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THE NEW EDUCATION

For many years Dr. Abraham Flexner has been trying to make a practical experiment of his advanced ideas about modern education. At last the General Education Board has arranged with the Teachers College of Columbia University to create a school for the education of young children according to Dr. Flexner's principles. The New York Times regards this as a most dangerous attack against the present accepted system of education. Whether this experiment will imperil our entire educational structure is a question, but it is a progressive step and one that should be watched with great interest.

The most radical part of the new school's program is the disappearance of Latin and Greek, and the attempt to make translations of the classics serve the same purpose. Modern languages, science, industry, and the domestic arts will have the most important places in the new curriculum. The orthodox leaders of the present educational methods already have expressed their horror at the introduction of these innovations.

They declare that young people "trained in this manner would be as destitute of culture as a Hottentot." In Dr. Flexner's scheme, one of the four fields of instruction is called aesthetics, and under this head comes the study of painting, sculpture, literature, and music. His plan is to give young people the power of appreciating art in its many forms and allow the creative ability to follow or develop naturally. The cultural side of this new plan is not wholly neglected, but approached by the single path of appreciation.

It is the most natural thing in the world for people to believe in the stability of our educational system. However, fifty years ago everyone studied Greek and Latin, but today it is a very small minority that choose the classics. In reality, we are most certain of the fact that everything is in a state of flux. Who can tell what educational system will reign in 1975? Perhaps Dr. Flexner's name and reputation will be greater then than at present.

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