Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-07-13
COMMON SCHOOL nETHoDs.

President Eliot of Harvard College,
on last Saturday, delivered most in
teresting address at session of the Re-
gents Convocation, at Albany, NY.
He contended for the introduction
of many high school methods into
grammar school work, and that pupils
in grammar schools should be given
chance to study Latin and French.
He also advocated departmental in
struction in elementary schools and
said:
There is much in our elementary
school life which tends to train chill
dreI. to inattention. For example,
one child can get in one minute what
others require an hour to master.
The result is that the first child spends
filty-nine minutes in not attending.
"Children and adults differ also in
their stock of remembered facts. and
here again natural ability must be de-
veloped and expanded. Children diff
fer also in powers of comparison and
Judgment, as we'll as in powers Of
expression and i'll mastery of vocab-
ulary Some boys come to Harvard
College with a vocabulary of only 200
or 800 words. Everything is either
nice or bully They have few
nouns, a limited number of verbs, and
no adjectiyes to speak of.
1.-The original variation in children
should be multiplied and intensified.
This bears on the method ofpromotion,
which should never be mill process
by which uniform products are turned
out in passing through certain grades.
Promotion should be determined by
the capacity of children, and here the
departmental system bears directly
on methods of promotion. We all
know that children differ in capacity
for different subjects. Some can mas
ter mathematics more readily than
others and should be advanced, as
they have acquired proficiency in the
subjects studied. The present grades
keep poor children from finding out
what they want They are taught to
be clerks and are made to feel that
they cannot have the privilege of the
rich man son, to study language in
their carly years.
1.-The present public school system
does not offer the right studies at the
right time. The boy of 9 or 10 years
should begin studies covering the gap
between elementary and high school
work. Objections to beginning these
advanced subjects in early years are:
II. Doubt as to the results of edu-
eating children of the common people
as we'll as possible lest it lift them out
of their sphere. This is one OF the
commonest objections, and is utterly
undemocratic. 1t should, above all
be the object to educate children above
the occupation of their fathers and
mothers. if possible
80. 1t is wholly impracticable to
have such teachers in elementary
work This objection underestimate
the ability of the elementary school
teachers. If unable to deal with adj
vanced work they should be trained
by their superintendent. The de-
nand should be set up and supply
will then be found. 1t can be done,
for it is being done in New England
schools.
-. A great many principals hold
that the foreign born element in their
schools make it impossible to under
take such work They say. Shall
we teach these foreign born children
French, German, aud geometry
Why net? These children are as
bright and as intelligent as American
children: besides, all Of US were for
eign born some generations ago.
There is no force in any of these three
objections, and two of them are man
/
ifestly undemocratic.
President Elliott devoted an hour
to answering questions suggested by
his remarks. In his replies be stated
that the departmental system had
been introduced iuto several Boston
grammar schools in the last two years
of the course, when the children were
about II to IS years of age. Ii some
suburban schools it had been intro
duced still earlier. This is possible
in the richer schools, where large
number Of teachers with assistants to