Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1882-04-13

| V2fl8Oly e4proSSeu tuelr. Satl6IaC :
ton with. the. Examiner course,
and some even, to their honor be it
spoken-have desired yet more
critical test. They say to me, 'In
this way a No. l, is worth having y
l am fres to confess l have felt
proud, for my County. Of such
young ladies and gentlemen, an1
said to, them, "Go on my brave
friends The ting will come
when ysur attachments will be ap-
preciated and I hope and believe,
paid for too" In visiting II Pub
lie Schools in our County, (Which
! did on foot> I found some that
were as we'll taught as under the
circumstances l thought possible.
The houses in number of in
stances, were comfortable enough !;
the school vel. governed ; and save
in the matter of suitable school
room furniture, and uniform Text
Books, came pretty we'll mp to. ny
standard model of good. Public
School.
Yet ths want Of these requisites
renders them still comparatively
imperfect; cripplss them, in short,
and deprives them. Of that efficien-
cy- and usefulness which they
would. have reached in the hands
Of the faithful and competent
teachers who, managed, them. On
the other hand, I am also bound to
state that l met with quite mum
Der OF schools which fell far short
of that mark (; tho very houses
themselves being unfit for the use
to which they were appropriated.
Several Of the sehool-roons were
not ceiled overhead-were badly
lighted, as badly warmed, and
scarcely at al! furnished. This was
notably the case in some of our col
ored schools. No desks-some-
times not one; no benches with
backs to them mo, opportunity of
a separate seat for any one Of the
pupils There were, indeed, what
by courtesy they called 'our
benches )" slabs rough from the
with four long pin. tos.|
legs. stuck on the under side Of
them, ands not a sign Of support for
the. back. Wherever l found such
a, state Of things, made it point
to recomm md to the School>Co,n-
lnittees in whose distri ct the. houses
lay. to have this IN after remedied /; !
and I am happy to state, that in a
Of instances my rec,m-
were promptly attend
ed to. And now | come to a diff
Guilty which presented Itself in, 81
may say, every school-room l yls-
ited-I mean the want of 1nifor-
nifty in the Text Books used. This
is indeed, most serious drawback
to. the usefulness Of any teacher,
NO, matter how competent for his
place. Suppose he has school Of
40 pupils, of whom hardly any
three have the same kind of Read.
ing Book, or English grammar,
geography, or arithmetic. Now,
is it not obvious enough that any
teacher, however well qualified,
can br this simple expsdient of al
Of Text Books, be con-
verted into = mere tigure-head to
which lessons must, in due course
be recited 2 Where, then, will be
his time for instruction proper I for
explaining any subject to his put
pils.a cannot the patrons Of the
Public Schools see, that thus they
bind the hands Of the instructor OF
their own children, and by this
very diversity Of Text, Books con.
denim him to killing routine, des
titute alike OF interest to himself,
and Of material benefit to his pu-
pills? What results, worth the
money, can be looked for, when a
teacher is thus reduced 10 a mere
machine, which is sot up in a
school room, and stands there in
order that recitahons may be dole
fully spoken to it? Surely, such
an unfortunate teacher must be-
come a subject for our profound est
pity +
It is, assursdty, nsuch to be re-
gretied that the absolute necessity
for uniform textbooks iees not
force itself upon the mind of every
man and woman in our County,
when they think of sending to the
Public Schools. There Is no an
thority in the superintendent no1
in the teachers, to compel any Ont
in this matter; bnt it must; Ger
r tainly, present itself to every re
f1ecting mind as a wise economy O
, time and money. to. procure tn
3 books recommended by the State
t board of Education at oncs, and ir
: troduced them into the school
# With the least possible delay. T
|, how much mole advantage can
y teacher handle his school in classs
. than by the. single ono! Ho
20 much more time can be devoted
a; clearing up q subject to his pupil
is than under the present system,