larly the mother of children. Her life is spent in the home. Her sphere is restricted Her only companions Her only companions

by national custom. outside her family are other women like herself. She either holds back the Americanization of her family or they leave her far behind, the victim of a very real tragedy. Any Americanization program which does not provide for her is only half a program. The workers in this field must be of the optimistic type, for the progress is slow, the work hedged round with difficulties. The women are not more apathetic than the men, but the nature of their duties makes attendance at classes, however conveniently located, extremely difficult. The older women can be reached only through afternoon classes in nearby schools, settlements, and private houses. Teachers of these classes must be possessed of tact, patience, and personality if they are to achieve any success.

The children of the recent immigrants. present a problem to the day school, arriv

ing as they do variously equipped as to education in their own language, but utterly ignorant of English. Experiments to determine the most efficient way to handle this type are still under way. The usual plan. is to segregate them in a special room under a teacher trained for the work, who turns them over to their proper grade as soon as they qualify in English. The complete and rapid Americanization of these children takes place as a matter of course. A young tree is readily transplanted.

This hasty sketch of the Americanization problem fulfills its purpose if it has demonstrated that time is an important, a necessary factor in the solution of that problem and that our capacity to Americanize even under the intensive program of recent years is limited. The conclusion would seem to be that the supply of raw material should be limited as well. If we are to conduct a national melting pot, let us use at least the ordinary common sense and discrimination with which every foundryman selects and regulates his supply of ore.

"D

EMOCRACY is the worst of all political evils," was the remark of Eldrige Gerry in the Constitutional Convention. This remark is not altogether out of harmony with the teacher who says, "Whenever the pupils begin to participate in the government of my classroom, I am going to quit the school business."

If we believe in democracy we must begin its practice in earliest youth. Too long it has been a vague term whose real meaning was seldom understood. To teach its mere theories to our youth and expect by some happenstance that these theories will be applied when these youths become citizens is almost a sheer waste of time. They are already citizens, functioning as such, and should be given a chance in school to practice democracy by developing habits of co-operation and leadership to the best of their varied abilities. Our failure in school to stimulate this inborn capacity is one of the reasons why politically we are many generations behind our economic development. Boys playing ball on a vacant lot show us what they can do in organizing and carrying on an activity. Likewise in the classroom a common purpose will automatically develop student control.

With the advent of the socialized recitation socialized discipline is almost imperative. Our whole classroom procedure has been so unlike real life that three types of reaction have resulted. First, that pupil who is of the practical turn of mind finds school life monotonous and often quite and becomes a successful business man. Second, that type which accepts the theoreti

*All rights reserved. E. W. McFarland.

cal and unnatural "preparation for citizenship" in our schools often never gets beyond this stage, but is always academic in matters of citizenship. Third, that group. who, chiefly by their own intuition, really vitalize their academic training are the leaders in governmental affairs. With the socialization of school work we have found boys and girls rising to the occasion much beyond the expectation of even their teachers. In the election campaign of last fall, when our boys and girls felt they were helping to solve the election problems, we found them much better informed than the average voter. The Cleaner Community Campaign again showed them seriously attempting to solve the problems of health and sanitation in a big city. They like a real job and one that counts for something. In attempts like this the problem becomes a school problem. Differences between the class and teacher are swept away and those pupils who fail to fall in line. find the lateral pressure of their mates censuring them. This is many times more effective than any disapprobation of teacher or principal.

Self control is impossible without socialized control. Self control has reference to the individual in terms of group activity. Our actions are determined at all times according to the way we interpret our relations to our fellows. The result of our interpretation is our so-called self control. The child who comes in contact with a new group of playmates fits himself somewhere in the organization. His mind is a social one and is part of the whole social organization. It is not self controlled, but is determined by the group. In our socialized

room courts take charge of offences committed in the room. In addition to the room courts there is a supreme court which takes charge of offences of a general character, such as occur in the corridors, on the school ground, on the street, etc. This court meets once a week.

"Taking charge of the discipline in this way tends to lift the morale of a school. Those who hold office feel that certain dignity and honesty of purpose is demanded of them. Others try to attain to the position of leaders by being worthy members of the school. No one whose conduct is such that the school could not be proud

of him is elected to office. Then, too, groups are made to feel responsle for the officers who represent them. In this way a spirit of worthy school membership is developed. Pupils take pride in the appearance of the building and school grounds. They keep the yard free from paper and other litter. This spirit is beginning to spread to the neighborhood so that school work is truly made to function in and out of school.

