The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, January 12, 1913, SECTION FIVE, Page 8, Image 64

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    8
THE STTNDAT OREGOXIAN. PORTLAND. JAXUART 13,' 1913.,
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This attractive design is worked out in the new cut-work and eyelet embroidery, the
bowknot being worked in the cut work, and the flowers in either the eyelet or a French
embroidery. In the cut work the decign is first carefully buttonholed, then, after it is
laundered, cut out closely around the buttonholes.
There are two ways to apply the designs to material upon which you wish to work
them. If your material is sheer such as handkerchief linen, lawn, batiste, and the like
SPHERE OF THE UNIVERSITY
BY RALPH J5HAFER.
? Professor of History, University of Oregon.
(Paper read before the college and nor
mal section of Western Oregon Teachers'
: Association.)
T
HE safety, prosperity and progres
sive development of a democratic
commonwealth all depend upon the
education which the society provides for
the successive generations of its peo
ple. We use the term education broad
ly to describe the sum of those influ
ences which operate upon men with
the result either of training or en
lightenment. Hence the institutions of
education would here Include the home,
the church, the shop and the market
to name no others as well as the
schools. Some societies both In ancient
and mediaeval times relied mainly upon
the natural educational agencies, like
the home, the church and the industrial
and commercial organs. But these
were static societies, in which each
new generation was expected to fol
lowing undeviatingly the orbit of Its
predecessor in life habit, vocational
activities, thought planes and thought
ranges. Our 20th century democracy,
"which by contrast is dynamic, demand
ing progress as authoritatively as an
cient societies demanded conformity,
cannot so easily equip Its generations,
each of which is destined to follow a
course partly distinct from those of all
Its predecessors. We have accordingly
come to rely mainly upon artificial in
stitutions called schools, where educa-
1 lion is supposed to be directed to the
two great objects of fitting young per
sons for activity in the life of today
and providing them at the same time
with the means of adjustment to the
probably different life of tomorrow.
Hence the commonwealth's interest,
which is becoming daily more absorb
ing, in the business of education
through specialized inttltutional agen
cies. The problem set us by your commit
tee is to mark off the sphere of one of
those agencies, the State University.
But since the State University Is ad
mittedly the apex of our educational
system, and therefore necessarily con
ditioned by and related to all other
parts of the system, a comprehensive
mode of treatment is called for. Edu
cational institutions, like other inven
tions, come In response to social needs,
and one way to determine the functions
of differing institutions is to ascertain
the different fields of service open to
them.
What. then. are. the fundamental
needs of a democratic state to which
school education should minister? First,
for safety, a moralized Intelligence
.which Is practically universal and
which has in it an Indefinite expan
sibilitv dependent on opportunity, In
centive and Individual gifts. Second,
for prosperity, a universalized Ideal of
efficiency with the training calculated
to realise that ideal. Third, for pro
gressive development, an inherent ad
justability, a social mutability if pre
ferred, which signalizes on the one
hand the conscious striving for ever
higher Ideals of social perfection, and
on the other an attitude of responsive
ness to wise leadership wherever it
may be found. The educational system
cannot create leadership, which is one
of God's choicest gifts to men, but It
can and does afford opportunity for
its development both directly, by means
of higher instruction, and indirectly
by placing at the command of all the
specialized knowledge which In the
hand of the natural leader becomes a
tool to the workman the very word
of creative purpose.
A generation ago it was commonly
thought that the first-named need
of a "moralized Intelligence- which is
practically universal" could be sup
plied by the agency called the common
school, in which children learned the
rudiments of science under the cus
tomary forms of reading, writing and
ciphering. Literacy, it was widely held,
implied morality, and the blend of these
two constituted the sheet anchor of
democratic government. The mastery
of the rudiments, moreover, under the
intellectual stimulation incident to our
form of government, was looked upon
as a sort of guarantee of "Indefinite
expansibility." provided there was any
thing in the Individual mind to expand.
