The summer school as an agency for the training of teachers in the United States

Front matter

Author

Title

Imprint.

Preface

The author gives grateful acknowledgment to Dr. Carter Alexander, who gave valuable suggestions as to the selection and arrangement of material ; to Dr. Shelton J. Phelps, who so generously offered advice and criticism from time to time; to Miss Ola O. Andrews, who so patiently corrected the English and composition; to Mrs. C. D. Judd, who kindly assisted in preparing and arranging data ; and to the numerous authorities of colleges, universities, normal schools, and public schools, who responded to questionnaires and furnished bulletins and catalogs.

Chapter I Introduction

In these modern and progressive days, when "efficiency" and "economy" have become the slogans of American business and when the spirit of thrift must characterize all successful enterprises, it is but natural that school administration recognize and promote any movement tending to eliminate waste and that will expand and speed up our educational process. Therefore, the summer school has come to claim the attention and serious consideration of educational leaders everywhere; for it presents an administrative problem whose proper solution seems to be fraught with tremendous possibilities. Such possibilities are to be realized largely thru a more rapid and a more thoro training of teachers.

The purpose of this study is to trace briefly the history of the summer school as an educational movement in the United States ; to compare the work of the summer school with that of the regular year ; to point out the inherent strength and weakness of the average summer school; to estimate in a more or less quantitative way what contribution is being made by the summer school toward the training of teachers ; and, finally, to offer such suggestions as seem consistent with present facts and tendencies.

The scope of the study is confined to summer schools of the United States. Furthermore, no attempt is made to study all summer schools, but only such a number and of such standard as will best represent their typical work in this country.

All data were obtained from the following sources:

1. Catalogs and announcements of courses of study of some

of the earliest summer schools in the United States.

2. United States Commissioner of Education, Report of

3. Summer catalogs and regular catalogs of a representa-

tive number of state normal schools and universities in different sections of the United States.

4. A questionnaire was sent to 50 universities and 150

state normal schools. It embodied the following topics and questions:

ATTENDANCE

1. The number of students who enrolled with you for the

full summer session of 1916 (this term preferred because of the war; but if more convenient, give any other recent session) : Men, ; women,

2. Number who enrolled for only part of the session:

Men, ; women,

3. Number working for degree or diploma,

4. Number receiving a degree or a diploma for summer

work only,

5. Number receiving a degree for summer work and reg-

ular work,

6. Number of teachers enrolled: College teachers, ;

high-school teachers, ; elementary-school teachers, ; principals, ; supervisors, ;

superintendents, ; rural-school teachers,

How many of those teachers were working for a degree?

7. Students not expecting to teach,

8. Average number in classes during the summer, ;

during regular year,

FACULTY

1. Per cent of regular faculty that teach during the sum-

mer,

2. Per cent of faculty that teach all the year round,

3. Number of hours' teaching per week: (a) Regular

session, ; (b) summer session,

MISCELLANEOUS

1. Do you now have the four-quarter plan?

2. If not, do you favor such plan?

3. Did you go on the four-quarter plan as a result of the

war?

4. Or are you likely to do so on account of the war?

5. How many hours of practice teaching do you offer dur-

ing the summer?

6. Briefly, what is the nature of such teaching?

Compare in a few words laboratory work of the summer and of the regular year: (a) As to quality.

Introduction 7 (b) As to amount.

8. In general, compare the merits of your summer-school

work with that of the regular year.

9. How much did you spend per student for the session

here referred to?

10. Do you have the cycle plan? If so, in what

subjects?

11. Briefly compare research work during the summer and

during the regular year.

The fragmentary way in which catalogs are usually compiled and the incomplete answers to the questionnaire subject the study to the just criticism of inexactness, but an attempt has been made to refrain from inferences and conclusions that are not in the main substantiated by fact.

If this investigation serves merely to direct attentiorTmore fully to the merits, weaknesses, and future possibilities of the summer-school movement in America, the author will be fully compensated for all effort expended, and his most sanguine expectations will have been fully realized.

