Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1852-08-19
JOB PRINTING.
Why do Schools accomplish so
Little!

LlttItS
1t is a common complaint that our
schools are inefficient, that scholars seem
TO accomplish but little, comparatively,
with all the boasted improvements of mod
ern times. This is doubtless often true:
we have no wish to deny it. 1t is equal
.ly true that there are reason for the fact.
Children do not act without motives
they will not study without inducements
to mental effort; yet they cannot be ex-
pected fully to appreciate the value of
knowledge, or to improve their time be-
cause they feel the Importance and neces-
sity of so doing. Other motives than those
which impel the adult to seek information,
the professional man to improve himself,
or the man of science to prosecute his re-
searches, must be brought to bear upon
them Among these motives, one of the
most powerful is the love of appreciation,
NOT of their fellows merely, nor to their
Teacher alone. They need to feel that
the eyes Of their parents, of the men and
women in the district whom they are ac-
cuStomed to respect and revere, are upon
them; that if they conduct with propiety,
it is seen; if they improve, it is noticed; if
they manifest ingenuity and intelligence,
it is observed; and that if they are court
eous, frank, truthful, magnanimous and
conscientious in their intercourse, and
faithful in their duties, it viii be k7,otcn
and apprOred Of all men.
Let a score of the best workmen, in
any trade, be employed upon work which
would require months for its completion;
let each bepaid for his days work, wheth-
er he did little or much, and whether that
was well or i'll done; let no one Of their
felow-citizens come near from one week
10 another, to compare the idleness of one
with the diligence of another, the inge
nuity and taste of third with the dull
ness and awkwardness of his nighbor;and
would it be possible for any masterwork-
man, unless elevated almost Infinitely a.
bove them, to prevent them from falling
into habits Of carelessness and Incidence!
What motives to fidelity, to effort for i'm
provement, could he bring to bear upon
theml But let the same men be employed
on the same enterprise, under the same
superintendent, and let him frequently re-
cieve calls from his fellow-citizens, mani
Testing an interest in the work he had
planned and which the laborers were en-
bodying in fair and beautiful proportions
under his direction; let them drop to the
workmen expressions oftheir admlratlonof
the plan and the skill ofthe designer;let men
of character and influence commend the
fidelity of the workmen; let gentlemen of
intelligence and taste notice the indiyid-
ual artists and inquire their names and
would not these laborers be totally unlike
the men they were in the former easel
And could anything short of superhuman
power secure, in the first, anything like
the results which would be accomplished
without any appearance of effort on the
part of the superintendent, in the second
case?
Need we make the application to the
course generally pursued with reference
to schools of every gradey Children and
youth are influenced in the same manner
as adults, though to much greater ex-
tent, by the motives above named. Need |
we say, that schools cannot nationally be
expected to prosper unless visited and en-
couraged by parents and citizens?
Ohio Journal of Education.