The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-20
HIGH-PREssURE SCHOOLING.

The public schools of San Francisco
are not giving to their patrons the salts
faction to which they believe they are
entitled. Such, at least, is the dec
laration Of the Morning Call. 1t is not
that the teachers are incompetent or
that they are careless in the discharge
of their highly responsible duties. AS
matter OF fact, the boot seems to be on
the other leg. In constituting itself the
mouthpiece OF the compliments the
Call asserts the existence in the schools
Of q system OF "cramming," with the
natural results of physical and mental
breakdown on the part OF the students
and an educational output that is I'M
worthy of the name. A more pernicious
process than this ~"cramming" it is hard
to conceive of. In no wise plan Of edu-
cation is it possible that it can have a
place. Education should be healthy
mental growth. The method that the
Call complains Of is unhealthy from be-
ginning to end. 1t aims at producing
in an unnatural way a maximum of re-
suit in a minimum of time, and it's re-
suits are as ephemeral and unsatisfac-
tory as they deserve to be. No m who
has devoted an iota Of attention to the
weighty subject of education would re-
fuse his or her sympathy to a warm and
energetic protest against this modern
sin Of 'cramming."
But when the San Francisco newspa-
per goes out of it's way to attack the
teachers and teaching power of the pub
lie schools it alienates from it's cause a
world Of sympathy. Yet the Call does
not hesitate to institute a formal com
parison between the highly trained
teachers Of to-day and the dom
inies of forty years ago, to the
complete disparagement of the form
or. That is a proceeding that proves
beyond a doubt the utmost ignorance or
the strongest prejudice. In grave,
honest truth, there is no possibility of
comparison. No one wishes to deny the
earnestress and the devotion OF many
of the old time teachers. They did a
noble work, and they did it to the very
best OF their ability. But in a great
many instances their scholastic life was
one long series Of experiments, without
q chart, and without a system. That
some Of cur brightest men and most
charming women were indebted to just
such teachers for ali the formal educa-
ton they ever received, is not to be
denied. But it should not be forgotten
that education is to be had in many
places besides the school house, and
that ready brains are ever on the alert,
in the face OF every difficulty, to COM
plete tho information they have begun
to store. 1t might not even be an Ak
aggeratlon to say that many brainy men
have made their way in the world, not
by virtue Of the system Of education
pursued in their cases, but in spite Of it.
The highly trained, modern teacher is a
a weapon of precision; the old-timer
was a scattering muzZle-loader. Teach
ing has been developed almost into one
Of the exact sciences, and it's results
have increased in proportion with its
development. "Cramming" is an abom-
ination of denominations. No one denies
that; least of all, the teacher. But if the
Gail gers down to the bedrock of facts,
it will find that the pressure which re-
sults in q examining system, originates,
not with teachers for any great part,
but with the ambition and vanity of
fond and foo1ieh rarapta