Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools UC-NRLF .NETTE, O.S.B., MA. [, MINNESOTA A DISSERTATION ie Catholic Sisters College of the Catholic University ica in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy WASHINGTON. D. C. June, 1918 EXCHANGE Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools BT ( SISTER MARY JEANETTE, O.S.B., M.A. ST. JOSEPH, MINNESOTA A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Catholic Sisters College of the Catholic University of America in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy WASHINGTON. D. C. June, 1018 CONTENTS PACK Preface 5 Chapter I. Causes Leading to the Introduction of Voca- tional Education in the State Schools 7 An Outline of the Movement toward Vocational Education in State Schools 15 An Outline of the Vocational Guidance Movement 20 Chapter II. An Outline of the History of Vocational Edu- cation in Catholic Schools 27 Chapter III. Ways and Means of Improvement in the Development and Guidance of Vocation in Catholic Schools 47 Conclusion 69 Bibliography 70 PREFACE The movement towards attaining and improving vocational education in the state schools has made rapid progress in the last two decades. It grew from the conviction that the large majority of pupils received no adequate preparation for their life-work, as only a small percentage availed themselves of the opportunities afforded by secondary schools. The danger to which a large number of these children was exposed after leaving school at an early age, grew to be a menace to individual and industrial development. Many educators sought the remedy for this evil in a radical change of the educational system, and a course of study so arranged as to afford to the pupils a preparation for their career. On the other hand there were those who strenuously opposed this movement be- cause they considered it undemocratic and tending to the for- mation of a caste system. The attempt to reconcile these two extremes has caused the introduction of vocational education in addition to the usual courses offered by secondary schools, and resulted in the creation of our ever-increasing number of vocational schools. A study of the history of Monastic schools reveals the fact that these afforded excellent opportunity for vocational train- ing; but their motive and aim in preparing their pupils for life's work was not, like that of our modern state schools, pri- marily utilitarian. The success achieved in art and industry was due largely to the motivation that inspired the students of Monastic schools to exert all their powers in the realization of their high ideals. The influence of St. Benedict and his fol- lowers changed the then prevalent attitude toward labor, invested manual work with the dignity of prayer, and brought untold blessings upon the people. In the course of time other agencies undertook the voca- tional training of children and continued to do so until re- cently. In the last few decades, however, the social environ- ment of the child has undergone a decided change. Again it devolves upon the school to offer to the pupil sensory-motor training in addition to the training of the mind and heart. The same problem that confronts the state schools must also be 6 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools solved by Catholic teachers. The limited resources of the Catholic schools render it more difficult for them to provide industrial training. In the state schools the financial burden is considerably lightened by state and federal aid. However, Catholic educators are anxious to provide our pupils with every advantage that can be secured, and it is their ambition that the pupils attending Catholic schools receive the very best preparation for their future work. It is the purpose of this dissertation to indicate the causes and outline the history of the vocational education and vocational guidance in the state schools; to compare the motives that prompt this movement with the motives that prevailed in the Monastic schools ; and to indicate ways and means which are available for the develop- ment and guidance of vocation in our Catholic schools. The term "vocation" has at the present time a variety of meanings. Literally it means a calling, as does the Latin "vocatio" from which it is derived. This meaning is retained in the Catholic Church, where the call to the religious life is designated as a vocation. By modern writers and educators it is used to denote a career, an occupation; and by some authors it has even been restricted to those occupations in which manual and industrial laborers are employed. In its widest sense vocation is a call to the life-work of each individ- ual, whether this be to serve God in religion or in the most humble occupation. The teaching of the Church, the history of her institutions, the example of the saints, but above all the Christ-Child, are the guides of the Catholic teacher in the sublime work of vocational preparation of youth. CHAPTER I CAUSES LEADING TO THE INTRODUCTION OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN THE STATE SCHOOLS The Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia caused American manufacturers to compare our products with those of other countries. 1 This comparison revealed the fact that only the abundant resources which our country commands enable us to compete in the markets of the world with goods produced in Europe. In every instance of successful competition this has been due, not to superior handicraft, but to the abundance of cheap raw material easily obtained in America. Each suc- ceeding year, however, it became more apparent that the supremacy in international trade rests on the basis of manual skill. Schools for art in industry were established soon after the above-mentioned exposition, and a decade later manual training schools came into existence in manufacturing cities. Though an improvement on the system then prevailing, these were unsatisfactory in regard to the purpose for which they had been planned because what was taught in the manual training school was not sufficiently related to the specific occupation in which the child would later be engaged. Here we find the first incentive to vocational training in the state school system of our country; it was the need of better trained workers that suggested the schools as a means to supply the required skill. Meanwhile the complaints about the school system increased in number and intensity. Employers claimed that pupils com- ing from the schools lacked initiative, intellectual capacity, and habits of order and promptness qualifications which are necessary for success in their work. A similar complaint came from the higher institutions of learning, the universities and colleges. Parents complained, saying that even if they were willing to make sacrifices so as to afford the children a pro- longed term of training and education, it did not secure for the children any advantage in their future career, but on the contrary, often served to "train them away from the forge and the shop." 'Bulletin, 1916, No. 21. Vocational Secondary Education, Washing- ton, D. C., p. 10. 8 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools The most alarming feature was the tendency of the pupils to leave school at the first opportunity that presented itself. They were convinced that the education received in the school- room was not adapted to their future needs, and too often there was sufficient reason for this conviction. The school failed to attract the child, and compulsory education laws were neces- sary to secure attendance until the child had reached at least the age of fourteen years. Practically 100 per cent of the pupils remain in school up to that age, but 50 per cent leave school at the age of fourteen years. 