Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-11
ESSENTIALS IN TEACHING
Dr. ]. M, Rice Makes Valuable sugges.
tions on the Subject.
URGES MANY EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
Results of Investigations by the Au-
thor Set Forth In nn Inter-
tnininE and Instruct-
i've Article.

The Investigations OF Dr. ]. NJ. Rice into
the educational methods pursued in the
common schools Of the country have at
tractcd widespread attentions and dcservcdly
so. because lie has shown up their short
comings and urged reforms, the adoption
of which appeared to him necessary to place
tho schools in the front rank. In a paper
in the January Forum DR.. Rice discusses
the question, "How Shall a Child BE
Taught?" and points out the essentials in
elementary education. The following eX-
tract cpitomizes the doctors argument:
AT present the time devoted to the 3 RS
alone, in the mechanical schools, is In the
neighborhood of 20 per cent 1t might be
possible, however through a process of eX-
clusion, to reduce this time by 80 per cent
or more. Indeed so great may be the
change brought about, that what Is now
regarded as the body of the work of the
elementary school would constitute only a
side issue. If this should be true. then, of
course the possibilities OF enrlchng the
course of study would be almost unlimited.
Society expects, for example, that the
Individual shall be able to write a letter in
woll-constructcd sentences and without
grammatical errors. 1t is not concerned,
however, as to whether or not the writer
the words in his letter. If facts should
prove, beyond question, that individuals
who can parse and analyZe with facility
are able to construct better sentences than
these who are unfamiliar with technical
grammar, this subject might rightly be
placed among the essentials of school work
IT, however, it should be proved that the
English employed by those who had not
studied technical grammar was practically
as good as that employed by those who had
had a thorough grounding in it, then this
subject could not be regarded as essential
but would belong to the domain of mental
gymnastics The Importance OF such ques-
tion of relative values becomes strikingly
apparent when we consider that thirty-five
minutes a day is equivalent to an entire
school year out of the eight devoted to
elementary education. Consequently, by
economizing only a little here and there
by the exclusion Of merely part Of the
disciplinary measures of minor or doubtful
Importance, such drill in arithmetcal
puzzles superiine penmarship. in parsing
and analysis beyond what is actually
needed, it might be possible to save as much
as the equivalent of two school years. which
might then be utilized toward enriching the
course of study. without in any way neglect
ing the essentials.
Geography. and particularly that phase
which treats of the location of places, the
boundaries of states and countries the
offers a broad field for exclusion without
true less in any particular. How much
waste there Is in the old-fashioned method
of teaching this subject becomes apparent
when we consider how exceedingly little the
average individual has to show a year or
two after leaving school for the numerous
hours a week during five or six years, de-
voted to this study
while the number of geographical facts
in geographical geography that the in
divldual is required to know, in order that
he may be able to take an intelligent in
terest in the affairs OF the world, is con-
siderable 1t is nevertheless very small when
compared with that which the child is COM
PEELED to acquire in the traditional course
of instruction. Indeed, so great, in my
opinion, is the discrepancy between what
the child is compelled to memorize in the
old-fashiOned schools and what the citizen
is expected to know that l do not regard
1t as an exaggeration to say that the course
in typographical geography might be short
ened by 20 or so per cent without neglecting
what Is useful"