The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-12-31

| be admitted until ali Ilc SuDJCct1 VI
study have been mastered OF which lie
would learn the art OF teaching Anoth-
! er party claim that subjects and meth
ods should not be separated; that sub
| jects OF study should be thoroughly re-
| viewed-each step ia the review 10 be
| accompanied by the proper illustrative
teaching. \ third party claims that all
schools are normal schools; that with
| the thorough acquisition of a subject l.
| coupled the knowledge of how it is re-
| ceived and how impaired. The number
| of persons entertaining the opinions or
the second class is perhaps the greatest,
| call attention to this diversity Of
| opinion with regard TO normal schools,
| on account of its evil effects ou their
| proper progress
Tie policy of establishing a state uor
/ mai school, 80 popular among a certain
j class of educators i'll our state a few years
ago, is not pushed with so much vigor a.
| formerly. The establishment of such
schools in other states and the results
shown by them it Is thought has had a
depressing effect on their original aivo-
Gates.
1t is evident to most persons, think,
that the common schools must continue
to be taught for d considerable length Of
time 10 come, as they have been ill the
past, not by professionals, but by
young men and woman from all classes
of schools. Normal schools and teach
ers' institutes are the sources to which
we must look Tor the professional train
ing of teachers for many years 10 come.
Normal schools carried OH by private
enterprise are multiplying with great
rapidity in all the states, and may in
time be sufficient to meet the public de
mand.
One subject remains yet TO be noticed,
/ refer to the agencies operating against
the public school system. The irst needs
only to be mentioned, as every one Is
familiar with the arguments relating to
ii. / refer to the monied opposition.
The second is that of ecclesiastical oppo-
sition. BY the phrase ecclesiastical op
position we do not mean the opposition
of any particular church. \ careful
study of the public school system, from
its origin up to the present, will reveal
the fact that there are many denomina-
tions who oppose the public schools in
some form or other. The first ecclesias-
tical opposition taken in order is that of
parochial schools, whose object is to
draw off the public school children by a
better appafant teaching, though they
neglect necessarily the great glories of
the public school. 1t is not long since
a public school in one of our large cities
was depleted to such an extent as to ne
cessitate its abandonment on account of
the establishment of Il parochial school
created avowedly for that purpose. The
second opposition assumes the following
form: The public school is established
for all, and cannot teach any form of
religion, therefore, it is immoral and
Goddess; that secular education. with
out the religious element, is not only vain
but eminently pernici0us; that it is fast
undermining the Christian faith of the
nation, that it is rapidly filling the land
with rationalism, and destroying the au
thOrity of the Holy Scriptures.
The high sounding phrases Religious
Education" and Goddess Schools" are
ingeniously handled by those who would
divide the school fund among religious
denominations. The word education Is
extensive in its Specification, and admits
of many divisions.
There is such thing as a religious
education. which properly means educa-
tion in religion. There is, too, a secular
education, which means education in
secular affairs. The first belongs to the
Church exclusively; the second does
not. There are certain parties who in
sist on extending the first over the sec
ond, and calling both "Religious Eiuca
ton" But Goddess Schools" What
are they2 Are they schools in which it
is taught that there is no God! Secu-
lar schools are not Goddess Schools"
The arithmetic is not Goddess book,
because it is not a catechism or prayer
book. A recitation in grammar is nota
Goddess exercise, because it is not a re-
ligious exercise. A school is not God
less, because religious teaching is post
poned. A factory or a machine shop is
not Goddess because the catechisIn is not
taught there.
1t is possible to confer both religions
and secuiar education in the same
school, But it is a question of praetica
bility. So far aS the public schools are
concerned it is utterly impracticable.
The third and last opposition to which
we shall call attention, relates more par
ticulaFly to a class of the public schools.
1t is claimed by certain individuals,
found in almost all religions denOmina-
tions, that a public school education
should not extend beyond the common
branches that the further education of
the pupil should be conducted by de
nominational academies and colleges. Ii
would require more time to notice the
arguments aud fallacies of this opposition
thau the plan of this paper will permit.
Its magnitude can hardly be overesti
mated. a. it strikes at the vital point of
our plblic education. Teachers SHOULD
fully realize its Importance and be pre-
parei to combat the pernicious theory
under whatever preteGse it may be off
cred
The State should act in good faith for
the moral aud intellectual objects com
mon to all, leaving to parental and
church agencies those special religious
influences with reference to which citi
zens honestly differ. t.Tiie business of
the State is with this world; that OF the
church with the next-a world of whose
existence the State is consiituiionally
ignorant" The reading of the Bible
should not be insisted Oh, if rracticed at
all. We shall itave enough to contend
against, before we emerge from our
present difficulties, without exciting re-
ligious prejudice or incurring the charge
of religious intolerance. Gn such basis
alone can our common school system be |
perpetuated, without which the nation
will be periled if not destroyed. Enter
ing as we are now, upon the second cen
tury OF our national existence, who can
forecast the State of Que educational
institutions a century hencel Will It be |
a century of public educational progress. |
or will the glory OF the First Century be f!
oyerthrown and tranpled on by the |
and bigots of the Second. |
These are questions about which every |
lover of his country should feel solici- |
tous. The varying changes in the con !
ditions of society attendant upon the |
of our vast domain, will |
call into requisition the best efforts of |
genius for centuries TO come. Upon us. |
teachers, depends the labor of laying /
the foundations of healthy public sen
tinent on the great subject of public
education. God help us to fulfill our
dutiesl 1t is hoped that the education
al exhibit at the approaching Centen-
nial may enkindle a national pride that
will be productive of energies and pur-
poses that shall reach through the lapse
of centuries.
After some discussion, participated in
by Aessrs. Brown, of South Toledo,
Lehr, of ada, Tufts and Palmer, of
Ferguson, OF Eunkirk, Flenner,
of Beaver Dam, Terrence, of st. Marys,
and others. mainly in regard to that part |