. nation.
l
‘_
or Control Boys”
" “' "ES,” -. Says England
' National Association of _
Schoolmasters, at Nottingham, '4
Asserting That W omen. ' hr
. InstruCtors Areiithe Ruination .
of the Nation, Resolve “That
Every Boy Over Seven Shall
- Be Taught by a Man
Because Women Emotionally
' Are Unable to Understand
a
a
the Thaining of
a
. '.‘NO;"%7Says-América
' Prominent Educators on‘iThis . .
i 'Side'iofdenounce-Say '
'Woineit Are Indispensable in
i That a Woman Has More ‘
, Patience, More Thordughness,
Along With the Maternal
Instinct, and . Wields Greater
I Influence Over Boys
I ahcl Girls ‘
Youth, and J '
' By Margaret M. Lukes .
WHETHER our school children should
be taught by men or Women is a
question on which the Anglo-Saxon fam-
ily has just split. England favors the_
men; America is in favor of both, but
especially the women.
Should women teach boys? la the
woman teacher able to whips regular
boy into line and make him toe the mark
as the male teacher does?
On such and similar questions the dis-
cussion started a few weeks ago in
Great Britain. Asserting that woman
instructors are the ruination of their
the National Association of '
Schoolmnsters, at Nottingham, England,
adopted a resolution that every boy more
than seven years of age be taught by a
man. .
The contention was made that women
emotionally are unable to understand or
control boys. It was even spiritedly
held that the inability of women to
handle boys was responsible for an in-
crease in juvenile crime prevalent in
England today.
In rebuttal of the schoolmasters' con-
tention, the National Union of Teachers.
an‘ English organization composed of
women, characterized as “silly and un-
healthy the segregation of. boys and girls
in schools,” saying "it is a principle
which ought to be relegated to the mad-
house——-n product of war and pugnacious
prancings by the National Association of
Schoolmasters.” ‘
Thercupon the English pedagogues
proceeded to put themselves on record
against the woman teacher. Bid here's
the other side of the story on the other
side of the globe. America rises to ac-
' claim and staunchly supportdhe school-
marm!
Leading educators here extol the
woman teacher. Not only is she as cap-
able to handle young boys as the man
teacher, they say; in some ways she
surpasses the man teacher and makes
contributions to the general scheme of
the boy's school training which no man
could possibly supply. She has more
patience, more thoroughness. She has
the maternal instinct, indispensable in
training those who are young.
The woman has the finer apprecia-
tions and can implant these in the life
of the boy. As for control, well, sex has fl
nothing to do with it. Strength of char-
acterof the individual alone his.
“The ideal combination is both the
man and the woman teacher—not only
for boys but for girls. Children are born
of two. They should have the advantage
of both inheritances in their education.
Just as in the home the influence of
._ a mother and father is needed, so in
the school we need the same combina-
tion." ‘ ‘ ~ "
HIS was Miss Flora J. Cooke speak-
ing. She is head. mistress of the
—- Francis W. Parker School in Chicago,
one of the most famous institutions of
learning in the country. The school is
coeducational and both men and woman
instructors are on its roll.
“It is a fallacy," Miss Cooke said, “to
believe you can take a boy away from
the influence of the woman teacher for
most of the formative years of his life,
give him over .entirely to the influence
of men and expect. him to return and be
able to slip gracefully back into life
amtint: women, and that, after all, is the
normal life ahead or nearly every boy.
How can he have sympathetic under:
standing of. his wife and his daughters
if he llns known only men in thencoursa -
of hisbschooling‘!‘ Why introduce him
for years to a life in which women
scarcely figure stall? , ‘ ‘
"'I don‘t for one minute mean that we
should have, all women teachara. ”-1
have said, the ideal arrangement is to
have both, for each is ablato contribute
something the other cannot give. . But
I should ssy‘when the boy is younger the
Illand,’ as ‘ in
woman teacher has a little more to ill“.
She is the natural agent of human doe
velopment."
So while the Board of Education in
England settled the salary question by
adopting Lord Burnhem's recommends,
tion that women get about 83 per cent
of the men’s pay, here is what this
American educator has to say of women.
