Other evidences that the curriculum is in need of radical reform appear when one notes that schools are curiously blind in the subjects which they omit. A recent writer has pointed out in a very interesting way the weakness of the ordinary school in its failure to give children any training in the use of money. A quotation from his introductory chapter will show the force of his criticism.
Most people if suddenly asked, “What financial training did you have as a child?” would probably say, “None.” If asked, “What financial training are you giving your own children?” many parents would give the same answer. All parents, however, do incidentally give lessons in finance and a few give definite instruction with regard to money.
The teacher, if thus questioned, would usually say something about arithmetic or perhaps refer to some system of money-saving that is being operated by the school. Much has really been done that educates children financially, but probably not one person in ten has ever seriously studied the problem of the need of financial training of children and of how that need at each age may best be met.
A moment’s reflection tells one that many adults do not know how to spend their money wisely and that still fewer know how to keep it safely or invest it successfully. Every day we see people spending money in ways that bring little satisfaction. Others are tortured by the fear of losing what they have, while still others are investing in schemes that promise much and yield little or nothing.
Charity workers are especially impressed with the inability of poor people to spend wisely the little money they get. One woman whose family was in a starving condition spent all of the dollar that was given her for canned lobster, and another in a similar situation had a picture taken.
Rich sons and daughters often spend the money accumulated by their fathers in even more foolish ways. In general it is only the common people who have had much experience in saving and spending money, who spend it wisely and many of these have paid a high price for their knowledge. If carefully planned financial training were given, the number spending wisely would doubtless be greatly increased.[41]
Present-Day Social Demands
Other suggestions are being made these days for a change in the course of study. Sometimes the suggestions take the form of social movements. Such social movements often come in the form of violent criticisms of existing practices. These criticisms will be understood only when it is recognized that back of them there is often a social pressure which has not been understood and is now finding voice in a demand that requires immediate attention. It will be well for us to seek some examples of this type in order that we may come to understand that the school system is answerable at all times not merely to earlier social ideals which were incorporated into courses of study but also to the new ideals which arise with the later developments of community life.
An example of the type we are seeking appears in a study which was made in 1913 in the city of Minneapolis. The following extracts from an article published on March 10 in the Morning Tribune of that city state the case fully:
A year ago a group of men and women interested in the welfare of boys and girls, and somewhat acquainted with conditions that confront them upon their entrance into industrial life, decided that it was time to make a survey of the city. There had been much talk of training for the trades in the public schools, and apparently there was reasonable ground for this advocacy....
Was there a real demand, or was this a new educational fad sweeping across the country, to be lost in the great abyss of educational nostrums, along with vertical writing and basketry? That was to be determined.
Educators are usually learned men; but this world generally does not ascribe to them an abundance of sound sense. These learned men have charge of the greatest plant in the world—our schools. A half million employees are at work at an annual expense to the nation of $450,000,000. The product of this institution should be manhood and womanhood, efficient to take its place in the world of workers, and firmly established in habits of right thinking and noble action. Yet who is accounted efficient for the work of to-day?
Certainly not the armorer, no matter how skilled—for what need have we of him? Possibly not the bootmaker; for the best and latest in boots come from big factories. And so rapidly do industries change that confusion awaits the man still using methods of ten years ago. No system of education can be efficient until the conditions of life to which pupils go are thoroughly known. No manufacturer would think of setting his machines to make “what-nots” or muzzle-loading guns; they were all right in their day but that day is now yesterday. The first thing for the man of business is to know what the market demands. And the managers of the schools must explore their market to know what is demanded of the education factory. That is the reason for this survey.
The commission was made up of persons well known in the city and representative of differing interests....
Ten months were spent in gathering the information, and a month in studying it and getting it into shape for presentation. The tables have been arranged in the following order: First, a set of three tables, showing the sources of the material studied, by school, by age, by grade, and by nationality, and the causes of retardation; second, a table showing upon whom the responsibility should be placed for the child’s leaving school; third, four tables setting forth the reasons for leaving school, and the economic status of the family; fourth, a table indicating the education of the children after leaving the public school; and fifth, five tables showing the industrial history of each child, his wages, the number of jobs, the kind of work, and his advancement.