St. Paul daily globe., 1890-01-09
WHAT ABOUT THE NoRMALs?
Supt. Parr, Of st. Cloud, Protests
Against the Wild Theories Of
Fellow EducationaIists. ua

Our normal scho0lsl There is nota
more bitter bone for contention among
edueationalists and politicians than the
four state normal schools. Supt. S. S.
Parr, of st. Cloud, says of late it has
seemed to him that there was too much
carping at the normal schools; that
they did not deserve it, and ne has for
warded the following letter for publica-
ton:
The GLOBE of January contained
a mention of my paper at the late teach
erS' association. and the assertion that
Mr.. Bowling, of Rewville, ''struck a
popular chord when he asserted that the
normal schools did not provide teachers
fitted for the country schools. He adj
v0cated preparatory school in each
county for training teachers" A few
words are due Mr.. Bowling and the ed
ucatiOnal scheme he so volubly interject-
ed where it had no relevancy whatever.
Minnesota was fortunate in getting
started Alright educationally. Her
school fund is one of the largest in the
Union. The public school system
reaches from the primary school to the
university. The system of state nigh
schools is admitted to have no superior.
But in no feature does this state excel
mole than in the provision for furnish
ing trained teachers to the public
schools. The chief agency to this end
is the four excellent state normal
schools. They are aided by state insti-
tutes held annually in each county. To
furnish persons who have academic
training to the normal schools and to
the teaching force of the commonwealth,
the state provides free instruction in all
-fNfn ifrt cnh OH ,tx-I
number. Furnishing teachers receives
more attention and more money than
any other one educational interest.
The normal schools have given train
ing to an estimated number of 6,000 to
5000 different persons as graduates and
undergraduates the great majority of
whom have taught in country schools.
About 20 per cent of the whole number
of teachers in the state have had more
or less normal school training. These
teachers have been mighty lever to
give tone and professional spirit to the
schools of the state. But because a
majority of the graduates find better
pay and places in towns and cities, Mr..
Bowling and his like,ignoring the thou
sands of country teachers these schools
have made better, raise false issue on
their usefulness to the country. The
normal schools were not intended and
have not undertaken in our day to fur
nish any class of schools with all the
teachers they need. They have filed
their mission well-given professional
training to large number of bright
teachers for as long a time as they could
be induced to stay.
The educational scheme, the Matching
of which Mr.. Bowling undertook to help
along, is a very doubtful attempt at
providing teachers for county schools.
1t looks to turning the principal of
every two-room school into professor
of didactics. Now it is a well-known
fact that teachers of that grade are low
academic scholarship, and need to i'm
prove on that side, rather than attempt
teaching a new line of subjects.
Further, the worst feature Of the pro-
posed plan is that it divides and weak
ems the educational forces of the state,
whereas they need building up and
strengthening. We do not need new
features, but developing of what we
already have. A great objection to the
proposed scheme is that nobody pre-
tends to have any knowledge of what,
its effects will be. 1t is a proposal to
embark the state IN some very crude eX-
perimentation. Minnesota has already
tried text book experiment, with very
questionable results, and will doubtless
think twice before Joining in another
unknown enterprise.