Our Schools in War Time—and AfterDean, Arthur D. (Arthur Davis)
History
Our Schools in War Time—and After
Dean, Arthur D. (Arthur Davis)
Education -- United States; World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Schools
Thoughtful people are becoming disposed to criticize the present
methods employed in many of our sewing, cooking, and millinery classes.
It is felt that the girls in these classes, through the work which they
do, think of themselves first, last, and all the time. They spend time
on embroidery to cater further to decorative instincts long established
by custom without much thought as to artistic values. They spend half
a year making graduation dresses which they may wear before admiring
parents. They copy the latest fashion in hats without thought as to
utility or beauty. They knit feathery neck pieces and neglect stocking
darning. They laboriously sew by hand articles which had better be made
on a machine.
Our girls must learn to think of others than themselves. Their sewing
and millinery must get away from the individual-problem idea. Of
course girls must learn to sew by hand, especially when the home in
these days teaches so little in the way of hand sewing. But after they
have learned to sew by hand, they should not continue to use hand
sewing on work that should be done on a sewing machine. Of course it
is wise to train girls to make some of their own clothing, but to make
this clothing without regard to study of textiles or adaptation to
personal needs or the eternal fitness of things is not in accord with
the educational purpose of our schools, which is to train personal
character as well as to develop skill in domestic arts. When the family
hosiery needs darning, and the small children of the family need
clothes, and the schoolgirl needs a middy blouse or a school uniform,
it is unwise to spend so much energy on continuing a type of domestic
art which lacks the socialized appeal necessary to conform with modern
social needs and modern industrial methods.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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