The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-12-01
TEACHERS IN CONFERENCE.
Continued from page 1.

own wife. Demosthenes confessed
that the work OF a century would be over
thrown in a day By women. "A young
Br.hmm, visiting England, was aston
ished at the advance Of the women, and
said the position OF women in linda held
the mcn back. The higher the woman
rises, the hls her ihe man.
Miss Doyle concluded by urging the
building OF suitable womcn's college.
Tho women OF Chicago raised s16s,o0C for
womens college. Are the women Of
Rhode Island less generous then their
wc5icrn sisters? These walls a.o orus-
mcnted with tablets sh. wing the genet
osity OF some donou. Let a womsns
name be added here.
The iaprr discussed.
President Andrews then called for dis
cussion of the paper, controversy, il any
so desired.
then spoke. He said he had the good
fortune Of being a teacher of boys and
girls also. One class of young ladies i'm
Ovid did very well. They were so sure of
learning the lesson well that they made
him lazy.
The question of the relation OF the sexes
Education has been for the most part
under the control of religion and religion
has been for great part under the control
of superstition. 1t has been this
superstition i'm regard to tho education
of women that has held them back. No
one with a rational mind can deny woman
the higher education. In every depart
inent tests are made, bu. they are not
made i'm this department. None should
deny the test OF women's ability to re-
ceiye the higher education. Let the test
be made and then 1t can be
told definitely whether the move
mont is success. 1t has been
said that women are emotional. What
would they be IL they were not? Broad in
telIectual training is jnst wnat is needed
TO balance the emotional and then tho pcs-
feet being would be the result.
Further discussion followed. The idca
was brought out that the time was passed
when tho needs and propriety of colleg-
late education for women was passed.
The thing 20 discuss now was how to
carry on the movement. The speaker also
dwelt upon the pronounced capability Of
women for higher courses OF studies.
DIR. Fergusou's Views.
Rev. DIR. Ferguson continued in the
same liue. DR.. Ferguson comes from the
West, aud is well acquainted with CO.
educational methods in that part of the
country. lie drew a comparison Of the
development OF the boy and girl before
and after the age of fifteen.
The girl advances rapidly at first while
the boy does not. After that age the
development of the boy is very rapid
while the girls is slower. There
is All idea that tho mans mind
is different from the female.
In the lower orders physiology shows
nervous energy superior in the females to
the males. So il is with man. Women
viii bear pain, which makes men cringe
and howl.
President Andrews then called upon
more of the ladies present to speak and
suggested it was an opportunity for
women to show their capabilities. One
lady then spoke of the thankfulness of
the mothers that place was atslast pro-
cured for their girls to be educated.
Professor Wilson OF the Normal school
then dwelt upon the point in the paper
read, of the need of higher education for
women as teachers. The most important
point was the need OF educated mothers to
be the head of the household. Mr.. Wilson
then followed out the previous line of
thought that the timo for discussion of
this need was past.
The meeting then adjourned until the
afternoon session.
This Afternoons Session.
The afternoon session of the teachers
conference began at 2 o'clock. Prof.
Upton OF Brown university was the
first speaker. Ills subject was "Usc
and Abuse of the Certificate System"
Professr Upton said that the main use OF
this system was the incentive It gave to
do good, faithful work during
the preparatory course. \ GER
tain set of rules should be laid down by
which these certificates may be oo-
tanned and il these rules are not
departed from and no favoritism is
shown, many OF the abuses of the systcm
will be abolished. The cx-
aminations still remain 20 test the
applicant for adm ssion to college. An
other point is that the teachers should be
sincere in their use of this system. Some
OF the abuses may be mentioned.
The use of the system is misunder-
stood and il is on inventive to
.aziness. Interpreted thus it is a poor
system. There are some minor abuses
The first is dishonesty in filling out the
system--not actual dishonesty, but
students are certified to be
prepared when they actually
are not. Such cases, however, arc rare.
There are some methods in filling out the
blank, which savors of dishonesty.
When the teacher ID not certain,
the pupil is given the ben
eft of the doubt. Then again the certi-
ficatc is given, but the remarks at the end
show tho opposite. Strange to say, tho
certificate is sometimes given ahead
of time, the teacher trusting
that the pupil will finish the work during
the summer vacation. Nor are partial
certificates desirablc-that 10 certificates
i'm departments which have been only par
TALLY carried. Two newer points nrt that
the certificate should be sent TO Brown
university and no. 90 other colleges,
and that the students age ad-
dress, CITE, be placed in the certia-
rate, saving time to the college authori-