Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-02-20
DAVENPORT, IOWA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20,


A0AN - 4O@9 W o.Y
lIlzllIlllIul
TnG 0E0NlAN MODE Or EOUs
CATION.
We Americans are Justly proud Of ON
public schoel systsn; bstwsas sensainsu
little extravagant when we assume IL
merit Of being the inventors Of It, and d
having been the frst and the only people in
Fshs world to bring public schools 70 the
beauty Of perfection which they exhibit
here. In this wedeeeivs Ourselves. Wisdom
was not born and is not like to die with Us.
any more than with Jobs friendly tormen-
tors; and the system Of education ws have
among Us exists, snd has existed for years
among other nations, whom, in our pride,
we are want to rate at much lower value
than we do ourselves, politically, socially,
or intellectually.
A sprightly writer. who wrote about fif-
teen years, ago, published his observations
upon the sondition Of education IN Prussia
and Austria, - he found it 1t that time; and
it is surprising to note how much Of what
he relates indicates an advancement in the
art Of instruction, and its universally also,
beyond anything that see had reached at that
time IN many particulars, and which We have
not surpassed, or perhaps equaled even yet
"Go," says the writer We have referred to,
Unto any Prussian town or village, little
before eight o'clock, somo December morn
ing. The iron grasp Of an imaginary duty
has dragged oil the children out of bed,
washed them, and given them their break
fasts and here they all are, running to one
point-the school Nine O clock, ten o'clock,
eleven-morning and afternoon-search all
the cutters, and there's not mud-pie made
in the whole district nor an idEng youngster.
The children are all emptied out Of the
streets and houses, and poured away into the
school, This compulsory rule, that all the
children must attend school, is peculiar to
Prussia, and has not been dared to be en-
forced anywhere in this country except par
TALLY so in Massachusetts,. The Prussians
act upon the theory that to leave child un-
taught is . species Of moral or intellectual
murder; and that to starve the mind is .
punishable crime. No particular place Of
education is dictated by the State, but the
law is inexorable that soms,ehere the child
must be educated.
Not only were the Prussians Of fifteen
years or more ago in advance Of us in this
respect, but there is scarcely anything which
we now consider commendable 40 to the
methods Of instruction but were then prac.
tised by them and if we have not imported
their improvements, We have at least follow
ed them very closely in their use. At the
time we write of-from fifteen to twenty
years ago-if we went into German school
the boys were all found comfortably seated
while we were yet adhering to the old STYLE
desks and benches, which were so prolific
Of inattentive brains and distorted spines
The rooms in which were their schools wer'
lofty, airy, and we'll warmed; and nowher'
could the children sit with so much comfor
and enjoyment. That was the era Of ou
miserably contracted. rudely built, badl..
ventilated and imperfectly warmed distric
schools. Moreover, and in this we have ye
an important and instructive lesson to lear
from Germany, the master was genuin
hard worker. There was no comfortabl
easy chair for him, persuasive Of indolenc
and case. But while the children were a
comfortably seated he was wide-awake. II
never sat down during school-hours-the
were his hours for labor; but standing o
his feet with his faculties oil about him, b
poured out all his energies in awakening an
directing the attention Of his young charge
now explaining for them lessons in the
books, and now teaching them lessons nc
written in any book, but drawn from h
own experience and observs ',,a--thus a
fording vividness Of illustration and avail
ening an electricity Of sympathy such as o,
dull routine Of recitation and cramming ne
er inspires. The children are as much Q
the qui rice as the teacher and at certa
times are encouraged to ask questions, d
, mand reasons, and dispute conclusions
Thus, what they learn is learned well, b
cause it is understood, and it is indelibly in
printed upon the mind.
In addition to these parish schools, the
are, as part Of the system, training school
normal schools, and normal colleges, whe
a supply Of able teachers and professors =
manufactured, and the grist Of education
continually being ground; and fnall
, throughout the whole system, from the io'
est parish school to the most advanced G
! ! lcee, there is regulation which strikes
: wise mean between excessive or injudicio
0 or passionate punishment, on the one han
/ and no punishment At all on the other. tt
regulation is as follows: 1.-THE teacher mu
t avoid hastily resorting to the rod. He mu
4 never box chid's ears. or pull or pin
. them or pull its hair; or hit it on the he,
!; or any tender part; or use any other instr
y ment Of punishment than rod Or site
. and that only for great faults. Even th'
d this kind ofpunishment may only be reso
= ed to after having obtained the consent