or later educational stages. I cannot see any inherent differences in college men and women, and I fancy no one finds them in the elementary school. Some women whom I know are physically stronger, intellectually keener, and spiritually more robust than some men of my acquaintance. I doubt whether there is any profession, or even manual vocation, that might not be better served by certain women than by many men. On the other hand, there are men who are essentially more feminine than some women; even the maternal instinct is better developed in some men than in many women. Our environment and occupation, quite as much as any inherited tendency or physical limitation, mold us into the shapes we take.

Equality of opportunity for similarity of aims. — The doctrine of equality of opportunity a fundamental principle of American society, it seems to me --forces us to the conclusion that our school system must provide free and ample training for every boy and girl. If a boy and a girl aspire to professional service, there should be full equality of opportunity; so, too, if either wants to become a farmer, a builder, or a stenographer, the way should be open and the means available.

The obvious corollary of this proposition is that those whose aim is the same should have the same education. The woman who studies medicine, or teaching, or law, needs no specialized course of training because she is a woman. Professional service is without distinction of sex. Merchandizing, stenography - even laundering and dressmaking and dishwashing are not peculiarly feminine occupations. The man who wishes to excel in them must fit himself as does the woman.

Opening the door to future needs. I see no reason, therefore, to modify a college-preparatory course to suit the needs of girls or boys; their needs are identical, so far as they go. The fact that two thirds of the girls will soon marry means that the career of the largest group in the school is definitely known; for them a specialized course is not only desirable, but it is almost criminal not to give it. But if any girl prefers Latin to cookery, and aspires to become a classical scholar rather than a domestic technician, I think she is entitled to all the help the school can give, and that what she gets should be what the boy with the same ambition gets. There is a study of science that leads to a sane understanding of the principles of nutrition and sanitation as required by the housewife, and there is a study of science that leads to the practice of medicine. The girl who is to marry should choose the one, and the girl who is to become a physician should take the other. It would doubtless strengthen the future housewife to take both, just as it would be well for the married physician to have both, but life is too short to do everything that one would like, or to get all the training that one should have. Choices must be made, and fortunate is the man or woman who chooses wisely. All that the school can do is to offer the widest possible range of choices, and to keep the door open toward future needs.

CHAPTER X

SOM

OME time ago I was asked to address a convention on the subject, "What are the vital things in the education of young women?" The topic was not of my choosing, but the question interested me. It should interest everyone, either teacher or parent. From the parent's standpoint it is oftentimes a very proper question to put. What have courses of study and methods of teaching to do with things that are vital in education? Where are the ablative absolute, the rule of three, and quadratic equations in such a scheme? Is there anything of more consequence than the ability to parse "Paradise Lost," to spell Nebuchadnezzar, or to work every example in partial payments (every one, I mean, that the textbook gives no one ever saw the like outside a textbook)? To ask a pedagogue what is vital in education is a shrewd way of finding out whether he belongs to the union or not. Nevertheless, I told them plainly what I thought of the education of girls.

Problem of coeducation. Since then I have been thinking of what is vital in the education of boys. And I really cannot see where to draw the line. We want our girls to become women- the best possible women; and we want our boys to become men the best possible

1 A revised reprint from GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, March, 1914, used by courtesy of the publishers.

men. The sexes may differ in important particulars, just as individuals of the same sex have peculiar characteristics; but what is essential in education pertains to all alike.

The other day I received a letter from the president of a city school board in England who wanted to know what I thought of coeducation. My reply was that I didn't think much about it; if he meant the presence of both sexes in the same school, I could see no harm in it as long as parents supplied us with both boys and girls; if he meant the same training for both sexes, he would have to seek further for his information, because in this country no two boys have the same training, to say nothing of the identical training of both sexes.

The attainment of ends. Herein is an educational principle of wider application than we ofttimes realize. If it is hard to find two people who look alike, it is harder still to find two personalities who are alike. By inheritance, temperament, and taste I am unlike any other being, so far as I know, and no conceivable discipline that I could be subjected to would make me just like anyone else. Browning says in his "Paracelsus ” that

Truth is within ourselves

and, to know,

Rather consists in opening out a way

Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light

Supposed to be without.

What is essential in education is not so much a matter of discipline and training as it is a question of ends to be

attained. For every mountain peak worth scaling there may be innumerable paths that lead to the summit. For every boy or girl worth raising there may be many routes to success in life. But a person's attainment of success should be as patent as standing on the mountain peak.

Where education begins. Knowing what we want our children to become, the practical question is: What should we do for them while they are growing into manhood and womanhood? It is a question directed to parents as well as to teachers - I myself am speaking as a parent. What counts most in the making of men and women? If we parents were free to act in the best interests of our children; if schools did not have fixed schedules and classes and courses of study and marks and examinations and prizes and promotions and graduations and bouquets; if teachers were all-wise and omnipotent; if our friends and neighbors would only let us do some things that they don't care to do, instead of forever goading us on to do as others do; if only we had the courage to do what our common sense dictates - what would we do with our children while they are growing into men and women?

Laying a sound foundation. Shall we send them to college? I fancy some of us put that question to the babe in the cradle. At any rate, I know of parents who enter their boys in a famous New England school as soon as their names are decided upon. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I don't know which, the schooling of girls is not taken quite so seriously. But nevertheless we do begin to think very early of the schools to which our daughters are to be sent. We begin inquiries concerning dancing masters and music teachers; we discuss the relative values