Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/158

 146 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

industrial and political world have transformed the entire social fabric. The school has felt the action of the new forces and has recognized, in a> measure, the validity of the claims repre- sented by each. The scientific spirit, so strong during the last decade, has made itself felt ; and we have, in addition to the older geography, the elements of nearly every physical and natural science. Political forces have extended throughout the length and breadth of the land, and appear in the elementary curriculum in the form of civics, political history, and lessons in patriotism. Increasing wealth and leisure are making it possible for art to flourish, and in many quarters it now occupies an important place in the elementary curriculum. The rapid growth of cities, which has attended the development of the factory system, has crowded people together as never before. The consciousness of social responsibility that has been developed in the process is making itself felt, and appears in the school in the demand for a place for the study of social conditions and means of amelioration. The commercial spirit that dominates the age operates to place an emphasis upon the more utilitarian aspects of life. The manual-training movement, which origi- nated in northwestern Europe in the desire to preserve, through school instruction, the technique that was threatening to dis- appear, has extended to this country, and, under the combined influence of utilitarian and educational forces, has been added to the curriculum. And, finally, educators have become conscious of the fact that there is a deeper significance in the simple house industries in which all children formerly participated than the practical result obtained ; and they are beginning to demand an opportunity for the child to participate in industries that have been transferred from the home to the factory. In spite of all these new and vigorous forces, tradition is still powerful and clings to a Middle-Age formalism with a tenacity that would do credit to a better cause.

It is not strange that for several years the subjects corre- sponding to such diverse forces as these just enumerated should fail to find in one another mutual support. There has not yet been time for the reconciliation to be made. The lack of unity