THE VESTIBULE SCHOOL 
28l 
in psychological examination he must still be able to deal 
with his pupils in a sympathetic and understanding fash 
ion. In order to conduct the various courses of study 
contained within the school curriculum, he must have a 
knowledge of the principles and methods of education. 
Added to this, he must be experienced in the methods 
of office work in order that he may continually adapt 
the work of the school to the changing needs of the 
office. 
Besides fulfilling the three principal purposes outlined, 
the vestibule school contributes toward the solution of 
employment difficulties in several other ways. In the 
first place, such a school can serve as a center to which 
clerks already employed can be sent to brush up on some 
particular operation. Frequently, an employee becomes 
discouraged with his work, or his supervisor becomes dis 
satisfied with him, and it appears that the employee is to 
be lost to the company. If such an employee is sent into 
the training school, a little supplementary coaching, or a 
trial at a different kind of work, may result in a renewed 
and valuable worker, good for another period of contented 
usefulness. In the Larkin Company, the manager of the 
school alone is authorized to discharge an office employee. 
If the services of an employee are unsatisfactory, the 
school first of all tries to bolster up that employee or fit 
her for some other kind of work. In this way, a great 
conservation in human material is effected and the labor 
turnover is materially reduced. 
Such a school can further act as a safety valve or a 
shock absorber for the office as a whole. Frequently there 
is a surplus of help in one part of the office and a scarcity 
in another part. The office vestibule school can equilk 
brate this condition by serving as a center from which