The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-04-09
EDUCATIONAL.

81 fa'~r LIIkJtkylA 4 INtlN LIZ
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Truth and Honor in School Training.
Many teachers believe, and acl
upon the belief, that their sole duty
is to develop. discipline, and store
with knowledge their pupils minds ::
that the ineulcation Of right princi-
plies of action and the; development
= of character, are not their business,
or any part of'their business. Life
culture is set aside for mind culture,
instead of, the two being carried on,
together And this is done honestly,
with no. Intentional neglect OF duty
Other teachers- and these form
perhaps the larger class-End them
selves in schools the working princi-
Piles Of which are such that the teach
er has nDschoiee; ne is compelled to
restrict his efforts TO the intellectual
culture of his pupils. And there are
other schools, in high repute often
for thorough discipline and scholar
ship, wherein great pretence is made.
it may be, of giving religious instruc-
tion-yet whose machinery is such
as to create most unhealtby moral
atmosphere; schools in which the
constant discrepancy between prom
ise and performance exerts IS con
stant a corrupting influence upon the
general charactsT Of the pupils.
Now the conditions of healthful
school-life, not to mention life cul-
ture, are as plain and as easily con {
trolled as the conditions of physical
health. The difficulty is, they are
too little regarded, frequently too
little understood by the conductors
of schools The master OF Tipping
ham School, England, in a recent
work, entitled &C ucation and
Schools (Lcndon Macmillan & Co
lays greas stress upon these condi
tions, in describing what he calls
'sthe machinery ofa frst-rate school,"
having in mind an ideal Institution
for the training of boys, in which the
right thing should always be done at
the right time, and in the right way.
There is double object, he insists,
in school training: first, the training
of the life; secondly, the training of
the intellect and the body; the first,
setting the loving and hating on the
night track the second, training the
intellectual powers rightly.
The first can be done, he believes,
only indirectly; for the formation
Of character and Alright spirit is only
in a very slight degree capable of
being made a matter Of impaired
knowledge Boys or men become
brave and hardy and true, not by
being told to be so, but by being
nurtured in a brave, and hardy and
true way, surrounded with objects
likely to excite these feelings in
manner calculated to draw them out
unconsciously for all true feeling
is unconscious in proportion to its
perfection. And as there is no mo-
ment in which habits are not in pro
cess of formation, there is nothing
whatever which cannot be made to
bear on this process nothing iadeed
which does not of necessity bear on
1t. In school, therefore, it is ofthe /,
utmost importance that the whole :
government and machinery should,
in its minutest particulars, do this !.
by perfect truth and perfect free /.
dom.
1t follows, then, that no falseness
in the government, no falseness in
the working plan, in or ont OF school, /,
can make boys true. Whatever is !,
professed must be done.
If a school Processes to teach, !.
then every boy must have his share !,
of teaching. There must be no
knowledge-scramble, or the untruth :,
will make itself felt. =
If a school PROCESSES to train, then
every boy must really be known, his !
wants supplied, and his character I
consulted, or the untruth will make
itself felt. G y :
II a school processes toboard boys, =
then every boy must find proper food :
and proper lodging, and no mean ?
ness; or the untruth will make itself !,
felt. =
A sufficient number of masters, a =
feeling CT being known and cared :. :
for, a spot free from intrusion, how "
ever small, are necessities in good =
school: and the want of these, or :.
any of the other real requirements =, -
for training and tesching properly, is - y,
q sort of acted falsebood; for that "
which is professed is not done. 1t
does not the least follow that this is
the fault of the men engaged in these az
schools. The constitution and /. gal 81
status of very large numb r OF W
schools absolutely compels this kind
of imperfect system. And even
where it is not the case, immemorial tb
custom and popular opinion-at J,
east as far as hearty support is an fo
evidence of popular opinion--con-
,ribute to maintain such defects, and
ire almost IS strong as law. 1t is %
lot possible Tor the wisest or bravest -:
men, individually, to break through ~
.he systems in which they find them
selves working units. They can but
oil and toll, IS they do, to make the
best of it, and lament their own help ne
essness 10 do more. di
But the fact remains, whatever tn
nay be the cause; and lower stand
ard of truth and efficiency must be
ooked for, wherever the theory of q di
'chooi is at variance with Its prac- bl
ice. 1t is certainty that the con- ar
inual presence o: any false influence
n society must have great effect
or evil, even when the cause Is not
lnown or suspected. To train the Sc
ife truly requires thorough atmos. ~, TO-
,here of truth. Like mountain air. IL
he lungs should expand to drink It
q, and the limbs will feel the fresh or,
less; whilst a languid step and fee We
,le breathing sre too surely the con- ax
equence of living over sewers. hr;
however hidden they may be- Poison
3 not less poison because it is inyis- ;
BILE, or life less life for the same the
eason. Good air is always invisible. twi
nd the subtle workings of great ini
of life and truth can ro erx
nore be caught and labeled than the
irtue of the air ITSELF But some of
be necessary conditions, in the alb zes
ence of which truth cannot exist be,
lay be laid down without difficulty wa
The training of the life depends on lops
ae conditions under which the life