Charles B. Howe,

THE FUTURE OF THE MANUAL TRAINING HIGH SCHOOL IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Manual Training Magazine

DECEMBER, 1912

THE FUTURE OF THE MANUAL TRAINING HIGH SCHOOL IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Charles B. Howe

A QUARTER of a century ago the advocates of manual training were waging a determined and an aggressive campaign for the adoption of their principles. Eventually, the fight was won and for the past ten years the recognition and application of those principles has been all but universal. Now a situation has developed which puts the friends of manual training on the defensive and the indications are that some of the fighting must be done over again.

In the argument for the vocational school it has been pointed out that the manual training school is a failure from the standpoint of vocational training. Before conceding this statement and suggesting any plan for meeting the objections, let us review the origin and purpose of the manual training high school.

In the spread and development of the manual training idea, first and foremost in the ranks of the pioneers was Calvin M. Woodward of St. Louis. In an address before the National Teachers' Association at Saratoga, July 1883, Dr. Woodward said:

The word 'manual' must, for the present, be the best word to distinguish that peculiar system of liberal education which recognizes the manual as well as the intellectual. I advocate manual training for all children as an element in general education. I care little what tools are used, so long as proper habits (morals) are formed, and provided the windows of the mind are kept open toward the world of things and forces, physical as well as spiritual.

And again in an address delivered before the Social Science Association of Philadelphia in December, 1885, he said,

We believe that mental activity and growth are closely allied to physical activity and growth, and that each is secured more readily and more fully in connection with the other than by itself.

The philosophy of manual training has never been more clearly expounded than in a paper read at the meeting of the American Institute of Instruction by Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler in July, 1888 at Newport. Dr. Butler said:

The manual training movement is based on a sound pedagogic principle and manual training must be introduced into schools of every grade. ... Manual training is mental training through the hand and eye, just as the study of history is mental training through the memory and other powers. ... It is truly and strictly psychological. In view of the prevalent misconception on this point, too much stress cannot be laid upon the fact that manual training, as we use the term, is mental training. ... It is the mind that feels and fashions, and the mind that sees; the hand and the eye are the instruments which it uses. The argument for manual training returns to this point again and again.

Dr. Felix Adler expressed his opinion thus:

Among those who have given most thoughtful attention to the subject, the following points are accepted, namely, that manual training means the training of the intellect as well as the hand; that its chief recommendation is that it offers a new instrumentality for training the mind.

Superintendent C. F. Carroll of Worcester, Mass, said:

... Manual training is from the beginning an indispensable part of a liberal education.

In an address delivered before the Present Day Club of Dayton, Ohio, Superintendent Mailman said,

"From "these considerations it appears that manual training as an educational factor has deeper roots than the transient industrial needs of our time. These roots lie in the innate nature of man, in the demand for his full, all-sided development in individual and social relations."

The most complete and comprehensive exposition of the psychological principles of manual training -- Manual Training: Its Educational Value -- ever made were set forth in an address delivered by Dr. T. M. Balliet before the Massachusetts Teachers Association at Worcester, Nov., 1895. The whole tenor of Dr. Balliet's address was for the purpose of demonstrating

... that manual training is but another form of mental training, and that the hand is but a sixth sense,—an additional avenue to the mind.

And

... whilst the manual training school does not aim to teach a boy a trade, it gives him a training which will enable him at once, on leaving school, to earn from $1 to $2 a day.

Regarding the vocational aspect of the subject in his "Argument for Manual Training," Dr. Butler said:

"No one with any appreciation of what our public school system is and why it exists, would for a moment suggest that it be used to train apprentices for any trade or for all trades."

Dr. Woodward stated his position as follows:

The object of the introduction of manual training is not to make mechanics. ... Our great object is educational: other objects are secondary. ... A public school must put no bar to a boy's development; the upward roads are always to be left open. A public trade school in America would be out of place.... The first reason why I think we shall not wisely attempt to teach the details of actual trades is, that the scope of a trade is far too narrow for general educational purposes.... Should we not abstract all the mechanical processes and manual arts and typical tools of the trades and occupations of men, and arrange a systematic course of instruction in the same, and then incorporate it into our system of education? Thus, without teaching any one trade, we teach the essential mechanical principles of all.

