New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-01-18
pnRLIC SCHOOL REFORM.


body or its individual members are aware VI
the defects in our public school system ana
honestly intent upon eradicating them VIII DO
welcomed by every citizen who has considered
the subject attentively, and by thousands OF
parents who cannot fail to be conscious that
the schools are not what they ought to be- bu'
who may not be competent to point out the
weak spots. The first report of the committee
appointed to Investigate the existing condinoh
Of things and recommend changes is encourag-
ing, apart from the question OF Its speoinc
value Other reports on other branches OF tne
subject win follow and the final outcome VIII
at least be better understanding OF the school
system than the public has ever had before
But beyond this we are inclined to beheVe tna'
good practical beginning has been maoe'
There is at this moment an unfortunate con-
Aict of policies, and to some extent of personal
feeling. in the Board of Education, but we are
hound to believe that majority will be ready
TO act unselfshly. when full discussion mas
cleared the way for genuine reforms
THE TRIBUNE has no desire to indulge In
captious criticism of the public schools ana
least of all to be instrumental In undermining
public confidence in popular education. we
should like to be helpful in the work OF re-
placinc WORKOUT methods with something bet
ter Ideals are easily conceived and hard to
realize, but gradual advances ought to be ana
| can be made. The first Of the committees re-
ports-that laid before the Board on Wednes-
day-deals chiefly with the teachers, and with
the examination and marking system by which
their work and standing are tested. AT the
outset it must be said that in many OF the
schools there is no teaching to speak OF. The
teachers assign lessons and listen TO Rotations,
and thus are more or less directly connected
with the mental processes Of the boys and girls
under their charge; but this is about all They
cause their pupils to learn, but they don't teach
them, and many tired parents could honestly
testify that pretty nearly all the teaching that
| is done is done by them in the evening. IL Is
at home that the child commonly expects to-
find light in darkness, to have the Illuminating
why and wherefore pointed out, to get at the
reason of thing and its relation to something
else. Too many Of the teachers are contented
with a school of automatons, and feel no am
bition to convert them into rational beings
We are not sure that we blame them; perhaps
they have no time under the present system to
cultivate such an ambition.
| Over some of our schools such an inscription
as this might tEuthfully be placed: . All
children are alike il not, they must be made
so. 1t is not our business to inform, inspire,
enkindle but to cram. Never mind percep-
tons, relations, analogies, the orderly sequence
of ideas and the development of aptitudes. IL
is detached facts that we are after. Education
means not the drawing out but the filling up"
M IL. IL - 4.
higher plane than this have accomplished 10
by the sheer force Of native superiority; their
triumph owes nothing to the system. And 1T
is hard to see how they have prevailed over
the artificial conditions which surround them.
If the condition of teachers success Is the
retentve memory and glib tongue Of child
coached for periodical and pronounced eX-
Iamnation, and the measure of childs att ain-
ments is running fire Of anticipated question
and prescribed answer-a fusillade Of blank
cartridges-what reason have we to expect or
right to demand anything more or different
The classification Of teachers into maximum
and standard grades in the manner proposed
by the report which Commissioner Webb read
on Wednesday may be open to practical OBJ
ljections which do not now occur to us. 1t will
doubtless be conscentiously considered by the
full Board and amended il necessary in ac-
Icordance with the honest convictions Of the
majority. But if we understand it correctly,
and its primary purpose is to determine
the efficiency Of teacher by rational means,
with the aid Of the understanding and in the
light of common sense, and with as little ref
erence as possible to tables of percentages
whose only significance is numerical, this re-
port and the investigation on which it was
based are the most hopeful auguries of school
reform that we have seen in many long year.