Daily Republican., 1881-08-29
DeIawares Educators.

tory of our State. 1t shows that 81
has at lea st broken loose from the cord
that bound her to the past and that sl
has really started out on the highwa
in the race for higher and more genel
81 education, 1t is an encouraging sig
of the times to see the leading educator
OF the State in council devising th
best means by which education may b
impaired to the people, and indicate
progress. Such educators as Groves
CarpeEaer, Reynolds, Williams, Skinner
Wiley, Harlan and Miss Frazer and ;
number of others whom we might nam,
if necessary, cannot meet together with
out advancing the great work i'll whicl
they are engaged. Educating the eyouns
is the business Of their lives, and W,
know of no better way by which they
can attain success and make themselves
proficient in their calling than by jus,
such meetings and annual re- gatherings
as have been held at Eehoboth. There
is still some legislation wanted in Della
ware to M; ke teachers gatherings of
Increased advantage. Though much
advancement las been made in the
training of teachers for their work by
examinations and the gradual raising
Of the standard Of required ability and
intelligence, there is still much to be
done to perfect the system. We would
If we coEld compel all teachers to at
tend Teachers Institutes and annual
regatherings, for we look upon
professed teachers who show no dispo-
sitien to attend these meetings a, uu.
Huailhed IN many respects for the work
IN which they are engaged. A teacher
who has his or her work at heart will
not be chained down to a second,
third or fourth rate certificate of scholar
ship or ability to teach. They will |
want to enlarge their stock of knowl- |
edge, and will be ambitious to become
proficient in their calling, and there is
no better way by which such teachers
can succeed in their desires than by at
lending the Teachers Institutes, and If
1hey do not through dittdency or a feel
ing OF inability to do 50 with credit tol
themselves take an active part, they
can be benefited by listening to others.
They can Sit at the feet Of the best cl1 ,
Gators III the State and drink in their
experience, their knowledge. their
trlumphs and success, and they can ,
compare it with their own and see
where they are lacking. Any teacher
or any person ambitious Of becoming
tea acher, who is not willing to 60 This is
not nthd 1or the vocation which they ,
nave chosen or to which they aspire.
Ihere Is some reason in the argument ,
'hat many teachers are poorly paid and ,
cannot afford to lose week or even q
TWO or three days ia attending
Institutes and regatherings of teachers :,
some distance from home. Car fare is a
flgh and boarding cannot be had for r
nothing. A week from school, car fare +,
Tor fifty or hundred miles, and a weeks
boarding takes big CHUNK out of the 4
quarters salary Of a teacher who gets o
perhaps not more than S75 salary per q
quarter. That is just the point upon v
which we would have some legislation /,
We would have the State 10 pay the
ordinary and unavoidable expenses in
attending these teachers meetings. and r.
we would see that nothing but the mos, a
pressing excuses should be accented for
non-attendance. These Institutes are 3,
schools for teachers, at which the "
theory and practice of teaching snolld !,
De taught more than the difficult prob. q,
leihh ana lntrlcacies of an advanced :,
knowledge of mathematics and the Ian -,
guages. "knowledge is power" and =,
kho o"ltdge of the necessary branches 70
De taught is needed, but the greatest
knowledge needed on the part of hun
dre''s OF teachers is to know how to in
'each successfully what tLey do know. at
This can be learned at Teachers Insti- y,
tuteS, !" "here the theory and practice of til
'eachlng should be made the paramount g
subject of thought. a., a.
While upon this subject we would q,
merely adH, Mat even now before our Us
Dublic schools have attained the condi- al
'on We hayo mapped out for them, W
here Is no excuse for ignorance either nc
or man, woman or child. There are ~,
rec schools for all children in almost "
Every grove and every hill top, and in
hese are open half the year to all who
moose to avail themselves Of the privi-
eses they offer. There have been zu
lines IN the history even of our se
'tate When there was a partial excuse til
or Ignorance. A hundred wears ago. ac
'r even fifty years ago, before the rail- Ia I's
DAD, the telegraph and the mail service tis
maze all the world neighbors, people ST
we're excuSa5le when they were ignor- a,
Mt of the events Of their own or pre St
lotis times, but there is no longer any of
Ich excuse. The march of education WI
onward and these annual re-gather-
lgs Of teachers are the nilesIones on
IS triumphant march. Those teachers ll
ho do not join the phalanx that is stS
'essin onward will become the lag. ~,
srds of the army, and must soon drop th,
'hind and be lost sight Of in the fresh vo
triumphs that loom up in the future. eu m
..r.x. ~. :. M., WI