2 At this period of the child's life home restraints become weaker, in many cases all authority over the child and power of guidance is lost. 3 The industries offer little by way of training or advancement before the age of sixteen and little by way of financial com- pensation. 4 If these children find any employment it is of such a nature as to form eventually an obstacle to their ad- vancement. The Massachusetts Commission on Industrial Education found 25,000 children between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years who were employed in the lowest forms of industry. 5 And the Vocational Bureau reports that at least one-half of this period is spent in complete idleness, on streets and alleys and similar places. Those who find an occupation at intervals drift from job to job and after some years find that advancement is for them impossible. There is no alternative but to keep on in what Meyer Bloomfield calls the class of "Vocational hoboes," employed in "Blind Alley" occupations. 8 The child's mind is at this age peculiarly susceptible to harmful influences, and for this reason idleness and weakened home influences are especially to be deplored. The exercise of energy is a physical necessity and a safety-valve for the emo- tions. But when conditions practically enforce a state of idle- ness the result is disastrous. Two evils that caused alarm among educators and psychologists were attributed to this want of proper occupation for the growing youth. The in- * Gaylor, G. W., "Vocational Training as a Preventive of Crime," The Psychological Clinic, Vol. vii, No. 2, April, 1913, p. 40. 1 Ibid., p. 40. 4 A Report on Vocational Training in Chicago and Other Cities, 1912, City Club of Chicago, p. 144. e Weeks, R. M., The Peoples' School, Boston, 1912, p. 182. Bloomfield, Meyer, Vocational Guidance, Boston, 1911, p. 19. Vocational Preparation of Youth in Cattiolic Schools 9 crease in the number of criminals and the lack of skilled work- men were traced directly to improper employment or lack of employment during this period of transition from childhood to maturity. In regard to the increase of criminality, E. J. Lickly asserts that "90 per cent of criminals begin their careers as truants." 7 And G. W. Gaylor says, "It is the young man that is the crimi- nal of today. The daring violent crimes are committed by boys under twenty-one years of age," and he concludes by saying that when asked the cause of their defection, "They will tell you that they drifted into crime after being street and night loafers." 8 To show how serious are the consequences of such conditions he cites the following headlines from the press : "Ten Thousand Boys Arrested Last Year," "Four Thou- sand out of Six Thousand Arrests Last Year Were Boys Under Twenty." (This referred to a city of less than 150,000 inhabi- tants.) "Over Half of Murderers Last Year Mere Boys." And thus he continues to enumerate similar headings of newspaper articles. 9 In charitable and corrective work much good has been achieved by offering employment adapted to the ability and pleasing to the nature of the individual. 10 It was suggested to apply similar methods to the normal child and so prevent the evil rather than apply the remedy after it had developed. The theory was not a new one, for many centuries ago Sir Thomas More in his Utopia had set forth the futility of punish- ment as a cure for crime. He insisted that siiice crime and pauperism were caused by idleness and lack of skill, they were curable only by removing the cause, namely, by training men to do useful work. This theory has found considerable recognition in recent years, and more than ever is the opinion spreading that prob- ably "child idleness is a more serious matter than child labor." 11 ' Lickly, E. J., (Report) "Successful Schools for Truants," The Psychological Clinic, Vol. vii, No. 3, May, 1913, p. 86. * Gaylor, G. W., "Vocational Training as a Preventive of Crime," The Psychological Clinic, Vol. vii, No. 2, April, 1913, p. 41. Ibid., p. 42. "Weeks, R. M., The People's School, Boston, 1912, p. 185. 11 Ibid., p. 175. 10 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools In some cases it is economic pressure that compels the child to leave school as soon as the law permits, and he is then forced to enter an occupation that is disadvantageous to his future development; but according to recent investigations this is not generally the reason for discontinuance of school work. 12 The majority of pupils leave simply because they do not find school life attractive. Educational literature of the last two decades abounds in suggestions for arousing and sustain- ing in children love and interest for school work, especially during the formative period. One of the means advocated most strongly was the introduction of vocational training. During this period the lack of skilled workmen was felt very keenly, and this too was thought to be due in large measure to the fact that our youths spent their early years in idleness or drifting from job to job in the unskilled occupations. For the time during which the technique of a trade could be most easily acquired was not utilized. Moreover, the irregular, shiftless habits that are usually formed as a consequence of such circumstances proved inimical to business efficiency and hence prevented success in later life. 13 The young and inexperienced child is strongly tempted to start in an unskilled trade at what seems to him a high wage, rather than enter an occupation that for some time offers little remuneration. Nor will words alone convince him that his best investment is to invest himself by increasing his own potential value. The objective interest that attracted him during the first years of his elementary education has grown too weak to act as a factor in keeping him at school. The course taken by the pupil is determined by subjective interest which results from understanding the necessity, utility, or duty of further preparation. In order to bring about this subjective interest, to foster and encourage it, teachers and parents were urged to present to children the material benefit that they will derive from careful preparation for a position. When, for instance, they 18 Goldwaaser, I. E., "Shall Elective Courses be Established in the Seventh and Eighth Grades?" The Psychological Clinic, Vol. vii, No. 8, Jan., 1914, p. 206; also, Harvey, Lorenzo D., "The Need of Industrial Education in the Public School System, Proc. N. E. A., 1909, p. 57. " Weeks, R. M., The Peoples' School, 1912, p. 183. Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools 11 are shown that 50 per cent of our skilled mechanics are foreign born and foreign trained, and that 98 per cent of New York foremen in factories were educated across the water, they will realize that without similar training their opportunities for advancement are little indeed; and that habits of carelessness contracted while not engaged in useful work during youth will hinder their promotion. 