A comparison of tendencies in secondary education in England and the United States

Front matter

Glass L B lt>D7

A COMPARISON OF TENDENCIES IN

SECONDARY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND

Chapter I The Need Of A Comprehensive Reorganization Of Secondary Education

Recent Expansion in the Scope of Education i

Advancement of Secondary Education since 1900 2

The Influence of Educational Expansion upon the Popular

Attitude towards Education 2

Increased Demand for Education 2

The Necessity of Education in a Democracy 3

The Expansion of the Elementary School Curriculum ... 4 Elementary Education Inadequate for the Needs of Democracy . 5 Adolescence a Critical Period in the Pupil's Educational Career 5 Changes in Society Demand a More Extensive System of Education 6

Requirements of the Individual 6

As a Citizen 6

As a Worker 6

As a Relatively Independent Personality 6

World-wide Problems Now Face Modern Democracy .... 7

The Masses Are Themselves the Rulers of To- Day .... 7

Democratic Principles Becoming Axiomatic 8

The Period of Compulsory Education Is Being Lengthened . . 8

In England 8

School Authorities Extending Their Influence over Secondary

Labor and the Employment of Children 9

The Necessity of a Comprehensive Reorganization of Secondary

In England II

Changes in School Population n

A New Conception of Education 12

Place of Secondary Education in a Democracy 13

Chapter II

educational administration: for whom and by whom is secondary education to be provided?

