And while we are on the topic of information, here's a nice bit from Dorothy Wickenden's piece in this week's New Yorker, on the teacher certification exam that her grandmother and grandmother's friend (both Smith graduates) had to pass in order to teach in Colorado in 1916:
[T]he tests turned out to be more idiosyncratic than they had expected, including questions such as "Describe the changes that take place in 'egg on toast' during the process of digestion," "Explain methods of bidding on and letting road work by contract," and "Give a physiological reason for not boxing children's ears."
Does "child's head may be harder than one's hand" count as a physiological reason?
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