14 On the other hand, the seeming benefit of a high wage that a young man may receive on enter- ing unskilled labor proves to be less tempting when compared with the salary of a skilled workman or foreman. This com- parison shows that only a few years will suffice to compensate for the amount of time and money spent in preparation, while the chances of promotion for an intelligent, skilled, re- sourceful workman are almost unlimited. This utilitarian aim is a potent factor in keeping the child occupied with studies and work; it also serves the purpose of those who are solicitous for the social and economic progress of the nation. Whatever increases the productive capacity of the individual necessarily increases that of the nation. The results obtained in other countries, notably in Germany, by systematic and thorough training of youth has evoked our admiration and stimulated the desire of imitation. The pres- ent attitude toward this question is expressed by Gillette in these words : "The time comes, however, in the history of every nation when it must educate its people in science and train them in manufactures and industries or it will go down. This higher scientific education is the forerunner of higher pros- perity, and the nation which fails to develop the intellectual faculty of production must degenerate, for it cannot stand still." 15 Political and ethical motives are forced into the background, and purely economic motives form the basis of the modern state school system. The underlying principle of many recent educational treatises is that "each individual born into the world represents an amount of social capital. The social dividend to be realized on the capital depends upon its investment." 16 14 /&ttcutl<>nal Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools 5o present time there are one hundred thirty-six of these institu- tions on the affiliated list and the number is continually growing. Very much remains to be done before the work of unification is completed but even in its early stages it can be made a powerful factor for promoting the welfare of Catholic students, for "No teacher, no body of teachers, relig- ious or lay, has a monopoly of the best educational thought." 18 * Closer union cannot fail to make known more generally the good accomplished by our teachers and to inspire pupils and teachers with a wholesome pride in regard to what has been done and with greater zeal to equal and to surpass those whose example is worthy of imitation. The closer the union of our educational forces will become, the stronger will be their influence, and our ideals of true and noble manhood, of pat- riotism, and above all, of a worthy child of Holy Mother Church, will command the respect of all men, will stimulate to heroic effort our youths and maidens who are soon to take their places in the industrial and social world. The effect of this unity on the development of vocation is indirect, as is also that of the teacher's example and the early training in Christian virtue. But because indirect it is none the less potent. When we reflect on the importance of the lofty motives that influenced the workmen in the early Middle Ages we realize the value of cultivating the highest ideals in our schools. Our schools must supply proper motivation for the choice of a life-work, the method for preparation, and for all the acts of the pupils; proper motivation is the right kind of stimulus for the pupil to continue in school until he has ob- tained the desired end, or at least as long as circumstances will permit. While there are no available statistics as to the number of our children leaving Catholic schools at an early age, without having completed even the elementary course, we may assume that our boys and girls have tendencies very similar to those attending the state schools. In this instance we can utilize the experience gained by the officials of these schools and learn to what dangers their children are exposed, and what measures should be taken in order to counteract, or if 168 Gibbons, E. F., "School Supervision Its Necessity, Aims and Methods," C. E. A. Proc., 1905, p. 166. 54 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools possible, prevent the evil that ensues. One of the means uni- versally and most urgently recommended by the authorities in the state schools is to keep the child in school if at all possible. The desirability of extending the time of compulsory school attendance until the pupil is at least 16 years old has led to provide for it by legislation in a few states. The arguments in favor of this regulation are that children below this age are not able to enter the field of industrial labor with- out endangering their physical and moral welfare; that the employer finds such children undesirable; that the influence of the school in aiding the proper development of the child's character is more necessary at this impressionable age than at any other period of his life. Therefore the vocational guid- ance movement is concerned chiefly with encouraging children to continue their studies, or to resume school-work if it has been interrupted. This, however, is only one-half of the prob- lem solved; if the child is constrained to spend his time in school against his inclination it is doubtful whether he is benefited by the opportunity this further training offers. He must be interested in his school work, either because it is at- tractive, or because he sees its utility and necessity. It is about the age of twelve that school and its duties become irksome to the child, and this is the time to place before him for serious consideration the need of preparing for a definite future career. This does not mean that the pupil should make a definite, and as it were, irrevocable choice. It matters less whether at this age he decides to become a carpenter or a doctor, an engineer or a priest. But it matters a great deal to convert his objective interest into subjective interest, and to convince him that for success in his future work he needs just exactly what the school gives him now. There is nothing lost if the child later changes his plan and decides to enter another occupation. Indeed it is quite natural that he should change his opinion many times within the next six or eight years. The object sought is that he direct his school work toward a definite aim, for with an end in view he does his work more conscientiously, more thoroughly, and more willingly than he would otherwise. Work so performed reacts upon him and aids in the formation of character. Vocational I' reparation of Youth in Catholic Schools 5"> If our work in developing vocations and assisting our children to prepare for their life-work is to be successful, we must use direct as well as indirect means. The first part of the problem is to be solved by the teachers in the elementary grades. If the child has been taught a proper appreciation of his duties, and the germ of vocation has received the nourish- ment necessary for its development, the preliminary work has been done. In this work the teachers receive valuable aid from the use of suitable text-books, such as the Catholic Education Series. These have as a conscious aim the prepara- tion of the child for the present and the future, by stimulating into action those faculties of the child that tend to elevate him to the highest citizenship and lead him to his true destiny, making his whole life a blessing to his fellow-man. With these or similarly constructed books, the teacher's task of laying the foundation for future vocational guidance is not difficult. The authors of these books aim to secure the complete development of all the faculties of the child, and for that reason every lesson has been selected with the utmost care so that in it are enfolded in germinal form the great truths that future years are to unfold. To prepare the child for citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is