Newspaper Page Text
j The Real Advantages of Co-Education
By DR. H. J. PEARCE, President of Brenau College and Riverside Academy, Gainesville, Ga.
The practice of co-education in the
lower grades is so universal that one
might well question the judgment of
him who raises a doubt concerning the
correctness of the practice. The writer
has no ambition to pose as a reformer,
nor to lead a revolution in pedagogical
method. But as a matter of psycholog
ical interest the practice of co-educa
tion of the sexes raises several signifi
cant questions.
It is perhaps natural that the psy
chologist should become impatient
with the pedagogue on account of the
tardiness with which pedagogy accepts
the conclusions of psychology. But
the psychologist will have no really
just cause of complaint until after he
ceases to change his mind so often.
If pedagogy, however, has any re
spect at all for the teachings of psy
chology it does seem that questions
concerning the correctness of the prac
tice of co-education must be raised.
Phases of the Human Mind.
Psychologists are now generally
agreed that the mind is a product of
Inheritance, modified and completed by
(1) one’s physical nature, (2) one’s
physical environment and (3) one’s
mental pabulum.
Inheritance furnishes the warp in
the fabric of mind and the three modi
fying factors named supply the woof.
Each of the three factors depends in a
measure upon the other, but all three
play an important part in determining
the essential nature of a mind.
Now, it is generally admitted that
education is a process which operates
primarily through and upon the mind.
Hence, the educator, if he be skilled
and alive to the advanced methods
which prevail in all the realms of hu
man endeavor, must know, and know
ing. must adapt, his efforts to the
nature of the peculiar object of his ac
tivity. If one is doctoring dogs he
must understand the peculiarities of
dogs and prescribe his dosage accord
ingly. and if chickens be the object of
his medical activity he must know
chickens and -'fovide tor their peculiar
needs in his prescription.
If the pedagogue were as careful to
know the needs of his pupils as the
animal trainer is. a new era In peda
gogy would instantly arrive. But alas',
the pedagogy of today is based upon
Voluntary Activities In Educational Field &
By C. H. S. JACKSON, President of Bessie Tift College, Forsyth, Ga.
■I did it, because I wanted to,” isjhe
plain English of the most sublime acts.
Constraint, compulsion, wages—in
ducements of all kinds conceal the mo
tive, the virtue of all resultant activity.
The inspirational motives, the ac
celerated pulse beat, the initial step
give momentum, intrepid daring and
self-elimination to all noteworthy ac
tivity.
The field of Christian education is in
a very large sense one of voluntary ac
tivities. The motives of the teacher
are in the main very- similar to the
activities of mother. The mother hand
never wearies in its ministration. Its
touch can not be substituted. The daily
round of household duties must find
its finishing touch, its heart expression
In a loving ministry for the comfort of
the youngest ’ or the weakest or the
neediest of the home. These last
strokes of the mother hand have more
nearly their counterpart in the volun
tary activity of the Christian teacher
than in any- other field of service.
The round of duties of the teacher,
the elucidation of technical principles
and truths, the exposition and indoc
trination of good forms in grammar
and rhetoric, the correct logical terms
and fitting rules in the construction of
the sylogism, the beauties of the deci
mal system, the nigh cuts of logarithms
in treating functions—all make up the
round of duties of the teacher. The
Christian teacher must and will take
the mother step and make the mother
stroke. The Christian teacher sees and
must elucidate the Christ in it all. The
mother makes the bed in view of some
tender form, the mother sweeps the
floor and dusts the room in view of a
delightful prospect for others, the
mother prepares the meal and the rel
ish in view of her thorough knowledge
rrrewfflr
the psychology- of the last century and
pedagogy is bound by tradition as
nothing else except religion is.
Sex influence on the Mind.
Admitting that pedagogy- has any
thing to learn from psychology, let us
see what bearing the nature of mind
which has been indicated has upon the
subject of co-education.
We are not sure that the structure
of mind given by inheritance is the
same In boys and girls. But certainly a
decided differentiation begins imme
diately succeeding birth. The physical
characteristics of the female, increas
ingly with age, differ from the male;
likewise the environment, in part grow
ing out of physical differences, is as
different as home and store. Further
as the rabbit seeks collards, and the
hound flesh, so does the female mind
naturally select those truths from na
ture’s great fields and forests of knowl
edge which best nourish and sustain
her mind. And so the male, with equal
blindness to ulterior ends, but never
theless in response to them.
Let us suppose that nature has had
her way with the little man and woman
until the sixth year, when custom says
they must go to school. Were the orig
inal mental structure identical, six
years of feminine existence will
resulted in a markedly diverse mental
content. Feminine characteristics man
ifested in dress, in habits of neatness,
in various physical limitations, as wei!
as adaptations, in tasks undertaken
and ambitions kindled and in innum
erable other directions, would corre
spond to a differemt mental content
developed. So much so that the mind
of a boy of six is as different from the
mind of a girl of six as any two minds
can possibly differ.
It would be an exaggeration to say
that there are no points in common be
tween the two. On the contrary, there
are probably many. The same might
be said, however, of the mentality of
any two animals or, indeed, of man
and any higher animal, and of any two
species of the same germs.
Are Separate Courses Demanded?
The question involved in the discus
sion of co-education is whether or not
the differences in the male and female
mind which are implied by the modern
theories concerning the nature of
mind, are sufficient to demand separate
:cl
C. H. S. JACKSON,
President ®f Bessie Tift College, For
syth, Ga.
