Copy 1 nil < I!) i!ilt< I I mm } Class l ^ Cf^fe ^ Book _JZ TO COPYRIGHT DEPOSre MORAL EDUCATION AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION BY WILLIAM T. WHITNEY, Pd.D., Ph.D. SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PORT CHESTER, NEW YORK LEROY PHILLIPS BOSTON COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY WILLIAM T. WHITNEY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NOV -8 1915 ©CI.A416312 PREFACE The Federal and State Constitutions forbid that in- struction in rehgion shall be given in the public schools. They permit, however, moral instruction. The moral instruction allov^ed in the schools may be given as courses in ethics or moral training, and ethical judg- ments may be formed from the study of the several subjects contained in the school curriculum. It is also believed that moral training is received as a result of the habits formed in foUov^ing the prescribed school life and its v^ork. It is acknov^ledged, hov^ever, that such training and instruction is incidental, and like the incidental method of teaching spelling, the results secured are not sat- isfactory. Morality in its practical sense is the con- duct of the individual in society. Moral instruction and moral training, therefore, must be social and must be rooted in the social instincts if right motives and right conduct result. The emphasis must be placed upon the ideal and the idea of service. There are two distinct phases of moral education — moral training and moral instruction. Moral train- ing is the more important in the early life of the in- dividual. Moral instruction should create right ideals, provoke the right attitude, and result in habits of right action through opportunity given by the organi- zation of the school and the recitation to provide that [iii] MORAL EDUCATION call for the right response. The school must also co- operate with every community agency and movement for social betterment. If it does not cooperate with the home and the community life, its work for build- ing character will go for naught. The work in moral training and instruction in the schools is generally recognized as inadequate. This is due to the fact that the present generation of parents are themselves somewhat struck with a moral poverty that limits the home in this important work. Too often the home has not received the proper reli- gious and moral training that it should have. The major part of the burden seems to fall to-day upon the pubHc school, and if the public school is to measure to the responsibility thus thrust upon it, it must do something more than use the incidental method which allows the work of the school and the curric- ulum to stand for moral instruction and moral train- ing. It must provide for a definite period in which instruction is given. It must reorganize its recitation in order to admit of moral training. It must be care- ful to supplement the teachings of the home and the church, and in no way undermine their influence and authority. If character is the supreme goal of teaching, of in- struction, and of training, the school must organize its forces and its material to meet this idea. That char- acter is the ideal of teaching, of training, and of edu- cation has long been recognized. Daniel Webster stated in his oration on the first settlement of New England : " Our ancestors founded their government [iv] PREFACE on morality and religious sentiment. They were brought hither by their high veneration of the Chris- tian religion. They journeyed by its light and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate it with the elements of their society, and to diffuse its influences through all their institutions, civil, political, social, and educational." Benjamin Franklin, in his address to President Washington in the Convention which framed our national constitution, used these words : " I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the more convinc- ing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ' except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His con- curring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel." Washington, in his farewell address, recorded his purest patriotism, his ripest judgment, and his deepest convictions, and emphasized his tenderest concern for the nation's welfare, when he said: "Of all disposi- tions and habits which lead to political prosperity, re- ligion and morality are indispensable supports. Rea- son and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles." Lincoln, in many of his utterances, expresses the same convictions. All right thinking people to-day are concerned in having these convictions clear and strong and permanently fixed in the life of the people of the [v] MORAL EDUCATION land, and embodied in the instruction and training given the young in the greatest pubHc institution — the public school. With these thoughts in mind an attempt was made to determine, if possible, the relation existing between moral and religious instruction and training and actual every-day conduct on the part of boys and girls re- ceiving such instruction and attending the public schools. An experimental investigation was made. Si^ hundred boys and six hundred girls were care- fully studied for a period of five years. The work was interesting, but long and laborious. If moral in- struction influences conduct, what is its effect? How is it shown? Is the daily life affected by such training? This investigation attempts to answer in a quantitative way all such questions. WILLIAM T. WHITNEY [vi] CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Demand for Moral Education .... i 11. An Investigation 5 III. The Home 36 IV. The Method 41 V. The Teacher and Moral Instruction ... 48 VI. The Physical Life 54 VII. Manners and Morals 59 VIII. The Recitation as a Medium for Moral In- struction 63 IX. Religion and Morality jj X. The Content of Moral Education .... 86 XL What Public Schools Have Done .... 98 INDEX . . . . ' 105 Vll I MORAL EDUCATION CHAPTER I THE DEMAND FOR MORAL EDUCATION Demand for Moral Education. " The question of moral education is the heart of the modern educational problem." This statement has been made by prac- tically every sound teacher and thinker who has had the welfare of humanity at heart. The demand for moral training and instruction in the public schools is becoming more determined and persistent. The im- portance of moral training has long been recognized. Its value for the individual and society is receiving the attention that it deserves. The fact that the present generation is struck to a greater or less degree with moral poverty has directed serious thought and ef- fort to provide ways a:nd means to remedy this serious defect in the education of the youth of our land. Character Comes First. Character should occupy the first place and receive first consideration in all training and education of the young. The physical body should receive, if we must place them in the order of their importance, the second consideration, while book-learning should come last. In the scheme, then of values, character and the moral life come first. [i] MORAL EDUCATION Necessity of Provision for Moral Instruction. Mor- ality is the foundation of social life. Society cannot long exist without truth, honor, integrity, and jus- tice. In spite of the fact that moral education should receive the first place and consideration in all training of the young, nevertheless, it is difficult to find pro- vision made for thorough and careful moral instruc- tion. Here and there an attempt has been made to give definite and systematic moral training, but as a usual thing little or no consideration is given the mat- ter in public or private schools, and in the home the matter stands about the same. Moral training in the homes, for the most part, consists of reprimands or neglect. Morality and Religion. Because of the fact that morality and religion are intimately connected, the problem of instruction is complex. Educational leg- islation everywhere in the United States prohibits re- ligious instruction in the public schools. This has, therefore, had its effect upon the moral problem. Schools have avoided the problem and have felt that the intellect and its training were the problems of im- portance. Provision not yet Made. It is no longer neces- sary to create a demand for more instruction, and from careful investigation, it is found that moral les- sons are given in many classrooms. The instruction so given, however, is more or less incidental, discon- nected and discontinued, at will, or pleasure. No at- tempt has been made in this country to work out a graded system of moral instruction such as has been [2] THE DEMAND FOR MORAL EDUCATION introduced into the school systems of France, Germany, and Japan. The demand is here. The need recognized and the importance of the subject appreciated. Pro- vision is not made. We are still waiting for a prac- tical solution of the problem. Material Success Opposed to the Virtues. Material success has brought about in American life a change in the standard of living. Commercial supremacy and the pursuit of wealth has created a demand for train- ing that enables the individual to compete with his neighbor and countryman in amassing wealth and se- curing the things luxurious. The mind and heart of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have been set on worldly possessions rather than on the ideals of char- acter and virtue. The scramble goes on. Many of the ideals and much of the virtue of our forefathers no longer obtain. On the part of the rising generation there is a tendency to disregard law, order, and author- ity. There is a lack of respect for parents, for age, and for wisdom. There is a weakness shown in following pleasure rather than acknowledging obligation and duty. It is quite the thing to do that which interests, and neglect the things which call for responsibility and industry. Universal Demand for Moral Education. The de- mand for moral education is not confined to our own land. All civilized countries not only recognize and demand it, but have made provision for it. Definite, systematic, and graded instruction is provided for and is made an integral part of the curriculum of every elementary school. The trend, then, of public senti- [3] MORAL EDUCATION ment is in the direction of improved and systematic moral education. The demand to-day is for better things and for that which is of permanent value and far reaching influence on the life of the individual. This demand is made, not only in the interests of society, but because of the recognized worth of the in- dividual. It has clearly been proven, time and again, that unless the individual members composing society are of moral worth and dependable, society cannot en- dure. To that end the individual is entitled to a more complete education. He is entitled to his moral and religious training and instruction. Society, as it is ordered to-day, is but temporary if its members fail to recognize a moral order. The growth of social and humanitarian ideas is such that the intellect is no longer regarded as the sole instrument for the great ends of human life. The moral personality has become a vital problem, at least, in American life. And, while the ground trembles with warring factions, the higher moral life still controls in America. Interesting ex- periments in moral education have been and are being tried in seven of the more progressive countries of Europe. The drift and tendency, then, of modern edu- cation, is the recognition of the moral problem in its re- lation to the individual and society as the vital problem for home, school, and society. [4] CHAPTER II AN INVESTIGATION Moral Problem a Public School Problem. While the problem of moral education is an old one — old, in- deed, as the oldest civilization, still it has not been a problem for the school. Church and community have assumed the burden and obligation in the past. The modern social tendency is to look to established insti- tutions for the solution of the problem of social and civic progress. If there is not an established institution deemed capable of handling a given problem, one is created. The present tendency and discussion of the moral problem emphasizes the fact that the public school and home assume the particular form which the ethical and moral problem takes to-day. The school is to mold moral character as well as develop and train the mental processes. Society Responsible for Its Members. Rapid devel- opment of national and natural resources have pro- duced a change in the thinking and living of the American. With the increase in numbers and the com- plexity involved in living with a rapidly increasing population, the duties and occupations of the people become multiplied and varied. Life is no longer sim- ple but very complex and he who lives the simple life [5] MORAL EDUCATION must of necessity lead a very complex one. The in- dividual members of society are forcing upon society the duties and responsibilities of its individual mem- bers. Institutions have been created for the purpose of remedying the weakness found in the individual mem- bers of society. These institutions are to provide for the defects found in human nature and in human life. The moral weakness of man is apparent, and this weakness seems to be a tendency to break away from the solid and enduring satisfactions of life and to seek wealth as the means of satisfying the love of pleasure and desire for luxury. Public School in Relation to Morals. Society has deemed it, therefore, necessary to rivet the attention upon moral problems as the offset to meet the tempta- tions that beset men in the social and business life, which men do not seem to be able to resist in the swift and complex changing conditions. The church and the home seem to be weak in dealing with the problems of changing civilization. Society has, therefore, turned to the school as one of its established institu- tions for meeting the phases of the moral problems as they present themselves and develop in our progressive civilization. It, in fact, has deemed the pubHc school as the most important and necessary factor in the solu- tion of the great problem. Wealth versus Aim of Education. Modern life has a feverish haste to accumulate wealth. The youth of our land are impressed with the importance of wealth and its effect. The names they are most familiar with are the masters of wealth. Wealth brings leisure, lux- [6] AN INVESTIGATION uries, and pleasure. The modern home demands the pleasures and luxuries which are a constant drain upon the energies of the family to provide and which leave no room for the graces of soul and mind. These condi- tions have taken precedence of those homely virtues of honesty, industry, integrity, faithfulness, reliability, and responsibility in labor and in life. The wealth of the world is human. It does not consist in its resources of forest and soil, nor does it lie in its mines of pre- cious metals. The world grows rich as the world grows humane. The end and aim of education is an intelligent, sympathetic humanity, honest and reliable, beautiful physically, and beautiful spiritually in the graces of mind and heart. A humanity '' Who passing through the valley of Baca, make it a well." Three Classes of Moral Thinkers. There have been at least three classes of thinkers and laborers who have attempted to solve the moral problem so far as the school was concerned. There has been much more haste than thought in this matter. Many honest and conscientious teachers and laborers have felt the great need for the solution of the moral problem, but they have not agreed upon the manner or method of attack. There has been a distinct separation of the moral and ethical problem. ( i ) There have been those who be- lieved that there should be direct and systematic train- ing in the school such as the French Government has imposed upon its school system. The followers of this system believe that morals and manners, ethics and conduct are to be taught in much the same way as we would teach the facts of subject matter of the various [7] MORAL EDUCATION subjects of the school curriculum. This might be termed the direct method. (2) Then there are those who adhere to the doctrine that all moral worth and value is to be learned indirectly ; that true worth cannot be secured by a direct system of attack; that we must maintain a high moral tone in our effort and endeavor and that the moral value comes through the various forms of social activities of school life. They believe that we should reform our school curriculum and estab- lish such centers of work as will bring into play the moral possibilities and capabilities of the pupil. Secure interest on the part of the pupil in some good work and endeavor to lead them out into the fullness of their being, such that honesty, integrity, and responsibility