The motto was: "Give a boy a good
common school education and then let
him root fol'himself."
Today we doubt both the moral and
the intellectual implications of mere
"literacy," while our Ideals of ef
ficiency have advanced so far on the
one hand and on the other the con
vulutions of the environing social life
have multiplied so rapidly that we
have utterly lost faith In the saving
efficacy of our once cherished doctrine
of the rudiments. The rudiments may
be well enough as rudiments, we ad
mit, but to develop morality the moral
precepts learned from the readers must
become habit in the life, and to secure
vital intelligence, which is self-sustaining
and progressive, there must like
wise be the formation of an Intellectual
habit. Education, we insist, has to do
with the building of such habits to
ward which the mere laying on of
rudiments may contribute as little as
the laying on of hands in a mimic cere
monial. To put it positively, education is a
dynamic process, or rather complex of
processes, each feature of which must
be carried far enough to become self
sustaining. Thus play, lifted .to the
plane of habit under the motive of
maintaining the body in fittest con
dition for the service of the mind, be
comes the dynamic form of physical
education at the same time that it
serves as a laboratory for the training
of the social virtues of fairness, poise,
good-fellowship and self-control. That
instruction In reading, which makes It
satisfy curiosity, bring new data to the
inquiring mind, serve the interests ot
all the practical activities, open vistas
Into the future, and transmit to th
soul glimpses of the "far- land," is
genuinely dynamic because it holds the
promise of progressive widening ana
deepening of the intellectual and moral
life, with a harmonious development
also of the vocational efficiency of the
individual. So, likewise, is that In
dustrial training dynamic which by
actualizing the concept of the dignit
of labor makes a truer democracy, and
by elevating work to the plane of a
handicraft, implying skill, pride In ef
ficiency, and an eager desire to achieve
promotes Independence, self-respect
and the progressive growth of both
general Intelligence and morality.
It follows that the so-called "com
' OUTLINE, EYEliET. SATIN AND BUTTONHOLE STITCHES.
the simplest method is to lay the material over the design and with a well - pointed
pencil draw over each line. If your material is heavy, secure a piece of transfer or im
pression paper. Lay it face down upon this, then draw over each line of the paper de
sign with a hard pencil or the point of a steel knitting needle. Upon lifting the pattern
and transfer paper you will find an accurate Impression of the design upon your material.
There are two points to observe In this simple process if you would execute it satis
mon school" education, even when it is
of the best quality, falls below the re
quirements of our age because it neces
sarily stops short of the development
of firm life habits which mean char
acter. Such habit forming takes place
largely in the period just above the
common school age, OT in what is called
the high school period, which would
suggest that the school Influence
should follow the child several years at
least from the point at which the com
mon school drops him.
This period, too, from 14 to 18, is pre
cisely the stage of life in which the
vocational appeal comes to the youth
and in whicn, therefore, he can learn
a trade or business most economically
from every point of view. If he learns
it then he is permanently n the ranks
of the efficient workers; if he neglects
it, he may be ranked with the ineffi
cients, or the nonproductive, notwith
standing al". the attention lavished
upon his general education, for he may
be unfitted by nature for any of the
intellectual callings toward which
alone his preparation leads. I am in
clined to believe that It would be to
the Interest of a democratic society
like ours to provide an opportunity for
every boy and girl to learn a trade dur
ing the high school period. Not that
every one would necessarily be bene
fited by taking advantage of such an
opportunity, though the majority
doubtless would be. Those who early
manifest a pronounced absorption in
intellectual or artistic concerns and
who glimpse their future careers along
such lines might in many cases find
the turning aside for an incidental vo
cation unprofitable. But many even of
this class would relish some trade
school work and they could probably
carry it easily In addition to the or
dinary college preparatory or other
cultural high. school course. I confess
It would be a satisfaction to me as a
father who naturally has hopes for his
sons, to see every one of them school
trained to a trade. And herein I voice
the sentiment of a large proportion of
parents.
