Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-09-06
A Talk to the Patrons of the Public
School by the Principal.

| regret that am not able to make this
talk oral. Do not misunderstood me. This
is not an egotistical lecture, having for its
gist: 81 know it all and you know nothing
Every teacher has his plans and methods.
In some way patrons must learn them; 9TH
erwise cooperation is not likely to be Sc
cured; but, on the contrary, failure to ac-
quaint themselves with them is q frequent
cause of contention between patrons and
teachers.
Three elements constitute the school-the
teacher, pupils, and patrons. The success
of the school is conditioned upon the proper
discharge of the duties Of each. 1t is the
duty of the teacher to preserve order and to
instruct. We cannot now give a full outline
of the most approved methods to be used.
In preserving order, one extreme is the
teacher with his long list of rules and bun
dies of switches; the other, the teacher with
no rules and no switches. The golden mean
is the teacher with few enforcible regula-
lions executed, when violated, in letter and
spirit, and with power and willingness to
use the rod if necessary. We shall strive for
Il place among the latter.
The old method of instruction was wrong
in not recognizing the end of education
mental development or culture-and in pro-
ceeding as though the pupil were Il passive
recipient. In consequence of this, patrons
frequently insist that their children shall
study nothing except that which is directly
useful in the affairs of life, and the complaint
is often made that the teacher does not ''heIp
the children" enough-meaning that he does
not solve their problems, analyZe and parse
their sentences, &c. To be specific, the old
method would have no geology, botany, nor
zoology in any part of the course of study, on
the grounds that q knowledge of these things
is of no practical utility. The most approved
method recognizes the fact that mental de-
velopment is the end of education; that pow
er of the intellect to apply principles and to
master difficulties coming up every day in
the affairs of life Will be called into requsi
ton rather than the technical knowledge of
the branches he has studied, and so would
place these branches in every school curri
culum, because they call into active and Wig
orous operation almost every faculty Of the
mind.
The old method would help the pupil out
OF every difficulty, whether great or small
by actually doing the work the pupil ought
to do. The most approved would manage
to have the pupil overcome his difficulties.
If the difficulty were Il problem to solve,
sentence to analyze, word to parse, the
pupil would he kept ut the matter day, or
even week, in some cases, provided it be
not beyond his capacity. In this way the
pupil would exercise his mind, would study,
would think, and hence would develop in
1t is the duty of the pupil to obey and to
prepare his lessons. 1t is the duty of patrons
to send to school regularly, and seasonably,
and to supply their children with necessary
books &c. The duties of the three are not
conflicting. AS long as one does not trans
gress upon the rights of the other all is
quiet.
The great trouble is in discipline. Patrons
too frequently fail to cooperate when the
pupil is punished. If scholar knows that
his parents will cooperate with the teacher
in this important matter, the teacher Will
have no trouble. Remember that the teach
er has many things to contend with. He
must deal with the children Of many par
ents, and do not be surprised if he OCCASION
ally make mistake. Don't you make mis-
takes sometimes in the government of your
Have therefore charity for the
teacher. He will listen to you attentively.
If he has made mistake he will thank you
for any information you may give him in re-
gard to your child. You will then under
derstand each other better and will work
more in harmony.
Finally, the teacher must be free to use his
own methods of managing and instructing;
otherwise he could not be held responsible
for failure any more than could General
for defeat when he was not allowed to COM
mand his men as he desired. No two teach
ers have the same methods. All teachers
who understand the science and art of teach
ing will be together in principles but in the
application they will differ, as do their tai
ents and tastes.