Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-08-11
SECOND EDITION.
Thursday. Ansustii. 1899.
PROVO SUMNER SCHOOL.
Address by Professor william NJ. STEVE
art on "Number."

UNIV htaff 49,
nounces It progressive la every 70
spect.
Prof. WIN. NJ. Stewart, In the conrs
OF ihis address. said; In the study q
number, principle, n clear understand
lug Of basic facts is absolutely essen
tial. We must be thorough IN this ur
Outstanding before VIZ can arouse ia
Understandings Of children. wen
through the high school, learned al
zebra and geometry, and Nil ihcs
high and mighty sciences; but when
tried to teach a class Of little ONE,
'tuLd out yet had to learn number
In the study Of number, | make n'
educator my idol, ! DO not Tie myscl
down 10 amy one method; | hold my
self Mt liberty 10 adopt any means o
srousing the understanding.
The teacher cannot give Ideas MOI
convey principles. He can only stimu
late the mind TO think anu discover
facts. This IL what We need TO DO lot
children, aud the teacher needs TO he
tree 10 arrive Mt tho end ny whatever
he thinks the best way. supetlnteud'
ants should not say teach u this way
or that way. believe would call II
presumption TO do 10. IL the supofin-
t.ndent knows better how to guide a
certain little class than their own
tencher, there is something wf6ng--
IernaIs II lei DOR teacher, nut nnl
H., Incl to think II is n mistake.
IA ~ Ia n true guide 10 method.
Thought should always pr,ctue ex.
lressiOD, aud ideas should stand before
rymbols. once heard n tcaoher
say; III oil them 80 full Of tho
multiplication table that II runs out M
,hrs and eyes" lie meant rate multi
leation, drilled la rythmlcaliyj with
cut regard 10 understand the cOmbina.
tons. Well, believe In drill, but not
until after objective knowledge has
been acquired.
Most teachers teach books rather
than ideas. They think they must
transfer 10 the i.iinds OF heirpupils the
iJeas and forms contained In the books
IN use. Bat too many books arc Hog
ical-construc.ed on wrong plans. Fer
Instance, most nfilhmetlca consider
percentage an entirely different mat
ter from-wo will, tay-redueiloD, AM
addition IL Treated ~ n subject entirely
different from multiplication. This IL
wholly wrong. Number IL n whole, aud
sii it, processrs should 40 on together.
This youngesl child In school uses all
Is only bcwildtrod anu siinted by this
unnatural process OF isolation OF sui.
JeGis.
Tho teacher IL hAmpcred by the
book In another way when he Ia re-
quired 10 impart TO his students n given
quantity Of Its contents In given
iime. How can anybody know be-
fofehand just how much arithmetic n
certain class can asaimilatt? We
cannot quite part with tho book, II II a
useful guide and help especially to tho
teacher, but maLy times II should not
be- In the hands OF the children.
The primary object In the study OF
number, rs In MI other studies, In
mental growth-the bringing Of the
powers Of mind into disable conditions;
and this ~ done through original in
vestigation. l am bitterly opposed TO
Imitation, but the case before men.
toned Of one who Improves on any.
thing already In existence Is. not
imitation; 1t Is growth, original
activity.
Children should be aided to acquire
accuracy In their methods OF compu.
tatioD, anu be able TO apply their
knowledge to the ordinary affairs Of
life; otherwise their afithmetical work
IN mere tricks with numbers,
There 10 no more mental growth In
case OF Teaching results by cancelln-
ton only, than In tho reiteTatiOn
of IL contains . four times.
Nino-t-nths OF all this work cut out In
the sriihmeiics is ony tricks with
numbers ANA no moe food for the
mind than tricks with cards.
Think OF the absurd statements
which make algebra mystery and a
fear to students, and discourage them
On the tr,shold. boldly say there IL
In algebra no such thing rs transposi-
lions, teachers ana text book 10 the
contrary Notwithstanding. Shall we
call such jugglery cuitivating the
mindg Can the mind DO cultivated II
We know nothing but the contents OF
bOOks?
Some teachers aud Students find
great difficulty Ia understanding dcci.
mails; hut they are NO simple. They
are class Of common fractions whose
dvnominator Is ten VI come power OF ten.
They are 20 ~ ,nuf .rical, or conve-
tional, II you prefer that term, that We
DO not need tolwrite the denOminator.
DO read the rules In percentage;
hear how you must handle base rate
and percentage; hut can the student
comprehend which is base, which Is
rate anu which Is percentage? Most
likely not.
| am bitterly opposed TO formal rules
given before the principle Is well un.
uefstooi. But n rule formulated by
the Gloss, as an outgfowth Of their ul'.
deIstanding OF the principle involved,
that Ia very good.
Let US learn this one fact-igures
are not numbers, but only symbols of
numbers, and IL II sAu, not 10 say
disastrous, to mistake symbols for tne
realities which they represent.
There are only two classes Of
arithm,tlcal MISUNDERSTANDING up
aud tearing down; Otherwise, addition
ana division. Addition has two
phAses-additlon proper ana multipn,
Gallon. Division has three phases,
DIVISION proper, Partition anu sub.
tract ion.
In high class work we often fail to
look beyond the symbols because We
trust In our skb In using them; but II
We really teach primary class WI
must look beyond, or over, or around
them, and see the actual fact. No
shsms for children, they must have
living realities.
l learned more In mathematics by
teaching u class Of small children than
all my high school teachers had ever
been able " cram into inc.
So,called short methods, Invented, II
81. "A