Are the Schools Preparing Youth to Take Over?

In Ontario, a century ago, school-houses were putting in an appearance in the settlements which had been hewn from the forests. It was important for children to learn to read since many homes and communities were isolated, to write in order to communicate with friends, and to keep simple accounts, hence the traditional "three R's". It might be noted that someone with a critical mind recently stated that the modern "three R's" are Rallies, Recesses and Rumba. High Schools were established in the cities and towns to prepare a small number of young people for university and for admission to Normal Schools but most boys and girls did not progress beyond the elementary school and many did not complete the public school course. In time, elementary schools and academic High Schools were established to serve the needs of the children in most parts of southern Ontario. During the last twenty-five or thirty years there has been a growth in secondary schools of another type, namely, the vocational schools.

In order to survey the school system of this province and to recommend changes to meet the challenge of the new age, a Royal Commission was appointed by the Ontario Legislature in 1945. Its Chairman is Mr. Justice Hope, and in 1946, he and Dr. Althouse, the Chief Director of Education for the province of Ontario, went to the British Isles, Sweden and Denmark, to stud; developments in education. I had the privilege of accompanying them.

We found that vast educational changes are being brought about in England, Scotland and Ireland. Life is to be planned in a manner which has hitherto not been done. The authorities hope to abolish or lessen certain class distinctions by means of the schools. No boy or girl is to be debarred, by lack of means, from taking the course of education for which he or she is qualified. Bright children will be carefully selected and trained for future leadership. Two of the common expressions frequently heard were "equality of educational opportunity" and "parity of esteem for all secondary school pupils". One is impressed by the fact that careful methodical plans for gradual_ changes in education over a period of years are being made and put into effect. It is interesting to note in passing that the new Education Act was introduced by Mr. Churchill's government and accepted in toto by the Labour Government when it came into power so that it has very strong support. We found the educators in Britain eager to ask us questions about educational developments in Canada and anxious to share their knowledge with us.

This past summer, I spent several weeks in the British Isles again and I can report that steady progress is being made toward the realization of the educational goals set up a few years ago. Much of the uncertainty apparent in 1946 has disappeared and the visitor feels that the people of Britain are on their way toward definite objectives.

Not only in Britain, but in the English-speaking world generally there are indications that fundamental changes in points of view regarding education are taking place. These changes are the result of the scientific study of education during the past quarter century. Some of them stem from the knowledge of the individual differences of boys and girls, which came to the fore in the 1920's. The Intelligence Tests administered to the American army during the First World War indicated that people differ considerably in native ability and the use of standard tests of various kinds in schools during the past 25 to 30 years has supplied additional proof of the same fact. This knowledge of the wide differences in children has led to the establishment of special classes for children of different types. We see its effect too in school administration, in school buildings, in school libraries, on the playgrounds, in teaching procedures, as well as in the different types of schools. The fundamental purpose now is to provide equal educational opportunity for all boys and girls to develop fruitfully along the lines of their respective abilities.

A few other principles affecting educational practice today will be referred to briefly

