The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-02-06

which were listened to with great in
terest by the large audience present.
The programme was. commenced by
a piano solo by Miss Carrie Castle. 1t
was received with applause.
A. T. Atkinson, the Inspector-Ge
eraI of Schools, was the first speaker.
His address was on educational aims.
He said that the greatest aim was to
reach the ideal of mental and moral
training. He spoke of the necessity
of a common base upon which to build,
and pointed out that language afforded
that base. He said it was impossible
to obtain the best results from primi-
tive languages; the experiment had
been tried here in the old Hawaiian
schools, but was a failure. The speaker
said that English must be taught
thoroughly, so that the child will not
only speak in English, but think in
English also. He regretted that the
kindergarten schools were being car
ried on with racial differences. He
pointed out that one of the causes Of
failure among teachers was the fact
that they tried to do too much with
the heads of their pupils. The speaker
said that mere knowledge is not by
any means education. This fact had
been learned Of late in these islands.
AS an instance, the speaker mentioned
that q youth had been sent abroad for
the purpose of getting the best educa-
ton obtainable. He returned with
little knowledge, but not enough edu-
cation to keep him out of difficulties.
He spoke of the importance OF training
the hand, and said that the cultivation
of the eye would naturally follow; this
would lead to the greatest aim of the
teacher, viz, the cultivation OF the
power of observation. But these aims,
great as they may be, are insignifi-
can't compared with the great moral
aims which should actuate the
teacher.
After Mr.. Atkinson finished his adj
dress, Miss Richards sang "Spr1ngs
Awakening" to a piano accompani-
ment by Professor Richards, her
, brother.
Professor Hosmer introduced Profess
sor z. Z. Brown, of the California
University. Mr.. Hosmer spoke of the
work Mr.. Brown had done in Califor-
MIA work which was having q
splendid effect on the schools of the
State.
Mr.. Brown said that during his
short stay in Honolulu, he had become
profoundly impressed with the import
ance of education. In no country
where he had had experience was the
immense responsibility Of the teacher
more apparent than in these islands.
He agreed with Mr.. Atkinson in his
remarks about the importance of Ian
guage training, and when he returned
home he would be able to impress
upon the teachers Of California that
importance from his experience in Ho-
nolulu. He said that two things were
absolutely necessary to success in
pedagogy: first, continuity of effort,
and second, cooperation in that effort.
He regretted that the educational
world had engaged heretofore in
game of touch and go. 1t had tried
experiments and had abandoned them
without giving them a fair trial. 1t
had seriously laid itself open to the
charge of being a world of fads. The
speaker said this should be overcome
by continuity of effort. He spoke of
the folly and uselessness OF occasional
teachers meetings for the purpose of
listening to speeches, and pointed out
that il good is to accrue from teachers
associations, they must carefully fol-
low and carry out a continuous line of
thought. Secondly, the questions in
volved in education were so great that
the individual could not deal with
them single-handed, and therefore the
wise teacher would seek the coopera-
ton of his fellows in their common aim
This plan Is now being practiced, to a
large extent, inGermany, where papers
on educational topics are published
one year before the meeting, at which
the papers are to be read. This affords
the students Of pedagogy an oppor-
tunity of making thorough study OF
the subject. This plan is also carried
out to q large extent in Callfornia,
where the State Association issues to
each county thesis to be discussed by
the teachers.
The speaker said the ancient system
of formulating q course OF study and
requiring the teachers to conform to
it was giving way to the better meth
cd Of inducing the teachers to fOrmu-
late their own course of study. The
speaker regretted that the United
States had not yet been able to annex
Hawaii, but expressed the hope that
the teachers of Hawaii would annex
the sympathy and co operation OF
their fellows in the States. He prom
ised that for himself and the Teachers
Association of California, anything
that would tend to benefit of teachers
IN Hawaii would be gladly under
taken.
DIR. Lyons addressed the meeting
also. He said he was glad that the
association had determined upon a
pan Oh work which would agree with
the advice given by the previous
speakers. He expressed the hope that
tne working sections would be in
IulI working order within a week.
A recess was then taken, during
which time short meetings of the diff
ferent "working sections1 were held.