and the other moral virtues are developed indirectly as the pupils apply themselves to some direct problem. (3) The third class of thinkers believe that there should be a combination of the direct and indirect methods. They believe that there should be direct ethi- cal teaching to enrich the pupil's human relations and give a moral significance to those various activities in the performance of his daily duties, as they exist in the schoolroom. It is apparent that all three classes of thinkers and teachers have assumed that the school, both public and private, should take upon itself the duties and obligations, to a greater or less degree, of the home. Home Functions Usurped by Society. The home is fast losing its importance and value in this respect. Its functions are usurped with the consent of the parents by society and its organizations. They seem- [8] AN INVESTIGATION ingly have forgotten that society is only the field in which man may labor, with the home as the temple of love and " love worketh all manner of good deeds." They have assumed also that there is direct relation between ethical and moral instruction and conduct ; that moral and religious conditions have a direct rela- tion and bearing upon action and deportment; that moral and religious home training will of necessity produce the reliable, honest, and faithful worker. This seems to have been assumed at all times. The contro- versy has only taken up the qualitative side. It has not attempted to prove scientifically that there is a direct relation between moral instruction and conduct. If there has been an exception to such an assumption, it has been placed upon the ground that there are some who have fallen when the vast majority have profited by religious and moral instruction. This may be the case, but it has not been proven scientifically and actu- ally demonstrated that there is a direct relation. Investigation of the Moral Problem. Several years ago this question of the scientific investigation of the moral problem, was undertaken by the author. It has consumed five years of labor. Six hundred boys and sLv hundred girls were taken as the basis for the investigation. Their home life, their religious and moral training, their deportment in school, their schol- arship and all that pertains to home training and to- the training received in the public and secular institu- tions was carefully observed and examined. These pupils were watched and observed carefully through four years of school life. No judgment was rendered [9] MORAL EDUCATION until the pupil's environment and training were known, and no fact was recorded until thoroughly investigated. I. Method Material Used. The material upon which this study is based was obtained from a careful study of the home and school life of six hundred boys and six hun- dred girls in the elementary grades beginning with the last year of the primary school and including the eighth year of the grammar school. The home life was studied from two points of view : the character and influence of the home training and the religious instruction as expressed by the home. This informa- tion was obtained by visiting the homes and coming in direct contact with the home life of the pupils, as well as from the church and Sunday School records. The object of the investigation and experiment was to as- certain the relation, if any, between (i) religious training and deportment, (2) home training and de- portment, and (3) the effect of deportment upon the scholarship. Undoubtedly errors have crept in, in de- termining the pupils' deportment, the character of the home training, and the amount of religious instruction. It is believed, however, that the errors have not been large or so numerous as to affect the method or general results. Deportment — How Determined. The deportment of each pupil was determined in the following manner : a list of factors was selected, such factors being as nearly as could be determined those elements that con- stitute or stand for those fundamental habits which [10] AN INVESTIGATION form so large a part of moral and social life. The fac- tors used were (i) truthfulness, (2) honesty, (3) in- dustry, (4) perseverance, (5) serviceableness, (6) respect for authority, (7) respect for rights of others and for property, (8) cleanliness, (9) economy, (10) promptness and obedience. Judgment — How Formed. Judgment in deport- ment was rendered after the boy or girl had been ob- served and studied for a period of not less than six months. This decision was then confirmed or rejected after careful investigation and observation for the remaining period of the pupils' elementary school life. In short, each pupil was known so far as one individual can be known by another. Religious Influence. The religious influence was classified as follows : (a) Excellent ; when both par- ents and children held church membership, and the children attended regularly the Sunday School and re- ligious services, (b) Good; when either the father or mother and the children held church membership and the children attended regularly the Sunday School and religious services, (c) Fair; when the children did or did not hold church membership and attended irregu- larly the Sunday School, (d) Poor; when neither parents nor children held church membership and the children did not attend the Sunday School or religious services. Home Training. Home training was classified as Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor. The factors used in making this classification were the same as those em- ployed in determining conduct or deportment. [II] MORAL EDUCATION Collated Results. The collated results of the several series are exhibited in Tables I to X, and in Figures I to X. In Tables I, II, IV, V, VII, and VIII, the boys and girls have been treated separately that sex differences might be studied. In other tables the results have been collated for the entire number of pupils in- volved, irrespective of sex. Three correlations were made: Deportment and Religious Training; Deport- ment and Home Training; Deportment and Scholar- ship. One hundred and twenty pupils were considered in each of the five grades involved. Results — How Arranged. A brief reference to Table I will serve to indicate the significance of the arrangement of all the tables. The vertical columns represent the classification for religious training: Ex- cellent, Good, Fair, and Poor respectively from left to right. The horizontal sections represent the classifica- tion for deportment: Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor respectively from top tO' bottom. These in turn are divided into five parts, each part representing a grade, from the fourth to the eighth inclusive. The method of recording the results of the investigation is as fol- lows: the pupil's deportment and religious training is determined and a mark made in the proper section and grade registers this fact. For example : a pupil's deportment is marked excellent; his religious training has been excellent ; his grade is seven. A mark is made in Grade 7, Section E 91-100. If his deportment is ex- cellent and his religious training poor and his grade be seven, a mark is then made in section E 41-70, Grade 7. All pupils are recorded in this manner. The tables for [12] AN INVESTIGATION the other correlations are made after the same method. See Plates I to IX. Method of Graphic Representation. A brief refer- ence to Figure I will explain the method of graphically representing the results of the different correlations. The classification of the religious training is laid off in the axis of abscissas and the per cent of the number of boys on the axis of ordinates. The curves show the movement of the deportment of the boys through the degrees of religious instruction. The same method is followed in plotting the curves for Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Figures 3, 6, and 9 show the curves for the 1200 pupils irrespective of sex. Per Cent — How Obtained. The method of obtain- ing the per cent which determined the curves was as follows: the total number of pupils falling under any one classification is used as the denominator of four fractions whose numerators are the number of pupils falling within the respective divisions of that classifica- tion. To illustrate : 205 boys are marked excellent in deportment — 86 of them have had excellent religious training. Eighty-six is 42 per cent of the total number of boys marked excellent in deportment. The same procedure is followed in determining the direction of the curves of all the figures. II. Results Table I shows the results for boys of the correlation of deportment and religious training. There were in- volved 600 boys from the fourth to the ninth grades. The table may be summarized as follows : 205 are [ 13 ] MORAL EDUCATION marked excellent in deportment. Of this number 86 have had excellent religious training, 83 good, 22 fair, 14 poor. Two hundred and sixteen are judged good in deportment. Of this number 84 have had excellent religious training, 84 good, 32 fair, 16 poor. One hun- dred and fifteen fair in deportment; 21 of this number have had excellent religious training, 48 good, 33 fair, and 21 poor. Sixty- four are poor in deportment, 4 have had excellent religious training, 8 good, 21 fair and 31 no religious training. A glance at the table shows a striking characteristic of this grouping of pupils. If a line were drawn diagonally from the upper left hand corner to the lower right hand corner of the parallelogram it will be noticed that the pupils group themselves about this diagonal as an axis with the larger groupings at either end. This characteristic is noticeable in all the tables. Table II shows the results for girls, which may be summarized in the same way as Table I. A compari- son of the two tables shows for the various grades a slight increase in number of girls over boys who have received excellent or good religious training and are marked excellent or good in deportment. Quite a per- ceptible decrease is noticeable in the number of girls who are marked fair or poor in deportment. One hun- dred and fifteen boys fair as opposed to 59 girls; 64 boys poor as opposed to 41 girls. The same results are noticeable in all the tables. Table IV shows the result of the correlation of deportment and home train- ing. A comparison of Tables IV and V shows for the same grades and numbers an increase of girls over [14] AN INVESTIGATION boys in the higher standards of deportment and home training and a perceptible decrease in the lower stand- ard. Six per cent of the girls are poor in deportment with corresponding home training as against lo per cent for boys. A noticeable and characteristic thing- is shown by these tables. The distinction between ex- cellent and good is a matter which can with difficulty be ascertained. It seems that the distinction must be somewhat arbitrary, and this is undoubtedly true. Another characteristic to be noticed is that of curve fair. It seems to be a rather definite line and yet shows the characteristic of indefiniteness in the following re- spects: it varies more than either of the other three curves, and this is undoubtedly due to the fact that it is as difficult to decide between the fair and the poor standard as between the good and the excellent. Tables VII and VIII show the correlation of deport- ment and scholarship. A glance at the tables shows one noticeable grouping compared with the grouping of the other tables — that there is a higher average maintained by the girls than by the boys, and that the groupings have changed somewhat. The groupings for the lower standards remain steady, while those for the upper have changed in their location in the tables. This is as would naturally be expected. A high degree of mentality is not always coincident with high stand- ards of deportment, yet low standards of deportment seem to follow closely low standards of scholarship. It is hardly necessary to explain further in detail the various figures. They but represent graphically the results as shown in the tables. [IS] MORAL EDUCATION III. Conclusion One definite conclusion is to be drawn from this study and investigation — that there is a part to be performed by the home. Where religious instruction is neglected and where the home training is given scarcely any consideration, the boys and girls suffer proportionately. The lack of religious instruction is undoubtedly due in part to the inadequate instruction received by the present generation of parents them- selves. They are, therefore, unable to estimate prop- erly its value for children. Prompt and vigorous action seems to be necessary if children are to receive their religious inheritance and to appreciate the re- sponsibilities involved. Aim of Investigation. It was not the purpose or the attempt of this investigation to prove anything new or radical. The real aim, as set forth in the beginning, was to show scientifically a relation between the vari- ous factors involved in this discussion. If we have succeeded in doing that, we have succeeded in accom- plishing our purpose. Men have always, more or less, believed that a natural relation existed between reli- gious training and deportment, between deportment and accomplished results, and many instances have been cited in support of such belief, but no direct at- tempt to prove quantitatively the various assertions has been made. This, in a small way, has been the attempt of this investigation. The following chapters are the definite conclusions drawn from the investiga- tion. [i6] AN INVESTIGATION The moral problem has been too much a matter of words and abstract discussion. It has been in a certain sense a negative problem. A concrete case here and there has been used to illustrate the moral problem and prove an ethical question raised. An example or il- lustration, however, neither proves nor disproves. It may focus the attention, but logical and definite con- clusions cannot be drawn from a few illustrations or brilliant half-truths. The great truths of life are simple and universal. 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II -h\5ji im 2Z5 -f WMMm^7 igMMIIJZ MM7HI/III 77 pll 6 7 / S3 s mm Ml 21 ill 7 II 2 fl (= MMMMMJO itnmiMMim itn/iii 9 1 7 (^5 7 &$MIMM2f mil 7 III 5 SS' S mMini m, Mp7o Willi i^\in 1 kn ih ¥ / / 11/ d // 5 //I i> ^ S III <3 1 7 // 5 nil H 70 ^ // 2 mil ^ // 3 1 7 71 7 / / III 5 III 3 m ^ 73 L ' %, nil M23}. nil 7l[35i # ¥ 1 / 1 / 17/ 3 S f 1 I V 5 ^ s (, / / 1 7 HI ^ 7 7 Q III t> m ^ f f ' %i ' -kn III hm Hi ■h[L(i, ' 3/ ^f7 22i 7^ $1 m [26] AN INVESTIGATION <^ n ^/2 3?° / / / / ^A\ * ^0 •■" VK ^^3 \. ? \. \ i e..- 9/-m SI-^O 7H0 ^/-70 [27] MORAL EDUCATION prnM/ /Oih fO J7 f ZO zs 31 /O 17 55 /S 9 -//t{K% /70\mo I07{2'^% ^{/0 7o 3/ i^ 2H H 3¥ 37 3% ^ 31 n 1? /O 3i> ^i 2S 11 -^[2n HI -M[2^% ?o[n 6 f &' h 6 3 ? 1 1 6 /3 1 2 7 20 rf\ii% ■h{/n 24[ZI% 3{sn 1 1 3 n 1 B ¥ /3 1 H 2 IS X 3 ^ /¥ Mn ir[ii% i?