New-York tribune., 1882-04-06
NOTES ON EDUCATION.

r,,o.. :; i; No,,- -Or,caps n colored Sisterhood of
.,o r.,houc fbntch who are devo.ing themselves
20 the education 81 young girls of their own race
II ;s proposed in Portland Me-, to give the chill
dram in the public schools longer summer vacation
than they have hitherto enjoyed. Three months ~
the period fixed upon.
Lord Rpon declares that II is impoSsip'e lor '"o
Government to establish a real and effective system
of general primary education in India, ana II, ap-
peas to men Of wealth to found Schools aiu coii'e
and provide scholarships.
The Connecticut Legislature has provided tha' j
twelve adults male or female. in a town shai' pc
tition the School Board to order instruction III lhe
nuhc schools concerning the effects OF lntoXlcaihs
beverages ON individuals and on the community ''no
Roard shall consider and decide upon the pcuuon'
II is thought that III the smaller couu ~ o,
where the temperance feeling Is sirone 'hc iiM meg
come ;nto oneratiop but not IN the larger places'
cx,mnastic teaching in schools now being OBJ
liratory in France all the elementary schoois h'o
haen nrovided with manual designed for boys anu
Girls respectively. Apparatus has been presented
,o all schools applying for it, since 1879 more 'an
600 diplomas of professor of gymnastics nave peeh
granted: and even the most modest prluitiy svi
have had a number of guns placed aI 'lc 'in.p; 80
80 Tho hovs for practice in shOOting-a preparation
fer their future military service
The introduction of attractive reading matter III
fhe BOSTON public schools is reported ny oupeIin-
tendeut Seaver TO have been practicai s"cocS''
1.-Two kinds of books are uscd-those coh'aihins
informatio collateral to the regular stnules anu
those calculated to cultivate taste for good h'era
tnre. Mr.. Seaver says: 1T is deughtiui' 100, 10
hear the easy natural and animated ton cue si
1ren use when reading under the stimulus OF liesIy
awakened interest but admirable above AZ IL ; uno
skill of the teacher who can stcadlly use ts nv
lus so that easy and natural niterahcc M III &
becomes. in time, a fixed habit with the chlidreh'
~ thvrac cto o-n(
ers, Association held last week the current OF ds-
o,sior cot in the direction of practical improve
ment in the public schools Moral training was au-
vocated and the abolition of parrot WORK de-
roandod One teacher declared that there is 100
,ouch attempted in our schools that there shouiu
he fewer studies and that more time snonlu n m DC
spent IN teaching those branches wh1h d nuII ,h ~
and strengthen character. He especlally ugcu 'i, M
TEACHING of pure English and the inconsistency VI
teaching advanced science when me ucP puPn p, the
scarcely able to frame Respectable seD'cnoo " WV
mother tongue.
1t is interesting TO note the rapldlty WIN "nio"
+he demand for moral instruction in the puohc
sohools ia Growing IN this country. The latest COM
ments on this subject were heard at the recent
meeting of the Nebraska teachers, who proposed to
teach morals as a preparation for good citizenship.
One teacher EXPRESSED his deep conviction" that
II is right to give suffrage to women on the grounds
that civilization and the advancement OF woman
have kept pace; and that observation mas tauHns S
him that more women than men were lntcrcstcu ~
education He ended by asserting that nc Would
rather have the school interests of any community
in the hands of women than III those OF NEIL
The suggestive and inspiring teacher is the man
who is born to his work. and who alone shouiu per
form it. patron of q school was once heard 10
cav: =" wish we could get snch teacher as we fad
last year he taught the children hundreds OF thihgs
they never thought of before and my boy has
scarcely give me any rest he tells me everything
he has heard there and relates to all the stories
in his reading-book, and makes comments upon
everything" Such teacher has value beyond e4-
preston he remains an inspiring lnnuence III ms
pups lives to the end OF them. 1nese teacnSSis
NAV be found, and they are always appreclateu-
hbstractly it has been discovered that the are
paid more literally than are tDe duliarus oi 'hen
profession.
Some wise and refreshing opinions on the faults of
the graded schools are stated by Professor Wheeler
in Education" Chief of these is the ordinary sys
tenn of promotion-that evil dependent on marks
and averages "The characteristic of machinery"
savs the professor is that it cannot take account
pf the exceptional But in school work, In young
communities more particularly, the exceptional Is
The rule No system that depends solely or mainly
on time no plan that makes examinations and
class standing the sole criteria, however frequent
the quizzing however ingenious the scale OF marks
can furnish adequate test of fitness Tor advance
nent. The free judgment of a competent teacher is
worth them ALL not only in point of justice but IN
likelihood to secure tho real ends of school labor.
And here we touch the root of all evils connected
with graded schools. The tendency Of all devices is
to obscure the end of effort. The great need OF
every school is that its head and all his helpers
shalI he continually asking and answering that
hard question which the hard-headed pubic VIII
ask What is the 1Se Can GEds OF IF Ipes {Ias
yelop refined manners; can infinite reportlngs 10
the principal eliminate stubbornnesS. or eradicate
sloth Can any elaborate system OF reprlnanus,
tuspensiOns and explosions strengthen the weak
will waken the dormant power OF selt-control, tram
the wayward sense OF honorf Never!
The dry and stupid fashion in which geography is
targht in the average school never seems so dry
and stupid as when il is compared with more sug-
gestive method In a school mentioned in The Jour
nal Of Education the pupils are described as bring
Ing 10 class various interesting items concerning
the countries upon which they are at
work-items which they have learned from other
sources than textbooks. Their teacher is quoted as
saving: " used to feel sinking OF the spirits
when the time approached for hearing that recita-
ton. This feeling had two causes one was YER
batim recitation of the text the other had Its rise
in the thought that these children are carefully
learning what their books say of these countries
and no book give more than an ontline-and
locating cities that to them only dot upon
map. Moscow, London, Athens Nculcc nome, are
but names TO them All that makes them of inter-
est in song story and history is unknown to theIn
and cannot tell them very much because there is
not time. To one class gave an outline of English
histOry-bare enough, admit. but to some of my
pupils il invested England with new interest. For
another class j gathered up items from other
Biographies and the gazetteer, which had them
copy and learn. These devices had some advan-
tagcs yet they did not satisfy Inc, because they
aid not sufficiently whet the appetite for more-in-
cited only a few TO reading This is better; the
pleasure of acquisition invites further research and
books of travel sought for TO the neglect of
mere stories give them credit on my class book