Читать книгу Our Schools in War Time—and After - Arthur D. Dean - Страница 7

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France has need of its gold to defend its invaded territory. It is a sacred duty for every French man and woman, rich or poor, to send to the coffers of the State the hundreds of louis from their strong boxes, the few louis hidden in the linen chest at home, even the single louis in the children's toy bank. To keep in one's own possession, selfishly, the money which could serve our dear France is a crime against patriotism. So, little girls, do not hesitate to break open your banks, even if they have only a half louis inside, and gladly take in exchange the note which the Bank of France will give you. More than that, in your vacation in the country, set yourselves to get grandmother to empty her stocking,—she is sometimes rather stingy with her money. But you know well enough how to coax those who love you when you want a toy, or ornament, or bonbons. Use your influence with your grandparents now, so that they will bring into the public treasury the gold of France. In this way you will have contributed to the coming victory that we are all hoping for, you will have helped our brave soldiers to clear away the German whose presence defiles our land. Go, then, all of you! Hunt out all the money that is lying idle. It is for France!

Thus the schools have worked to bring to light the hoarded gold of thrifty peasants for investment in the national loan.

Tangible as this service of the teachers has been to France, of greater importance has been their work of making clear to the villages the cause of France. In November, 1914, the Department of Public Instruction sent out an appeal to the professional and volunteer teachers in the secondary schools, saying that the schools must adapt their program to the duties and needs created by the hostilities.

The teachers will do their best to make the schools serve in the national defense. In the evenings the old men, the youths, and the women will gather together, and the teachers will tell them the news, explain things that happen, speak to them of patriotism, and read to them from our writers whose pages are inspired with the glorious deeds of our history past and present.

It is reported that in the girls' schools in France war has changed the whole aspect of education. History, geography, lectures on literature, subjects for literary composition or moral instruction,—in fact everything,—is treated from the point of view of country and of patriotic duty. In music practically nothing is sung but the "Marseillaise," the "Chant du Depart," and the national songs of the Allies. Reading is confined often to official military orders and reports, while drawings are usually of war material or characters.

It is no less the duty of our teachers to make clear to their pupils the "cause" of America. Soon after the opening of the European war a United States senator traveled through the belligerent countries. His articles on Europe at war commented caustically on the ignorance of the English working people of the cause of the war, and of the purpose for which the Allies were fighting. An article on America at war could truthfully contain like criticism of a considerable portion of our population.

Shortly after the United States entered the war a teacher in one of our largest city high schools, where a large proportion of the pupils are of either foreign birth or foreign parentage, asked 200 pupils of from 14 to 18 years to write a brief statement of what they considered to be the cause of America's entrance into the war. While these answers covered an incredible range of inaccuracy, not one showed an understanding of the events which led to the declaration of April, 1917. "Congress has declared war so that the rich folks can get richer," "We are at war because this is a rich man's country," predominated as replies. When asked what a citizen owed his country in return for political and religious freedom, students replied in as vague and cynical a way as to the first question.

To combat this ignorance of national motives the teacher distributed copies of President Wilson's address of April 2, with the ostensible purpose of analyzing it as an exercise in argument and exposition,—a study which finally resulted in enabling these students to make intelligent, if occasionally unsympathetic, answers to questions regarding the nation's action and policy.

Now to residents of favored parts of the country where the population is English speaking and largely American born, inheriting American ideals and traditions, the ignorance of these high-school pupils seems exceptional, but educators know from experiments made in colleges and secondary institutions that the majority of students are not intelligent on modern events of national significance, any more than is the average worker. Nearly all high schools have in their curriculum the study of current events, whether in history or oral English courses. It is the duty of the teacher to use the study in such a manner as to obtain a patriotic reaction to the topics presented and discussed, and in this manner to make clear why we are fighting and what we are fighting for.

Out of this war we must obtain a new spirit of patriotism. Now is the time to strike. Events depicted in the daily press show how great is the need. In this connection the Council of Defense of Connecticut, in an effective campaign working through the schools, states in a recent publication:

The war is bound to have a deep influence on American life and thought, and we should be watchful to direct this into right channels. The country is shot through and through with the one-sided philosophy that the State is an institution to be leaned upon and filched from, but not to be served. The schools should train the children in the fundamental contract between citizen and State. The idea of mutuality should be developed. The State owes duties to the citizen, but the citizen owes reciprocal duties to the State.