[/£% ~^U^% /OO n % w 107 //O 115 113 m 20 17 21 50 fff 13 21 20 /200 a [34] AN INVESTIGATION ^ ;&^ e. V-/00 ^1-90 7M0 "fi-ro a [35] CHAPTER III THE HOME A Question of Agency. It is maintained by many that it is not the business of the schools to provide moral training and instruction. This work should be done by the church and the home. The necessity is not denied. It is a question of agency. Church Considered. Let us consider, then, briefly what the condition is as regards the church and the home. The Sunday School has the pupil for one hour a week. It is not a question of the value of the work done by the Sunday School. It is rather a question of time and the effectiveness of the teaching done in the Sunday School. One hour a week is hardly sufficient time even for a skilled teacher to give the required training and instruction in this important mat- ter. And, usually, the Sunday School teacher is an inexperienced person who makes little or no prepara- tion for the work. This is not true in all cases. There are to-day many churches that endeavor to train their Sunday School teachers. These, however, are excep- tions. The Sunday School does an important and valuable work. Its best work is probably indirect. Home Training Considered. The value of home training cannot be denied, but a great change has come [36] THE HOME over the home and its training. The home no longer provides moral training. Parents are no longer assum- ing their obligations, and because of their own views of life and manner of living, they are no longer dis- charging this sacred obligation. The standards and conditions of living have changed radically within the last fifty years. Family life seems to have lost its power. One-half, at least, of the population to-day live in cities. City life and street influences are at work upon the children. In the scramble for existence, for wealth and luxury, for the pleasures of the mate- rial, the seeking for the finer things of life has ceased, and the cultivation of the nobler sentiments seems to have been discarded. City Life — Its Influence. The city fife too often means street life. Family life as such seems to have disappeared in hundreds of homes. Suburban life means too frequently that many families scarcely meet except at week ends, or now and then at the evening meal. Immigration has cast upon our shores thou- sands of people. In thousands of so-called homes from eight to sixteen people live in two or three rooms. The sacred things of life have no place and receive no attention under such conditions. To give definite training in right living; to inspire and direct the will in right choosing; to give opportunity for the practice of right desires — these things are impossible under such conditions. School as a Supplement to Home. The school was intended in the beginning to supplement the home. In the past the home has stood first in the order of im- MORAL EDUCATION portance as well as of time. In moral training and instruction there is no teacher that can take the place of an intelligent and good father or mother. Their opportunity for imparting moral instruction exceeds that of " outside instruction " in quality, importance, and variety. Of all teachers, the parent has the great- est opportunity in dealing with the heart, mind, and the spirit of the child'. The School and Its Problem. In spite of its unique opportunities and privileges, the home has failed to measure up to its opportunities. This is due to ignor- ance on the part of parents, to the pressure of the eco- nomic and industrial conditions of the time, and to the gradual decline in moral and intellectual enrichment of the home. As a result, the home has turned over to society in a large measure the responsibility for educat- ing and training its own. The school, then, has become the handmaiden of the home and, with its intellectual problem, the physical and moral problem is forced upon it. The problem of intemperance, of vocational and industrial training, of economy, and thrift, and of home-making are problems which the school of to-day is supposed to solve. Failure of Home in Its Responsibility. If children are disobedient, idle, disrespectful, unmindful of re- sponsibility, these are problems for the teacher and the school. The fundamental virtues are problems for the school as well as intellectual training. The parent has become too pre-occupied with business and social engagements to properly devote the necessary time to the physical and moral welfare of the children. Those [38] THE HOME truths and that training once thought necessary to be given by the home no longer receive consideration from the parent. Growth of School Problem. The burden and the problem of the school is becoming greater and greater in view of the fact that the home is failing to measure to its great responsibility and high privilege. There are in New York State alone over thirty thousand feeble-minded children. The responsibility for train- ing these children has been placed upon the public school. Nothing has been taken from the school, but much has been added to that which already exists. Failure of Home in Vital Problems. There are, of course, many normal homes in which the parent as- sumes the responsibility for the proper physical and moral training of the child. The life of the child is properly directed. The sleeping room as well as its food is properly attended to. All that an intelligent parent should do is done. If all children came from such homes, the problem of the school would be purely that of the intellectual problem, but unfortu- nately such is not the case. There are thousands of homes in which no thought is given to this most vital of problems — the physical and the moral well-being of the child. It is futile and useless, therefore, to longer attempt to place the responsibility in the home even though it there rightly belongs. The facts show that the responsibility in too many cases is not as- sumed. It becomes necessary, then, for the institu- tion known as the public school to provide for, in a definite and systematic way, moral training and in- [39] MORAL EDUCATION struction, to inculcate the habits of obedience, respect, honor, truth, reverence, and duty, and to create stand- ards of conduct and of morahty that shall guide and influence the young in their living and in their doing. The home and school should supplement each other. They act upon the child throughout the period ending with manhood and womanhood. Their aim, then, should be to help the child discover those fundamental truths so necessary for free citizenship and useful living in a social state. Those truths discovered in both the home and school should provide concrete experiences in order that the training may be complete on the poeti- cal as well as the theoretical side. The knowing and the willing should go hand-in-hand. [40] CHAPTER IV THE METHOD Method of Instruction. If it is conceded that the pubhc schools should assume the responsibility for moral instruction, the next question naturally arises, what shall the method be? There are two methods of instruction — the direct and the indirect method. Direct and Indirect. The indirect method of in- struction receives by far the greater consideration. The majority of teachers and leaders in educational thought and procedure place the emphasis upon the in- direct method. There is, however, a demand for the direct method and it is receiving more and more con- sideration. In many quarters it is acknowledged that direct and vigorous moral training and instruction secure results. In the investigation made, it was found that the direct method of the home and the church produced results, and in a majority of cases secured the desired end. Moral Training and Ethical Instruction. We must, however, distinguish between moral training and ethi- cal instruction. Moral training has for its end or aim the practice of the virtues, while ethical instruction has for its end or aim the building up of a systematic body of ethical knowledge which may or may not function [41] MORAL EDUCATION so far as its observance and practice in real life is concerned. In other words we may know the right but fail to do the right. Ethical knowledge does not necessarily mean right living and right acting. Incidental ethical teaching is closely related to the indirect method. As the occasion arises and warrants the lesson may be direct or indirect as regards its method of instruction. It is usually, however, the in- direct method that is used. Moral education, however, should not be left to the incidental teaching provided for in the school curriculum, the purpose of which is primarily inte'llectual. There should be systematic in- struction in ethics. It is to be deplored that in recent years a false pedagogy has sown broadcast the notion that ethics or moral instruction is to be taught inci- dentally, and can be best taught in that way. Direct moral instruction need not be a cold, abstract, intel- lectual exercise. It does not follow that we are to treat the moral side in the same way as we treat the intellectual side nor that the intellect, the feelings, and the will are to be controlled and governed by a rule of three. This is a misconception and a little thought will readily convince a true thinker that children themselves do not feel in any way antagonistic toward direct moral instruction. The difficulty has been, not in moral instruction, but in letting the matter rest there without providing an outlet for the activity of the child. Teach a child, what is right and then provide an opportunity for him to do what is right. Teach a child what respect is, and then give him an opportunity to be respectful. Teach a child what honesty is, and [42] THE METHOD then give him an opportunity to be honest. Provide means for the practical outlet of aroused feelings after moral instruction, and the difficulties will not be found in direct moral instruction. Question of Results not Method. There is no ques- tion as regards the value of indirect ethical and moral instruction, but something more than that is necessary. It must be brought home vigorously and vividly to the child that he is placing himself in opposition to the laws of society and providing a stumbling block for himself by his conduct and action, or that he is obeying the laws of society and man, and consequently con- forming to a higher standard of living and action. Necessity of Both Methods. In order, however, to get right action, we must have a moral content which acts as a guide to the action which may take place. There is such a thing as unmorality. This arises when mental and moral content is wanting. Ethical instruc- tion is needed in such a case. Incidental ethical teach- ing is not sufficient. Systematic moral instruction is necessary to build up a body of ethical knowledge. Haphazard teaching will not prevent moral poverty. Definite concepts of right and wrong should be built up in the minds of children. Ideals of right action and right endeavor should be constantly put before the children in such a way and manner as to arouse their will power. Right habits of conduct should be fixed with practice. When the concept has been definitely builded, then opportunity and means should be pro- vided for the application of the principle involved and understood by the child. The two methods of instruc- [43] MORAL EDUCATION tion must go hand in hand. In a majority of the cases investigated and observed, it was found that system- atic ethical instruction was given, and training fol- lowed the direct method of the home, church, and the school. Direct Method — Effect on Children. It is stated in many quarters, and used as an objection to the direct method that children dislike moralizing and, as it is termed, preaching. In this investigation it was found that wherever there was sincere, earnest, and honest endeavor to assist, guide, or direct the child there was no resentment. Insincere preaching or moralizing produces naturally, corresponding results. Children as well as adults quickly see through the effort. Children as a rule like the direct way of going at things. Ex- planation, reason, and directness of purpose and motive appeal to children, and in the investigation no resent- ment was found. Direct moral instruction does not make children prudish, priggish or little moral ab- stracts. The fault has been in the teaching. Children do not object to being told what is right, and why it is right, if put to them in an intelHgent way, appealing tQ their feelings, and then providing an opportunity for them to do something with that about which they have been taught. Humility is not taught in the ab- stract. It is good to know what humility means. It is better to practice it, and the clearest way to understand it is to be humble. Sympathetic and tactful helpfulness found a ready response in the many homes and in the school on the part of the children. All things may be- come distasteful if used unwisely. [ 44 ] THE METHOD Incidental Method — Good. The incidental teaching of ethics is good. It is not to be dispensed with. Many a lesson, many an opportunity, occurs during the day when the teacher can drive home forcibly some moral lesson of value and of importance to the children. These opportunities should not be overlooked, but one should not always wait for an opportunity. Make one if the children in your room need it. Indirect Method — for Lower Grades. In building up a body of systematic ethical knowledge, it was found in the lower grades of the school, and in the early life of the child, the indirect method best served the purpose. The content of such ethical in- struction should consist of the virtues and the vices with their rewards and penalties taught through the medium of story, fable, myth, allegory, parable, biog- raphy, and history. This arouses the child's sympathy, creates an interest and appeals to the volitional side of the child's nature. The fundamental thing, however, is the direct method of establishing the will of the pupil in acts and habits of conduct that are necessary and essential to the welfare of the individual. Moral Training in Early Life. The child's moral training should begin with its birth. Some one has rightly said with its grandparents. However, the inves- tigation has nothing to do with problems of this nature. We must confine ourselves to the more practical and definite problem of the results of the investigation, and the problem for the school. Beginning with the kin- dergarten, the child's moral nature should be carefully studied, and the moral training should be strictly con- [45] MORAL EDUCATION fined to training in habits of right conduct. In the lower or primary grades, teachers should make a care- ful study of the instincts, and determine the virtues and vices that belong to each one of these instincts, and to the several stages of the child's development. Each grade and each year of the child's life, there- fore, should deal with some definite phase of the un- folding of its moral nature. It was found that wher- ever thoughtful consideration was given this matter, little or no difficulty was experienced so far as the conduct of the child was concerned. Indirect Method — Advantages and Disadvantages. The indirect method leaves the child to do his own moralizing. This is not always good for the child. The emotions which are the motive power of the voli- tional side of the child's nature, are not always sensi- tive to the right thing. The child should grasp the correct moral import of the content of the material used in the indirect method. If he fails to do so, the effort is lost. Again, moralizing depends upon a body of ethical knowledge and the strength of the will power which forms the background for action or doing. The matter cannot be left entirely with indi- rect teaching or with the pupil doing his own moraliz- ing. Study, thought, and tact must be used by the teacher and the home in determining just how far the indirect method shall be used without being supple- mented by the direct and vigorous teachings of the direct. Direct Instruction — Result of Investigation. In a large majority of the cases studied and observed in [46] THE METHOD this investigation, by far the greater part of the in- struction was direct moral instruction and training of the individual. This was true also of the problem of manners in relation to morals. It is a matter of train- ing fundamentally, enriched and supplemented with a mental and moral content of ethical knowledge. [47] CHAPTER V THE TEACHER AND MORAL INSTRUCTION Teacher and Moral Instruction. If moral instruc- tion is to be given a place in the public school, teachers must receive preparation and training for this work as well as for the several subjects taught by them. It by no means follows that the certified public school teacher is qualified to give ethical instruction and moral training. There must be enthusiasm for this subject, supported by a background and store of ethical knowledge, and a spirit that has for its aim the child's moral welfare. A teacher may have a general knowl- edge of the subject, and still be unprepared to teach the subject. It is necessary to know what to teach and how much to teach. Also, what part of ethical knowl- edge appeals to the child at the particular age dealt with by the teacher. This requires careful study on the part of the teacher, and careful preparation of subject mat- ter by the teacher. Moral training and ethical in- struction must appeal to the feeling or volitional side of the child's nature. Ethical instruction must arouse an emotion. It must prompt to action. The outcome should be moral doing. Moral training is moral action or right action as the result of ethical knowledge and ethical instruction. [48] THE TEACHER AND MORAL INSTRUCTION The Mechanical Teacher. There are too many teachers who feel that they have served their purpose and given value received when they have performed in a methodical, or mechanical way the intellectual tasks set for that particular grade of work. They are, too often, more interested in the salary schedule and vaca- tion dates than in the moral development of the chil- dren placed in their charge, and for whom they are responsible. These are the mechanical teachers. They belong in the occupations where tasks are performed in a mechanical way. Need of Interest and Enthusiasm. Teaching re- quires spiritual enthusiasm. Moral training requires it to a very large degree. A teacher must believe in it and must feel that the supreme aim is to take careless, selfish, and thoughtless boys and girls and make of them boys and girls who have some self-control, self- respect, and who manifest in action toward others a spirit of respect, courtesy, and obedience to the right. It requires a real teacher — ^not a mechanically made one, to create within the minds and hearts of the boys and