Such training is utilitarian; but why basely so? Most men devote more than half of their waking hours to their vocations. Are their lives necessarily on that account basely utilitarian? Our war for independence had its origin in a question of taxation. Was it for that reason a basely utilitarian struggle for selfish ends? Almost every great national policy involves some matter of industry or commerce. Is our national life therefore unworthy of our loyal affection? The intellectual and moral progress of the race has always been in large measure dependent upon material and commercial prosperity. Are the achievements of the human spirit on that account insignificant or base? As a people we profess a belief in the dignity of work. Shall we hesitate to exemplify our belief by making it possible for every man to find his work and in his work to find a worthy means of enlarging and completing his life? REMARKS BY PRESIDENT LEAVITT I believe that Mr. Burks has shown that initial steps in industrial training should be given thru the agency of the present public-school system, whatever form of school may be added later, because an interest in and a respect for industrial work must be developed in the boy before the age of fourteen if we wish to hold him in even an industrial school after the law permits him to go to work. This of course applies only to the boys for whom industrial education is urged. Mr. Burks has shown that after fourteen these boys should be offered substantial vocational training. Just what these vocational schools should teach, is, in most communities, yet to be determined by experimentation. That it must be practical and "real" is certain. This much we have learned from the manufacturers. They tell us that the work done must be submitted, as far as possible, to industrial tests rather than to "educational," that is to say "cultural," tests. At the works of the General Electric Company, Lynn, Mass., is what might be called a modern apprentice school. From it we may learn much. Mr. Alexander's discussion will not only inform us of this interesting and valuable experiment in vocational training, made by a corporation, primarily, we presume, for its own benefits and because of its own needs, but will give us many valuable suggestions for our guidance in determining the nature and scope of any industrial training wnich the public school may undertake. INDUSTRIAL TRAINING AS VIEWED BY A MANUFACTURER It is generally conceded that the further development of American industries, and especially the mechanical trades, is endangered thru an insufficient supply of properly trained skilled mechanics. The reason for this condition may be found in the enormous expansion of these industries within the last fifteen years, which has made the demand for skilled workmen far exceed the supply, and in the growing tendency towards specialization which today permeates all fields of industrial activity. Where heretofore skilled labor was required in many processes of manufacture, specialization has permitted the employment of large numbers of unskilled workmen. Manufacturers have taken liberal advantage of this new economic condition, overlooking, however, the necessity of training skilled mechanics who are capable of operating and maintaining in good working-order the complicated machinery which specialization has brought into use, and who can act as leaders and subleaders in the ever-growing industrial army. Manufacturers relinquished their responsibility so much the more readily in view of the new attitude of the public-school system towards the industrial needs of the country. Within the last twenty-five years, the public-school system, recognizing the necessity for semi-vocational and vocational training, introduced manual training, first in the high schools, and later on in the grammar schools. It became apparent, however, that the public schools were not answering adequately the demands of modern industries: manual training was not giving the boys the practical equipment that would enable them to enter industrial life. on any plane higher than that of a beginner. The rapid changes of the industrial system, furthermore, made such demands on the workmen that the educational system found itself unable to adjust itself quickly to their needs. Manufacturers and educators are now alive to the seriousness of the problem of bringing the school system into harmony with the modern industrialism of the country. The genuine interest manifested on both sides indicates a keen observation of the situation and the desire for a proper solution. Hearty co-operation between the teachers who prepare the boys for life and the manufacturers and business men who employ them as economic units will hasten the solution of the problem and bring about the desired results. Entering into the consideration are the workmen employed at the present time in unskilled labor who might be elevated industrially by supplemental education, and also the new recruits who are about to enter upon an industrial The latter class is, of course, of far greater importance than the former, in that it determines the character of the future industrial army. The proper training of boys for their life's work will, furthermore, materially minimize the necessity for continuation schools and other supplemental education for adults. The principal agencies for training boys systematically for skilled work are trade schools and apprenticeships. The trade-school problem is primarily the concern of the state, which should equip boys with such knowledge as will fit them to become self-supporting citizens. The school system of a community should offer industrial training for those activities which are peculiar to its locality. Although educational experts are giving much thought to this problem, their ideas are by no means clarified into a consensus of opinion. Some advocate the establishment of additional technical high schools: others believe in manual training in the lower grades of the elementary schools; many contend for a more practical training even to the extent of trade instruction; while some now urge the creation of elective industrial classes into which grammar-school boys may enter. Apprenticeship systems, on the other hand, are the concern of the manufacturers, who in this way train their own supply of skilled artisans; and according to the breadth of view with which manufacturers develop their systems, they are contributing more or less to the solution of the problem of making the boy's educational equipment fit his industrial needs. Apprenticeship systems are flexible and can, therefore, adjust themselves quickly to the changing industrial conditions; they present concrete examples of industrial training, a study of which will point out to educators the principles which should underlie an effective system of public industrial schools, where skill and intelligence may be developed in proper correlation. A significant example of what may be accomplished by a well-conducted apprenticeship system may be found at the works of the General Electric Company at Lynn, Mass. The establishment of this system was the outcome of a careful study of existing apprenticeship systems. Thirty or forty years. ago when the entrance upon a skilled trade was universally made thru the door of an apprenticeship, a boy was apprenticed to a journeyman who practiced the trade in all its parts. Having a personal interest in the boy, the journeyman initiated him into the mysteries and arts of the trade, until the apprentice after five or six years of tutelage took and held his place by the side of his master. The introduction of the factory system brought about a change in the condition of the apprentice. He was now assigned to a department, the foreman of which was expected to teach him as the