Definitions of Secondary Education 14

In England 14

Comparative Enrollments in Secondary Education 16

v vi Contents

Differences in Practice Due to Differences in Conceptions

of Secondary Education 16

Universal Secondary Education . 17

Free Secondary Education 17

Public and Private Schools 17

Comprehensive and Type Schools 17

Differentiated Curriculums 17

Vocational Education 17

Educational Aims and Values 17

For Whom Secondary Education Is Provided 18

American Attitude Toward Universal Secondary Education ... 18

Secondary Education Equally Open to All 1 9

English Attitude Towards Universal Secondary Education ... 19

The Movement Toward a More Universal Type of Secondary

Schools in England 20

England Provides Secondary Education for the Brightest Pupils 21

Debate in the House of Commons 22

The United States Attempts to Educate All 23

England Provides Secondary Education for Worthy Poor Pupils 23

Maintenance Grants 24

Comparisons Between English and American Practices .... 24

The United States Favors but England Neglects the Average

Man 24

Certain English Writers Strongly Favor Universal Secondary

Times Educational Supplement 25

The Educational Ladder 25

Free Secondary Education in England and the United States . 27

In England Fees Are Charged 27

Reasons for the English Practice 27

Tendencies Towards Free Secondary Education 28

Debate in the House of Commons 29

Scholarships and Free Places 30

Continuation Schools 31

Workers' Education Association and Free Schools ..... 32

Public and Private Schools 32

Cooperation between Public and Private Schools in England . . 32

Variety of Schools 33

Inefficient Private Schools 34

The American Attitude toward Private Schools 35

Central and Local Authorities 35

Variety and Liberty Watchwords in England 36

Local Initiative 37

Local Schemes 38

Inspection 38

Contents vii

Function of the Central Authorities 38

The Question of Local and Central Control in the United States . 39

Local Needs 39

Education is a National Concern 40

Comprehensive Versus Type Schools 41

In England Type Schools 41

In the United States Comprehensive Schools 42

Surveying Committees Favor Comprehensive Schools .... 43

Type Schools Impossible in Small Places 44

Articulation 45

Entrance to Secondary School at Age of Twelve 46

The Junior High School 46

The English Plan 46

Times Educational Supplement Plan 47

Age as the Basis of Admission 47

Admission to College by Mental Tests 48

Chapter III

organization of the program of studies in england and the united states

Democracy Demands Diversity and Unity 51

Qualities Desirable in a Democratic Society 52

Curriculum Organization in England ......... 53

University Entrance Examinations 54

Controversies among the Subjects of Study 54

Specialization Postponed 56

Resolutions on Curriculum Organization 57

Vocational Specialization 58

Debate in the House of Commons 60

The Abolition of Sides 62

Limitation of the Number of Subjects 63

The Subjects of Study in England 64

Curriculum Organization in the United States 65

Early Manifestations of Differentiation 65

Extremes in Curriculum Organization 66

The Elective System 66

Controversies Among the Subjects of Study 66

Possible Subjects of Study 67

Differentiation by Groups of Studies 69

Differentiation by Groups of Pupils 70

The Specializing Function in Secondary Education . . . . . 71

Vocational Specialization 71

Pupil Groups 73

Flexibility and Rigidity '. 74 viii Contents

Curriculum Organization in the United States — Continued

Educational Guidance 76

The Unifying Function in Secondary Education 77

Constants 78

Variables 79

Free Electives 79

Minimum Essentials 79

Unifying Studies 80

Recent Curriculum Controversies 81

Collectivism Versus Individualism 81

CHAPTER IV Widespread Vocational Education Expected by Some Writers . 83

Opposing Forces in the Matter of Vocational Education . . 85

Facts That Favor Vocational Education 86

Smith-Hughes Act 86

Certain Associations Favor Vocational Education 86

Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education . . 88

First Interpretation 88

Second Interpretation 90

Vocational Education to Attract Pupils to the Secondary Schools . 90

Vocational Education and the Pupils' Best Development .... 91

John Dewey on Vocational Education 93

Other Progressives on Vocational Education 97

Flexner 97

Eliot 98

Snedden 98

E. C. Moore 99

W. R. Smith 99

Kilpatrick and Others 100

Statistics 101

The Real Issue in Vocational Education 102

Shall Vocational Education Be Given at All 102

To What Extent Should It Be Given 102

On These Two Questions Opinion Varies 103

Only Extreme Cases Show a Strong Vocational Tendency . . . 106

Vocational Education Not Intended for All 107

Possibilities of a Caste System in Secondary Education . . . . 107

Secondary Education Should Be Both Cultural and Practical . . 109

English and American Practices Compared in

Contents ix

Chapter V

the basis for the selection of content in the modern program of studies

Comprehension of the Modern World as an Aim 114

Recent Controversies Harmonized 117

West and Flexner 117

Social Studies Becoming Prominent 119

Modern Studies in England 122

Foreign Languages in the United States 124

The Content of the Course in Science 124

In England 124

The Content of the Course in Manual Training 127

In England 127

The Content of the Course in Home Economics 128

Classics Not Completely Socialized 128

Certain Phases of Educational Method Demand Socialized Subject Matter 129

Mental Discipline 129

Interest and Effort 132

Comparisons 133

CHAPTER VI The Function of Educational Method in a Democratic School

System 134

Educational Method in an Autocracy Contrasted with Educational Method in a Democracy 135

