Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-02
The Recent Meeting at Austin a
Pronounced Success.
EARNEST, INTELLIGENT WORK.
Before Many Years Texas VIII Not be
Second to any State in the Union
In Point of Her Schools and
Her Teachers.
Special to the Gazette.

I
ment of some of the principal educators
| who have been attending such meetings for
| dozen years. In some respects they claim
| that II has surpassed any previous meeting.
| 1t may not have exceeded in numbers the
meeting held at Galveston year ago, but
| the daily attendance at the sessions was
| larger. Many, ii is said, who were not
| teachers went 10 Galveston because of the
| low rates Of transportation, and for the
| pleasure of bathing in the gulf; and many
| of the teachers spent hours in the surf that
| were stolen from their duty in the teachers
meeting. 1t was not so here. The hall of
representatives was crowded at each ses-
sion, not by a iStless, careless audience,
but by a lot of earnest and intelligent teach
ers, male and female. The hot weather ap-
peared to have no effect in dampening their
drdor-whatever may be said OF collars.
They stood 1t bravely, terrible as it was at
times, and did not shrink in fortitude even,
when dull and prosaic essayist had the
floor To tell, the truth, however. there
was not great deal Of the dry-as-dust, of
the pedautic and the prosy about
the exercises. To the average mortal not
up in pedagogicS, some things doubtless
may have seemed so, but not TO the teachers
themselves. They understood and appre
ciated what others turned up their noses at.
While their papers and discussions were to
the average layman what classical music is
to the uninitiated, they had often the flavor
OF old wine to the pedagogues themselves.
There is nothing stranger in this than in
the fact that those trained in the mysteries
of thorough basS' should come together
to talk and make music of sort thai is said
to be far better than it sounds. IT'S even
so with the pedagoGue or the schoolmarm.
Their discussion of educational topics text
books and methods may not sound well or
inviting to others. They are not meant
like music for the general ear, but for their
own. and that is where they have the edge
on the music makers. The association is
composed in the main of the brains of the
profession. Most of the trained and cult
ured teachers, male and female, of the state
belong to it. The principal county and city
superintendent are in it. The presidents
and professors of our colleges, academies
and high schools belong to it, and also the
best and most ambitious of the teachers in
the public schools.
One thing that struck the beholder and
him who listened attentively to the various
talks and discussions held, was the growing
spirit of Self-assertion, even independence
that was constantly, and perhaps unc0n-
SciouSly. manifestlng itself. The teachers
spoke of their rights occasionally, and of
the dignity and responsibilities of their call
Ing. They were evidently strongly i'm
pressed with a full sense of each, and of the
respect to which they We're entitled there
for. One of them declared that the teach
erS were considered good and trustworthy
enough to be instructed with the important
charge of training the minds of the young.
of planting in them the seeds of correct
knowledge and right conduct, and of fitting
them to be a credit to themselves and an
honor 10 their parents and their country;
but-and the speakers face showed some
shade of disgust at the thought-but they
that is the teacherS-were not considered
good enough to advise a legislature con-
corning the needs and requirements of our
public schools. Because they did not raise
their voices in clamor for Il textbook bill,
they were not to be trusted. Because they
were said to be unfriendiy to it, they were
venal and the paid emissaries of book con-
Germs. 1t was strange was it not, that men
who considered them venal, selfish and
purchasable, would intrust them with the
education of their children!
Other expressions of sarcastic or ironi-
cal nature proved that some of them at
least, had it in for the legislature, or the
solons that cast slurs on them at the late
session. They felt pretty strongly when
touching on such matters. but were more
Self-contained that the SOlons aforesaid
Said one of them to the writer: Just
think of it. Here was the Democratic plat
form of last summer voicing the demands of
the teachers for a six months school, and
pledging the party TO that manifest duty.
form text books. That was not thought of
in the convention. The Republicans, who
net soon after in convention, put text
book plank in their platform. Now what |
did the Democrats do when they met in leg
islative session last winter2 Instead of |
carrying out the party pledge as laid down
in their platform, of providing for a six |
months school, they ignored it entirely. |
and took up instead the Republican idea of |
uniform text books ana wrangled over it |
the entire session. They showed far more |
liking for the Republican platform in this |
particular. than they did for their own, or |
for the wishes of the teachers. And yet |
these are the men that call the teachers |
venal and purchasable. BY the same |
process of reasoning, what should we call |
them?''
II was clearly evident that the pedagogues
did not have an exalted opinion of legsla- |
tive wisdom when it came to consider the |
needs of the schools or the requirements of |
our educational affairs. They don't like |
the idea of being snubbed and despitefully /
used by men who are but ill-informed in
matters wherein they hold themselves 10 be
experts. Either they know but little, as
one Of them said, about their profession,
and are therefore unworthy members, or
they are fitted by their knowledge, special
to speak for it, and voice its
wishes, its demands. They should be cred
tied with a knowledge of its requirements
at least equal TO that of the average law
maker.
From such sentiments as those that es-
capped at odd times during the session, the
reader can see that the pedagogues did not
fear to stand upon and maintain their
rights and the dignity of their calling
When struck upon one cheek, they did not
turn the other. Not much They used TO
DO so few years ago, when, as one of them
said, they took whatever was vouchsafed
them. with thanks, and were afraid to say
that their souls were their own. But not |
so now. They are learning to be courage
ous and self-reliant; 10 feel the spirit of
independence that should accompany every
honorable calling. They are profiting by
Inc organized movements set on foot few
years back, and feel new accession of
strength every time they hold a meeting.
There was nothing old-fogyish about the |
men and women that read papers or aired
their views on pedagogical or educational
matters at the Austin meeting There
we're no moss-backs among them. They
talked as familiarly about the principles of
Pestalozzl and the methods of FrRbel as
he most Thoroughbred Bostoniau would
10. Most OF them perhaps teach in town
n city schools, and are as modern in their |
IDEAS and culture as their brethren and sis
ers of the North. They have caught the
spirit OF progress and evolution abroad, and
Know that to succeed, they must advance
Hence their meetings and friendly discus
lions which can not but be beneficial and
improving.
Another thing that can be said of this
Austin meeting is the entire absence Of any
wen the slightest friction that. t. some ex-
ent. marred the work Of other meetings. |