Various Types of Trade Schools
Fourth, there are all kinds of schools for young people in the trades. Some of these hold their sessions at night, when the working day is over, and others are organized to take the young worker out of the shop or store for a limited number of hours during the working day. In the matter of instruction some give only special training intended to make the worker more skillful; others give general courses in civics, or history, or even in literary subjects.
Some of these schools for workers are organized by the corporations which employ the workers. Thus, telephone companies and dry-goods stores find that it is economical to train their employees. Some of the schools are conducted by the school system and are provided with pupils either through the voluntary demand on the part of learners or through the operation of state laws or municipal ordinances compelling children to attend such schools until they are of a certain age.
Fifth, trade training is provided not merely for those in the trades but also for those who are preparing to enter them. Trade schools are sometimes supported out of the public purse, sometimes by private endowments. The method of instruction is that of requiring the learner to go through a definite series of exercises which will give him skill in the trade. The strictly technical training is usually supplemented by some “general” training.
The following quotation gives a brief summary by one specialist in vocational education of the writings of another specialist in the same field:
THE MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL, NEW YORK CITY
This trade school for girls is now a part of the public-school system of New York City. Its early history as a privately supported institution is of absorbing interest, and has been tersely written by Mrs. Mary Schenck Woolman, in her book entitled “The Making of a Trade School.” In this volume she gives an interesting account of the first experiment in the United States to deal in an adequate way with the problem of furnishing vocational training and guidance to children destined to enter industrial life, otherwise wholly unprepared, at the earliest possible age.
The aim of the school is frankly stated to be the giving of help to the youngest wage earners, but its ideals are of considerable breadth. They are to demonstrate to the community what education is needed for “the lowest rank of women workers” in order that a girl may become self-supporting and adaptable, “understand her relation to her employer, to her fellow workers, and to her product,” and value health and moral and intellectual development.
The necessity for this effort was found in the unfortunate social and economic conditions, and especially in the lack of opportunity for progressive work. “After several years spent in the market” the girl was found to be little better off than on her entrance into industrial life.
After investigation, trades were selected in which are used the sewing machine (foot and electric power), the paint brush, paste brush, and needle. In organizing instruction all unnecessary waste was eliminated; short, intensive courses were planned to give knowledge and skill in the technical aspects of the selected trade, and to develop mental alertness on the part of the worker. It has been observed that “the academic dullness which is shown at entrance comes frequently from lack of motive in former studies.” The fundamental importance of health and the value of trade art as a help to progress are given special emphasis.
The supreme value of the school’s trade-order business, as an educational asset, is shown in the following quotation:
It provides the student with adequate experience on classes of material used in the best workrooms; these girls could not purchase such materials and the school could not afford to buy them for practice. The ordinary conditions in both the wholesale and the custom trade are thus made a fundamental part of instruction. Reality of this kind helps the supervisor to judge the product from its trade value, and the teaching from the kind of workers turned out. Through the business relation the student quickly feels the necessity of good finish, rapid work, and responsibility to deliver on time. The businesslike appearance of the shop at work on the orders, and the experience trade has had with the product, have increased the confidence of employers of labor in the ability of the school to train practical workers for the trades.... The business organization and management required in the adequate conduct of a large order department can itself be utilized for educational purposes.
A chapter devoted to representative problems makes an illuminating analysis of the difficulties which must be met and solved by those organizing schools for workers in the lower grades of industry. While the instruction must be direct and specific, some preliminary general training is needed, and work intended to awaken vocational interests should also be provided. Mrs. Woolman believes that all this might and should be given in the public elementary school. Other difficulties are the keeping of the school organization flexible and sensitive to ever-changing trade conditions, and in “close contact with industrial and social organizations of workers in settlements, clubs, societies, and unions, that all phases of the wage earner’s life—pleasures, aims, and needs—may be appreciated.” There is the difficulty of securing suitable teachers, and of working in harmony with the ideals of organized labor.[46]
It provides the student with adequate experience on classes of material used in the best workrooms; these girls could not purchase such materials and the school could not afford to buy them for practice. The ordinary conditions in both the wholesale and the custom trade are thus made a fundamental part of instruction. Reality of this kind helps the supervisor to judge the product from its trade value, and the teaching from the kind of workers turned out. Through the business relation the student quickly feels the necessity of good finish, rapid work, and responsibility to deliver on time. The businesslike appearance of the shop at work on the orders, and the experience trade has had with the product, have increased the confidence of employers of labor in the ability of the school to train practical workers for the trades.... The business organization and management required in the adequate conduct of a large order department can itself be utilized for educational purposes.