II. THE FUNCTIONS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
157. The functions of secondary education. For present
purposes the term "functions" is employed to designate
certain elements for which secondary education must pro- vide if the aims previously formulated are to be attained.
Those functions are determined in part by the nature of
society and in part by the nature of the pupils to be educated,
factors which in important ways condition the attainment
of the aims set. If we conceive of the aims of secondary
education as the ultimate goals which it is to attain we must
recognize that certain factors must be involved hi the at- tempt to reach those goals. Thus we may conceive of the
social-civic aim of secondary education as involving preparation
for efficient participation in social-civic life. Many
important functions are therein involved, e.g., means of adjusting the individual and his social environment, the
development of a "social mind" and social cohesion among
groups of individuals, the adjustment of individual differ- ences to the differentiated needs of society, control of the
factor of selection in secondary education, educational,
moral, social, and vocational guidance.
The remaining sections of this chapter will deal with the
following six important functions of secondary education:
(1) the adjustive or adaptive function; (2) the integrating
76 PRINCIPLES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
function; (3) the differentiating function; (4) the propae- deutic function; (5) the selective function; (6) the diagnostic
and directive function. Their relation to the aims of secondary
education will appear ijaore clearly from the following
discussion. 158. The adjustive or adaptive function. It is a postulate
of the social aim of secondary education that it should provide
means for the adjustment of the pupil to his social environment. In section 143 (Chapter IX) it was maintained
that the social environment to which the secondary-school
pupil is to be adjusted is dynamic, not static, and that the
rapidity of social change is so great as to warrant the assumption
that the social environment in which the present pupil
is later to live will in important respects differ from that of the present. The course of social evolution shows clearly
that for any one generation the total social organization
represents a composite of relatively stable and constant elements of the past and certain elements appropriate to the present. It also implies that the present social organization
comprises certain elements which may be expected to remain relatively stable and constant in the near future,
and others which we may confidently expect to be either
entirely lost or radically modified. This suggests that mere
adjustment through the development of relatively fixed habits of reaction is fairly adequate for those elements which
may be conceived as destined in all likelihood to remain
relatively unchanged in their essential characteristics within
the life of the present generation. It suggests also, however,
that adjustment alone (in the sense of the establishment of fixed habits of reaction) is insufficient, and that some capacity
for readjustment must be developed if the individual is to be prepared for the changing conditions which will in- evitably come during his life after the period of formal
education. In other words, the adjustive function of second-
IMS AND FUNCTIONS 377
ary education includes both the establishment of certain
fixed habits of reaction, certain fixed standards and ideals,
and also the development of a capacity to readjust adequately
to the changing demands of Me. Tempora mutantur,
el nos mutamur in illis, is true with regard to the times; it is true of iis only in a collective sense and to the extent that
readaptation is possible. 159. The integrating function. In section 144 (Chapter
IX) the bearing of the social factors of integration and differ- entiation on secondary education was discussed. It was there
pointed out that one of the imperative demands made by
society on the secondary school is provision for the development
of that amount of like-mindedness, of unity hi thought,
habits, ideals, and standards, requisite for social cohesion
and social solidarity. From this arises the integrating function
of secondary education, which in this country particularly
is constantly acquiring greater and greater importance
for a number of reasons. Among these may be mentioned
the following:
(1) The increasing complexity of life in a modern democracy
constantly increases the amount of common knowledge,
of common action, and common ideals necessary. The ele- mentary school is constantly becoming less and less adequate
for this need.
(2) The increasing heterogeneity of the population hi this country tends constantly to increase the diversity of social heredity and therefore to render the process of social inte- gration more necessary and more difficult. (3) The increasing diversity of industrial occupations and
of living conditions tends constantly to increase the forces of differentiation demanding increased forces of integration to balance and compensate.
(4) Other institutions which formerly operated as inte- grating agencies have been modified in such a way as to
78 PRINCIPLES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
operate with diminished force in that direction or have
proved quite inadequate for that purpose under the changed
conditions of society: e.g., the Church and religion.
To conceive that the factor of integration is of importance
in connection with problems of "class distinction" only is an error. Important as those problems are for a democracy
they involve but a part only of a more fundamental problem
including other problems of social integration. 160. The differentiating function. The integrating function
must at all times be conceived as correlated with the
differentiating function of secondary education and the
relation between the two functions must be considered as supplemental rather than conflicting, the supplemental rela- tion being necessitated by the relation of the two factors of integration and differentiation in the process of social evolution.
As the integrating function of secondary education
arises out of the necessity of developing a certain amount of homogeneity out of the heterogeneous population for the
purpose of assuring social solidarity, so the differentiating
function of secondary education arises out of the necessity
of taking advantage of the differences among individuals for the purpose of determining social efficiency.
Two facts make this differentiating function in secondary
education both possible and necessary:
(1) Pupils in the secondary school (the raw material with
which secondary education must perforce deal and which
conditions its operation) differ greatly in native capacities,
in acquired tendencies (especially as conditioned by training
outside the school), in interests and aptitudes. Failure to recognize this fundamental fact at any time must inevitably mean failure to do justice to the individual and failure to develop the highest social efficiency out of the raw material
available.
(2) The diversified needs of modern industrial and social
IMS AND FUNCTIONS 379
life demand preparation for widely different forms of activity
which cannot be provided for all individuals. Moreover,
if such universal preparation were possible, it would be
extremely wasteful and undesirable. The differentiated
activities of life demand differentiated education, the burden
of which, as far as formal education is concerned, must be
borne by the secondary school. 161. The propaedeutic function. The propaedeutic function
of secondary education is merely one phase of the adjustive
function, having reference to a part only of secondaryschool
pupils those preparing to continue their formal
education in some higher institution. Preparation for such
higher education cannot be considered as a separate aim of secondary education. It must be considered, however, as a
legitimate function of secondary education in the case of those pupils whose preparation for the attainment of the
ultimate aims of education may be extended over a longer
period of time than that of the great majority. The general
aims of the education of such pupils remain the same aims
formulated above, namely, the social-civic aim, the economicvocational
aim, and the individualistic-avocational aim.
