Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1882-07-06
The Teachers SIDE.

The Teachers Side.
A few days before the closing of tn
High school for the summer vacation
we took occasion to criticize what W
considered the injurious practice o
teachers crowdinE pupils with over
tasks Of difficult questions in gramma
and cited an instance where pup
was taxed with rendering correct an
swers to seventy.five sentences an'
corrections in the limited time of tiv'
hours. This with the light we hat
upon the subject, we termed q "cram
ming process" highly injurious to thu
pupils who were compelled in that limi
ted time if they desired to procure 9
certain standard of scholarship to give
correct answers to all the questions
and in addition to perform the more
difficult task of writing out in full the
answers in clear legible handwriting
without an error in grammar and with
every st" crossed and every 81" dot
ted. We looked upon this as q forced
process which we considered mistake
without casting any reflections upon
the teachers in charge. We did not
blame the teachers for the short time
they gave the pupils for the review OF
the lessons--this being an memorable
rule of the schools governing reviews,
but we took the ground that the time
was too short for the performance of
such an important work. Instead of
five hours, whole day could have
been more properly employed and have
resulted in more thorough knowledge
of the lessons but this was no fault of
the teachers and in this view we still
think we are correct. Since our criti-
cism of the review we have been waited
upon by the teachers Immediately in
terested, who feel that they have been
placed in wrong position before the
public by our article and while admit.
ting in the main its truthfulness they
feel that certain degree Of injustice
has been done them without certain
explanations being made which very
much modifes the case, These lady
teachers do not look upon the five hours
review referred to as anything out of
the way for advanced pupils who are
closing up their last year in the gram
mar school and after vacation will be
promoted into the highest department
from which they will next graduate
These overtaxed pupils, they
say, are young ladies sixteen, seventeen
and'eighteen years of age and are sup
posed to be so familiar with grammar
that no ordinary proposition should be
difficult, at least it is expected that
they are familiar with all the questions
asked. The latter we are informed are
but review of the past lessons of the
year which pupils are expected to re.
without any overstrain of
and five hours were consid-
cred long enough to call them up to the
and write the answers legibly
and dramatically upon f0ols.cap.
The writing the ladies say may have
laborious, but at the same
time it should be remembered that the
pupils have become as expert with the
pen as they were in grammar. They
admit the hurrying of the scholars to
get through in the allotted time, as
there were other duties crowding upon
them, but if he time was short all had
the same time and all equal opportuni
ties. Notwithstanding this pressure
of time, the ladies say that the rule
through their indulgence was violated
and half hour additional was allowed
In IN exceptional case. Under these
the lady teachers whose
hearts we know are in the work Of edu"
cation very properly object to the i'm
piled censure of our former article and
ask that we make the foregoing explain.
alton, a request which we cheertully
with.