In September, 1914, as soon after the declaration of war as military and agricultural conditions would permit the schools to open, the French Minister of Public Instruction sent an official circular to all of the schools. He stated that the first lesson in every school should be devoted to France: to its present danger and its heroic resistance; to the ideals of humanity and justice for which she fought; to the memory of the valor of her soldiers; to the justice of her cause. He desired to make certain at the earliest possible moment that every school child in France take his part spiritually and intellectually in the epic conflict which France was waging for right and justice.

His decree outlining the first lesson for every child of France expresses so clearly the French attitude and feeling that the following free rendering of the circular letter is well worth reading.

The lycées, colleges, and public schools are about to open everywhere except where the superior need of improvised hospitals in school buildings caring for our glorious wounded renders this impossible.

I decree that on the opening day in every city and in every class the first words of the teacher to the pupils shall be designed to bring the hearts of the pupils into accord with the sacred struggle in which our armies are engaged.

Throughout the entire country at the same hour the sons of France shall pay respect to the spirit of their nation and shall pay tribute to the heroism of those who are pouring out their blood for liberty, justice, and human right.

The words of the teachers on this occasion should be simple and to the point. They should be adapted to the age of their hearers, some of whom are children, some youths. Each of our schools has sent its quota of combatants to the firing line,—professors, teachers, or pupils; the words of the teacher to the class should call forth the noble remembrance of the dead, in order to exalt their example and engrave it forever in the memory of the children. Moreover, in its broad lines, calmly, clearly, they should tell the causes of the war,—the aggression without excuse,—and how before the civilized world, France, eternal champion of progress and right, has been compelled to prepare herself, with her valiant allies, to repel the assault of the modern barbarians.

The furious conflict which we are carrying insistently to victory adds each day to the glory of our soldiers a thousand deeds of heroism from which the teacher may take the best part of this lesson. He should prefer these supreme models of action to the vain repetition of phrases, in order to make a fit impression on the minds of the children.

A vivid recollection of this first school hour ought to remain imprinted forever in the spirit of the pupil, who is the citizen of to-morrow. The teacher who has known how to make this impression will remain worthy of the confidence of the republic.

America too will have its lesson sheets, and a most timely one on "Lessons of the Great War in the Classroom" has been prepared for teachers of history by the National Board for Historical Service (Washington, D.C.) with the distinct purpose of suggesting certain aspects of history, ancient and modern, which have gained a new interest in the light of the great war. The following excerpts are extremely suggestive of special opportunities and obligations for teachers in school service:

There is the duty of keeping, for teacher and for pupil, the habit of at least trying to see things as they really were and are.... Every great war is fought not merely by armies and navies, but by the governments at home which direct the fighting forces.... No one can take an intelligent part in a great conflict for the safety of democracy under an orderly system of international law unless he is really interested in and knows something about other nations than his own.... There is some connection between the conditions which made the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates one of the great seats of ancient civilization and those which are making Mesopotamia to-day one of the chief theaters of the great war.... This terrible catastrophe, with its wholesale destruction of the finest products of human civilization, its life and death struggle between opposing nations and opposing ideals, has seemed a reason for thinking not less but more of the great mysterious forces which brought about the rise and decline of the ancient empire.... Great campaigns are again carried on where Xenophon marched with his famous Ten Thousand, where Alexander the Great led his armies to the conquest of the East.... The opportunity must now be seized to study the whole of Europe and its influence on and connections with the rest of the world.... Some account should be given of the way in which the ruling class in Prussia has been able to use science, modern business methods, and social legislation in the service of the military state.... War is the business not only of governments but of the nation as a whole, and there are few kinds of human activity which do not have some relation to its success or failure.... We are fighting partly, indeed, to defend international law on the high seas, but partly also to make the world, not merely America, "safe for democracy."