girls a sense of feeling of responsibility. There is the deepest sort of satisfaction in teaching that secures results of this character. Teacher — A Student of Life and Children. The teacher should have at his command a store of ethical knowledge that functions. It is of supreme impor- tance that the teacher shall have read much and widely of ethical literature. This applies not merely to the direct ethical literature such as the Bible, but to that much larger variety of ethical literature such as fables, [ 49 ] MORAL EDUCATION myths, allegories, biographies, and stories. The teacher, too, should be a keen observer of human ac- tion. A student of human psychology as opposed to text-book psychology. Human nature is much the same the world over. Motives and actions are quite regular in their beginnings and their output. To know that which incites and arouses within the mind and heart of the pupil certain action, is to be master of his action. A superficial study of children leads to nothing but mere word instruction and seldom results in anything but looseness and. indifference on the part of the pupil so far as moral training is concerned. Teacher — an Exponent of His Teaching. The teacher should also exercise a constant watch over his own actions. It is useless to talk respect and self-con- trol to others when our daily life shows but little, if any, practice on our part. The successful teacher of moral training must be a successful practicer of ethics. To preach courtesy and act rudely, to encourage help- fulness and render but little service, is hardly the pearl of consistency. Teaching — an Art. Teaching is not in any sense a trade. Its work cannot successfully be performed in a mechanical way with selfish interests for its back- ground, and easier work, its end and aim. " He that looseth his life shall find it." Teaching is an affair of life-giving energy in word and in deed. The real strength of the teacher is shown in the results accom- plished. The successful teacher is nerve-exhausted. Such a one gives from the heart — not from the head. Teaching is an art. It must be personal and universal. [50] THE TEACHER AND MORAL INSTRUCTION Teacher and Child. Teaching requires constant ef- fort, continued study, and serious thought. The suc- cessful teacher in the particular field of ethics and moral training must give largely of his own life in order to be successful. Such a teacher will secure a definite knowledge of the child's environment, of the home influence and training, and of all those condi- tions and factors that influence the child's life. This knowledge will be used in the classroom in such a way that weaknesses and defects are gradually eliminated and replaced by strength, and effective right action. Point of Contact. There must be personal contact and a point of contact secured, if the teacher hopes to secure results worth the effort. We cannot with- draw from that which we urge and recommend and hope to be believed by others. There must be encour- agement by word and action, by friendly and sincere effort, a generous sympathy expressed and an under- standing manifested that the heart speaks to the heart and not the lips to the brain. Ethical instruction and moral training is an art and not a trade. Teacher and Her Standard. The teacher must have, then, in mind an ideal of her own, that is, the kind of men and women she sees before her in these young boys and girls. What kind of man or woman is her ideal? What part does she wish them to play in the social relations which they must enter into upon their emergence in the world of action? These things clearly indicate that the teacher is not capable of giv- ing instruction unless that teacher has a definite type in mind of the man or woman to be. There are many [51] MORAL EDUCATION types of character. There are many schools of ethics, therefore, we cannot speak of character in general or moral instruction in general. We must speak of and have in mind a definite kind of character, and a defi- nite type of manhood and womanhood. The type of character which the public schools should seek to produce is that which conforms best to the ideal prin- ciples of democracy. By that we understand in Amer- ica that no individual liveth alone to himself ; that we are all intimately associated one with another; we are dependent one upon another, and that the ideal of human life as we conceive it is an individual who is efficient, who is progressive, who is competent not only to provide and care for himself, but to produce something that will tend to make the world a little better for his having lived in it. Society to-day as constituted is a series of readjustments of the indi- vidual to the changing conceptions which supposedly make for higher types of civilization. Therefore, it is a wise teacher who can run ahead and look into the future ten or fifteen years hence, and see what is to be required of the boy and girl in her room to-day, in that distant future. Part Each Should Play. Again, progress consists in arousing within the individual a desire and a taste for the best things of the intellect, the best things of the sesthetic side of his life as well as the best things in his moral life. These things are brought about not through gifts but through the willingness of the individual to perform his part of the work necessary. Therefore, in a democracy it is fundamental that every one [52] THE TEACHER AND MORAL INSTRUCTION should learn how to work. The slave is not the part, the drone is not the part, nor is the grind the part, but a faithful, willing, intelligent worker is the part that each should play. Three Fundamental Principles in American Civiliza- tion. One of the most fundamental lessons of the moral life that can possibly be taught in public school work is that of an appreciation on the part of the pu- pils for the great toilers of the past, through whose labors and efforts the good of the present civilization is ours for betterment. To understand how through travail of spirit, and through physical endurance, they have given to us an inheritance that enriches and enobles life, is the highest type of moral lesson that can be given to children. We must take into consideration, then, as teachers, that individual efficiency, social practice, and a stableness of society are the three under- lying and fundamental principles in American civiliza- tion to-day. He who cannot appreciate this is abso- lutely incapable of giving moral instruction. [53] CHAPTER VI THE PHYSICAL LIFE Physical Life. All human endeavor is dependent upon the condition of the physical organs. Life is physical to a very large degree. A child or an adult in poor health is struck with intellectual and moral as well as physical poverty. The health and strength of the body must be secured and maintained if the in- dividual is to attain happiness and efficiency, mental, moral or material. Hygiene of Body. With young children it is impera- tive, then, that the hygiene of the body should receive first consideration. " Cleanliness is next to Godli- ness." An unclean body is apt to have an unclean mind and spirit. It is very difficult if not impossible to instruct or train one content with physical unclean- liness. The cleanliness of the child, as regards its per- son and its clothes, determines to a very large degree the nature and quality of the ethical instruction to be given. With young children hygiene of food is im- portant. Food should be selected with care and the eating properly regulated in accordance with the physi- cal life of the child. Proper rest, fresh air, and play should be provided for the child to induce the proper development of its physical nature. In this investiga- [54] THE PHYSICAL LIFE tion, it was found almost without exception, that wher- ever these matters were regulated carefully by the home, it had decided effect upon the moral life of the child. Physical Well-Being. Physical well-being is neces- sary for the moral well-being. A failure to recognize this and to properly provide for it is to be guilty of moral neglect and does positive harm to the growing boy or girl. In those communities where the homes, through ignorance, or neglect, fail to properly attend to this matter, the public school should provide, at least, play grounds, recreation centers, shower baths, and make such other provision as will safeguard the physi- cal welfare of the child. Physical Virtues and Vices. In moral instruction the physical virtues and vices should be carefully ex- plained to the child. Cleanliness should be empha- sized and insisted upon. No part of physical cleanli- ness should be neglected. The clothes should receive careful attention as much so as the eye, the ear, the teeth, the nails, and the skin. Personal cleanliness should be made a requirement. These matters should be carefully taken up and dwelt upon in a thorough, systematic way, but it should not rest with instruction. Here it is that compulsion is a virtue, and if the home neglects the matter, the school should persist and insist. Relation Between Moral Life, Food, and Sleep. An- other topic of serious importance to pupils is the rela- tion of food, sleep, and exercise to health, and there- fore, indirectly conserving the mental and moral life. These topics should become matters of instruction, and [55] MORAL EDUCATION while not as much can be done in deahng with the subject of food and sleep as can be accomplished with the matter of cleanliness and recreation, still vital and influential instruction may produce decided improve- ment. A moral obligation rests upon every responsible teacher and home. The physical welfare of the child should be conserved in all its aspects under all con- ditions. To neglect this is to neglect a fundamental and lifelong matter. Results Found. In this investigation it was invari- ably found to be true that wherever these matters were neglected, the moral and intellectual life suffered — the moral life particularly. There was an indifference manifested by the boy or girl. There was a lack of self-control. There was a looseness in conduct. There was a loss of vitality and vigor. Ambition seemed to be wanting. Such boys seemed to have no interest in the games of boys. They were not infre- quently found around the corner smoking cigarettes. Pride seemed to be wanting in their general make-up. It was difficult to appeal to such boys and girls. A point of contact was difficult to find. Physical cour- age, which is the ideal of the majority of boys at the period of life covered by the investigation, was seldom their ideal. These pupils were more secretive than others. In recitation they withdrew from participa- tion in class discussion and class work. In several cases where the boys were taken from their poor en- vironment and placed in more favorable surroundings within two years the disposition and attitude of these [56] THE PHYSICAL LIFE boys changed entirely. They became clean and whole- some, self-respecting, courteous, and vigorous boys. They took particular pride in their dress and man- ners, and became enthusiastic over sports, games, and tests of strength. This was not due to the arrival of the ' collar period.' Illustration after illustration could be cited from this one investigation to bear wit- ness to the truth of the general statement, that the moral life is dependent upon the physical well-being of the body. The homes visited from time to time gave impressive, if silent testimony, that seldom is there moral well-being where the physical is neglected. A clean body is necessary for a clean mind. The Physical — a Safeguard to the Moral. Can any one doubt that where there are large numbers of chil- dren gathered together in unfavorable surroundings, and where they have to spend their play hours upon the streets, that physical and moral depravity results? Where children have safe places in which to give their muscles and spirits free play in a happy harmless way, and where the physical welfare is properly provided for, there shall we see the moral safeguarded. Prop- erly supervised playgrounds are an absolute necessity to the moral welfare of children. Statistical Results. During the year 19 13, in New York City alone, 9019 separate cases involving chil- dren were heard. Many of these cases came before the judges more than once. There was an average of seventy-five hearings a day. Two-thirds were cases of truant children. Thirty-seven per ' cent were [57] MORAL EDUCATION charged with offense springing from bad morals, while one- fourth were charged with petty wrongdoing. No greater argument for safe-guarding the physical wel- fare of children could be used than this one bit of evi- dence. It was found to be true in every case in this investigation that where the boy or girl became physi- cally tired from play, or were given opportunity for proper recreation, the moral life became cleaner, the acts of immorality fewer, and the tendency to think and speak vulgar thoughts gradually disappeared. [58] CHAPTER VII MANNERS AND MORALS Relation Between Morals and Manners. It is com- monly accepted that the public school to-day has some- thing to do with moral training and good manners. In some schools much is done in this respect. In others it is entirely neglected, and in some places indifferently attempted. What then, if any, is the relation existing between manners and morals? It is best that we should define good manners in order that we may more clearly understand the relation to good morals. The terms are loosely used. Good Manners Defined. By good manners we do not mean the artificial courtesies of society. Such good manners do not make for good morals or any morals. But if by good manners we understand cour- tesy and such conduct as is based upon, or grounded in, principles of living that are vital, then there is a definite relation between manners and morals. Arid, if we take those manners for example, such as may be grouped under courtesy, we find that they are an expression of good will, therefore derive their being from the principle of good will which is a most vital principle in morals. The self-respecting boy or girl, man or woman, respects others. Proper respect is [59] MORAL EDUCATION good manners. Respect is an expression of the prin- ciple of reverence and good will. Good Manners — Related to Physical Control. We may touch upon the lighter mannerisms : good table manners have a vital relation to good morals. Good table manners mean self-control, respect, and a control of the appetite. They derive their being from the principle of temperance, and temperance is a virtue. In a purely physical sense, then, good manners mean a control of the physical and of the mental, and there- fore are deeply rooted in the principles of the moral and ethical life. He who has the finer sensibilities and trains and cultivates them builds solidly upon the vir- tues. Courtesy in a vital sense prevents licentiousness and impurity. Good manners, in a broad and large sense, between human beings rest upon those virtues that make business possible where trust and confidence is necessary. Success and Good Manners. True and lasting suc- cess is not infrequently founded upon those virtues which are given expression in what is termed good manners. The difference between true politeness and artificial politeness is just the difference between self- respect and self-conceit. True politeness, or good man- ners, comes from a heart filled with good will. It is sincere. Good manners radiate a spirit of kindness, of charity, of respect rooted in intelligence and con- trolled action and speech. Training in Good Manners. In a very vital sense, then, the work of the school as well as of the home should be to train pupils in good manners, for in so [60] MANNERS AND MORALS doing the pupil is being trained to form the habit of giving expression to the virtues. This is hving the moral life. Pupils should be taught the difference be- tween a polite person and a rude one, and the effect that good manners have even in business life. Not infrequently does it happen that one's success is due quite as much to good manners and loyalty as to abil- ity. Self-respect has much to do with good manners, and pupils should be taught this fact. True politeness is the expression of a kind heart and not an artificial sham. Often pupils and even adults give expression to rudeness, not from ignorance or choice, but from a lack of training and sometimes it is due to laziness. Here it is that opportunity should be given the boy or girl in the home and in the school to practice in a real, not in some artificial situation, good manners in a variety of ways. Good Manners — Grouped. Good manners should be grouped under several heads or chief topics. In- struction should follow as to what constitutes true politeness, real courtesy, good form, self-respect, and true conduct. This done, opportunity should be given and a situation