R. W. SELVIDGE
University of Missouri
Industrial Education Magazine 25 August 1923, pages 35-8
also "Job sheet" Industrial Education Magazine 25 July 1923 pages 12-13
IT IS rather difficult for the ordinary teacher to determine what his job really is when we have such a variety of courses and so many types of education and schools. He is confused by the noise and the fog of the educational headliner. In his eagerness for progress he embraces some great panacea like the Montesori System or the Gary System, but the publicity agent weakens and the "system" passes into well-deserved oblivion, leaving the teacher stranded. Systems are imposed from without and we willI make little progress until we ignore them and try to find out what it is that the boy or the girl in the grades needs to know. We would do well to forget some of our high-sounding names and phrases especially that child of mental chaos, "prevocational", and try to solve our problems from the standpoint of the boy rather than the "system" or the "type of school."
The teacher of manual training or industrial work in the upper grades has been so harassed by theorists and by surveys, by criticisms and by inadequate provision in either time or material, that usually he has been unable to give any genuine reason or his existence, and has been satisfied to hide behind such meaningless and time-worn phrases as "developmentof instinct,'' ''neatness,'' "ideals." etc.; or the more modern but equally vague form of these blinds such as, "prevocational," "industrial intelligence", "industrial contact", "finding courses", etc.
Suppose the supervisor, instead of trying to conform to a "system" or to some particular brand of education, should consider the boy and give to the superintendent a statement covering these three points:
1. What we are trying to do.
2. Why we are trying to do it.
3. How we are trying to do it.
The statement might be somewhat as follows:
1. We believe that every boy who has completed the eighth grade should know and should be able to do the things which we list below and if he does not know them before he gets to the eighth grade we purpose to teach as many of them there as we can.
If you find anything in this list you think a boy who has completed the eighth grade should not know, strike it out. If you think of anything not in the list, which should be included, add it.
2. We give, also, the reasons why we think a boy who has completed the eighth grade should know and be able to do these things. If you believe any of these reasons are not sound, tell us why, strike them out or offer others.
3. The methods we propose to use are indicated also. Suggestions as to other means and methods would be appreciated.
The accompanying list (below) is by no means complete in any of its three phases but it serves as an illustration of how such a statement might appear. No attempt is made to arrange the things in any special order because sequence is of no particular importance. If some special order is found desirable it is easy to arrange the list accordingly.
The list is flexible and elastic. It may be increased at any time by adding things that the teacher believes the boy should know which are not included, or it may be decreased by striking out anything the teacher thinks the boy should not know or the things that are regarded as of relatively little importance in the community. The list may be readily adapted to the boy of the city or to the boy of the country. The measure is always the same and must be applied with good judgment and absolute integrity, "Do the boys need to know and to he able to do these things?"
It must be remembered that this is not "a course in home mechanics," although many of the things the boy should know arise out of his home needs. They represent the common needs of practically all, men, and therefore, should be taught without respect to the future vocation.
The specialized trades are simply groupings of our more or less related special needs. That is the way they developed. Therefore instead of examing these trades to find the services most frequently needed by the average man, it is wiser to start with the needs of the man, and as long as they are simple enough for him to supply them without the services of an expert, or without considerable special training, we may well leave them without classification as parts of special trades.
It may be said that this plan neglects those broadly altruistic elements of unselfishness, appreciation, service, etc. Possibly the ability to do things has no very friends in whom these elements are most marked are people who not only can do things but desire to do them. There is no reason, however, why any laudable act or ambition may not be stated definitely as one of the things you wish to teach and a definite plan developed for teaching it.
The equipment required for this work would be quite like the equipment required for the general shop, which has found favor in some localities. The trouble with the general shop is that it too often represents general disorder. Usually the teacher does not have a definite list of the things he wishes to teach, and he does not have his instruction material so organized that he can carry on individual instruction on a wide variety of work at the sane time.
Whatever fine spun theories our great educators may have about "self-directed activities, etc.," disorder and confusion are the inevitable results and constitute conditions absolutely opposed to effective teaching or to the development of proper habits. This harem-scarcm, do-as-you-please attitude in the school and in the home is responsible for some of our most serious social problems.
In order to avoid the confusion so often found in the general shop the boy must understand that a definite plan and a calm and orderly procedure are essential to success. If he gets this he has learned one of life's most fundamental lessons.
The following is an example of an instruction sheet for repairing a leaky faucet. Such sheets should be prepared for every job and these sheets should he the student's guide.
The list of things we expect the boy to do and to know should be posted in the room and he should have a copy of it. This gives him a definite objective which is a powerful incentive. To know exactly what is expected of one is a challenge and an inspiration. It is one of the big elements of success in the Boy Scout movement and in the health movement among children. It enables the boys to check readily their levels of attainment. Any teacher who, when a student, had to wait for the final examination to find out what his teacher expected him to get from the course will appreciate the significance of this suggestion.
When the boy has reached the required degree of proficiency in one of the things on the list he should be given credit for it just as the Boy Scout is given credit when he passes a test. It is rather difficult to define exactly what that degree of proficiency is, but the student should know how the thing is done, and he should have sufficient skill to do the work in a way that will suffice in an emergency. The further development of skill is a matter of practice, and will develop according to his needs.
These suggestions are not directed toward any particular vocation. We believe they should not be. We are firmly convinced that at this age and at this degree of progress the future vocation of the boy is too uncertain for us to undertake training in a specific field. We believe the very best training any boy can have at this age is thorn training in those fundamental social conventions of reading, writing, arithmetic, drawing, speech, good manners, essentials of health and the things which all men should know and be able to do without respect to their vocations. This is true even of the boy who must enter industry, for jobs that are open to boys of this age do not require vocational preparation.
In some situations it may appear desirable to give the boy of this age instruction in a specific vocation. In that case we should have just as definite a list of objectives placed clearly before the student and just as definite methods of instruction in the various phases of the vocation.