Obedience to a merely External Authority 135

Intelligent Self-direction 136

Conflicting Purposes of Subject Matter and Method 136

English and German Practices Compared 137

Present Tendencies in Educational Method in England . . . 139

Liberty 139

Social Life 140

Present Tendencies in the United States 140

Changes in Outer Action and Inner Dispositions 140

Whole-hearted Purposeful Activity 143

Contrasted with Reverence and Obedience 143

Living Worthily in School as a Preparation for Living Worthily

afterwards 144

Opposition to this Line of Argument 145 x Contents

Attempts to Place Educational Method on a Democratic Basis . 146

The Project Method 146

Purposing, Planning, Executing and Judging 147

The Purposeful Act and Interest and Effort 149

Interest and Effort Mutually Complementary 150

Working with Pupils' Native Interests 152

The Purposeful Act and Discipline 153

Concomitant Values ■< 155

Chapter VII

the meaning of secondary education in a democracy

A Comprehensive Theory of Secondary Education in the Making . 157

Building a Worthy Civilization as an Aim 158

A New Conception of Humanism 159

Social Participation as an Aim 161

Art for Art's Sake 163

Growth as an Aim 166

Activity Leading to Further Activity 167

Secondary Neurone Connections 168

Formal Discipline 169

Activity Leading to Further Activity and Culture . , . . . . 171

Meaning of Culture in a Democracy 172

Total Social Efficiency 174

A COMPARISON OF TENDENCIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES

Chapter I The Need Of A Comprehensive Reorganiza- Tion Of Secondary Education

The education of the adolescent is the most pressing educational problem of the twentieth century in all civilized countries, but more especially in those under democratic rule. It is the purpose of this investigation to enter into a consideration of the present tendencies and problems of secondary education; and since England and the United States are the world's leading democracies the investigation will be confined to the systems of secondary education in these countries. A democratic system of education is the demand of the present in both countries. "The problems of the two countries are not identical, but the hopes and aspirations for the future of democracy are the same in both." [203, August 1, 1918, p. 321.] x

Recent Expansion in the Scope of Education

The problems of elementary education to a large extent occupied the attention of educators in the nineteenth century, and during that century the battle for compulsory elementary education was fought and won. This movement progressed more slowly in England than in the United States, gaining headway there after 16.70, but by the end of the century both nations were committed to the policy that the welfare both of the individual and of society was dependent upon the retention of pupils in school till the age of thirteen or fourteen. While the elementary school was in process of development little thought was given to the establishment of a system of publicly supported secondary

1 The first number in the reference notes refers to the corresponding number in the bibliography at the end of the investigation; the last number refers to the page number of the reference.

schools. This was especially true in England. Even until 1900 scarcely any one in England had considered secondary education a matter of national concern. [160, 72.] Just before this date the Bryce Commission had made its famous report, which showed an astonishing inadequacy in the provision of secondary education, and — in 1902 — a law was passed permitting the establishment of secondary schools at public expense. Prior to that time England depended altogether upon private schools, higher grade and higher elementary schools, for secondary education; but since then there has been a remarkable increase in the number of secondary schools in England. At that time, the supply of secondary education had made a greater advance in the United States than in England, and since then there has been an increase in high school enrolment of several hundred per cent. All of this shows a need for a more extensive provision of secondary education and of types better suited to the needs of the pupils.

The Influence of Educational Expansion upon the Popular Attitude towards Education

The expansion of the scope and extent of education that has taken place in the last few decades has had a widespread influence on the popular attitude towards education of all kinds. It has developed a faith on the part of leaders generally in the efficacy of education to solve all kinds of social and economic problems. The political scientists, the sociologists, and the reformers resort to it as a prevention and cure for all kinds of social evils. There is a greater desire to-day for the masses to be educated than ever before. Social and political thinkers no longer consider it good policy to keep the masses ignorant, and a little of education has in turn created a demand for more and still more education on the part of the masses. This is true both of England and the United States. Dewey has described the American situation as follows [58, 14] 1 : "I sometimes think that the necessity of education is the only settled article in the shifting and confused social and moral creed of America." There certainly seems to be a clear and definite feeling in the United States that ignorance is the great enemy of mankind and education the great liberator.

1 Compare this with a quotation from "Nature" in School and Society, Vol. 4, p. 600.

England is also looking to her schools as she never did before, if the recent Education Act is any indication. Mr. Fisher, president of the Board of Education, is quoted as having said that "the welfare of the nation depends upon its schools" [15, 10] and the writer who quoted this [15, 11] states that "the aim of her education must be both high and wide, higher than lucre, wider than the nation," and adds the suggestion that "education like finance, should be planned on international lines by international consensus with a view to world peace." [15, 11.] The fact that during the recent war the school has been subjected to much criticism after reverses and just as highly praised after successes is an indication of the faith in education at the present time.

The Necessity of Education in a Democracy

From the beginning of the United States as a nation it has been recognized that education is essential to the success of a democratic government and to meet the needs of democracy has been cited as the aim which should control the development of democratic school systems. The same point has been more and more apparent in England as democratic tendencies have developed there. It was thought at first that the ability to read and write universally disseminated would go far toward satisfying, would perhaps be sufficient for, the needs of democracy. The recognition of the vastness of the problem has increased so much faster than the educational facilities for dealing with it that the educational situation seems even more critical to-day than it did a hundred years ago.