CHAPTER II HISTORY OF SUMMER SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES A General Survey

It has been said that summer schools are spontaneous in their origin and came about for the purpose of satisfying local demands.! Such an assertion is far from an adequate explanation of the existence of summer schools, for their cause lies deeper than this. It is true that they began in certain localities of the United States and for certain restricted purposes; but the real foundation of the summer school is to be found in the broader, more progressive spirit that characterized education in this country after the Civil War.2 Just as commercial activities expanded into new fields, took on new aspects, and pursued more economical methods; just as agriculture was no longer expressed by The Man With the Hoe, but had become a real business, demanding business methods; just as religion took on a more liberal and rational attitude toward life, so did society begin to awaken and look askance at any educational scheme that failed to provide facilities somewhat commensurate with the demands of life. The summer school, like most salutary innovations, was rooted in an economic demand, supplemented by the ambition of the American school-teacher for more thoro preparation and the desire, of the American public for better schools for their children.

It is almost a truism that however traditional any educational scheme may have become, it ultimately yields to popular demand and becomes the fountain source from which issue the elements for improvement in all lines of human endeavor. In other words, education finally yields to the behests of economic, social, and political changes. Since the school-teacher is expected to assume leadership in progress and achievement, it is, then, no wonder that new plans, new instruments, new facilities must be provided for his training. Herein lies the explanation of the summer school. If we trace the rise of any summer school in any field of knowledge, we shall find that one of the primary and impelling motives for its organization was the better training of teachers. In view of the foregoing facts, we shall trace briefly step by step the history of the summer school as an educational movement, ever emphasizing and

^Bogart: Economic History of the United States.

■MUNI keeping in mind its importance as a factor in improving teachers. It will be found that these steps overlap each other and by no means stand out as successive chronological phases of development. However, we hope to discover whether the movement is continuous and evolutionary or is a mere educational fad satisfying temporary demands.

Classification of Summer Schools

That the summer school is truly American and a necessary concomitant of American life is evident in that the first schools were indigenous to the New World demands and are embraced in the last half century. In the course of development, the summer school has kept pace with and remained parallel to the other demands of life. Therefore, the curricula have conformed to many demands of life training. To classify them technically according to their diverse functions and shades of procedure would be neither interesting nor profitable here, but for our purposes we shall use the three following classes :

1. Scientific laboratories for teachers and students.

2. Schools without laboratories and giving instruction in but one field or study.

3. Schools giving instruction in more than one field or study.

I shall trace briefly the history of each class and point out so far as possible its significance in the growth and development toward the present elaborate summer session now in vogue thruout the country.

1. Scientific Laboratories for Teachers and Students

Beginnings

About fifty years ago college professors of science conceived the idea that summer affords an opportunity for nature study as does no other season of the year. The first to act upon this idea were a few professors and students from Harvard University, who in 1869 made a trip to the Rocky Mountains for the purpose of studying geological formations. During the next few years similar expeditions to the West were made by Yale professors and students, who stored their minds with concrete facts concerning mineralogy and enriched the museum of natural history at New Haven with large and valuable collections of mineral and rock. The idea gained importance until it became a common practice for the leading colleges of the country to be represented from year to year in trips to the West and other sections of the country. These trips served as r the forerunner of more extended scientific first-hand study during the summer. The biologist as well as the geologist found the summer season essentially suited to an intimate concrete study of real life.

The Seaside Laboratory on Penikese Island^

The first scientific summer school in America was announced in 1872 by the famous scholar and naturalist, Louis Agassiz. The session was held at Nantucket, on Penikese Island, about twenty-five miles southeast of Newport, R. I. The announcement containing an outline of the course of study occupied a single quarto page of printed matter. The program was "chiefly designed for teachers who propose to introduce the study of zoology into their schools and for students preparing to become teachers." The following topics, with the names of instructors, taken from the report of the school, will indicate the nature and scope of the work and the personnel of the faculty :

"Zoology in General and Embryology of the Vertebrates," by L. Agassiz, Director of the Museum.

