DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND PRACTICAL ARTS SECRETARY'S MINUTES OFFICERS President FRANK H. SHEPHERD, professor of industrial education, Oregon State .Corvallis, Ore. First Vice-President—ARTHUR WESLEY Dow, professor of fine arts, Teachers Col- Second Vice-President-ADELAIDE STEELE BAYLOR Secretary-LESTER W. BARTLETT, vocational adviser, city schools.. .New York, N.Y. FIRST SESSION-WEDNESDAY FORENOON, JULY 3, 1918 In the absence of both president and first vice-president, the second vice-president, Adelaide Steele Baylor, presided. Mrs. Mary Schenck Woolman acted as secretary pro tem in the absence of the secretary, Lester W. Bartlett. The program was opened with community and patriotic singing under the leadership of E. L. Peterson, secretary and manager, Pressed Steel Truck Company, Pittsburgh, Pa. The following program was presented: "The Reeducation of Our Returning Disabled Soldiers after the War"-Frank Duffy, general secretary, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Indianapolis, Ind. "Vocational Reeducation of Disabled Soldiers—Canada's Experience"-I. B. Kidner, vocational secretary, Military Hospitals Commission, Ottawa, Canada. Following the reading of the first paper, time was allowed for a discussion, in which a large number of those present participated. Interest centered about the trend of legislation to meet the needs for reeducation, the types of instruction to be given, the method of selection for these different groups, the relation of the school people to the problem, and the work of the Federal Board for Vocational Education. Mr. Kidner's address was illustrated by slides that showed the wonderful strides that have been made in Canada in meeting the problem of reeducation of disabled soldiers. SECOND SESSION-WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 3, 1918 At this session James M. Speer, Pittsburgh, Pa., presided. The following program was presented: "Vocational Education in Wisconsin with Relation to Federal, State, and Local Boards, as to Organization, Administration, and Operation"-John Callahan, state director of vocational education, Madison, Wis. "The American Homemaker and Reconstruction"-Adelaide S. Baylor, Indianapolis, Ind. "A State Plan for Vocational Training"-Howard G. Burdge, supervising officer of vocational training, Military Training Commission, New York, N.Y. "The Readjustment of the School from the Viewpoint of a Manufacturer"-James P. Munroe, vice-chairman, Federal Board for Vocational Education, Washington, D.C. Time was allowed for the discussion of each paper. THIRD SESSION-THURSDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 4, 1918 The second vice-president, Adelaide Steele Baylor, presided at this session. The papers presented were as follows: "The Influence of War Conditions on Vocational Education for Girls"-Mary Schenck Woolman, specialist in vocational education, Hotel Hemenway, Boston, Mass. "Preparing the Boy for Industry"-Louis L. Park, superintendent of welfare, American Locomotive Company, Schenectady, N.Y. "Education Is Preparation for Life"-Arthur E. Holder, member, Federal Board for Vocational Education, Washington, D.C. Dr. P. P. Claxton, scheduled to address the department on “Education to Meet the New Economic Demands," could not be present, and Superintendent William M. Davidson, Pittsburgh, supplied the vacancy by an extemporaneous address on the subject that was so fitting and inspiring as to call forth an enthusiastic vote of thanks from the department for this timely service. FOURTH SESSION-FRIDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 5, 1918 The meeting was called to order by Miss Baylor. The following were named as members of the committee to nominate officers for the ensuing year: Joseph M. Speer, district supervisor of industrial education, Pittsburgh, Pa., chairman. Mary Schenck Woolman, specialist in vocational education, Boston, Mass. C. O. Case, state superintendent of public instruction, Phoenix, Ariz. As the speakers listed for the afternoon program were unable to attend the meeting because of urgent demands on their time elsewhere, the entire session was given over to a discussion of vocational education in the United States under the administration of the Federal Board for Vocational Education. At the request of the chairman of the meeting Mr. James P. Munroe, vice-chairman of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, Washington, D.C., answered queries and explained fully and clearly the purpose, plans, and conditions for conducting vocational education in the United States under the provisions of the Smith-Hughes Bill. This informal round-table discussion made a most valuable session, as it enlightened the vocational and industrial teachers present on many points touching upon the federal act and its provisions for vocational education. The following contributed to this discussion: Dean C. B. Connolly, Corrigan Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Cleo Murtland, director of vocational education for girls, Philadelphia, Pa.; Walter Goodnough, art director, Brooklyn, N.Y.; B. E. Rupert, director of manual training, Turtle Creek, Pa.; Mr. Bridge, director of vocational and industrial training, Galesburg, Ill.; Mrs. Mary Schenck Woolman, Boston, Mass. At the close of the discussion the Committee on Nominations reported as follows:" President-Arthur F. Payne, associate superintendent of public schools, Johns town, Pa. First Vice-President-Adelaide Steele Baylor, Indianapolis, Ind. Second Vice-President—Robert J. Leonard, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. Secretary-Howard G. Burdge, supervising officer of vocational training, Military Training Commission, New York, N.Y. The report of the committee was unanimously adopted, and the meeting adjourned. MRS. MARY SCHENCK WOOLMAN Secretary pro tem PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS THE REEDUCATION OF OUR RETURNING DISABLED FRANK DUFFY, GENERAL SECRETARY, UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, INDIANAPOLIS, IND. The entire American public, including the government, the employers, the school authorities, and the wage-earners, must do their part toward refitting the disabled and maimed soldiers for some gainful and useful occupation when they return from the battlefields of Europe. They must be given every advantage and every opportunity possible in order that they may obtain a training and an education which will fit them for some useful work. It must be remembered that an injured worker is an additional hazard in industry, and this raises the question as to the obligation of compensation laws. Then again, these workers, in the hurried training they get, will not and cannot attain the same degree of efficiency as that acquired by other workers. This raises the wage question. The competent, capable, qualified, and efficient man will not stand for undercutting in wages on account of the employment of a less efficient man. Therefore the problem of placing back into the economic structure injured and disabled soldiers without safeguards for the protection of the efficient is a complicated one. This problem, with all these complications, was brought forcibly to the attention of organized labor when Mr. H. C. Nesbitt, commissioner of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, propounded the following questions to the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor in February of the present year: 1. How can we induce an employer to give employment to a discharged man suffering from a permanent disability? 