The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1894-01-23

society. The state with al! its complies
organization never loses sight OF that
fact. Education, therefore, as one OF
the factors of civilized life, takes also
cogniZance of it, and looks to the
parents, especially the mothers, as the
chief educators of the nation. France
has no mothers" lamented Napoleon
when contemplating the Increasing
degeneracY of his people; while on the
other hand, history demonstrates that
most great men have TRACED their
enobling qualities to their mothers. The
intellectual and moral standard of the
family is the truest criterion of ma
TONS worth. The purity of the Anglo
Saxon home has ever been the rock
upon which the prosperity OIL the race
has been reared. Example is the
educational feature of til home.
Instructive that of the schoo "a Neither
of these parties however, c ignore
either one or the other educational
features without falling short in the
duties of its calling.
If the sacredness of the home with its
parental authority is jealousy guarded
by law and public sentiment in order to
enable it to perform its divinely ap-
pointed mission as an educational
factor, what is to be said of the school
and the teacher in this regard? What
provisions are made to secure to the
school and her teachers the necessary
protection and support?
Passing by all illusions to school
houses, appurtenances and furnishings
of any kind, salaries. and other pro-
visions of the school law and items Of
organization, [ come at once to the
main feature of our school Systematic
teacher, his selection, his standing, and
his responsibilities.
The teachers selection is supposed
| to have been made upon the strength
OF some examination as to F@S theOreti-
cal efficiency, with some Subordinate
references TO his moral qualifications.
Notwithstanding at the present &C.
casion to dwell upon the entirely I'M
satisfactory modes of procedure in re-
gard to all snch examinations, desire
to place myself on record as opposed to
examinations as the only or even the
principal test of teachers efficiency.
A practical test in real teaching for a
certain length of time under the direc-
ton and supervision of some expert
enced Principal with some additional
theoretical examination, should de-
termine theggrade of the candidate, on
which the length of time OF the validity
of the certificate should depend.
This brings me to another critical
point in our present school system, viz.
The lack of PermGnency Of POSiti0n.As
long as our public teachers hold their
commission only for short period, or
at the pleasure of some board of trus
tees, they are deprived of the power of
exercising lasting influence upon the
formation of the character Of their
pupils. The character Is the timber
the soul of man is made of, apd should
not be left to the fluctuatingl influences
of an ever changing corps of teachers.
Every community needs p class OF
teachers that, after having been tried
and proven, should be laboFing under
commissions, irrevocable except for
cause. The present mode of engaging
and discharging faithful, experienced,
and efficient teachers, is UNI worthy OF
and irreconcilaDle with theia great re-
sponsibilities, and is calculated to dis
courage the most devoted teacher in
the long run.
The provision that the public school
shall be kept free fro = Irian inhu-
ences is a::wise oha sitated by
the freedom ehoo. Bhip in our
country, but ~ influences
in politics? Is saSeies SO
much purer THAI ~
say '.hands Of - II
sacred precinct H 4.
IF Fee6Hld no
a teacher whom |
lacking religious primo
him in his daily walk an ~
should also expect ON theVA, "
that every teacher be of sxafna, So |
telligence TO possess we'll doc . wor
litical opinions. But neither, -
shipper nor as citizen has he :, eSnaoioi
be engaged on account of ~ co,
proclivities in either directio1in anon non
he be permitted to create an school
in accordance with them in 1850 to
room. This principle should IL 'e enho "
all kinds of officers in our pull oo~ntio.
system, throughout districts "1i''''
and the whole land. hsso fou
Fellow teachers If by ~ ',t
items l have been endeavoriEasn W 49, ~
line our present educational IND Hn,i
l have had also in view to ref ro,,iaIn
of the problems, which thet;oSp 18th
swelling flood of human necessr ,d5 ;t II no9
its ever changing scenes and cIncation
placed before the cause of 6 '''-on
for your solution,
In the school room are the EIrann 81
of the future destinies of our teS :,
the salvation of mankind stal
manger at Bethlehem.