CONTRIBUTIONS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION TO SELECTED PROBLEM AREAS OF GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL

568 Pages·23.819 MB·English

by  JENNINGS, WILLIAM E

CONTRIBUTIONS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION TO SELECTED PROBLEM
AREAS OF GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL
DISSERTATION
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate
School of The Ohio State University
By
William E. Jennings, B.A., M.S,
The Ohio State University
1952
Pt. 1
Approved hy:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Grateful acknowledgement Is made to Dr. J Marshall
Hanna, chairman of the committee under whose direction
this dissertation has been written, for his guidance in
planning this study and for the personal stimulation of
his teaching and thinking about the problems of general
education in the area of business education. Appreciation
is expressed also for the valuable aid given by the other
members of this committee, Dr. Harold Alberty and Dr. Earl
W. Anderson.
To Elsie Stalzer and Monlr Mikhail who shared in the
cooperative part of this study, and to the staff of Ohio
State University School for helpful suggestions relative
to general education, the writer is deeply indebted.
Finally, the writer is indebted to his wife, Ann, for
her inspiration and faith during the time of this study.
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C0M22
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I THE PROBLEM . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . • . . 1
The Core-Type Program . . . . 7
\
The Need for General Business Education 10
Purpose of the Study . . . . 11
Underlying Assumptions of the Study . 12
\
Definition of Terms . . . . 13
Procedures Used in the Study . . . 13
\
ii business Education an integral part of general
education^ .... ......................... 17
Importable of General Business , 17
General lysiness Defined . . . . 21
CurriculunSLorganlzation for General Business 26
y.
Ill CONTRIBUTIONSvOF BUSINESS EDUCATION TO SELECTED
PROBLEM AREAS \ » ......................... 29
Problems of Orientation to School Living 34
Contribution^ of Business Education to
Problems of SMiool Living . . . . 47
Problems of Self Understanding • • • 53
Problems of Developing Values and Beliefs 80
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Developing Values and Beliefs 98
Problems of Social Relationships in a
Democracy . , . \ . . . . 110
Contributions of Business Education to Pro­
blems of Social Relationships in a
Democracy 136
iii
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
Problems of Employment and Vocations . • • 153
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Employment and Vocations • • 173
Problems of Conserving Natural Resources . . 192
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Conserving Natural Resources . 222
Problems of Education in American Democracy . 230
Contributions of Business Education to Pro­
blems of Education in American Democracy . 245
Problems of Constructive Use of Leisure . * 251
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Constructive Use of Leisure . 267
Problems of Family Living * . • . 276
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Family Living ............... 291
Problems of Communication . . • 302
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Communication . • . ♦ 316
Problems of Democratic Government . . * 329
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Democratic Government • 350
Problems of Personal and Community Health . 360
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Personal and Community Health . 396
Problems of Economic Relationships in a
D e m o c r a c y ....................................402
Contributions of Business Education to Prob­
lems of Economic Relationships in a
Democracy................................ 426
iiii
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
Problems of Critical Thinking • • . • 458
Problems of Achieving World Peace in the Atomic
A g e .................................... 479
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Achieving World Peace in the
Atomic Age . . . . • • . • . 502
Problems of Intercultural Relations , 510
Contributions of Business Education to
Problems of Intercultural Relations . ♦ • 534
IV SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . 540
Summary of Business Understandings . . . 546
Major Conclusions....................... 555
Responsibilities of the Business Teacher in a
Core Program ..................... 555
Recommendations • » • • • • • • 557
B I B L I O G R A P H Y ............................. .... 560
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1
Chapter I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction* The American public, as never before,
seems deeply concerned about the education of its youth.
Recent educational literature reveals that there is more
dissatisfaction than satisfaction, more condemnation than
commendation, and there seems to be a feeling that somehow
the secondary schools have failed to educate youth in the
understandings and implications of living in a democracy*
The secondary school is, therefore, facing a challenge
to accept a greater responsibility for helping students to
understand themselves and their problems in a democratic
society. The school must also provide for the development
of ability and interest to solve problems intelligently.
Before the public schools came into existence, and
even in the earlier civilizations of the world, a school
consisted of teacher and pupils living and learning to­
gether from all of life# In this situation the child, under
some guidance, learned from direct contacts with the market
place, the governmental agencies, the farm--in short, the -
total community# The child learned the basic essentials of
life* The educational systems of Athens and Sparta best
exemplified this type of school situation#
As schools continued to develop, school experience, as
such, tended to be limited to the learning of academic
