The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-12-29
INSTRUCTORS CONSULTING.
The State Teachers Elect Officers and
Conclude Their Session.
An Entertaining Paper by a Distinguished
Educator-Important Matters Acted
observation-disclosures of Respect.

Yesterday was the third days session Of the
Indiana State Teachers Association. The first
paper read was on "The school-hOuse and its
surroundings" by W. NJ. Croan, of Anderson, in
which was advocated the planting and naming
of trees in the school ground. and the keeping of
an 'Arbor day" The paper was discussed by
Messrs. Bell, Bloss, Hobbs and others. w. W.
Parsons. of the State Normal School, read a pa
per on THE study of English in the public
schools" which was followed by q recitation by
Miss Minnie Knight, of Greencastle. Charles
o. Thompson, president of the Rose Polytechnic
school, OF Terre Haute, read u weli-prepared pa
per on MANUAL labor training in the public
schools" Compulsory manual training to be ef-
fectlve in reaching the many must, lie held, ne
imposed upon children under fourteen years old,
and the question is asked if, considering now
short school life is and how long life
is, it is better to emphasize the
mechanic or the man. All attempts to organize
mechanical departments in academies and col
leges have signally failed, as they must If at
tempted in the public schools. 1t is as fair,
however, for the State to teach the mechanics
and trades as it Is to teach the professions. The
address was the most practical ard effective of
the session. On motion of Prof. George P.
IOTOWu, OI Iut . tate NOFIldl Sun ODl, ~ CNiiLliOtCO
was appointed to secure publication and circu-
laJton OF the address.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The afternoon session opened with an address
by Hon. b. q. Northrop, LII. D., secretary of the
State Board of Education of Connecticut, one of
the foremost and best known educators Of the
country. The title of the address was school
Incentives" and though lengthy, was listened to
from first to last with rapt attention. DR..
Northrop said:
We should place character before culture and
culture before knowledge. The philosophy of
motive is of supreme Importance to teachers.
Yet in the prep aratOry studies this subject has
been sadly unuerrated or entirely neglected.
1t is by no means a matter OF Indifference by
what incentives a child is stimulated to study.
The right end, at least in school work, may be
secured by the wrong means-by motives which,
however effective for the hour, may prove harm
full to the character, fostering sel1shness, con-
ceit and irritability. No transient results. how
ever desirable or excellent in themselves, can
compensate for such lasting injuries. The teacher
should be able to select from the wide range of
incentives those only which will be healthful
and permanent in their influence alike on the
mind and heart. Hence the need of having the
whole arsenal of motive powers at command in
order to adopt the great variety OF incentives
and methods to all diversities of character. He
who can sweep the whole diapason may strike
the very notes which will thrill the deepest toned
chords in the childs soul. Character is nodded
more by feeling than by thinking, or rather by
thought; only so far as it awakens emotion and
nus luuNt lu6 Will. AL luChs 6NC Nlt IL
tellectual, are controlled more by the sensibili-
ties than the intellect. To know the truth is
well, but to feel it is better, for truth never tri-
umphs till the cOgnItiOns of the mind vitaliZe
the heart. Emotion is the celestial fire alike OF
all the poetry and eloquenee that have ever
swayed the minds of men. The happiest efforts
of the mere beginner as well as of
poet or orator are never the
Our educational processes aim too exclusively
tn train the intellect and ignore the sensibilIties.
The two so necessarily influence each other that
neither can reach its full stature alone. The
culture of the sensibilities IS essential to give
man, individually or socially, the highest re-
hnemenJ and power. Here are found the best
dynamics of the mind. without which the intel
iect is like a well-furnished factory with no pro-
| peliDR pOwer-its cards and jennies and looms
still as the grave, while the engine is cold.
Kindle a fire in the furnace below, and 10! o thou
sand spindles and shuttles resound with the
choral din of industry. So, kindle a glow IN the
| sensibilities, and all the springs of mental life
are at once in motion. without this heaE the
nina is like an iceberg, Respondent, indeed, but
only with a cold and sterile brightness. so the
cold end selfish soul must be sterile In all heroic
virtues. The teacher should carefully study all
the impulsive powers which God has implanted
in the heart of childhood as sources of incent-
ives-such as sympathy, self-respect courtesy,
taste, and, higher still, the natural desires, like
love of kindred, love of happiness, OF society, of
| esteem, OF possession, of liberty, of knowledge,
| and of power. A child discouraged, and the re-
| fore aimless, often becomes a new being when
he once realizes the possibilities before
him. Happy the child who is in
| spired with such incentives as
will prompt spontaneous effort. JOY and
hope attend true energy. They quicken the
| mind as gloom and mouorOuy suppresses its life.
The one awakeus interest," and attention, the
| other tends to idleness and indifference.
| Curiosity is the parent of attention and mem
| DRY. II prepares the soil aud ~fertllizes the seeds
OF truth. However strong in Childhood. il should
| grow with years and attainments. When this is
not the result, such stinting comes from some
body's laundering. All motives and emotions
center in the will, which is the regal faculty of
| man. The normal man, as the Germans say, Is
uwO-thirds will and only one-third intellect. A
perfectly educated character is little else than a
| PERFECTLY educated will. Its right culture in
cIudes that of all other faculties. No power
| needs discipline more or so seldom gets it.
The speaker here described, in detail, all the
other natural desires to which Incentives NAV
be addressed, and recurring to the will, said that
some methods of discipline, and more often the
lack of methods, seem to impair 1ts force and
foster wilfullness and obstinacy, and their re-
sultants Vacillation and feebleness. The self
| willed child is capriciOus, splenetic ana Unrelia-
BILE. Self-induigence is a process of will-weak-
| ening, ana the loss of self-contrOl is fatal to
ones growth and happiness. Whoever is out of
patience, is out of self-possession. The effort
to conquer the child by breaking his will, Is like
improving a pitcher by breaking 1t. The will is
to be trained by guiding its activities, not by re-
pressing them; by overcoming difficulties and
forming habits of prompt and cheerful obedience
and of endurance. The child who is early stimu-
lated in play, work and study. to do tough things
without shrinking. without Sinking, without
| grumbliag aud without Dragging, is laying the
foundation of success, for the Will is still the
meter of the man.
The following resolutions, offered by Prof. w.
A. Bell, were adopted:
"Resolved, That the association proceed at
once to take necessary steps to inaugurate an
organization among the teachers of Indiana for
| reading and study. to be known as the indiana
Teachers Reading Circle.
"Resolved, That this circle be under the care
and direction of the Indiana State Teachers As
ISOLATION, which shall make rules for Its govern
| ment, arrange its course, conduct its eXdmIna-
tions, and confer such honOrs as it may de-
termine.
"Resolved, That this association proceed to
choose a board of managers. 10 which shall be
intrusted the selection of a course of profession
al and literary reading, the issuing OF certificates
of progress, and the granting of diplomas as evil
dences of its completion.
"Resolved, That the board Of MANAGERS of the
Indiana Teachers Reading Circle shall consist of
eight members, selected by this association