Litchfield enquirer., 1877-08-09
WHOLE 'iNO..ss2s7a. an !.
..RoplllarI Edueatlon.


 hAComplaint has often been made that the common schools of Connecticut are deteriofasihgs that pupils do mot receive in them as good afi education as they did twenty years ago, and that popular inter! est in them has declined; that school com. mittees regard rather economy than ef- Ffieiency in the district schools. We will not undertake to say how much truth there is in these charges; nor whether the retrograde of the country schools is only apparent in contrast with the improve ment of the common schools Tn large towns. All that needs to be said on this subject is that methods of teaching have greatly improved within the last twenty years, ln all schools and colleges, that teaching is better understood, and that it may be admitted that much yet remains to be done, to bring popular edu- cation in the common branches of knowl. edge up to the wants of our industrial community. ..t. .. Id. ..I.
 Connecticut has been time and again q pioneer in popular education. It distin. guished itself in the experiment of the Normal schools, But by some series ot blunders, which it is not necessary to recapitulate, and while it was cited by
 other states as model, 1t abandoned the system. For two years it gave up its Nor nal school. But the mistake owas soon
 acknowledged;it became painfully evident
 in the character of the district schools. The school at New Britain was revived, and for several years now nnder'the gnid- ance of Professor Carleton and compe- tent corps of instructors 1t has been doing service which IS seen to be indlspensi- ble and the importance of which is every
 day more and more apparent Unfortu-
 nately the last legislature, in ht Of mis-
 taken economy, voted to cut down the
 small salaries of the teachers and thus to
 cripple the. school, It was an evident error, which we think must be speedily rec l paired. because the state can better afford l to be small in any other department than | in that of popular education.i 8!gag.f.. We have taken little pains lately to
 re examine our State Normal school and
 the work it is doing, and we desire to say | a word about it to the people of the state. | We may say briefly in the first place and enphatieaiy ,v'that it is at present amUst admirably conducted is doing we'll the work for which it is organized, What is 1 that work? Why should, there be spec. I ial school to train teachers? i9fsp" Vo"'l- "a We answer. in a general way, thatcteach-
 ing is an art as much of an art an preach- ing, or practicing medicine or law, and 1 that itorequires speciah draining for it. But iWhy,slt iso asked, cannot aIRerson teach that which he learnes in an 0rdina- | ry school: why should he need the prac- I tice of afNorn1al sclfoolai bThsFe are seve: 1 ral answers to this, some Ber1eral, ,land some special, with reference to our coun- I try district schools Very few persons, l however good scholars they may be, have 1 naturally the faculty of imparting what they know, or understand the management l of scholars. They need the help of n method or system; they need specific l training-iust as, in any other profession. They need the drill of h0tV to, teach by
 those who know how, and they need con. siderable practice in 1t. They need anoth. | CT thing, not taught in the ordinary school l of which we shall speak further on.
 l But there is ai closer reason for this l Normal school with reference to our dis
 trict schools in the country, The young
 ladies and gentlemen who receive the l higher education in our colleges and acad- emies can rarely be got to take the little by-way schools, or the lower departments
 in the large district schools, because of
 small pay and lack of other Inducements. 1 But these country schools need as good
 teachers as the large schools, men and wo-
 men as thoroughly trained to teach what
 is there learned. We think 1t might be
 shown that the small. back country
 schools are as vital ill our educational, in-
 dustrial, political system as any others. l Now this Normal school undertakes to
 supply, andit does supply, teachers to l teach simply the common branchesz in | these small schools. And this is as im-
 portant us any educational work done to- l day in Connecticut. The pupils are not
 drilled simply ill the studies they expect l to teach, but in the art of imparting
 knowledge, in the organization, govern
 ing and mental and physical ordering of
 the school. They receive in their course of two years much literary, scientific and
 historical knowlsdge. which will all come in play in impaftlngl theuvery rudiments | of knowledge to their young pupils. But
 they gain something else equally impor-
 tant. They are carefully directed in an
 analytic study of mind-of, psychology--
 so that they may be able to understand 1 the mental qualities and capacities of the minds of their scholars, and how to guide l each onesin the1studiesto which he is set 1 This is one, of the most sensible and prac-
 ticaI things in the system of education.
 Every parent who attempts to direct and | develope the mind of his child is forced 1 to careful study of that mind. Teach.
 ing anywhere is blind business without | it.
 There are several topics we must touch
 in discussing the Normal school, but we
 have space to allude to only one more toe day. It is'what we may call the indas | trial aspect The advantage of such
 school as the Sheffield to our industrial prosperity is acknowledged. In some de- I gree that adVantage must be given to the district schools, whose pupils may never
 have any other opportunity than the learning of the common branches. What
 out to be the "comrnon brancheay' Those that will contribute most to the honest
 success in life and to the happiness of the 'Prnass of the people; ethoss that will be
 most iusefal in ordinary occupations and ] serve to make our homes pleasant, .,lt s,.i Now Connecticut must expect it's chief | prosperity and it's pre-erninence in it's ffno | industries. And this must depend upon
 the skill of the mass of producers. The
 training of the hand and eye, the knowl-
 edge of form and proportion, of the laws | of fitness and taste, are our capital. This
 sort of skill and ErGft must be universal, and it can be inculcated until it becomes in manner hereditary;until we have gen
 erations of laborers skilled in tue indus
 tries, Accurate teaching in the elements
 of mathematics and natural philosophy
 will do much in this way, but there is DO
 branch of knowledge that bears more di-
 rectly upon our present situation than Drawing There is not boy in any To. mote district whose chance ofsuCcess and enjoyment in life will not be improved by knowing how to draw. Whether he is to become carpenter or a biacksmith, . | worker in metals, worker in asfactory where new patterns and designs aare or0- quired, we care not what industry he
 chooses. drawing will aid him. Even if Inc is a farmer this training of the hand and eye will be ofdally use to him. And
 there is not a, girl in any back. country i town who will notsbe fitted by a knOwl' l edge of drawing to make Ter home more lagTeeable.2 We do not mean that she Or
 the boy is going to become an. 'sartist'and draw pictures. Genius of this sort, is
 rare growth. But her taste will be culti.