McKinley Technical High School - Techite Yearbook (Washington, DC)

Page 14 text:

er the simplest machines. Yet, in this age of machinery every one must use some kind of a machine. There IS 3'W3Y? a certain amount of repairing to be done, even to such Simple t ings as sewmg machines and bicycles. Men in any occupation who have some knowledge of mechanism have a decided advantage. . Shah men may, when necessary, fall back upon some trade as a means of livelihood. . ' . There are advantages of still greater importance. Manual training is a factor in character building. It converts a natural, destructiveltendency into a constructive one. The young child will break and tear to pleces anything he can get his hands on. This tendency does not dlmlnlSh With age: for the boy of fourteen is often little short of barbarous. Manual training 15 essen- tially constructive. The student brings his mind to bear upon his work. and soon his entire attitude is changed and he becomes constructive. This manual training gives him a new conception of and a greater respect for that form of labor by which three-fourths of his countrymen earn their living. He learns that no one is above manual labor, and, instead of being broken by the world, he is prepared for it. He obtains also a knowledge of things as they are. What can the man who sees the world through a book know of life? Only through one,s own senses can one become acquainted with the true proportions of life. For example: does the football player learn football out of a book? No one would attempt this; yet many attempt to prepare to be citizens by books alone. By fulfilling the aims of a liberal education and by development of the mind along practical lines, by giving a knowledge of practical subjects. by gixfing a greater insight into life, manual training produces the most eliicient Citizens. persons who are perplexed 0v Pugl I rely:

Page 13 text:

EDITORIAL The aims of a liberal education are to broaden the mind, to give a rudi- mentary knowledge of a few subjects, to develop the intellectual powers, and to give general culture. The educational course which accomplishes these aims produces the highest grade of citizens. Without the broadening effect of a liberal course, the specialist must labor under dimculties; for good steel cannot be produced without good iron. The prevailing idea that manual training is narrow and restricting, confined to skill with the fingers, is a superficial one and absolutely groundless. It is commonly supposed that the object of such a course is to produce efhciency in mechanics. This it does, incidentally; but its results are much broader. It is not necessary in preparation for a technical course in college, although it may be superior to the ordinary academic course in this. It does not prepare fully for any trade. Its object is merely to produce better and more efiicient citizens, and its aims are accomplished very effectually. A momentis consideration of the following facts should convince one that manual training is not a specializing course, but, on the contrary, the most liberal of all liberal courses: It has distinct advantages over purely academic courses. We cannot, in a single word, or in a single sentence, give all of these advantages; to give all would take many pages. In the first place, it combines the mental and the physical; that is, it trains the hand to act in conjunction with the mind. As the workman files a casting, the mind guides the hands as they draw the file back and forth. As the blacksmith works, the mind guides one hand as it turns the iron with the tongs, and the other, as it strikes with the hammer. As the machinist works, the mind guides the hands as they turn on switches, throw on clutches, adjust feeds and do numerous other things. In another way the mental and physical are combined. The student makes plans which he must execute. These plans are not wild theories ; they are practical work- ing plans. The world always has a place for the man who can do his thinking and acting together. Next, it gives a rudimentary knowledge of machinery and mechanical training, which must add to the efficiency of citizens. We continually find Page Elam:

Page 15 text:

DR. GEORGE E. MYERS fall Thirluu