The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-04-12
MANUAL TRAINING IN SCHOOLS.

the school periodical, Education, calls atten-
ton to the fact that in the technical schools
of Paris girls are taught various trades.
"Among these" it says, "are bookkeeping,
including everything else necessary to a
commercial education, painting on porce-
lain, wood-engraving, artificial-hower max
ing, designing patterns, painting window
Shades and other industrial and decorative
arts. Millinery and dress making are taught,
and in such a way as to make of them fine
arts. All the work is done under the con-
slant inspection and criticism of the ablest
and most artistic masters that Paris can fur
nish. Cheap instruction would necessarily
be second rate and second-rate teachers
would produce second-rate artisans, 'injuring
permanently the character of the schools,
The course of study embraces three years;
the literary course is that laid down by the
French government for schools of the second
grade, corresponding somewhat to our gram
mar schools. Price of tuition in any one of
the handicrafts taught is 81 month. If the
pupil takes, also, the literary course, the
charge is about $3.50" The theme of the
paper recently read by Superintendent
Tarbel, of our city schools, and
which has been noticed by the Journal,
was in the direction of what may
be termed industrial education, or
what is possibly a still better term, man.
ual training. The question of the future of
the common school in its relation to the &C.
tual life and business of the country is a
very important one, and that Mr.. Tarbell
touched upon confessed weakness of the
system at present and outlined policy of
improvement can be little questioned by any
one, certainly not by a careful and forelook-
ing educator. Take $4,000 school children
life $4,000 of them will not reach eminence
even moderate success, in the so-ealled pro
LESSONS. These must depend for their live
lihood upon the trades and mechanic arts
and in the lighter employments and manual
work adapted for women who must be their
own bread-winners. Is it not true that a
course of education, such as is now the COM
mon-school curriculum tends to incapacitate
the future man and woman for his life work
rather than fit him to it and for itP Is it not
possible by the Introduction of the
| elements of manual training into our COM
mon SCHOOLS 10 broaden the horizon of the
women, to develop in them an aptitude and
even'a love for mechanical employments,
which shall do more to dignity hard work,
and make it not only less irksome but re-
| ally welcome and enjoyable, than all the es-
say and didactic assertions as to the dignity
of labor which now passes for so much rot"
and only add to the too prevalent disgust
with and dislike of manual labor?
This is the present trend of educational
thought and experiment, and it is well
come one. The extremes, as has been we'll
said, at either end are the kindergartens and
the special chronological schools, such as
Purdue and the Rose Polytechnic just
opened but between these there is
chasm which must be bridged, and
thoughtful men are turning their attention
and drawing upon their experience. Expert
ments in this line have been tried in Stock
holm with success, and the idea is spreading
throughout Sweden. A writer upon the
subject says this manual training is gained
| by teaching boys, girls too, in some cases, the
art of using few plain and useful tools,
chow to drive a nail straight, how to insert
a screw neatly, how to fit two edges of plank
| together, how to make square box" The
| Stockholm grammar schools have each
room fitted up for joners' work, in which
each boy is taught for at least two hours
week the rudiments of joiners' work. This
trade was selected after mature consdera-
ton as being the cleanest simplest and
cheapest. Instruction at first is given by
special teachers, but it is expected that in
time the regular teachers will be trained to
direct the work In Sweden one result has
been to increase so much the popularity of
the schools that private schools have intro
duced the same system. The children are
delighted with it, and parents who at first
opposed have been converted by finding
their boys so much more "handy" than be-
fore. This latter feature is matter
of universal knowledge The kin
dergarten is vastly more popular than
the ordinary primary school, and
even in this the "object lesson" is more
interesting and valuable to the child-mind
than the severe didactic method The school
OF the future must adapt itself to the spirit
of the nations life and that is toward the
real, the practical, the technical, the con-