Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1892-08-25
COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT.
He Has the Opportunity to Be OF Urea'
Value to the County Schools.

Value to the County ScHoos'
The County Superintendent has the
opportunity to be of great value to the
schools of his county. Whether ne IS
or not depends upon himself. lie must
mt himself in the place of his teachers
and people and lead them on from Where
thew are now. There are superlnteno-
ents who have high ideals OF what tne
schools should be, but do not know e1,
actly what the schools are. 1hey pullo
their plans upon supposed conolIiono
that have no existence. They therefore
irritate the people and teachers, ana the
people and teachers irritate them: lhey
wish to realize results Immediately.
They are willing to labor, but are not
willing to wait. They change the APP
pearance of things in the counties very
soon, but this change is not always
growth. They are noble men ana
women, devoting themselves to their
teachers and schools, but they make the
mistake that teachers often make with
nunils when thew crowd them on through
processes that the pupils do not under
stand. and because the child memories
the process they think he follows the
reasoning. If the teachers and the
people have low ideas of schools, these
are the starting points to begin to ele-
yate them; start from where they are.
There is another class of superlnten-
dents who are always tagging behind:
The teachers of the county have to pull
them on. The real educational leaders
are the better teachers of the county;
and what educational progress there IS
is stimulated by them. They are as Tar
in the rear as the others are in advance.
The trouble with this class is that they
generally hold office long time. The
people are very much like them-satls-
fed with the old ways. The most valu-
able superintendent is he who sees
clearly the next step to take and then
puts his foot down, firmly but good-na-
turedly, and does not take it up until
the time comes for another step forward.
Such superintendent will also remain
in office long time.
One of the lines of progress which the
County Superintendent is free to follow
is the Improvement of the institute. He
can have his own way, largely, there.
Where the funds are abundant three
weeks may be spent in the subjects, and
one week, the last, in an institute, which
al! the teachers of the county should
be expected to attend. One or more in
stitute workers, not employed in the
ScnOOl, mlgnC De @DfOuSnItlH W ue1P CON
duct the institute, the purpose of which
should be inspiration and guidance
toward better ideals of the purpose and
methods of school teaching: The insti-
t,lte ought to be powerful factor in
helping the teachers to decide between
real, genuine reforms in theory or in
practice, and those alleged reforms that
spring up aid carry the teachers off
their feet, but have no depth of earth.
When test comes they fail. 1t is the
business of the institute to stimulate
the professional spirit, and set teachers
to studying their work in the wider re-
lations that it bears to society. The
institute should add sense of dignity
and worthness to teaching which the
petty detail of the school room is too
apt to take from it.-G. P. B., in Pub
lie School Journal.