Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-03-03

Iths many iihdrshses yhien necsssa7'
rily arise, We win again suppose that
everything prOreeds according to-
approved methods, until Fridayr-on'
which day Institutes generally adj
jpurn, after dsvotiag half Of it:tD the
discassion ofs Resolutions snd tsans-,
tactlng such business as may come
before them: Nov, the most that
can be claiined is, thai, the, Institute
has rorked 5elr days. It is hardly
| necessary tNay, that no. decided re-
suits have hesn eAfeateds in 80 short a
time 1sIsp@k tofhe knowledge of
most who have had long experience
in Institute, when 4 say ts,at the
large msior1y Ok Teachers le1 away
SstliVIe - 49, ne
work they are to aeecsnplish, and the
best methods Of accomplishing it,
than theyhad when they came.
Many valuable ideas very likely
haye'been presented; but they will
almost certainly fail OF accomplish
ling much good, for lack OF time to
demonstrate and enforce them. 1t
does not concern us to inquire what
the intention of the law may be; this
is the almpst invariable and inevita-
BILE result Of holding Institutes du-
ring single week. i admit that
they are dssigned partly tomake up
for1a deficiency which must exist
while welack Normal Schools. But
how long need we lack Normal
Schools; N ahe money which is now
used in defraying, the expenses of
institutes could be devoted t0 estab.
! fishing them In convenient localities
! throughout the State. 1t would be
Interesting to inquire how much
,nnnny has there been expended; and
although this cannot be exactly as
'ccrtained, ii is safe to say that it
would have been sufficient TO have
! established and <,.dOWeJ twenty-five
Normal Schools, with = full corps Of
Teachers, md provided every con-
,yeniciHn rcccsssry for thorough
training in every Department Of in
struetion. II ANY one doubts this
nssertior,. he can satisfy himself by
finding ihe average cost of Institutes
sea6l - ~, simalcs prQAlen in
multi VI Hon. ] have stated the
average cost at 1000. Our co. Sup't
says, / believe, that the last Institute
held In the County cost not far from
$500.
Without dwelling on this point,
! let us notice some Of the minor OBJ
jections. in many cases the Winter
Terms have been i'm session only n
few weeks, and are fairly at work.
An interruption at such stage is
necessarily an injury.
Many Teachers who attend Insti-
tutes, and receive compensation,
make but little or no effort to derive
any benefit from them. They attend
because compelled 10, and are hin.
drances rather than help. The Con.
| ductor sss(hetimes fails, not because
| he is lacking in information to COM
municate, bnt because he seeks to
devclope some hobby, rather than to
/ demonstrate c0mmon-eense plan
which lacks only the merit Of being
unusual.
III it is urged that suitable men
should always be employed, the an
swer Is that suitaJle men are not
always at hand. Men Of such quail
/, fications are usually engaged in
permanent employment, and cannot
leave their Positions.
Let us have Normal Schools, a
score or more Of them, in convenient
localities, 80 that those who desire
may qualify themselves at moder-
ate expense, and u marked improve
ment would be discernabIe in the
| standard OF Teaching. Let there
still be held County or Town Insti.
tutes, Of q voluntary character, like
the Association. of other professions.
III it is answered that many would
not attend such Associations, we say,
all would attend who would be Of
any advantage to them. State and
National Associations Of this kind
are more frequently successful, be-
cause only earnest workers are
present.
Our correspondent il q man OF
experience, and "speaks from the
book" Admitting his premises, It
IL hard TO escapefsom hisconc'usions.
We se<pose that the system OF
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