A number of factors, however, affect the attainment of those aims in the case of the pupils who will continue their formal education in some higher institution. A more intensive
and more extensive preparation for the social-civic activities is possible; preparation for vocational activities in
its direct and specific form is deferred; different forms of preparation for different modes of leisure are possible and
justified; a somewhat higher selection of pupils is common,
at least with reference to social and economic status. As the
activities of such pupils will "function" differently in life after the period of formal education, so must the function
of secondary education differ somewhat in the case of such
pupils.
80 PRINCIPLES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
Common practice tends either to over-estimate or to underestimate
the propaedeutic function of secondary education. In the past this function has commonly received altogether too much attention, and the rather definite requirements of preparation for higher education have tended to overbalance
the whole economy of secondary education in this country
until it became the dominant aim of the secondary school instead of occupying its legitimate place as a contributing
function. On the other hand, the present revolt against such a domination of college preparation has in some cases led to a gross under-estimate of the importance of the propaedeutic
function of secondary education. This has already been dis- cussed in section 128, and requires no further consideration
here, except, perhaps, to recall the fact that secondaryschool
pupils destined to continue their formal education
in higher institutions comprise the largest roughly homogeneous
group of pupils in the public secondary school homogeneous in the sense that a complete secondary-school course may be mapped out for this group much more readily
than for any other group and in the sense that a rather
definite and tangible temporary goal may be set up for their education. Whatever be the particular form that the artic- ulation between secondary education and higher education
may eventually assume, it must be recognized that preparation
for higher education must be one of the legitimate
functions of secondary education. Nevertheless it must also be recognized that it is but one of a number of functions.
162. The selective function. Selection is a necessary
function of any form of education, the necessity arising from
the factor of individual differences which become an increas- ingly important factor as the course of education proceeds
higher and makes a greater demand on capacity. It was
pointed out in Chapter III that individuals differ widely in mental traits. In so far as those differences are due to the
IMS AND FUNCTIONS 381
limits of capacity set by nature and to rates of development
also determined by nature it is clear that, as education de- mands more and more capacity, with certain individuals the
limits of then* capacity are reached, or, what is more com- mon, the point is approached at which given possible
amounts of training produce results incommensurate with
the amount of teaching and learning energy expended, and
the point of diminishing returns is reached. No amount of training can ever equalize the abilities of individuals whose
native capacities differ to any marked degree. Hence selec- tion must inevitably be a function of secondary education.
The selective function of secondary education may be
viewed from two somewhat different but related aspects.
From one aspect selection is commonly considered as in- volving the elimination of those individuals who are unable
to meet the demands set. To this view little objection could
be raised, provided, and only provided, that the demands
set could be justified. In the past in this country and at present in some countries the demands set were largely
based on the assumption that ability and willingness to meet
the requirements of certain specified subjects of study with
limited range measure intellectual ability in general a
theory which itself rests on the further assumption that
either all desirable mental traits are involved hi the specific
subjects selected, or the improvement in the mental traits involved can be transferred to other material. Such a theory
is discussed in detail in later sections. For the present it is sufficient to state that the theory must certainly be greatly
modified and that it cannot justify emphasis on any small
number of subjects in the secondary school as affording
adequate training for all or as affording a training which is susceptible of unlimited transfer. In contrast to selection by elimination the second aspect
of the selective function of secondary education emphasizes
82 PRINCIPLES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
selection by differentiation. Its justification rests on two
considerations: (1) that individuals differ in capacities, interests,
and the nature of environmental influences, those
differences appearing not in the sum total of mental traits,
but in the various mental traits as related to each other;
(2) that, within limits, training in various specific mental
traits or groups of traits is justified from a social viewpoint. In terms of psychology it assumes that different mental
traits are found in different individuals in different degrees. In terms of sociology it means that no one subject or group
of subjects can claim exclusive place in secondary education
and that different subjects or groups of subjects are equally
justified from the viewpoint of social economy. In terms of school practice it means that if a pupil lacks ability or inter- est in one field of study but possesses ability and interest in another, discrimination is justified, and, particularly in the
public secondary school, that pupil has a right to receive education in fields for which he possesses ability and interest. He cannot be deprived of the opportunity for education
because of inability or lack of interest in some officially
favored subject or subjects. 163. The diagnostic and directive function. A phase of the adjustive function, and one closely related to the selec- tive and differentiating functions, is the diagnostic and direc- tive function of secondary education. Social economy and
personal efficiency and happiness postulate that each indi- vidual, as far as may be possible, should do what he can best
do. The determination of what each pupil may best do and
what he may do with the greatest efficiency and happiness
cannot be accomplished unless he is brought into contact with a somewhat wide range of experiences, in large part
through studies in the secondary school. Hence the school must provide materials to acquaint the pupil with various
activities of life, must give him some opportunity to test
IMS AND FUNCTIONS 383
out and explore his capacities and interests, and must pro- vide some direction and guidance therefor. The mere offer- ing of various forms of instruction does not complete the
work of the secondary school. It must, as far as may be
possible, add to that function the function of exploring,
testing, diagnosing, and directing the education of the pupil.
It must permit the pupil to discover and test his own special
aptitudes and capacities, and must assist in that process
through a thoroughgoing system of educational guidance,
including educational guidance and direction in the narrower
sense, moral guidance, social guidance, physical guidance,
and vocational guidance.
