Harding High School - Folio Yearbook (Bridgeport, CT)

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THE TYL S students, who, through representatives chosen by the student body, have some part in the government. Such a contact between teacher and pupil tends to make for friendly relations, to award due consideration to the rights to all, and to develop character. While life in England is less of a democracy than that in America, the English students en' joy certain liberal privileges in that games, the school magazine, and debates are almost wholly managed by the students. Again we see just the reverse in Germany. The idea of develop' ing in the boys and girls of the higher class a sense of responsibility by intrusting them with some degree of authority is foreign to the pref vailing spirit of education in that country. France has coupled with her system of learn' ing an excellent plan of moral education, whereby the pupils are prepared as future 7 5 Q QW-V ffvl X s w' Y Cf.. , l-i,,F,,.Jag U Mr' .. 'll ,Kyl ix A J. lm kai ' ' 5- -f citizens to consent to the law, to love and obey it,because merely knowing that ir is right to obey does not suff Hce - a desire to obey must be def veloped. We might well gain a lesson from the experience of France in meet' ing a universal edu' cational need. Schools exist to prepare us for life. It is difficult for them to perform this duty when the conditions of social r ,..4i 'Ui s Q-is A' ff' W 1- Q . - -.,- -2--1 --a ' -4 U 43- ' ,. 5- ,:.- -w'Tn R'la.nr-- . ,,..,7-,,!, f-Hp., f ... M.. v lu - - - rjlllull. I UI an I I ' VV' fl -75 it n V A l ' a 5 1 tf l Y' . X p .1 , -- S J I 'l V Mfg , x X f Al' E .- , '- ... , and economic forces are changing with such startling rapidity. England is not adapting her' self very quickly to the new situations of the last ten years, because she will not sever herself from the old ties or dispense with old guides, who are loved for their own sake as well as for their devoted service. England, however, ad- mires our swift educational advance with the rich variety given the life of every boy and girl. In America the schools are striving to get into true gear with the present practical needs, tearing out in all directions those por' tions of a curriculum which seem unessential. The speed of development has been made pos' sible by the liberality of the American people due to a recent widespread appreciation of the value of education and of the student to the future of the country. i 11

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THE STYL S 'lQJe re Glad 'ZQJe're were PON the Amer' T, X 'X ican schools 5 in Y I p our country rests sf. ' j her hopes for the WW, gf - 'i future. Through WW h h 1 j t em s e pans to perpetuate thedemf ai m ocratic principle. ' ' -'-' We are fortunate to be a part of the plan. In the first few years the colonists spent here, the need for a sensible system of educaf tion became eminent to them, and accordingly they founded our first schools, modelling the curriculum more or less after the classic educaf tion then existing in England, but emphasizing duty to God and to the community. From that time on, our progress has not been hamp' ered as has that of France and Germany, by serious governmental upheavals or terrible wars, for our republic has remained stable. One of the American educational principles especially fortunate for students at Harding is equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of caste, creed, or race. The old German plan did not include every child in its educational scope. Rather it limited cultural education to those who were able to pay best for it. Of course, the war has tended to change the former narf rowness of educational opportunity, but still much of the old remains. In former days, when a German boy was very young, his parents decided whether he was to be educated for a trade, or for a learned profession. This early for the wellftofdo, for they could meet choice of career was easy 5 the payments necesf I I sary at every prof gressive stage. The result was that a ,A boy usually folf A lowed the trade of 'E E' fggi: ' A his father or chose 4'-in some occupation consistent with his family's financial and social station. Then he was segregated from the great group, comprisf ing students of all classes and aims, and sent to a special school where all the students were preparing for the trades. Such a plan only strengthened class feeling and continued an already existing aristocracy. France, too, had a similar system, and in England a high school education was restricted to those who could afford it. In our progress we have taken such subjects and customs from European countries as we have deemed advisable but have always used essentially original methods. Our curriculum is far more varied and an opportunity is given each of us for ndependence and selffexpression in our choice of subjects. In Germany, for inf stance, the subjects are fixed, or compulsory, as in grammar school, with a curriculum o n c e extremely stinted, featuring Latin and Greek, but now growing more comprehenf gil. ,T.uh A .I hx 5 -'J Tit! .3 1- -rf 5---t 4:-.- if 'f -- sive like ours. AR A-?6' at 'Ulm '- . 15 f,Qx f A- 31 x J, N ix f . ii-- --Xi -X - ' Z1 fg- Perhaps because our country's his' tory has been a series of the romantic achieve- ments of common people, our idol or subject for student hero worship is the athlete. We respect the scholar, but we acclaim the student of athletic prowess. In France such a trend does not exist, the dominating purpose being expression, not possession, with the emphasis on the intellectual. In England, too, studies take priority over games, a clever boy being not merely tolerated but envied. In spite of the keen rivalry in sports existing between English schools, the boy who wins some covf eted open scholarship may become as much an idol to his fellows as the captain of a team to us. In our high schools, the government is not determined wholly by the faculty, but some chance is given for the selffexpression of the I10I

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THE STYL S PRINCIPAL RALPH W. HEDGES E 12 1