CHILD’S GUIDE.
(Courtesy of J. Harold Wickersham.)
Foremost in real importance come the changes in the course of study—in the list of subjects which the well-educated young man may be expected to have mastered. One hundred years ago the average child would have gone to the village school for the three “R’s” with, maybe, a little training in geography and parsing. If a college career was open to him, he would then go to an academy, usually a private institution, for his introduction to the classics, Latin and Greek, and to algebra. While instruction was given in other branches, yet these formed the backbone of the course. The average age of admission to college was considerably less than it is at present. In the ordinary college there was a required course of study, in which Latin, Greek, and higher mathematics played the most conspicuous part. The scientific studies were counted less educative, and were usually rather poorly taught. Literature, history, and philosophy were sometimes included in the college curriculum, and in many ways the course of study was modeled to suit the preferences and abilities of the different teachers. Nowadays this is all changed. In the United States a graded school system has been created, that is, a complete course of study has been worked out, whereby certain studies are specified as suited for each year of the school life. This is not the same for all parts of the country, for the American school system, unlike that in Germany and France, is not national in its organization. The authority over the schools is vested in the individual States, and as a consequence each State shows peculiarities in course of study, in laws, and in methods that make the whole seem chaotic. There is, however, more similarity than would appear at first sight, and while what is asserted in general may not be true of each particular locality, yet certain lines of development may be clearly seen.
The schools of the country may be divided into three groups,—elementary, secondary, and higher. The elementary schools are built in some places upon the kindergarten; they are ordinarily supposed to occupy the first eight or nine years of the child’s school-life, and are classified as primary and grammar schools. During that period the pupil studies a great variety of branches,—language studies, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar; arithmetic, geography, United States history, civil government, nature study, physiology and hygiene, physical culture, vocal music, drawing and manual training in boys’ schools, or sewing and cooking in girls’ schools. Several of these subjects have been introduced only within the last few years. The tendency toward enriching the curriculum is quite manifest to-day; it is based upon the fact that by far the larger part of the pupils never enter the higher schools, since their education is ended with the elementary schools, therefore it is thought desirable to bring some of the higher subjects into the grammar school.
With the completion of this elementary course the pupil passes into the secondary school. Earlier in the century this was ordinarily a private academy, either conducted for profit or by a religious society. In exceptional cases these schools were public; but as the benefits of higher education were recognized more completely, the popularity of these schools increased enormously. Public high schools were opened, and success led to their rapid multiplication, until to-day they form one of the most useful elements in our system, sending forth year by year leaders of thought and moulders of opinion. Their course of study has been the subject of much controversy. The old academy prepared for the college; the new high school prepares for life; consequently there ensued a breach between the high school and the college which only now is being closed. The ordinary high-school course is four years, and includes languages, Latin, French, German, and sometimes Greek and Spanish; mathematics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and sometimes analytical geometry and even astronomy; history, literature, physical geography, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, drawing, and occasionally political economy, ethics, and civics. It will be noticed that subjects formerly taught only in the colleges have been brought into the high-school curriculum. This again is due to the “enriching process,” and is illustrative of the fact that for so many of its students the high school is the crown of their education. The stress laid upon nature study and the physical sciences, and the introduction of modern languages, are among the most significant changes of the century, as indicative of the desire to bring the schools in touch with the conditions of practical life.
From the high school or academy, the student passes to the college or university. Within the last decade an attempt has been made to give a definite pedagogical content to each of these terms. A college is an institution where the liberal arts are studied for purposes of general culture. A university, on the other hand, prepares a man for one definite line of work, either professional or technical. Both confer degrees upon those who have successfully completed their courses, but those of the university (Ph. D., A. M., M. D., etc.) are of a higher type than those of the college (A. B., Ph. B.). There were twenty-four colleges in the United States in 1800. The six oldest were: Harvard, established in 1687; William and Mary, 1693; Yale, 1701; Princeton, 1746; University of Pennsylvania, 1749; Columbia, 1754.
In 1896 there were 472 colleges and universities in the United States, representing most of the States and Territories in the Union. Many of these are entirely public, being supported by State appropriations; some receive State aid; others were originally founded by private endowment, but have become public in their management; some are entirely private in both endowment and control. Most are non-sectarian, but many require worship in accordance with the services of some denomination. In general, all recognize their lofty function in society and are anxious to discharge it properly. Originally aristocratic in many ways,—prior to the Revolution some colleges classifying their students in the catalogue according to the social rank of their families,—they have become among the most popular institutions in the educational world, largely because of the high worth of their graduates.
Universities, in the scientific sense of the term, did not exist prior to 1800, except in the few medical and law schools and theological seminaries. The American conception of the university has been very largely moulded by the experience of Germany. The college does not exist as a degree-conferring institution in Germany, but its place is taken very largely by the Gymnasium. The German system comprises three grades of schools: 1. Volkschulen (primary schools), where the elementary instruction is given. 2. Gymnasia and Real-Schulen (secondary schools), which provide a nine years’ course for the pupil, usually covering the period from ten to nineteen years. The aim of the first is to prepare for the university, while the Real-Schulen fit their students for the ordinary business callings of life. 3. Universities, in which the studies are arranged in four faculties; theology, law, medicine, and philosophy. On account of the thoroughness of the German teaching, many American students have gone to Germany for their university course. A sincere effort has been made in America to develop universities according to the German concept, with its detailed study of particular topics based on a thorough general education. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, opened in 1876, has done most along these lines.
During the century a determined and successful effort has been made to break down the old-fashioned college curriculum, with its absolute and unvarying requirements from every student. Harvard University, under the leadership of its brilliant executives, Thomas Hill and especially Charles W. Eliot, has led the way by providing a series of elective courses from which the student might select a sufficient number to make up his roster. This has given scope to the exercise of a freedom of choice that has been most wholesome in its effects upon both the scholar and university. It has led to the neglect of the poor courses and to the encouragement of the good ones; and it has promoted individuality in the different students to a marked degree. The success of the elective system, and the development of post-graduate courses in the university, taken in connection with the very great interest in all the phases of higher education, constitute the chief lines of advance during the century.
It is evident, then, that the student of to-day has a tremendous advantage over his fellow of one hundred years ago in the subjects which he may study. The courses have been enriched, instruction has been systematized, new subjects, more closely allied with popular needs, have been developed. But a gain which transcends in importance even these alterations in the curriculum, is that which has come through the teacher.