Dalton Plan

In London was held a conference on the Dalton Plan for (English) Secondary Schools. Later a report was issued by the Dalton Association.

Author, Aim. The author of the plan is Miss Helen Parkhurst, Director of the Children's University School of New York. Its aim is to extend to pupils in secondary departments the opportunities for self -development which have long been granted to children in the more modern primary schools. The class room is to be a freer place than usual, the teacher taking the position of a friend and adviser rather than a taskmaster, and the students gathering in natural groups for the working out of problems which have been suggested rather than assigned. Each room is to be a laboratory in one way or another, with its own library, maps and other apparatus easily accessible to the inquiring student. For certain studies it is suggested that weekly or monthly meetings are sufficient, at which times the teacher can receive reports from the pupil upon the progress of his work. In French, for instance, a library of suitable books will be provided, and the students encouraged to read and talk among themselves.

Difficulties. The practical difficulties seem to be two. In the first place, especial care must be exercised in the estimate of the work which the individual student is capable of doing without waste of time, and in the second place, teachers with sufficient imagination and personality are hard to find. But the search for the latter is worth while, and under ideal conditions it should be possible to furnish the students what they require. The ideal conditions include money for space and equipment. The crowded state of most American high schools would be an unfortunate obstacle to the perfecting of the scheme in this country. But the plan, where it does not involve a meaningless kind of freedom, has great educational value, and the means may in time be worked out. There are about 2,000 schools using the Dalton plan in England; and from 100 to 200 in the U. S. Miss Parkhurst went to England two years ago to lecture, and has just begun lecturing in the U. S. Her book (Education on the Dalton Plan--Dutton, $2.00) has been translated into several languages, including Norwegian, German, Russian. She will leave the U. S. on March 20 for a trip to Japan--to explain her system there.