journeyman master had done heretofore. The shop foreman, who looked after a number of workmen and the work of the department in general, did not, of course, take the same personal interest in the boy as the journeyman heretofore had done, and very often delegated his function of teaching to an assistant. As the shop departments grew and a larger percentage of unskilled labor was employed in the factory, the foreman or his assistants felt less inclined, and were in fact less able, to devote special attention to the training of the boy. They hesitated to put him on a machine, both for fear that he might injure the same because of insufficient personal attention, and also for reasons of production which required the utilization of every machine to the fullest extent. The advantages for an apprentice in one department, furthermore, were often unequal to those in another department; this being due to the kind of work preformed and the amount of production. In order to overcome these unequal conditions, a supervisor of apprentices was appointed in some of the factories, whose duty it was to look after the interests of the apprentices and to transfer them from one department to another without interfering with the prerogatives and disciplinary supervision of the foremen; and to the extent to which the super visor possessed special efficiency and tact for this work, he fulfilled his duties to the advantage of both the employer and the apprentice. In this system, however, there remained a weakness, in that the apprentice was trained by the foreman or assistant foreman of the department who were chosen for their positions on account of their skill and special fitness for the work and not for any ability for instructing boys. It is a well-known fact that few men in any walk of life, with the exception of professional teachers, are able to impart information in a satisfactory manner, although they themselves may possess knowledge and be able to apply it to their work. The General Electric Company at Lynn, therefore, took the next logical step in the development of apprenticeship systems. It appointed a supervisor of apprentices, but also placed him in charge of a special training-department where the boys might receive their initial training under expert supervision in a thoro and systematic manner. The training-room is simply a part of the whole factory, set aside for the sole purpose of training apprentices; and is provided with a full complement of machines and tools and the most instructive work that the factory contains at any time. A separate training-room for machinist and tool-maker apprentices and one for pattern-makers are in operation at Lynn, and it is the intention to establish another for molder apprentices at an early date. Under the system prevailing at Lynn, every boy who wishes to learn a trade must serve a trial period of two months in the training-room. During that time he is closely observed by the supervisor of apprentices, both as to his mental and moral make-up and as to his ability for and attitude toward the practical work. Immediately upon entering the training-room, the young candidate is put at a machine and required to perform useful work. If he proves, during the trial period, that he possesses the right qualifications, he is allowed to sign the regular apprenticeship agreement, which calls for a service of four years for machinist, tool-maker and pattern-maker apprentices, and three years for molder apprentices. The time of the trial period is included in the total time of service. The apprentice remains now in the training-room for a period of about two years, according to his individual ability; and during that time, is given an opportunity to work with the different machines and tools and to perform different operations on a variety of work. At the end of this period, he has gained a general knowledge of the trade and an ability for the work which must now be rounded out by a longer experience on a larger variety of work, such as the factory itself offers. The apprentice is, therefore, transferred from the training-room at the end of about two years to different departments of the factory, until at the end of the four years' term he is well qualified to assume a position as regular journeyman at journeyman's wages. All work performed in the training-room is of commercial character; thus the training of apprentices on such work is of commercial value to the boy, in that it trains him in, rather than for, industrial life, and instils in him a proper appreciation of the value of time and money. Some of the machines in the training-room are of the latest and most improved pattern, while some are second-hand tools, half of which have been rescued from the scrap heap. The use of old machines serves a twofold purpose, the economic and the educational; it prevents the abuse and injury of high-priced modern machinery which is apt to occur with boys who have not had experience in the handling of machines; and it affords an opportunity for repairing machine tools, which is an excellent training for a future mechanic. The training-room, however, presents a splendid opportunity for stimulating the apprentices to develop labor-saving devices and processes for the manufacture of different articles, thereby giving free play to the exercise of inventive ingenuity. The boys are taught to instruct others; for it is the aim of the General Electric Company to create a supply of skilled mechanics from whom the assistant foremen, foremen, and superintendents of the company may be chosen. Each boy, therefore, must help to break in a less advanced apprentice in one of the operations before he himself may advance to a more difficult task. Thus, if an apprentice has acquired efficiency both as to speed and accuracy in the drilling of holes, he is utilized as a boy-teacher in initiating another apprentice who has not yet learned how to drill holes, before he himself may receive instruction in the tapping of holes, for instance, from an older apprentice. The regular instructor, however, starts off the team of boy-teacher and boy-pupil and follows their joint work from time to time thruout the day; this arrangement permits the instructor to supervise a large number of such teams, in addition to the regular work of the department. One instructor may easily take charge of fifty or sixty apprentices and train them well. The boy-teacher will naturally put forth his best efforts to impress the boy-pupil with his own achievements and the latter will often ask questions of the former that, out of false pride, he would not ask of the regular instructor. From a business standpoint the economy of this arrangement is commendable. Pedagogically this pupil-teacher system is significant; for it tends to throw boys upon their own resources, thereby making them think for themselves; it develops in them the power to impart information and make others perform the processes which they themselves understand; and, finally, it initiates them into the art of handling work and workmen. A possession of these qualifications determines to a large extent the success of a foreman, superintendent and in fact any leader of men in whatever walk of life. The General Electric Company has arranged the wage scale for apprentices with a view of making them self-supporting from the beginning, even during the trial period of service, so that any boy desiring to learn a trade may be enabled to avail himself of the opportunity regardless of the financial condition of his parents. In round figures each apprentice receives $5.00 per week for the first year, $6.50 per week for the second year, $8.00 per week for the third year, and $9.50 per week for the fourth year, with a cash bonus of $100.00 at the termination of the course when a certificate of apprentice |
