New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-30
UUERE SOME SCHOOLS FAIL.

4 GO. lcal has appeared OF late in the public
iourna '. . ltion 10 the schools Of today. Many
Of the - ,ints Of these institutions have been
brought out INTO bold IT lief and so have many of
the bad ones. Such a discussion, If conducted
in IA candid spirit, must be productive OF excellent
results 1t cannot take too wide range nor
concern itself with too great number of details.
The progress Of the racc-not TO speak Of what is
known MS the manifest destiny OF our country-of
,oIr.c Is largely conditioned upon school system
which meets the best expectations at all points
While the subject was informally under consid-
Grafton the other evening gentleman was asked
why he had withdrawn his son from a wcll-known
school-a school which has great reputation.
did so.r was the reply, because had come TO the
conclusion that my boys tuition was costing me
considerably more than il WAS worth. If he was
a bright, forward boy probably should not have
he'd any reason TO complain. BIT he is rather a
duh h,.--rot stupid, you X W, but dull. He
does earn easily: isn't O., of your Macaulay
chaps. great many things which some of his
fellow-studcnts understand at glance were 10 him
puzzlcs. But that circumstance did not seem TO
he appreciated by his Teachers or, If 1t WAS ap
preciatcd, it wasn't acted upon. lie received no
more attention at their hands than the most pre-
cocions member Of his class. II he made poor
recitation he received n low mark. but he did not
receive any extra assistance The consequence
was that his mother or ] was compelled to supple
ment the school. We labored with him over his
arithmetic or his latin, or whatever it might be,
taking care to find ont just what the points were
which he failed to grasp, and patiently explaining
them to him. SO it came to pass that was pay
ing out large sum Of money every quarter TO
school which did little than hear lessons thar
had been prepared at home under our own super
vision The brunt Of the labor came upon rs
the teachers task was comparatively light one.
I objected to an arrangement which I regarded as
unfair and Withdrew my boy
This is by no means an isolated case. The same
criticism is continually being passed on some
public and private schools the country over.
They are conducted on "A principle which works
we'll, so far ms the ready pupils arc concerned
but which ignores the children whose mental
processes are slow. They not graded so rs
TO afford an opportunity for the teacher to do
his best by those who have most need OF instruc-
ton distinguished Boston clergyman who
has given much thought TO the school problem
declared not long ago that his observation had
convinced him that "a large number Of institutions
Of learning mi ght properly he defined as buildings
in which children were made TO recte not what
they had been taught in the buildings. but had
been taught ont of il.
The gentleman whom we have quoted was asked
II his boy had ever been invited TO remain after
a recitation after school hours i'll order that
n lesson in which he had been marked zero might
be explained to him. He replied that he had
asked his boy that question, and Ind learned
that no such invitation had ever been extended.
Tho duty of teacher is TO teach, not merely to
listen to lesson that has been taught The school
which fails TO teach is a failure