the ultimate end and therefore each lesson directs the child toward that goal and leads him toward the attainment of such ideal citizenship. To do this it is nec- essary to prepare the child for ideal citizenship in the state. There is in these books a parallel to the work done in the monasteries; the monastic institutions, while aiming at the sanctification of their members, succeeded in the transforma- tion of a barbarous people into a veritable beehive of industry and order, producing artisans and artists in large numbers, and securing intense love of home and country ; so likewise the aim in this series is to keep in view the eternal destiny of the child, preparing him for it most efficiently by teaching him to do well his present work. The child is led to see that con- formity to the will of God leads to the realization of temporal and eternal happiness; on the other hand, adherence to self- will, in opposition to God's will, leads to grief and destruction. Thus is created the proper attitude toward choosing a vocation, long before the actual choice must be made. Later the value of 56 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools suffering and the need of courage to meet difficulties are emphasized, the foundation for good citizenship and patriotism is securely laid, and finally the child is prepared for the study of history and literature. By this time the child is ready for, and in need of, explicit direction in regard to his future work. The Gospel narrative of the Child Jesus in the Temple teaches us as no other authority can, the importance of this act in the child's life. Christ's mission, or vocation, is decided from all eternity, but since He taught by example even more than by precept, He saw fit to proceed in such wise that we may learn how He would have us choose our life work. He makes His choice at the age of twelve in the Temple, the great school not alone of the Jews, but of all nations; in the presence of the Doctors, the teachers of divine and human law ; and in answer to the inquiry of His parents, the ideal representatives of all parents to whom God vouchsafes the happy privilege of entrusting to them His be- loved little ones. Moreover, after publicly announcing His future work by the words "did you not know, that I must be about my father's business?", He returned to Nazareth "and was subject to them," and He "advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men." 160 The lesson is complete; it indicates the time, or age, at which the child should begin to contemplate seriously the necessity of choosing a vocation; the motive that should govern the choice, namely the will of His heavenly Father ; the institutions, Church, school and home, that should influence so important a decision ; and finally the need of long and careful preparation that is necessary for the successful pursuit of any calling. The Catholic teacher may use other motives to supplement, but never to supplant, this highest motive. The ability to acquire wealth, to occupy an honored position in society, to secure domestic happiness, to be able to help and comfort others, are valuable as aids and productive of much good if rightly used. But the teachers need to guard their pupils against the prevalent tendency of our times, and beware lest the spirit of commercialism intrude itself and replace the high ideal of Catholic manhood and womanhood. 360 Luke, II, 52. Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools 57 When the child by previous training is disposed to accept as his model for imitation the Child Jesus in the Temple it will not be difficult for the teacher to indicate by what means the child should learn what kind of work God had destined him to perform. Children should be taught that natural preferences and the capacity for special work are not merely accidental, but are gifts from their heavenly Father to Whom they are responsible for the right use of all gifts, namely for His glory and their own salvation; that they can accomplish this only by employing their faculties for the welfare of their fellow- men. Children will readily understand that the will of their parents is frequently the safest guide for them to do the will of God, and therefore they are inclined to imitate the obedient Youth Jesus, their model. The most difficult part of the lesson is to teach the child to realize the necessity of patient and painstaking preparation. Impatient of anything that appears as useless delay and waste of time, the youth would rather make haste and finish his school work in the shortest possible time. Catholic and non-Catholic educators attempt to lengthen the child's school life by estab- lishing high schools and encouraging attendance at these. Only a small per cent of the pupils who have finished the grades avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded, though these schools are maintained at the cost of considerable sac- rifice on the part of Catholics, for their equipment incurs greater expense than that of the grade school. The growth in the number of Catholic high schools during the last decade proves the imperative need of establishing means for a length- ened school term for our boys and girls. Every teacher should aim to increase the number of pupils in these schools for thereby he assists in the work of preparing children for their life-work. The comparatively small high school attendance at the present time may be due to various causes; the usual reason is that the pupil does not see the relation of his work at school to that which he intends to take up later, and is inclined to regard the time spent in the high school as just so much time lost. The state high schools, in order to attract and retain their pupils, have altered their curriculum so as to adapt the course to local conditions; the usual aim now is to fit the 58 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools pupil for a career, rather than prepare him for college, since those who have the opportunity or inclination for further study are very few in comparison to the number whose school days are over on their graduation from high school. Here again we can learn from the state schools; both from their success and their failure. The too great eagerness with which some of them tried to meet the desires and needs of the different classes of pupils led to the introduction of a multiplicity of subjects and electives, even in the first years of the high school course. Where no provision was made for proper guidance, the pupil being left to choose whatever courses appealed to him, it was inevitable that he should choose impractical combinations. These pupils, on entering their field of labor, found that they had obtained little or no profit from their high school course ; their experience made known to others persuaded many child- ren not to invest their time in secondary education. On the other hand, too great rigidity in adhering to a tra- ditional course, without any regard for the practical needs of the pupil, likewise serves to lessen the attendance at some schools. Unless the child while still in the grades has been directed to see the necessity of more than immediate prepara- tion for a career, the few years spent in the high school seem too long and so unrelated to his future work that he is un- willing to undertake it. The teacher must convince the pupils and their parents by concrete examples that a well organized high school course is more beneficial than one that offers many attractions, but cannot claim results like those obtained in some of our schools. Reverend M. J. Dorney, discussing the paper "Catholic Education Above Grammar Grades," indicated the various occupations followed by the former pupils of his high school and then adds : "If there is one thing that makes me proud of our high school it is this, that every single boy that has graduated from my school occupies a position so far superior to that his father held that there is no comparison; and that, to me, is the justification of that education, develop- ing them, making them better socially. Every single boy that has graduated from my high school in sixteen years has achieved success in the vocation in life to which he was attracted." 