provided to give the training necessary to establish the several forms as habits in the life of the boy and girl. Such themes should be : good man- ners in general, good manners at home, good man- ners at the table, good manners in school, good manners in private, good manners in business, good manners in conversation, good manners in public, good manners on the street. These topics cover the chief situations in life, and if the boy or girl is well- [6i] MORAL EDUCATION trained a serious handicap is removed in one respect, at least, so far as his success in Hfe is concerned. It cannot be too thoroughly emphasized that good man- ners and true politeness mean much and count for much in business life as well as in private life. [62] CHAPTER VIII THE RECITATION AS A MEDIUM FOR MORAL INSTRUCTION Formal Nature of Recitation. The recitation in the organization of the American pubHc school occupies a unique place. The time of the pupil is usually divided in the following manner : time devoted to the study of lessons; time devoted to the recitation of those lessons studied. The teacher's time is, there- fore, given almost entirely to recitation work. The result has been that the recitation has become a testing or an examination period of a more or less formal character. There are exceptions, of course, to this statement, but it applies to a large majority of the classrooms in the American public schools. The reci- tation lesson has become a period of time devoted to hearing prepared work, testing the pupils, or present- ing new work in a more or less formal way in which the pupil has a minimum of interest. From the teacher's standpoint the recitation lesson is the prin- cipal feature of the day. Prominence Given Recitation. School authorities and educational authorities give the recitation a very prominent place. Some assert that all school activities and interests are centered in the recitation. From the [63] MORAL EDUCATION teacher's standpoint it gives an opportunity to impart knowledge, guide effort, train pupils, arouse enthu- siasm, provoke thought, and give opportunity for in- dividual expression, that is, it should do all this, but let us carefully examine the usual recitation and see what the actual practice is. Recitation from Disciplinary Standpoint. The first requirement is discipline, that is, the recitation is judged first from the standpoint of quietness and order. Pupils are to sit in an orderly manner. Quiet- ness in the room must prevail. The quieter the room, the more successful the teacher, so it is said. But examine closely this quietness. It is usually a sup- pressed condition. The quietness is merely physical. The real child, that is, the feeling and thinking child, may be in a state of chaos. The real child may be far removed from the confines of the classroom. His in- terests are centered anywhere but where his body is. He has learned that physical quietness answers prac- tically every purpose. To think, to become responsible, to be interested, to be aroused, to want to put forth effort, to do something for others, to feel his part in the recitation, to have certain set tasks and duties to perform, may be felt rarely by the minority of pupils. They rely upon the teacher. They depend upon her. Is there anything to be done? Is there any responsi- bility to be assumed ? Is there any disorder to be sup- pressed? Are there any unfavorable conditions to be attended to? The teacher is the one to look after all such matters. The pupils feel no responsibility resting upon them. The only part the pupil plays is [64] THE RECITATION AS A MEDIUM that he is to repeat facts learned — in other words, to rehearse the lesson. The pupil is more or less one of the mechanical fixtures of the room. In an uncon- scious way, he is looked upon by the average teacher as a bit of mechanism to be squeezed into the mold, and turned out according to the pattern. Wasted Time in Recitation. Little or no effort is made to teach pupils how to study. They are left, as a usual thing, to attack the lesson according to their own plan. It is too often the case that the lesson assigned is not clearly understood by the pupil. The result is that the pupil usually learns words, and the text-book is a medium between the two — teacher and pupil. Three-fourths of the time spent by a pupil below the seventh grade, in trying to prepare a lesson from a text-book, is wasted time and energy. Criticisms of Recitation. There are many criticisms of the recitation, and all of them only too true. In a brief way these criticisms may be summarized as wasted time, mental wandering, aimless effort, sup- pressed mental effort and interest, and the ethical value of the most important period of the day entirely lost. There are many teachers who cannot teach with success. They develop and present subjects, but the whole effect is lost upon the class. The ordinary reci- tation is as a usual thing merely an oral examination. Object of Recitation. The recitation has become a fixed part of the daily plan of the American public school. As this is the case, what then should be the fundamental object of the recitation? Many have ad- vocated abolishing the recitation. If we are to retain [6s] MORAL EDUCATION the recitation as one of the fundamentals of American school organization, we miust first clearly point out the ends which it must conserve, the results which it must secure, and the part that the teacher and the pupil is to play. Objects Enumerated. The important factors are: pupil, teacher, material used to train the pupil, and the kind of training. What then are the objects? The recitation gives an opportunity for the teacher (i) to study the pupil and to know the pupil, (2) to aid the pupil with those mental processes which present difficulties of a general nature and of a special nature which are troublesome to the pupil be- cause he is that particular pupil, (3) to enable the pupil to acquire new experiences, (4) to train the pupil in expression, (5) to give the pupil an oppor- tunity to receive some training and to impart a social- ising influence, (6) to enable the pupil to express his own individuality and receive a modifying influence from the class, (7) to correct wrong impressions, (8) to enlarge the pupil's experience, (9) to build up in an orderly, logical way, a definite store of in- formation that functions, (10) to enable the pupil to overcome individual weaknesses, (11) to enable the pupil to form the habit of concentrated effort and attention. Recitation and Desired Ends. It will be seen that the recitation must occupy a very important place, not only in educational theory, but in practice. The teacher should have clearly before her, and thor- oughly master these definite aims. The recitation, [66] THE RECITATION AS A MEDIUM then, should be organized to accomplish the work. To accomplish this the teacher must have ( i ) scholarship. (2) Experience which may be termed socialized ex- perience, that is, not merely a knowledge of books, but a knowledge of life, of people and of human activity. (3) A definite knowledge of the particular problem that every schoolroom represents. (4) A definite knowledge of the community and the environment of the children assembled in that particular room each morning. (5) An interested, wholesome influence which extends beyond a course of study and thinks of the child as an individual to be trained in a definite way, in definite acts of a general or particular nature, such that the training received is a part of life and not confined to the schoolroom and ending with the schoolroom. New Order of Recitation. If the recitation is to occupy the important place in the day's program, it must be radically changed in order to meet the changed and changing conditions of modern life. School can no longer be a thing set apart from life more or less artificial in building up an artificial world of manners, acts and thoughts peculiar to the institution — school and ending with the school life. Added Responsibility. The school has been forced to assume many of those responsibilities which for- merly the home assumed. The parent has been in the past the true teacher of much that, at present, the in- stitution called school has been forced to assume. Of all teachers, the parent has the best opportunity of dealing with the whole child, that is, the mental child, [67] MORAL EDUCATION the physical child, and the spiritual child. Yet, not- withstanding this, the home is failing in a large measure to meet its responsibilities and opportunities. Parental incapability, unjust economic and industrial conditions, and family instability and inefficiency are, in part, the causes of the failure of the home to do its part in solving the modern problem with which we are confronted in the education of the child for society. The school, then, has become the place where humanity has placed its offspring, together with any new respon- sibility resulting from the changing order of society, to receive that training which modern life demands. Added Responsibilities as Illustrated. This may be well illustrated by a few examples. If the home neg- lects good manners, good social custom, a morality that is sound, let the school teach manners and morals. If money interests disturb the economic and industrial conditions, let the school teach civics. If extrav- agance and waste characterize many of the homes, let the school teach and inculcate the virtue of thrift and industry. Let the school establish savings banks and teach by this example the practice of saving. If mothers are unwilling and unable to teach their own daughters the fundamentals of home-making and home- keeping, let the school teach dressmaking and cooking and sewing, and the other details of home-keeping. If children are disobedient, disrespectful, careless, idle, with little or no time to apply themselves to a given task which they could well accomplish, let the teacher in the school eradicate these weaknesses and establish the virtues necessary to make the child a mannerly, [68] THE RECITATION AS A MEDIUM orderly, and thoughtful boy or girl. If the social life and the business life become too pressing and the physical welfare of the child interfere, let the school take up hygiene and physical training. If parents are unwilling and incompetent to teach the fundamental and sacred truth of physical and moral protection, let the school teach sex hygiene. Society Fixes the Responsibility. In brief, then, the school has become the center for the training in and teaching of all those particulars relating to the welfare of the complete child. To meet these new duties and responsibilities the child must undergo reorganization. All the former duties of the school still remain and must be done as well or better than before. The time, however, in which it is to be done remains the same as before. It is no longer a question whether the school should undertake all that is required of it to-day, or whether it can do all that is demanded. Whether these things are demanded wisely or unwisely is not the question. Whether the school and the teacher are to become a sort of universal social healer is not the question. It is evident that society has determined that the school shall do these things. It is evident also that the time is not far distant when the school day must be lengthened to six or seven hours and to pos- sibly forty-six or fifty weeks per year. This is to be determined by the needs of the community and the several groups of children within the community. Recitation the Critical Period of the School Day. It is certain, then, that a reorganization is about to take place. Whatever may be the changed conditions so far [ 69 ] MORAL EDUCATION as school buildings, playgrounds, school equipment, and apparatus are concerned, from the teaching side, the problem must be solved in the recitation period. The recitation must become a place where the child is con- sidered from the standpoint of the whole child, and not merely the informational child. To teach the scat- tered facts of this subject or that, to group these facts more or less logically, to build up information in such a way that it becomes a connected whole is no longer the sole function of the recitation. The child must be considered from the standpoint of a thinking, active, feeling being endowed with certain capacities and with certain instincts that become useful or harmful accord- ing as they are directed or allowed to display them- selves, all of which must be strengthened and guided in such a way and in such manner that a social being re- sults. The resulting individual must have received such training that use and practice in the tools of learn- ing have become automatic, also such training as will enable him to meet and confer with others at whatever age, stage of progress, or occupation he may be in. He should receive such training in manners, for example, that he is able to meet all people upon a plane of equality so far as manners are concerned. He should receive such training that he is enabled to express himself, clearly, accurately, modestly, yet with all, firm in the position which he has assumed, supported with knowl- edge and his experience. The recitation must do all this. It must take the child as it finds him and in keeping with his capacity and understanding, create [70] THE RECITATION AS A MEDIUM for him such experience as will enable him to partici- pate in or become a part of that experience. The Recitation — a Period for Giving Experiences. The several subjects to be taught must, therefore, be considered from the standpoint of subject matter that will enable the child to receive a first hand experience, in which an opportunity is given for him to express his own personality and individuality, in which the con- dition may be modified by the expression of the child or the child's ideas and feelings, changed, or modified, or enlarged by the reaction of the experience. The teaching, then, of a given subject means that the sub- ject is not the important thing. It means that the child and the situation in which he is placed become the important factor. For the child is to receive im- pressions and a definite form of training, is to enlarge his experience and make of himself a more capable and efficient social being at each and every stage of his progress. The Recitation — a Period of Pupil Activity. The recitation can be conducted no longer according to the old set plan of question and answer. It must become the medium for receiving training and obtaining expe- riences. The class must be so organized that, in the teaching of every lesson, the pupil has a responsible part to play. He is to give, as well as to receive. He must be led and trained to perform certain duties be- cause he is a member of that class. He must be led to see that, as a member of the class, he is responsible in a way for every act of disorder, for every unwhole- [71] MORAL EDUCATION ^ some condition that may exist, so far as his class is concerned. The order of the room, the appearance of the room, the general deportment of pupils, the con- duct of pupils, the speech and habits of pupils as mem- bers of that class, are all matters with which he is in- timately associated and vitally concerned. He has set tasks (this does not refer to preparation of as- signed lessons) and duties for which he alone is re- sponsible. The room in a way belongs tO' him. He must feel it. There are many things which he as a member of the class can do to make his room and his class better. He must be interested and aroused so that the initiative comes from him. Nature and Character of Pupil Activity. The chil- dren should be taught and led to see that a very large part of their work is to give their classmates the ad- vantage of their thought and of their study. In turn, they should receive from the class questions, and they should be ready and prepared to answer these questions. They should receive criticism and correction from members of their class. They should be trained to meet this sort of thing. In this they receive training in social usage. It strengthens their confidence; gives opportunity for exchange of ideas; gives training in oral speech and written language, and the pupils be- come a social cooperative body. They no longer feel that the sole requirement of the room is to satisfy the teacher or some standard of which they are not even dimly conscious. The feeling created is they have something to do that is important, and they are re- sponsible for its success or failure. The teacher is no [72] THE RECITATION AS A MEDIUM longer the moral, social, and intellectual standard of the room. The room becomes social and democratic. The Recitation — an Active Period of Pupil Respon- sibility. The recitation is to become an active period, and no longer a listening period. The child is to be- come a doer and not a passive listener. The class is the active part