In the present educational situation three features seem to stand out prominently. These are as follows :

1 . The elementary school has expanded to such an extent that it cannot be expected to attempt much more than it attempts at present.

2. Elementary education is not sufficient for a high type of citizenship in a modern democracy. Therefore, the possibilities for the future lie in the education of the adolescent.

3. In order that the secondary school may be enabled to carry its part of the educational burden it must undergo a comprehensive reorganization.

These topics will be discussed in order.

The Expansion of the Elementary School Curriculum

During the nineteenth century the enrichment of the elementary school curriculum was the dominant policy of the elementary school. At first its work was confined to primary essentials, but as the school year was lengthened and the number of years of compulsory attendance increased it began to attempt more than the mere essentials of reading, writing and arithmetic. The old subjects were expanded and new subjects added. Grammar was expanded through "language lessons" into composition and literature. [149, 58.] "Object lessons" were added and became the forerunner of elementary science and nature study, including physiology and hygiene. [149, 58-59.] Geography as a "description of the earth's surface" with its study of locations and boundaries, has given place to the study of geography as the " home of man," emphasizing the social, civic, industrial, and commercial aspects of life. History has had a similar expansion. Civics as a separate subject and practical arts are comparatively recent additions. So many subjects have been added that it is not uncommon for a pupil in the elementary school to have ten or twelve studies at the same time. [100a, editorial; also 152, 48.]

To this extent the elementary school has grown within the last century both in England and the United States. From such considerations it would seem that the elementary pupil is already expected to carry as much work as his capacity and the time devoted to elementary education as at present organized will permit. Even this the elementary school people do not consider sufficient for citizenship in a modern democracy. Consequently, they have seriously proposed that the school day should be eight hours in length, the week six days instead of five, and the school building in use the year around, because they realize that the formal education of many pupils will come to an end with the close of the compulsory school period, and they wish to make the best possible use of this period.

One persistent question arises out of this situation : Is the kind and amount of education that the elementary school is giving, or could give, even with this extensive reorganization, sufficient to meet the needs of democracy? For example, is the knowledge that a pupil gains from the study of the kind of elementary science that is given in the elementary school, from nature study, physiology and hygiene, as much as a citizen of a modern democracy needs to know that he may live a healthy life and adequately fulfill his duties and obligations as a citizen? Is it as much as a free man should have the privilege of knowing even from the standpoint of appreciation and insight into modern development? Second, does the knowledge of geography as the home of man that an eighth grade pupil may normally be expected to have acquired give a sufficient understanding of modern industry, modern science, and modern complex social conditions? And third, in our present complicated international relationships with the emphasis on the significance of peoples as contrasted with governments, are history and civics as taught in the first eight years of school sufficient for the duties of citizenship? In other words, is the period of elementary education long enough for a pupil to acquire in the way of skills, appreciations, culture, manners and morals, all that a citizen of a democracy should possess?

The answer to these questions is in the negative both in England and in the United States. For it is becoming more and more apparent that an elementary education is not enough for citizenship and a life career, that a higher type of education more universally distributed than has ever been known before is necessary if democracy is to succeed. [15, ix-x and 10.] By improving teachers, by rationalizing methods, by eliminating useless subject matter here and there, by a general expansion all along the line, the elementary school may be made to perform more adequately what it now attempts, but that it will ever be able to meet all the needs of democracy is improbable, however well it may be reorganized.

Adolescence a Critical Period in the Pupil's Educational

Career

For these reasons it was stated earlier that the most pressing educational problem of the twentieth century is the training of adolescents. The advancing demands of citizenship make the mere possession of the right to vote appear inadequate. The education that citizenship requires is not merely a training in civics but a broad and sympathetic appreciation of modern industrial, economic and social conditions, as well as a training in morals and manners, and in individual intelligence. A democracy cannot afford to abandon its potential citizens at a most critical age to such exploitation, but should keep them under supervision till the beginning of adulthood.

