of boys and girls assisting to keep the city clean. Chicago, every year, when the snow has melted and the scars of winter offend the eye, organizes a city-wide clean-up campaign sponsored by the Association of Commerce. The schools organize a superb coöperative course in cleanliness. They keep score of each child's civic services. In 1925 the total yards cleaned, houses painted, flowers, trees, and shrubs planted, piles of rubbish disposed of, rats killed, insect-breeding spots disinfected, etc., amounted to 363,672. In 1924 the number rose to 619,279; in 1925 to 1,125,655; in 1926 it reached the sum of 3,242,462. Get the City Children Out of Doors.-If the pictures on the first pages of this issue do not thrill you, you are shop-worn and need to get out into the open. For, by all the poets, this is the month that was made for gladness, the month of leaves and roses, when pleasant sights salute the eyes and pleasant scents, the noses. If you can't negotiate one or two events in this month when you and your school children fill up your storage tanks with the glorious green of grass and the then-if-ever perfect days, you should resign your schoolmastership; you are no fit companion for children. Pleasant Summer to You.-Your next REVIEW reaches you September first. Try to bear up until then. Meantime may your days be bright, your spirits high and your physical and spiritual health so fine that you will long for schools to begin work in the Fall. The function of art. "Till America has learned to love art, not as an amusement, not as a mere ornament of her cities, not as a superstition of what is the proper fashion for a great nation, but for its humanizing and ennobling energy, for its power of making men better by arousing in them a perception of their own instincts for what is beautiful, and therefore sacred and religious and an eternal rebuke of the base and worldly, she will not have succeeded in that high sense which alone makes a nation out of a people and raises it from a dead name to a living power." -JAMES RUSSELL Lowell. STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION, ETC., required by the Act of Congress of August 24, 1912, of the EDUCATIONAL REVIEW, published monthly, except July and August, at Garden City, New York, for April 1, 1927, State of New York, County of Nassau. Before me, a Notary Public in and for the State and county aforesaid, personally appeared John J. Hessian, who, having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that he is the Treasurer of Doubleday, Page & Company, owners of the EDUCATIONAL REVIEW and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1912, embodied in section 411, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this form, to wit: 1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and business managers are: Publisher, Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden City, N. Y.; Editor, William McAndrew, Garden N. Y.; Business Manager, Edgar D. Hellweg, Garden City, City!! N. 2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company, or other unincorporated concern, its name and address, as well as those of each individual member, must be given.) F. N. Doubleday, Garden City, N. Y.; Nelson Doubleday, Garden City, N. Y.; S. A. Everitt, Garden City, N. Y.; Russell Doubleday, Garden City, N. Y.; John J. Hessian, Garden City, N. Y.; Dorothy D. Babcock, Oyster Bay, N. Y.; Alice De Graff, Oyster Bay, N. Y.; Florence Van Wyck Doubleday, Oyster Bay, N. Y.; F. N. Doubleday or Russell Doubleday, Trustee for Florence Doubleday, Garden City, N. Y. Janet Doubleday, Glen Cove, N. Y.; W. Herbert Eaton, Garden City, N. Y.; S. A. Everitt, or John J. Hessian, Trustee for 3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) NONE. 4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, and security holders, if any, contain not only the list of stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is given; also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe that any other person, association, or corporation has any interest direct or indirect in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than as so stated by him. 5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is (This information is required from daily publications only.) (Signed) DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY By JOHN J. HESSIAN, Treasurer Sworn to and subscribed before me this eighth day of March, 1927. [SEAL] (Signed) WILLIAM W. THORNTON (My commission expires March 30, 1929.) A REVIEW OF THE VIEWS OF LAYMEN THE NEWSPAPER WRITERS Help the Newspapers Start Right Three years ago, with the aid of you, its readers, this magazine started a campaign at the suggestion of William H. Allen, to coax the newspapers to chronicle the opening of school in September as a glad event, not a dismal one. Four hundred leading journals were written to. I don't know how many complied. Our clipping agency furnished us with 173 cheerful editorials from all over the United States taking note of the march of 25,000,000 children back to the schoolhouses. The move of this army is one of the big epic events of American life. Isn't it? A stupid tradition has led some newspaper men to continue the outworn fallacy that children go unwillingly to school. To publish such a