"If the principal and teachers believe in their pupils, socialized discipline can easily be brought about. It will be the greatest asset the school can have."

The question of creating a number of educational districts sufficient to cover the state in such a way as to furnish annually to every teacher a thoroughly good institute commodiously located at a point which can be reached with the least possible expenditure of time and money will be discussed at the meeting of the Michigan State Teachers' Association in Detroit, Oct. 26-28. This will not interfere with the present plan of holding an annual state convention.

This plan is being fostered by the reorganization committee of the State Teachers' Association, which consists of Edwin L. Miller, principal of Northern High School, chairman, and Harvey H. Lowrey, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

MR. MILLER'S ARGUMENTS

Mr. Miller declares in support of the plan that the general meetings of the state association are so crowded that only a fraction of those who wish to attend can do so, that division will improve rather than impair section meetings by giving greater scope for informal discussions and affording more people to engage in active work.

The opportunity to meet friends, to discuss common problems and to enjoy that social atmosphere which adds the final touch to professional enthusiasm, it is declared, is in inverse proportion to the size of a meeting.

"Such an arrangement," Mr. Miller states. "would reduce the expense to the teacher. It would give every teacher once a year an opportunity to get the inspiration that a good convention gives. It would multiply the number of teachers trained in educational leadership. It would increase the membership of the association, enlarge its revenues, and give it resources it now lacks for educational research and advancement. To be more specific, it

could determine the ways and means of financing. public education, prepare a program for educational legislation, provide for the adoption of that program, study curricula, adapt instruction to present local needs, investigate costs, institute economies, study educational types for special groups, investigate school buildings and building programs, and establish a teachers' agency on a basis which would insure proper promotion to teachers and provide qualified teachers to school boards."

OPPOSITION REASONS

At present, it is urged, conventions can be held nowhere except in Detroit and Grand Rapids, while other cities could accommodate smaller gatherings.

The arguments against the plan are that it might spoil the unity of the Association, lower the standard of programs, increase their cost and by multiplying meetings lay a greater burden on taxpayers and educational leaders.

In answer to these the committee of reorganization declares that the division has not impaired the unity of associations in other states and that there is no thought of abandoning the general state meeting. Also that the increased cost of programs will be met by increased membership and that no program is so costly as a program which can not be heard. To avoid multiplying meetings it is suggested that the present county institutes be abolished by appropriate legislation and that district conventions be held in places readily accessible at low cost to all teachers. The additional burden on educational leaders is declared negligible, as it is their business to meet teachers and division would enable them to do this more commodiously than is now possible.-The Detroit News, Sept. 10, 1921.

THE RELATION OF THE LUNCH ROOM TO THE DOMESTIC SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF

THE SCHOOL

In some cities the superintendents of schools have insisted that the head of the domestic science department should run the lunch room. In many cases the pupils working under the direction of a teacher have attempted to do all the work of preparing and serving the lunch. Such an arrangement leads invariably to the limiti.g of the variety of food that can be served, and puts too great a burden upon pupils and teachers.

The type of management that seems to work out best is to hire a manager, put him entirely in charge of the buying, preparing, and serving of the food, subject to the supervision of the head of the domestic science department. If the pupils have a part in the preparing of lunches, this preparation should be in an independent kitchen and should be previously arranged by the teacher in charge of the classes. For example: if a class is studying the preparation of soups, it could give notice to the lunch-room manager that on a certain day it would like to furnish soup, on another

All rights reserved.

day, perhaps, the pie, another day the meat, and so on until the domestic science pupils have some experience in all the varieties. of foods served over the counter. If a pupil wishes to become a cook or a manager of a restaurant, she should supplement her school training by an apprenticeship in the lunch room and devote her whole time to lunch room work over a period of several weeks or months.

SIZE OF LUNCH ROOM

The lunch room should be sufficiently large to provide every pupil with a seat at a table while eating lunch, whether or not the lunch is bought at the school or brought from home. A fair estimate of the space required can be determined by allowing eight square feet of floor space for every student. This space includes counter and aisle space, but does not provide for the kitchen. These dimensions assume that care be taken to select the proper size and shape of tables, and to place them properly in the lunch room.

It is not advisable to attempt to seat all pupils at once in a school that has more than two hundred pupils. It is easy to arrange the class hours so that groups can be served in sections.

The diagram on page 24 shows how a two, three, and six group schedule can be arranged for lunch periods. With a six period schedule, a room seating two hundred pupils will easily serve twelve hundred.

LOCATION OF LUNCH ROOM

The lunch room should be a high, well lighted, well ventilated room with outside exposure. It should be well decorated, al