Drawing dry strippings of Rubber from 31⁄2 year Rubber Lands For Sale ADDRESS PLAYA VICENTE RUBBER PLANTATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY 711 Mission Street San Francisco, Cal. The Western Journal of Education AUGUST, 1905 Co-operation a Business Principle EDITORIAL In a recent number of The Journal we called attention to the need for closer co-operation of teachers, parents and administrative officers in the work of improving the schools. Our contention was that courses of study, rules of discipline, programs, and the many other details of school procedure are all too frequently arranged from above and handed down to the teachers, whose sole duty it is to carry them into effect. Too often the teacher has no voice in determining the kind of work which shall be done by her. And yet, because she is the one who must make the experiment, she is the very person who should be able to contribute an intelligent report of its success or failure. Her views should be of the greatest value and should by all means be considered when courses of study are to be made or regulations of any sort worked out for the conduct of the schools. That the active co-operation of the people on the ground is very desirable, and that some regular channel for the expression of their views should be opened is indicated by the following quotation from The Kingdom concerning the management of one of our best business houses: "To encourage co-operation and arouse a common interest on the part of all the employees, as well as for the general welfare of the firm, Weinstock, Lubin & Co. offer cash prizes for suggestions that will tend to improve the business. A "Suggestion Box" is provided, and employees having ideas concerning the conduct of the store, either in its relation to its customers or its employees, write out their ivews and drop them into this "Box." Twice a week these suggestions are considered by the Board of Management, and a prize of one dollar awarded for each suggestion adopted. Occasionally the management desires the views of all the employees on some particular matter, and larger prizes are awarded. By means of cash competitive prizes pride in the arrangement and decoration of different departments is stimulated. At such a contest during the White Carnival, sixty-five dollars was awarded, and the result was a very handsome and artistic display." Educational One of the most promising innovations of modern school work is the teaching of geography by means of school excursions. The idea is not new. Perhaps it is as old as education itself, but it has not been used for all it is worth. until recent time. Among the very obvious features of school life in Paris are the frequent excursions of teachers and classes to points of interest in and about the city. These groups are to be met everywhere; at the art galleries, in the old churches, in front of the historic buildings, you are sure to find them. I remember a little group of boys who came with their teacher to look at the tomb of Napoleon at the same time that we were visiting it. You can hardly imagine how reverently they gazed upon it. It is safe to say that that day's lesson was of permanent value to France. A teacher in Ohio reports that a great number of educational excursions to various points of interest, including the State University and the State Capitol, have been made by his classes. "It is needless to say," he concludes, "that this tour of investigation did much to enlarge the ideas and stimulate the ambition of the students." As a result of this trip government and history were studied with enthusiasm. In San Francisco and Stockton excursions are regularly employed as a means of studying industrial geography. "The industrial and commercial life of the city are to be emphasized this year," says Supt. Barr's Outline in Geography. "The leading articles of export-flour, combined harvesters, leather, woolen goods, fruit, etc. should be made the basis of talks. During the year one or more excursions to local industries should be made by each grade. In all cases the teacher should visit the factory in advance to familiarize herself with the processes of manufacture. Committees of pupils may be detailed to visit the places named and render an account of the visit to the class." This method works well. It enlarges the ideas of pupils in no uncertain fashion and gets them into the habit of familiarizing themselves with the things about them. People who have had such a training in youth will not go through life blind and dumb with regard to what is going on about them. Education and Crime We cannot but deplore the carelessness of statement which several of our leading thinkers have permitted themselves in discussing this subject recently. Their utterances as commonly understood fall very wide of the truth. It is true that we have spent millions in education, and it is true that crime has increased, but the conclusion which has been drawn that education is therefore not the cure for crime is not at all warranted by these premises. In such discussions we need to distinguish between education as an institution and education as a process. Education as it is practiced in most places may do little to prevent crime. Indeed, there is very little in the subjects taught in the elementary schools which can be said to have any bearing upon the matter. But the educational process is the only instrument which we can employ in either curing or preventing crime. Suppose you are in charge of a prison and most of the men in it are certain to be set free after a time, what can you do to make them safe men to be let out? If you punish them every day that will make them worse. If you keep them shut up there, trusting to the confinement merely, to help them, that, too, will make them worse. If you teach them while they are there, old fellows though they are, and rather hardened characters some of them, that will make them better. Such at least is the experience of the prison keepers of the world. The reformatory prison, which is from beginning to end an educational institution, is the only means we have for making criminals over into law-abiding citizens again. If education of the right sort will prevent criminals from becoming criminals again, it does not seem to be an unwarranted conclusion that education will prevent children from becoming criminals. Of the several wise men who seem at present to be upholding the other side of the matter, we should like to ask just one question: If education will not prevent crime, what will? And we should like to remind those whose faith has been somewhat shaken that uncritical utterances are not to be taken critically. The psychologists have said that ideas are forces. They are the only forces by which one person can control another. Education is the only means we have for the prevention of crime and it is a sufficient means, though what we now know as education may not be sufficient for that end. A better education will do it. The The Summer Session is half over and it is not too early to predict what the results will be. Berkeley and San Jose both have their share of students. There are over eight hundred at the University and about four hundred at the Normal School. It is the general opinion of the instructors in charge that the men and women now assembled at Berkeley are the best body of students that have ever come together on the campus. They are not quite so numerous as they were last year, which is due to the fact that the Summer School cannot rival the Portland fair as an attraction. But in point of interest, maturity of mind, desire to learn and willingness to work, they do the teacher's heart good. And they are doing themselves good by being there. They are meeting with enthusiastic teachers; they are learning something of subjects which they have long wanted to study; they are hearing a number of distinguished speakers whom they could hear no where else; they are using the libraries, labratories and muscums, which in itself is no small educational privilege; and last, but not least, they are getting acquainted with a large number of people of similar tastes and interests and are having a very pleasant vacation with them. It is safe to say that every teacher who is attending either of these schools will go back to her work renewed in spirit, renewed in knowledge, and renewed in strength. They will be known by their fruits in whatever schoolrooms they may be found. Next year twice as many should be in attendance. Keep your eye upon those who are there this year and see whether it is not worth your while to come next year too. |