Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1890 — EDUCATIONAL. [ARTICLE]

EDUCATIONAL.

The Best Arrangement for an Ideal Conns of Study—Specific Training for Special Pursuits. - ~—*——— Opinions on Educational Topics by Educators and Teachers In all Sections of the Conntry. The Coming School. The future can be predicted only from the progressions of the past and the visible tendencies of the present. The history of educational thoughl ' furnishes us all the foundation principles for the coming school, and all possible edneationai ideals to choose ot build our own from. It also yields u? examples, in abundance, of bad ot good methods, or short-lived and enduring institutions. It has given us, in Jroebel’s work, the beginnings of a philosophical training by the state; in Pestalozzi’s, some splendid suggestions for the next stage of public education: in the work of specialists, the means of systematically continuing the subjects commencing in the course of previous mind-training; in the schools of Athens, types of the final processes in general schooling; in the professional and trade schools of later times, a means of special training for pursuits. This completes an ideal course of study. It is arranged as follows: ——— 1. The kindergarten, providing a comprehensive rudimentary training for all the elements of character. j 2. The primary school, Continuing this training; establishing clear concepts of all familiar objects; exercising the more complex mental powers; connecting related things in memory; fixing habits of study, and teaching the three “R’s.”

3. The secondary school, gathering correlated facts into their several departments of science; cultivating the special gifts of individuals; teaching, with each science and art, the literature that belongs to it; necessarily conducted by specialists. , 4. The tertiary school, for the deeper study of the classics, arts, and sciences, and the higher cultivation of the logical, critical and rhetorical powers. 5. The special school, in which some i profession or other industrial occupa- ; tion shall be thoroughly learned. If it is true that the whole boy goes to school, moral and manual training must accompany mental trailing in all ! schools. If it is true that the mind is a 1 unit, the same conclusion follows. If it is true that we act from motives, I moral training is a school necessity. If it is true that all knowledge is related, ! all the powers through which knowledge is acquired must work together. The educational thought of the present is developing a true notion of j the importance in mental growth of ! the individual concrete concept. It occupies a central place in thought, being the product of sense-action and the basis of mind-action. It cau safely become our next fetich, since of such are the stepping-stones to even true progress. In its worship the teacher need not lose sight of anything good, for all lines oi| growth lead to it or from it. Even physical exercise, manual training, and ethical culture may be included in the processes of concept building, which is the chief legitimate work of the primary school.

The most formidable obstruction ip the way of the coming school is our habit of placing young and inexperienced teachers in charge of primary classes, where breadth of thought, definiteness of plan, and skill in execution are infinitely more needed than in the subsequent work. To make one’s self thorough in a single branch of study, with sufficient general intelligence to see and show the dependence jof that br' ch upon others, is the task | of the specialist in the secondary school proposed. It is indeed a difficult task, requiring the patience and devotion of genius. But most every human being has a natural genius for some one thing; and. given the requisite training, there would be no lack of specialist teachers. Far higher in the scale of genius is his who can, while planning a day’s work for a little child, have and hold in view the whole of that child’s character and destiny; and, if to plan is easier than to fulfill, what shall be said of the skill that shall faithfully carry out in daily, hourly detail, aims so broad and deep and high? With inexperienced young girls in our lower classes, it is quite impossible to condnct education in accordance with any known law. Even in the higher classes, under the tuition of competent teachers, true principle cannot be applied, because there is no fonndation, or a very poor one, unless the pupil has received some training at home. This is the secret of the “cram” so complained of. To continue the practice of placing the weakest teachers where tne strongest are needed is the greatest pedagogical error of our day. —Journal of'Education.

