The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1863-01-09
NEW SERIES.
Chr Gtb o III aster 1bruao.
Are Schools Better than they We're?


question whether the Common School is re-
ally benefited by the means which have beon
so freely used for its improvement. Nor
nal Schools, Teachers Institutes, Asaocia-
tons, State and County Educational jour
nals,-have all these made the school better
than Il was2 Some who fall in with all
suggestions for change III government or III
stgacaiou, are very ready 10 fling the epithet
Of .'oid ;fogy' at these who can not quite
see that an innovation is sure to be an I'M
provement, and who doubt that all sciences
ought to be leveied down to the popular
mind, rather than the popular mind ought
to be leye!ed UP to the sciences, and that
they should be used as sciences, and not as
qg3sussaleats. Ohels are quite as ready TO
sneer at the empiricisn OF those, who are,
as they themselycs, claim, ''ive teachers"
and whose life differs from thai Of others
mainly i'll being moro snowy and less sub
stantial, in resortinS 10 more ingenious de-
wees and short cuts rather than to patient
plodding in well-bcaten paths, the paths
in which their fathers trod, and which led
them to solidity Of wisdom and sobrie-
ty Of character which modern methods of
teaching cannot hope to emulate
Now, there was much, very much, IN the
old schools which no modern improvement
has made better or can make better. In
some respects they were far in advance Of
schools in our own day. Even this may
SAVIOR Of Old fogyism zoo much to please
| ,,,o I,,+ 4 I,a ,,o,no ba, no to,.rr,., q ,1 we
hold ourselves III readiness to maintain the
assertion. But there can be no hesitation in
saving we think that, on the whole, schools
are better now than they were years ago.
They arc better in that they recognize
the humanity Of the pupil, and assert in all
their plans the essential fact that the more
nearly The teacher gets 10 the child, to the
human heart that beats with It's young life
and gushes wijh It's strong emotions and
throb5 with iisready symPathies, by so much
the more Is instruction eagerly sought 4andin-
Auence OF all kinds cheerfuily submitted to-.
They arc better in that they striya at
least to give every thing moral aspect
and so a moral result, and do what they do
with the aim Of reaching all the issues OF
life, and making the character as veil tcrti-
fed against all assaults upon its integrity,
as the intellect is well furnished with the
data and the power Of correct reasoning.
They are better in that they address the
child as a child and give him lessons and
explanations which child may understand
while they do not remove the necessity of
personal exertion, by which alone he can re-
ally grow
They arc better i'll that they do not op-
press he memory with q host Of words
which have no connection in the pupils mind
with correspondent IDEAS, nor in fact with
the question which they are intended 10 an
swer, but on the other hand intend That
words shall be used only as the representa-
tiyes Of IDEAS, and insist with heroic parsa-
verance that power is measured by the num-
ber Of principles clearly seen and firmly
held, rather than by tie numb or which MEM
ory may crowd in ill-assorted packages into
its confused chambers.
They are better in that the very 1udi-
ments Of knowledge are made constant
feast instead OF hated drudgary: as IN
geography, by actual sight Of islands and
plans, by map-drawing, by imaginary yoy-
ages, by outline maps, and by simple but
lively descriptions, or, as in reading, by
the simple process OF making it an nleili-
gent and musical exercise, and moi q mere
dronish utterance Of sounds. And thus all
| through the school studies, there has been
infused . new life by making the several
lessons have meaning and meet want
for the child; not always a meaning he
may discover by unaided efforts, but one he
may be made to see and understand; not
always a want he may feel spontaneously,
but one which the teacher knows how both
to create and to satisfy.
And yet once more, they are better in
that they have done much to inrodure bet
ter systems of government, and have sub
stituted the means which keep the family
in order for the brutal punishment of the
rod, though it can never be and ought new
er to be removed entirely from the school.
If they were better in no other respect, this
alone would be vast benefit to the school.
The use Of moral means-withn proper
limit, be it always understood and remc,n-
bered, for VIC arc no advocates of the sys-
fem which PARISHES punishment--is bless
ing for which all school going children ought
to be grateful. One who bad suffered much
in this respect, says:-''I'hanks be TO God,
that amongst tho many cases Of reform des-
tined eventually 10 tum out chimerical, this
one at least can never be defeated or eclip-
sed. As man grows more intellectual,
the power Of managing him by his inte lect
end moral nature, in utter contempt Of all
appeal to his mere animal instinct Of pain,
must go on with equal STEP. And il Te