The woman teacher gives a boy hia-
tastes, his attitudes toward life. his apo
preciations. She gives to the boy a sense
of the beauty that may be found in liv-
ing. The woman teacher passes on to
her pupils the finer
merit. -
0n the other hand, just what does the
man teacher contribute to the develop-
ment of the boy? '
, Miss Cooke answered this question. ,
"What a man gives a boy is strength,
a certain sturdiness. He gives him that
impersonalness which men have and
which it is a very tine thing for them to
have. Women are of necessity more
personal than meta It is a part of their
nature. And' that's the reason why it's
of such great benefitto girls to have the
benefit of contact with the man teacher
as it is for boys to have the» contact with
a woman teacher. Each, you see, has
something to give to both and both are
valuable and necessary.” .
spiritual dcvelop- ’
CAN a woman handle boys? ‘
Miss Cooke, who began her train-
ing as an educator in the normal schools
under Colonel Francis W.» Parker, one
of the schoolmen who has gone down in
history and who founded the school Miss
Cooke no heads, laughed this question
away. . “ ' -
“Did you ever hear of a normal ,
mother who couldn’t handle her boys?
In many cases she can handle. them
better than their father can. it’s the
same way with teachers. And for women
not being able to understand boys,'why.
all the testimony of history denies this.
How many boys havetraced their great.
ness back to their mothers, and this is
not an empty phrase. The mother who
has beensable to influence the life of her
boy and inspire him to do great things
is the mother who has understood him.
This is no easy matter, but it is‘a'matter
women, perhaps because of their intui-'
tion, perhaps because of their instincts.
or perhaps just because. of their large
patiince, seem particularly adopt it.
“Attaching the same importance to
‘women as tonncn teachers simply goes
back to the argum'ent of coeducation in‘
the schools. I can’t think of any better
way to speak in favor of both than to
quote Francis Parker,' under whom I .
hakthe great boner 10!. serving.
“He said: ‘Why ’sho‘uld boys and girls
be taught together from the kindergarten
to the university, “inclusive? .Beciuso
they have to live together and to help
each other all through life and must
understand each other. The isolation or
the sexes ,in the schools has begotten
mistrust, misunderstanding. false fancies.
The separation of the sexes in the schools
I consider to be a crime against acclaim
It is often argued that the ashes difler
in intellect," capabilities and moral power "
and thus should be separated in? educaé
tion. If it is true,:it is {all theaters
reason why they should be togethei'. The
strongest factor in education is the re- .-
ilected light of; character ‘2'! character} "‘ "'
INTHE argument newengrossing edu-
cational circles intEngland the charge
is made that in Americaithe employ-
ment (of women teachers has. met with
disastrous’reeults. In Great‘nrlt'aiu it
must "be explained» Women teachers ”are
few and fanbetyreem In fict,,it is only “
now they areabeglanlng to count .them- ..
. selves in numbers. rThlI has caused the
{dot Ind the charge that women in. Eng. .
America. are unable t9
understand and control boys. g - . v .;
'. up
\\
You see,.
American in-F
structorsre-
sent the conten- '
tion of the Brit-
ibh schoolmasters
that women are not
competent'ae teachers
of boys, and among‘
those to voice their vie’ive '
are Miss Flora). Cooke,
,Chicago, and Stanley~ R.
" Yarnall, Philadelphia
wanting to have Quit
physical exercise
classes inspected by
women. '
-_ “But for the, actual .
teaching of the young boy '0 it".
found women providentialiy adapted-
ln the first place, a woman has
patience “ and thoroughness. "'0
qualifications ornabsolute necessity
when one undertakes the great he
ginnings of education. No man is
willing'to take the trouble with the
boy that a woman is. He wants
the mind when itis more formed.
when he can put something in it
and it will stay put and bear fruit.
“Not so a woman, She takes
these little chaps and molds them
with an infinite amount of patience
and uiiderstanding. It loathe wom-
an’s maternal instinct at work, and
that perhaps is the whole answer
to why a Woman makes such an ad-
, mirable. teacher of young boys.
. Has the American woman teacher ‘
turned out an unmanly boy? _
. Stanley misspell, head of the Ger-
mantown Friends’:. School of,._Philadel-,
.'. . ..
- ' ~ . . . ~r ‘ . \
Pb": I "0M, “limit”. replied to this 1‘6HERE is another reason why women
~ charge: , .
"The liest answer to this is to look
‘ at the performance of American boys in».
the war.- Whole willing” to say they
were lacking‘either in courage or initia-
tive? This ia‘;the'test of virility.”
Discussin’g‘dha disciplinary phrase ‘of
,the argument,“ said: “The control of
the boy ddesinotwdepen‘d ion the sex of the".
teachers lt‘depends‘on' the character of
that teacher. :A' weak men can’t handle
a boy as well as a strongwoman‘, and.
it’s inversely true that a weak woman _
can't manage aibo‘y as astrong man can. :.
