1 CHAPTER 1 The Need and the Challenge THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE studies of American education in the 1950's have focused attention on the fact that our public school system, with all its flaws, is a unique achievement. In his report of the National Citizens' Commission for the Public Schools, Dreiman 1 puts this very well: “. . . the great glory of public education in the United States, in the second half of the 20th century, is that with all its critics have found to denounce, it is nevertheless a system whose hallmarks are everlasting commitment and dedication to the freedoms of the society that gave it birth." We have made universal public education through the secondary level a going concern. We have really developed schools for all the people. Whether one inclines toward the critical or the laudatory view, he is not likely to quarrel with one basic proposition: Our schools must be strengthened and improved. They are not stimulating the fullest development of all the human resources of the Nation. Even if our schools had been entirely satisfactory for the society of the past (and we all agree that they were not), they would still not be adequate to meet the challenges of the future. The task of improving the public schools is one that can be wholeheartedly supported by everybody. Authorities may differ about how this can best be accomplished, but they agree that it must be done. It has become increasingly apparent, as educated people have thought about the American school system, that guidance occupies a place of crucial importance in it. We cannot regard guidance as a frill or a luxury. This conclusion follows inescapably once we become fully aware of the enormous range in intellectual capacity, special talents and interests, family and community backgrounds, represented in one of our comprehensive high schools. Because these schools are not selective, as most of the European secondary schools are, boys with IQ's of 85 and 165 greet one another in the halls. A girl from a one 1 Dreiman, D. B. How To Get Better Schools. New York: Harper, 1956. p. 4. room shack on the fringe of the city sits next to a girl from the mansion on the hill. Students with long family traditions of scholarship and culture share classrooms and laboratories with students who see the school situation as a somewhat distasteful prelude to work. Furthermore, different varieties of intellectual capacity, special aptitudes, and attitude toward education occur in all possible combinations. Henry, from a working class home, may have an IQ of 150. Bill, from a professional family, may consistently score at about the 100 level. Henry may never have considered seriously the possibility of going to college. Bill and his family may have their hearts set on it, even though other experiences may be more meaningful to him. In an attempt to cope with these individual differences, large high schools have developed rich, diversified programs. Each individual student is confronted with the task of choosing the course offerings most suitable for him. How good his education is depends to a large extent on how intelligently he makes such choices. Thus the necessity for guidance. A young person of 15 or 16 is not in a position to make wise choices without help from someone. If professional assistance is not available, the student will get such help elsewhere, usually from his parents or from his friends. While his parents may know the student very well, they may not be familiar enough with educational programs and requirements so that they can fully discharge the guidance responsibility. And while a student's friends may know a good deal about the various kinds of courses a school offers, they are likely to place far too much emphasis on irrelevant factors, such as the personality or grading practices of a particular teacher, and to guide him toward what is easy or entertaining. With adequate guidance facilities, a large, diversified high school can provide a suitable educational environment for every individual student. Without such facilities, it is chaos. In the small high school, the situation is different but the need for guidance is just as real. Here there is not the great diversity of courses and activities, but the diversity of individual talents is just as great as in the large school. The brilliant girl, the boy with outstanding musical aptitude, the student with a speech handicap, must fit as best they can into a curriculum designed for average persons. Students with special talents or disabilities-and a considerable proportion of any group is "special" in one way or another—may never get the stimulation they need if they are to develop on their own individual lines. They may never learn of the many opportunities for higher education and specialized careers that are open to them. Guidance can help to meet these needs of individuals in the small school. Since World War II, Americans have become increasingly concerned about the education of those students who show an unusually high level of academic talent. Study after study has demonstrated that a considerable proportion of our most intelligent citizens never make the special contribution to society that they might have made had they received the advanced education necessary for the full development of talent. Thinking about this problem leads us again to the conclusion that guidance is essential. Scholarships and loans are not enough by themselves. The reasons why brilliant students do not go to college or drop out before they finish have turned out to be many and complex. Just by changing the curriculum or enlarging testing programs we cannot insure that the bright student will devote serious effort to difficult courses and make wise plans for his future. But through counseling, he can be helped to make decisions that really satisfy him and to set goals toward which his best efforts can be mobilized. Such self-direction is the only kind of motivation that is consistent with our democratic philosophy. We cannot single out bright students or any other one group of citizens and compel them to shape their lives according to a certain pattern because of the needs of society. We insist that a person's own wishes must be considered. While we may talk of "manpower" or "human resources" as though they were a commodity to be utilized by society, we do not really look upon this human commodity as we look upon our fuel, fields, and forests. For us, the right of a person to shape his own destiny takes precedence over the right of society to make use of his talents. Fortunately, our long experience with the democratic system has demonstrated to us that there need be no essential conflict here. The choice a person makes about what to do with his life, if it rests on thoughtful consideration of all the factors involved, represents a synthesis of his personal and social values. The full development of his own potentialities can be deeply satisfying to the person himself and at the same time good for society. The aim of counseling is to help each young person make good choices and plans. That is why it is such an essential part of our whole educational enterprise. Leaders in the guidance professions and forward-looking school administrators have long been aware of these relationships between guidance and the student's total educational experience. What is new in our time is that the facts have become apparent to those representatives of the public at large who have attempted to take a useful, serious look at educational policy. In the widely quoted report of the panel on education set up under the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Pursuit of Excellence, we find these words: The identification of talent is no more than the first step. It should be only part of a strong guidance program. The word guidance has a variety of meanings; we use it here to mean advice concerning the young person's educational problems and the most appropriate course of study for him. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that such guidance is essential to the success of our system. As many teachers as possible should be trained to take part in it. As many high schools as possible should have special guidance officers to supplement the teachers where greater technical knowledge is required. In The American High School Today, Conant makes the establishment of an adequate counseling system his first recommendation for schools seeking to improve their effectiveness. The amount of counseling service this recommendation explicitly calls for goes beyond what all but a very few of our high schools now have. The report of the hearings before the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare on the several education bills that were before Congress in 1958, and discussions that led to the National Defense Education Act finally passed in September of that year, show that the need for guidance services was clear to the framers of this legislation. Guidance was not included as an incidental attachment to the main program or as an afterthought. It was an essential building block in the structure Congress was attempting to set up. Guidance services are essential but at present they are far from adequate. Looking first at just the sheer number of counselors necessary if all high schools embarked upon reasonably good programs, we find an enormous gap between the number now available and the number that could be used. The U.S. Office of Education estimates that there are now in service the equivalent of 11,000 full-time counselors. We would need 26,000 to approximate the ratios recommended by the States. Only about 2,500 graduate degrees in guidance and counseling at all levels were granted in 1956. Enrollments in high schools are increasing far more rapidly than the production of new counselors. But it is not only quantity that is inadequate in counseling; quality must also be considered. A large proportion of the persons now engaged in guidance work in high schools have had little or no special training for their counseling duties. They are simply teachers who The Pursuit of Excellence. the Special Studies Project. Education and the Future of America. Panel Report V of 3 Conant, James B. The American High School Today. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959. 4 From statement by Dr. Lawrence G. Derthick, Hearings before the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, “Science and Education for National Defense," 85th Cong.. 2d sess., 1958, p. 241. |