The herald., 1896-12-01
CITY AND COUNTY TEACHERS IN CONVHIDN|

ual1ty and gives him an opportunity to
form purposes in the right direction. He
considers it essential that the work
should be carefully guided by persons
who thoroughly understand both kinder
garten and primary schools. The crowd
ed condition of our schools doubtless
prevents more thorough work in this
department, but If there were smaller
schools and better training much of the
work of higher grades would be unnec-
essary. 1t is q notorious fact that in
France children learn as much in four
and six years as they do in this country
in ten. The teachers of each school must
meet frequently and discuss the chill
dren, each individual child. Child study
is positively essential to success. In the
Indian schools under his care DR.. Hall
man said he avoided crowding the teach
ers in order that they might have one
afternoon to meet and discuss methods
and study the children under their care.
He would bring to the schools fruitful
child study in order to bring the profess
sion to the true idea of Froebel
Mr.. Kirk of San Bernardino followed
in an address on Ancient Myth and Mod
ern Story. The myth, he said. deals with
the fanciful; the child is taken back to
winged Mercuries, laundering Joves and
satyrs, until it becomes fanciful and su-
perstitious; imagines some god in
the air shakes the leaves of the trees
and the wind in the chimney is the
breath of Eolus. He has not the devel-
opment of mind to see what is truly
beautiful in the spirit of the myth.
Referring to the new educational idea
that the child lives over in the Individual
stages of race development, he asked
the teachers If they ever stopped to ask
themselves what that implied. In his
short life he must be in the mental atti-
tude of all the mile stones in human pro-
gress. This whole question of culture
epochs analogical is the kind of reason
ing to beware of, though there are some
analogies that may be recognized be-
tween racial and individual develop
ment. The child does not live over the
| history of the race, he rises to higher
spiritual development; he begins, as has
been said, where his parentsleft off, and
should be given brighter things than
ideas of racial development and mythe,
except in judicious selections, to mt him
for the busy, pushing, growing life
around him.
Professor J. w. Linscott was then in
troduced by Mr.. Foshay, who said Mr..
Linscott had been county superintend-
ent of Santa Cruz county for fourteen
years, and is making his first visit
south of the Tehachepi mountains
The speaker paid high tribute to the
southern part of the state and then ad-
dressed the audience on The Elements
of Good Teacher. He said the teacher,
like the artist and sculptor Is born and
not made. Special training alone will
not make a teacher devoid of other
qualifications. The state normals are
doing good work, but they rely too much
on a diploma. The speaker deplored
the fact that so many pupils from
grammar grades were entering the pro-
fession after few months spent at
stuffiing school. He would rather have
those teachers take places in the gram
mar schools than attempt to teach in
the little country schools up in the noun
tains, as they are better fitted for Sec
ondary than primary work. He made an
earnest plea fer thoroughness in the pro-
fession.
The exercises of the morning closed
with a short talk by Professor Isaacs
on vertical writing.
A feature of the morning program en-
joyed by the large number present was
the music by quintet of ladies' voices
under the leadership of Mrs. Parsons
and an instrumental selection by the
I high school orchestra.
Professor Foshay announced that a
reception would be given Professor
Skinner and other visitors on Thursday
December Sd, from to 4, also that ar
rangements are being made for an ex-
cursion to Mount Lowe.
In the afternoon the city teachers
institute was divided into seven sec
tions.
In each section the work was in charge
of chairman and secretary, and lee
lures were delivered by people who are
well known in educational circles.
Most of the work was strictly tech
nical, but several of the speakers made
more general and popular talks.
In section five. DIR. Plummer advo-
Gated more work by the pupils at home.
II. j. Phillips and others discussed the
paper. BY a unanimous vote of the sec
tion it was declared that teachers should
endeavor to induce parents to give the
pupils time for study at home.
Professor John Dickinson gave an ex-
cellent talk on Morals and Manners. A
lively discussion by Professors Pentland,
Shilling and others followed, during
which the question of requiring pupils
to give information against their fell
lows was also discussed.
In section two music was discussed by
Jennie Hagan, who was pupil Of the
famous Professor Tomlins of Chicago.
She spoke Of his ideas and methods in
an entertaining and convincing manner.
His plan is to disregard the minor tech
nical points ard pay great attention to
tone and expression. She gave the pro-
fessors analysis of the musical qualities
of the various tones.
Miss NJ. Louise Hutchinson gave an
illustrated lecture on the teaching of
elementary drawing. In the primary
grades geometrical forms are used as
the base of the work because of their
regularity and simplicity. Children who
have not been in kindergarten usually
have no idea of proportion and symme-
try, and little idea of form and coloring
In the high school section the first
exercise was a paper on language by
Blanche Leviele of the Los Angeles high
| school. She told of the methods used
there in the study of French, of the sue
cess attained, and of the various rea-
sons given by the students for studying
the language.
The discussion following this paper
was opened by Irwin c. Hatch of the
University of Southern California where.
he said, the same methods were en-
ployed as in the Los Angeles high school.
Mr.. Paul j. Mohr, principal of the Comp
ton high school, confined his statements
more particularly to the study of Ger
man. He believed a practical knoWl-
edge of that language could be best
obtained by much practice with Ger
man people, either in this country or
abroad.
Mr.. Edwards of Throop Polytechnic
institute said that he could see no rea-
son for the crusade against Greek. The
simple fact that few people learn much
Greek is no reason for the abolition
of Greek any more than the fact that
few people understand any science
thoroughly Is an excuse for the elimina-
tiOn of science from the curriculum.