Social Needs and the Curriculum
Further evidence that the curriculum is a living, changing institution is seen in the way in which courses are related to social demands. There was a time in the history of the secondary school and college when the course in Hebrew was regarded as universally desirable for every student of the social group which attended these institutions. That was in the period when the group was of a definitely vocational composition. For example, in the early days of Harvard College 70 per cent of its graduates entered the ministry, and Hebrew was a requirement. The later history of the student body explains why the requirement of Hebrew became obsolete. Two paragraphs from a recent bulletin of the Bureau of Education give some of the facts as follows:
From this it is apparent that those who founded the institution primarily had in mind a theological seminary. The professions of the graduates for the early period bear witness to the fact that this was practically what the institution was. The ministry was the one profession most necessary, most demanded by the society of that time, and this profession more than any other required an advanced education. It is not surprising, therefore, to find this profession dominant during the early years of Harvard’s history. This dominance continues for over a century, and not until the period immediately following the Revolutionary War does any other profession claim so many of the graduates as the ministry.
The curve representing this profession has three distinct tendencies. The first part, extending from 1642, the date of the first graduating class, to 1720, is slightly downward, with rather wide variation. This stretch of 80 years shows a decline from 70 per cent for the first three years, a percentage never again reached, to 60 per cent for the last five-year period. The second tendency is seen in the period of theological unrest, marked off roughly by the years 1720-1775. Here the downward tendency is clearly defined. It shows a decline from 60 per cent to less than 20 per cent. The variations during this period are not so marked. The third tendency extends from the Revolutionary War to the present. This shows a slow, persistent relative decline reaching well below 5 per cent by the end of the nineteenth century. The variations during this period, particularly during the last half, are inconspicuous.[63]