Teachers are recognized as the instructing force of America. If they are not, who is? If the country sorely needs clear, definite, authentic information on the situation of the world and our own position as a belligerent power, who is to give it if not the teachers? It is they who must inform and arouse. It is they who ought to participate in a speaking campaign which should be as deep as the danger, as wide as the country, and as high as the patriotic spirit of the people. They should be distributing agents for printed material which analyzes the subject, and should be able to refer to the best and most available authorities and to put before pupils and the public the texts of the most important speeches, diplomatic notes, and other approved material to back up statements of fact.

Strange as it may seem, it is the children's convictions which take effect not only when as children they carry word to their parents but also when they come out of childhood into adult life.

Was the boy in the New York high school right when he said, "It is a Wall Street war"? Are our enemies justified in charging us with the same motives of self-interest and the abasement of other nations which animated themselves? Are we really at war for conquest or seizure, or for the benefit of commerce, or for defense against aggressions that have not yet been made? And is it a dollar war for bankers and ammunition makers?

It is to answer these and other questions that a systematic effort to inform and arouse the American people should be taken up and carried into effect by public-school teachers, having in mind that the most effective and most important work may be done in the classroom in connection with lessons in civics and history. To wait for textbooks on the present European war is to wait until it is over. To wait to put the study of the present war into a course of study in its chronological sequence is to wait until the next generation of children come upon the stage. No, now is the time for our schools to include the teaching of the war and to discuss officially proposed peace plans, when the street is alive with soldiers, when the newspapers display huge headlines and the bill-boards are covered with recruiting posters, when magazines furnish helpful material for teachers, and when the whole world is charged with feeling.

The National Security League (New York City) has outlined a plan for public addresses and lectures, and it has printed a little book entitled "Wake Up, America." The following topics have been selected from an outline furnished by this league:

Foreign military systems and international relations.

Spirit of the American people as shown in our history of liberty and democracy.

Causes of the war between the United States and Central Powers.

First two and one-half years of the war in relation to the principles of the foreign policy of the United States.

Universal military training and service as now provided by Congress.

Organization and work of the army and navy: selection; supplying needs.

General military preparations in the country at large: materials, transportation, and public finance.

Duty of the citizen in relation to obligations of all citizens as an offset to benefits of citizenship.

Service outside of military and naval; as, for example, the munition work, transportation, building of ships and machinery, farming, etc.

Faithfulness of foreign-born citizens.

Need of efficiency and economy in local, municipal, and state governments.

Description of modern warfare as defining the immediate task of the American people in regard to organization and action of the various services; as, for example, men in the trenches, health protection, Red Cross, etc.

Accessories; for instance, patriotic music and recitations, flag marches, and parades.

Illustrative material, such as maps and charts illustrating the problems of recruiting; slides and movies; posters in public places; exhibitions of foreign posters.

These topics as outlined here are not sufficiently related to the actual conflict. They are excellent from the formal point of view, but they fail to get at the center of living interest in the vital present moment of history. Often when it has been asked of the children in France: "What are you studying?" "What are they teaching you?" the answer has been: "The war, madam." "The war, monsieur." And if the question was taken up with the teacher, the answer has been:

By means of our war map on which is marked the present position of the French and German troops, the particular spot in the line in which the parents of our boys and girls are fighting, we teach not only current history, but in the most vital way geography and many related subjects.

By means of our use of great contemporary political documents, by the speeches of Viviani, Deschanel, Ribot, and the other statesmen, by the famous orders of Joffre, Pétain, and our military leaders, by the interpretation of the war by our great philosophers,—we teach in the most vital way the need of the country, the ideals of France, and much of the history of France. By reason of the war work instituted in every school as part of the regular curriculum, we teach commercial geography, economics, and many branches of science as they are actually related to human life and experience, and not in the abstract manner in which they are treated in the textbooks.

Mr. Albert Sarraut, Minister of Public Instruction in France in 1914-1915, said in a public address:

If there remains in the schools of France a single teacher who has not been profoundly touched by the war and who goes about his usual occupation of teaching in the same way that he did prior to August 2, 1914, teaching the same subjects in the same way, doing only the ordinary, familiar school tasks, whose work has not been entirely transformed and inspired by the war, we have yet to hear of him or her, and we do not believe that such exists.

It is inevitable that many of our school subjects will change their emphasis after the war. To some teachers the awakening will be cruel, to others a blessing in the form of new opportunity.