(1) Behaviour is learned. What we do when we are young has a great influence in determining the sort of persons we will be when we become older. Patterns of growth and behaviour are established early in life, and these patterns are built into the personality of the maturing child. Accordingly, emphasis is placed today upon the education of young children and we have a demand for the establishment of kindergartens and various forms of pre-school education.
(2) Learning and growth are stimulated by both security and adventure. On the one hand a reasonable sense of security is necessary for learning. Over whelming difficulties are apt to cause frustration. On the other hand, a high degree of overprotection prolongs dependence, retards emotional development and discourages exploratory learning. The desire of some parents to protect their child from all anxiety, to hold him in the vice of parental care, to over-possess him, is a common way of frustrating growth and paralysing normal aggressive action in the early years, only to see it break out later in a desperate and perhaps neurotic effort to cut the tie that binds parents and child together. I am not suggesting that there is no need for parental guidance of children. In fact, I believe that the average child should have considerable guidance and direction from his parents. The point is, however, that it should not be of such a kind that the child is deprived of the opportunity and experience of making some decisions by himself. The need is to provide experiences which challenge the learner progressively to behaviour of a more mature and responsible sort.
(3) We learn what we live. Learning is organized into the nervous system in the form of memory, habits and attitudes, and thus becomes part of our living. How important it is then to provide a good environment for children!
(4) We learn a great deal by example and learn it rather permanently. This is the argument for teachers of high personal worth. Unless we have teach ers of the right sort, the money we spend in providing good buildings and buying equipment may not bring about good educational results. The teacher day by day teaches himself, and what he stands for, by means of his personal example. Many boys and girls in school have the opportunity and need to look up to and copy the subtle personality of a really fine gentleman or lady who is a teacher on the staff. Whatever we wish to see in our children, we must be sure exists in the teachers of our children.
(5) During recent years there has been a tendency to introduce into the schools the teachings of mental health. Psychiatrists are anxious to share their knowledge with those who deal with people. They admit that in the wilderness of the mind there is more unexplored than explored. One of the important questions of the psychiatrists at present is, "Can man's increasing knowledge of his own behaviour save him from destruction?"
Considering the level of the school, the problem is to translate some of the teachings of mental health into action. Children have need of love, reasonable security, and understanding. Hence parents should try to provide a good home life and have a greater knowledge than some possess of the fundamental needs of children. Stable affection is a necessary condition for children's development and growth and the mental hygiene people emphasize the need for pre-school education; education of parents and young adults for family life, a knowledge by parents of their responsibility toward their children, and a careful selection of teachers from the point of view of their emotional development and attitude to and understanding of children. They believe, too, in instructing children in such a way that they will become good world citizens. The best world citizen is defined as being he who obeys the Biblical injunction, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself".
(6) Among the school subjects, Reading is now given a very important place. Obviously, one can not make much progress in school in most subjects unless he can read. Scientists have been investigating lack of reading ability during recent years and have concluded that the ability to read has not a close relationship to intelligence, that many intelligent people are not able to read tolerably well, and that lack of reading ability lies at the root of many cases of psychological maladjustments that trouble present day society. For example, let us think of an earnest, hard working, intelligent man who finds that there is one essential aspect of his business which he cannot learn to understand or carry out successfully. He notices that other young men, apparently no brighter than he, have little difficulty in mastering this part of his work. If he finds himself in this position of frustration year after year, he becomes unhappy and in time he may have serious doubts about his general ability in other aspects of life. Many children in school are in the position of this hypothetical man because they cannot learn to read so well as their fellow pupils of similar age and year after year they are handicapped, not only in the one subject. but in most others as well. The Toronto Board of Education has recently established a Reading Clinic to diagnose reading disabilities and to prescribe remedial measures. In all our schools--public and secondary--we are emphasizing the importance of normal reading ability.

A recent trend in secondary school education is that of providing a better type of education for the girls and boys who leave school at approximately the age of sixteen. It is estimated that, in a, typical city, about 20 percent of adolescent girls and boys can profitably take a thoroughgoing academic course; that another 20 percent can profit from a thorough-going vocational course; this leaves about 60 percent who do not want either of the courses mentioned, but for one reason or another leave school at about the sixteenth birthday and get a job. This group is not composed of misfits, of delinquents, of those who possess low intelligence quotients, nor is it characterized by a low economic status. It is made up of a cross section of youth who will not go to university and who have not as yet chosen an occupation for which they want specific vocational training.

Under present conditions a student at the age of sixteen probably would have completed about two years of a four or five-year course, and he leaves school with a sense of incompleteness. Such students are not good advertisements of our school system. In the United States this group is sometimes referred to as "The Neglected 60%", and courses, sometimes called "Life Adjustment Courses", are being set up to meet their needs. A few years ago, the Educational Policies Commission of the United States of all youth, say that they set down ten imperative educational needs and without reading them in detail, I might refer to such needs as the following

To prepare for work, To be good citizens, To enjoy leisure time, To maintain health,

To participate in community activities, To participate in successful family life,

To think rationally, and to express their thoughts clearly,

To know how to purchase and use goods and services intelligently.

The Life Adjustment Courses are built upon these ten needs of youth and it is intended to devise the courses so that they will have real use value for the student's future occupation or in his life; and he is taught to recognize these values and carry them with him when he leaves school.

The Status of the Teaching Profession in Canada

I have indicated something of the varied abilities and of the high standard we wish on the part of our teachers to attain some of the objectives mentioned. What are the facts about the teaching profession in Canada at present? Recently, under the auspices of the Canadian Education Association, a survey was completed dealing with this topic, and it will be published in the course of the next few months. I shall mention a few of the facts contained in it. I might say that a total of 4,920 questionnaires were distributed to secure the information, and approximately 3,000 of them were completed and returned. Here are some of the facts revealed by the 3,000 answers.