- Now, there is no denying the fact that
American commonwealths are onty just
awakening to the significance of such
industrial training. Up to. now our
Ideals of efficiency have been mainly
such as are characteristic of frontier
communities rather than of fully de
veloped industrial societies. We have
cast aside the old expensive, mediaeval
system of apprenticeship and have sub
stituted for it nothing definite or gen
erally effective, assuming rather the
attitude that American cleverness is a
sufficient substitute for training. We
have blinked the facts of the wide
spread disinclination among our people
to settled employment of any kind, with
the resultant loss to production; the
bad work bo characteristic of many
American craftsmen who lack that pro
fessional spirit which Idealizes true
workmanship; the unfitness for self
support, on a respectable basis, of so
large a proportion of the supposedly
well-educated class. It has often been
pointed out that the last-named evil is
becoming aggravated every day. owing
to the increasing absorption of our peo
ple by the cities where children
grow up without learning the de
tails of any regular occupation, whereas
formerly .the vast majority of them
actually learned the trade of agricul
ture, albeit in many cases very crudely.
IN OREGON'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
WTe are now seeking a corrective to
these errors of the past, and we find
it in institutions organized on the trade
school basts for the training of boys
and girls of high school age. We are
beginning to see that the high school,
so tar from being a mere fitting school
for the colleges, should be a fitting
school for life as it manifests Itself in
the local community complex in its
character, or simple, as the community
life suggests, but in all cases deter
mined by the leading interests of the
community, which, in turn, fix the vo
cational destinies of the majority of
'those seeking secondary school train
ing. And this training is coming to be
looked upon as a continuation of the
common school training in a more in
tensive fashion and with a more clearly
differential aim. Thus in some rural
communities the pupils leave the com
mon school to enter the agricultural
high school, where the theoretical as
well as the practical side of their fu
ture vocations is inculcated under ideal
conditions as to equipment, teaching
force and laboratory facilities. We re
cently found the students of one of
the admirable county agricultural high
schools in Wisconsin conducting a com
mercial creamery. These students go
out to the farms of the county to in
spect the livestock, study modes of
tillage best adapted to the different
soils, make plans for drainage systems
and other farm improvements. They
build silos for the farmers, thus ef
fectuallzlng their knowledge of con
crete work and Incidentally saving the
farmer about one-half of the usual cost
of his silo. In some small cities the
mechanical trades are emphasized, the
high school course being built about
these trades which are taught partly
in the schools and partly In the shops
of the city. The students earn money
as workers In these shops during their
high school course and nevertheless get
'credit" tor the work as a part of their
school education a condition of things
the bare suggestion of which would
produce heart failure in a certain well
known type of schoolmaster.
It is high time for Oregon as a com
monwealth to systematically promote
the development of vocational high
schools. The coming' Legislature could
serve the people well by bringing in a
well-digested law providing state aid
to communities which are prepared to
take the initiative along these lines.
Such legislation should leave the com
munity absolutely free to determine
the dominant character of its schools
according to local needs, but It should
provide for adequate Inspection to
guarantee the quality of the . work
done, whether the school be an agricul
tural trade school, a mechanical trade
school, a domestic science trade school,
a commercial trade school or any other
type or combination type of vocational
school. What the state is interested in
is to secure high efficiency in the body
of its producers along all the lines of
development on which Its future great
ness depends. The new State of Arizona
has set us a good example In Its high
school law, which grants aid to any
community supporting a satisfactory
vocational school, whatever the voca
tion favored by the community.
But it was stated above that a demo
cratic society requires, for its progres
sive development, "an Inherent adjust
ibllity" signalizing a striving toward
the ideal and a responsiveness to wise
leadership. By means of education we
seek to develop the native qualities of
leadership and also indirectly to pro
vide the materials with which true
leadership everywhere works out its
particular Ideal of social betterment.