falsehood hurts America, doesn't it? It does. But it is not hard to get editors to see the truth. Will you not, then, dearly beloved, compose at once letters to your nearest editors something in this line to be laid aside and to be mailed to them during the week before the Fall opening? "Dear Sir, The change in the attitude of newspaper editors toward the opening of schools is one of the pleasant occurrences in the life of a teacher. All over the country the fact has dawned upon the newspaper press that children quite generally enjoy school and like their teachers. At a Minneapolis banquet recently a hardware merchant gave this toast, 'The teachers. Our fathers feared them; our children love and respect them and therefore so do we.' Our schools are about to open. Everybody knows the power of suggestion. Everybody knows your power. If you, as one whose business and desire it is to think public-mindedly could find occasion editorially to put the happy tone into the chronicle of the return of the children to the benefits the public is giving them I am sure you will help children, teachers, and the town you serve. Would you be willing to do this and to bring the cartoonists up to date? Our teachers are not the dreadful scarecrows the old illustrators tried to make them. Why not give us true pictures of happy children and their handsome guides and friends? Come on, be a real patriot and a good fellow." Come now, schoolmaster, you are not ashamed of your business, are you? You are not afraid of your newspaper editors, are you? Join the procession. And then, after your papers have printed the desired matter cut it out, mark the paper and date, and mail it to this REVIEW that we may encourage backward schoolmen to follow your example. Thus, in time, may we see the American newspapers as encouraging to their schools as these journals now are to the heroes of the movies. Here follow some of the sort we need. SCHOOL DAYS "Reading and writing and a-rithmetic' may be taught no longer 'to the tune of a hickory stick,' as the song has it, but the days of their being taught are here again, none the less. "Some 25,000 youngsters attend the public schools, besides the thousands who attend parochial and private institutions. Whatever may be said as to the differences which divide the opinion of the populace as to the method of school management that should be employed, it cannot be denied that Hartford takes a lively interest in education and intends that the facilities and opportunities provided for its children shall be adequate in every respect. That tends to assure that the Hartford of to-morrow will retain the desirability of the Hartford of to day as a place of residence." -Hartford, Conn., Daily Times. AS THE CHILDREN GO BACK TO SCHOOL "Nearly half a million boys and girls, one sixth of the city's population, report for duty to-day in the public schools. "Few citizens realize the magnitude and complexity of school problems. They affect every phase of public education. The curriculum needs constant readjustment. Every year a reasonably progressive school system conducts a number of experiments by way of searching out methods of escape from unsatisfactory old conditions. "In a city of the size and complex character of Chicago the public school system does not limit itself to the training of the young. Its activities are not confined to the buildings under its own jurisdiction. Not only are there various classes for adults in the schools, but in factories, in stores, in social settlements and in other establishments courses are given to meet the needs of workers who cannot conveniently attend evening classes. Special provision is made also for newly arrived foreign residents who need facilities for acquiring an elementary knowledge of the English language, of the duties and privileges of citizenship and of the principles of American government. "A fine spirit of loyalty, enthusiasm and coöperation presides to-day over all the activities of Chicago's public school system. The schools of this city have been revivified in the last two or three years and have made excellent progress in several important directions. Politics has been virtually eliminated from the system, rational discipline has been restored, and all the devoted participants in the work of conducting the schools are coöperating effectively for the benefit of the pupils and the community. "Their educational and moral efficiency, so essential to the welfare and the healthy growth of the city, places the schools first in the great and vital congeries of physical and spiritual forces that is Chicago.' -Chicago Daily News. BACK TO SCHOOL "The most important happening just now is the return to school of several million boys and girls. Some have already resumed their studies. Others will do so within a few days. By the middle of the month the colleges will be beginning their new terms. September is the month when-to quote the undergraduate-they all 'get busy.' "Several million words have been spoken and written about the benefits derived from an education. The demands being made upon schools and colleges are ample evidence that the importance of those benefits is realized. Almost without exception colleges receive more applications for admission than they can