Principles of secondary education

Preface

In this book the author has attempted to make a systematic analysis of the factors and principles involved in a constructive theory of secondary education. The theory herein developed is the outgrowth of the writer's experience in secondary-school teaching and administration, together with his experience as a college instructor in the theory and practice of secondary education. The present volume presents the content and method employed in a course of the Principles of Secondary Education at Harvard University. After use in manuscript form for several years, the book is now published in the hope that it may prove of some value to teachers, administrators, and other students of education.

Three factors must always determine the form which secondary education should assume: (a) the nature of the pupils to be educated; (6) the character of the social organization and of social ideals; (c) the means and materials available for educational purposes. Accordingly this volume is divided into three parts. Part I is devoted to a consideration of the raw material with which secondary education deals, i.e., boys and girls approximately twelve to eighteen years of age. Part II is devoted to a consideration of the secondary school as a social institution — its character, place, and function. Part III is devoted to a consideration of the means and materials wherewith the aims of secondary education can be achieved. Throughout it has beeji the endeavor of the author to coordinate and correlate the various portions of the book in such a way as to develop a theory of secondary education in which the several elements are organically related and mutually consistent. For vi PREFACE

that reason each succeeding chapter or topic must be considered in its relation to the principles formulated or the factors treated in preceding sections. The complex interrelations of secondary education preclude the adequate consideration of any single phase in isolation.

In the construction of a book on the principles of secondary education one of two methods may be employed. A number of speciahsts may collaborate in the production of a book which consists of several more or less isolated treatises on various separate phases of secondary education. Such a method has many merits, but precludes the development of a consistently constructive theory. On the other hand, when a single individual attempts to write a book covering a field as broad as that of secondary education, there are always two possible dangers : either the limitations of the individual may lead to superficial treatment and error, or unsupported personal opinion and bias may dominate. The first of these dangers is minimized when the writer refrains from attempting to deal with the details of teaching appropriate to the various studies of the secondary-school program and confines this attention to more fundamental principles. In this book the author deals with special studies only in connection with the broader matters of aims and values, together with the larger elements of method necessarily involved. A later volume in this series will deal with the principles of teaching in the secondary school and several volumes will deal with methods of teaching special subjects or groups of subjects.

Bias and personal opinion the author has attempted to minimize in three ways: first, by supporting important statements on disputed points by reference to the opinions of specialists and to the results of impersonal investigation; secondly, by presenting directly the findings or theories of specialists and limiting his personal judgment to their

PREFACE vii

evaluation in synthesis; thirdly, by securing the direct criticism of specialists and utilizing their judgments in the preparation of the book. Practically every chapter of the book has been examined and criticized by two or more specialists in the field treated in that chapter. In this way the author has hoped to safeguard himself and his readers from the errors of purely personal opinion and bias.

The mere listing of the names of those men and women who have assisted in the preparation of this volume would take more space than is here available. The author takes this opportunity to express to those persons collectively his deep appreciation of their assistance. Here also he wishes to acknowledge the courtesy of publishers and authors who have permitted the use of quotations for the clearer presentation of typical opinions on important points.

Alexander Inglis,

Contents

PART L THE PUPILS

CHAPTER I. The Secondary-School Pupil: Physical Traits . ' 3

1. Physical traits as basic data. 2. The chronological ages of pupils. 3. The growth of children in height and weight. 4. The growth of organs and parts of the body. 5, Physical development in relation to health. 6. The physiological phenomena of adolescence. 7. Some implications for secondary education. 8. The distribution of pupils according to puberty. >-

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER n. The Secondary-School Pupil: Mental

Traits 34

9. Secondary education and the development of mental traits. 10. The development of mental traits with age. 11. Theories of the development of mental traits. 12. The theory of serial development. 13. The theory of concomitant development. 14. An evaluation of the theories of development. 15. Implications for j secondary education. 16. Theories of the influence of adolescence. 17. The theory of saltatory development. 18. The theory of gradual development. 19. Evaluation of the two theories. 20. Implications for secondary education.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER ni. The Secondary-School Pupil: Individual Differences 74

21. Importance of recognizing individual differences. 22. The distribution of individual differences. 23. The interpretation of measures. 24. The causes of individual differences. 25. Common errors in interpreting differences. 26. Individual differences due to biological heredity. 27. Individual differences due to social heredity. 28, Individual differences due to environment. 29. Individual differences in interests, etc. 30. Individual differences due to sex.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

X CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV. The Secondary-School Population: Its

Chakacter and Classification . .118

31. Some illustrative figures. 32. The distribution of pupils by schools. 33. The distribution of pupils by grades. 34. Retardation and acceleration. 35. The elimination of pupUs by grades. 36. The elimination of pupils by age. 37. Elimination and home conditions. 38. Elimination, early intention, and early promise. 39. The lure of the out-of -school world. 40. Expectancy of stay in the secondary school. 41. The classification of secondary-school pupils. 42. Pupils completing the com-se. 43. The distribution of secondary-school graduates. 44. Pupils destined not to complete the course.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

