August, 1945
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Progressive Education? Two challenging articles have ap peared in the columns of The Satur day Evening Post. The theme under discussion was the matter of the so- called modern approach to education, or what has been termed “Progressive Education.” The writer of the first article is now principal of a school in Michigan, and for a number of years was an enthusiastic supporter of pro gressive education. The theories of this revolutionary movement were somewhat as follows: to free the pupil from regulations, and the fear of authority in the school room; to eliminate the dread of fa il ure; to adjust curricula to the men tality of the average student; to group classes by age and social ad justments, and to permit the individ ual to advance as speedily as he was able and willing. For nearly twenty- five years, these theories have been tried in school rooms throughout our land, but today, according to Princi pal Owen, there is a decided retrac tion of this policy. The trouble with this idealistic theory was that it just did not take into consideration the propensities of human nature. It pro vided no means of discipline. The teachers learned, and learned the hard way, that in the class room someone has to be boss. Those little boys and girls who had delighted and awed the teachers in the early grades by d i s p l a y i n g their ingenuity in amusing themselves in the school room were not nearly so attractive as they began to emerge as insubordi nate ten and twelve-year-olds. It is not difficult to see that a great amount of present-day delinquency is the direct result of the lack of re straint in conduct by the teachers of this method. Principal Owen readily confesses his mistakes, and his desire to return to the old-fashioned principles of ed ucation. He sees some good things in the progressive system which may be salvaged and used, but, in general, his idea is to swing back to a system where the teacher controls the pupil and not the pupil the teacher. He points out that our development as a civilized people has come through training ourselves to endure certain restrictions, and that Christianity, which he admits to be the greatest single influence upon the develop ment of humanity, in its essence de-
mands control of most of the natural instincts. He states that schools train ing boys and girls to express them selves without restriction, are causing our twentieth century youth to revert to the state-of savages. Now, of course, we as Christians, see a great deal more in this than Principal Owen has pointed out. The truth which was suggested but not clearly expressed is that boys and girls are born with their faces away from God—born of sinful parents and with a fallen nature. This nature, when stripped of the veneer of civili zation, is revealed to be selfish, un ruly, cruel, and ungodly. The only cure is the new birth. But for the purpose o f governmental duties in this world, God has given the child par ents, and these parents have been in structed by His Word regarding the rearing of their children. The Book of Proverbs in the Bible sheds an amazing amount of light on parental responsibility. It is commanded to spare not the rod; through the appli cation of physical correction, the child is to be guided through the shoals of ignorance. As far as our own country is con cerned, it is generally conceded that the men and women of pioneer days exhibited to a greater degree than the people of today, unselfishness, courage, strength and tenacity of pur pose. Their superiority in this respect may be attributed to the fact that they were reared in homes where par ental discipline was strict and where parental love was strong. Children were taught that obedience to parents was one of the first requirements of God. It is high time that the edu cators of our land of America saw the handwriting on the wall. They had better return to the old-fashioned ideals of discipline, obedience and hard work for the class room. This w ill have a saluatory effect on Amer ican life and the prosperity of its citi zens, for education geared to God’s way is truly the only Progressive Education. ★ ★ Tax Exemption The recent law enacted at the last general election in California gave re ligious and charitable institutions ex emption from the real estate tax. It is estimated that this law will save the Catholic institutions of the Los Angeles District $100,000 a year.
Morale Building An entirely new method of military procedure is the suggestion of General issimo Chiang Kai-shek that the Na tional Christian Council of Chungking enlist a thousand Christian workers to serve as morale o f f i c e r s in the Chinese army. If and when this is brought to pass, it will be the first time that a non-Christian nation has set up a Christian chaplaincy for its armies. These morale officers will be a l l o w e d freedom of m o v e m e n t throughout the army. What a marvel ous opportunity for China, and what a bright hope for China’s tomorrow! There is the definite command that Christians are to pray for “kings and all that are in authority.” The pro mise is given too “that we may live a quiet and peaceful life in all god liness and honesty” (2 Tim. 2:2). We wonder sometimes if the lack of a quiet and peaceable life is not trace able to the failure of God’s children to thus remember in definite and con certed prayer the needs of our leaders. ★ ★ Juvenile Smoking An item from The Associated Press states that a special smoking room has been set apart at a public gram mar school in Shelby County, Ten nessee, for juvenile smokers. Accord ing to this report, nine youngsters, ranging in age from twelve to four teen, frequent this room at noon for a cigaret. The principal states this is done in order to eliminate smoking en the campus. Apparently all that is required to secure the use of this room by the youngsters is a request from their parents.
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