St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-07-10
dreds are planning excursion parties to
Yellowstone Park and other national
pleasure resorts.
MORNING SESSION.
Papers by Profs. Brown, Harris,
De Garmo and Maxwell.


session yesterday morning of the edu
cational association at the Peoples
church. The gathering Of teachers was
a magnificent one; there was not va
can't chair in the large auditorium, and
hundreds were standing in the rear
aisles. Resolutions approving the Nor
rill college bill and Commissioner Nor
gan's plan of Indian schools were re-
ferred to the committee on resolutions.
Psychological and Pedagogical OBJ
servation" was the first subject taken,
presented in a paper prepared by DR..
George P. Brown, of Bloomington, Ill.
The paper was an admirable one. 1t
elaborated very fully the method by
which pedagogical discoveries could be
made by the prepared expert, but dis
couraged the expectation that much of
general educational value could be eX
pected from the observations of those
who came to the work without previous
study
Commissioner Harris, of the United
States educational department, also read
a paper on this subject, in which he
quoted freely from a work writ
ten by Mary Putnam Jacobs.
NJ. d., entitled Psychological
Notes on Primary Work and
the Study of Language" Many in
teresting physiological experiments
upon the mind of a child are described
in this book The child was taught ge-
ometry at the age of five years. Three
OF four years later, while studying the
growth of some beans planted in cotton
WOOL the child used the following Ian
guage in describing the catastrOphein in
the biology of one of the beans: The
episperm on the under surface is all
black and has split. leaving a
space the shape of an equilateral
triangle. with the apex pointing
to the convex edge of the cotyledons,"
The teachers were immensely tickled
with this, and laughter reverberated
throughout the building. DR.. Harris
who were looking for the Messiah of
psychology in education would find in
Mrs. Jacobs a psychological John the
Baptist. Renewed laughter greeted
this sally. in the midst of which DR..
Harris gave way to Prof. Charles De
Garmo. of Normal. ILL.,, who read a
paper on the relation of instruction to
will training.
The professor showed that the CON-
mon school studies contained the root
of all the practical, intellectual and
moral instincts of the world. He also
claimed that scientific study of meth
ods would enable the teacher to form
and strengthen the will activity Of the
pupil along all the practical, intellectual
and moral lines of conduct. The school
master must show that the public
school can and will develop moral char
acter rather than bare, cold, intel
lectual instruction without the aid of
religious instruction.
DR., Baldwin, of Texas, who is also
co-editor i'll the publication of promi-
nent scholastic journal, secured the
privilege of opening the discussion. He
is short, wlry-looking man, and has a
sweet, musical voice. He made the fol-
lowing prophecy: We had given years
to object teaching and object lessons.
In another decade we Will be studying
ject lessons. Alex. Hogg, of Texas,
also spoke. These were the only speak
ers on the papers presented. DR.. w. ii.
Maxwell, Of Brooklyn, n. T., received
a call to read paper on eXaminat tiOnS
as tests for promotion.
Prof. Maxwell is the superintendent
of schools at Brooklyn. His paper was
of more practical nature than those
which preceded. He is firm believer
in the examination system. and favored
the daily examination, review eXamina-
ton and the comprehensive eXamina-
tion. The inquiry was pertinent as to
how far and under what conditions they
were elements in teaching what was
good. First, because they were eXer-
cises in the reproduction of knowledge,
because they tested power and skill in
the application Of knowledge; sec
ond, because they set up stand
ard for both teacher and pupil; and,
third, because they act as a stimulus
for both teacher AMI pupil. The objec-
tions to examinations were: First, that
they set up a false standard; second,
that the best part of teaching, the i'm
planting of ennobling desires, could not
be tested by examination; third, that
they lead to cramming; fourth, that
they produced strain that affected the
nervous system, and, fifth, that they
robbed teachers of originality and inde-'
pendence. The answer to the first OBJ
lection was, that, while it was highly
desirable that knowledge should be its
own reward and stimulus, it was very
seldom that it was so. The desire
for knowledge was acquired by taste.
The second objection failed because
though examination might not be ade-
quate to test the highest part of teach
ing, that was no reason why they should
not use it for purposes for which it was
effective. The other objections were
examples of the abuse, not of the proper
use, of examinations. DogmatiSm on
this subject was something to be avoid
ed, because there was none with regard
to which teachers had made so many
mistakes. The teachers attitude should
always be that of Chaucer's Oxford
clerk: Gladly would he learn and
gladly would he teach.
Mr.. Maxwell, urging the advantages
of competition, facetiously remarked
what teachers wanted IN their schools
was ''such competition as you see be-
tween Minneapolis and st. Paul."
This hit at the rivalry of 'the twins"
was received with laughter and ap-
plause.
President Albee, of Oshkosh, opened
the discussion, urging that exami ma
tionS exercised memory under its worst
form. They checked the assimilatiye
action of the mind, which must go on
largely in Inconsistencies.
President Garfield called Vice-presi-
dent Alex. Hogg, of Texas, to the chair,
while DR.. White, of Cincinnati, contin-
ued the discussion. 1t was now IL 80
O'Clock, and although President Can
field had instructed the president
to adjourn the session at IL, ''if he had
to commit manslaughter." large num-
Der of teachers left the building. This
did not in any way interfere with
Dr. White, who proceeded to deliver
very pertinent address. He said there
were these great problems for solution:
How to subject teachers to authorlta-
tive supervision and not reduce them to
operative; How to teach pupils in the
graded system where they must march
in classes through the course, and not
sacrifice individual power and in
dividual liberty.
DR.. Johnson, of the University of
Mississippi. had to speak under the Sc
rious drawback of his auditors atten-
tiOn being drawn away by the large
number of teachers leaving the church.
He favored examinations because they
gave students a stimulus to work. Hav-
ing made this point he withdrew, and
the looked-for adjournment was taken.
EVENING SESSION.