To secure this adjustibility Is the high
est function of a democratio education
al system in our age, because it is this
which guarantees the future of the
democratic state.
Let me repeat, the age Is dynamic.
It is characterized by the fact of con
stant change under the motive of im
provement. No period of the world's
history is In this respect exactly par
allel to our own. Changes have some
times come as rapidly, perhaps even
more rapidly in particular directions,
but they have never been so nearly
the normal conditions of every feature
of the human environment or of human
life itself. Tradition rightly exercises
a restraining Influence, but Its claim
of authority is widely disregarded and
in truth Is being put forth In tones
growing progressively weaker.
No better illustration of the age
tendencies need be presented to a body
of teachers than the condition of edu
cation itself. Is there a single feature
of the system, or an item in its mode
of operation., that today escapes the
most searching criticism? Moreover, is
it not plain to all that our educational
institutions are in the mild agonies
of evolutionary change? The very act
of conceiving them under the older
categories is Intellectually mischievous.
The common school, the high school,
the normal school, the college and
university all today find their metal
in the melting pot of public -criticism,
and the significant, question about each
is, not "What was It?" or even "What
is It?" but "What is it going to be?"
And so with nearly every other in
stitution coming down from the past
along the highway or the bypaths of
social tradition. The government of
the state itself, through which the
people exercise the high function of
self-rule, is changing in essential
character as In outward structure. The
municipality, with its multifarious ac
tivities, is changing; its government Is
being readjusted to the needs of today,
and old forms, methods and activities
are passing. The county, the township,
the school district, road district; the
social organizations, the eleemosynary
Institutions, the religious institutions,
the commercial and Industrial Institu
tions all are undergoing changes, and
many of them are being transformed
under the same resistless striving for
better adjustment to social needs.
Under these conditions, what will
suffice as a chart to govern society's
further navigation in search of the
Blessed Isles? Only wisdom, nothing
ut wisdom! "Give us wisdom or we
perish!" cried Carlyle in his day. and
for our bhoof that cry should arise
more persistently and more clam
orously. The need is wise leadership,
together with a popular attitude of re
sponsiveness to wise leadership.
I recognize the undefined term in
this formula, and I am mindful of the
difficulty of showing Just what wise
leadership is. But whatever it may be,
assuredly It Is not Ignorant leadership,
and against ignorant leadership so
ciety can Insure Itself by a proper in
vestment In higher education. Per-,
factorily. One is to see that your material is level cut and folded by a thread and that
your design is placed upon it evenly at every point. The second is, when placed accurate
ly, secure the design to the material with thumb tacks or pins, so it cannot slip during
the operation.
Do not rest your hand or fingers upon any part of the design you are transferring, else
the imprint of your fingers will be as distinct as the drawn lines of the design.
haps it should be pointed out that
ignorance in a leader is not equivalent
to illiteracy. A man may be most lit
erate or even well read to appearances,
and still be mischievously, destructive
ly ignorant for the purposes of lead
ership. Without special knowledge to
cover special problems, and an attitude
of mental responsibility, no man is
equipped for leadership.
By higher education we do not Imply
the education offered In any one of the
existing institutions, for, as now or
ganized, no Institution has a monopoly
in that kind of education. Aside from
any immediately practical or conven
tional values, I mean by higher educa
tion that cultural process which most
completely liberates the native powers
of the mind and habituates the mind,
rendered free in action, to the guid
ance of ascertained principles and
abundant knowledge.
In addition to their function of train
ing Individuals, our institutions of
higher education are coming to be re
lied on for that investigative function
whose aim Is to assemble the best at
tainable data upon every vital problem
affecting the life of the commonwealth.
Such knowledge Is thus made available
to all who can use it for the guidance
of themselves or others. Through men
of higher school training In part,
through self-trained natural leaders In
part, through the sane reactions of the
body of citizens, it becomes the ef
fective means of securing safely the in
finite adjustments and readjustments
incident to our passionate urging to
ward the better social order.