Nit rests-entirely on theindiv
vidual.!’ f v 1/ ‘ ' ‘ ‘ .9
‘ In the.»Gennantdwn-;=Friends’ School
there are full departments from‘tho-..
kindergarten: through high: school. Boys
and girls . are found ~ in'jall j these depart:
ments. There has'been p peculiaroppori
tunity to, dbservejustj what has beeh‘,‘
mostibenetlcial:;in their training.
Here are (Mr. Ya 's findings: .
«“"Wé have discovered that‘up to the"
fifth-grid“ age women are better
tenherafor biiys than men.- There is .3
one “exception to boasted here. When
0111' boys with. 10ml: crud; wtphg .
them under man , instructors" -for-‘ « ash; .
letics. Wedguld not want this otha‘g. ,
wise. . Thor’plan‘ speaks for v. itself, and 1“,;
s pathise with the Nottingham schools"
have acquired for themselves more
fame than‘ men, as . instructors in the
lower grades; ' Women ,havetgone to any
‘ amount of trouble to study the psycho!-
'. ogy of children. .’ They: take- theégilnelt
courses there. are , in the great . univer—
sities; pore over tha‘bast'boolts on child
this. ' They consider teaching id’the lower
grades I mere:stopgap untllthey can
advance to, the = ‘high’ school or]. the uni-
..vsr’sity. _ Teaching ifor_ them». there is
more or less like the ppofession of teach-r
ing is supposed ito, be ‘forgirls-i-a mere
Maine-over process- ~ .Onlrthesirla. you ‘
‘ knowrere euppo‘s‘edWo be for marriage.
The last isn’t true, by the'wi'y. Women
are thesedays taking up schoolwork ‘aa
a‘spl'endid Leaner ,
worked over fordlif‘etime. .
'7 ‘fThus _ you» might any ~the women
“when: the grown boys are ‘ex-
Tpms, while ,. the ; men; "of, their - own
volitionJrem‘sini‘amateux-s... Nolmatter
Win“ the 'WQOMJ, Pflludiocsof any one _,
canted schoolmaster,
may be, he Willownnup it‘is better to
' have boysl‘er‘lndil‘DWL-w expert than
“amateur.”
Afterthe boys.ln..-thi,'a ~achool7rea'ch ,
the fifth grade'they ara'gi‘vsn' ‘a certain
men fitea'chers.‘ .. Gradually
cntaa“! , of
rare i increased.-‘= Mr. Yarns]!
this number I
g _ discuss‘edfthevsystem or education {in ‘
refine atxleastlona point “in their; {miea‘ctiea’ln England.’ There-it‘iathe cus-. changing ,phenomena all about them.
psychology. Men cah’the induced to do f
ind something to. be ‘
In England the woman teacher is a rarity, but in America slfi. has to a
great extent supplanted the man as instructor of juvenile pupils of both
sexes. Our educational system has less of the “treat-’em-‘rough” theory
than that of England, say those who object to the British method. Edu-
cators from. all parts of America point to the advantages of the feminine
,‘touch in the instruction of the young. “Just as in the home the influence
of mother and father is needed, so in the school we need the same com-
bination,” says Miss Cooke
_/
complete masculine influence when he
has reached only the mostltcndor years.
lie is sent away to one of lhe boarding
schools, where he is prepared for what
are styled the public schools of the
island, but which are in reality the fa.
moua historic boy colleges. To speak in
the vernacular all the way through this
all-masculine brand of education the
plan is treat 'em rough. It is the belief
that you have to treat a boy rough to
make a man‘of him. As a youngster,
he “fags" or serves as choreboy for the,
upper classmen. lie is culled about
here and there, and is supposed to be
not Worth his salt at all until he’s had
a couple of trouncings. Under this sys-
tem of education a boy does not come in
contact with a woman from his seventh
year on. And as he is in boarding school.
he misses out on the home influence of
women.
"We do not hold to this system in
America. Personally. I believe contact
with women establishes respect for them.
And many an American boy traces his
great respect for women to the influence
his teacher had on his life.”
THE discussion was broadened a few
days ago and taken from the school-
room to the home by a mother address—
ingrvother mothers. She said that fathers
should have a larger part in the up-
bringing of the family. She said that
under the guise of love mothers were
doing too much for their children. ,
This assaultcr of traditions was Mrs.
Helen Davenport Gibbons, mother of
four children, lecturer, writer and wife
of Herbert Gibbons, the historian, and
she expressed her views before a large
gathering of o'epresenta'tive members
of women's clubs. Apparently her re-
marks were pleasing rather than dia-
tasteful to those who heard her. She
said: “It is conceit on the part. of the
woman that prevents her from givrng
her husband his share in the children.‘
I do not. mean that the husband and ,
wife should share equally in the care of
the children; for that would be impos-
sible. I do believe, however, that they
should devise a means suited to the life
and occupation of both Whereby the
father would have the chance to know ‘
~ his own offspring.
