Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1871-11-30
EDUCATIONAL.

EDUCATIONAL.
NORMAL SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS
The first are, so to speak, the State dc
positories Of its educational capital, ane
the teachers which they graduate are
its circulating medium. and the State
ought to employ and control each Of
them so as to promote the education Of
its citixcns the most rapidly and per,
fcctly. II normal charlct er.stics are
valuable in tho tcacher-and nc one
disputes it-let us hare them in all the
school rooms in the State. These char
actaristics are yuluuJIe. We have made
the acquaintance Of host of normal
teachers aud have tested their skill in
/ tho school room, in the Institute, and
in the general educational association,
and they have universally met our h IS l.
est expectation. Not that each is as
perfect in knowledge and as skillful in
practice as every other, hut that, as a
rule, all are successful teachers. And
there is that about normal teacher,
which We have rarely, if ever, seen dis
played to the same extent by any other,
and we emphasize this because we think
it Of the greatest Importance we
call it energy, and we think this the
most appropriate because it is, at o~ce,
the briefest and most comprehensive
definition which We can employ. We
mean by it that quality Of the human
constitution which is opposed to inertia.
1t is that which inpels the teacher;
that which mares the pupils; that
which, permeating the district, creates
unconscious influences which are a part
Of tho living elements Of successful
school discipline. This quality brings
pupils to school in season and returns
them to their homes decently and prep
erly. It moves in all the processes Of
study. 1t is that which makes every
scholar feel that the part which he has
acted iu the school room work of each
day is either honorable or dixyraceful
1t forces character into the lives of
scholars, and fits them to be men and
women upon the battlefield of life.
Rob school of ALL or of any Of these
characteristics, and what is it worth ?
at alt! Such an one would
be disgusting failure! and yet we may
find it in each county in the State.
We do not say that none but Nor
NAL teachers possess these qualifications
We know of some who have no supe.
riors, and but few equals, as teachers
persons whose names never graced the
catalogue of a Normal School until they
appeared there as Principals or inetruc-
tors, and there are few such scattered
throughout the State, laboring quietly,
but, nevertheless, thoroughly and we'll
and we most checrfully rccommcn!
such to the highest consideration of
School Committees, and educational
officers Of all classes. We care not
how they acquired their skill, or echere.
It does not dim the glory of that great
man who pens his thoughts in ffty.two
different languages, that he studied
in blacksmith shop The
brawny hand that lately struck the
gives from the limbs of 100000 of
bondmen, and pilotcd the ship "UN1oN"
safely across the turbulent sea of rebel
ion, at one tine guided a fat-boat
along the tortuous channel of the Mis-
'issippi. and, at another, split rails in
he forest on the banks of the Sanga-
non. But, do the circumstances of
humble birth and Of mental labor, stamp
ne martyr President, plebcan?
In these days men and women are
measured by the powers which they
possess, and their value to the world is
by what they achieve. If
great work is to be accomplished un-
10: difficulties, tho more honor does it
reflect upon him who performs it,
md those persons who, without the adj
Of early education, or of spe-
cal training, have risen to cmincnce in
the profession by virtue of their won
derful originality and untiring efforts,
are, to-day, enjoying larger share of
public favor, and, justly SO, than any
who have become what they arc, by the
force of fnrtuitous circumstances.
But this proves nothing against the
necessity, or the stern duty Of educating
teachers Aside f;om che small class
of which we have spoken, and the few,
which the Normal
Schools have graduated, our successful
teachers have been brought from the
older States, and, as r"le, we pay
them higher salaries than they could
obtain at home, otherwise, it were no
object for them to come here to labor
They come here for pay, and the addi-
tional expense which we shall incur,
if we continue thus to supply ourselves,
will be sufficient to educate our teach
ers at home.
TIE wife OF Lieut-Gov VIM II.
\ ale died at her home in Winona on !;
last and the remains have
been taken to Norwalk, Conn. accom-
panied by her husband and her son.
Ms. Yale has been in diseased condi-
\ l.