Mr ’
gr 1
i.
> -Wk G /
rjw ibkl x
DR. H. J. PEARCE,
President of Brenau college and
Riverside academy, Gainesville, Ga.
courses of instruction for male and fe
male.
That girls and boys, men and women,
may study the same text and learn the
same principles admits of no doubt,
but on the other hand this does not
prove that such texts are studied and
such principles are learned to the best
advantage of the pupil.
The mind, whether male or female,
is so alert and receptive to all knowl
edge that it would be difficult to de
vise a course of study so defective that
no mental development would result
from its pursuit. But the education of
today demands that the highest possi-
of the likes and the dislikes of others.
So the Christian teacher propounds
every technicality and principle and
truth in a just relationship to Christ,
for whom all truth exists and consists.
All these finer relations of the Chris
tian teacher. aH his purtty and unself
ishness in his devotion to the cause
and Kingdom of Christ are the mother
qualities, the voluntary activities of
the finer sort, that make Xor the weal of
the home, the church and the state.
The Royal Education.
In the tropics the palms grow luxu
riantly. In the zone of frosts they
dwarf and droop and spend themselves,
where they live at all, in what seems
to be an unsatisfied and unsatisfying
existence. The royal palm in the trop
ics—how beautiful it is! The trunk,
long, slender, beautifully tinted, sup
ports at great height its foliage sym
metrically and orderly arranged, as if
some master hand had trimmed it ac
cording to a precise plan. This royal
palm is the king of palms. Christian
education is the royal education; it is
the education of the kingdom. Chris
tian education is indigenous only with
in the province of the churches. The
Christian college, dependent entirely
upon voluntary contributions for its
building and equipment, is and always
has been the most potent factor in our
American civilization for the good of
all the people. The Baptists, Metho
dists and Presbyterians have more
largely than any of the other denomi
nations maintained colleges in the
United States, and their influence thus
administered is the finest illustration
of the highest type of altruism that
exists in any sphere of denominational
activity.
The Baptists formed, doubtless, the
concrete illustration of our republican
form of government as truly as does
ble development shall follow. It is
poor economy to raise poor crops of
cotton and corn, and worse to develop
anything less than the highest possi
ble form of manhood and womanhood
in the rising generation. If the sep
arate education of boys and girls will
make more manly men and more wom
anly women, the practical difficulties in
the way are worth very little consider
ation—they should be overcome at any
cost.
Will separate education of the sexes
result in greater efficiency?
Mere separateness is not the end .o
be attained. The reason for separa
tion, if there is any, is because differ
ent methods must be used. No go*d
can come from teaching boys and gir,s
in different rooms if they are to be
taught the same things in the same
way. And separate education is not
worth while attempting until we are
ready to attempt to adopt a different
course of study to each sex.
Influences Make For Symmetry.
From a psychological standpoint a
total separation of the’sexes would be
bad. For this would deprive each, of
many influences and much of the ma
terial which are necessary in building
up a symmetrical mental content.
Consequently, any adequate system
of education, if it provides separate in
struction. should at the same time pro
vide for positive social relations be
tween the sexes. The exact reverse
of the present plan would appear to be
the logical one. Instead of teaching
the two sexes together in the same
room and separating them al playtime,
they should be taught separately and
be brought together at playtime
Assuming that the psychological fact
of a difference in mental structure is
admitted, it remains merely for ped
agogy to apply its fundamental princi
ple to demonstrate the necessity of
separate instruction for the two sexes.
"All instruction must proceed from the
known to the unknown” is the princi
ple referred to. and means that the
most efficient instruction for a girl is
tha* which proceeds from the common
experiences of her everyday life, and
likewise for the boy. And In so far is
the fundamental experiences of the boy
and girl differ, to that extent is it
necessary that their education shall be
different.
The final result of such a system of
education offers an interesting topic
for speculation. Will the woman be
come more feminine and the man more
masculine? Certainly we might hope
that woman would become less mascu
line and man less feminine.
the New Testament furnish in doctrine
the type of that government which is
of the people and for the people and by
the people.
A True Baptist College.
The Baptists are consistent in their
contention for the doctrine of the sep
aration of church and state by refus
ing absolutely to build their colleges
by taxation, and by depending solely
upon voluntary contributions for the
establishment of their every form of in
stitution. The truly Baptist college is
a part of all the Baptist churches com
posing the association or the conven
tion, and is controlled by trustees rep
resenting all the churches of which the
college is a part. The Baptist college
is as truly democratic as is a Baptist
church. “Equal rights to all and spe
cial privileges to none” is the shibbo
leth of every Baptist institution. Self,
or self-perpetuity in office or self-per
peutity in control, is neither democratic
nor Baptistic. As every individual soul
is competent before God and has an
equal right to His grace, so, in as
true a sense, does every Baptist insti
tution recognize individual and person,
al responsibility and opportunity and
competency in the procurement of
rights and privileges. The most sub
lime act of self-sacrifice that has ever
been illustrated by the people of any
name or creed is that act that is in
every particular true to and consistent
with its constructive truth. The Bap
tist churches learned from the teach
ings of Jesus to render unto Caesar the
things that belong to Caesar. They
also learned that the kingdom of God is
not of this world. When Christianity
in any form must look tp the state for
support or control, it becomes of the
earth earthly. Christian education will
always "ring true” if it is administered
in every detail consistent with the
foundational and constructive princi
ples of the New Testament.
3