The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-07-23
EDUCATIONAL.
D.A. MAHONEY. EDITOR
TEYT-BOOK TFACHING.
r. W.

The United States is eminently the
land Of textbook teaching. Nowhere
else does scholastic literature receive
the attention it obtains here; nowhere
us SO much elegance displayed in the
makeup even of a primer. In the
Worlds Exhibition at Vienna, I no.
ticed a set of American school books
that formed the wonder and delight OF
the numerous continental publishers in
attendance, and was afterward bought
to serve as a model.
But in this perfection of book-mak.
ing a tendency shows itself to over
estimate the educational value of text
books, and to underrate the indepen-
dent and stimulating work of the true
teacher. Superficial knowledge, both
on the part of teacher and student, is
fOstered by an implicit reliance upon
the manual. Its pages are conscien-
tiously followed from the first to the
last, and the main parts either COM
mitted to memory word for word, or
else the set questions under the text
are used-that curse of all true teach
ing. The system is certainly very con-
venient. "Stick" to your textbook
and thereby avoid all real labor and
the necessity Of a thorough knowledge
of the subject I
That such 6 teaching" must be bar
rem Of results, and, in many instances,
even pernicious. every student of hui
man nature will admit. The practice
confuses the young heads, fills them
with vast mass Of undigested mate
rial and produces the resemblance of
knowledge when there is only a certain
parrot-like ability to rattle off memoir
lied phrases. Frequently, also, sub
jects that under the hands of a live
teacher would call forth intense inter-
est, become perfectly disgusting to the
tortured head of the student.
But my protest against the abuse of
textbooks is by no means to be con-
strued as wish to Danish them alto
gether, or, in other words, to introduce
the oral method exclusively. Espec-
tally with advanced pupils a good
manual is necessity. To insure sue
cess, however. the teacher must be able,
if need be, to instruct without any as
sistance from the book. His knoWl-
edge of the subject, his special home
preparation for each lesson, his private
reading, all these must enliven the
matter found on the printed pages. He
should, nay he must, be able to furnish
additional information and to adapt
his questions to the special needs of
his school. Whenever possible. the
topical mode of recitation is to be used,
especially in history, geography and
physiology. Of course these demands
require much mental effort on the
teachers part. That class of teachers
that insist upon introducing the par
ticular textbook they always used
and "cannot teach from any other"
does not "fill the bill" Whoever
shirks duty and is unwilling to expend
part of his wages on books and edu-
cational periodicals is unfit to- be an
educator, and the sooner he quits the
profession the better for his pupils or
rather victims. If incompetent teach
ers who simply go for wages could be
driven from our schools, the profession
would soon rank among the highest.
1t is misplaced charity to allow the
blind in the position Of leaders. They
may be very nice people in their way,
but they are out Of place, and if they
lack the power to perceive it, others
must supply that deficiency. Every
teacher is advancing his own best in.
terests by carrying on lively warfare
against Incidence, incompetency and
rote teaching. Normal Teacher.