The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-12-03

Editors lHtelii0taters sr
In my last I was considering tbI
question, whal arc the pupils on thesI
schools expected TO teach / We WIN
now turn our attention 70 the other par
OF the question proposed, ~ 10 how
these subjects are 70 be taught. w,
must consider the condition OF thosl
that are TO be taught, and OF whom
Normal pupils will have charge. oui
tables.oi statistics inform tis that largl
proportion OF the children In attend.
ance upon our Common Schools, are o
an nge to be able to take only the pri
mary and early steps in the curriculum
OF school instruction, and Il needs NJ
argument to prove that the instruction
OF these must emphatically be elemen
tary. Much OF II must be- on the very
rudlments OF knowledge. And, In,
deed, Of those Of maturer age, from az
teen TO twenty years OF age, we en-
brace bat few, especially ID tie country
districts, who have advanced beyond
the simpler branches OF school educa.
tion. tits TO supply teachers for pupils
Of this grade, that the Normal Schools ID
chiefly intended. But II may b0 asked
II this 10 all that \ teacher ia expected
to accomplish. What IL tho occasion
for speculating how they are to teach
what must be 80 simple and easy 10 no.
quiref II teaching were simply me.
chanical, treating all children alike,
and putting them through daily drill
like that OF company Of raw military
recruits II calling words was reading,
and working out u sum In fractions oi
the rule OF three was mastering, To any
Rppreciable degree, the science or math.
sinatics, might be willing 10 concede
that 1t mattefed little how the teacher
taught or the pupil learned these ies.
sons. We might admit with Dogberry
that "readlng and writing comes OF ma.
ture,n and the old ALTERATION oil
the Rs, "readin0, rittsl0 aud rtth.
taetic" might be easily acquired
But the more the Normal pupils
study into this matter, the more
they perceive that there II q science In
every step OF intellectual training, and
the more anxious they become 10 dis
cover its laws and how they are ap.
Piled. Aud they soon perceive that 10
do this successfully, they must be NOR.
ally and intellectually, as well a. lib.
orally trained themselves. They must
have command OF the same powers In
their constitution, which hey expect 10
reach and control in that OF their pu-
pills. They must have disciplined pow
ers Of attention. They must not only
be able 10 get knowldge, Dut must be
able to trace the steps and the various
processes by which they too may ac.
quire the knowledge which they seek.
Then, again, their Judgment must be
trained, their sympathles awakened,
aud their faculties generally, so far un.
der control, as TO be brought into live
ly and vigorous exercise at will. One
OF the main difficulties TO be encoun.
tered In making an accurate scholar
Is, that he does not know how 10 study
until he has been taught. And one OF
the earliest lessons which q teacher has
10 make pupil understand, Is what
the process OF study is. The Normal
School aims to supply this very kind OF
instruction and training, which the pu-
pill is, in time, to apply 10 the children
OF his charge. And itshould be for this
purpose lhatsthe Slate should be careful
TO provide Tor the schools skilled teach
ers OF experience and tried capacity.
Theywill have 10 deal with pupils bylay-
Ing open TO their own comprehension,
the constitution OF their own minds,
and the process by which they gain and
use knowledge. But the time which
this knowledge Is TO be acquired must
be limited, and l repeat, that the topics
which can be thoroughly and effective
ly taught within the usual time allot.
ted must necessarily be few. Having
reference 10 what their pupils are 10
teach again, these subjects divide them
selves into two classes.
One Of them relates TO what, in the
process Of learning, becomes incorpo-
rated, as 1t were, into the mind OF the
learner, SO rs 10 render what Is ac-
qulred, as II were instructive, ready for
use without any conscious mental Ell
fort. or this character is the knowl-
edge we get OF letters In reading or wri-
ting. We forget the slow process by
which we obtained the knowledge how
TO name, form, and sound these, both
slngly and In their combinations. So
1t Is with calling words, or reading ag-
gregates OF numeral figures, or repeat
ing the tabular results which we learn
by rote from the tables OF arithmetic,
Much OF this learning Is purely arbi.
trary. There Is no process of q priori
reasoning which could tell US that a
certain shaped figure was letter or
that 1t represented u certain sound, or
that the something called &c" when In
connection with certain other letter,
bad q sound TO which we give the name
h, and with another took the sound of
what we call 49," Yet these arbitrary
sounds and ordinations have 10 be
carefully. and accurately taught 10 the
child at the veIy commencement OF his
instruction. Nor 10 II easy for even a
skillful teacher TO do this ef1ectually.
They must exercise tact, judgment aud
skill TO adapt their instruction to the
capacity Of their pupil. They must not
only gain his attention, but must make
what they wlsh 10 impress upon him In.
telligible TO his mind. Compare the
modern method OF analyxinH the
sounds and relations OF letters, by wri.
ting them before the pupils eye on the
blackboard and repeating the CORES.
pondIng sound and the old method Of
drdrittO utletter by letter, week after
week, In what was called "learulng his
letters" Il mere l.call OF hard sounds
aud arbitrary names. This then, with
many other things which l shall men.
tiOn hereafter, is what Normal Schools
are designed to remedy.
Yours, NJ. w.
Felisb1irg, ". Va.