The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-06-06
War of Education.

In these days Of pedagogic warfare,
college presidents fight valiantIy on ei-
ther side Of the system Of elective stud
les, and the scientific schools decry both
combatants with the taunt of uselessness
in practical matters. But, however, the
battle rages, men Of introspective habits,
who have lived long enough to find their
work in this work-a-day world, frequent-
ly accuse the whole body Of modern edu-
Gators of neglecting the true end and
aim Of education.
Nearly all who have achieved success,
especially those who have had academic
training, feel that the methods of educl-
ton now in vogue are radically defective
Disguised and mournfuI for years of hard
work, misdirected by instructors, they
know that their valuable education has
been accomplished in spite of the school,
master, rather than by his efforts.
The young man of %, when bidding
adieu to college walls, looks back upon
at least IA years of student life If an
honest worker, his receptive capacities
have been developed by long and weary
efforts to grasp the huge mass Of stored
conclusions which we call knowledge.
He can repeat, parrot-like, a vast deal of
learning, and is able to study new works
in the same line with comparative ease.
In other words, his intellectual power of
acquiring and storing knowledge has
been admirably trained
Conceding the point, the young man
stands on the outer circle of society
ready to receive him, if he is n useful
member, but he has no trained voice
with which to utilize the intellectual
treasures which he has obtained. Utili-
ty must be the test of the value any arti-
Gle, whether it be tin kettle or mod
ern education. On this score the educa-
tor has failed to perform his task.
OF all the college lads who will gradu-
ate in the month Of June it is doubtful
if more than l in 10 are able to write a
simple description of matters of ordinary
interest which, from mere news stand
point, would be accepted and paid for by
city newspapers Fewer still can write a
magazine article on thoughtful subject
logically enough to ensure its acceptance
by periodical of moderate aspirations.
Probably none of them have enough
( - e fl,.sx
thoughts to make fair extemporaneous
speech.
These homely illustrations show only
few of the ways in which educators are
remiss. Acquisition is but one of the
proper aims of study. II is an essential
but not the sole end of education. A
Roman boy, in the earlier centuries Of
this era, was taught many facts. but the
aim of his teacher was to train him to
express his thoughts In other words
his education enabled him to get some
thing out of his mind as well as to put
things into that storehouse. As conse-
! quence the Romans were nation Of
writers and orators, eminent beyond all
others.
A modern instance will show that the
same possibility exists to-day. Dors
Read Goodale and her sister, Elaine, the
marvellous child poets of Northampton
were trained as children to express theil
thoughts in words. Their parents. both
cultured beyond common standards, care
fully stored the minds of these girls with
varied information, but gave equal care
to training them to express the thing
that were in them. II may be doubted
if they would have otherwise known
their splendid powers.
The deadly blight of originality j:
upon the men of to-day. A few, by he
roic efforts, escape its infectious power
but the majority fall into inanition. Re
ceptiveness has taken the place of intel
/ lectual effort. The educated man, who
ought to be far ahead in the life struggle
I finds that years of labor at his books
have left him at the beginning of the
battle with all the tsctics still to be
learned. Many of the ablest men of to-
day are those who began life by learning
its most important lessons. The school
master has it in his power to fit his pu-
pills fully for the struggle, but he can
never do it by the absurd methods to
which he now clings with unreasoning
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