The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-12-29
MANUAL TRAINING IN SCHOOLS.

Technology delivered a lecture on the Russian
system of art education, as applied at tire
Massachusetts, institute. President Runkle
believed, and succeeded in making majority
of his hearers believe, that common-school
education does not touch practical life at a
sufficient number of points, and that manual
training could be Introduced into the gram
mar grades of the public schools, and justi-
fed on the ground of its educational adj
vantages. So ably did President Runkle
present the Russian system, which separates
the art from the trade, instruction
from construction, teaching the arts and
principles underlying the trades, that the
following resolution, moved by the president
of the Normal School, w. A. Jones, was
unanimously adopted:
"Resolved, That it is the right Of every
child to receive such education of mind, heart
and body as will enable him TO combine with
others in upholding the institutions of So
ciety and to earn a living by the pratice OF
some useful vocation; and that, therefore, 1t
is the duty of the State to provide the means
for industrial education in conjunction with
and as Complementary to the present system
Of scholastic education"
The ferment planted by Mr.. Runkle has
run through various Eastern schools. The
experiment has been tried, and the general
conclusion is that while the principles of
wood and iron work may be taught success
fully to boys Of twelve years and over
in high-schools, it cannot be proftably or,
under the construction of our school laws,
ever legally taught below the high-school
and upper grammar grades.
The application of the Russian system has
been made successfully, as all readers of the
Journal know, in Purdue University, by one
Of DR.. Runkle's graduates, Prof. f. w. Goss,
who also demonstrated the entire feasibility
of such work in wood in this city last sum-
mer. Prof. Goss's classes put the matter be-
yond doubt that with good teachers the prin-
ciples of woodworking can be acquired in
given to chemistry or physics
in high-schools. The Journal has
always commended that the public schools
should touch at as many points as possible
the daily life of the people, and has held the
same to be the duty of colleges, In re-
gard to practical education the Journal has
given no uncertain sound.
This matter of manual training is again
discussed, because of the great interest it is
exciting in educational circles. No question
brought before the State Teachers Associ-
alton created more interest, and the very
able paper OF President G.. 0. Thompson, of
the Rose Polytechnic Institute, brings the
subject again to the front. President
Thompson has the same end in view as Presi-
dent Runkle. Each has been successful;
each is the advocate of a system
of technical education. In the Worcester
Institute, of which President Thompson was
the president and leading spirit, and in the
Rose Polytechnic, the shop work is combined
with the teaching of prlnciples-instruction
n construction go hand in hand. Yester-
day, when asserting that manual training is
in opposition to the genius and spirit OF our
public schools, President Thompson had his
audience with him as fully as did President
Runkle, six years ago, when the same asso-
citation moved that it was the duty of the
State to ''proYide the means of industrial
education in conjunction with the pres
ent system Of. scholastic education
President White, OF Purdue, Principal Grant,
of indianapolis, and President Brown, of the
State Normal School, followed in the discus
sion, warmly seconding the opinions of DR..
Thompson.
The essayist objected to the dominant
schemes of manual training, because they
make no provision for girls. No system of
school workshops can command approval
which does not allow equal privileges to
both sexes. The expense OF shops and tools
for 200 students Is $40, OO0-$50 a student,
annually. President Thompson does
not think the results warrant the
expense. Moreover, he thinks 'edu-
Gators have mistaken the measure
and the motive of the popular demand for
manual tra~ining-schools. My ears are not
sharp enough to hear the call distinctly, but
| do hear in clear and unmistakable form a
demand that the number of topics shall be
lessened and the thoroughness of teaching
increased. The demand for more manipula-
ton, for more practical familiarity with
fewer things, has been construed into a de-
mand for manual training. People are not
pleased with smatter, but are always salts
fed with masters"
In Massachusetts and in Cleveland, and
probably throughout the West, less than 80