Gifford, W. J.

English

James Madison University

222 THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. I. Nos. 8-9 "I'll have to take my chickens home first," said Bruin. "I haven't time to wait for you to run home and then for you to come back," an- swered Reynard. "Well, I'll have to take the chickens home first, because I can't carry the cheese and the chickens both," said Bruin. "I'll help you carry your chickens after you get the cheese," said the fox. So they started off in the direction of the trap. As soon as he caught sight of the cheese Bruin said in an excited way, "O Rey- nard, I can get the cheese lots quicker if yiu will hold these chickens." As Reynard took the chickens Bruin rushed after the cheese. As soon as he touched the cheese—snap! went the door and the bear was caught. As Reynard ran down the path on his way home he laughed and cried out, "Ha! ha! ha! Uncle Bruin, how do you like the cheese? I'll have a feast with my little ones eating your chickens." TEACHERS' SPIRITUAL REWARDS Teachers who do their work well and who, either in fact or by faith, see the world made better as a result; individuals made healthier, wiser, happier; sin and suffering made less; the common wealth made more; social purity and civic righteousness increas- ed; public laws made more just; patriotism broadened and purified; State and Nation made stronger and safer against attack from without and decay from within; and the world lifted onto a higher plane and into a brighter sunshine and a purer atmosphere, are possessed of Wealth unseen and for most unseeable.—P. P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education. When w« measure the services rendered by the schools we cannot escape the belief that society is not making sufficient con- tiibution for their support—James M. Cox, Democratic candidate for President. VHI A BOOK OF OUTSTANDING IMPORTANCE Briggs' The Junior High School And still they come. Three texts on the Junior High School within a twelve- month is a good record and the best of it is that each is better than the last, as of course it ought to be. The first was Ben- nett's (see The Virginia Teacher, March, 1920) which impressed one, as every first book in so large a field, as a sort of scrap- book of information and opinion, combined with the personal experience of the author, himself a practical schoolman. Next was that of Koos, (see The Virginia Teacher, July, 1920) a definite effort to set forth a logical consideration of the factors that have entered into the establishment of this type of gchool and the probable readjustments in) school curricula and organization that will follow. The Junior High School, the third of the number, by Professor Briggs, of Teach- ers College, Columbia University, is the re- sult of ten years of study of and instruction re- garding this problem, and bids fair, as a scientific treatment of the matter, with its pages literally a mass of statistics sum- marized in some 80 tables, not to be sur- passed for some time. The fourteen chapters of this book cover a wide range of topics, including the historical development, claims and objections, curricula and courses of study, methods of teaching, buildings, costs, and results. The groundwork is laid in the first three chapters, occupying nearly one-third of the book. In the first, are taken up the needs for reorganization of our present school sys- tem; for example, the non-flexible and tradi- tional grouping of grades, the lack of relation of the work of the elementary school to life situations, the lack of progress of the average grammar grade pupil, the need of men teach- ers as well as wToman teachers for early adol- escence, the lack of provision for indi- vidual differences and needs, and the The Junior High School, by Dr. Thomas H. Briggs. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1920. 350 pages. (?2.00). september-ODTOBER, 1920] THE VIRGINIA TEACHER 223 need of more personal, vocational, and educational guidance. On this basis a sum- mary statement of the functions of the inter- mediate period in education is made as fol- lows; "First, to continue, in so far as it may seem wise and possible, and in a gradually dimisb- ing degree, common, integrating education; second, to ascertain and reasonably to satisfy pupils' important immediate and assured fu- ture needs; tbird, to explore by means of ma- terial in itself worthwhile the interests, apti- tudes, and capacities of pupils; fourth, to reveal to them, by material otherwise justi- fiable, the possibilities in the major fields of learning; and, fifth, to start each pupil on the career which, as a result of the exploratory courses, he, his parents, and the school are convinced is most likely to be of profit to him and the State." The history of the movement is then treated briefly, giving opportunity for defini- tions of the junior high school, of which the author believes there now exists a total of some 800 scattered widely throughout the union. Tables B and VI give very interest- ing and valuable data as to the essential crit- eria of the junior high school from the state- ments of a large number of the leading edu- cators of the country: Apparently the foremost consideration is that of curriculum differen- tiation to serve the individual differences of pupils, for these differences seem to be en- hanced at the early adolescent period when vocational interests are beginning to take shape. It is hopeful indeed if so fundamen- tal a principle Is actually at the basis of so fundamental an educational transformation, and not merely chance, opportunism, or imi- tation. Following this, a number of real and apparent objections to the junior high school are discussed, the author finding that most of these will probably prove to be directed at temporary or remediable conditions. The remainder of the text is devoted to types of problems with which the school ad- ministrator is bound to be confronted, and which are treated not only with a general statement of fact but with statistical^ data, based upon the author's wide observation of schools and the answers to questionnaires by some three hundred interested people. The range and value of this data may be seen from the following titles of tables: Credits for entrance into the senior high school, percent- ages of pupils electing the different courses in the junior high school, the prevalence of offerings of the various school studies in dif- ferent junior high schools, the experience of teachers, the salaries of teachers, length of school periods, the use of advisers, etc. 1 he superintendent or principal who is seriously considering the organization of his schools to include the junior high school can turn to these chapters and find his questions as to typical practice answered in most important matters. Of particular interest is Chapter xiil, entitled Results. The author points out that it is really too early, especially in the light of the lack of standardization of this ten-year-old institution, to judge clearly of results. He concludes as follows; "In so far as the data are representative, they show that junior high schools do tend to increase the enrollment of pupils of early adolescence, especially of boys, to retain them longer in school, to bridge the gap between the elementary grades and the high school, to furnish better provisions for pupils of varying abilities and needs, and to increase the inter- est, school spirit, and community support. On the other hand, the data show that much yet remains to be done in the rewriting of courses of study and in the improvement of instruc- tion, particularly in academic subjects to be continued in high schools. The junior high school must still be considered an opportun- ity rattier than an achievement". The author therefore makes no effort to outline a standard or ideal junior high school as do Koos and Bennett. He does contend that, from the number of schools established, the wide geographical location of these schools, and the consensus of opinion among educators, the school is already accepted in theory "There is a demand for purposes so clear and so cogent that they will result in new curricula, new courses of study, new methods of teaching, and hew social relation- ships—in short, in a new spirit which will make the intermediate years not only worth while in themselves, but also an intelligent inspiration for every child to continue as long as profitable the education for which he is by inheritance best fitted." Mention is made of the type of junior high school needed in rural communities, and sample community developments are briefly alluded to. The treatise as a whole, however, 224 THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. I. Nos. 8-9 as former treatises, is devoted largely to the city type. The median numbers of pupils in the schools investigated is about 250, while a very few have less than 75 or 100, the usual num- ber in Virginia rural junior high schools. The task of writing a standard treatise on such a school remains to be done and is a very urgent need. Similarly special treatises on junior high school methods of teaching and on the special subjects or studies of the curriculum need the patient and scientific elucidation given them that the general administrative priblem of the city junior high school has been given by Dr. Briggs. W. J. Gifford INTERESTING OEFERINGS OF THE OCTOBER MAGAZINES "If Shakespeare Lived Today," a play by Lord Dunsany. The Atlantic Monthly. "An Empress in Exile" by Agnes Carey, an inmate of the English home of the Empress Eugenie. The Century. "The Voters' Choice in the Coming Election," by President Charles W. Eliot. The Atlantic Monthly. "The New Heavens," by George Ellery Hale, Director of the Mount Wilson Ob- servatory, Washington. Scribner's Magazine. "James Russell Lowell as a Teacher; Re- collections of His Last Pupil," by William Roscoe Thayer. Scribner's Magazine. "Mark Twain and the Art of Writing," by Brander Matthews. Harper's Magazine. "Campaigns for Teachers' Salaries," by Carter Alexander and W. W. Theisin. Educational Review. "The Teacher as an Enzyme," by R. F. Mullen. Educational Review. "Vocational and Moral Guidance thru Dramatics," by Hazel M. Anderson. Ed- ucation. "Nursery Window Gardening," by F. T. Eaton. The House Beautiful. "Women in Politics," by Corinne Roose- velt Robinsin. North American Review. "A Plea for More Reading," by Grant M. Overton. The Bookman. "Human Emotions Recorded by Photo- graphy," by Ralph A. Graves. Sixteen photographs of subjects unconscious of the camera. The National Geographic Magazine. "Our civilization rests at bottom on the wholesomeness, the attractiveness,and the com- pleteness, as well as the prosperity, of life in the country."—Theodore Roosevelt. Owing to the unexpected contin- uance of the absence of local electric power, made necessary for repairs to the power plant, the printer of The Vir- ginia Teacher was unable to fulfill the contract for the September number. The present number represents, there- fore, the September-October issues. All subscriptions and advertising con- tracts will be extended one month. The Virginia Teacher is reaching an increasing number of people of pro- fessional interests in the state and is planning an extension of its professional services to teachers in several ways. At an early date a number containing Teachers' Aids, representing contri- butions from every department of the school, will be issued. Beginning with the next issue, Dr. John W. Wayland will contribute a series of helps for the use of his recently adopted History of Virginia for Boys and Girls. As every number of The Virginia Teacher will contain some special feature of prime importance to the teachers of the state, subscriptions should be sent in at once, that full benefit may be secured. 

A Book of Outstanding Importance Brigg\u27s  The Junior High School

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A Book of Outstanding Importance Brigg\u27s The Junior High School

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