ÀҾ˹éÒ˹ѧÊ×Í
PDF
ePub

ly utilized, that they be assembled in one group and be arranged by one responsible head; therefore,

"Resolved, That there be established in the University a School of Education, which shall embrace all such courses, and that Dr. A. Ross Hill, Professor of the Philosophy of Education, be appointed Director thereof.

"Further, Resolved, That Director Hill be requested to prepare and issue at his earliest convenience a circular of information of the aforesaid School of Education.

The new School is created by this resolution of the Board, but its organization must await the further action of the Faculties, and especially of the University Faculty. Questions of courses, of degrees, of government and administration must be carefully considered. On those matters the President ventures to make a few observations and suggestions.

As to organization there is in this University the analogy of the "School" of History and Political Science and the "School" of Philosophy within the College of Arts and Sciences, as at the University of Oxford there are "Schools' of classics, of history, of law, of English literature, etc. But, as the new School of Education is to embrace subjects given in different Colleges of the University, a closer parallel is perhaps presented by the Summer Session, which is generally designated the Summer "School." In none of these Schools is there a Faculty with independent powers nor does the work done in any of them count towards a 'degree unless it satisfies the conditions established by the Faculty which has jurisdiction over the subject concerned, which is generally the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. These Schools are mere integrations of differentiated departments or combinations of related departments engaged in a common work.

The Colleges of Law and Medicine offer only remote

parallels. Students in those Colleges devote themselves exclusively to the study of professional subjects. But the student who is preparing himself for teaching should devote three fourths or more of his time to the pursuit of a liberal education, with special attention of course to the subjects which he later expects to teach. Consequently these.

students should remain under the Faculty in charge of those subjects; they should not be segregated in a separate organization, at least until the long period of general education is complete and the short period of professional training begins.

It is now held by experts that the minimum scholastic requirement for a secondary school teacher should be graduation from a college maintaining a four year course during which, while gaining some insight into the different fields of knowledge, he has also made a detailed and specialized study of the subjects to be taught and also obtained a general acquaintance with one or more of the social sciences and one or more of the mental sciences (with a view to appreciating both the social and the psychological aspects of education). If the professional training were embraced in the A. B. course, it is held that not more than one eighth of the time should be devoted to it. This work would include the history and philosophy of education, special methods of teaching the different subjects, the organization and management of schools, and, if possible, observation and practice in teaching.

As students in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell are already permitted to devote even the whole of the senior year to professional study, it will be possible for them to take all the professional work in pedagogy which should be given in the A. B. course without registering under another Faculty. This will prevent a division of allegiance and, what is even more important, an alienation from academic

and scholarly interests. Nor, unless a fifth year is to be prescribed, would any new degree be called for.

But a fifth year is undoubtedly demanded in an ideal plan. The undergraduate in arts would take no pedagogy during the first two years, in the junior year he might take one course which has a value for general culture, like the history of education, and perhaps two courses in the senior year on the theory of education. This would leave for the fifth year the more strictly professional and practical work, though the candidate should also be required at the same time to take at least one graduate course in the subject which he expects to teach. The degree of A. M. might be conferred on the satisfactory completion of this year's work; but it should be conferred only on the recommendation, both of the professor of the subject to be taught and the head of the School of Education. The diploma would, in effect, certify that the graduate was a master and docent in the subject he professed.

A similar arrangement could in all probability be made. in the case of students in technical courses who might desire to qualify themselves to become teachers of manual training, drawing or the fine arts. These too during the four year course would remain enrolled in their respective Colleges, only in the third and fourth years they should be permitted to elect in the aggregate two or three courses in the history and philosophy of education.

It would seem, therefore, that the establishment of a School of Education would not make any difference in the method of registration and enrollment of prospective teachers which is now followed in the University. The vast majority of such persons, in the future as in the past, will enroll in the College of Arts and Sciences. And, whether the School of Education be a division of that College like the School of History and Political Science or sepa

rate from it like the Summer School, makes very little difference.

If, however, a fifth year of specialization in pedagogy is prescribed, and a master's degree conferred, the administration of the School would, in accordance with the existing statutes and practices of the University, devolve upon the University Faculty. And, considering that, though the College of Arts and Sciences is the one especially involved, there will also be teachers of the fine arts and the industrial arts coming from the other Colleges of the University, the University Faculty seems a more appropriate agency than the Faculty of any particular College.

Hitherto no mention has been made of the College of Agriculture, though it is a most important factor in the scheme. This is because that College presents some exceptional features which call for exceptional arrangements. So far as students regularly enrolled in the four year course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture are concerned, what has been said above applies without qualification to them. But it is a deeply cherished hope of all the friends of the College of Agriculture that it may in some way contribute to the improvement of education in the rural schools, which are of course elementary schools, in which teachers serve for a salary of a few hundred dollars a year. These teachers will not be college graduates, nor is it necessary that they should be for the successful performance of their duties. Yet, if the education in the rural schools is to be vitalized, the reform must be accomplished through the teachers. The first step is to supplement the present system of book-education with natureeducation, that is to say, with education by means of their rural environment, including the farmer's plants and crops, his flocks and herds, and his methods of handling them to earn a livelihood. These are objects of scientific interest

not less significant than the collections of an herbarium or museum; and for children on the farms they are vastly more important. At present country school teachers are untrained in this field of nature-study, whether pure or applied. The State College of Agriculture seems to be the pre-ordained organ of such education for New York. And it is the policy of the Trustees of Cornell University and the Faculty of the College to give careful attention to this work. Naturally special courses dealing with farm crops, farm plants, and farm animals must be prepared for the instruction of the rural school teachers who can be induced to come here for a year or two. And such teachers, on whom the revivifying of our whole system of elementary education depends, must be welcomed by the School of Education and admitted to pedagogical courses arranged with special reference to their distinctive needs. But this provision for country school teachers need not derogate from the standing of the School of Education as essentially an institution for the professional training of college graduates who desire to become secondary school teachers or superintendents. It seems probable too that the School of Education can render the best service to rural teachers, not by offering them new pedagogical courses, but by co-operating with the Faculty of the College of Agriculture in making the courses to be offered in rural science educationally valuable and effective.

However the organization and functions of the School of Education may finally be adjusted, the President has no doubt of the successful work which it is destined to accomplish under the direction of Dr. A. Ross Hill, whose return to his alma mater has given keen satisfaction to all who knew the man or followed the course of his career in other universities. His appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences cannot fail to keep the School of Educa

« ¡è͹˹éÒ´Óà¹Ô¹¡ÒõèÍ
 »