of the recitation — not the teacher. The teacher no longer recites, no longer asks ques- tions and receives answers. The teacher's work be- comes now, one of planning and of management. The teacher merely directs, counsels with the pupils, advises and leads, without dominating and suppressing the physical and mental childhood within the room. If there are stubborn cases of discipline, the pride and honor of the room must settle" that. If there are dirty boys and girls as members of the class, the self-respect and honor of the class must tend to that. If there are members of the class whose conduct, speech, actions, and manners are detrimental to good citizenship, the honor of the class, the respect of the class will remedy that. So the class and the recitation become one and the same thing. The schoolroom thus organized meets the many conditions imposed, and this is the only way, as schools are to-day organized, in which it can be met. The Recitation — a Planned Period of Pupil Activ- ity. The old order of conditions, wherein discipline was conceived to be most perfect when all children were so suppressed that quietness reigned and all moved as one, must pass. Order to-day is quiet activity whereni each member of a class recognizes the rights of others and acts accordingly. This requires teaching. By [73] MORAL EDUCATION ^ teaching we do not mean the developing, presenting and carrying into effect the formal steps of instruction at every period of the day, but rather so planning, and so organizing the work and the room, that the pupils become seekers, searchers, and workers, with only now and then the formal presentation of a lesson. When this formal presentation is given, it covers what is known as a subject matter whole, that is, a large enough topic or subject to employ the activities of the class for a considerable length of time. The Recitation — a Period of Moral Training. The usual subjects of instruction in the schools will if rightly used provide opportunity in this new order or recitation for moral training. We consider moral training by far the more important phase of moral education in the elementary school. The material of the several subjects of the school curriculum should be supplemented with additional material from literature, for the purpose of establishing right ideals and motives. The children themselves should be given opportunity to display the several virtues or habits of respect toward one another; to be courteous in speech and in action; to be helpful about the room; to be industrious in all that they do ; to assist one another ; to provide for the general welfare of the room and for all those details that go to make a boy or a girl helpful, clean and wholesome. This the recitation can do if the teacher plans the work in such a manner that the pupils are given the opportunity to practice that which they can do well. If the teacher wishes to inculcate the habit of courtesy in speech, she must provide innumerable [ 74 ] ■ THE RECITATION AS A MEDIUM opportunities for the pupils to address one another in the recitation. This is easily done without sacrificing any part of the content of the recitation on the in- structional side. Socializing the Recitation. If good manners or good morals are to become a part of the schoolroom, the children must receive training throughout the entire day. This training shall be in the form of practice in doing the very thing desired. Little will be accom- plished by giving a ten-minute lesson in the morn- ing upon good manners, respect, helpfulness, kind- ness, and those several topics and subjects which are usually given a ten-minute place in the program in the morning and forgotten for the rest of the day. Such topics and others equally important should receive the major part of the attention and planning so far as the moral training and character of the child is concerned. The subject matter, then, of the curriculum if rightly used, will become a valuable means for moral training. Nothing is lost and the subject matter itself becomes socialized and humanized. It is given a meaning far more important than it would otherwise have for the child. To let the children work out together their read- ing lesson, their history or their geography lesson, will vitalize the information obtained. It will be colored by that direct experience which means, for the moral life, feeling and emotional tones. Let the room and the recitation be socialized and humanized. Take the recitation out of the mechanical form of question and answer, of repeating what you know about the sub- ject, and the room becomes life-like. It all depends [75] MORAL EDUCATION upon the manner in which the recitation period is used for training the child. The training he should receive is the training given through the direct activity of the child's doing the right thing from impulses or motives that have become part of the child's desire. A Working Morality. Morality does not consist of abstract thoughts. Good citizenship does not consist of talk about ideals. The highest morality and best citi- zenship is in doing an honest piece of work with a sincere motive and purpose. For the mechanic, for the child, morality and citizenship is in doing effec- tively and efficiently with right motives the thing in hand. This may be termed a working morality, but it is the type of moral training most needed to-day. The recitation period, then, should be devoted to train- ing the child rather than instructing the child. The child will get the instruction of necessity if the material or content of instruction is placed at his disposal in such a way that he may, as a worker, use it in practic- ing good speech, good manners, thinking, doing, co- operating, and building up habits that become right moral action. iye^ CHAPTER IX RELIGION AND MORALITY Relation Between Morality and Religion. Morality derives its validity from its relation to religion. The roots of the moral life lie deeply imbedded in the re- ligious nature of man. Man is religious and always has been. Just as man is social in nature, so is he religious in nature. There is the religious conscious- ness just as there is the aesthetic consciousness. What Religion Is. Religion is worship. This wor- ship is given expression in the form of aesthetics. Man builds temples, beautifies and decorates them. He builds them to an unseen deity. He enters his temple and worships by giving expression to his emotional nature in the form of song or spoken word. He does all this in order to affirm his relation to a more or less unknown God and more or less unknown order. By so doing, he attempts to establish his relation to an immortal life. This relation established carries with it obligations and duties. Man must so live that the " maximum of his conduct shall become a law uni- versal." Religion, then, in its highest sense is a com- plete harmony of man with his God. Man lives in loving and reverent dependence upon his God. This establishes the moral life. If conduct falls short of [77^ MORAL EDUCATION this ideal, man suffers accordingly. If he measures to it, he is rewarded. The matter of virtues and vices, of rewards and punishment, follow inevitably from man's conceived relation to the mysterious order of creation. For ^' Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." This holds true in life here and here- after. Morality Rooted in Religious Nature of Man. Mo- rality and the moral life finds its sanction in the reli- gious nature of man. It has for its complete aim an ideal society in which man labors to better humanity, and to bring all mankind into more complete social liv- ing and complete harmony with the conception of life as it should be. Morality, then, may be con- ceived of as the highest form of social living, or it may be looked upon as a part of religious culture. In either case, it has its twofold aspect — moral in- struction and moral training. To a very large degree, then, morality is determined by religious motives and religious sanctions. If we regard moral education from the religious standpoint, then, the religious motives must determine the moral life of the child. This form of moral instruction could not be taught in the day- schools. Only the home and the church can carry on moral instruction from such a standpoint. Morality — Future Rewards and Punishments. A belief in future rewards and punishments carries with it a force and a power that upholds goodness and re- strains wrong action. It is of value. Religion does contribute, in this respect, that which is helpful. If, as it will be objected, this is not the highest moral form [78] RELIGION AND MORALITY of living, it is to be added that the restraint which such rehgious motives throw about the hfe of the young is to be preferred to a looseness in living that tends to lower the moral life of the growing boy or girl. It must also not be forgotten that human nature is not perfection. A series of penalties and rewards seem to be necessary in order to guide and direct aright the untrained and undeveloped. If there are no consequences dependent upon the act, the untrained and undeveloped life has but little reason for living up to a standard of social and moral culture which means nothing to the primitive nature in man. The virtues are deeply rooted in the religious life and find their sanction there. These virtues should be developed in every child. Children should be taught obedience, rev- erence, gratitude, good-will, love, and their dependence upon a divinity " that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we may." Spiritual Life in Relation to Moral Education. The higher form of the spiritual life and therefore of the moral life with the increasing understanding and wisdom of the individual will be brought about. If such is his desire and will from experience and increasing wisdom, the child passes gradually into the larger life of living, into larger experiences of the social life, with right living as its own end, aim, and sanction. This, however, can never be brought about without moral training in the early life and moral in- struction with the growing powers of the child. Problem — How Solved? The problem which the public school has to solve is that most vexed problem [79] MORAL EDUCATION of how shall it be done with a population consisting of opposed doctrines and creeds. The religious instruc- tion and moral training in the home, if given in the home, can be in accord and quite in keeping with the ideals of the home. But, in a public school the case is quite different. The doctrines and beliefs of the Hebrew, the Catholic, and the Protestant portion of our population must be considered. They represent con- troversies and ideals that have their roots deep in the past. Therefore, nothing conflicting with such beliefs can be allowed to become a part of the moral instruction given in public schools. Individual Versus National or Universal Ideas. The case, however, is quite different with individual notions and pecuHarities. We cannot allow individual ideas that are particularly individual to determine the course of action in so large an institution as the public school system. To do so would be to allow ourselves to be controlled by a small minority. France is an illustra- tion of religious restriction carried to the extreme. The differences, however, existing between such large and powerful portions of our population as that which exists between Jews, Catholics, and Protestants must be recognized and dealt with without controversy. Suggestions as to Solution: i. Public School. There are several ways in which the problems may be solved. There is, however, but one practical way in which all the children may be reached and instructed properly and effectively. If the problem is of sufficient importance, and it is recognized at present as most fundamental, the public school curriculum should pro- [So] RELIGION AND MORALITY vide for moral training and instruction. The question of method and material of instruction is discussed in another chapter. The method and material is, however, a matter of secondary importance. The great problem is to provide the time and the means for such instruction. 2. Church. This can be done by rearranging the time schedule of recitation in the school, allowing time for one hour per day of moral training and instruction, or, if deemed advisable, to give up one day or such part of a day as is considered advisable to such instruction. The children of the several faiths and beliefs could be assembled in their several rooms, where instruction could be given by those appointed by the several church authorities or such other authorities as a community might agree upon. These teachers are not necessarily the day-school teachers. The teachers who' give such instruction represent the community interests. This would be a matter for the church authorities, for the school authorities, and the parents of the community to agree upon. Plan Explained. It is a very practical way of solving the problem. A somewhat similar plan has been adopted by Germany and Austria. In several com- munities in our own country almost the same plan has been carried out. Such a plan allows Catholics to instruct children of that belief. Protestants instruct Protestants. Jewish children also are instructed by their own teachers. If such a plan should be adopted by a community, those responsible should insist upon competent instruction. The personality, the devo- [8i] MORAL EDUCATION tion, and earnestness of the teacher are too im- portant to be given a secondary place in such an es- sential matter as moral training and religious instruc- tion. Mechanical or perfunctory instruction will accomplish little good. The time devoted to the work is unimportant unless the instruction be right. Religion and Progressive Social Efficiency. While morality has its roots deeply imbedded in religion and has derived its sanction and its validity from religion, nevertheless, there is a distinction which is most ap- parent. Religion itself is undergoing a change. The religion of the present and of the future is one of service rather than of worship. Religion is becoming moral or social in its operation. Religion finds ex- pression to-day in working for the general good, rather than for a creed or doctrine. It is becoming more vital. It concerns itself less with sermons and ritual, and more with practical good and the right development of man. Society and Man. Life is no longer measured by material wealth. A man's value for the betterment of the community counts for more than does his bank account or his church attendance. This is a most significant change and speaks for the new conception of social service in an ethical or moral sense. Good will and efficiency in service are increasing in impor- tance and in impressiveness among men. Men are of value and importance as they serve best. Man reaches a high level of attainment not through material suc- cess, but through service rendered to humanity. This does not mean that the religious conscience is disap- [ 82 ] RELIGION AND MORALITY pearing, but rather that it is finding itself in a larger field of good. It means that there are times when all denominations work together in a community with enthusiasm and conviction for good. People thus associated accomplish much. It is not a question of denomination. It is not a question of creed. It is a question of man and his good. Problem — Betterment of Man. People of differ- ent temperaments will stand together and worship according to that which appeals to their emotions. This is inevitable and proper. It does not deny the value of a creed or affirm that denominations must disappear. It establishes, however, the fact that the betterment in man is the fundamental purpose of the religious conscience and its expression is in works. Moral Life and Social Service. The moral life is then also the spiritual life, and it expresses itself in terms of social service rather than in terms of church ceremony. It finds its highest expression in doing justice to man, in loving mercy and truth, in walking humbly before God, and rendering such service as he is capable of, and making better the thing touched. To labor for the general good, to give of your spirit and enthusiasm for good, to help the unfortunate, to labor for the permanent well-being of those whose abilities, advantages, and opportunities have been of an inferior order, is to express a religious impulse of the highest order and consequently a moral order of supreme value. Moral education, then, deals primarily in the early life of the child with those faculties that respond to the unseen and unknown. These faculties are more active [ 83 ] MORAL EDUCATION in early life than in later life. If they are well de- veloped they are foundation stones of good character. Religious Instruction as Related to Character. The religious instruction and moral training