Our institutions of higher education
must train the investigators; they must
train administrators who will carry for
ward the work of Investigation even
while applying to practical problems
principles already ascertained; they
must train the men and women of the
professions, as the teachers, the min
isters, the engineers, the lawyers, phy
sicians,. Journalists. Not that none will
enter these callings save through col
lege doors, but the institutions of
higher learning are the normal train
ing ground for the professions, effective
service in which implies:
First Good native ability.
Second Severe training, coupled with
a soul enlarging Intellectual experience,
which should develop insight and result
in, third, the power and disposition to
solve intellectual problems ' as a reg
ular feature of the dally life. This
gives us a very distant remove from
the state of the natural man and Im
plies long years of devotion to the
things of the mind. Thus it comes
about that preparation, tor the strictly
professional careers In our day gen
erally takes place on the basis of a
preliminary training, which amounts to
the equivalent of from four to eight
years above the. common school. Once
more the spirit of these remarks Is
not "no others can enter," but rather
"few others succeed in entering," and
those few should be acclaimed as the
choicest fruits of natural selection.
Shall elementary teaching be classed
among the professions, or shall It be
ranked as & trade pursued' in the pro
fessional spirit (which is also the spirit
of the true master craftsman) and un
der the professional guidance? It is
possibly worth while to raise the ques
tion, even though it be not answered
here. If it Is a trade, then so far as I
can see there is no exception to the
rule that professional training begins
on the educational plateau rather than
on its plains, and employs methods in
harmony with that fact.
Ey way of summary, what, of all the,
work described, should properly fall to
the State University?
First It Is a place for training In
vestigators and for making researches
bearing upon the varied social prob
lems clamoring for solution. This field
is peculiarly its own, though It recog
nizes and welcomes the participation of
other institutions fitted to perform por
tions of It. -
Second It Is a place of preparation)
for all the usual professions and it
should probably train also for a com
ing profession of state and city ad
ministrator. Third It promotes the common weal
by throwing the light of publicity on,
problems previously Investigated by
professors or students, as for example)
the problem of good roads, of the con
servation end utilization of state
owned water power, the problem of
workmen's compensation and employ
ers" liability.
Fourth Through extension lectures)
and correspondence courses, it alms ta
assist the upward struggle of the peo
pie everywhere.
Fifth It tries to help forward tb
organization of forces hitherto latent
which are calculated to promote the
general welfare in any large way, as
by bringing the public schools to real
ize their true functions as centers of
community service.
Sixth It alms to promote educational
organization In the Interest of greater
efficiency as in setting forth facta
favoring the establishment of voca
tional high schools.
The university stands for the service
of the commonwealth to which It looks
for support. It does not profess to be
lieve itself perfectly equipped as yet
for every branch of service normal to
its life, nor does It pretend that others
can perform properly no portion of the
service called for. It confesses the sav
ing doctrine of modern social life co
operation. It recognizes frankly -certain
problems in higher educational
organization in this state, and I feel
safe in pledging its investigation and
its general co-operation towards the
solution of these problems, as of all
others. In the Interest of the whole
people of Oregon.
JOSEPH SCHAFER.
University of Oregon, December, 1911
A New Sachet.
Cincinnati Tribune.
A new sachet which Is quite Frenchy
is made by folding a piece of satin in
the form of a small envelope. A flat
piece of wadding the same size, which
has been opened and powdered with
sachet, is slipped Into the envelope.
A small print of a French court lady
Is pasted on the envelope, it Is first
surrounded with a piece of gold lace,
the edge of which is pasted to the back,
of the picture.
Pink satin envelopes with these pie
ture seals are very effective.
One-half dozen of these sachets would
make a lovely gift, as they are Just the
thing to tuck among dainty lingerie)
and dress accessories.