The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1868-09-10
.WaEette.
10 TIIIs 1E.A,CHHRs or

FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
MesHs. EditoEs:--I wish, through
the columns Of your paper, to ad
dress the teachers Of Fairfield coun.
fyl The work ia which we are en- !
gagged, that Of training the minds of
the youth 10 this county, is one bf
great responsibility. I feel that
we do not appreciate the impor.
tancc Of this as fully a. we should.
To us are committed those who are
to be the men and women of few
4 years hence. We are expected to
prepare Them forLIPE. Ehisis the
sole object Of education. For this
purpose, the State has adopted .
School law, by which all the chill.
drcn within her boundaries, may
receive without charge, aD educa
tion. She pays, from Der own cof.
fers, mnlions ofsdollals.a year. iu
order that the rising generation
may have the advantages of good
School system. We find that for
the year ending August 3lst, 1867.
there WerA 97f7O5 children Of
school age in this State; for the in
struction of these, there we're 2l5G8
teachers employed at an expense
olS3l95227. Fairfield Co. en- uineta.
ted l2O66 youth, and employed
26l teachers etan expense Of 940l05.s
Taking thestatistics of this Coun.lI
~ alone, we can readily perceive
that, at q great expense, the ad.
vantages Of free education are
givsg to tlie cbiIdrena "a a
Are yhe schools what they should
be4a Are they in rs good a condi
ton as the people have right to
expect2 Although have been in
no schoolroOm ihthis co1n nty out
side Of the city Of Lancaster, | say
emphatiesiiy, they are not as efficient
dsthey might be made to be. What
is the reason Of this? Many rea.
sons present themselves to my
mind. Two ofthe most important,
j shall notiee.S One is the lack ofa
competent system Of County Super.
vision. This is not the time, nor
isits the place, to treat very extene-
tsnsiyelyo upon this topic. "A few
remarks are al that are necessary
at present; but I promise that It.
shall not be neglected, and at a fu,
tqre time ! shall discuss It moro
fully, The Slate has given TO the
cities and large towns the advan
tages ofSuperirtendency In near
ly.all our cities, we fnd in eaoh,
allitbei schools united undor one
head, who directs and controls their
management: This secures uni.
formity and a good grade; and, IN
consequence, good schools. This
/ consider to be the great secret Of
the superiority Of tho city aud town
schools. But, unfortunately, this
privilege has not been extended
outside Of tlose citieS and the
county at largo, does not enjoy
these advantages. But enough Of
thisat present 3dj .ai,itrna /, M
Tho greatest reason Of tho incfii.
cheney Of ,oprs schools ia, that we
ourselves, the teachers Of the coun.
ty, do not appreciate the impor.
tanco OF our work. We do not pro.
parc ourselves for it. Many Of us,
alas toe. many, seem to think that.
If a boy or girl has "gonc through"
Ray's3d Part, Pinneo's Analytical,
Cornoll's Intermediate, McGuffeys
9th Readearand, the Spelling Book,
and can got a certificate, that he
or she Is competent to teach. Flu.
tai orrorl Blind, blind arc those
who allow themselves to be 80 do.
ludedl II is not all Of teaching to
knoU. There are other reeniro.
ments. The, teacher must have
that within himself which shall 80
cure the love- respect, and cstoom
OF biz pupils. In order to govern
others. he must first have learned
70 control himself. He must bo II
ciose student Of human nature, He
must underatand the minds of chill. |
dgcn mud Tho. order Of their dovel. |
opment. He must, not only, bo
we'll acquainted with tho branches
holproposes to teach but also with |
the manner ofprcsentine them. lie
must study methods and the phil.
osophy. of teaching. These, and |
othor nnluiremcnts tho loachor
should seek to gain. Many toach.
ors complain that salaries arc too
low. Why is il? Because there
are 80 many in the profession that
are utterly, incompetent; they teach
simply TO Ill up tho limo whom
they can get nothing else to do, |
or, mako II q stepping stone to
something else, " l fa "a,
liza teacher expects TO obtain a
good salary or good position, ho
will prepare himaelt. Tho farmer
must have his team; tho meohanio
his tools; thosminister, tho lawyer,
and the doctor, their education:
and is the teacher to bc the only
one who must not mako some spc.
cial preparation for his ,worki Mol
far DO it from US TO wish III We
nro Tho. ones whoiinodA tha most
preparation, How shall we do
thls2 BY atddyibg educational
workR,t By taking and reading odn.
ca.ional magazines. Form regular
habits Of study. II we teach stead
lily foreome time. We are aptlo lose
somowhat our montal powers. Be
ing associated with, mono but chill !.
drcrsve arc very npt 70 foel that
our ideas are tho only ones. Let
US guard against this. diamond
cuts dIsmopdf'Itmi 'DbSpens
mind" Therefore let US circulate
freely among our fellow teachers.
And now, l-approach the great
fundamentally Of advancement,