THE  VESTIBULE  SCHOOL

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in  the  shop  itself  and  given  over  exclusively  to  the  task  of
training  incoming  employees.  Each  of  these  methods  has
certain  advantages  and  disadvantages.
The  first  method  has  all  the  advantages  consequent
upon  physical  concentration.  The  centralized  school
makes  it  possible  for  one  expert  personnel  worker  to  supeivise
  the  training  of  all  novices,  and  thereby  removes
the  diversities  and  inconsistencies  which  are  sure  to  arise
under  a  decentralized  scheme.  Second,  it  facilitates  the
process  of  trying  novices  out  on  different  types  of  work  in
the  event  of  their  initial  failure.  Third,  it  serves  as  a  kind
of  reservoir  or  safety  valve  by  which  to  regulate  the  excess
of  workers  in  some  shops  and  the  shortage  in  ocher  shops.
Fourth,  it  acts  as  a  reclaiming  station  to  which  old  employees ­
  who  have  failed  or  outgrown  their  work  can  be
sent  for  new  instructions  and  encouragement.
This  method  has  its  disadvantages  as  well.  They
appear  in  an  analysis  of  the  advantages  of  the  decentralized ­
  school.  Under  the  latter  scheme,  the  applicant,  after
having  been  tested  and  selected  for  a  certain  type  of  work,
is  at  once  sent  to  the  shop  in  which  this  work  is  being
carried  on.  There,  at  machines  or  benches  reserved  for
that  particular  purpose,  the  applicant  is  immediately
instructed  in  the  exact  work  for  which  he  is  intended.
The  advantages  of  this  method  are  as  follows:  First,  the
proximity  of  the  pupil  to  the  actual  work  of  the  shop  enables ­
  him  to  see  at  once  what  his  environment  and  work
are  to  be.  If  this  environment  and  work  are  unsatisfactory, ­
  the  pupil  will  know  it  quickly,  whereas  if  he  is
coached  in  a  central  school,  at  some  distance  from  the
shop  and  under  slightly  or  considerably  different  conditions, ­
  and  then  dislikes  the  shop  to  which  he  is  sent,  all
the  time  spent  on  preliminary  training  becomes  lost  effort.