of the present day should supply the young with principles of living fit for the foundation of good character, and should be worked out in concrete habits. Great and good characters can be used to teach religious principles. These characters may be selected from biblical litera- ture or from modern life. Religious instruction and moral training should furnish the child with concrete ideas. It should use the fundamental instincts to create the deeper motives. If character is to be formed nothing can accomplish it so surely as religious teaching and training. Children Wanting in Reverence. The one great thing needed by the present generation is more rever- ence, more self-control, more moral discipline, and a release from the moral poverty with which it is struck. Man should become a master of himself rather than a slave to his low and cheap desires. The community is rich. Luxury is at hand. Pleasure is the thing sought and the ideal is success. The child early begins to lead the life of an adult, whereas children should remain children as long as they are children. Need of Strengthening in Vital Principles. The new order of training children begins with the nursery. The child is not trained to submit to command, or to that which is proper, but too often is allowed to do as he pleases. Sometimes children are coaxed to change their minds, sometimes persuaded, and sometimes [84] RELIGION AND MORALITY bought, but seldom is it that the child obeys from the principle of obedience. No one who has not learned to obey can be master of himself. Play Spirit and Growing Life. In the kindergarten children play. This spirit creeps into the other years of school life and the path of least resistance is fol- lowed. Children learn to make a few pretty things in school. They toy with basket-making and mat-weav- ing, and make many useless things. But the chief things which make life worth living seem to disappear. Duty, responsibility, respect, industry, quietness, good manners, and those other virtues which make people delightful are passed by to make room for the ''do as you please and follow your own inclination " order. The lesson of self-control and self -discipline should be learned by all, and until it is learned we must pay a heavy price for the luxury of indifference and waste in the spiritual as well as in the material life. Trifling Remedies Prescribed. All kinds of little remedies are prescribed and offered as cures. Sex education is one of them. But profound knowledge of the sexual life will neither help the individual nor the community, until the individual has learned the lesson of self-control as well as that of his social obli- gations, and has acquired the will power to suppress his immoral impulses. It is necessary that a serious appeal be made to the conscience of men and that children are once more trained to believe in, and exer- cise that control necessary to make them self-respect- ing, right living and acting individuals. [85] CHAPTER X TTIECONTENT OF MORAL EDUCATION Importance Acknowledged but Insistence Wanting. There is no subject so much discussed at the present time as moral education, and there is no subject in which the content of instruction, the material of in- struction, and the methods of instruction are so uncer- tain. The difficulty is that it has been discussed, but society at large has not insisted upon its being done. Until the community does insist, ways and means will not be provided. Content of Moral Instruction. As regards the con- tent of moral instruction, it is to be kept in mind that the instruction and training must find a point of con- tact with the child's point of view. The content, then, should consist, at any given stage, of those principles of the moral life that find a place in the child's grow- ing nature and activity, conditioned by the instincts in control at that time, and it should meet with a ready response from the child itself. It would be useless to lay down lines of conduct and principles of action that make no appeal to the child's nature. The material, then, of moral instruction must bear and have a definite relation to the principles of the moral Hfe, and this [86] THE CONTENT OF MORAL EDUCATION material should be such that it finds ready expression in the concrete life of the child. Period of Life Considered. The teacher must take into consideration the stage or period of life with which he or she is deahng. In the primary school one is dealing with a certain condition of intellect, of feeling, and of will, that is, a definite period of child- hood. From the ages nine to fourteen we are dealing with another period of childhood. Therefore, the moral instruction should be in keeping. Political and eco- nomical problems should not constitute the main features of moral instruction in the primary school, but problems of the social life, problems of respect, kindness, love, afTection, and so forth, are the themes or topics with which the primary teacher deals, and in the main these problems enlarged according to the growing nature of the child to meet his expanding life, are the problems with which the grammar school deals also. The simple moral precepts, the simple ethics of the family life, examples of personal endeavor, ex- amples and instruction of ideal manhood and woman- hood, appeal to pupils in the elementary school. In the adolescent period the boy and the girl feel within them- selves expanding life, the branching out, as it were, of their physical activities, of their enlarged interests. It is no longer the home life alone, it is not the one envi- ronment to which they have become accustomed, it is the larger affairs of life with its complex relations that belong to the developing boy and girl. They wish to find themselves active in affairs of the world. This demands, then, a readjustment of their social con- [87] MORAL EDUCATION cepts, a development of political concepts and an enlargement of the concept of individual efficiency. Course of Study. Courses of study are easily made and outlines of work are readily fashioned, but it is not our purpose to indicate in any detailed way such a course or outline. We shall merely indicate in a general way the prominent factors observed in this investigation of children. The results were such, and these factors so prominent, that we include them in more or less of a schematic way for the use and service of those who are interested. Division of Course of Work. Any course of work in moral instruction and training must, therefore, be divided as has already been indicated in a previous chapter as material for instruction and finally for moral training. The work of the first four years of the school life should consist principally of moral training. The content of instruction should consist of stories, poems, readings, directions, and memory work such as appeal to the child at that state and age of its progress. It must also fall within the experiences of the child. We may then divide the work somewhat as follows : 1. Instruction. Instruction should be given using the material that will assist in the training planned for the pupils. This material will consist of stories taken from history or literature, and poems appealing to the instinct which we desire to further develop and use for the child's best good. 2. Training. By training we understand securing on the part of the child a definite reaction in certain help- ful and beneficial ways. That is, the habit of cleanli- [88] THE CONTENT OF MORAL EDUCATION ness is established, the habit of obedience, the habit of self-control and the habit of good manners. (a) Cleanliness. This requires much care and ef- fort on the part of a child's parents and teachers. The child should be trained to be clean in all his personal ways, not only as regards his hands, face and body, but his clothing — clean with all that he does and with all that he handles. (b) Obedience. Obedience is a virtue which should be early established in the child's life. It carries with it the idea of quietness and silence, order and respect. (c) Good Manners. By good manners we mean that politeness in speech and action that indicates a spirit of good-will, respect, and intelligent action, that should bespeak every well-trained boy or girl. (d) Kindness. This refers to all acts of the child as regards his relation and attitude toward all people and all things. (e) Truthfulness. This is a most important and fundamental virtue, and the child should be taught early, and trained to be true at all times to things as they are and in no way avoid the consequences of acts by resorting to deceit and falsehood. (f) Promptness and Punctuality. This implies obedience to promise, faithfulness to tasks assumed, and means much for the child's success in life. (g) Helpfulness. This is a habit and is peculiarly one of training. It is perhaps in a way a more or less superficial virtue. One may be careless in his habits and still possess good-will. Helpfulness is a matter of forming the habit of doing those little things that count [89] MORAL EDUCATION for much, such as care of clothing, care of personal things, leaving things where we find them, putting things in their proper places, assisting others whenever opportunity presents itself. (h) Respect. Respect for one's superiors, respect for the right, respect for one's elders, respect for age, respect for all things of worth and value, and apprecia- tion of worth and acknowledgment of value. (i) Industry. Faithfulness to tasks imposed or as- sumed. The habit of doing one's part. The habit of not letting others do that which is ours to do. (j) Good-will. To build up the right motives and, therefore, the right attitude toward all humans; to be possessed of the spirit of kindness and good-will and generousness. This carries with it also the idea of peace and its fruits. (k) Generosity. Shares with the less fortunate in and out of school. Yielding in games and play where no principle of honor is involved. Kind in judging one another. (1) Patriotism. Wise celebration of national holi- days. Care of public property, parks,, and lawns. Care for public health. Sanitary back-yards and so forth. (m) Responsibility. Holding one's self strictly ac- countable for that which one is capable of doing, and which will be of advantage to one's self and others. Doing the right thing so far as strength and capacity permit. (n) Punctuality. Being on time at work and at school. Punctuality begets confidence and respect. [90] THE CONTENT OF MORAL EDUCATION Keeping one's word as to time in all engagements, and being faithful in all appointments. Three Fundamental Concepts of Life. The moral life is intimately connected with three fundamental concepts of life — ^the social, the political, and the in- dividual. Instruction in moral civics and in civics as such is fundamental at this stage. The boy and the girl must understand and see clearly what the political in a democracy means. They must also be taught to see the moral and ethical relation of the new society of which they are to form a part and in which they are to be active. Individual efficiency also demands a reconstruction, not only of the concept of efficiency, but of the moral side of the same, for the boy and the girl now begin to feel manhood and womanhood spring- ing up within them, and they must be taught clearly what these things mean in relation to their changing social conditions. This demands wise instruction and thoughtful teachers. It cannot be given in any hap- hazard, mechanical way. It demands the highest kind of teaching. It is really the fundamental thing in school instruction. If it is not, the more intellectual teaching is of practically no account. It demands care- ful thought on the part of the teacher, careful prepara- tion, careful and systematic study with judgment and with wisdom. Too many teachers have little or no conception themselves of what these things mean. Self-control, respect, and loyalty on the part of teachers is often wanting as well as on the part of pupils. Instruction in Grammar School. Instruction in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth years of the grammar [91] MORAL EDUCATION school should be more fully developed and more widely applied in practice than in the preceding years of the school life. It should consist, however, of instruction and training following the line of work laid down for the first four years of the child's school life. We may divide the work a little more carefully and a little more in detail, outlining the work for each of the several years. Fifth Year 1. Instruction. Instruction should be given using the material that will assist in the training planned for the pupils for this year. This material should consist of stories from the Bible, from literature, from history, from biography, and such other material as will de- velop those ideals and ideas which are to be given a definite place in the training and practice of the pupil for this year. 2. Training. Providing concrete experiences. (a) Nobility. Manliness. Generosity. Self-denial and self-sacrifice for others. Bravery in helping or saving others. Confession of injury done to another. (b) Courage. Doing the right thing no matter what it costs. Doing the right thing in the schoolroom, in school work, on the street, in the homCo Moral courage. (c) Perseverance. Doing the hard or disagreeable tasks in the right spirit. Never letting down in the struggle to accomplish the task. Fighting hard to the end in play and in work. [92] THE CONTENT OF MORAL EDUCATION (d) Self-control. On the street, in the home, in the school. (e) Honor. Doing the manly and the womanly thing. Not changing because of the effect upon one's self. Keeping promises. Doing the honorable thing. Holding fast to the right in spite of influence. (f) Respect and Reverence. For parents. For teachers. For the aged. For those who have done distinguished service. For those in authority. (g) Gratitude and Thankfulness. To parents. To all benefactors. To God the giver of all good. (h) Forgiveness. Of all those who confess their faults. Of those who have wronged us. Of our ene- mies. Generosity in dealing with the faults of others. (i) Confession. Of all wrong done another. Frankness and candor. (j) Honesty. In keeping one's word. In little things. Cheating in anything is ignoble and base. Honesty is the right thing. (k) Good Manners. General, at home, at school, at church, in conversation, in public, on the street, in an audience or assemblage. Sixth Year I. Instruction. Establish an ideal for this year. Use the proper literature to develop it, to give it a content and enrich its meaning. Use stories and poems, biographies, history. Let the ideal be heroes. A hero is a real man or a real woman. Use the stories of living men and women. [93] MORAL EDUCATION 2. Training. Providing concrete experiences. (a) Honor. To honor one's self. To honor one's family. To honor one's friends. To honor one's home. To honor one's country. To honor truth. (b) Courage. True courage — daring to do right and to defend the right. Faults — daring to do or de- fend the wrong. True courage is bearing unjust cen- sure or enduring unpopularity when you are right. Courage in danger or misfortune. Heroism. (c) Humility. True greatness — not blind to one's own faults. Modesty. Avoid pride and vanity. Self- conceit is a sign of self-deception. True humility is not servility. (d) Self-respect. Not conceit — but based on con- scious moral worth. Not self-admiration. Results in personal dignity. Distinguish between self-love and selfishness. " Be not wise in your own conceit." (e) Self-control. Control of temper. Avoid hasty words. Be not provoked. Self-restraint. Rule your own spirit. (f) Good Manners.. General, at home, at school, at church, in conversation, in public, on the street, in an audience or assemblage. Seventh Year I. Instruction. Instruction this year should take place through discussion and readings from all material that can be brought to bear and be of use in developing the main theme for the year which is service. Pupils at this age should begin to appreciate and realize that all are dependent one upon another, and that social service [94] THE CONTENT OF MORAL EDUCATION is the high mark of young manhood and womanhood. (a) Service to be rendered the home. (b) Service to be rendered the school. (c) Service to be rendered the community. (d) Service to be rendered the state. (e) The debt we owe others in service given us. (f) Service to be rendered to one's self, in order to become an intelligent and thoughtful member of society. 