The English attitude on this question is shown in the following quotation [15, 196]: "A system which compels a child to attend school until he is fourteen and then leaves him to his own resources can do little to create, and less to satisfy, a thirst for knowledge. During the most critical part of his life — fourteen to eighteen — he is left without guidance, without discipline, without ideals, often without even the desire of remembering or using the little he knows. He is led, as it were, to the threshold of the temple but the fast closed door forbids him to enter and behold the glories of the interior. Year by year there is an appalling waste of good human material : and thousands of those whom nature intended to be captains of industry are relegated in consequence of undeveloped or imperfectly trained capacity, to the ranks, or become hewers of wood and drawers of water. Many drift with other groups of human wastage to the unemployed, thence to the unemployable, and so to the gutter and the grave."

Changes in Society Demand a More Extensive System of

In addition to the reasons already given why a more extensive education is urgently needed in the future, certain changes in society during the past few decades have profoundly affected the activities of the individual and demand corresponding changes in his educational opportunities. The Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education of the National Education Association mentions three dominant changes in society that make such changes in educational opportunities imperative [42, 7]: "As a citizen, he must to a greater extent and in a more direct way cope with problems of community life, State and National Governments, and international relationships. As a worker, he must adjust himself to a more complex economic order. As a relatively independent personality, he has more leisure."

The Commission expresses the opinion that "the problems arising from these three dominant phases of life are closely interrelated and call for a degree of intelligence and efficiency on the part of every citizen that cannot be secured through elementary education alone, or even through secondary education unless the scope of that education is broadened." [42, 7.]

World-Wide Problems Now Face Modern Democracies

Dewey, writing just before 1900, felt justified in making the statement that "the industrial change overshadows and controls all others." [57, 5 and 42, 7.] He describes the various educational problems devolving upon the school as a result of this industrial change. [46, Chapter I.] Since then educators have been trying to adapt educational opportunities to changing conditions, but they have scarcely begun to learn how to deal with the many social problems due to the industrial change, to say nothing of those other problems of citizenship and leisure mentioned by the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, when all those other problems arising as a result of the war were added, so that now the political change with all its problems seems temporarily at least to have overshadowed all others, even the industrial. Great new republics and even more radical types of governments have been formed. Alliances among groups of nations and the "balance of power" have given way to a League of Nations. All problems have become world-wide. "World politics," "international relationships," "universal brotherhood of man," "League of Nations," "industry and commerce have become international," etc., are words in everybody's vocabulary and as was stated above (p. 3) it has been proposed that education should like finance become international.

The Masses Are Themselves the Rulers of To-Day

What is still more to the point, so far as it concerns a need for more education than the elementary school can give, is the fact that never before has the burden of solving these international problems rested so completely upon the shoulders of the people themselves. [61, 13 and 17. Also 203, January 9, 1919, p. 17; and 163, 7.] The masses are themselves the rulers more than ever before both in the United States and in England, and it is necessary for any nation to educate its rulers. Especially is this true of a democracy. In the past the tendency has been to neglect the average man, "yet it is the vote of this numerous but obscure type that puts governments in office and turns them out again. . . . Knowledge and experience of the rapidly changing world cannot be picked up on street corners. Men must be specially educated to meet the new conditions." [51, 448^ So 2 long as the nations were governed by a few rulers, the amount of education given to the masses may have been considered satisfactory. The more favored pupils continued their education ten or twelve years beyond the elementary school period and hitherto these favored few became the leaders. The ideal of democracy is, however, that all citizens share in the conduct of government. Under present conditions a great many of these cannot remain in school beyond the age of fifteen or sixteen, and if this ideal is to be attained it is incumbent on the school to offer every inducement possible, even in some cases to offering financial assistance, in order to retain them in school as long as possible, and to extend its supervision wherever it can to those who have left school. For this purpose England has established a system of maintenance grants, a more extensive discussion of which will be given in a later chapter.

