Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg Court House [S.C.]) 1877-1881, 1881-08-04
Country Schools.

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the National Teachers Association
at Atlanta, growing out of the posi-
tion taken by Or. Newell, furnishes
fruitful theme fo- reflection.
Mr.. Newelrs. position, which is
endorsed by Mr.. Baldwin, seems to
be, thatin our "old field'' or country
schools" only one-fourth rs much
spelling, and one-third as much
arithemetic should be taught, "ex
punging fractions entirely" that
history and geography should be
abolished rs text books, and used
only az reading exercises, and that no
grammar should be taught at all,
leaving that to the College.
In these views, as we gather from
the reports in the News and Courier,
Di. Newell found only one man, in
that large and influential gathering
of the best educators from every part
of the Union, to agree with him, and
that was Mr.. Kickoff. We read that
at the conclusion Of his paper, DR..
VIM. t. Harris, Superintendent Of
the Schools Of Missouri, and leader
of the Concord School Of Philoso-
ply, Jumped to the platform, amid
applause, and said he would protest
against any such change. The stu
dies condemned are the windows
through which the child may look
beyond. Grammar, especially, deals
with language, and language re-
moves men from brutes. He would
teach thoroughly the first steps and
lay a foundation, whether the super
structure were placed upon it or not.
President White, of Pardue Univcr-
sity of Indiana, also defended the
present curriculum rs laying n good
foundation" This was evidently.the
sentiment Of the Association.
We don't know that the idea Of
DR.. Newell was altogether wrong, but
when turned in one direction he does
not seem to know where to stop. He
is too extreme. We believe with Mr..
Baldwin that the tendency is to crowd
the child with too many books in the
elementary school, but we can't agree
wholly with his views, rs expire ssed
in his letter, nor with those Of DR..
Newell. Their mistake seems to us to
be, an erroneous view of the true aim
of education, which is the training
and developing of all the faculties Of
the mind. And what are some of
these which should be directly reach
cd? They are perception, memory,
and reason. And how are these to
be educated or developed?
TO answer this question fully and
particularl.'', would require more space
than could be given, but, to answer
generally, we will simply adopt the
language OF Dr.. Calkins, the distin-
gulshed educator of New York:
''Ihe child must be trained in
school to learn from nature out of
school. Teaching implies the proper
guidance Of the learner to the sour
ces of knowledge. Learning is self
tuition; teaching is the superintend-
ence Of learning or self-tuition. Cram
ming is not teaching. 1t is the op-
posits Of developing, since it imposes
ready made results. For children
from five to ten, teach facts and train
the perception; from ten to fifteen,
train the memory by geography,
defamation, DC, and from fifteen to
twenty, train the reason by mathe.
matics, logic and the natural scien-
ces. First learn the nature Of the
child; then what TO teach; then the
art Of teaching"
If the idea Of DR.. Newell is carried
out, the child will be thrown out into
the world with but a portion of his
faculties trained. It will be one
sided education. The memory
should not be entirely ignored. Its
the store house Of the mind. For it's
development it requires constant ex.
crcise ns the mr1 les of the BODY. And
what exercise will DR.. Newelrs plan
give it?
AS to grammar, it is the key to
language. Language is the vehicle
of thought. We use it as we do our
breath. The infant from the cradle
struggles to acquire it, and it is our
comfort and solace even to the grave.
Grammar unlocks and simplifies it.
Why then deprive the pupil at the
sold field school," where alone he is
to draw all Of his education, of it's
advantages?.
Before concluding, we must notice
briefly another point in Mr. Bald
wins letter. He says, "ask any of
the citizens, and they will say that
the expenditure of the public fund in
most cases is n miserable failure"
This is unfortunate, and yet it seems
to be in accord with the popular cry
that the free school system is fail.