Emerson High School - Emersonian Yearbook (Gary, IN)

Page 28 text:

MANUAL TRAINING IN THE GARY SCHOOLS Manual Training is any school occupation, the pur¬ pose of which is the development of manual skill, or dexterity. Secondary aims should be, mental power through intelligent manual doing; application of ideas obtained through various sources; an appreciation of art and good workmanship; a respect for manual labor; and the development of character that results in conscien¬ tious effort to do one’s best. On the above basis our manual training in Gary is organized. The work begins with the kindergarten where the ordinary kindergarten occupations are car¬ ried out. We are continuing the work begun in the kindergarten through the child’s whole school life. As the child grows and his skill of hand is developed he is given new materials, new problems, and new and more complex tools with which to work. In the pri¬ mary grades the child’s great problem is to master his own hand and fingers independent of any tools. The struggle for mastery of the hand continues through¬ out the school work and should continue through life. The human hand, guided by human intelligence is a marvelous piece of mechanism. This remarkable machine, the intelligent hand, coupled with man’s pro¬ pensity to use tools, is the chief characteristic of human¬ ity. What could we do without hands! Or, what a hand¬ icap, if our hands were continually in use to help sup¬ port the weight of our bodies as is the case with the lower animals. Or, given the hands as we have them and no tools whatever, what could we accomplish? Man is a tool using animal. With tools he is the whole thing; without tools, he is nothing. With tools he can discover the mi¬ crobes that may infest the air we breathe or the food we eat, or he can explore distant worlds. He can weigh a mark upon a piece of paper or he can lift massive weights and carry them where he will. He can travel quickly by water, land or air. With tools and intelligence he can do everything; without tools he can do nothing. The fact that man is a tool using animal, and that intelligence and a skilled hand are the chief characteristics of humanity is the basis upon which a course of school work should be based. A school course which neglects any one phase of a child’s development is faulty. His intelli¬ gence must be developed; his hands must be trained in skillful doing; his moral growth must be looked after; and his physical growth and health must receive proper attention. We must not overlook the fact that any school work which tends to develop either the moral or physical in the child can not help but react WHERE THIS ANNUAL WAS PRINTED on his intelligence for growth in mental power and intensified knowl¬ edge, while a pupil can give all his time to book study and the acquisition of knowledge and with it derive no profit whatever for his phsyical or moral self. In fact it is more apt to result in a decided disadvantage to his physical growth, and may react to the detriment of his morals. We can, therefore, apply the patent medicine reason for manual train¬ ing—it is bound to do some good, and it is hardly possible for it to result in anything harmful. , There are other reasons why we should have manual training work in school. The fact that 95 per cent of our population make their living through the use of the hands is good reason for giving a fair portion of the school time to the training of these organs for their future work. With the industrial work in school we also hope to lead pupils to see that after school days are over and they are up against the proposition of bread and butter that the work of the 95 per cent who live by skill of