Educational Notes. Intellectual athletics are needed daily. No teacher has all the wisdom of the profession. A new setting for old methods is always welcome. Do not ask the same of slow children as of the quick. The world never needed a good thing more than now. Do not delnge yonr school with information on any subject in which yoo are a specialist. There will be prose enough in the life of every child rs you pat into it all the poetry yon can.' Edward Rowland Hill: If in any case the salary of a teacher seems too high, it is not the fanlt of the salary. Give a business turn to all vonr arithmetic work in the way of writing numbers, as well as in the way of combining them. Prof. N. S. Shaler. 'Harvard University: Teachers mnst frequently be turned awav from their calling for the refreshment which they need. None of the great theories are adapted to the work of any teacher without special modification. In the nature of the case thev are general, while fdl good teaching is specific. Boston herald: School gardens, — L'e.. gardens for practical instruction in rearing trees, vegetables, and fruits, are being added to nearly.all the publlo nod private schools of Austria. There

are now already 7,769 such In existence in the Austrian monarchy alone, Hungary not included. They also comprise botanical museums and appliances ; for beekeeping. s R. W. Stevenson. Columbus, O.: Every course of study for a public school should be constructed to meet in thcary and in practice tbe requirements for right and useful living. Supt. J. B, Monlnx, Hastings, Neb* In order to secure a genuine nationality, we must have a national system of education, based on the broad ground of experience and good sense. Eva D. Kellogg. Sionx City, Iowa: Let us improve the numberless opportunities to bring the outside world into the schoolroom; to flavor every day’s work with the woodsy taste of outside life. State Supt. A. S. Draper. New York: If there is any one thing that the school work of this country needs, it is that no person shall be permitted to teaeh -who has not received som&practical training. Mary E. Burt, Cook Connty Normal School: The theory that textbook literature is all-sufficientin the education of .children is more mischievons than that textbooks should be entirely dispensed with. r~ James Mac Alister, Philadelphia, Pa.: No thinking mind, no intelligent instructor, can withstand the witness which the kindergarten bears against formalism and tradition, and in favor of freedom and progress in education. The teacher’s tone of voice and inflection in the ordinary work of the schoolroom has" tnore influence upon the elocutionary style of the pupils than the direct teaching of reading. The schoolroom tone forms the habit rather than the reading lesson tone. Ohio teacher: What effect does teaching have on you? ...JPtoag_.it make you selfish? Does it make you domineering and dictatorial? Are you sorry when school opens and glad when ft closes? If you feel so you had better stop. You have likely missed your calling. Prof. N. S. Shaler, Harvard University: After each vacation the child returns to his work with a mind disused to the tasks of the schoolroom. Indulgence in the half-intellectual existence of vacation destroys the habits of study which it has cost so much pains to inculcate. Joshua H. Davis, Somerville, Mass.: Childen never conceal their joys, but are often reticent concerning matters that mar their happiness, and are inclined to eudure in silence much that overshadows their lives. Hence the liability to overestimate the pleasures of childhood, and to forget that sorrows also are incident to that period. Supt. J M. Berkey, Somerset County, Pa.: Let us retain the veterans in the teaching service so long as they stand ? n the front rank of progress and keep pace with the spirit and needs of our schools; but if they are not successful, not willing to advance in the profession and to increase their efficiency from year to year, then let them step down and out. r Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, Boston: Never before has there been witnessed so prevailing an interest throughout our whole land, in every variety of education,—common, industrial, and collegiate,—as during the last few years. But history, discussion, and elaborate addresses have yet accomplished the needful results. A dense cloud of illiteracy overshadows large parts of our land. We hardly dare tQ anticipate the extent of illiteracy which! the census of the next year may* reveal. Supt. A. C. Goodwin, Owensboro, Ky.: Looking into the desk of some of the teachers, the most conspicuous thing is disorder, and extending the observation to the pupils’ desks, rags, papers, apple cores, aod confused piles of books, will frequently be seen. In other rooms we see no ink-stained desks, ho old dirty rags, do apple cores, no scattered pieces of paper, no confused heaps of books ready to tumble out at the slightest jostle. Here "‘we find work neatly and expeditiously done, without hesitation and without erasure. SupL J. B. Monlnx, Hastings, Neb.: Not until our graded and high schools are governed by the finest ability that our normal schools and colleges can furnish, and our conntry schools are controlled by those who have enjoyed special training, not less than may* be afforded by our high schools; not until our common school, the connecting link between the home and the state, receives the attention demanded by its importance as the foundation of onr educational system, and until that interest is manifested in providing teachers who appreciate the importance of their work, will the state realize the full fruition of her labor, in nobility of character and general intelligence of her children.