Thomas R. Cole

“ After some hesitation he accepted the invitation, and before he left the building he said, “I am ashamed to say it, but I have lived in this city for twenty years and this is the first time that I have had any idea of the work that our high schools are offering. I feel very much better prepared now to champion the cause of education.”
It is easy for some patrons to feel that a high school education is useless because now and then they see a boy or girl fail in a position who had previously had some high school training. ”

“ Some of the teachers have gone so far as to attempt to make every lesson in geography or history a problem lesson regardless of the nature of the topics to be covered or the reference material or textbook assistance that is available. The results from such a procedure are certain to lead to a poorly connected, piecemeal knowledge by the pupil of the subject as a whole. A semester of practical study of the problem method for any given subject before introducing it would give the teachers, and I dare say the supervisors, a better knowledge of what can reasonably be expected to be accomplished. ”

“ While it is not always possible to foretell the time of an assembly or school meeting, it is generally known by the principal a day or more in advance. A knowledge of the schedule of such meetings on the part of all the teachers a month in advance would often save much confusion and embarrassment. Rules covering tardiness, the issuance of report cards, school discipline, and general building routine should be definitely understood by all. Much of the friction between teachers often arises from lack of well-understood building rules or of enforcement of rules that have been made. ”

“ The schools are making strenuous efforts to give each individual pupil a chance to adjust himself to a vocation. The junior high school organization, classification of pupils according to ability, tests and measurements, and vocational guidance are all means to this end. The schoolmaster of tomorrow must realize that there is much good in the education of the past, but that the changing conditions in our social and industrial life must be met with similar readjustments in the program of education. ”

“ It is easy to make too much of such activities, to make them too pretentious, to consume too much time with them so that they sometimes interfere with the curricular work of the school. As a rule principals and teachers strive to keep these activities within reasonable bounds. Sometimes they find themselves involved in a bigger undertaking than they planned for. However, unbounded American enthusiasm is in no small measure to blame for the overdoing of some of these activities.
“Organized athletics in all schools are here to stay. In fact a much larger participation is noticeable each year. ”

“ The desire for professional leadership is coupled with the need of interpretation of the course of study. There is probably no more damaging contribution to the teaching profession than the presence now and then of school executives who give but little, if any, of their time to the professional inspiration of the teacher. The teachers in a building with such a principal in charge soon lose their spirit of wanting to serve and become a part of a routine business organization. ”

“ Group interests are developed through them which teach pupils to work together for a common end. School enthusiasm and loyalty are developed which broaden in later years to interest in and loyalty to community and nation.
“Teachers have not introduced these activities as a rule. They came in response to a recognized need. No more can teachers put them out. They can, however, help to direct them into proper channels, supervise them, and keep them within proper bounds, all of which is a task worthy of a real teacher. ”

“ School boards have not always purchased everything that I have requested, but I have found in the vast majority of cases that if the board has faith in the superintendent and feels that he knows what he wants, and what he will do with it after he gets it, he will not have much difficulty in obtaining what the school really needs. ”

“ The time is rapidly drawing to a close when mediocre preparation will be accepted in the field of education. The teacher for elementary or high school work must first secure a good general education. Specializing in one or more subjects based upon a fragmentary educational foundation is the cause of many failures in the teaching profession. One of the chief weaknesses of such teachers has usually been found to be in English. ”

“ Such a spirit of order is contagious and teachers and pupils are unconsciously encouraged to give greater attention to the proper use of school material. Thousands of dollars are saved annually in some school systems having free textbooks and supplies by the careful checking and transferring of the supplies. We must not forget that some of the most valuable lessons for the girls and boys come from experiences gained in other avenues than those learned from textbooks. ”

“ The principal in the smaller school as well as in the larger must give greater attention to the use of intelligence tests as an aid in classifying the pupils so that they can be better graded according to their ability. No teacher should be required to keep a pupil in her room indefinitely who is not mentally able to do the work or who is a constant disturber. ”

“ The high school enrollment is gaining at a tremendous pace and with the rapid growth comes the problem of greater diversity of student ability to serve. Twenty years ago the best of the students in the elementary schools continued their education in the high school. This made a much simpler problem in the providing of courses of study and equipment. To-day, however, many of the children who enter the high schools are able to pursue only such subjects as will fit them for industrial or commercial occupations. ”

“ A teacher should always be desirous of making a good personal impression, yet I have seen young women seeking positions waiting at the big counter in the superintendent’s office who were dressed more suitably for a social function than for a business call. Not long ago we were greatly in need of a commercial teacher. A young woman of otherwise good qualifications made application. Her attire was somewhat extreme and we decided it would be well to have her visit the principal of the school who needed the teacher. ”

