The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-12-30
THETHOUGHTS OF TEACHERS
educational Subjects Discussed by the
State Association Yesterday.
Changes in the School Laws Recommended
A New Method of EIecting the Associa-
TONS Officers Meets with Opposition.

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Plymouth Church was occupied. Many mem
bers from different parts of the State came ia
during the day, and, before the morning session
adjourned, the church could not we'll accommo-
date the crowd. Fully one-half of those present
are ladies, and they appear to be burdened
with the usual modesty of the sex, for they all
take back seats, and remain painfully %reticent.
There has been a noticeable change in the per-
SOME. of the assembly the past few years, and
the change is a commendable one. Formerly
the association was in the hands of the
more brilliant lights of the profession
the college professors. city superintendent
and principals of high-schools and academies.
The work of the association was on a plane too
elevated to meet the requirements of the great
mass of teachers of the State, and thoy. feeling
that there was no benefit to be derived by them
from attendance. remained away. The reform
in this direction is plainly noticeable. and the
percentage of common school teachers and
county superinterdents was never so large as it
is this year. As a result of the reform, a "high-
school section" and q Country and village school
section" have been organized, and their sessions
this year were the most interesting features of
the State meeting so far.
A t yesterdays session all the colleges of the
State were represented by their best talent, and
the foremos workers in the profession from
all sections of the State were in attendance.
The morning session was opened with prayer by
Rev. Oscar G. McCulloch, of Plymouth Church.
Mrs. Anna E. H. Lemon is secretary and James
H. Hart, of Union City. her assistant. James
Baldwin, superintendent of the Greencassle
schools, opened the exercises with a paper on
The Great Poets as Moral Teachers ''The
quiet drift of the times" he said. sis toward
mercenary utility. The setting Of the pop
ular current is strong toward the polar
sea OF cold calculation and matter of fact lucre.
We are asked. What knowledge is of the most
WORTH and We answer, that knowledge which
will put money into the purse We teach morals
in our schools as we mark out our graded courses
of instruction. We talk about trustworthiness
as We would talk about an article of merchan.
disc. The narrow notion of practical utility,
If allowed to usurp the place which it covets,
would drive the faculty of imagination from the
human soul. Cared for and educated, this
scorned sixth sense (imagination) be-
comes the leader and director Of our
other powers. The great poets have
been the masters of the most authoritative meth
DDS of teaching. The schoolmaster and the phi
losopher have spoken to small circles of pupils;
but the poets have spoken to humanity and to
the world, and to the cycling ages. The authors
"a "a ~ oOpy AlOiuCI, DuutCy OudhSpedEc
and Goethe are the worlds poets. There are
mono other like them. Each Of them stands as
the representative of a distinct era. and of modes
OF thought peculiar to a certain race and affected
by widely different climatic and social condi-
tions; all agree in teaching the selfsame moral
truths" Concluding his paper he said: 'sThere
Is scarcely a single point in the code of right
doing which they do not touch upon and lllumi-
nate with the clear light of poetic inspiration.
Truth, honor, gratitude. justice, humanity-al
these thew tench. Eel Rut thew faach not aa tha
philosopher or ~schoolmaster, but they teach rs
nature teaches. The great poets did not write
with o moral purpose and with any direct inten-
ton of teaching ethical truths. The book of
job is a work OF inspiration. The Greeks be-
lieved that the Homeric poems were inspired.
There is no doubt that Dante and Shakespeare
builded better than they knew. Goethe, bred IN
a very atmos phere of skepticism, reached n
higher point in his ideal conceptions than no was
ever able to attain in his real experience"
The discussion Of the subject of Mr.. Baldwin's
paper was opened by j. r. Starkey, Of Martins.
vile. who reviewed Mr.. Baldwin's effort in a very
able and lengthy essay. He in the main in
dorsed the sentiments expressed by Baldwin, and
concluded his paper as follows: at is not an
easy thing to estimate the value OF the influence
of any individual. Each one contributes some.
thing to constitute that complex product called
civilization. From emote ages there come to
us streams of thought that have much to do in
determining the character of the civilization of
the present. 1t is not to Dante, Shakespeare and
Goethe that we are to look for originality in
morals. Each of these drew his inspiration
from sources external to himself. But because
we do not attribute originality to these men,
they are not to be regarded as of little impor-
lance. Each has welded an influence that has
largely determined the character of the civil
ization of today. Dante, Goethe and Shak-
speare all teach the same necessity Of practicing
virtue and stunning vice, but as to the motive
power that shall control men in the exercise Of
various virtues, they are widely different. Dante
finds in the future world the time of reward
and punishment. Goethe finds in virtue that
which brings its own reward. Shakespeare, the
divinest of the three, uuites the present and the
future, allots to man on earth a portion of pleas
ure and pain, AS reward or punishment, and
points to the future for the fullness of that re-
ward unequally aeportioned in the present."
The subject drew out considerable discussion,
which was participated in by E. r. Smith. of
Purdue, and James, of Brazil. The thought
expressed by the latter was that the American
poets should be given the prominence in our
schools. None Of the songs of the old poets
equaled our own latter day Marching Through
Georgia" style. and he hoped to see the children
brought up TO properly appreciate the home
poets.
The second topic on the programme. s'The
Errors of the Work in the Lower Grades" was
next taken up. The subject was first discussed
by Arnold Tompkins. of the normal department.
of DePauw University. He held that the great
est error committed ia the violation of
the fundamental principles OF teaching.
The fundamental principle he defined
as the process of affecting minds
by means of ideas. Whatever error said he.
'the teacher may commit must be found in the
management of the educational process. Now,
this process is carried on in specific acts of teach
ing, and here ii is we must search for the error.
That error which is the sum total of all errors
the resultant of all errors in the ventilation.
heating, seating, apparatus, course of study. clas-
sI~fication. voice and bearing of teacher, direc-
tons for work and conduct of recitations, every
thing and anything must be the error. IL spite
of the deep-throated eloquence over our large
school funds and a formula for a system of
schools it remains TO be shown that we make
better use of ideas to educational ends. The
school may he perfect in all its attainments, pu-
pills organized into a beautiful system, course of
study perfect, and yet the school be a very sorry
affair, because there is failure where failure is
fatal. Let the teaching art be perfect, with all
that this implies, and every error vanishes.n
This subject was also generally discussed and
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