accommodate. Similarly the enrollment is increasing steadily in schools, particularly in the high schools. "This is a good sign because it shows the scope of the popular desire for knowledge. The possession of information and of a mind trained to classify and apply that information, is a real asset. They have a definite value no matter what the occupation to which they may be applied in earning a living. Besides this practical return, they offer also the satisfaction to be gained from contact with the world's cultural treasures, accumulated during the long progress of the human race. And those values, after all, may prove to be the most enduring." -Utica Press. Patriotic "Bunk" In the editorial pages of this number of the EDUCATIONAL REVIEW I give the protest of a committee of Chicago teachers against feverish propaganda proposed for history teaching in the schools. The New York Times sets forth some indignant observations of teachers in New York State. "Bunk' and 'jingoism' as a part of history instruction in elementary and secondary schools were attacked by teachers themselves yesterday at the Spring Meeting of the Lower Hudson Valley Association of Teachers of History and Social Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. "A. L. Keesler of Glenwood Landing, L. I., whose topic was 'DeBunking Patriotism,' declared that high school students often 'show more intelligence than their teachers' in refusing to accept 'bunk' at its face value. "Illustrating what he meant by 'bunk,' he said that it was the common practice to teach school children that the Fifteenth Amendment gave citizenship to negroes of the South, whereas 'every well-informed person knows that while the law says they may vote, white Southerners manage somehow to keep them away from polling places. Still the average teacher continues to tell the children that colored people are citizens.' "Mr. Keesler, who was one of the youngest teachers attending the meeting, went on to condemn teaching that 'the United States was founded squarely on faith and God and therefor, in contrast to great nations that have risen and fallen in the past, can never fall. As a matter of fact most of the founders of this country were deists or theists. "School children are taught that patriotism forbids finding fault with our Government. According to this any one who discovers a case of political graft and makes it known is not a patriot. "He held that the daily salute of the flag in public schools was less conducive to true patriotism than would be a discourse on the hospitality of the American spirit to all sincere persons and their convictions. "Charles A. Beard, formerly of Columbia, said that history teachers were in a plight because of the many conflicting ideas of what they should teach their pupils. "Miss Barbara Addis of New Rochelle, speaking on 'Combatting Jingoism,' urged that teachers inculcate a critical attitude in children, teaching them to cultivate their reason rather than their memory. She said that this could be accomplished through debates on historical subjects. "Edward P. Smith, State Supervisor of History, said that 'history has ceased to be a study of the past,' and urged teachers to show to their pupils the bearing of past events on the present and future." Student Suicides When one man lies about the schools of his town it's bad enough, but when newspapers habitually do it every schoolmaster must realize that his duty to educate a generation of truth-loving citizens is still a daily duty. A child suicide in Chicago was printed broadcast as on account of threatened nonpromotion accompanied by reprimand. Investigation showed that the boy had been expressly notified of his coming promotion. Here is the calm conclusion of a physician. "Dr. L. D. Hubbard of St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington has contributed to the Medical Journal and Record a sane discussion of adolescent suicides in which he points out that unstable youths have done away with themselves in all countries and in all ages, a fact which should be impressed on those who look on these tragedies as evidence that the social condition of students today is unusually productive of morbid reactions. He takes little stock in the amateur explanations put forward to account for these examples of self-destruction: 'Overstudy' he holds to be the equivalent to 'I don't know.' He declares that 'such phrases as fear of punishment, remorse for misbehavior, grief over the loss of friend or relative, even desire for knowledge of life after death' familiar in suicide notes, do not disclose the true underlying motive. "Nor does Dr. Hubbard agree with those who attribute to conflict between home ideals and school standards, to jazz and wild parties, the self-slaying of students. He says: "But it is hard to believe that the gap. between modern parents and their children is any greater than it was in preceding generations. Standards and ideals change constantly and the divergence is no greater now than it has ever been. Jazz and wild parties have had their prototype in every age.' "No panacea is put forward by Dr. Hubbard to cure the youth of the earth afflicted. as are the unbalanced boys and girls who take their own lives. He recommends sympathetic understanding of youth by parents |