The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1873-01-10
EDUCATIONAL.
CONDUCTED BIZ PROF. g. s AABcOcl
TRACHERS.

TRACHERS. r
Some time since we expressed our
belief IS regards the necessity OF
teachers being christians. We have
| . word. to say now. In respect 20
what . teseher should be as regard
thelextenf of his education. We con.
foes that Ne have. BEEN urged into
saying this sooner than we should
have said it had we not heard q
good deal of late concerning the
importance of teachers being gre.
quired to fit. themselves In some
special department Of knowledge,
because it Is impossible for any one
to be able to teach more than one
thing WE'LL" Nov We take direct
Issue with the above, and, while We
allow that a Eaan can and ought to
do better WORK In speaisl dapart-
ment, all thisgss else bang equeI.
than he can g. AgenerAl worker, we
maintain that No man can become
most Useful a. teseher In the pub.
lie sehooia until he has q culture
broad enough 50, If aeed be, do
good work. In several. But our
rosson for this does not lie In the
utility side of the question, how
ever" influential that may be, and
that it has great weight all must al
lew. bnt 1t goes far deeper; it
reaches down to the very elements
of educational philosophy. Mental
development should be symmetri-
cal, that Is the development of the
several mental powers should be
uniform In amount a. compared
with their relative value to the iu.l
divtdual, and each stage of growth
which is. the result of education
should correspond, In order of time,
with the order of development es.
tablished by God when He created
the mind. Further, II cannot be
questioned but that the different Gle.
ments of education haVo unequal
effects upon the different mental
powers, so much 80, indeed, that 81.
most any study will at one period
absolutely check mental growth,
while ct another period no other
study can advance Il more rapidly.
No man IL 90 poorly educ4ted as he
who knows but one thing, no INST.
ter how well he msy know that.
Assuming that the above "a grant.
ed, we fail to see how any one can
determine for himself and what O
teacher does not know for himself
is Of no value to him, what Is the
worth of any department of knowi-
edge as an clemens in the course of
mental development; he will ever
place his own q too high, all others
&C too low value. Now let no one
misunderstand as. We believe in
teachers of specisIties; bat We do
not believe any man ought to be
admitted to aid in perfecting g sys-
tenn Of public schools until he is
educated to point At which he is
able to pronounce intslligently upon
the value of the several departments
of education, aud ia so far scquaint-
ed with all as to be able 70 give to
each a -correct value In any curTicu.
l'tnS of study, even though by so do.
ing he should place his own depart.
msnt in the background; in other |
words We believe that the teschsr
skould be educated, not IN some one
branch Of knowledge, but in many,
and then let him choose such special |
study for his life.Work, a. his taste |
may dictate. Always provided, he |
gives SO much time to all the 9th.
ers IS will, make him acquainted |
with the progress made in each. |
In this way we esH conceive Of the |
various departments of q school
being carried forward in such . |
manner that an undue responder.
ance of any department 10 an Inn
possibility, simply because the head |
Of each department will be careful |
to see TO 1t that his work harmonizes |
with that of ths other departments,
while all will be anxious that the
best possible is doue in each.
And that such should DO the case
10 merely . question Of the time
spent by the teacher in preparation
for his work. We are prepared 70
maintain that teachers as q class
spend less time In preparation for
their work than either ministers or |
lawyers. Indeed. doctors and teach.
srs spend about equal an time, and
there 10 about the same number of
qu0eks in both professions, yet here
the doctors have the advantage, be.
canss they are obliged to have more
or less special training for their
work, while anybody 10 allowed to
teach whsthes he is. dtted for It or
not; but the fact remains that there
are more highly sdueasea preachers
ana lawyers In proportion to the
whole number in either profession,
than there are teachers Indeed many
lawyers aud ministers have used
the profession Of teaching merely
as . stepping stone TO elevate them
into their chosen profession. They |
h0ce taught until thsy could carr |
aoney enough TO enable them to
IT :themselves for preaching or pTac-
ESctag tasr. We grant that these
are dissgreeGbie facts, but because
We sit and pen this on this 23d day
of December, 1879, In warm, COM
Portable room, does not change the |
fact one whit that out Of doors the |
mercury In the thermometer marks |
-16 degrees. Nor will il change
the facts OF the case one whit be-
cause some OF us vince when the
truth comes home 70 our own
door. The fact 10 that the moment
We ges below certain grads of |
schools, teachers &C 9 class are poor.
ly educated, and many of them are
not educated e. teachers ct all,
while In all other professions the
grsassst quack has generally had
some professional training.
That the, ordinary student may
get . sa@cisat knowledge of books
to Be able 20 ten what little be
knows, or rsthsr tell otasrs how he
got that litsles 10 Of co1Ess true, but
that, ha nkasl Aa al,in "A - 2v.;,. a.