Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-06-15
Primary Education.


tinued through the day on Saturday. Tn,
assembling of this meeting was PRACTICAL,
unannounced, and continued its sessions K
its close quite undisturbed by any one be
yond score or two of teachers and town
superintendent. The newspapers of the
county, by the publication of such meager in
telligence as the managing officials had sup
piled them with, had given currency TO the
fact that such meeting would be held. A
county political meeting, where personal in.
terests can usually be relied upon to bring out
a fair representation of the inhabitants of the
county, would not attempt gathering with.
out the announcement of the meeting at
every cross-road, on every fence and stone
wall, in every bridge store, post-ofIice and
hotel in the county. Its object would be
proclaimed and the names of the speakers
published. No local musical organization
or trotting association undertakes the hold
ing Of convention, or horse trot, solely
upon two weeks notice in the local columns
OF the newspapers. Posters, flyers and pro.
grammes announce the fact in every COM
munity within radius of many miles. Poll
tics, music or the turf can safely be left
alone, if any subjects of popular interest
can, to draw crowd by the inherent enthu-
siasm their purpose inspires. But upon the
subject of popular education the interest in
Vermont is not quite at white heat. The
announcement of a meeting to be held in
any town in the state TO consider the needs
and means of improving our common schools
is not exactly bugle call to the school
ma'ams and yeomen generally to turn out
and attend. A judicious imitation of the
methods of the political, musical and horse
trotting fraternity would be the adaptation
OF virtuous means to worthy end. In
this particular meeting the conventional
means of advertising the public were not
called into requisition. No hand bills were
printed for the county, nor even for the i'm
mediate locality of the meeting, nor were
there printed programmes of the order of
proceedings. The events of the meeting
and the order in which they would transpire
were unknown to outsiders, and all the pro-
ceedings went forward in go-as-you-please
sort of way.
When the meeting was opened Saturday
morning it was matter of surprise and dis
appointment that many prominent educators
OF Washington county were conspicuous by
their absence from the meeting and from
the list OF appointments for participation in
the exercises. The principals of Barre and
Goddard, of Methodist seminary and Mont
pelier high school, with their corps of assis-
tants, alone should have made an interest
ing and profitable teachers meeting, and
one which should have thawed out the con-
gealed enthusiasm of the occasion.
Popular interest in education in Vermont
is at low ebb. The states superintendency
OF education recognizes the Importance of
the subject, and the necessity for the deve- |
opment, under the patronage aud direction |
OF the state, of a popular interest in it and |
the promotion of efficiency in the schools.
These meetings are the principal agency for
accomplishing this purpose. The meeting
held here on Saturday can hardly be said to
have satisfied in any fair degree the idea of |
the state in its purpose to "promote edu-
cation. The citizens, the parents of pupils,
were not there to be enthused," and the |
proceedings were not of acharacter TO tempt |
the few who struggled in during the day to |
come again. The meeting was hardly more
successful in enlightening the teachers who |
came to be instructed in the difficult duties |
OF their profession. Some good hints and |
suggestions were dropped, and some excel
lent methods for instruction in certain
branches were detailed, but the good seed
was 30 unskillfully sown that it will be a
marvel if the Scriptural measure of it comes
up and bears crop. The lecture on teach
ing arithmetic, illustrated by blackboard
exercises, was no doubt looked forward to
with interest by many, but so far as she'd
ding solitary ray of light on the difficult
art of teaching arithmetic in our common
schools, lecture on the revision of the
New Testament delivered in original Greek
would have been quite as beneficial The
filings at text books by some of the leading
speakers savored more of smartness than 81
good sense. The text books as whole, are
undoubtedly good; good text book is the
pupils chart upon an unknown sea the
teacher is the pilot whose familiar knowl-
edge OF the waters his pupils are navigating
should make him independent of text books
and inculcate in his pupils similar indie
pendence. Text books are necessarily gen.
eral; the teacher must supply the details
and instruct his pupils to begin where the
compilers of text books first commenced
A text book, being general, necessarily treats
OF many things not adapted to the wants
and requirements of all ages and capacities
OF pupils. Because certain things are in an
arithmetic, no obligation on the part of
teachers is thereby implied to load down the
minds OF their pupils with that which their
judgment and experience tell them the pu-
pills should not undertake. The expectation
that company of children, dining at
public house, should eat their way through
an elaborate bill of fare would be quite as
reasonable and afford quite as good ground
for criticism upon the multiplicity of dishes
the hotel provides. Tastes and needs differ,
and care, skill and judgment must be exer-
cised in selecting The competent teachers
experience should enable him to select
wisely for those under his charge The es-
says OF the quartette of Barre school mis-
tresses were short, sensible and practical,
and were fresh and agreeable feature in
the exercises. We believe all would have
been pleased to have seen Superintendent |
Dartt take the laboring oar and tell what he
knows about teaching thus the meeting in
practical and salutary results would undoubt-
eddy have yielded larger returns for the
time and money expended. by general |
and thorough notice, and by pressing home
talent into service, the next meeting for this |
county will undoubtedly have larger meas
ure of successful and satisfactory results.
FRANcE.-Gambetta's proposed constitu. |
tional amendment Of the election laws has |
unexpectedly failed in the senate. This |
would be regarded in America as triumph |
OF true republicanism. The question of |
the manner of electing members of the
Chamber of deDutiaa will antar into Era,ol |