"The Extinct Animals of Past Ages Compared with Those Now Living and the Methods of Identifying Them," by N. S. Shaler, Professor of Paleontology in the Lawrence Scientific School.

"Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Vertebrates," by Dr. B. G. Wilder, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in Cornell University.

"The Animals and Plants Living in Deep Waters," by L. F. de Pourtales, Assistant in United States Coast Survey.

"Embryology of the Radiates," by A. Agassiz, Assistant in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.

"On Fisheries and Their Management," by Prof. Spencer F. Baird, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

"On Fish Breeding," by Theodore Lyman, Assistant in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.

"Chemistry of Feeding and Breathing," by W. Gibbs, Professor of Physics in Harvard University.

"Chemistry of the Sea and Air," by James Crafts, Professor of Chemistry in the Technological Institute, Boston.

The project enlisted the financial support of such men as John Anderson and others, of New York, who generously bestowed Penikese Island as a location, $50,000 in money for other expenses, a yacht, and other valuable property. A commodious building was erected, and in 1873 forty odd students from all parts of the country were en-

' Report of trustees of the school, 1873.

rolled. The death of Agassiz prevented the further promotion of the school, and the attempt was abandoned the following year.

It will be observed from the foregoing list of subjects and professors that the work consisted mainly of laboratory research and the study of names and forms of animals, rather than experimental biology. But the tremendous importance of this school is seen when we remember that the several great biological schools that followed, some of which exist to-day, are its direct outgrowth. This summer-school movement was readily followed by Harvard, under the leadership of Dr. Asa Gray, who founded a school of botany in 1874.

We must here emphasize the important fact that the Penikese school was attended largely by teachers who aspired to make more thoro preparation for their class work.

The Zoological Lahoratory of Johns Hopkins University'^

The spirit which actuated the founding of the Penikese school did not die with its founder. The inspiration still lived in the minds of such men as Dr. W. K. Brooks and Professors Henry and Baird, who revived the Penikese idea in 1878 and induced the trustees of the Johns Hopkins University to provide for the maintenance of a zoological laboratory. The enterprise was sanctioned by the United States Government in a substantial way by granting the free use of Fort Wool, located on an artificial island at the mouth of Hampton Roads. The location of the fort was especially favorable for the study of animals, since the ebb and flow of the tide brought strong currents of water containing an abundance and a great variety of the very best specimens of sea life. Fewer than a dozen persons participated in the work of the first summer, but part of these were school-teachers. The session lasted eight weeks, the courses being given in the form of laboratory research. The work, measured by its results, was highly successful; for it offered an opportunity for original research, collected material to be used in the university, gave an acquaintance with the forms of sea life, and gave additional knowledge of the zoology of Chesapeake Bay. Furthermore, a number of worthy scientific papers were prepared and published.

During the next year the school made special contributions concerning the growth, nature, and development of the oyster. The following sessions of this laboratory were held at various points, mainly along the coasts of Virginia,

' Reports of trustees of Johns Hopkins University, Circular 54.

12 Teache?' Training in Summer Schools

North Carolina, and Florida, until 1888, when, for lack of funds for maintenance, the sessions were discontinued until 1891, when the work was revived and was continued until 1903. Since that date^ several expeditions have been sent to the West Indies for the study of botany and zoology, as well as research work carried out in Jamaica and elsewhere. Since 1910 there have not been sufficient funds available for such work, and the men interested in zoological research have individually gone to other laboratories for summer work.^

It must not be forgotten that in the earlier days of the laboratory it contributed considerably to the improvement of teachers of biology, botany, and zoology.^ Moreover, it published from time to time the results of investigations until the tracts and books are numerous and furnish an authentic and rare source for a most interesting chapter in many of the textbooks on biology. The laboratory has also been an invaluable aid to students of Johns Hopkins University, the knowledge being utilized in connection with the regular classroom work. Up to 1910 the work of this school constituted a part of the regular summer work of Johns Hopkins University, and elementary zoology is still offered as a part of the summer program.

