providing physical means-the plant, buildings, equipment, tools, apparatus, etc., for carrying on the work. It was also suggested that continuation and part-time schools are necessary to improve the status of those already in industry, and that to be effective there must be utmost cooperation between employers and the schools; that the way to handle the problems of poverty, etc., now met by issuing work permits to school children, is not by permitting these children to work but by giving the mothers a regular income from the State; that parents, employers, and labor organizations should cooperate with one another in securing for the apprentice the education and training that will fit him for his occupation in life, and to make the apprenticeship system a success cooperation between the shop and the school is absolutely necessary; and that vocational education is offering a great opportunity for the Negro to develop into a more productive workman and thus meet the demands of industry. Addresses at the banquet were made by Chas. A. Prosser, director of the Dunwoody Institute, Minneapolis, Minn., who traced the history of the vocational education movement and spoke of its future possibilities, and by Clarence H. Howard, Commonwealth Steel Co., St. Louis, who emphasized the value of fellowship in the handling of workmen. As yet there appears to be little that is substantial in the way of vocational education for children from 14 to 17 years of age, most of whom drop out of school during this period. The importance of such provision was emphasized in an address setting forth some suggestions for the vocational education of these children, the point being made that even partial vocational training at this time of life is infinitely better than none, and that specialized, intensive, shortunit, all-day courses for the specialized callings adapted to the early juvenile, the early adult and the late adult periods of life, are extremely important, at least until legislation providing for compulsory continuation school attendance is available. The necessity of adapting industrial schools to different types of community, and of obtaining data on the marrying age of women, the number of women in industry who have children, the length of time that the women remain in industry before marriage, and the age at which they come back into industry, was brought out as furnishing a basis for arranging courses of vocational study. What employers have a right to expect of training course graduates was suggested in two addresses: this includes "skill such as needed in their workrooms without fussy exactness; workers who can adapt themselves to workroom needs and conditions, who are willing to do what is asked of them, and who will stick to the job; such qualities as loyalty to the house, attention to orders, interest in their work, knowledge of the work to be done, courtesy, and activity and initiative. The continuation school, it was suggested, may be the place for the development of all of these qualities, for it affords training first in citizenship and second in the various callings, this trade training being classified as (1) that which aims to assist in the choice of a calling (prevocational training and vocational guidance), that which aims to give a preparation for entrance upon a chosen calling (trade preparatory training), and training in a calling after choice has been made and participation in that calling has begun (trade extension training). In this connection the following recommendations were submitted: 1. That State-wide compulsory continuation schools should be provided for all employed minors of 14 to at least 16 years of age; four hours a week. 2. That the best results will be secured from compulsory continuation schools when the opportunity for attendance is continuous throughout the school year, or for at least 48 weeks. 3. That minors 14 to 16 years of age who have left the regular public schools and are temporarily out of employment, should be required to attend the compulsory continuation schools for the full session each day during their unemployment. 4. That municipalities having a population of 50,000 or more should be required to maintain the three types of schools * * * [general education, prevocational education (for choice of calling), and vocational education (for training in the chosen calling)], and that all other municipalities should be permitted to maintain these three types of schools. 5. That municipalities having a population of less than 50,000 and having not less than 50 unemployed minors 14 to 16 years of age should be required to maintain general continuation schools. The suggestion was made that evening trade courses should cover from 5 to 50 lessons for the man who wants a definite course, gets it and then quits, and from two to four years for the man who is willing to spend several years in preparation for the job higher up; that two evenings a week and two hours an evening are sufficient; that registration should be started several weeks before the opening of school; and that a certificate or diploma should be given to those successfully completing the course. Two addresses emphasized efficiency factors in industrial training, one suggesting technical knowledge, skill, industrial intelligence, and a ready and easy adaptation to environment; the other noting factors of organization which must precede the opening of the proposed school, including physical and economic conditions in the industry and teaching considerations, and factors of operation or conduct of the school, including suitable equipment, competent teachers, the proper adjustment of the pupil's time between the workshop and other departments of the school, and sound business and pedagogical policies with administrative liberty to carry out these policies Discussion of the question of training teachers for vocational schools brought out the fact that three distinct groups are now recognized-trade, technical, and academic teachers-who should be trained primarily for the work in which they are to engage. This may be accomplished through a short summer course, a winter's evening course, a course on Saturdays during the school year, all of these being correlated to form a cumulative extension plan supplemented by practice and experience. The importance of keeping the shop instructor in touch with trade conditions and developments was suggested, this being done by having him and his class visit and work in the commercial shop or having the commercial shop and its workers come to the school. A feature of the Indianapolis meeting was the conference on vocational home making, at which the problem of the trained servant in the household was presented, followed by a summary of the study of housekeeping in the Indiana survey. In trying to meet this problem the difficulty appears to be that the public does not recognize the trained servant as an industry and a trade to which should be applied the same tests as are applied to other industrial pursuits. The employer must see that this occupation "is not a private, personal, or family affair," but that "it is a social and community affair, and for that reason only the social and