Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-07
PROBLEMS FOR EDUCATORS
Methods of Teaching Children Discussed by
DR.. ]. M. Rice. ioi
LACK OF SOME DEFINITE STANDARD
Prominent Educators Differ ms to tn,
Time Necessary to Devote to
Dincrc~ branches
of study. "np

In the December Forum tho question
How Shall the Child be Taught" is dis
Guessed at some length aud in suggestive
manner by DR.. j. NJ Rice, who \ss for
some years been engaged in an vesIr,tion
into the methods and results of the public
schools. The efforts of children 4 the first
years of their school work arsApt, II is
confessed, adequately reward 3 Vkesults.
What are the obstacles andne cons olthey
to be overcome? When he loked tc,s study
of the American educational system Dr..
Rice was impressed with the idea that the
chief obstacles were politics in school
boards, incompetent supervision and insult
icient preparation on the part of teachers.
These he still thinks responsible for the in
efficiency of many schools, but mature re-
Election has led him to conclude that these
are but symptoms OF more deeply hidden
disease-the want of fixed convictions on
the part of educators as to standard Of
achievement and the length of time the
average child must consume to attain 1t.
What is to be expected of Il we'll taught
child after fve-year course of schooling :?
Upon the answer to this simple but funda
mental question hardly any two educators
can be brought to agree.
In matters pertaining ( DlDctical
says DR.. Rice, ARE not much more definite
than they might have been a century ago.
Indeed, so crude are they that no sooner do
we dip beneath the surface in our Inquiries
than we find ourselves surrounded by utter
confusion. The statements made on practi-
cal questions, even among our leading edu
Gators, are conflicting to the point of alb
surdity. And as there are no proofs to offer
rs to who is right and who is wrong, We are
left completely without guide. Every
thing is speculative; nothing is positive.
L think L believe are the stereotyped ex-
pressons. L know has not yet been ad-
mitted. Some say a one-year course in
technical grammar Is as good as a 1ve-year
course while others affirm that the results
will be just as good If technical grammar
be entirely omitted from the elementary
course. AS to spelling, there is like diver
gence of opinion. Many educators wish the
child to give forty minutes daily to spelling
while others contend that five or ten min
utes will suffice. third party will argue
that spelling lessons are unnecessary, since
the child gets in reading and writing the
very exercise required to make him a good
speller. There is in fact no agreement as
to the proper treatment of the most elemen-
tary subjects. The three RS are not
taught by methods known to be effective in
giving satisfactory results in a known
length of time. Nor is there any clear
definition of what is meant by satisfactory
results" a
What is wanted before pedagogy can be
recognized as a science, according to DR..
Rice, is an agreement as to, certain truths
in regard to educational processes, which,
If ignored by the teacher, will make him
fully as liable to prosecution for malprac-
tice as the physician who has bungled in
setting a bone" There must be an accurate
standard of measurement for educational re-
suits, so that the teacher may know when
his task in a given branch has been salts
factorily performed, and also a standard
period of time to be allotted to the achieve
ment of a given task. Such standards are
attainable by patient observation. By
means of examinations in many schools on
various topics 1t is practicable to get def
mite conclusions where all is now vague and
speculative. The number of children ex-
amined by DR.. Rice in search of facts from
which to deduce pedagogic standards has
been thus far about 100000. and progress
has been made, he thinks, toward the de-
sided goal. His investigations have extended
through eight years. A number of assist
ants have been employed in tabulating his
observations, and the general result is such,
he says, as will, in his opinion, destroy
many of our preconceived notions. The out
come of his labors, II successful, will be
'an educational psychology, of which we
have long been speaking but which in fact
does not yet exist"