Middletown transcript., 1896-11-21

6Atefsu ut We fOst OUtce as Sec0H0-ctuSs WuWe'
kIDDLETOWN, DEL, NOV. 81, 1885,
OUR INSTITUTES.
"We have just closed the best Insti.
tute ever held in the State," or trifle
more modest "the county,, has beer
the fiatteriDg report, substantially the
same for the past twenty-one years,
made by some interested reporter per-
haps to win favor, until the observing
reader who has not attended any OF
these annual gatherings may have come
to look upon the compliment >as the
correct thing" and that it means
nothing more than one of society e
pleasant phrases. This is not correct,
though the compliment has not been
always strictly true. The remark was
necessarily true of the first Institute
ever held in the State, twenty-one
years ago, and has been true many
times since. To look back and COM
pare the gatherings Of twenty-one
years ago, the methods, the work, the
results, is to be convinced that pro-
gress has been made along the lines of
public education in Delaware. There
had been no supervision of the public
schools in the State until that year, no
examinations required of the teachers,
each local district being law unto it.
self where the first Saturday Of April
witnessed many a conflict between
s'taxn and "no tax" The State for
years'rendered no aid to the Institutes
and as one of the county superintend-
ents put it once the teachers were an
nually called together ''to swap igno-
rance" But good has come out of the
trade made between the teachers of
their imperfect knowledge. Ministers
OF the gospel, members of The bar,
local men of affairs contributed cheer
fully and gratuitously to the early In
stitutes by lectures and addresses, and
gradually the Institutes Of our State
to-day have come to be schools of in
struction. It is no reflection upon them
to say they may be improved upon as
they are not yet ideal but mo teacher
worthy Of the name can listen to such
addresses az those delivered in Middle
town this week by Professors A. E.
Winship, James M. Coughlin and
George NJ. Phillips and not go away
with ideas to use in the school room.
And the teachers, the best Of them,
twentv-one years ago took home ideas
from Me Institute, but they were of a
different character. The instructors
OF to-day are professionals while those
of '76 were amateurs, themselves seek
ing instruction. And the Inst itute in
structors have learned much in the
past twenty-one years as to the best
methods Of imparting instruction. Del
aware has had the aid Of paid instruc-
tors for about ten years only, the pay
ing Of the evening lectures by the ad-
mission fees having been first adopted.
Without any disparagement of the
earlier Institutes or flattery Of those of
to-day, we can but note the improve
ments and especially along the line of
practical work. 1t should be SO. 1t
would be cause for regret were it not
30. And the inquiry presents itself:
Have the teachers and their schools
made similar progressp Those best able
to answer are, or should be, parents
and school commissioners.
The fact of better methods in the in 4,
dividual school depends upon the in
dividual teacher. A real live, enthusi-
astic teacher makes growing school.
DR.. Winship made that plain by his
references to Pestalotzzi and Horace
Mann. The secret of their success was
within them though it seems almost
by chance that they fell into the work
which made them both famous, and it
was not until late in their lives that
they gave to the world the knowledge
of their powers as educators. There
must be something within else moth
ing can be drawn out. If that some
thing is innate 1t is SO much again,
otherwise it must be acquired by more
or less effort. The teacher who real
ICES that no progress is Eeing made
year after year in her 1school room, or
his, should not wait day to resign.
We do not refer to the natural progress
the result of daily routine but to new
and better methods. The teacher who
does not get something from the in
struction at the Institutes is a failure,
for the brightest and most active mind
must there find much food for thought.
Parents should take enough interest in
these matters to make inquiry, to in
Vestigate for themselves and know if
their schools get the benefit Of the in
strnction given to their teachers. They
owe this much to the State to say
nothing of their duty to their children.
The evening lectures are a distinct
feature Of the Institutes. They must be
entertaining to be popular and are
often very instructive. The teachers
and the citizens of the towns where the
sessions are held are afforded an op-
portunity Of hearing the men whose
reputation Is more or less extended and
whom they would not probably hear in
any other way. Ard these evening en-
tertainments aie relied upon to sustain
the Institute, the hundred dollars ap-
propriated by the State really being
only supplementary aid. This much is
said in reply to the oft made criticism
that the money of the State is wasted
on frivolous evening entertainments.
49, H.