PART n. THE INSTITUTION AND ITS PURPOSE

CHAPTER V. The Development op Secondary Education IN America 161

45. Three principal periods of development. 46. The Latin grammar school of England. 47. The beginning of secondary education in America. 48. The Public Latin School of Boston. 49. The Massachusetts Bay Colony law of 1647. 50. Further legal provision in Massachusetts. 51. Legal provision in other colonies. 52. The Latin school in New England and elsewhere. 53. The origin of the academy in America. 54. The Franklin Academy in Philadelphia. 55. The academy in Massachusetts. 56. The academy movement in other states. 57. The control and support of the academy. 58. The curriculum or the academy. 59. Secondary education for girls in the academy. 60. Effect of the academy movement. 61. Secondary education in the early nineteenth century. 62. The English Classical (High) School of Boston. 63. The Girls' High School of Boston. 64. The Massachusetts law of 1827. 65. The public high school in Massachusetts. 66. The high-school movement in the United States. 67. The public high school and the academy. 68. State systems of secondary education.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER VI. Secondary Education IN Other Countries 203

69. The comparative study of secondary education. 70. Purview of secondary education in other countries. 71. The organization of school systems in Prussia. 72. The place of "higher schools" in Prussian education. 73. Higher schools for boys in

CONTENTS xi

Prussia. 74. "Reform schools" in Germany. 75. Higher schools for girls in Prussia. 76. Statistics of higher schools in Germany. 77. "Intermediate schools," etc., in Germany. 78. Teachers in Prussian higher schools for boys. 79. Higher schools and the social organization. 80. Secondary education in Germany and America. 81. The system of education in France. 82. Types of "secondary schools " for boys in France. 83. Other forms of secondary education in France. 84. "Secondary" education of girls in France. 85. Statisticsof "secondary" schools in France. 86. The "secondary school " teacher in France. 87. Secondary education and the social organization in France. 88. Secondary education in France and America. 89. Organization of secondary education in England. 90. The "Great Public Schools" of England. 91. Other endowed and private secondary schools. 92. The old municipal "board" secondary schools. 93. "Grant-list" and "efficient" secondary schools. 94. The curricula of English secondary schools. 95. The secondary education of girls in England. 96. Secondary schools and other departments of education. 97. Secondary schools and the social organization in England. Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER Vn. Secondary Education in Relation to

Elementary Education .... 261

98. Factors involved in making distinctions. 99. Distinctions based on chronological age. 100. Distinctions based on development. 101. Distinctions based on social factors. 102. Distinctions based on studies. 103. The fallacy of sharp distinctions. 104. Historical development. 105. The development of articulation in America. 106. Practice in foreign countries. 107. The eight-four system. 108. The age of pupils transferred. 109. The pedagogical age of pupils transferred. 110. Evidences of defects in articulation. 111. Retardation and elimination as evidence. 112. Instruction in later elementary-school grades. 113. Further objections to present conditions. 114. Psychological considerations. 115. Social and economic principles involved. 116. Administrative factors involved. 117. The six-grade course of secondary education. 118. The junior high-school movement. 119. The purposes of the junior high-school. 120. Difficulties to be met.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER Vlil. Secondary Education in Relation to

Higher Education 303

121. Early relations. 122. The Latin grammar school and the college. 123. The early academy and the college. 124. The public adi CONTENTS

high school and the college. 125. The rise of public state universities. 126. The secondary school and the normal school. 127. The overlapping of secondary school and college. 128. High-school pupils entering higher institutions. 129. Early requirements and changes. 130. The amount of preparation required. 131. "Prescribed," "accepted," and "elective" subjects. 132. The distribution of prescribed units. 133. Recommendations of the Committee on Articulation. 134. Examination and certificating systems. 135. Examination methods in practice. 136. Advantages and disadvantages of examinations. 137. The certificating or accrediting system. 138. The advantages and disadvantages of the accrediting system. 139. Methods of administering the accrediting system. ' Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER IX. Social Principles determining Secondary Education 340

140. Some underlying assumptions. 141. Secondary education as a social institution. 142. Social ideals and social organization. 143. Social evolution and educational adjustment. 144. Social integration and differentiation. 145. Changes in other social institutions. 146. Changes in the home and family life. 147. Changes in community life. 148. Changes in the Church and religion. 149. Changes in the vocation.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER X. The. Aims and Functions of Secondary

