Training in Citizenship
By JOHN BELL (High M IWILL begin with an attempt to define the meaning of citizenship, though this can only be 'done roughly and imperfectly in a short article. I would suggest that citizenship involves all those activities which go 'to create the ":good life "'of the community, in so far as the co-operation of all its members is necessary to that end. It is a. far cry from the small city-states of ancient Greece to the great nations and empires of today, or the possible world-state of to-morrow, and the problem of training good citizens has become more difficult as the machinery of government has grown more complex and elaborate. : Economic and political nationalism and democratic. institutions have introduced sentiment and passion, to cloud issues which, might otherwise be clear, While, in the welter, of uncertainties through which statesmen are trying to find a path, it is increasingly hard to discover solid ground upon which foundations may safely be laid. yet it has never been more vital to arouse the interest of the younger generation in their duties and responsibilitieS as citizens, to train them in the right .methods of approaching the problems of the future, and to provide them, fairly and dispassionately, with that knowledge of essential facts without which their minds cannot bite upon those problems.
I can only hope here, to consider this task in so far as it concerns the secondary school, and I must ask to be allowed to make -three -assumptions : that indifference is mainly the result of ignorance ; that it is more im- portant to train the mind to think clearly and logically than to cram it with , masses of ill-digested facts ; and that the problems of the next half-century will not he capable of solution by recourse to text-books already in existence.
A generation ago, " present day " affairs played a very small part in school education ; " history "'stepped short fifty years back ; " geography dealt with rivers, capes and county towns, and it was supposed that economic, legal-and political...principles were too advanced for study before the university stage. As a result, boys and girls could not be expected to take a very intelligent interest in current affairs; But the-experience of teachers is now proving that, if "current affairs are presented in the right -manner to-their pupils, they can be inclined to study keenly, and intelligently such problems as unemploymentOne gold standard or dis- armament, though it is still difficult to kindle enthusiasm for the details of local government, or to get rid of inherited political prejudice.. A very great responsibility rests upon the teacher. He . she) must be -willing to go. on learning throughout his teaching life, to keep abreast with modern thought and not shut his ;mind within the confines of those text-books which he studied in his own yOuth.. He miist realize that the-:world thirty years,. ago Was very . different from the .world.. as . it is to-day, and that, although the; study.: of history ,. has never been-of greater interest and 'value,Ithe amazing fidvarices:,of science are making- it impossible tofinfer aster of St. Paul's School). from a knowledge of. the past the. Conditions in which his -pupils will have to live their lives during the- next fifty years. He mint not show undue- partiality in his own point of view, or try to " improve the occasion " in his teaching ; twentieth-century youth is inclined to suspect the preacher, unless he can justify his 'appeal on intellectual _grounds. Above all, he must patiently train. his_, -pupils -to exercise their powers of thinking and of drawing correct conclusions from the data avail- able to thesis ; *and he must impress upon them that there are many matters too hard for them, matters which should be left to the expert and not _handled, by the bungling amateur. It is very necessary to enecanage in the young a spirit of humility, which should not be confused with diffidence ; how calamitous Would be the results if every pupil, on the strength of a few periods of instruction in elementary economics, were to consider himself qualified to lay down the law on matters of
high fmance ! -
. When the pupil has learnt how to think, half the battle is won ; he can now distinguish Sound theories, based upon solid foundations, from plausible doctrines which rest upon prejudice or misrepresentation, and he will take a sincere pleasure in drawing his own conchisions from the facts which are placed before him. His teachers Will not find it easy .to present- such facti hini vividly and clearly ; they will be handicapped by the shortness of the time at their disposal, due to the requirements of examinations, to which an exaggerated importance is attached in our, educational system ; they will be conscious of their own ignorance, which they should not attempt to hide by an air „of_ex. cathedra authority ; they will find it difficult to express in simple language the principles concealed beneath the technical terms of economic, Political- Or_ legal treatises. -Yet these principles can be, and should be, set before the many thousands of boys and girls in secondary "schools who are not destined to pass on to a university and .may, therefore, have no other opportunity of furnishing their minds with' the equipment necessary for those who will have to make, or acquiesce in, decisions of fundamental importance to their country and ,even to humanity at large.
Much can be done to arouse a sense of the ,implications of citizenship by such voluntary . organizations as,, the Scouts .and Guides, Toe 11,, the ..,eague of Nations. Union and other bodies, religious, _political and patriotic ; and boys and girls should be given facilities. for associating themselves with activities_ of such a kind, in accordance with their individual preferences, They -should not, how- ever, be dragooned into membership of. any institution external to the school, however excellent it may be. Just as the love of good literatUre may be stifled bithe -compulsory study of the plays of Shakespeare . or the novels of .Dickens, so.. enthusiasm. for _good _works., may be -killed. by wellzmeant_but misguided attempts. to ,force the young to undertake them; and- propaganda may often
fail .for that very.;reason; sehool ,; can better
" fulfil its function Of -training the rising generation by ' 'stimulating its pupils to interest themselves in the world In which they live, by teaching them to exercise their .brains upon subjects which will affect their own lives, and by making them realize that aceuracy-of thOught and freedom from emotional prejudice are essential not only in the study of mathematics, natural- science and ' foreign languages, but also in the investigation of human relations.
It has often been claimed that the most valuable years of school life are those which follow the school certificate stage, when the adolescent is advancing towards maturity and scope is given for the development of moral qualities of "initiative and leadership, which cannot be expected of younger children, It is equally important to realize that during these years, from sixteen to.eighteen, the mind is advancing towards that under- standing of abstract ideas and, generalizations which distinguishes the adult from the child ; and subjects Which, at an earlier age,. may have appeared. merely in the light of routine school tasks often arouse a quite new interest in those who have reached a time of life at which they can read more widely and more deeply. This is especially true when the incubus of examinations is absent, and it would be a disaster if some ingenious pedant were to attempt to devise a Higher Certificate syllabus in citizenship. If the thoughts are allowed to range freely over a wide field and the teacher is regarded rather as a co-operator in the quest for truth than as a walking encyclopaedia, the results will be worth while ; the pupil will acquire a fresher and more plastic attitude towards knowledge;- and will often strike out a line . for ,himself. Even if he may not win renown as an expert specialist in a narrow field of research, he will be a wiser and a saner human being, able to take his place in a world in which there is need of those who can " see life steadily and see it whole." It will be strange if he, does not in the end become a better citizen than those whose school training has been entirely vocational in character.
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