, 1874-08-02

compel Il return to the old barbarism. The con
spcuous failure of the
EXPERIMENT OF MORAL suAs1oN
in the New York schools also lent not a littl<
probability to the predictions that it would fai
! III Chicago.
Dut the facts III this CITY have utterly refutct
all these predictions Tae schools have got o:
| throughout the year without corporal punish.
} ment the pupils have made more advancement II
their studies; the1o have been mole promotions
and less suspensions than III any preceding year
i'll the history Of public education hero. Two OF
three teachers have followed out their conyc-
tions in regard to corporal punishment. resulting
in some six cases only during the year,
ofice @ e for tnreo days. virtually, Virtually av saya the M
Superintendent, disuse OF the rod is tho pom
inent fact Of the year. The report will state
that obedience in all the schools, IS rnle, has
| been prompt aud cheerful. Gases OF wil1ul dis
| obedience and malicious conduct. us might be ex-
pected have been less flequent than in any pre-
Vious year; and the suspcnsions for misconduct
have steadily decreased, until At the close OF the
year tho ratio Of these to attendance WAS far
! less than ut any time in tho last ten years.
The tabulated statement of
| ANNUAL SUSPENSIONS
| for that period is as follows:
1866, one suspension 20 600
1sGf-1, suspension for......-.. Il, 100
1hGs-b, suspension for. IL UU0
1859, one suspension for. 900
1S.01, suspension ....--.l4 COO
l67l2 one suspension for. 90 900
1o72-3 suspension fer....-......-....... 1900
1o'53 one SUSPENSION
| During the summer term inst closed, the
! ratio was one suspension to s., ,000 punils.
The year 1878 marks, by 1ts unusually large
| number OF suspensions. the timo when the ex-
pertinent Of moral suasion vas substituted for
bodily punishment. Tue very small number OF
| suspensions the past year marks as. thoroughly
the fact that the teachers have got the hang :"
OF the new method Of government
The superintendent has made careful
analysis OF
THE oFFESsEs
been mcted, which shows quite change in the
past two years. OF the whole number OF sus-
pensions last ysnT 81 per cent Ts5e
vea1 vear wiilful m misconduct" suspended So
per cent F; this year 3s4 per cent: Last year
s. vicious conduct" suspended 81 Per cent;
~ per cent wcrc SECOND suspensions ;
this year per cent. It may not
be very clear what is the difference between
.sillful misconduc. and yiciousness but the
general fnct is plain from these figures that the
number OF cases of discipline for lntontionalbad
behavior is constantly diminishing. The Super
intendent Invites all who doubt tho facts above
set forth to visit the schools and either confirm
or solve their doubts by actusl inspection
LII HlHG bENUO45, Adf1LH dA aftAaE5o AttClt4AAto
Of C500 pupils, not Case Of suspension or cor
poral punishment has taken place during the
year and Elk schools, with an average attend
ance of 4,5U0, havo had but one suspension
s sesR datns I hs h sa 81 n5 5h' vsss hs @
only happened in one single instance, to find
the teachers timo occupied III the work OF dis
cplnc, which Indicates that not much time ia
thrown awny in TINT department Of pedagogics
in Chicago.
Another subject to which large portion Of
the report is devoted Is that OF
oRAL INSTRUCTION..
For some time past the teacher naVo considered
the oral portion OF the course great bugbear.
To teach it thoroughly seemed to require q
breadth OF knowledge equal to that OF Agassiz
in zoology Gray lii botany, Drowu-Sequard in
psychology, Balm and Huxley in physiology, aud
the whole galaxy Of authors On metaphysics.
As the teachers did not lay claim to any such
habit of writing tho oral LESSONS on the
blackboard, requiring the pupils 60 commit the
definitions to memory, and rccite them parrot
like Just before examination, since it WAS we'll
known that the information was 6hort-lved, and
fell ont OF raemory soon after it WAS acquired.
To this practice tile Superintendent, aided By
the most Intelligent teachers and the Committee
OF the Board on Textbooks and Course OF IT.
struction, have determined to put al end.
Mr. pickard ably discusses the purposes OF oral
instruction, and arrives at tho conclusion that
there must be change in the manner OF lis
presentation.
In order to effect this, the dovico has been
adopted suggested By Prof. Huxley. OF making
geography peg whereon to hang in method
ca1 ORDER like the links of chain. all tho sub
iects Of the oral course, which have heretofore
been presented in d1slocated and luoglcal
mauner Heretofore. says the Superintendent. !
geography has been tho most uksome branch OF |
the course, aud it's results least satisfactory. |
Nearly fvo years are devoted to tic study OF |
geographical facts, many of which arc uDlm-
portant and useless. The theory. of nl! the text
books on geography is that one city or town OF
other. Tho truth is that the textbook should |
be adapted to each locality. so rs to make the |
home OF the child and its surroundings to COM |
nr1se his mostimporinnt geographical knowledge. |
In accordance with this theory, next year me
heretofore uEed in the fourth, fifth, |
and sixth grades will be discarded, and globes, I
outliuc-1nsps, aliases, and cyclopedlas will take
their pluce, with a well 1l-d:gested and printed
syllabus OF subjects aud their manner OF treat
nent in tho teachers' hands. The "peg" on |
which cau be suspended in continuous order all
the facts relating to the material "ot1a1s
.'THE EARTH"
Tia fornn. size. composition, surface. and uses.
give rise logically to vast aud warned amount OF
knowledge Mans relation to u u ulssuisGo s,5:d;
undor the head OF his needs, which arc suool,
yidcd into spiritual and material: Els material
wants are shelter, clothing, and food Ihe ois-
cussion Of these gives rise to ta1k upou Tue
VARIOUS substances used for his shelter, Whefe
they grow OF a1o produced snd ho" they Ge
Lrousht to Chicago Similarly the subjects OF
clothing enc food are but topics under WHICH are
,lassed la.ge cunlbor of related fact5 IN regard
d cotton, wool, ha1, silk4 ETC., and the various
Kinds Of arinaal, vegetable, and mineral 1ooos'
55itn the methods OF procuring them.
Under iue head Of mans spiritual wants are
o1acod 1le subjects OF education, religion, ma
government; and the subdivision Of these heads
5ires rise t. .he discussion OF the various ase