YALE MAY BE PROVING GROUND FOR NEW PLAN

From the viewpoint of the college student, those portions of the Committee Report dealing with educational policies at Harvard are of particular interest when contrasted with suggested curricular programs at other colleges. Plans formulated by Yale, because of its close association with Harvard, are probably of greater importance in such comparisons than any other recent proposals.

Reforms proposed by a Yale Committee on the Course of Study (as reported in the SERVICE NEWS of Friday, June 8) have already been adopted by the Yale faculty, thus giving observers here a chance to see the new plans in action before the Harvard recommendations go into effect, which, even if the Faculty of Arts and Sciences accepts them next fall, will probably not be for several years.

Specific Proposals Similar

The Yale report recognizes no twin fields of General and Special Education for college students; instead, it divides its instruction into Basic Studies, Distribution, and the Major, illustrating the qualities of compromise inherent in the plan. Despite the lack of unity of purpose, however, the Yale Committee has drawn up specific proposals which cover in many ways the same ground as do the plans of the Harvard group.

Harder on the individual student than the Harvard recommendations, the Yale program prescribes nine courses for all men, in contrast to the seven suggested by the Buck Committee. Of the nine, however, only three are specific courses and one a limited choice; the rest offer a broad selection within certain fields. Thus the student finds that under either plan he is forced to take four courses definitely prescribed by the college.

At Yale, the required courses are elementary English, one modern language, and two of three offered non-specific science courses, to deal with physical sciences, biological sciences, and a combination of astronomy and geology. Under the Harvard General Education proposals the prescribed subjects would be a modified form of English A, a humanities course entitled "Great Texts of Literature," a course in the social sciences called "Western Thought and Institutions," and one of two non-specific science courses, in biological science and physical science.

In the remaining five courses of a compulsory nature the Yale plan covers a wide variety of areas without forcing the student to take any particular subjects. The social studies and humanities fields come under this category, where in the student may take any full course within the required area, rather than the one specifically designed course of the type prescribed for the first four subjects.

Includes Areas Outside Harvard Report

Areas not mentioned in the Harvard Report fill out this part of the Yale program: the ancient world (requirement to be met by a course in ancient lanuage, history, philosophy, or art), systematic thinking (requirement to be met by a course in mathematics, logic, or linguistics), and the interdependence of knowledge, a rather indefinite--category for which courses have not yet been chosen.

The Harvard Committee does not prescribe any areas within which the three remaining General Education courses must fall. Instead it says merely that the student must take three courses which have been approved by the Administrative Committee on General Education, with only one coming within the area of his field of concentration.

But in the words "approved by . . ." comes the crux of the entire plan submitted by Dean Buck's committee. Whereas the Yale program is obviously a hodge-podge of requirements which have been formulated by compromise between long-standing interests, the Buck Committee demonstrates that there are certain values available to the student from General Education--and the Committee says Harvard should supply that education for all students.

An interesting point in the Yale plan is the number of courses required for a degree--20, in contrast to Harvard's 16. Along with this goes the elimination of any artificial distinction between the A.B. and B.S. degrees, now in effect at Harvard (though ignored by Dean Buck's Committee) because of the perhaps out dated requirement of advanced Latin or Greek for the A.B. degree.

Yale plan a Compromise

Essentially the Yale plan is a compromise between various elements. In the words of its authors, the plan "attempts to strike a reasonable balance between these elements, bringing order to a situation which has been in danger of becoming chaotic." The program as such is negative in purpose, a corrective rather than an application of a new educational philosophy.

Dean Buck and his Committee, with the advantage of time and funds which were afforded them, have gone further than compromise. They have found a new educational theory, to provide a "substantial intellectual experience common to all Harvard students." They have defined two varieties of learning, distinguishing General Education from Special "not so much by subject matter as by scope and outlook." and they have determined to give every Harvard student adequate training in both varieties