Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-02-16
Educational.
VERMONT STATE TEACHERS AssoCIA-
TIoN-TwENTY-FIRsT ANNUAL MEET
ING
NORTHFIELD. Ian 27. 1871.

TIoN-TwENTY-FIRsT ANNUAL MEET
ING.
NoRTHFIELD. Jan. 27, 1871.
The State Teachers Association began
its annual session at this place at $50
a. m, yesterday. 1t was called to order
by the President, ]. S. Spaulding, LID,
Principal of Barre Academy. After in
troductory devotional exercises by the
Rev. VIM S. Hazen of Mortified, the
Secretary of the Association being absent,
Mr.. A. R. Dow of Burlington was chosen
Secretary pro te1np0re. The following
committees were appointed by the chair !:
| On Business. J. Z. Goodrich
Of Burlington, Fl. FL. Shaw of Springfield,
and Rev. l.. A. Austin of Manchester.
| On NOn,in0tiOns -Messrs. Louis Pol
lens of Burlington, III. r. Peck of North
| field, and ID. ID. Gorham of Montpelier.
! The President made brief address, in
which be alluded to the fact that, of those
who first organized the Association, only
one besides himself was now alive. He
could not coincide in the opinions avowed
by some members of the last Legislature,
that the schools of Vermont had made no
progreess in the last twenty-five years.
| We had better school houses, better teach
ers. and better means for training teach.
ers, better textbooks, and improved
methods of instruction in arithmetic and
geographv-in fact in all the branches
taught Within the last twenty years,
and still more within forty years, had the
handling and government of schools been
changed for the better. Some part of the
improvements in schools and school laws
might be traced, he thought, to the in
fuence of this Association. He hoped
its efficiency might not be lessened, but
increased.
In behalf of the citizens of Mortified,
the Rev. Mr.. HaZen extended hearty
welcome to the members of the Associa-
tion, and other friends Of education pre-.
sent.
DISCUSSION ON GRADED SCHOOLS.
A discussion then ersued on "Graded
Schools az related to Colleges aud Acade-
miles," which was opened by Mr.. NJ. r.
Peck, the master of the Mortified school
After glancing at the wide scope of the
true idea of education. as embracing not
only the cultivation of the mental powers,
but physical aesthetic, social, emotional,
moral and religious, culture as well, he
went on to say that so complex a process
must take time, and should begin as soon
az the physical organism would permit.
He claimed for the graded schools that
they had better and more permanent
teachers, more apparatus, better text
books, fewer recitatioDa, more conference
in the course of study,-in fine, more sys
tenn in all things, than the ordinary dis
trict school. In academies the pupil
would enjoy larger opportunities for as
soeiatio and contact with other minds !;
but these, in his opinion, were more than
overbslanced by the advantages of home
life. He thought that as many students
proportionally went to college from grad
ed schools as from academies. and that the
work done in them was quite as good.
Mr.. Goodrich spoke of an impression
prevalent in some quarters, that the grad
ed schools are not so favorable to the
higher education as the academies. He
would like to hear from those who had
had experience in both kinds of schools
Rev. L. A. Austin would have graded
schools established wherever possible, be-
cause they afforded superior advantages
to oil the children of community. He
was sure they had no better teachers than
the academies, was willing TO admit that
in the common branches they did quite as
well as the academies, but held the moral
influence on the pupil of the latter to be
better than of the former, as the principal
bad the constant oversight of bis students,
out of the school hall as well as in it;
while the teacher of the puplic school had
no control over his pupils outside of the
snhool He inf that ho
mics sent more students to colleges and
fitted them better than the graded
schools, and could almost venture to assert
that Barre Academy has sent more boys
to college than all the graded schools in
Vermont.
Mr. H. FL. Shaw would grant that iu
some points the academies had the ad-
vantage, especially such as were founded
but he knew from experience that no
school, however large, could maintain
proper corps of teachers by tuitions alone. |
The graded schools had basis to stand |
upon-the whole property of the commu-
nifty the majority of Vermont academies
had not the means to do good work. Be- |
sides, he had discovered that the instruc-
tion given in academies not seldom lacked
The graded system, it |
should be remembered, was yet in its in
fancy. County schools were needed to
it.. The system reached, in idea, |
from the lowest grade in the primary
school to the hour of graduation from COL
lege. When perfected and put in full
operation, we should see wonderful results
from it.
Mr.. Pollens questioned the correctness
of Mr.. Austin's statements about the rela-
tive number of students entering college
from academies and graded schools. Ex-
tent of territory should be considered, and
not merely the number of pupils enrolled.
He believed that, population alone being
the graded schools of Burling
ton sent at least as large proportion of
young men to the University, as any
town in Vermont in which there might
be an academy.
DIsCUssIoN-TowN SYSTEM OF SCHOOLS.
At half-past ten o'clock, Mr.. A. G.
of Milton, opened discus
sion on the Town System of Schools as
with the District System. AZ
ter reciting the chief features of the bill
passed by the last Legislature, and ac-
that the present system had
its excellencies as well as its defects, be
went on to cay that even this might be
made more fruitful, if only the people
co.operated in working it; if
each citizen would see that the school.tax
was SO expended as to bring the larges'
returns; if each parent would try to
make the most of his son. Both systems
were but machines designed to accomplish
a certain purpose. The present one had
80 many defects, and these had been so
sxhaustively discussed by Secretary Ran
kin in his report for 1869, that he would
allude only to two or three. III
/. There were too many schools; ~
we're reported last year with only five pu-
pills or less, $40 others with no more than
ten, 653 more with no more than fifteen.
and SIS whose numbers did not exceed
twenty. Here were more than 1900
schools which might be spared-they
were useless. Their annual cost would
not be less than $150,000 for teachers,
and $25, 900 more for interest on buildings,
oha ha 70 ho foU