In the opening paragraph of Dr. Cram's sketch we see that in the Walled Towns "the prime object of all education is the development of inherent character, and for this reason it is never divorced from religion, etc." Now the religious conditions of this country continue to present the same difficulty that was encountered by Horace Mann at the beginning of our public school system. A multitude of warring religious sects still continue their irreconcilable contentions, and as each has equal right in a school maintained from ...
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In the opening paragraph of Dr. Cram's sketch we see that in the Walled Towns "the prime object of all education is the development of inherent character, and for this reason it is never divorced from religion, etc." Now the religious conditions of this country continue to present the same difficulty that was encountered by Horace Mann at the beginning of our public school system. A multitude of warring religious sects still continue their irreconcilable contentions, and as each has equal right in a school maintained from the public treasury, it is not easy to see how religion may be made the basis of the work in our public schools. The Walled Towns sketched by Dr. Cram avoid this difficulty by congregating in each town citizens professing the same religion. Were it possible for us to do this, we might avoid this difficulty as well as many others, but I greatly fear that we are not near this condition at present and, if we ever reach it, it will be after we of the present generation are gathered to our fathers. But where we have schools maintained by any one religious denomination we can and should be very thorough in our acceptance and practical carrying out of Dr. Cram's recommendations. The whole curriculum and all our methods in such schools should be recast so as to make religion the vital center of our work and we should banish "rigidly secularized education," which should be as abhorrent to us as to the dwellers in the Walled Towns. It is only in this way that we may hope to escape "the retrogression in character, the loss of sound standards of value, and the disappearance of leadership which synchronized with the twentieth century breakdown of civilization even if it were not indeed its primary cause." Whether we agree with Dr. Cram or not concerning the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining the educational possibilities of the child, we can scarcely escape the validity of his contention that the welfare of a democracy demands an elementary education for all and the highest possible development for those who are fitted by nature to become leaders in the various lines of progress. It is too often taken for granted that educational advantages in a democracy must be utilized for the greatest good of the greatest number. Very little consideration will suffice to show the fallacy of this principle. In a democracy majorities may safely be trusted to take care of themselves: it is the minority that need protection. Government for the good of the majority leads straightway to the jungle with its bestial struggle for existence and survival of the strong. Christian civilization puts equity on the throne and banishes might. The axiom should evidently read: for the greatest good of the whole body and this demands the highest possible development of the few who are destined to lead us out of bondage and to keep us out of trouble. Our present educational system aims at providing equal opportunities for all and this must inevitably lead to the acceptance of mediocrity as a standard and to retrogression of the whole body. It should not be impossible to carry out Dr. Cram's idea even in our present circumstances. In the days when the Church controlled education, there were numerous foundations of scholarships and fellowships for those who proved themselves worthy, and the practice has not yet wholly died out in some of our institutions. = Catholic Educational Review , Vol. 18 [1920]
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