Similar expressions upon the purpose and character of manual training from the late Superintendent Seaver, Dr. G. Stanley Hall, and many others might be cited. It must be understood that in quoting the opinions expressed above it is not the purpose to maintain that these are necessarily the views held and advocated by these parties at the present time, neither is it desired to justify the continuation of the manual training school prototype in the future, nor to maintain that vocational training is not a rational and logical development. But from the historical standpoint and in the light of its origin and purpose is not the manual training school as an educational product exactly what it was intended to become?

As Dr. Woodward said again:

The prevailing motive in the organization of the first manual training school was to furnish opportunity and stimulus for the growth of certain powers of the mind through the instrumentality of the hand and material things."

Or, in the words of his famous aphorism,

Put the whole boy to school.

In view of the educational principles out of which the manual training idea grew and developed it may be demonstrated that the manual training school has achieved its purpose. Evidence is at hand to support this statement, from college and university presidents, superintendents, and other educational experts. The prevailing consensus of opinion was well expressed by the late president of Johns Hopkins, Dr. Daniel C. Oilman, who said:

Manual training is an essential part of good education, whether that education is restricted to the common school or carried on to the highest discipline of technical schools and universities.

Whatever may be offered in the way of criticism of the manual training school is certainly not justified from the point of view of its origin and purpose and in all fairness the educational critics should refrain from pulling down the foundation of what is destined to become the finest structure in our education.

In his "Argument for Manual Training" the words of warning which Dr. Butler uttered to those who would pull everything to pieces were never more appropriate than now. He said:

It would be a gross error for those who attach themselves to a new educational movement, to denounce preceding systems and conditions as misleading, worthless, bad. The most beautiful flower depends for its existence upon a clumsy and unattractive root. The flower loses its beauty and attractiveness if torn from the source of its life and strength. So it is with educational systems. The last makes the next possible; and the newest has quite enough to do without undertaking the profitless task of pointing out how all earlier systems would have failed had they been called upon to do something which in the nature of the case it was not possible for them to be called upon to do. Growth is continuous. Each stage is necessary; and it is worse than useless to attempt to exalt any one at the expense of that which laid the basis for it. Each system and each theory of education rray have been the best for its own time. The evolution of the manual training school as a type has broadened and enriched the whole school curriculum educationally and has made possible another type; the former was its chief end and aim; the latter an inevitable result.

WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL.

The character of the manual training school of the future depends almost wholly upon the purpose of secondary education. Here, again, our perspective is corrected and widened in the light of the historical development of the high school. It is well known that the initial purpose of the first high school or "academy" was to furnish a better preparation for young men who were destined to study for the ministry. The original purpose of secondary education was, therefore, vocational, and up to the present time this idea has persisted. The chief aim and end of the high school has been to prepare pupils for college, whether they wished to go there or not. The result of this policy as affecting present economic conditions is apparent. The boys of the country have been educated away from their natural environment and vocation into other business and professional channels. In the midst of the greatest material for educational wealth which the nation possesses, the country boy has been faced away from his opportunities and made to look upon the competition and strife of the so-called "learned professions" and encouraged to achieve a possible success at the expense of a free and independent life full of material and spiritual richness. If the same amount of time and energy had been spent by the schools in the country upon agricultural education, and if the results had been applied to the extent that has been done in other directions, there probably would be no problem of the high cost of living today.

The first differentiation in the high school course recognizing the necessity for vocational training other than preparation for college came in the form of the commercial course. Other and various changes and modifications of the traditional course of study have been accomplished by always keeping in sight the fact that the purpose of secondary training is vocational. Turn in whatever direction we may, we are face to face with the fact that the end and aim of the high school always has been and is now, largely vocational. As a problem of educational policy, therefore, it is as to content and not as to kind.