“Many children are robbed of their
personality by the mother who insists
.0“ doing everything for them," the
'speaker continued. “In later yearsthey
will not measure their love for her by
the fact that she has made every stitch
of~their~clethes or has always provided
themwith home-made jam.- They will
tlfink of herrin the light of her person-
ality and her character.". .
master who presided in the little red
schoolhouse over the bill. It was this
painter who sedulously traced the way
through the three R’s which was then
thé sum total of education. As late as
1880 thepercentage of men teachers in
the‘United States was 48. In 1918 it
haddroppeMo 16 per cent. In 1920
tons. ,
Is the new Women, then, the solution
to the teacher par excellence in the
.. schools! And will America gradually-
wear down the prejudice of Great Britain
. and teach her than marked lessons she
.has learned herself? '. . .
The 'man‘was indeed formerly the ac—
but these are
- new days and in the scheme of things the-
job map for men and women is chang,
ing inwondrous whys. .
-It, was the woman cooking expert“
Mrs. ~ Sarah Tyson Borer, who gave
voice. to suchviews just the other day
arguaieht. ‘1‘don’t‘blaniau-thesntiter-notg‘f/tomgand traditionasomncomj boy under ! Manuel“ pointed out, are taking-non
i
ti"'-\' , t
. .. .
NOE upon a time it was theschool- ’
the professions of women, while women
in accordance are turning around and
taking on the professions of men.
“Man has taken the kitchen drudgery
from women’s shoulders," she said. .
“No one ever heard of a man cannot
When I was a girl. My mother did all
her own canning. My mother made all
her own soaps and cured hams as well.
She sent for women tailors who came
into the home and made the clothes of
the men of the family. Those days are
gone forever.
“Today men make the soap; men es-
amine the milk. A woman buys a skirt
in the store. but. wants it lengthened;
a man steps forth With tape measure
and ‘ehalk to do the job. We have men
'milliners and men dressmakers, and they
make more money at it than the women
ever made. Mrs. Anna Howard Shaw,
calling my attention to i poster of a
laundrymen’s convention, remarked with
a smile that we never heard of a washer-
woman's convention, but the new man
takes pride in his craft."’
If men are going to soar to the top in
women’s professions, what more natural
than that, England or not to the con-
trary, women shall seize the little red
schoolhouse of man?
ins is not the first occasion English
opinion has commented adversely on
the American system of mingling the
sexes in the schools. Not so long ago
H. G. Wells. the distinguished English
writer, criticized coeducation in this
country, saying:
“Coeducation in American universities
is ruinous to youth and is ‘sissifying.’ ”
Educators sprang to the defense of the
system, claiming the contention was all ~
nonsense and that the influence of women
in the colleges had'the most favorable
results. . g ‘
'Dr. John H. Dunham, of Temple" Uni-
versity, Philadelphia, said: "Men and
women at a college are dcsirable~they
tone down each other. American stu-
dents in coeducational colleges are more
alert and scholastic improvement is more ‘
rapid.” Students at Columbia Univer-
‘sity seemedunanimo’us in the opinion
that “Wells was talking through his
hat.” Dr._E. K. Fretwell of Teachers’
College, observed, “Mr. Wells seems to
forget children leaving school must face
a world incwhich men and women share _
fifty-fifty.” , . '
“The influence of women on the boy,”
continued Dr. Fretwcll, “has always been
greater. than-the man’s. Women in this
country have made possible the great-
est development in free education the
world has ever known.”
g Dr. Edwin C. Broome, a prominent
American educator, said: “Wells' view-
point is.often takea,‘but has proved un-
tenable. Education in the United
States is nearly, 100 per cent coeducao
tional and 'the dual sex influence has
shown itself desirable 'in results: Co-
education is now taken for granted all
over, except in aufew isolated places
along the Atlantic seaboard. The Amer-
ican male is virile and a high type of
manhood." _
But not alone have disputes arisen in
these United States» over challenges
thrown. from across thewater. Amer-
ica herself has shown a tendency to
argue the questibn out. Cornell and the
University of Pennsylvania have both
held/spirited arguments about whether
thejpresence of skirts on the campus
has a, deleterious or beneficial effect
Student publications at Penn have made
their epositign, clear,I that they do not
favor» the coed. . , -
' On. the whole, though, arguments in
and made newspaper readers reallzsthel this side‘ldf‘thsAtlantic have ,been in
. . favor. of coeducation.
cosmetic is suing Ledosr comm
‘x
Norwalk Chronicler