Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1889-11-07
Value Of School Discipline.

Commissioner Harris has placed
the teachers under numerous Obliga-
tions by his clear statement of edu-
cational truths; We have always
greatly admired his address on the
relation of school di@ciplis.o 10 moral
education, and give place to a por-
ton of it.---EDIroRs.1
The pillars on which public school
education rest are BEHAVIOR or de-
pertinent, and SCHOLARSHIP. The
first requisite of the school is order:
each pupil must be taught first and
foremost to conform his behavior to
Il general standard. Only thus can
the school rs community exist and
fulfil its functions. In the outset,
therefore, whole family of virtues
are taught the pupil, and these are
taught so thoroughly, and so con-
stantly enforced, that they become
fixed in his character. The method
of this moral training is, like that
which rules everywhere in the prac-
tical world, one Of division and rcpc-
tition. The duty of hcing well
behaved pupil is not vague gcncr-
ality. 1t divides into specific, we'll
defined duties.
OD P"nct"oljW: This stands
first. The pupil must he at school
in time. Sleep, meals, play, busi-
ness, indiSposition-all must give
way to the duty Of obedience to the
external requirement OF time.
Punctuality does not end with get
ting to school. While in school it is
Of equal importance. Combination
cannot he achieved without it. The
pupil must have his lessons ready ut
the appointed time, must rise at the
tap of the bell, move to the line, re-
turn in short, go through all the
rvolltions with equal precision.
{) Rcg"imity is punctuaIity re-
duccd to Il SYSTEM Conformity to
the requirements Of time in partic-
nlar instance is punctuallty; made
general it becomes regularity.
But the school makes these duties
the ground and means of higher du-
ties. They arc Indispensable, but
no ultimatum. They render posi-
bic higher spiritual culture. The
quick and prompt obedience of the
pupil in simple mechanical training,
renders the child pcnctrablc, and ac-
ccssiblc to lessons OF higher import
no this end the discipline extends to
calisthenics; the pupil is taught to
sacrifice his arbitrary control over
his body, and to combine regularly
and punctually with others in i,nitat-
ing prescribed bodily gestures or cx-
crciScs. Thus his sense Of rhythm
or regular combination with others
is further developed. Through this
becomes possible the training to gene
raj habits OF proper position for sit
ting and standing, proper modes of
speaking, addressing othcrS-in gen
cral, the formaitics of polite inter-
course. The highest discipline under
the head of rhythm is reached in vo-
cal music. This prcsupposcs in the
highest degree the training in punct-
ual and regular habits, and con-
scious participation in the result is
reached by the pupil through his en-
joymcnt Of the harmony he assists in
producing. Herein vocal music
the external, mechanical, aspect of
hiSci plinc sof(cnS, and Il response to
it is felt in the deepest inner being
Of the soul-thc domain of feeling
This brings us to the next step in
school discipline.
(3) silence is the basis for the cul-
turc of intcrnalty or rcilcction-thc
soil in which thought grows. We
become silent when We would think.
The pupil is therefore taught habits
OF silence to restrain his natural
animal Impulse to pratc and chatter,
or to excite attention by his occupa-
ton on the material world around
him. All ascent above natural be-
ing arises through his ability TO hold
back Che mind from utcrancc Of the
immediate impulse, and to correct
its oncSidcdncSs 10y combination and
generalization. The largest combi-
nation and widest generalization is
the deepest and trucSt. Thus silence
in The School-room has a two fold
significance. 1t is necessary to the
attainment OF combination with
others, and besides this, it is direct
disci plinc in the art of combining
the diiI'uScd and feeble efforts Of the
pupil himself. lie begins his career