Education: Guinea Pigs’ Verdict

In 1917 Latin & Greek were staples of the U. S. high-school curriculum. Either because or in spite of that fact, the curriculum was under sharp attack. One of its severest critics, dynamic Dr. Abraham Flexner, then secretary of the Carnegie Foundation, got the Rockefeller General Education Board to start the Lincoln School, an experimental, “progressive” school. It was attached to Columbia University’s Teachers College. Today Lincoln School has about 650 pupils in all grades from kindergarten through high school, is counted one of the leading progressive institutions in the U. S. The school has done many unorthodox things, such as sending its pupils to study the TVA at first hand (TIME, Feb. 21). Last week Lincoln School celebrated its 20th anniversary in an unorthodox way. It published the frank opinions of the school reported by the guinea pigs on whom it had experimented. Comments of some of its 608 graduates:

¶ “There is no excuse for not offering Latin. … I wouldn’t know a gerund from a syntax.”

¶ “Youth is arrogant enough and needs more discipline than was enforced at Lincoln.”

¶ “Many of us left school thoroughly selfish individuals, totally incapable of seeing how our manners, personality, etc. affected other people.”

¶ “I and a lot of my classmates were spoiled a bit for a tough world.”

But the dissatisfied guinea pigs were outnumbered by the satisfied ones. Typical cheers:

¶ “College is something of a disappointment after Lincoln.”

¶ “Although I have found it hard to memorize, as was necessary in college, I have the advantage of being able to see, understand and think about problems.”

¶ “My general knowledge far exceeds that of many of my classmates. I am more familiar with current topics, foreign affairs, internal affairs, labor problems and the like.”

¶ “Lincoln gave me confidence in my-self.”

Neat, “platinum-blond” Principal Lester Dix, who produces more than 100 tons of fancy tomatoes each year on his farm at Princess Anne, Md., was not a bit flustered last week by the guinea pigs’ criticisms of Lincoln School. He was pleased “that our friends do not hesitate to tell us about our worst faults.” And Alumnus-Teacher Tom Prideaux explained: “Progressive teaching is popularly suspect. It is a convenient scapegoat. Further, many students in new schools like Lincoln are recruited from families with a talent for criticism. They have rebellion in their bones.”