Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-23
JUDGMENT IN SCHOOL TEACHING

JUDGMENT IN SCHOOL TEACHING.
The question of teaching physiology to
children in the public schools as criticised
by physicians and educators in yesterdays
DISPATCH, is most important as an illus
tration of the lack of judgment to which
some educators are prone. There is little
doubt that this error of judgment most fire.
quently takes the form of forcing an ex-
cessive amount of parrot like training into
the heads of children. Sometimes the study
is forced into their minds before they are
ready to receive it, and sometimes the
trouble is that too many such studies are re-
quired, so that none of them are properly
digested. This is undoubtedly a fault
which appears in the management Of some
of the public schools, and which is fair
subject of criticism.
But it does not appear beyond dispute
that the fault in this respect is especially
with the law requiring the study of physio-
logy. To cram the heads of little folk
from six to ten years old with beautiful
terms about the trachea, the tibia, or the
medulla oblongata, is ridiculous. 1t proba-
bly, taxes their minds less than mental
arithmetic, though much more useless. But
the law may fairly be taken to presume
that little judgment will be used in the
teaching of physiology. 1t was presumed
in enacting its instruction that the admins
tration Of the school would display enough
intelligence to assign the study to children
OF sufficient advanced age to assimilate the
information. 1t is not certain that in
struction of the most primacy and simple
character, on the functions of the body,
children. but it is evident that the more de-
tailed instruction in physiology and the
scientific proof of the injury produced by
various vices, from intemperance to tight
lacing, should be given to scholars from
twelve to fifteen years of age, and can be
made useful to them.
The necessity of using ordinary discrim-
ination and intelligence in sulting studies
to the age of children appears in other re-
spects as decidedly as in regard to physiol-
ogy. A very decided illustration of it was
reported to one of the editors of the DIS
PATCH some time ago. A lady came across
two little girls with whom she was very
friendly, seated out in their front yard at
work on their studies, and entering into
conversation with them found that they
were engaged In what their teachers had es-
tablished as might work." This consisted of
a series ofquestions and examples which the
children were expected to spend their even
ings in finding the answers to and writing the
answers out. In this case the two sisters
were respectively and years old, and con-
sequently in different grades. But the dis
elimination with which this might work"
was assigned was illustrated by the fact that
the same questions were given to both, the
younger one being required to find the an
swers to examples in fractions before she
had any idea what fractions were. Our in
| formant found them resorting to the child
| ish but simple solution of having the older
sister write out all the answers for the
younger one. With all the circumstances
inquired into, who could blame them for
that act of deception?
The school in which work was assigned to
| the scholars in this wholesale fashion has a
high reputation; but in this respect it would
be hard to imagine more remarkable com.
bination to meet the results which ought to
be avoided by intelligent educators In
| the first place children of tender age
after spending the full time in the confne-
ment of school, were required to occupy q
large share of what ought to be their leisure
hours in answering questions and doing ex
amples, which, while simple enough to more
advanced scholars, were abstruse and exacting
to them. Next the absence of ordinary
| Judgment was illustrated in calling upon
the least advanced scholars to answer ques
tions in branches of study which they had
not yet reached. Finally the utter mis-
chievousness of the practice appears in tn,
fact that it not only made it easy for tn,
scholars to resort to the deception of getting
some some one else to answer the questions
for them, but it actually made it compulsory
on them, by giving them questions whicl
they could not answer by any other means
and shielded them from discovery by giviDy
them credit for their answers, without tn
slightest examination as to whether the an
swers were intelligent, or were simply OBJ
tained by this necessary sort of cheating.
When such an extraordinary absence o
Judgment is displayed in the instruction o
the branches universally conceded to b
necessary, it is quite possible to conclud
that similar display in teaching physiolog.
is to be attributed, not to the law, but to tn
way in which it is administered.