150. The aims of secondary education: their basis. 151. Three fundamental aims of secondary education. 152. The social-civic aim. 153. The economic-vocational aim. 154. The individualistic-avocational aim. 155. The interrelation of the three aims. 156. Aims based on traits involved. 157. The functions of secondary education. 158. The adjustive or adaptive function. 159. The integrating function. 160. The differentiating function. 161. The propaedeutic function. 162. The selective function. 163. The diagnostic and directive function.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CONTENTS xiii

PART ni. THE MEANS AND MATERIALS OF

SECONDARY EDUCATION

t

CHAPTER XI. The Program of Studies — Criteria OF Subject Values: Analysis of the Program 387

164. Subject values determined by aims and functions. 165. Direct values. 166. The transfer of improved efficiency. 167. Is transfer or spread a reality? 168. What is the mode of transfer or spread? 169. Transfer or spread dependent on dissociation. 170. Factors which foster and facilitate dissociation. 171. The above principles illustrated. 172. An answer to problem 2. 173. Problem 3: What is the extent of transfer? 174. The results of experimental investigations. 175. Implications of psychological theory. 176. Problem 4: The transfer values of studies. 177. The evolution of the program in America. 178. The relative prominence of various subjects. 179. The necessity of selection.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER Xn. The Place of English in the Program

180. The historic dominance of linguistic and literary studies. 181. The present status of English in the program. 182. English and the aims of secondary education. 183. The aims of language and of literature distinguished. 184. The relation d language to thought. 185. The aims and values of the study of language. 186. Language as an intellectual instrument. 187. The dominant purposes of language studies. 188. Limitations of the study of the mother tongue. 189. Literature and the social-civic aim of education. 190. Literature and the economic-vocational aim. 191. Literature and the individualistic-a vocational aim. 192. Criticism of English study as now organized.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER Xni. The Place of Foreign Languages

IN THE Program of Studies . . 447 193. Historical development in America. 194. Present status. 195. Preliminary analysis of aims and values. 196. Values for social intercourse. 197. Values for commercial purposes. 198. Values for instrumental purposes. 199. Values for social-cultural purposes. 200. Summary and correlation of direct values. 201. Foreign-languagestudy and "general discipline." 202. Values for language-thought relations. 203. The mother tongue and xiv CONTENTS

foreign languages. 204. The relative values of foreign languages. 205. The place of foreign languages.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER XIV. The Place of Mathematics in the

Program of Studies .... 481

206. Historical development of the study of mathematics. 207. Present status of mathematics instruction. 208. Preliminary analysis of aims and values. 209. Mathematics in the affairs of everyday life. 210. Mathematics in various vocations. 211. The propaedeutic values of mathematics. 212. Direct values limited and contingent. 213. Indirect values claimed: number and space concepts. 214. Mathematics and the transfer of improved efficiency. 215. Characteristics claimed to favor transfer values. 216. Rugg's experiment. 217. Criticism of mathematics as now organized. 218. The order and position of mathematical studies.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER XV. The Place of the Natural Sciences

IN the Program of Studies . . 506

219. Historical development. 220. Present status. 221. Values claimed for the natural sciences. 222. Spencer's fallacies perpetuated. 223. Preliminary analysis of the values claimed. 224. Natural science in the affairs of everyday life. 225. Direct values for vocations. 226. Propaedeutic values. 227. Conceptual values claimed. 228. Transfer values claimed. 229. The values and aims of "general science." 230. The aims and values of natural science instruction.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER XVI. The Place of Social Sciences in the

Program of Studies .... 534

231. Historical position in the program. 232. Present status. 233. Character and ultimate aims. 234. Values of the study of history. 235. Direct social-civic values. 236. Direct vocational values. 237. Direct avocational values. 238. Direct propaedeutic values. 239. Conceptual values claimed. 240. Transfer values claimed. 241. Factors conditioning the values of history. 242. Meaning and scope of civics. 243. The aims and values of civics. 244. The scope and function of "community civics." 245. Economics as a study in the program. 246. The study of " Problems of American Democracy." 247. Criticism of social studies as now organized.

Problems for further consideration — Selected references.

CHAPTER I

THE SECONDARY-SCHOOL PUPIL: PHYSICAL TRAITS

I. Physical traits as basic data. All educational theory and practice must be determined primarily by the natm*e of the individuals to be educated. Reduced to its lowest terms education is the process of producing, directing, and preventing changes in human beings. For the intelligent production, direction, and prevention of such changes a knowledge of the raw material with which education deals is a fundamental necessity, and hence the first problem of educational theory and practice in any department is concerned with the nature of those to be educated. It is, perhaps, a platitude to say that the physical and physiological traits of the individual primarily condition his total nature. As is the case with many general truths, the readiness with which one accepts such a statement sometimes tends to interfere with a full appreciation of its significance and to leave one content with the acceptance of the generahzation. The resulting tendency to minimize the importance of a knowledge of the physical and physiological traits of the educand is furthered by recognition of the fact that such traits are amenable to control through education to a limited degree only and that the demands of modern life emphasize attention to the phenomena of mental traits.