Wood's Hole Laboratory

In 1881, under the auspices and support of the Woman's Educational Association of Boston and the Boston Society of Natural History, a laboratory was opened at Annisquam, Mass. Its purpose was "to afford opportunities for the study and observation of the development, anatomy, and habits of common types of marine animals under suitable direction and advice."-

The work at first was of a most elementary character, and the number of students averaged about twenty until 1886, when the enterprise was wholly surrendered to the Woman's Educational Association, which appropriated sufficient funds to maintain the laboratory under the title of The Marine Biological Laboratory.

They erected buildings at Wood's Hole, Mass., and the first session was held in 1888. The attendance was small, and the work was of such a nature as to serve as a foundation for sequential research work. The data and material collected were such as would contribute largely to teacher improvement. The aim of the school may be best shown by quoting the words of Dr. Whitman, the director : "Now,

^ Personal letter from E. A. Andrews, Professor of Zoology. ^ From circular of announcement, 1881.

the only way to keep the distributive function efficient and active is to unite it in proper relations with the productive function. The laboratory is the creative agent — the source of all supplies ; the school is merely the receiver and the distributor. Any attempt to combine the two which ignores or reverses these relations must end in disappointment and failure." Dr. Whitman here makes it plain that while the laboratory furnishes the material, it is the teacher's part to assimilate and diffuse this material.

By 1891 the school had grown considerably in attendance, and the course of study had been amplified to meet the needs of teachers and students. The faculty included several of the most eminent men of the country, among whom may be mentioned Dr. Whitman, of Clark University ; E. C. Gardener, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ; H. C. Bumpus, Brown University ; W. M. Rankin, Princeton College; J. P. McMurrich, Clark University; W. M. Wheeler, Clark University; and T. H. Morgan, Johns Hopkins University. In addition to this group several distinguished lecturers were enlisted in the work and gave evening lectures on biological subjects of general interest. These lecturers represented Clark University, Harvard, University of Nebraska, and Princeton.

To give some idea of the work done, we offer the following, quoted from the prospectus of the session of 1891: "In addition to the regular courses of instruction in biology, botany, and microscopical technique, consisting of lectures and laboratory work under the direct and constant supervision of the instructors, there will be given two or more courses of lectures on special subjects. . . . For the completion of any considerable piece of investigation, beginners usually require from one to three full years. The aim is rather to make a safe beginning, which will lead to good results if followed up between sessions, and renewed, if need be, for several successive years."

That the element of teacher training permeated the courses is shown by the fact that special and exclusive preparation was made for teachers. The prospectus said : "The laboratory for teachers and students will be opened on Wednesday, July 8, for regular courses of seven weeks. The number admitted to this department will be limited tc thirty, and preference will be given to teachers and others already qualified."

The work of this school has been carried forward for the past twenty years with ever-increasing attendance. The report of 1918 showed the school to be in a prosperous condition, with a splendid reserve fund, a library of 1,654 volumes, and a directorship consisting of some of the most

14 Teacher Tf'aining in Summer Schools

competent men of the country. By 1915 the total attendance had reached 242 investigators, most of whom were teachers of various advancement and standing, representing many of the leading colleges, universities, schools, and academies of the country.^ The school has borne fruition beyond the most sanguine hopes of its founders, its work is nation-wide, and it has long since assumed its place among the great educational agencies of this century.

Biological Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor^

In 1890 the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences became the sponsor for a laboratory that would offer a wider field for the study of marine life than any other school had yet offered. The school was located at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, where both marine and fresh-water life could be studied. Mr. Eugene G. Blackford, one of the fish commissioners of New York State, had previously established a fish hatchery here in 1882, Prof. Franklin W. Hooper, director of the Institute and a former student at Penikese Island, realized the advantages of Cold Spring Harbor as a location for a marine laboratory. He, in conjunction with other professors of the Institute, prevailed upon the trustees to establish a Biological Station, and a board of managers was appointed, consisting of Mr. Blackford, Mr. Hooper, and twenty-two other prominent citizens of New York City,

Instead of confining the study to a few specimens of life, there were offered lectures on general biology, embracing many types, such as jelly fishes, star fishes, the clam, the snail, the oyster, the crab, the grasshopper, and the frog. Special instruction was given to teachers in methods of study and presentation; bacteriology was made a new and interesting feature; stereopticon studies were made by evening lectures; and encouragement, instruction, and opportunity were given for carrying on independent investigation.