161 181 Dorney, M. J. [Discussions], "Catholic Education Above Grammar Grades," C. E. A. Proc., 1911, p. 181. Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic, Schools 59 The state schools, acting on the principle that the high schools are to prepare pupils for work rather than to be the feeders of colleges and universities, provide for instruction in vocational branches. The methods employed and the extent in which this is done, vary greatly in different sections, but the effect on our system is decided and inevitable. The subjects offered attract the child by their very novelty, and where im- mediate application demonstrates their utility, encouragement to attend these classes is unnecessary. The Catholic schools, limited in regard to financial resources, cannot provide similar courses, at least not on the same scale; but provision must be made for our pupils so that they may not suffer any disadvan- tage while they enjoy the benefits of a Catholic education. The overemphasis of utilitarian aims is by no means praise- worthy and is rather likely to defeat its own end in the course of a few decades, besides lowering the standard of the school and hindering complete development of the pupil. However, we may not ignore the causes and effects of this widespread movement and while counteracting its evil influence, we may use it as a source of information to the benefit of our own schools. "Patient, cheerful, methodic work through worthy motives if the child have these qualifications, we will have done well by him and may rest easy as to his fitness for his life-work." 162 Since the early dawn of Christianity this has been the aim of Catholic education; still we must use direct, or particular means, in order to avoid vocational failures whenever possible; the number of misfits in life may be at least considerably reduced by systematic and united efforts, though no system, however much improved and perfected it may be, is able to prevent all failures. The direct preparation for the child's vocation begins in call- ing his attention to the need of making a choice and directing his efforts toward adequate preparation for his career. The value of cultivating habits of "patient, cheerful, methodic work" should be pointed out by the teacher. The child should learn what relation exists between work done at school and in later life. There is a vocational, as well as a moral and his- 1112 Brother Luke Joseph, F.S.C., "Our Children and Their Life Work," . E. A. Proc., 1911, p. 301. 60 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools torical, value in the biographies of men and women who have conquered the obstacles in their way to success. The worthy motives that actuated these heroic souls and won for them the esteem and gratitude of their fellowmen will prove power- ful incentives for imitation. The teacher can form the basis for further preparation by means of biographical sketches and familiar incidents. Before leaving the elementary school the child should be convinced that careful preparation is necessary for any but the lowest forms of unskilled labor and that he will receive valuable aid for his future work by the course offered in the secondary schools. With comparatively few exceptions our pupils take their respective places in the field of labor after they have finished their high school course, and more frequently before they have completed it. Our first efforts, therefore, must be to increase the number of graduates and to give them the best preparation for their career. The pupils should be encour- aged to keep in view a definite purpose during the years spent in the high school, and to make their studies a means to that end. The teacher, being in daily and intimate contact with the pupil, has the earliest opportunity to learn his aptitudes and preferences in regard to work. In some instances our Catholic children have the benefit of a home in which they can exercise their ingenuity at various kinds of manual work, and here both parent and child are quick to detect any marked ability for a certain line of work. The encouragement that comes from this knowledge is sufficient incentive to direct the child's interest toward this work and prompts him to select it as his pursuit, for he realizes that his aptitude will help him to succeed, and success brings with it contentment and pleas- ure. But even here guidance and advice from experienced persons are necessary for the child during his course of prep- aration; no child can be expected to be able by a process of reasoning to conclude that the cultivation of a special aptitude must have as a foundation a thorough knowledge of general studies. The teacher, whose study and experience enable him to prove that this is not merely a theory but a demand in the industrial and professional world, must supply for the want of foresight and reasoning in the child, and sometimes in his Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools 61 parents. The teacher can, with some preparation, also be the safest guide to direct the course which the child should pursue in order to obtain the desired training for his life-work. The great majority of our children at the present time are not in home surroundings that would aid them in discovering their ability or in fitting them for a career by any kind of apprenticeship. Therefore this work rests upon the school, and the teacher must do what lies in his power to direct the pupils. Since the various branches in high school are taught by different teachers, it is possible that no one may consider the vocational guidance of the pupils as his work or duty, and therefore it is of great importance to provide for it systematically and to con- tinue this work which has been begun in the grades. A knowl- edge of child-psychology and child-character is essential on the part of every teacher, and this knowledge should be used to promote the child's welfare, not only while he is under the teacher's immediate direction, but also to influence his career for the future. Every lesson taught should deepen the child's conviction that what a man accomplishes in the course of his life depends more upon what he is than upon what he does. The manner in which a man performs his work, not the occupa- tion in itself, is of greatest importance. 