There is only one possible answer to our question, then, namely, the manual training high school of the future must be a vocational school, pure and simple, as all high schools are now and probably will be in the future.

The immediate educational problem of the manual training school is the determination of its particular vocational function. Should it continue as a general utility school and devote three-fourths of its energies to college preparation or should it be a technical secondary school intended primarily to furnish a definite vocational training to the far greater number who do not go to college or the professional schools, or should it do both?

In answering this question let us first consider the matter of college preparation. For a number of years the professional and engineering schools have been offering six-year courses combining arts and professional subjects with a view of inducing the student to secure a broad, liberal education in the humanities and economics in addition to his strictly professional training. This policy does not seem to have met with great success and as far as engineering is concerned it has been a failure. The reason for this is not necessarily a lack of interest but may be attributed to the fact that the strictly cultural period in the career of the student has passed and his chief interest is now centered upon his professional studies. Recognizing, as we must, the cultural value of the humanities to the engineering and other professions it would seem that the inevitable policy of these schools and colleges will be to maintain their requirements in the humanitarian branches. Not only is this true but we must expect to find increasingly rigid requirements in the matter of thoroness, particularly in English expression and mathematics. The engineering profession appreciates and will support this point of view.

It can readily be seen that if the manual training high school is to continue as a preparatory school it can not place much emphasis upon the mechanic arts side of its program and under those conditions it ceases to be a manual training high school and becomes again a preparatory school with a manual training annex.

The value of the mechanic arts as a preparation for engineering and technical courses is precisely the same as their value in the preparation for other professional schools, arts, and sciences. By the "standpatter" of the traditional manual training school this statement will no doubt be condemned as radical, but it is amply supported by pedagogical analysis, as well as by those who are responsible for the educational policies of our engineering schools.

That manual training has a value which demands that it be included in all high school courses has been established and requires no further demonstration. Manual training was advocated and adopted upon sound educational and economic grounds, and the results have amply justified the predictions of those who supported it. Dr. Hanus says: "In addition to the purely intellectual courses of the school we should maintain in every secondary school, whether public or private, courses in manual training, which together with their general educational aims minister directly to vocational and social aims."

In the readjustment of relations between the preparatory school and college which seems to be imminent, provision should be made for manual training in all courses of every high school. The amount of time to be devoted to this subject will, of course, have to be somewhat less than that of the present manual training high school, but if two periods per week were devoted to drawing and three to shop, making a total of five, it would not affect other subjects unfavorably but would establish the educational balance for which we are striving.

REASONS FOR MODIFICATION OF AIM.

That the manual training high school is about to abandon the field of college preparation and address itself solely to the ends and aims of secondary technical education is inevitable. The reasons for this statement are as follows: (a) Preparation for engineering and professional schools should be of the liberal type which can best be supplied by the general high school with manual training as a part of its curriculum; (b) The large and expensive plant equipment of the manual training high school is not requisite or desirable for college preparation and can be justified only for the needs of vocational training; (c) The demand for secondary vocational training is great and must be satisfied by the establishment of the technical high school.

The only valid objection to the establishment of the technical high school as a secondary vocational school is that a choice of occupation to a certain extent must be made by the boy at too young an age. But the same objection might be urged against the commercial high school and others, and while it is true that "we should keep open toward the top," yet it is also true that the great majority of children of that age must of necessity choose an occupation. We committed ourselves to this policy when we began the establishment of differentiated high schools.

The choice of an occupation is a very serious matter and is one of the four most important epochs in the life of the individual. A great deal more could and should be done by those in the administration of the secondary schools in assisting pupils in this matter. The taste, ability, and natural adaptability of the pupils should be discovered as far as possible, and they should be informed as to the character and emoluments of the various trades and professions. It is a common thing to hear a boy say that he intends to study this or tliat branch of engineering without having the slightest conception of what it is like or whether his abilities lie in that direction.

