The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1877-02-06
MORNING. FEBRUARY g. 1877


weight are secondary considerations. Any
other course is cruel toward the child It |
is repeating the fable of the fox and the |
storB, setting before him repast which is
beyond the power of his mental faculties
to get at. I he system of examinations |
ought to be uniform, and If the applicants /
for admission to the high and grammar
school were examined by the teachers in
those departments, there would be fewer
scholars dropping out of the upper classes
because their work is too difficult. Our |
present standards of admission to these de- |
partments, as far as / am acquainted with |
them, are low and altogether too flexible. |
This is especially true of the high school, |
and it affects unfavorably all the grades |
below by taking away that stimulus which |
is one of the strongest levers of the graded |
system, it produces the came results on the |
lower schools that the lowering of the |
standard for college entrance produces |
upon the high school. AS all the little |
streams and springs that flow toward the
ocean originally came from it, so the in
spiraton which carries the child with con-
scious delight from primary school onward
through the whole course, has its birth in
the high school. Lower its tone and you
lower every grade coTespondingly; elevate
it and you elevate the whole. 1t seems to
me that the distinction between our high
and grammar schools is not sufficiently
marked. Has the high school any specific
work? What are its relations to the
schools below and the colleges above? Is
not the grammar echool what some one has
80 happily named it "The school of the
people," and should it not furnish all the
facilities for what is termed q business
education, thus leaving the high school I'M
trammeled to work for higher interests ?
These are questions that ought to be Set
tied with some degree of uniformity
throughout the state. In every town that
sustains a high school its teachers have
much to do with forming the public senti-
ment in regard to its office. The feeling is
prevalent that the high school is not doing
its share in the graded system unless there
are large numbers in attendance. This is
a mistake, its value consists in the kind
and quality rather than the amount of its
work. The probabilities are that the ten
boys and girls who are studying Latin and
Greek will reflect more honor upon their
native town, and be as valuable to the state,
When they have grown to be men and
women, as the one hundred who are not
receiving this mental discipline.
Again, the recognized arena of our work
is bounded by the four walls of the school
room. This is our kingdom here is the
scene of our daily exertions, and here we
ought to bring an energy OF purpose, o
strength of will, penetration of judgment
that will make us unconscious of fatigue,
unceasing in effort, unwavering in duty.
The excellence of our work will not con-
| sist in lodging our own ideas, or those of
the text books safely in the memory of our
pupils, but in arousing their individual
powers to independent action; in dispell-
ing their drowsiness and squirting them on
ward to self-improvement for high success
in teaching other qualities than those of an
agreeable talker are necessary the teacher
must also be patient listener, skillful
| quesliOner, keen analyZer of the mental
condition of each pupil before him. Such a
teacher will not often commit the fault of
telling his class anything they IRE rot
ready to appropriate and assimulate; he
understands that it is better to leave his
pupils with the cravings of healthy ap-
petite unsatisfed than 10 overtax their
mental digestion and 10 produce chronic
dyspepsia. am afraid one of the growing
| CNllS III Jul eCuOOlb Is tuC uOllDu lDit lUt
teachers whole duty consists in going be-
fore the child and removing every obstacle
from his path and then, if he whimpers,
taking him up and carrying him in his
arms, setting him down very carefully
in some smooth spot, and finishing the farce
by giving him card to carry home, which
by its high mark initiates his vanity and de.
ceves his parents. Such a course if pur.
sued long enough will ruin the brigh,
children to say nothing about those who
are naturally dull. 1t is dangerous mis-
take to do anything for child that will
give him the idea that he is not to make
an effort himself. Everything should be
done to awaken his curiosity; he should be
led very slowly at first and encouraged a
every step; but he must be trained to use
his own powers, and not expect to be carried
on the intellectual shoulders of his teach
ers. DR.. Arnold says the effort chile
makes in acquiring knowledge is worth
hundred times more than the knowledge
The law holds good for children "work j
better than what they work to get"
But there is another phase of your work
higher than the intellectual, more Difficult
to accomplish, and less likely to receive tn
careful consideration which its importanc
demands. Any system OF education, how
ever perfect in other respects, which fail
to awaken the conscience and purify th
affections which does not develop Low
, of truth, honesty, and Justice; whic
fosters envy, deceit, or the false ambitio
of appearing wiser and better than OF
really is, Is itself failure. The sooner W
= recognize the fact that mere intellectut
!, acuteness Invested of moral qualities
. worse than the most stupid ignorance th
!, better it will be for humanity. "The st,
tistics of crime" mislead on this point. il
, asmuch as they do not include the wron
doing which is committed inside the law
and which by making sin respectable, doe
. more to lower the moral tone of societ
than the more startling kinds that make ST
:, Infamous.
n The public school offers a wide field 1
e the philanthropist; it is the only plat
i where many of the evils that are prevaler
. among children can be reached and uproo
u ed. These evils do not originate in Il
schools as many suppose; if any though
;, full person will look around him he cam,
# fail to zee that the untruthfulness and di
o honesty which exists among children
n only faint reflection of the untruthfu
!, ness and dishonesty which prevails
v society, and 80 on through the whole cat
/ logue of vices. The public school is mail
y ly responsible for the manner in which
s deals with these evils, and in many respecI
y 1t is admirably adapted to counteract Ii
o false ideas that children get outside. FL
instance,-let examinations be conducte
n in such manner that all attempts at d
e ception will not only be detected, but e,
g posed ami visited with disgrace, and IL
: pupil learns that the false standards whic
., are set up in society do not avail here /
II learns to expect credit for nothing that b
), has not honestly obtained; he is made /
feel that an infringement of Gods la
d lowers him in the estimation of the who
: school, and that mo honor can compensa
n for the loss of honor With suitable tex
J. books, the introduction of a course I