2. Training. Providing concrete experiences. (a) Prudence. In speech and action. Respect for the opinion of others. " Judge not that ye be not judged." (b) Good Name. Keeping a good name. Keeping good company. Earning a good name when young. The difference between reputation and character. (c) Good Manners. At home. In school. In company. As a visitor or guest. In public assemblies. On the street. Politeness to strangers. (d) Health. Duty to preserve health. Habits that impair the health, foolish and sinful. The body never forgives or forgets its abuse. To observe the laws of health is a duty. Sowing wild oats. (e) Temperance. Moderation in the enjoyment of the appetite. Abstain from that which is injurious. Courage to resist temptation. Cigarette smoking. (f) Evil Habits. Those that injure health. Those that destroy reputation. Those that dishonor one's self and family. Those that take away self-control. Gambling. Those that are offensive to others. Habits such as prevent one from holding positions of trust and responsibility. [95] MORAL EDUCATION Eighth Year 1. Instruction. Continue the theme of social service and nobihty of character. The hterature or material for this purpose is abundant. 2. Training. Providing concrete experiences. (a) Bad Language. Profanity is vulgar and v^icked. Obscenity is base and offensive. The use of slang is vulgar and impolite. (b) Evil Speaking. Slander is a serious offense. Repeating evil is base and low. (c) Industry. Work is a duty and a privilege. Labor is honorable. Self-support gives manly inde- pendence. Avoid debts. The right use of time. (d) Economy. Saving of time and money means comfort and independence. It is a duty to save a part of one's earnings. Extravagance is wrong. Wasted time destroys social service and injures others. Wasted energy is a burden to both home and society. The right use of time. (e) Patriotism. The true meaning of patriotism. Noble motives are a public good. Love of country and obedience to a high sense of service to man and State. (f) Civic Duties. Obedience to law. Respect for authority. The meaning of perjury. The meaning of bribery. Dignity and honor of good citizenship. (g) Gratitude and Loyalty. Shown by regard for public and private property, and by habits of industry and usefulness. Gratitude to the community for school privileges and for other community and State privi- [96] THE CONTENT OF MORAL EDUCATION leges. Respect for and observance of days set aside for honoring the worthy. (h) Duty and Responsibility. Imposed by privi- leges and opportunities for education, health and ser- vice. Assuming responsibility, and nobility of being self-directing. [97] CHAPTER XI WHAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE DONE Record of an Added Investigation. The results of this investigation would be incomplete without the added record of another experiment covering a period of ten years. This period of years overlaps or in- cludes, the five years of investigation already referred to, and contains the records of the same boys and girls, and the following facts are the records of work, and influence of the public school upon seven hundred grammar and high school boys. Statement of Investigation. For ten years a com- plete and accurate record of all boys and girls gradu- ating from the high and grammar schools, with which the writer has been associated either in the capacity of principal or superintendent, was kept. A complete and accurate record of all boys and girls for that length of time who have not graduated from either grammar or high school was also kept. This record called for all facts concerning the school record of these boys and girls, and in addition, what they did and how well they did it for five years after leaving school. This involved a great deal of work, but a careful and sympathetic interest was kept up in each case, so that the writer might be able to judge accurately of the progress or [98] WHAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE DONE failure of the boy or girl in life. Many of these young people were situated so that the writer met them often during the year. Others were in colleges where it was possible to get accurate reports of their work and progress. Some were at a distance with whom it was necessary to correspond to the extent of keeping in touch with what they were doing. Sometimes and often it was possible to get an accurate statement from their employers as regards their work, service, and progress. Method of Investigation. By means of letter and personal association this record was kept for a period of ten years. This was done in order to make a com- parison of the product of our public schools, and the efficiency of the public school with the work done by those who did not complete its course. Results — Grammar School Boys. For obvious rea- sons only boys are considered here — 500 grammar school boys and 200 high school boys. Of the 500 grammar school boys considered 321 of them entered high school. The remaining 179 left school between the sixth and eighth year of the grammar school course. A tabulated list of the occupations taken up by these 179 boys follows: 49, clerical positions in New York City, paying from $5 to $12 a week. At the end of four years their economic posi- tions were practically the same. 5, plumbing; the pay at the end of four years was union wages. Success at trade, good. 17, grocery delivery clerks, wage at the end of four years was $7 to $9. At the end of four years they were doing the same thing. [99] MORAL EDUCATION 6, hack or cab drivers. Same at the end of four years. 4, no particular work. At home. 3, blacksmiths. Wage, $2 per day at the end of four years. 2, telephone operators. Same at the end of four years. I, driver of milk wagon, $8 per week. 3, clerks in drug store. Average wage, $7 per week. 41, day laborers. Wage, $1 to $1.50 at the end of four years. 8, farm hands. Wage, $24 per month at the end of four years. 1, baggageman. Wage, $1.25 per day at the end of four years. 2, sailors. Wage not known. 2, janitor's assistants. Wage at the end of four years, $20 per month with board. 7, messenger boys. 'Same at the end of four years. 20, floaters — odd jobs — failures. 3, reform school. 3, died. I, machine shop. Successful. I, in business for self. Doing very well. Results — 321 Entering High School. Of the 321 entering high school the following tabulated list gives their career for a period of five years. The careers of those leaving high school before the completion of the course will be given first : 18, entered a business college to complete work quickly. Took positions as stenographers. Doing well. 4, bank clerks. Still bank clerks. Wage, $60 per month. 5, private schools. Completed course. Entered college. Did well. Now in business. II, insurance clerks. Doing well. Wages, $15 per week. 9, carpenters. Wage $3 per day. 19, day laborers. Wage $1.50 per day. 5, grocer's clerks. Wage $8 per week. [ 100 ] WHAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE DONE 2, surveyor's assistants. Wage, $1.50 per day. 3, electricians. Wage $1.75 per day. 7, idlers. Live at home. 4, masons. Wage $3.50-$4.oo per day. Doing exception- ally well, 1, iron foundry. Wage, $1.65 per day. Doing well. 4, letter-carriers. 3, truck-gardeners. 2, barbers. Wage $9 per week. 3, bell boys. Wage unknown. I, hardware trade. Failure. 6, trolley-car conductors. Faithful employees. I, with father in mercantile business. Doing well, 1, telephone lineman. $2.00 per day. 2, farmers. 2, died. 3, paper trade. Doing exceptionally well. 1, reporter. Very successful. 2, custom house. $100 per month. Doing well. 1, a very successful retail grocer. Results — Students Graduating from High School. The schools of the students whose records are indi- cated in the tabulated lists were situated in towns suburban to New York City. The majority of the pupils entering high school graduated. The per cent entering college was large. Of the 200 graduating from high school, 151 entered colleges or technical schools. The record for the forty-nine who did not enter college reads as follows : 6, studied law in night law course. Are successful. 5, mercantile trade. Doing well. 9, mechanics. Wage, $2.75-$3.50. 7, life insurance. Fine business men. Successful. 2, painters. Doing fairly well. MORAL EDUCATION I, trainman. Wage $50 per month. 1, fireman. Wage $60 per month. 5, odd jobs. Not successful. 2, heads of departments of a department store. Successful. 3, advertising business. Successful. 4, stenographers. Doing very well. 1, stationery store. Quite successful. 2, carpenters. Wage $3-$4 per day. I, painter, earns a living. Results — Students Entering College. The record for the 151 entering college is as follows: 7, failed to complete course. They are engaged in busi- ness and doing fairly well. One is unusually successful. 24, completed work in engineering courses and are earning from $1500 to $3000 per year. 15, are practicing physicians. 18, completed law courses. All are doing well. 3, ministers. 1, charge of city electrical plant in Iowa. Large salary. 10, successful electricians, with corporations. 17, teachers. Successful. 5, traveling salesmen. Successful. 4, died. 8, in business with father. Hard to decide as to success. 4, manufacturing. Doing well. 7, fail to attach themselves to any particular occupation. Not successful. 2, importers. I, author and writer. 3, druggists. Successful. 3, farmers. Scientific courses in agriculture. Successful. 12, with New York insurance companies. Salary not known. They are successful. 3, architects. Doing fairly well. 4, commercial life. Seem to be successful. [ 102 ] WHAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE DONE Conclusion. From the foregoing record it is in- ferred that the work and influence of the pubUc school is good. The grammar school boy is too often judged by the business man, using standards that have taken years of experience for the business man to attain. The conspicuously weak spot in the education of the boys and girls of to-day is the home. The weak spot in the school is the lack of enough thoroughly trained and successful teachers. There are too many young girls who lack tact and understanding. Fortunately we do not have more than two or three in a large school. The school is doing more than its part. The home is not handling its problem as well as it did fifteen years ago. This is noticeable in suburban communities. It has been our observation and experience that those pupils who fail to complete or master the public school work fail in very much the same way in life. The Need of a Properly Equipped High School. A well organized and practically equipped high school that adjusts its work to the needs of the community is indispensable to the needed and complete training of the boy and girl. It is necessary for the boy who seeks preparation for a business or commercial or profes- sional career to be carried to that point where he is enabled to master details of the particular work chosen. He is not mature enough at fourteen to enter life or enter upon a business career. The high school enables him to profitably employ his time and ability in more thorough preparation for his work. This presumes that the high school is adjusted to the needs of the community. [ 103 ] < INDEX Activity, pupil, ^2 character of, ^2 American civilization, three fundamental principles of, 53 Art of teaching, 50 Body, hygiene of, 54 Beliefs, opposed, 80 Character, place of, i related to religious moral teaching, 84 Children, 84 wanting in reverence, 84 trifling remedies prescribed, need of strengthening in vital . principles, 84 growing life of, 85 play spirit of, 85 Church, 5, 36, 81 Citizenship, 'j^ morality of, 76 training for, 76 City Hfe, Z7 its influences, zi Cleanliness, 89 Community, 5 Confession, 93 Contact, point of, 51 personal, 51 Correlation of religious train- ing and deportment, 10, II home training and deport- ment, 10, II scholarship and deportment, 10, 14 Courage, 92, 94 Course of study, 88 divisions of, 88 [I instruction, 88 training, 88 Deportment, how determined, 10 factors used, 10 judgment, how formed, 11 Doctrines, opposed, 80 Duties, civic, 96 Economy, 96 Education, moral demand for, ^' 3 . Efficiency, social relation to re- ligion, 82 Ethical instruction, 41, 42, 43 Evil speaking, 96 Food and sleep, relation between moral life, 55 Forgiveness, 93 Generosity, 90 Good-will, 90 Gratitude, 93, 96 Habits, evil, 95 Health, 95 Helpfulness, 89 Home, importance of, lost, 8 a question of agency, 36 failure of, 38 in physical life, 39 in moral life, 39 Honesty, 93 Honor, 93, 94 Humility, 94 05] INDEX Ideas, individual versus universal, 80 Industry, 90, 96 Influence, religious, 11 classified, 11 Instruction, 88 moral, demand for, i moral, provision for, 2 religious, 2 how it may be given, TJ ethical, 8, 41 in grammar school, 91 fifth year, 92 sixth year, 93 seventh year, 94 eighth year, 96 Investigation, method of, 9 material used, 10 object of, 10 collated results of, 12 how classified, 12 arrangement of results, 12 results, 13 conclusion, 16 aim of, 16 statement of, 98 how conducted, 99 results, grammar school boys, 99 results, students entering high school, 100 results, students graduating from high school, loi results, students entering col- lege, 102 Kindness, 89 Language, bad, 96 Life, physical, 54 concepts of, 91 social, 91 poHtical, 91 individual, 91 city, its influences, 37 Loyalty, 96 Man and society, 82 betterment of, 83 Manners, relation between morals, 59 good manners, 59, 87, 93, 94, 95 good manners related to physical control, 60 good manners and success, 60 good manners, training in, 60 good manners, grouping of, 61 Method, of graphic representation, 13 of obtaining per cent, 13 of direct moral training, 7, 41, 43, 44 effect of, 44 of indirect moral training, 8, 41, 43, 45 place of, 45 advantage and disadvan- tage of, 46 of combination methods of moral training, 8 of incidental moral training, 42 effect of, 44 Moral education, demand for, i trend of public sentiment, 3 problem of, 5 content of, 86 materials of, 86 periods of, 86 Moral instruction, demand for, i provision for, 2 content of, 86 materials of, 86 periods of, 86 incidental, 2 method of, 41 direct, 41, 43, 44 indirect, 41, 43 incidental, 42, 45 method versus results, 43 [ 106] INDEX correlation of methods, 43 teacher and, 48 relation to higher form of spiritual life, 79 Moral life, 55 relation between food and sleep, 55 social service and, 83 Moral problem, 5, 8 present tendency of, 5 scientific investigation of, 9 thrust upon school, 38, 39 Moral thinkers, three classes of, 7 Moral training, in public schools, 2 in private schools, 2 in the home, 2 material success of, 3 universal demand for, 3 methods of, 7, 8, 41 direct, 7 indirect, 8 combination, 8 ' in early life, 45 recitation period of, 71 relation to higher form of spiritual life, 79 Moral weakness, its tendency, 6 Morality and religion, 2 rooted in religion, 78 rewards and punishments, 78 Morals, relation between man- ners and, 59 Name, good, 95 Nobility, 92 Obedience, 89 Patriotism, 90, 96 Perseverance, 92 Physical body, the, 54 Physical life, 54 results of, as shown by in- vestigation, 56 safeguards the moral, 57 statistical results, 57 well-being of child, 55 virtues and vices, 55 [I Principles, in American civil- ization, 53 Problem, moral, 5, 7 scientific investigation of, 9 thrust upon school, 38, 39 Problem, public school, suggested solution of, 80 plan explained, 81 Promptness, 4 Prudence, 95 Punctuality, 89, 90 Recitation, medium for moral instruc- tion, 6s formal nature of, 6s prominence given, 63 judged from disciplinary- standpoint, 64 wasted time in, 65 criticisms of, 65 object of, 65 objects enumerated, 66 used to secure ends, 66 new order of, 67 added responsibilities of, 67, 86 critical period of school day, to give experiences, 71 period of pupil activity, 71, 72, 73 period of moral training, 74 socializing of, 75 Religion, influence, 11 how classified, 11 what religion is, 77 Religion and morality, 2 qualitative versus quantita- tive, 8 remedies prescribed, 85 Religious instruction, how it may be given, 79 Respect, 90, 93 for parents, 3 for law, 3 for authority, 3 Responsibility, 90, 97 neglect of, by home, 38, 39 failure of, by home, 38 07] INDEX Reverence, 93 School, added responsibility of, 67, 68 instruction in grammar, 91 fifth year, 92 sixth year, 93 seventh year, 94 eighth year, 96 public, supplementary to home, 2>7 record of, 98 Sunday, 36 Self-control, 93, 94 Self-respect, 94 Society, its responsibility, 5, 67 institutions provided by, 6 their purpose, 6 attitude toward public school, 6 usurps functions of home, 8, 38 man and, 83 Social service, and moral life, 83 Study, courses of, 88 Success and good manners, 60 Sunday-school, 36 Teacher, enthusiasm for subject, 49, knowledge of subject, 48, 49 preparation of subject, 48 mechanical, 49 student of child life, 49 exponent of own teaching, 50 standard of, 51 Temperance, 95 Training, 88, 92,, 94, 95 moral, in public school, 2 moral, in private school, 2 moral, in home, 2 moral, method of, 7 home, II, 13 how classified, 11 Truthfulness, 89 Wealth, 7 eftect upon youth, 6 [108] LIBRARY OF 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