163 The artisan of the Middle Ages who fashioned the most inconspicuous detail of some great cathedral knew well that no human eye would be- hold his work after it had been located in its destined place. Still he worked skillfully and patiently, rejoicing in the reward offered by the consciousness of labor well performed. Every teacher has countless opportunities to show his pupils that inconsistency is most often the cause of failure, while con- sistency and perseverance lead to success. Frequent talks on the value of the respective subjects, their relation to other subjects, and their bearing on the various pursuits, should be given by teachers and occasionally by some prominent professional or business man to pupils and their parents. When parents are convinced of the advantages that result from a prolonged term of study, they wield a powerful influence, both directly by their admonition, and indirectly by 1M Chrysostom. Brother, The Pedagogical Value of Faith, 9 ' etc., Phil- adelphia, 1915, p. 79. Ci'2 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools their sympathetic attitude toward school and teachers. The need of giving this information to parents and pupils is greater now than it ever has been. The educated man can readily dis- cern the weak points of a system that aims to obtain only remunerative results in the commercial world. Not so the average laboring man, and still less his son, whose natural impatience to escape the discipline of the school, makes him more eager to imitate those who devote the shortest possible time to preparation for their work. Then too, the current literature and the attitude of many educational leaders have been instrumental in creating a tendency to undervalue the need of careful and prolonged training based on broad general culture. To correct the erroneous views which keep many from preparing themselves thoroughly for their calling and so to diminish their future usefulness and happiness, it is necessary to instruct our youth and demonstrate the utility of the courses that are offered. The paper entitled "The Classics A Prepar- ation for a Professional and Business Career" 164 contains the kind of information that should be made available for all the pupils of Catholic schools and also for their parents. Too often the pupil's impatient question "Of what use is this to me?" is left unanswered, or is answered curtly without convincing him; as a result he frames his own answer, dictated by his likes and dislikes, and he is not inclined to lengthen his course of study. Very few boys realize how much is to be gained by attendance at school until experience has taught them the value of such training, but this experience is a very wasteful teacher and is apt to bring home the lesson after it is too late to repair the loss. The defects in the present state school system are not suf- ficiently evident to be noticed by the pupil and the average parent, who are satisfied with the immediate result; it may take a decade or two before they learn by observation and experience what the educated and thinking men foresaw would follow as the logical consequence. The note of warning uttered by these should be transmitted to the children who are looking forward to the time when they shall be ready to enter upon 1M Burrows, A. J.. "The Classics A Preparation for a Career," C. E. A. Proc., 1909, p. 208. Vocational r reparation of Youth hi (V/f//o//V Kchoolx (i:> their respective occupations. Under present conditions the sound philospohy of our leading Catholic educators is rarely made known to the pupils or their parents to whom the apparent advantages of a short period of preparation seem most desirable. For various reasons many of our children have been deprived of the benefit that secondary "education in our schools would have procured for them ; the present tendency to avail themselves of the opportunities affored by an industrial or technical training will prove an additional cause to pat- ronize the elaborately-equipped state schools rather than the Catholic schools. Until adequate provision has been made in our system for vocational training each teacher must exert his influence to induce our children to continue their educa- tional work. He must try to make our schools so attractive and efficient that there will be no desire on the part of the pupils to attend any other school. It is often possible to arrange the course in a secondary school so as to offer some electives with a view to the best interests of the children. This plan is more easily carried out where, on account of local conditions, most of the students in attendance intend to follow the same career. What the Vocational Guidance Bureau attempts to do for the state schools can be accomplished more efficiently in our educational system if the clergy and the teachers recognize the utility of such a movement and lend their united efforts to support it. Mutual cooperation between school and home, and an organized system are necessary to make the guidance of pupils a success. While every teacher may, and should, aid in preparing pupils for their life-work, there should be in every secondary school some one who more particularly devotes his time and energy to the vocational guidance of the pupils. This is necessary to avoid, on the one hand, duplication of effort, and on the other, partial or complete neglect. Among the efficient and accessible means at the disposal of one who is to guide the young, may be mentioned suitable lit- erature. There is a wealth of material in biographies that could well be used in connection with vocational guidance. Children take delight in reading books whose form and content are adapted to the age and temperament of the reader. The 04 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools lives of heroes and saints might well form the basis of a course that gradually leads to more specific instruction on vocational subjects. Literature that gives information on the various occupations, the requirements, the advantages it offers, and the disagreeable features or harmful effects it may have, is easily obtained for any school without great expense, and should be productive of much good. The greatest benefit derived from it is not the practical knowledge that it may give, nor even the help it may offer to the child in choosing a desirable, and avoiding an undesirable occupation. Important as this may be, the information gained in regard to the value of thorough preparation and the need of a broad general knowledge of subjects, which to the child seemed unrelated to the work, is of greater importance at his age. In connection with collateral reading the teacher may learn the child's aptitude, his desires and hopes for the future, from his work in composition; and he may use this knowledge to direct the pupil's efforts in regard to the method by which he determines to reach the coveted end. After learning what are the inclinations of the pupils the advisor should tactfully use this information for the purpose of instructing them on the relative value of occupations. He must raise to a higher level the standard of those whose attention is fixed upon an occupation that has no enduring interest and is of no genuine importance. (He must aim to substitute a higher ideal and to convince the children that among the numerous occupations open to them, only those that are marked by essential im- portance and that contribute to the welfare of their fellow-men will be found to be satisfactory and to lead to true happiness. 165 Sometimes a child may resolve to enter a career for which he is ill fitted by natural endowments. Here again the vocation counsellor can judge with relative certainty as to the absence of requisite qualities, and with comparative safety direct the hopes and ambitions of such pupils toward occupations better suited to their capabilities. This must needs be done with great care and tact so as not to discourage the child. Much of the misery that exists at the present time is due to industrial "misfits," which could have been avoided by the advice of '"Henderson, C. H., "What Is It to Be Educated?" Boston, 1914, p. 383. Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools 65 teachers and parents. On the other hand we must remember that no one can safely choose an occupation for the child, and that lack of ability is often more than compensated for by strong determination and great love for an occupation. Ex- perience abundantly shows that where teachers and parents have at times disapproved of a career because of the apparently unsurmountable difficulties, the child, in fact, succeeded even better than his more talented rival, his lack of capability being more than counterbalanced by determined perseverence. This should be a warning to us not to insist on persuading from their course such children as show unwavering determination to follow a certain vocation. The best service we can render such children is to cultivate their taste, raise their standard to a higher level and infuse lofty motives for choosing a vocation. The relative value of occupations might well be made the subject of a formal debate by the class. This would impress the advantages and disadvantages more deeply than merely reading about them, for the interest that a debate arouses among the students does not usually subside very quickly and may be utilized by the counsellor toward further efforts. An occasional lecture by the pastor or a citizen on vocation in general, or on a specific calling, would prove valuable. Gen- eral vocational intelligence is also gained by means of excur- sions to industrial plants, to manual training and vocational schools. Since all but the lowest forms of unskilled labor pre- suppose the completion of at least a high school course or its equivalent, it can not be too strongly emphasized that all pupils be encouraged to avail themselves of this opportunity. It may be desirable that every child finish the college course before he enters upon his life-work, but this is impossible at present; and unless the courses in our school system be con- siderably altered, it is highly improbable for the time to come. The fuller years and broader experience would insure the choice of a permanent vocation, for "the discovery of capacity and aptitude will be a constant process as long as growth continues." 166 The state schools in their eagerness to attract the pupils and Dewey, John, Democracy and Education, p. 363. G6 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools to provide the industrial training that appeals to the child, completely ignore the danger lurking in early specialization. John Dewey warns against the evil that must result from this condition and says : "If even adults have to be on the lookout to see that their calling does not shut down on them and fos- silize them, educators must certainly be careful that the vocational preparation of youth is such as to engage them in a continuous reorganization of aims and methods." 167 When the child has chosen a professional career, the direct preparation does not begin until he has received a general edu- cation which is sufficiently broad to serve as a safe foundation for the narrower specialized training. But only a small per cent of pupils choose professional callings, and the great ma- jority must also be provided for by the schools. In the state schools this is being done by establishing various classes of schools which offer industrial training. Catholic educators are considering just what should and can be done in our schools in regard to vocational training. As a rule the splendid work done by our Catholic Colleges and Academies in vocational edu- cation is not appreciated as it deserves, perhaps because it is not called by any such high-sounding name. These schools have taught with a view to prepare teachers of music and art; they had commercial and normal departments; they trained the girl to be a successful home-maker, and both youth and maiden received the preparation necessary for the religious vocation. It is doubtful whether these schools were fully aware of the fact that they were doing for many decades, some for centuries, what the state now deems to be so necessary for the pupils. It is still more doubtful whether they realize further possibilities that lie within their power. So, for instance, many of these institutions do their own printing, but rarely make use of it as a means of teaching any but the members of the community the technicalities of the trade. Similarly other occupations, car- pentry, plumbing, bookbinding, agriculture, horticulture, and a number of arts and trades, differing with the locality in which the school is situated, and the means at its disposal, might be utilized in vocational education. Day schools are not generally thus equipped; still our le: Dewey, John, Democracy and Education, p. 363. Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools 67 secondary schools might find little difficulty in making ar- rangements with local industrial establishments. These are interested in the problem, and some of the stronger among them have organized definite schools to instruct and train their own apprentices. 168 All employers are convinced of the need of better preparation for their future employees, but compara- tively few can afford to give them this training under present conditions. If the pastors and superintendents of our Catholic schools would endeavor to obtain the cooperation of employers in each locality, their combined efforts would do much toward the satisfactory solution of the problem in that particular re- gion. Incidentally it would help to restore a healthy condition between capital and labor which has been practically lost in modern times. In some localities part-time or continuation schools would be most acceptable to the employer, and most profitable to the children. Pupils could see more clearly the need of mental power in connection with technical skill and therefore would be willing to apply themselves diligently to their tasks at school. The work of teachers and superintendents would necessarily be increased by vocational guidance, and arrangements with em- ployers, since the capacities and inclinations of the children must be continually guided and guarded so as to avoid what John Dewey calls "fossilizing." 169 But our Catholic teachers are willing to make sacrifices, and will gladly bear the added burdens if by doing so they can aid the children whom they consider their God-given charges. Besides, the marked effect produced on the impressionable character of children by the exercise of their faculties in useful work, and by the realiza- tion of responsibility, is in itself sufficient recompense to the teacher for additional labor. To these, and similar means to obtain vocational training for our pupils, the objection is sometimes offered that the school work must necessarily be of inferior quality when the pupil's time is divided between study and actual work. Experience has shown that the contrary results obtain. Both in the history '"Harvey, L. D., "The Need of Industrial Education In the Public School System," N. E. A. Proc., 1909, p. 58. * Dewey, John, Democracy and Education, p. 363. 