Secondary education, as any other department of education, demands for initial consideration the physical and physiological traits of boys and girls, special interest centering on those traits and their development in boys and girls of ages approximately twelve to eighteen. Out of the character of those traits and their development arise numerous important problems for secondary education, some of general and indirect importance, others of very specific and direct bearing. The present chapter, therefore, is concerned with the nature of physical or physiological traits in boys and girls, their development, and their bearing on the theory and practice of secondary education.

Before approaching the material presented in this chapter the reader should be warned that much remains to be accomplished in the measurement of physical and physiological traits and that even the best material available is open to severe criticism. In particular one must be careful not to infer too much from averages which can hold true for large groups only and cannot be applied safely to individuals or sm^U groups because of the great variability found. Likewise one should be on guard against unqualified acceptance of the results of one or a few limited investigations. Finally, one must be aware of the danger of inferring the nature of development *'in general," or the nature of the development of all organs and parts of the body, from the nature of the development of one or more specific parts or organs.

Two errors have been so common in the measurement of physical and physiological traits that they merit special mention. One of those errors is the practice of attempting to determine norms of development by measuring different groups of children at various ages, instead of measuring the growth of the same children. The second error is that of failing to recognize properly the importance of variability and of overemphasizing the importance of averages in the measurement of any given trait. Recent investigations have tended to avoid these errors.

2. The chronological ages of pupils. Data concerning physical traits and their development are best understood when referred to terms of maturity or "age." Ordinarily maturity or age is expressed in chronological terms — years, months, and days — and "norms" for physical and mental traits are commonly expressed by the layman and educator in such terms. However, chronological age is a very unsatisfactory measure of maturity and is likely to be misleading.

The organization of the American school system at present postulates that the age and grade distribution of pupils will conform roughly to the following standard:

Table I

Elementary School Grade: ...1234 5 6 7 8

Secondary School I II III IV

That the actual situ-ation is far from this age-grade distribution may be seen from the following typical example:

Table H. Age-Grade Distribution of Pupils in the Paterson (N.J.) Schools, 1912

Age i

IV

- m

I ]

6 15

m

) 3(

)7

7 (

m

35 3(

54 15

\.54

13 270

> 2]

19 6^

14 680

)2 2£

)4 602

It

J7 If

57 364

) I

»2 (

51 210

3 t

8 26

Over 20

}7{

) 23$

»3 25(

)3 2263

18155

From such a table as this a number of important facts regarding the chronological age of secondary-school pupils are evident. It is probable that in our schools as at present administered one will not find as many as one half of the pupils in any grade belonging to any single age group. Thus in the above table the largest age group in the eighth grade is the group of thirteen-year-old pupils who form 34.6 per cent of the entire grade group. In the first year of the high school the fourteen-year-old pupils constitute 42.0 per cent of the entire grade group. In the second year of the high school the fifteen-year-old pupils constitute 38.7 per cent of the entire grade group. In the third year of the high school the sixteen-year-old pupils constitute 34.3 per cent of the grade group. In the fourth year of the high school the seventeen-year-old pupils constitute 34.3 per cent of the grade group. Further, it is to be noted that until the factor of selection operates strongly in the later years of the secondary school the proportion of pupils belonging to any age group which is found in any single grade of the school rarely is as great as one-third of the entire age group found in the entire school system. This is seen clearly from the figures presented in Table III.

Consideration of such a typical situation as that indicated in the tables given shows clearly that chronological age is a very poor measure of maturity for educational purposes and that the actual existing situation in our educational system does not even approximately conform to the theoretical distribution of age and grade. Hence it is that the term "pedagogical age'* is frequently employed to denote degrees of maturity as measured by the stages of educational progress (school grades) reached. It is obvious, however, that pedagogical age is a general term designed largely to eliminate the confusion caused by the use of chronological age as a measure of maturity and that it depends for real meaning

Table HI. Percentages of Pupils of Different Age Groups

LOCATED IN VARIOUS GrADES OF THE SCHOOLS OF SiX CiTIES.

The Total Number of Pupils considered was approximately 35,000*

Age in

U

0.7%

1.9

5.8 11.7 22.1 28.2 21.6

7.0

0.9

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.2%

0.8

2.8

6.7 13.2 21.5 27.5 19.8

6.4

1.0

0.0

0.0

0.2%

0.4

1.5

3.4

7.1 12.2 21.3 28.5 15.9

8.7

0.8

0.0

0.2%

0.1

0.6

2.0

3.3

4.8

0.6

0.2%

0.1

0.4

0.6

1.4

1.9

5.8 12.6 20.7 31.0 19.4

5.9

0.1%

0.1

0.0

0.1

0.3

0.8

1.7

4.6

I

10.9

II 26.6

in

27.9