The school has continued to flourish and grow from year to year, until at the present time demands are raised for additional accommodations, A dormitory, dining hall, and assembly room for women have been provided. In 1903 the Carnegie Institution, of Washington, established here a Station of Experimental Evolution, designed for the study of heredity in animals and plants. In 1910 Mrs. E. H. Harriman established here the Eugenics Record Office, which has for its purpose the study of human heredity.

'- Twentieth Report, 1917.

' A pamphlet entitled New York City's Biological Reserve, 1917.

It is especially interesting to see in this school an expansion, a growth, of the summer-school movement from a study of special forms to a general and varied field and from a mere handful of professors to many ardent teachers seeking material for classroom use.

Other Summer Schools of Science^

Still other scientific schools that maintain summer sessions are the Marine Biological Laboratory, Leland Stanford Junior University, at Pacific Grove, Cal. ; School of Mountain Field Biology, University of Colorado, at Tolland, Col.; Indiana University Biological Station, at Winona Lake ; and University of Michigan Biological Station, at Topinahee. These schools, one and all, are now maintained primarily for teachers and for students of universities and colleges desiring to collect research material for their regular courses.

2. Schools Without Laboratory and Giving Instruction IN But One Field or Study

The Concord School

The Concord summer school was the pioneer in the field of philosophy and literature. The purpose of the school was "to bring together a few of those persons who, in America, have pursued or desire to pursue the paths of speculative philosophy, to encourage these students and professors to communicate with each other concerning what they have learned and meditated, and to illustrate, by a constant reference to poetry and the higher literature, those ideas which philosophy presents. The first purpose of the school was conversation on serious topics, the lectures serving merely as a text for discussion, while dispute and polemical debate were avoided. It sought in the discussions at Concord, not an absolute unity of opinion, but a general agreement in the manner of viewing philosophic truth and applying it to the problems of life."- The idea of this school originated in the mind of Bronson Alcott, but was not put in force until 1879, when the first session was held at the "Orchard House." Here assembled such celebrated men as Emerson, Professor Pierce (of Harvard), and Mrs. Cheney, Dr. W. T. Harris, F. D. Sanborn, and many other scholars of the time. The school continued for ten years,

' Directory of Summer Schools, Bulletin No. 53, Bureau of Ed., and summer catalogs of the schools mentioned. ^ Genius and Character of Emerson.

with sessions varying from six weeks in the first term to two weeks in the last term.

The work was highly speculative.^ The program included lectures on Christian Theism ; Speculative, Platonic, and Political Philosophy; the History and Moral of Art; Immortality, Schilling, Oracular Poetry, etc. From the first program to the last, however, may be discerned a gradual transition from speculative to realistic thought. The last program dealt with the relations of Aristotle's philosophy to that of modern times. The school rendered a tremendous service in paving the way for the interpretation and the application of ancient religion, government, and literature in the light of present-day tendencies. The school also stimulated investigation and thought concerning the relation of mind and matter. While the school was an exponent of transcendentalism and asserted the supremacy of the mind, "it must not be supposed that it was hostile to science; on the contrary, it approved and heartily sympathized with it in its great work, which, properly regarded, it considered tributary to the highest ends of existence."^

The lectures delivered in this school have been published under the following titles: The Genius and Q^aracter of Emerson, The Life and Genius of Goethe, T\e. Destiny of Man, The Idea of God. ^^

The Glenmore School^

As a progressive step from the Concord school came the Glenmore school, in the Adirondack Mountains. The purpose of the school was to study the psychology of man and its practical application to everyday life. Applied culture to common living would express the slogan of the school. To quote from the program : "The aim of the school, therefore, is twofold— (1) scientific, (2) practical. The former it seeks to reach by means of lectures on the history and theory of the culture sciences, and by classes, conversations, and carefully directed private study. The latter it endeavors to realize by encouraging its members to conduct their life in accordance with the highest ascertained ethical laws, to strive after 'plain living and high thinking,' to discipline themselves in simplicity, kindness, thoughtfulness, helpfulness, regularity, and promptness." The school secured the services of such men as J. Clark Murray,

' Programs of the first years. ' Harper's Weekly, August, 1881. 3 Program of session of 1892.