68 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools of the past, and in the lives of our contemporaries we find ample evidence that "to get the poorest results possible in the three IPs it is only necessary to limit the teaching to the three K's." 170 Pestalozzi says, "I am more than ever convinced that as soon as we have educational establishments combined with work- shops, and conducted on a truly psychological basis, a genera- tion will necessarily be formed which will show us by experience that our present studies do not require one tenth of the time or trouble that we now give to them." 171 Pestalozzi's theory is verified by the history of Monastic schools in which manual labor formed an important part of the course ; and modern edu- cational literature fairly teems with examples which prove that pupils who spend some time in the acquisition of manual skill, far from doing less or inferior work than their fellow-pupils not so engaged, are, as a rule, the most successful students. Since the revelation of the child's especial power can be made only by the operative processes it is of utmost importance to furnish an environment which will give him adequate oppor* tunity to exercise his faculties. 172 m Gregory, B. C., Better Schools, p. 129. "'Graves, Frank P., Great Educators of Three Centuries, New York, 1912, p. 130. m Gregory, B. C., Better Schools, p. 258. Also, Henderson, C. H., What Is It to Be Educated?" p. 181. CONCLUSION If home, school, and Church unite their efforts, and present to the child the highest ideal as the motive for his life-work; and by systematic training of hand, head, and heart, help him to realize this ideal, the work of development and guidance of vocation shall have been achieved. The consequent effect will be far beyond what at the present time is apparent. The conclud- ing words in "The People's School" appear to be a fitting close to this chapter. "The problem of vocational training is also more profound than preparing men and women to work. It is to educate the public mind, to employ a working ideal that will gradually transform industrial practice, until labor, no longer cramping and brutalizing, is a beautiful realization of the noblest human possibilities; until the old words of the Benedictine Rule take on their fullest meaning, and to work is verily to pray." 178 Weekly Ruth M., The People's School, p. 193. BIBLIOGRAPHY BAWDEN, WM. T., Progress in Vocational Education. Washington, D. C., 1915. BIBLE, THE. BLOOMFIELD, MEYER, Vocational Guidance. Boston, 1911. BOLTON, P., The Secondary School System of Germany. New York, 1900. Principles of Education. New York, 1910. BROWNE, WM. HARDCASTLE, Famous Women of History. Philadelphia, 1895. BURNS, REV. J. A., C. S. C., The Growth and Development of the Catholic School System in the United States. New York, 1912. BURRIS, WILLIAM P., The Public School System of Gary, Ind., Bulletin 1914, No. 8. Washington, D. C. BUTLER, JOSEPHINE, Woman's Work and Woman's Culture. London, 1869. CANNON, MARY AGNES, The Education of Women During the Renaissance. Washington, D. C., 1916. Catholic Educational Association Reports of Proceedings, Volumes I-XIV. Columbus, Ohio. Catholic Educational Review. Washington, D. C. COBBE, FRANCES P., Essays on the Pursuits of Women. London, 1863. COOLEY, ANNA M., Domestic Art in Woman's Education. New York, 1911. COOLEY, EDWIN G., Vocational Education in Europe. Chicago, 1912. CHRYSOSTOM, BROTHER, F. S. C., The Pedagogical Value of the Virtue of Faith as Developed in the Religious Novitiate. Philadelphia, 1915. DENK, OTTO V. M., Geschichte des Gallo-Frankischen Unterrichts und Bildungswesens. Mainz, 1892. DEWEY, JOHN, Democracy and Education. New York, 1916. DOREN, ALFRED, Entwicklung und Organisation der Florentiner Ziinfte. Leipzig, 1897. DRANE, A. F., Christian Schools and Scholars. New York, 1910. DYHRENFURTH, GERTRUD, Die Hausindustriellen Arbeiterinnen. Leipzig, 1898. EBERSTADT, RUDOLF, Der Ursprung des Zunftwesens und die alteren Handwerkerverbande des Mittelalters. Leipzig, 1900. Magisterium u. Fraternitas. Leipzig, 1897. ECKENSTEIN, LINA, Women under Monasticism. Cambridge, 1896. EDWIN, LEWIS, How They Solved the Public School Problem in Gary, Indiana. 1913. FALLOUX, COUNT D., Life and Letters of Madame Swetchine. Boston, 1867. FOEHSTER, F. W., Marriage and the Sex Problem [Translation Booth, M.]. New York, 1912. FULLER, M., Woman in the Nineteenth Century. London, 1910. 70 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools 71 GAYLOB, G. W., Vocational Training as a Preventive of Crime. Phila- delphia, 1914. GILLETTE, JOHN M., Vocational Education. New York, 1910. GOLTZ, E., Dienst der Frau in der Christlichen Kirche. Potsdam, 1905. GRAVES, FRANK P., A History of Education. [Before the Middle Ages.] New York, 1909. 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PONSCHAB, BERNARD, Festschrift zum Studiengenossenfeste im Jahre 1901 zu Metten Landshut, 1901. 72 Vocational Preparation of Youth in Catholic Schools Report on Vocational Training in Chicago and Other Cities. Chicago, 1912. ROBEBTS, HEBBEBT F., Bolstering up the Bulwarks. ROSENKBANZ, JOHANN K., Philosophy of Education. [Translation, Brackett, A.] New York, 1908. SCHMOLLEB, GUSTAV, Die Strassburger Tucher u. Weberzunft. Strass- burg, 1879. Strassburg zur Zeit der Zunftkampfe. Strassburg, 1875. SHIELDS, T. E., Ph.D., L.L.D., Philosophy of Education. Washington, D. C., 1917. The Education of Our Girls. Washington, D. C., 1907. SIGHAKT, J., Geschichte u. Kunstdenkmale. [Bavaria.] Landes u. Volkskunde. Volumes I and II. Miinchen, 1860. SNEDDEN, WEEKS, CUBBEBLY, Vocational Education. Boston, 1912. SPECHT, F. A., Geschichte des Unterrichtswesens in Deutschland. Stuttgart, 1885. STUABT, JANET E.,ttber die Erziehung katholischer Madchen. Freiburg, 1913. Vocational Guidance Association, Vocational Guidance. Bulletin 1914, No. 14. Washington, D. C. Vocational Secondary Education, Bulletin, 1916, No. 21. Washing- ton, D. C. WALSH, JAMES J., The Thirteenth Greatest of Centuries. New York, 1913. WEEKS, RUTH MABT, The People's School. Boston, 1912. WEIWHOLD, KABL, Die Deutschen Frauen im Mittelalter. Volumes I and II. Wien, 1882. WIBT, WM., The New Public School Develops Individuality and Effi ciency. ZSCHABNACK, LEOPOLD, Dicnst der Frau in den ersten Christlichen Jahrhunderten. GSttingen, 1902. VITA Sister Mary Jeanette Koesch was born in Einsiedl, Bohemia, January 13, 1884. Her elementary education was received in the rural schools of Stearns County, Minnesota. In 1901 she was graduated from St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Min- nesota, and continued her studies at the St. Cloud Normal School and the University of Minnesota. After teaching six terms in the public schools of that state she entered the no- vitiate of the Benedictine Convent, St. Joseph, Minnesota, in 1908. The following year she completed the collegiate course, and for three years was assistant teacher at St. Mary's High School, St. Cloud, Minnesota. The scholastic year of 1912-1918 and the following summer school term were spent in residence at the Catholic Sisters College, Catholic University of America, where she received the degree Master of Arts. During the next three years she taught at St. Benedict's College, St. Joseph, Minnesota. The academic years 1916-1917, and 1917-1918 were again spent in residence at the Catholic Sisters College, Cath- olic University of America. The principal courses pursued in her graduate work were in education under the Very Reverend Doctor Shields, to whom the writer is indebted for the subject of her thesis, and to whom she is pleased to express her gratitude for helpful suggestions and encouragement. The courses under Reverend Doctor McCormick and Doctor O'Connor, as well as those of other members of the faculty, were a source of valuable information and inspiration to the writer. 73 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. ** 28 1947 LD 21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476 YC 0448 U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY