Geneseo Central School - Jen O See Yearbook (Geneseo, NY)

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vital problems and characteristics of children, and CdD help him to come to gri s with the principles, techniques, an processes of effectual teaching and learning. Most of our late educational efforts have been directed into wrong channels. We have been obsessed with the idea that progress in education must be pri- marily concerned, in ultra-scientific fash- ion, with specialized skills, intricate procedures and methods, and a confusion of enumerated aims and objectives. During the ast several decades our colleges and schools for teachers have encountered acute problems in develop- ing curricula for the preparation of elementary school teachers. At first, the pendulum swung from a stilted subject- matter emphasis to a curriculum over- loaded with diluted methods and school management courses. Later, there was some modification so that child study and its relations to teaching was given more attention, and now many leaders in teacher education are advocating a four-year curriculum with an increased proportion of time given to general education or liberal-cultural courses. In the positive application of these so- called progressive theories that work out so beautifully on paper, we have nearly lost our vision in a forest of facts and figures, resulting in confusion. The stressing of professional elements to a certain degree is essential for teacher preparation. A reasonable amount of time in the curriculum for elementary school teach- ers should be devoted to professional and technical courses and under condi- tions which will enable the student to grow into the 'feel' and responsibility of teaching gradually and meaningfully. In New York the curriculum is so or- ganized that the professional and tech- nical courses are offered in sequences which extend throughout the four years Quotations from Dr. Lehm.-m's study. coordinated with courses in the academ- ic or liberal-cultural fields. It is the functionalized, coordinated Division Plan. This plan provides that the prospec- tive teacher has a thorough and vitalized preparation in the fields of English, Social Studies, Science, Health, and Physical Education, Fine and Practical Arts, and Music. Dr. Lehman has realized that the fundamental requirement for teaching lies within us. His dream is the dis- covery and stimulation of natural teach- ing ability through vitalized instruc- tion and curriculum-one cannot stand without the other. Teaching is an art- the greatest of all arts-because the material used is neither the painter's canvas nor the sculptor's marble-it is the human intellect. A prospective teacher must have not only the artistic, communicative talents that enable him to impart his knowl- edge to others, but he must have de- veloped within him the art of living gained through a thoughtful contem- plation and acquisition of the best ex- periences of the past, the feeling of his relation to society, that social con- sciousness that enables him to adjust with increasing efficiency to his chang- ing environment. Then and only then will he be ready to teach. In all courses the teachers college student should be stimulated to venture into new deeps of intellectual endeavor and to launch into wider realms of social living. We plead for courses, offered in our colleges for teachers as well as in liberal arts colleges and law schools, that are meaty, scholarly, and presented in accordance with the most effective principles of teaching so that the students will be stimulated increas- ingly to develop the higher mental processes as well as challenge them to assume and carry through intellectual and professional responsibilities.

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The pro ressive spirit of Dr. Welles, who has one much to make the new buildings for Geneseo possible finds a fitting companion in Dr Lehman w ho has breathed life into the curriculum and has brought it closer to what it must eventually be to succeed in its purpose the development of the art of living and how to teach lf The truth has been sensed behind the one fundamental law of life that of constant, unceasing growth and change in the direction of more efficient adjustment to social and physical environment Gnly those who obey this law shall inherit the earth and transgressors shall perish These men are not in league with the past but stand upon the best that it has given in order to create an environment favorable for the discovery and develop ment of artists in living the real teachers of the future They have felt a need and have responded to it Ideal imagination, that youthful state of mind that is responsible for everv pro gressive achievement on earth backed bv a tenacity of urpose, is making a long step forware toward the mental moral and physical perfection of a teacher training institution that will be second to none and superior to many of the liberal arts colleges whose educa in yitality and social imagination Dr Lehman to whom this book is dedicated because of his creative efforts in behalf of the improvement of teacher training has started a movement the reyerberations of which will be felt throughout the state Under the leader ship of Dr Cooper at Albany this movement for the vitalization of cur riculum in teachers colleges should awaken the Board of Regents of New York State and in time the educational executive bodies of the entire nation to the fact that, of all forms of education, the preparation of teachers whether provided in revamped normal schools or re-vitalized liberal arts colleges for it could be accomplished in either under Dr Lehman s plan is fundamentally of greater social and cultural importance than any other profession Can law or medicine successfully repair men w ho do not know how to l1ve9 The true teacher, more than the mere preacher can guide the children of the world into proper living Although the observation may be threadbare, nes ertheless the problem of preparing and securing competent and effectual teachers is vexatious and diffi cult The public seems to be committed to the principle that our medical dental legal and ecclesiastical services should be rendered by individuals who have had a thorough general and profes sional preparation Eyen though the teacher has been recognized as the one individual who influences vitally the education and grow th of the American child the requirements for certification have not kept pace with desirable preparation standards Dr Lehman s lan for teachertraining is not concerne with the complexity of an increasingly more professional or technical training for teachers His plan has no need for the word training but substitutes growth and development when stimulated by his exposure to a vitally imbued and yitally presented curriculum Notwithstanding inadequate finan cial support staff and instructional facil ities, it is incumbent upon our colleges and schools for teachers responsible for the preparation of elementary school teachers to offer our prospectiye teacher curricular experiences which will a broaden and deepen his interests and knowledge in the literary, social, and hne arts and in the sciences, Cb sharpen his acuity for unbiased eyaluations of researches inyestigations, and theoret ical hypotheses, Qc sensitize him to the dg , C , . D K n ' k, Y o , , , 7 L n . ' . s . u A YA An 7 . . 7 A A L . A 7 . . - ' 7 ' 4 , k A- I u I L n u n Y s QA n V n . J r L A 7 V ' Q D 4 , - T . .,, - Q .f 7 e U ' . . e I tional efforts at times seem to be lacking The prospective teacher can hnd himself , Y , A Y ' . ' . . 7 . j ' Y. 7 A . I , - Q n J 'I A 3 x A 1 . A. A A Q k u n A u - K , a . I . . n n 1, G L 1 'A ' ' ,x , ' D . . l , A . C , l YA .KD D . . . -

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4' INTRODUCTQRY ADMINISTRATIQN ACTIVITIES STUDENTS FACULTY ADVERTISEMENTS CUNTENTS