Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-12-30
Meeting Of the state Educational AssOciR-
ton at Brunswick.
THURSDAY EVENING,

THURSDAY EVENING.
| Professor Chapman gave very able adj
dress upon the duties and responsibilities of
teachers. This day signalized an advance in
the educational cause in Maine, and We NAV
! hope that its influence will be felt bv all
teachers. In behalf OF the citizens, college.
| and teachers of Brunswick he welcomed the
teachers of Maine to their town. Let ear
nestness and wisdom be the result of our
| gathering. We come not legislators, not
| burdcncd with responsibilities of enacting
laws. They were representative gathering,
made up of a medley of grades, from teach
ers of the sciences and philosophical discus
! sion to those who are leading the little minds
through that slough of despond," the
! Roman alphabet. Some come from school
rooms furnished and embellished with all the
paraphcnaia that wealth and art can pro-
vide. Others from rooms a bare of furniture
and devoid of taste a. unskilled labor could
make them. Yet they were homogeneous
assembly rendered 80 by common occnpa-
! ton and common sympathy; in impartng,
not in accrung. the work Is thrice blest,
blessing him who gives and him who re-
ceivcs. They must recognize Il common oh
jcct and common sympathy Their pro-
feSsion tended to isolate them from each
other. and liable to develop "a mar
rownes> in their work and brings the drudgcrv
| into disrcputc. This in some degree would
be counteracted by our annual gatherings /;
| but the absentees. who cannot leave school or
whose salary is too small to admit of their
coming are not thus reached.
The best and highest results depend upon
the personal and intellectual character of the
teachers. This appeals to citizen, parent
and teacher. The teacher who disro CARDS
the worth of character fOrfcts his position.
The parent cannot disregard it without being
careless of the highest welfare of his chill
drcn; nor the citizen without becoming alb
sorbcd in selfish interests The branches of
study, the time, the examination by com
mittces, and the Introduction at text books
are of secondary importance. schools con-
Quoted thus may fail. Success dep ends upon
the teacher. Their duties are peculiar and
exacting, requiring the best qualities of soul
and mind. Examinations show but little fit
ness to teach. The teacher must develop
| the mind, cultivate the taste, and embelish
thought. not simply to teach the child the
alphabet. or youth the sciences No child
can be educated beyond the limit of his in
herent powers. Teachers cannot mpart I'M
dcrstanding, taste, or conscience.
The conception of the masses of the mis-
sion OF the teacher is inadequate. knowledge
is application of principles impaired by the
teacher. 4 knack at cyphcring, quick eye
to detect, and swift hand to punish, seems
to be the conception of the masses of teach
er's qualifications 1t is difficult for pro.
fcssion to rise above the public estimate. The
teachers vocation has been ridiculed from the
time OF Horace to Dickens, by writers and
speakers. Dangerous results liable t.
flow from such misconceptions. Notable
men in our own and other countries have
demonstrated that the character of the teach.
er can and does make the profession honora
Bile. The Professor closed with the declara
ton that the example Of Christ as teacher
was the best and highest ilu tration of tho
force of character upon pupils and disciples
Parents and school officers have a right to de
mand that the personal power and influence
of the character of teachers shall nculcat,
in their pupils cultivated manners, ease anC
gracefulncss which belong1 to good society
an intellectual cast of mind, and Independent
habits Of thought; unreservedly spirit o
love for scholars. cheerful I'd sympathetic
IL is a sad sight to scho ar shut himsel
up in sullen Indifference because teachers fai
to gain his sympathies through love. The
teacher should cultivate a spirit of faith; It il
the impulse and inspir; ton of all that is de
sirablc in life; above /; II, the teacher mus
preserve a spirit of atience. Provoking
failures and annoying disobe licences are ex
cuscs for restraint and direction, but for i'm
patience, never. The speaker closed witt
quoting the beautiful POEM of Coleridge, be
ginning:
"O'er happy childhood won DIST thou hold firm rule.
Prof. Stanton of Bates College, read a yer
interesting and profitable paper upon orni
thology. He took the ground that the stud