Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1868-06-18
THE PLAN OF NATIONAL Ed
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There is growing conviction that til,
Colleges and Universities of the Old World
and the system OF instruction which la
| grown to be inseparablc from them, are no
the proper models for American educators
While our oldest colleges In this country
and those perhaps most successful, have beer
modelled 10 great extent after Oxford ant
Cambridge, yet there has been "a stead,
growth Of feeling in favor of more Science
and less Classics in favsr of instructnl
| practically rather than abstractly and theo
retically; looking to the living Present and
near Future, rather than to the dead and
mouldering Past. This change of convic-
lion is shown in the organization of Poly.
technic Schools, Commercial and Busines.
Institutes, Normal Schools, and such insti
tutions as the Cornell University of New
York, the Michigan University, and others.
In some cases the oil ] colleges are yielding
to the pressure. Yale and Harvard show
the influence of Agassiz and Silliman, while
at Brown University, during the lifetime OF
DR.. Wayland, important changes were made,
among them being an elective course ol
study, in which science had prominent
place.
What is called "culiure;" that is the
thoughtful study Of the Past, with its his
tory, literature, and arts; belongs appropri-
ately to people who have so little profitable
employment that they can afford to sit down
and look backward. But the American Ma
tion has its hand TO great plow, and dare
not. However desirable thorough and pro-
found culture may be, here is not the place,
this is not the age, these are not the people,
to give it their best efforts. We must culti-
valc American soil, rather than Greek litera-
turc; We must explore our Western fields,
rather than Assyriau history; We must under
stand the Constitution more than the Tai
mud; we must study Finance and Political
Economy more than Sanscrit or Arabic rolls.
As an article in the June issue of Public
Spirit scnsibly says;-
Our common schools are the natural and
spontaneous production of this new Western
World. They grew out of the conditions,
circumstances and necessities of our people.
They are democratic in form, literary in
sentiment, and progressive in tendency. No
iniieXible system controls their methods, or
retards their growth. They expand with
the increasing intelligence Of the country,
and keep pace with its advancement. They
possess The vig0r and vitality Of life, rather
than the regularity and rigidity Of the crys-
tai.
The whole educational system of Amcrica
shouldposscss the same originality Of design,
and the same adaptability to the wants OF
the people.
The future universities Of America, which
shall truly represent the spirit and genius of
the country, will be in outgrowth of the
common schools of the present, rather than
II continuation oi the niistOcratic institutions
oi the past The course of study will pro-
vide for ample mental discipline which will
be of usu in every vocation of life. Dead
languages and dead ideas will yield to living
ones. Discovery will take the place of pas
siye reccptivity,and authority will give way
TO investigation. Students will no longer be
isolated from the activities of common life;
but rather they will be taught to take deep
cr interest, and to find profounder mean
ing in every human concern. Deeply I'M
bucd with the grand and solemn truths which
Nature uniolds, with souls expanded and
passions controlled, they will 90 out into so
ciety to elevate and to bless. Grand in de-
sign, ample in scope, and progressive in
spirit, these institutions will form the apex
Of the great pyramid of American education,
the base of which covers every home in the
land
These are sensible, practical, valuable,
ideas. They are not mere theorizing, but
.cogent reasoning. They are the key note
to the future education of American youth.