New-York tribune., 1868-04-21
the ways of Nature and the laws Of her action;

and of the conditions OF social acton ana In-
movement. they go forth into LIE careless, ig-
norant. and incompetent. This is the broad
indictment which every rejecting person can
not fail to make against present school meth-
ods. How is this to be remediedi
The principle that Gas is the the teacher, so
ais the school," has passed into an axiom.
The spirit of the schoOl-room is the efiiuence
of the teachers character; what the teacher
knows. the pupils will learn what the teacher
prizes. they will apprec' .te. The teachers pro-
tciency is the measure of the students attain
ment, while his ideal of education determines
the scope, limits, and direction of school cul-
ture. Obviously, then, if our object be III any
way to modify or elevate the character OF the
schools, the point of approach must be through
the character and qualifications OF the teachers.
AS are the 2,906 teachers of our city schools
to-day, so are the 1877 educational establish
ments which they CONTROL and so are the III
huences which are mOlding 100000 children IN
our midst. If it be desirable to purify. widen,
and exalt these influences, it can only be done
by the inexOrable election of incompetent III
structors, and careful and thorough prcpara-
ton of the whole corps for their important
what are the provisions which New York City
affordsP For the preliminary preparation,
nothing, absolutely nothing. In the commonest
mechanical arts suitable preparation is re-
quired before the artisan is intrustcd with re-
sponsible work. In the most difficult, delicate,
and responsible of all labor, that OF shaping
the plastic natures of children, no preparation
of any kind is provided Teachers are picked
up anywhere, and if competent to read, write,
and cipher. they are certificated for their work !
1t is true we have a Normal School where n
portion of the teachers spend few hours OF
every Saturday in considering the subject OF
instruction; but even here they are mainly Oc-
cupied in repairing their deficiencies in the
elementary branches and give but modicum
of attention to the real science of teaching. or
the higher aims and ends of education. The
arrangement. indeed. is chiefly valuable as a
standing proof of tutOrial incapacity, and as
bare concession that something is required to
be done in this direction.
The interests of popular education in New
York, then, demand the institution of aNormal
School. or rather of a Normal University, on Il
comprehensive scale, to act "a a mighty engine
for the elevation of the lesser schools. II is the
sheerest folly to require of teachers an adequate
preparation for their business so long rs no OPP
portunities are offered. To reform the schools,
we must begin here, and the measures adopted
should be commensurate with the great extent
of the field to be cultivated. IL the half million
dollars asked for the enlargement OF the Free
Academy were appropriated to the foundation OF
a Normal University, which should gather into its
faculty the best talent and experience the world
affords, for the liberal training of teachers, an
institution would arise which might be worthy
the metropolis of the continent. Such an estab-
lishment-the outcome of the latest knowledge
and experience, and organized with the distnc-
tive view of realizing the higher aims of educa-
tion-the preparation of the pupil for the ac-
tive duties Of lifc-an institution which should
show to the world what tools are capable of
accomplishing would radiate tho most salutary
influences throughout the nation, and form an
epoch in the progress of education.
Words are but the symbols of things, and it is
their true function to lead us to things-to
Nature. With Nature, her method and her
laws, we have TO deal; and more and more rs
knowledge advances, the veal or the woe of in
dividuals and communities depends upon the
knowledge of Nature. A prime demand upon
such an institution as we now contemplate
would be to bring the growing mind of our
community into the most intimate relations with
the varied objects of the natural world, and
open to comprehension the true order and
meaning of Nature. For this purpose, museums
OF natural objects, so arranged as to carry the
mind irresistibly to underlying principles !;
botanical and geological gardens organized
primarily with the view of their educational
uses, galleries of fine arts, and repertoireS of
inventive skill and mechanical construction re-
quire to be established. Our great Central Park
the just pride of the city-should i'll this res
pect become branch of the Normal Uniycr-
sity and be made tributary in numberlcss ways
to its definite design. Natural History could
then be taught by its living representatives
its collections of plants, Of birds, OF beasts, of
marine creatures in aquarlums, and the recon
structed forms of the past world of life-in a
manner fascinating and instructive, and which
would 20 far to redeem and rcgenerate our
educational system from its low condition of
mere bookish task-work and irksOme routine
of committing and reciting verbal formulas.
In the name of 100000 children shut up in the
artificial life of the school-roOm and outraged
by vicious methods and incompetent teachers
in the name of the tens of thousands who pass
into the world of action cheated of their birth
right of living, nutritious, available knowledge
by grossly deficient school system; in the
name of Society in this Republic which in its
coming emergencies demands a class of citizens
better instructed in the exercise of civil duties
than that which our schools have hitherto fur
nished, we ask that our educational authorities
90 forward with this important work
VHARVES, PIERS, AND SLIPS
Following in the wake OF his predecessors,