community standards must be applied to it." The Indiana survey developed the fact that "housewives are giving intelligent thought to this subject and that the traditional attitude between employer and employee is being transformed to more acceptable relations." Prevocational education was given considerable attention, with particular reference to those children who leave the elementary schools between 12 and 14 years of age and who do not attend high school; courses of study were outlined. It was noted that these schools aim" to restore confidence to the retarded, the discouraged, the nonconformist, the pupil born short; to give a round of industrial experiences that will aid the pupil in selecting a vocation; to hold pupils in school who have lost interest." The opinion was expressed that the junior high school meets the requirements covered by the prevocational school "except the influence of the older pupils and the flexibility of courses," and that "the continuation school, except for youth over 16 years, is a makeshift that will disappear when our compulsory-education laws are made to apply to all minors under 16 years of age. It attempts to repair the defects of the regular school" and if these were repaired by the regular school itself, "the continuation school for boys over 16 would become a school for industrial specialization, a very valuable addition to our school * * Taking up the question of the place of the senior high school it was pointed out that it "must be reorganized upon a curriculum basis instead of subject or subject-department basis," offering, in cities of 100,000 or more population, "a curriculum for service in industry for boys, a curriculum for service in business for boys and girls, a curriculum for service in women-employing occupations for girls, a curriculum with wide options for boys and girls with undefined aims." Brief statements were made of how certain communities are preparing women and girls to meet the vocational opportunities offered them in industry, through all-day trade schools, all-day vocational household arts schools, evening schools and trade extension courses, evening schools and vocational household arts classes, and through the instrumentality of the women of the community, especially teachers and club women. In conjunction with the tenth annual meeting of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, a conference of employment managers was held on February 21, the evening meeting being devoted to the subject of new phases of the labor problem in industrial organizations, and the evening meeting to labor turnover as a problem of the employment department. The papers presented at this conference were noted in the April, 1917, issue of the MONTHLY REVIEW (pp. 574–581). VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SURVEY OF RICHMOND, IND. The Indiana Legislature in February, 1916, passed a vocational education law devised to stimulate vocational education by granting State aid to all communities which would organize and conduct vocational departments and schools offering instruction in elementary agriculture, domestic science, and industrial arts. To render this instruction effective and to provide for its development, the State survey committee conducted a vocational education survey of a number of communities, including Indianapolis, Evansville, and Jefferson County. In carrying on this work the efforts of the committee were directed principally "to those industries in which it seemed probable that the development of the industry and the advancement of workers in the industry was prevented or made difficult by a lack of knowledge or of training on the part of the worker; and to those industries and occupations in which shop training and experience were necessarily under any conditions inadequate as means of developing complete efficiency." The Richmond survey was made during 1916 cooperatively by the Indiana University, the board of education and Commercial Club of Richmond, and the State board of education, the aim being, in 1 The results of these surveys were noted in the MONTHLY REVIEW for March, 1917, common with the other surveys, to ascertain from a study of the industries of the community the facts which would be needed to outline an efficient and economic program of vocational training for that community, and to ascertain from a study of the work being done in the schools how far the vocational needs of the community were already being met by existing agencies. Having ascertained the facts, the immediate purpose of the survey, as suggested in the report recently issued,' was (1) to suggest a program for vocational education (as defined in the Indiana law) for all-day, part-time, and evening schools for Richmond; (2) to suggest provisions which should be made in the reorganized junior high school for vocational preparatory and vocational education for industry, commerce, agriculture, and household arts; and (3) to devise a program for industrial, fine, and household arts for the elementary schools. It appears from the report that Richmond is a manufacturing city of approximately 25,000 people, over 70 per cent of whom (in 1910) were native whites of native parents; with a low per cent of illiteracy (1.4 per cent in 1910); and offering employment in shops and factories to over two-thirds of its working population. Its industries "are the most important economic factor in the life of the city." The report states that in 1914 there were 118 manufacturing establishments giving employment to 4,238 workers who received $2,316,000 in wages. In the analysis of 23 industries, employing 4,815 workers (4,010 males and 805 females), representing 250 distinct trades, 145 of which were studied in detail, several facts that are brought out may be noted: 1. A great majority of workers are native born, only 34 out of 457 being foreign born. 2. There is a tendency for workers to enter the industries listed at a later age and to remain in them for a longer time than in other cities. 3. One-half of the 377 workers reporting attended the Richmond schools and one-half attended schools elsewhere, and more of those who attended schools elsewhere than of those who attended the Richmond schools completed the elementary school as well as the high school. 4. About one-third of 413 workers reporting on age at time of leaving school left under the age of 15, "indicating that the ma 1 Indiana. State Board of Education: Educational Bulletin No. 18, Indiana Survey series No. 3. Report of the Richmond, Ind., survey for vocational education. Indianapolis, Dec. 1, 1916. 599 pp. Illustrated. * These figures do not include the hand trades, the building trades, neighborhood industries, or other types of production not actually carried on under the factory system. a These Industries are: Automobile; wire fence; lawn mower; agricultural implement; railroad repairing, machine tool manufacturing, and other metal industries; musical instrument, casket, and furniture industries; job and newspaper printing; building construction; underwear, glove, and workingmen's wear industries; ladies' tailoring, dressmaking and general sewing; dry cleaning, dyeing, and hat cleaning; laundry. |