It would be a good plan in this respect if the first year in all high school courses were identical, thus postponing the choice of an occupation for a year. The more feasible plan however, would be the adoption of the ''six and six" scheme—six years of elementary school, three years of junior high school, or trade school, and three years of senior high school. It is possible that the development of the trade school may eventually force the adoption of this plan.

As evidence of the fact that the secondary technical or vocational school is about to succeed the manual training high school it should be noted that both Boston and Chicago have taken this step and that it is soon to be done in other cities. In Chicago there are provided eleven four-year courses of which seven are strictly vocational, and ten two-year vocational courses.

As a matter of fact the secondary technical school idea is not a new one. For many years Pratt Institute, the California School of Mechanic Arts and others have been working on this plan and the success of these institutions leaves no room to doubt either their practicability or the demand for this type of school.

The immediate field of the secondary technical school is found to lie in training for positions of responsibility such as, foremen, superintendents, operators, inspectors, draftsmen and designers in various manufacturing and industrial pursuits, engineers and superintendents of office buildings and institutions, and civil service positions requiring technical education in municipal, state, and government departments.

CURRICULUM OF THE SECONDARY SCHOOL.

It is not difficult to predict what the character and scope of the curriculum is going to be in the secondary technical school. The work falls naturally into the following groups:

I. English, American history and civics, industrial history and business economics.

II. Mathematics -- practical, applied mechanics, business system and accounting.

III. Science -- general science, physics and chemistry, and elective.

IV. Drawing and design.

V. Shop practice.

VI. Laboratory practice -- mechanics, materials, steam, electricity, etc.

VII. Specialization group. At least one year of major study in one of the following:

1. Architectural drafting.

2. Building construction.

3. Industrial chemistry.

4. Art and design.

5. Machine drafting.

6. Electricity.

7. Machinery and manufacturing.

8. Mechanic arts.

9. Power plant.

10. Surveying and topography.

In the teaching of English the most important result will be to secure the correct speaking and writing of ordinary every-day English together with facility in thought expression. Emphasis should he placed upon civics, particularly municipal. Industrial history will include the development of the steam-engine from Banca's wheel to the modern turbine, electrical discovery and invention, and the evolution of iron, steel, and the other principal manufacturing industries, together with a history of trade and commerce and their influence upon the progress of civilization. The study of business economics will include correspondence, ordinary business and legal forms and practice, legal tender and bills of exchange, banking methods and office systems, transportation, specifications and contracts.

The fundamental principles of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry must be studied together with plenty of practical problems. The held of applied mechanics provides a wealth of material for this kind of teaching. Calculations, estimates, stock and cost accounting, and a study of efficiency are of the greatest importance.

The sciences should also be studied with particular reference to their value and application to industry. But in these as in all other subjects breadth must not be sacrificed too much for immediate utility. Here is a splendid opportunity for the practical science man.

The remaining groups of studies constitute the backbone of the utilitarian side of the secondary technical school and should be characterized by thoroness as well as comprehensiveness, and more especially by their being up-to-date in conventions, technic, and methods.

The personnel of the teaching force in the technical high school is a matter which should be considered second to none in importance. The manual training school as conceived and developed is an academic institution under academic administration, and with its entire teaching force, including a large proportion of the teachers in mechanic arts, chiefly academic in training and character. The products of such a school are essentially academic and are responsible for most of the criticism that has emanated from the practical man. It is self- evident that the coming technical high school must be under the administration of, and as far as practicable include in its teaching force, men of technical training and experience, while the teacher of mechanic arts in these schools will be required to possess training in and experience at the trade which is fundamental to his particular line of work. Opportunity must be afforded, also, for the teaching force to keep in touch with modern practice and methods, otherwise the results in the future will not be much better than the academic products of the past.

During the past decade the efficiency curve of the manual training school in its relation to educational progress has risen little. However, it is pointing in the right direction and during the next decade it will undoubtedly rise rapidly. To justify its existence as a type of vocational school, the technical high school must occupy its field in a forceful and efficient manner and yield results commensurate with its opportunities and in proportion to the expense of its maintenance.