(a) Length of time in the profession
635 students-in-training revealed that 7% intended to stay less than 2 years,
36% less than 5 years,
30% permanently,
23% gave the answer "I do not know".

Of 66,000 persons entering the teaching profession in the last ten years, only 26,500 (40°/0) are in the service today.

(b) The basic preparation of 56,897 Canadian teachers for which data are available is as follows
15% are university graduates,
49% have Senior Matriculation standing, 35% are graduates of Grade XI only.

Regarding training, 78% have received between 6 and 12 months of training; 15% have had less than 6 months of professional training, and 7% have had more than 12 months.

(c) In 1946 the following were the facts regarding the salaries o f Canadian teachers

Approx. 15% rec'd less than $1,000 per annum, Approx. 42% rec'd less than $1,225 per annum, Approx. 65% rec'd less than $1,525 per annum, Only 6% rec'd approx. $3,000 or more. The median salary of all teachers in Canada at that time was $1,306.00.

In 1946-7 the average Canadian wage level was about 707o above the 1939 level; for teachers the corresponding figure was 38%.

(d) In some parts of Canada there are complaints of the following sort regarding teachers

a. There are prohibitions against such recreations as card playing and dancing;
b. Regular church attendance and Sunday School teaching are obligatory;
c. The teacher is required to devote a disproportionate amount of his out-of-school time to community service;
d. Living quarters selected by the teacher must meet with the approval of the school board;
e. The teacher is not free to select companions of his choice.

(e) The average length of experience of Canada's teachers is too short.

Approx. 33% have less than 5 years' service; Approx. 51% have less than 10 years' service; Approx. 65% have less than 15 years service; Only 23% have more than 20 years' service.

The length of service is relatively short; many teachers do not intend to stay long in the profession. Their basic education is that of a high school course, plus some further training. Typical salary is about $150 a month for ten months. There are local restrictions in many places, interfering with normal freedom of conduct.

Is the public satisfied with conditions such as have been revealed? Should we expect the sort of leadership we require from teachers who live and work tinder the conditions described? It is suggested that we need higher requirements for entrance to the teaching profession, better selection of prospective teachers, a longer period of training-in England it is a two-year course and in some parts of the United States the period of training is four years. To bring about these conditions, higher salaries are needed, more adequate pensions, and good living and working conditions.

There is another and very important aspect of education to which I must refer briefly. We like to think of education as an investment in democracy. We like to tell the young that youth has a social heritage to be made his own and a latent power of reflective thought to be developed, and that these two constitute the chief objectives in education. It has been said that the final test of education is the union of knowledge and reason in the integrated personality. But do such statements include all the fundamental purposes of education? Should we not consider the use to which this training will be put? Are our schools to be but the social elevators in a hardening social structure? Youth must not regard education as a sharp and powerful tool to use to crack the bank of opportunity. For some people school education may be nothing more than a sharpening of beak and claw and an arming with deadlier weapons.

It has been said that the test of life is "How much do you care?" Life involves sensitivity to the wants and needs of others. Somehow there must be incorporated into school curricula a basic core of moral experience which will set up codes which will encourage the young to act with moral understanding of themselves and others and make them feel their responsibility to society.

This task is not becoming easier with the increasing complexity of modern life with its specialization. Life for many seems to be fragmentary. At times we seem to be skating around the edge of the real core of life, which, in terms of education, should include some reference to the development of will power, the wise exercise of choice, an appreciation of right and wrong with determination to choose that which seems right, and a recognition of the eternal verities. We need to give increased emphasis to a quality to which the ancient Greeks attached a great deal of importance and which may best be expressed by the word virtue. Indeed, for a definition of education of the sort I am advocating, I go back to Plato and quote from his Laws, "Education is that schooling from boyhood in goodness which inspires the recipient with passionate and ardent desire to become a perfect citizen".

We need to touch the imagination of the young today so that they will realize the value of a quality in living which is sometimes lost and which may be called zest. Can the young be influenced so that they will have a zest for striving to become perfect citizens? Can we channel the enthusiasm and zest of youth toward goodness, toward virtue, so that youth will be inspired (in the words of Plato) "with passionate and ardent desire to become a perfect citizen"? If each of us, as he may have opportunity, will encourage youth toward the end suggested, he will by such action participate in a small way in building Canadian citizenship, and have a share in developing the sort of young people to whom can be safely entrusted the future of our country.