CHAPTER II THE FUNCTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL THE function of the high school may be considered in its relation to the elementary schools, to higher institutions of learning, colleges, universities, and technical schools, -to the pupil, and to the State and society. The high school is part of a system of public education, consequently it should stand in organic relation to the other parts of that system both below and above; it serves an age of youthful unrest, and it should minister wisely to the peculiar needs of that age; it is supported by society and the State, hence it should serve their interests. RELATION TO THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Historical Résumé. -No attempt appears to have been made to effect a close articulation between the elementary schools and the Latin grammar schools. The former scarcely looked beyond themselves. The latter looked forward to the college. The academy and the elementary schools had this much in common, that they both looked not to a higher school, but to the preparation of their pupils for the duties of practical life. But the fact that the elementary schools were generally supported by public taxation while the academies were private institutions supported by endowments and fees, prevented unity of management and concerted action. In a general way it was possible for pupils of the elementary schools to pass to either the grammar school or the academy, but there was no organic relation between them. The relation between the high school and the elementary schools has always been close. The latter were established to serve the interests of the people at large in their relations to the State and the Church, and in that capacity they became very popular. Indeed, it was owing to their popularity that the school committee of Boston felt called upon to establish the English Classical School, the first free public high school in the country. The people appreciated the free elementary schools so highly that they were glad to tax themselves to support a higher school which should continue training not for college but for life. The high school, historically considered, is simply a continuation of the elementary schools. The Latin grammar school was generally free, but it passed away because it made poor connection with the elementary schools, and because its programme of studies appealed only to those of the people who saw in it a means to enter college doors. The academy appealed to the people as far as its ideals and its programme of studies were concerned, but it declined because it was not free and made no organic connection with the elementary schools. The high school grew because it was free, it was organically a continuation of the elementary schools, its programme of studies appealed to the practical views of the common people, and, more recently, because it leads directly to the doors of the college. The Relation of the High School to the Elementary Schools as they exist to-day is suggested by this historical résumé. Both are the children of the people at large, and not of any particular class. The function of the elementary school is to teach all the children of the nation the elements of morality, good health, and good citizenship, and to give them a mastery of the tools of intelligence and culture, with such elementary information concerning nature and mankind as may be taught during eight or nine years of child life. It is the function of the high school to continue that work with such change of means, subjectmatter, and methods as the changing needs and abilities of adolescence require. So close is their functional relation that it were well to have no gap between them of which the pupil may become more or less painfully conscious. Function of the Elementary School. - Considering more in detail the general statements of the preceding paragraph it may be said that, besides the moral and social purposes which characterize all schools, the function of the elementary schools is to give the pupil command of the tools of education. These are reading, writing, arithmetic, and the ability to use the mother tongue effectively in writing and speaking. With these arts at his command the child has the key to all learning. They are usually acquired during the first five or six years of school life. If the pupil has been well taught, he has also acquired incidentally a considerable number of facts valuable for purposes of culture and information. To these may be added the experience gained apart from particular connection with school life. But during these years the school must never forget that its main purpose is to give the child efficient command of the means which he will use in all his future educational attainments, as well as in the performance of the duties of daily life. In the second period of the elementary schools, the period usually called that of the grammar school as distinguished from that of the primary school, the emphasis is shifted from the mastery of the means of knowledge as a purpose to the mastery of knowledge itself. Incidentally, practice in the use of the elements acquired in the primary grades is continued, and this phase of the subject must receive considerable attention, but it is no longer the main purpose. Geography, literature, physiology, grammar, history, advanced arithmetic, and civics are taught not so much because they are the means of acquiring additional information, however valuable they may be for that purpose, as because the knowledge gained in the study of these subjects has in itself practical and cultural value for the pupil. "Snow-Bound" is not studied (at least it should not be) as an exercise in reading, writing, and spelling, but because it presents certain social, moral, and æsthetic ideals, and certain facts which are considered of practical and cultural value in life. A knowledge of percentage is helpful in business. A knowledge of physiological facts is useful in caring for one's health. Geographical information aids in commercial enterprises. And so with the other subjects regularly taught in the seventh and eighth grades. They are information and culture studies, with the emphasis now on one phase and now on the other. Criticism of Existing Course of Study. There are many profound students of education who think that the elementary school is the least efficient part of our publicschool system, and that its course of study should be largely reorganized. In fact, it is generally conceded that there is great need of enrichment of the elementary school course and of a closer connection between it and the high school. Some of the criticisms urged against the present conditions are as follows: 1. The difference between the function of the primary school and the grammar school, considered from the psychological view point, is not properly recognized, and subjectmatter and methods are not changed as they should be. 2. In general, too much time is required to accomplish the results actually obtained. Either less time should |