The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1873-05-16
NUMBER 20.
EDUCATIONAL.
ny rEoF. 5. 5. pAncock.
THE WORK EXPECTED OF PUBLIC
SCHOOLS.

THE WORK EXPECTED or PUBLII
SCHOOLS.
Their duty Is To prepare then
pupils for the work OF life. The
end sought should be definitely
kept in view. The Importance oil
every study should be measured
by its probable usefulness. The
4 cry of this age for practical studies
is just one, though the limits Of
J the practical are often too much
narrowed. Those whose duty il
is to prepare courses of instruc.
ton, should inquire as to each
subject proposed, "What will this
study do for the class of students
for whom it is Designed and
SIS it the best thing which can be
done to fill up the allotted time!
and, difficult as the questions are,
they should both receive intelli-
gent answers. It is far from my
purpose to undertake TO map out
a course Of Instruction for any
school, but l wish in a general and
brief way TO indicate the ends
which the schools should seek to
accomplish.
For convenience of considera-
ton it may be we'll to divide the
pupils of our schools into two
classes, those who are likely to
be manual laborers, and those
whose employments will probably
require mental labor chiefly,
though IN this country these class
es are nowhere sharply divided,
and many individuals are constant
" passing from one to the other.
What shall the public schools
teach those who are to become
manual laborers: Not the acts
they are to practice. These must
be learned from experience, in do
ing under competent direction the
things sought to be learned. To
acquire the act of brick laying one
must lay bricks. To learn to be a
farmer, one must pillow and sow
and reap. The schools cannot
teach these things. What, then,
can they best teach those whose
life work is to be in such employ
mentS?
/. There are certain things
which every one must know in or
der to get on, except at the great
est disadvantage, even in the hum
blest walks of life. Reading, writ
ing and arithmetic are the most
essential of these. What an ave-
nue. of improvement is opened to
the poorest man in the simple
knowledge how to read. 1t alone,
if he has capacity, may be sutfi-
cient to raise him from the great
est ignorance to Il high degree of
intelligence. The capacity to keep
accounts and to understand writ
ten contracts, which involve both
writing and arithmetic, is necessa-
nv for the lowest laborer, to pro-
tect him from fraud and to enable
him to manage his savings. In
these three things every such per
son should be thoroughly instruct
ed,
,. Every man has certain gen
erai rights and duties in relation
to his fellow men and the govern
ment of his country, which it is of
the utmost public consequence that
he understand. In as simple a
way as possible they might be
taught to every pupil in our public
shoots. What a loss every COM
munity suffers by the little dis
honesties and neglect of duty by
employers and employed! 1t
would be a great public gain if
men could be brought to see that
exact "honesty is the best policy"
and that all attempts to get a liy-
ing without making a fair return
are likely to be unsuccessful. That
every kind Of vice is generally ex-
treme folly as well as guilt, is
known to intelligent men. To i'm
press these truths upon commun-
ity would seem to be the special
work of the churches. But as
perhaps they do not always make
enough of it, and at the best they
reach but portion of the COM
munity, could not the public
schools be brought to aid in the
work? Could they not teach the
obvious consequences of evil liy-
ing without touching upon con-
ficting religious theories? 1t
seems to me beyond question that
the State should, through the
schools, teach every one the gen.
eraI duties of citizens, the respon-
sibility of every voter for the
right use of his vote, and the chief
receptions to which he is exposed.
OF course this would have to be
done with the greatest caution, to
escape the complaints Of political
parties, who might raise the cry
that the schools were being used
for the dissemination of the prin
ciples of their opponents. Some
thing ought to be done TO teach
the history of our country and the
nature OF our government to ev-
cry pupil. The simplest laws of
finance should lie taught. Each
pupil should be made to learn the
means by which property can be
honestly accumulated. Each
should he made see that in this
country, at least, the poverty of
the poor comes not from the reg
ulations of government, Or even
the combinations of capitalists
against labor, but from their own
ignorance, vice and wastefulness,
and that the great law of Provi-
dence by which the mass of man
kind in all ages are condemned to
earn their bread by the sweat of
their brows, n LAW whose basis Is
in the interchangeable constitution of
the physical universe.
3. No plan of fitting the young
for their work in life can be com
plete without making provision for
: the fact that every one has consid-
cradle leisure time from the nee
essary labors with which his time
is generally occupied. One day in
seven is treated as day of rest
by almost all. The time of com
: paratively few is, on other days, all
absorbed in labor, in taking oil
food, and in sleep. The use that
, is made of this leisure is OF incal
culable importance. 70 the la
, boring class, especially, is it the
great time of temptation. Often
it is the gateway through which
81 l.