St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-01

ed. The session at the senate cham
Der was held by the superintendent
section of the association. 1t began at
o'clock with the roll call, which was
followed by the secretary's report.
The paper of the afternoon was then
read by Orville McCrillis. 1t was up
tons and the present system was Sc
verely criticised: Under the present
method, it is claimed, the question of
politics enters very strongly into the
system, and the work of the public
schools Is, as result, greatly i'm
paired. strong plea was therefore
made for the abolition Of the plan Of
having the examinations conducted by
the county superintendent. 1t was
suggested,S or rather demanded, that
a state board of examination be pro-
vided to conduct all the teachers ex-
aminations and take that work away
from the superintendent. This, it was
urged, would greatly aid the school
system in the accomplishment of bet
ter work. 1t was also urged that the
length of time for certificates be ex-
tended with all three Of the grades
AT the conclusion of the paper a live
ly discussion ensued which was en-
tered into by large number. The
paper was both Endorsed and criticized.
Those who led the discussion were Miss
Flora Frost and T. B. Diamond.
A. E. Engstrom then read a brief plea
for better and more systematic sys-
tenn of common school organization.
The paper was followed by an inter-
esting dicussion of the question. The
association then turned to the transac-
ton of some routine business mat
tiers. committee9on legislation was
appointed, consisting of A. E. Eng
strom, Goodhue; ]. B. McKelvey, Da-
kota; B. S. Covell, Kandiyohi.
The committee on resolution was also
appointed, and consisted Of Supts.
Buell., Whitman and Chapman. A spe-
cial committee for securing uniform
ity in teachers examinations was ap-
pointed with the following members:
Orville McCrillis. Flora Frost, Ger
trude Ellis, A. E.. Engstrom and H.
Hall.
The session of the elementary section
of the association also began at O'Clock
and was held in the house of represen-
tatives' hall. 1t was opened by the
reading of paper by Supt. R. e. Den
field, of Duluth, upon the subject, 1.-The
Eaity Of Common School Subjects. %
Many q the theories advanced in the
paper were entirely new and. as was
shown in the subsequent discussion, did
not meet the approval of all present.
The problem of the unification of
school work is involved in three parts
or elements which are: first, the teacher;
second, the subject taught, and third
the pupil.
In consideration of the first element
the teacher must be thoroughly trained
in the subjects to be taught; these sub
jectS must exist in the consciousness
potentially before they can become a
factor of education. AS to the subject
must be utilized. The mind of the
child is such that it can not readily
comprehend the abstract and so the
rudiments of education should deal with
such things as come within the observa-
ton of the pupil and the line of his ex-
periences, and throughout the day there
should be a uniication of the topics
treated. AS to the child it must be
treated from the standpoint of a child
rather than a man, but the education
should be conducted upon the propo-
sition that it is a coming man.
The paper then told of the good being
done by the Society of Child Study. OF
which G. Stanley Hall is the head II
has applied many of the theories which
have been evolved as result of its
investigation. The statement was also
made that the system of free text books
is a very important factor in the unfit
cation of subjects. The discussion
which followed was led by S. S. Parr
and Louis II. Galbreath.
A brief paper was then read by Miss
Hannemann, Of Mortified, on language
teaching. The paper made a strons
plea for the best culture in study OF
art and literature
The association gives promise of being