Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-04-09
Teachers Institutes.


The State Superintendent will hold insti.
tutes in any county upon the written appli-
cation of twenty-five teachers of that county.
1t will be well to circulate such 4 petition,
if upon careful consideration il is thought an
institute will repay our time and expense
in attending it as we'll as the extra cost to
the state. If Institutes will awaken public
interest in the schools and induce all that
should be interested to exert their influence
to improve them If they will better quail
fy teachers for their important work, and il
sufficient teachers will attend to sustain an
interest through the session, then let insti-
tutes be held in every county. But if none
Of these objects DO accomplished let us seek
other means of improvement.
Ii seems to me that tho success Of the in
stitutes as conducted in previous years will
hardly warrant repetition of the expert
ment. The attendance which has always
been small in comparison with the whole
number Of teachers in the state was last year
much less than ever before. OF the five
thousand teachers in Vermont only $50 at
tended Institutes and this number includes
all who would enroll as teachers even though
they remand but one day.
The secretary of the board Of education
was allowed to expend Sl75 for additional
instructors at each institute. The state
superintendent is allowed to pay but 500 for
assistants. These are small sums to pay in
an educational cause, yet too large to waste.
Is institute instruction suited to the ma
jority of teaohers,-those of the common
district schools once heard Dartmouth
professor explain compound Interest, COM
pounded instantly or infinitely. The work
was interesting, but of what use was it to
teachers with mental classes or to others ex-
cept as slight mental discipline 1t is 50
with much OF the instruction given at insti-
tutes-beyond possible use except in acad.
emies and high.schcols if not beyond the
comprehension. The methods OF discipline
and instruction are so theoretical instead Of
practical that experienced teachers listen to
them rs pleasant story, while younger ones
will run their school by the fixed rulewith al:
most fatal results. One object of institutes is to
grant state teachers licenses to all qualified
applicants, yet only twenty flour teachers re-
ceived institute licenses in the past two
years.
Viewed in any light but as amusement or
recreation, institutes have proved failure
in Vermont This failure is doubtless owing
to incompetent instructors and lack Of in
terest on the part of teachers.
II the state superintendent will remedy
the first of these causes, conducting the in
stitute in his own practical manner, aided
by able and common sense assistants, aud
We as teachers eau overcome the second
cause of failure by arousing every teacher
we meet to the duty of becoming better quail
fled for his work, then let as again have in
stitutes.
But if less than one-ffth attend, if none
are to receive licenses, if impracticable meth
DDS only are to be given, then let us save the
money to the state and We will try and use
the time in visiting good schools and learn
from example NORMAL.
Windsor Co., Apr. /.