skills and knowledge in the classroom. These activities
became relatively isolated from those in the community.
Under such conditions family and community influence seemed
to be primary factors in shaping the behavior and education
of the youth. In fact the major portions of the child’s
learnings, including education for making a living, were
obtained from normal activities of life outside the class­
room. Education became primarily a process of intellectual
training in which a premium was placed upon memorization and
habituation. Pear, compulsion, physical punishment, and
other external stimuli were corollaries of passive learning.
With the advent of our present increasingly complex
economic social system, the home and the local community
have lost much of the educative influence upon youth. The
problem becomes more acute in that the amount and quality
of education required for effective social and economic
living have greatly increased.
New Inventions, scientific discoveries, and improved
techniques have tended to change every aspect of living.
Yet the secondary school curriculum is fundamentally the
same as it was fifty years ago. A number of minor changes
have been made, such as adding more elective courses,
providing for home-room and extra-curricular activity periods,
accepting vocational education as a responsibility, and en­
larging the curriculum to allow for more specialization on
the part of students. These changes In the curriculum,
Important as they may seem, are rather minor and fragmentary
when compared with the social and economic changes which have
taken place in our nation during the same period, A more
functional-type program should replace the subject-centered
curriculum of the secondary school.
There are several factors which indicate the need for
a more functional program In the secondary school. The
public secondary school of today serves more youth than did
the secondary school of fifty years ago. Approximately
eighty per cent of all youth of secondary age are enrolled
in school today as compared to thirty per cent in 1900
It was the opinion of people fifty years ago that a high
school education was for a selected group of American youth;
today it is more the opinion that a high school education
should be for all American youth.^
The traditional subject-centered curriculum is not
conducive to the new ideas concerning good teaching methods
and the nature of the learning process, Alberty3 mentions
the emphasis placed on teaching methods during the early part
1 William M. Alexander, and J. Galen Saylor, Secondary
Education, Basic Principles and. Practices, New York:
Rinehart ancL Company, Inc., T^Fo” p.^3J+
2 See, Education Policies Commission, Education For All
American Youth. Washington: National Educ at I on As s ocTati on, 19ilh •
3 Harold Alberty, Reorganizing the High-School Curriculum.
New York: The Macmillan Company,' 19hT» p. 10.
1}.
of tho present oentury and citoa various examples of unit
planning, such as the projeot method, the Morrison Plan, and
the Dalton and Wlnnetka Plana,
leaders In present-day oducatlon generallyegreo that
schools today often operate In terms of a too narrowly
oonoolved task as well as an outmoded concept of learning*
Therefore, one ofton hears statements that our schools are
divorced from life, that we fall to meet the needs of youth,
and that the school curriculum Is ineffective In aiding
youth to live democratically.
Another factor which seems to demand a more functlonal-
type program In the secondary school Is the new emphasis on
tho meaning of democracy. Counts says,^*
"We In America, In my judgment, have never
given adequate thought to the question of tho
development of an education that is suited to
our democracy, particularly In the present indus­
trial ago. If we dvor do, the result will bo
something new in the history of education. It
will express at tho same time both the emphasis
on knowledge, understanding, and enlightenment
and the emphasis on tho cultivation of tho basic
othloal values of democracy— devotion to equality,
Individual worth, Intellectual freedom, social
liberty, democratic processes, general welfare,
and mastoi’y of relevant knowledge. And all of
this must be done in terms of the realities of tho
contemporary age. The major difficulty which all
democracies confront here is the achievement
through tho democratic process of an educational
program designed to strengthen democracy,"
Many educators today are endeavoring to think through
if. George 3, Counts, "Educate for Democracy," Phi Delta
Kappan, XXX (February 19i|-9), p. 223.
5
the meaning of democracy as it relates to education* In
brief democracy means:
1, Respect for human personality* This implies that the
basic purpose of a democratic society Is the development and
integration of personality. It implies a society In which
all people have an opportunity and a right to develop their
potentialities through participating and sharing in the group
process, regardless of color, creed, economic status, class
or sex.
2. Faith in living and working together for the common
good. This statement places democracy in a social setting
in which each person recognizes his dependence upon others*
Cooperation, as the process of democratic life, implies an
awareness of common problems, a widening of the area of
mutual Interests, an exchange of Ideas concerning solutions*
It involves developing together a plan of action and the
execution of this plan In terns of common goals. Cooperation
implies that personal freedom exists only as it is in keeping
with the basic value of a democratic society— the extension
of the welfare of all the people.
3* Faith In the method of intelligence In all areas
of living. In a democratic society there Is faith that the
common man, through the use of the method of intelligence,
can progressively gain control over his environment*
How can democracy be effectively taught in our schools?
How can our youth learn the common understandings needed to
live effectively in our democratic society? How can these