“ The extra-curricular activities in a high school can be divided into two classes, the minor and the major activities. The minor activities are such as arise out of a desire to vitalize certain studies; the Science Club, the Short Story Club, the French Club are illustrations. For the most part these meet only once or twice a month for an afternoon program in which students who are interested participate themselves or occasionally invite some outsider to take part. Teachers desiring to stimulate greater interest in their specialties are usually enthusiastic supporters of such clubs. ”

“ It is always well for an applicant to secure the permission of the people chosen as references before using their names. A superintendent is much more likely to understand a teacher’s motive for applying elsewhere if he has been interviewed. When the motive is understood, he is in a better position to serve the applicant as well as the officials to whom the applicant has applied. The large majority of superintendents encourage their teachers to feel that they want them to improve professionally and are ready to assist them in doing so. ”

“ There are many other valuable school organizations that have not been mentioned. The number of activities should depend largely on the size of the school. The real purpose and local value of each activity should be given careful consideration before it is organized. Much harm can come from poorly supervised student enterprises or from a student organization that is permitted to take more of the time of pupils and teachers than is justified. The time for the preparation of plays should be limited and the work should be distributed among as many pupils as possible. ”

“ In these replies it will be noted that thirty-seven per cent of the teachers advocated assistance with the exceptional child. This gives further emphasis to the need of greater attention being given to the classification of pupils in the public schools. The use of tests and measurements has demonstrated the wide range of abilities that can usually be found in different pupils of the same grade. The teacher with from thirty-five to forty-five pupils must handle the work of her room more or less in groups, which often fails to reach the retarded or the accelerated pupil. ”

“ The teachers often spoke of how much more definitely they could plan their work. Great care was exercised to purchase only such supplies as were needed, and we turned in many of the worn-out books as partial payment for new texts. Hence, at the end of the year the cost of school supplies had been cut nearly in half as compared with that of the previous year. It was a matter of pleasure to have the board realize that a superintendent might be a business man as well as an educator. ”

“ After a course of study has been in operation for a few months it is well to ask some of the teachers who have been the most successful in getting satisfactory results to explain what they have done and how they have done it. Small groups can then discuss such a report with much profit to all. I have never experienced any difficulty in getting large attendance at a teachers’ meeting if the program provided concrete help for the group in the work they were doing. This is indeed a rich field for the principal to cultivate. ”

“ In one of the towns where I was superintendent, the school had had no student activities during the preceding year except football and baseball. The teams had been coached by an outsider who was intensely interested in having a winning team but cared little for the value of athletics to the boys or to the school. ”

“ One half of the teachers have apparently suffered from the delay that so often occurs when school material is not ready when it is needed. Sometimes conditions arise due to the shifting of pupils or other unforeseen difficulties which make a delay in the furnishing of supplies and equipment unavoidable. ”

“ The major activities such as class organizations, glee clubs, dramatic clubs, athletic associations, boys’ and girls’ clubs, the school paper, the Senior Ball, the Junior Prom, and the interschool debates offer more problems in the nature of care. They take in larger groups, are more formal or more pretentious, and demand a larger amount of time from teachers directing them. ”

“ It is this failure to be able to reach that visionary goal that discourages teachers and causes them to lose confidence in many methods that are excellent in themselves if they are used with moderation and sense. ”

“ Unless a reasonable amount of such work is provided, these pupils soon drop out of school and add to the large army of untrained workers.
The adjusting of boys and girls to proper vocations is one of the big problems confronting the home and the school. The patron often fails to understand what the school has to offer and the pupil, with little or no definite knowledge as to what he is best fitted to do, struggles along hoping that through the aid of the school he may find himself. ”

“ They forget that the high school of to-day is called upon to serve a much more diversified group of pupils than ever before, and it is not always able to determine in every case just the type of work that the boy or girl needs in order to make a success in life. ”

“ The teachers had all failed because they were unable to maintain good order. I was asked to secure a teacher for the room, which I did, after careful investigation. It was less than three weeks, however, after the semester started, when the restlessness of the pupils became apparent. I was at a loss to know the source of the trouble until a bulletin from the state superintendent’s office reached me, which gave suggestions as to the care and equipment of school grounds and buildings. ”

“ One of the outstanding replies was—“make a definite schedule for activity needs and assemblies.” One teacher stated it as follows: “I will plan my work with the classes for tomorrow with the expectation of having a full period for its recitation and development. On the following day, without a moment’s notice, the bell is likely to ring for an assembly which will mean a shortening of all the forenoon periods about one half. My plan of work for the day is practically ruined and the worth of the period to the class is lost.” ”

“ Their suggestions will be gladly received, for nowhere in the high schools of the country has that problem been solved.
“There is another form of organization commonly associated with high school activities for which the high school management is in no wise responsible and over which it claims no jurisdiction. It is the social and club dances managed entirely outside of the schools and chaperoned or patronized by people not connected officially with the schools. These purely social activities are the most time-consuming and costly of all. ”