History of Summe?' Schools in the United States 17

W. T. Harris, John Dewey, and Josiah Royce. While the Glenmore school gave little or no training directly to teachers, its programs contained an elaboration of cultural science and philosophy that has become an important part of educational training for the best teachers. Furthermore, the school forms a link in the development of summer schools that cannot be consistently omitted.

Two other schools that followed in the wake of the Concord school were the Milwaukee Literary School, having for its aim free and untrammeled discussion and conversation and a study of poetry and philosophy ; and the Chicago Kindergarten Literary School, in which courses of lectures were given in masterpieces of literature from Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe. But a school that deserves more than passing mention is

The School of Applied Ethics at Plymouth

Thus far the schools we have examined have been rather far removed from the life of the people. In 1891 a new departure was made as to subject-matter in the summer school at Plymouth, Mass. The subjects dealt with the rise and development of our present system of industries and economics and the condition of the people that grew out of these. The work thus more nearly approached the pertinent problems of living than did any of its predecessors.^ "The term 'applied ethics' might not carry to all minds an accurate or complete idea of the scope of the school. Possibly the words 'practical sociology' would be more truly expressive of the character of the work that was actually done at this first session. The history and progress of mankind and of communities in matters of religious belief, moral doctrine and practice, and economic life and welfare were the general themes presented and discussed in many topics and phases. "-

The following topics, with teachers' names appended, will give a definite conception of the nature of the work and the class of instructors :

"Economics and Its History," Prof. H. C. Adams, University of Michigan.

"Socialism," President Andrews, of Brown University.

"Cooperation," Professor Taussig, of Harvard.

"Factory Legislation," Carroll D. Wright, United States Commissioner of Labor.

^ Announcement of the school, 1891.

" Review of Reviews, September, 1891.

"History of Religions," Professors Toy, of Harvard; Bloomfield, of Johns Hopkins; Jastrow, of University of Pennsylvania; and others.

Other living topics were moral instruction of children, prison evils and reforms, charity in cities, and humane treatment of animals.^

The first session lasted six weeks and enrolled more than 200 students, of whom more than 40 were teachers. The next year the school was continued, with a program similar to that of 1891. This may be considered one of the pioneer schools in the study of economics. While the school did not become of a permanent character, yet it did much toward broadening the teachers' vision and bringing them into more intimate relation with the life of the people and the problems of society.

School of Languages at Amherst

An obvious and long step in the expansion of the summer-school movement is seen in the Amherst School of Languages. It opened in 1877, but continued only a few years. The school was intended largely for the training of teachers, especially those of foreign languages. The work was also adapted to the needs of students desiring to make up deficiencies in languages or wishing to begin the study of languages. The average length of the term was five weeks, and the program provided, besides the class work, a medley of gymnastics, lectures, picnics, and excursions to places of interest. By 1892 the curriculum included, in addition to modern and ancient languages, English literature, including Anglo-Saxon and early English, chemistry, art, physical education, and mathematics. With the rapid rise of summer schools in colleges, universities, and normal schools, the necessity for this school no longer existed, and its work was gradually absorbed by other schools.

The Sauveur Summer School of Languages

In 1883 Dr. Sauveur, the original founder of the Amherst school, resigned from the work there and founded a school of languages at Burlington, Vt. In reality this school was only a resumption of the former work at Amherst. With the exception of the two sessions of 1886 and 1887, the terms were held successively at Burlington. Up to 1890 the average attendance was about 200. Several thousand students from different parts of the country at-