From these statements it seems that democracy is really coming into its own, and its principles becoming axiomatic the world over, — a democracy not only of rights and privileges but also of duties and responsibilities. The individualism of the nineteenth century, an individualism that demanded rights without the corresponding responsibilities, is breaking down. [164, 227. Also 163, 421.] When it is agreed that rights are accompanied by responsibilities, a more extensive demand than hitherto is made upon education, if we are to go forward and not backward. It is of course possible that a backward step may be taken. Things cannot be as they were before the war, and the lack of continued growth means disintegration.

The Period of Compulsory Education Is Being Lengthened

For the above given reasons the compulsory attendance period is being lengthened in various ways. In England the compulsory age has already been raised beyond fourteen. All pupils leaving the elementary school at the age of fourteen must either attend the continuation school for eight hours a week till the age of sixteen and ultimately till eighteen, or, in lieu of this, they must attend a full time school till the age of sixteen. In the United States there has been no law so sweeping as this, but compulsory attendance beyond the age of fourteen is not unknown in this country, and the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education strongly recommends [42, 30] that "a sound national policy dictates the urgent need for legislation whereby all young persons, whether employed or not, shall be required to attend school not less than eight hours in each week that schools are in session until they reach the age of 18." At present, however, the United States is depending more upon public opinion and the adjustment of the curriculums to keep students in high school and in this respect, as comparative enrolments will show, it has been successful beyond all other nations. Society is gradually realizing in its own interests the importance of extending the period of compulsory education and of supervision over adolescents.

There are many educators who confidently look forward to the time when secondary schools will be as widely established as elementary schools are now. At the same time the necessity of readapting and readjusting the school to meet varied needs, abilities, and capacities of the increasing members in attendance is •recognized. It seems scarcely to be doubted that all that is being done with continuation schools; cooperative part-time of the Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and Cincinnatti, Ohio, plans; the differentiation of curriculums; all that is being done through extension agents; and such proposals that the State establish "vestibule" and "upgrade" schools in the industrial and commercial concerns themselves in order that the education of the young workers may not cease when they leave the ordinary public school, [189, 751-758] — with all these movements under way, it cannot be doubted that we are learning more and more about the education of young people and that we shall eventually be justified in requiring compulsory schooling of some kind of all children, or at least oversight over them, till the age of eighteen or later. [198, 577. Also 42, 29-31.]

It seems, therefore, that the school authorities are gradually extending their influence over the secondary school period as they have extended it over the elementary school period. This is true both in England and the United States, but in England this tendency has developed to such a remarkable extent that all questions of juvenile delinquency and crime are now dealt with by the school authorities. To deal with juvenile misdeeds is thought to be more the function of education than of the courts; therefore, "The administration of the Employment of Children Act, 1903, the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, 1904, and the Children's jo Secondary Education in England and the United States

Act, 1908, is now entrusted to the education authorities." [208, 1918, p. 72.]

Another indication that the extension of the compulsory attendance age maybe expected in the future is the attitude of Labor towards the employment of children under sixteen. A report from the Conference of Labor which met in Paris states: 1 "Two important features of the American and British Labor program were accepted today by the Commission on International Labor Legislation and will form a part of the whole project of international regulation which will be submitted to the full peace conference. These are the prohibition of child labor under sixteen years of age and the uniformity of seamans' wages." It is only a step beyond this to universal compulsory attendance of some kind till the age of sixteen. How the extension of educational opportunities may be made so that both individual freedom and social welfare may each be properly safe-guarded is an important question of secondary education to which democratic countries miist give careful attention in the future.

The Necessity of a Comprehensive Reorganization of Secondary Education

The evidence is strong that if the ideals of democracy are to be realized, a comprehensive reorganization of secondary education is imperative at the present time. Educational aims and procedure will have to change radically to meet the new conditions of life that are springing up everywhere. "The present program of public education," says J. F. Bobbitt (17, Preface), "were mainly formulated during the simpler conditions of the nineteenth century. In detail it has improved. In fundamentals it is not greatly different. A program never designed for the present day has been inherited. Any inherited system, good for its time, when held to after its day, hampers social progress. It is not enough that the system, fundamentally unchanged in plan and purpose, be improved in detail. . . . To do the nineteenth century task better than it was then done is not necessarily to do the twentieth century task."