2. What means can be adopted to protect such an employer from the increast liability consequent in a second disabling accident occurring in such employment? 3. How can such a provision be made uniform for all compensation states? 4. Can the same provision be made to apply in liability states? 5. What is likely to be the attitude of organized labor in regard to the employment and remuneration of substandard men? After careful consideration of the whole subject-matter it was unanimously decided to cooperate in any and every effort to bring about the reeducation of our disabled soldiers, including injured workmen, for replacement in industry. This action on the part of the American Federation of Labor lays the foundation for all its affiliated organizations and component parts to do likewise. Ways and means of caring for injured soldiers in England, Canada, and Australia should furnish an example to America. Provision for the care of these men in Queensland includes, in addition to the care of their dependents while they are away, the setting aside of millions of acres of land for agricultural purposes, protected by certain well-defined exemptions, and the privilege of free instruction on the government training farm, with an allowance of $12.50 per week to those taking such instruction. Free technical education and training of the injured to fit themselves for some light, useful employment are also provided for. Grouping the three great agencies, the government, the employers, and organized labor, I believe that it should be the part of the government to see that the war-injured are taken care of; that they should be educated and fitted for some useful employment free of all cost; that artificial limbs should be furnisht free of cost where necessary; that the men should be allowed a regular weekly salary for their maintenance and support during the process of reeducation and training; that they should be helpt to secure employment, and that liberal provisions, surpassing those of any other country, should be made for their future welfare. The employer, on his part, should give the men employment at reasonable wages, should make their surroundings as pleasant and agreeable as possible, should not work them beyond their endurance, should provide rest, recreation, and educational facilities for them, and should not impose upon them nor take advantage of them. Organized labor's part in the work should be to admit the men to its unions so as to protect and defend them in their rights; should permit them to work for wages agreed upon by the union, the employer, and the injured; should see that the shorter work day is observed and oppose increast hours and overtime; should give them preference in all branches of light work, and should help in every way possible in their reeducation and training. Vast numbers of men and women are injured in industrial accidents annually in the United States. The horrors of war bring home to the American people the necessity of doing something toward reeducating and training those thus injured for some lighter, useful occupation. Industrial workers are as much a part of the war machine as are the soldiers in the trenches, and they too should be recognized and considered when steps are taken for the reeducation of the returning disabled soldiers. Statistics from the reports of the state and federal governments show that the annual losses in industry in the United States thru accidents, occupational diseases poverty, and baby loss total more than 12,000,000. Of these losses more than 4,000,000 are attributed to accidents in industry. This waste and loss should be overcome by reeducating and retaining injured workers as well as the injured soldiers. THE AMERICAN HOMEMAKER AND RECONSTRUCTION ADELAIDE STEELE BAYLOR, INDIANAPOLIS, IND. Already the business of the American homemaker is emerging with such definite importance as to make it a cornerstone in the new era. The appeal to her to conserve for world-needs in the feeding, clothing, and operating expenses of her household, and the ready and intelligent manner in which she is responding to this appeal, both declare more unmistakably than all the theories that could be built up that the American homemaker has a distinct vocation that is an integral and essential part of national life. Newer and better standards of living are the answers made to these appeals by the intelligent homemaker, as she perceives that after all the fundamental unit in national life is the family, and that conservation of family life is conservation of national life. She finds that feeding and clothing the family and operating the affairs of the household in the interests of national life is conducting the household in the interests of family life, and that "what is called national economy, world-economy, or social economy is nothing more than collective economy with family economy as the basis." Everywhere she hears less of an economy that might sacrifice the health and happiness of the family and more of one that will build it up. Now and for years to come human life must be made more and more precious in all phases of its existence, from the babe in the cradle to the man of many years, not only to counteract any tendency to disregard its value because of the prodigal waste of men, women, and children in the past few years, but to supply the losses. Every institution and every agency should be made to contribute to this great work of the homemaker. All that science and art can furnish by way of information and guidance in the housing, feeding, clothing, and care of children and use of leisure in the home must be put into simple, concrete, usable form and placed within the reach of the American homemaker. The schools, in their education of boys and girls, must develop a greater respect for family life, and in establishing higher and loftier ideals of the home care must be taken, particularly in the case of immigrant and dependent families, not to divorce children and parents. The business of the vocational school in improving the American homemaker is not simply that of supplying her with facts and practices to improve homemaking, but to place her and her children, educated in the public schools, on a more common footing in their ideas of home life. Many avenues and many methods will present themselves to the American homemaker for pursuing her vocation, and her greatest task will be that of making an intelligent choice in the interests of family life. |