Evening star., 1898-07-12

element that conficted with its own funda-
mental ideas 1t has steadily outgrown
european ideas and habits which the sue
cesslve groups of colonists and immigrants
brought from home. Whatever may have
peen attempted to the contrary by special
classes OF scholars, educators, ecclesastics
or pubicists, the people, fast they
! nave become really assimilated to the ma
tfonal order of society ard government,
nave refused to follow, and, from their own
ranks, have elected leaders under whose
direction they have fallen into line with the
American idea of universal education.
Continuing, DR.. Mayo said In the COM
mon school, as in all departments of So
ciety and government, the people of the
United States have reversed the European
idea that education proceeds from the uni
versity downwards. For two hundred
years the university and college held the
common school at arms length. The state
university of today is evolution from
the original common school of go years
ago
The American common school has solved
the religious question in popular education
by demonstrating that the American YER
sion OF the new education is the most conf
plete organization of the ideas and ideals
OF the absolute religion proclaimed and
lived by the world S great teacher, for the
training of a whole people for a genuine
republican civilization. Every feature of
superior common school system responds
to some fundamental principle and method
of the universal gospel of love to God and
man, without which nationality like our
own would be impossible.
Man, the Symbol User.
Superintendent Nathan C. Schaeffer of
Harrisburg, Pa. followed. His theme was,
Man, the Symbol User
In no direction, he said, has mans in
ventive genius done more to facilitate his
work and mis- intercourse with his fellow
men than in the invention of the symbols
which he uses to facilitate thinking, and
to aid the communication of thought to
others At every important step of pro-
gress he invents and uses spoken and writ
ten signs and symbols 10 designate the
things with which he deals, to formulate
and communicate the conclusions which
h5 has reached, to embody the new ideas
ana thoughts which he evolves. to en-
Shrine and transmit the intellectual treas
ures which he acquires. You might as
wei, ask a workman to labor without tools
as expect human being to think without
those symbols, which have been justly nam
ed the tools of thought
1t is impossible to teach well without
perceiving the function of the symbol in
all thinking and in all school work. The
sign and the thing signifed the symbol
and the reality for which it stands, the
word and the idea which 1t conveys, may
become so closely associated that pupil
and teacher speak of the one as If 1t were
the other, and the two are not kept dis
tinct in the pupils mlrd often not in the
teachers thinking. The noun is SAID to be
a name. just If it were immatcrial
whether we say, Observation-Disclosures has a
long noun or long name GENDER is
spoken of If it were identical with sex
No distinction is made between tense ard
time, between mode and manner between
number in arithmetic md number il gram
mar. Worse still. the pupil is often expect
ed to learn one thing when he is taught
another. He is expected TO get the idea
of number from the figures which indicate
number, the idea of the fraction from
two figures with q limo bat hey no
musical sounds from the notation on the
musical staff, the sentiment of patriot
ism from a piece of buuriny religion from
the symbol of the cross the cruciix,
and so on to the end Of the chapter of
pedagogical malpractice.
But the worst sin consists in Withholding
from a pupil the knowledge Of the SYM
bol and in requiring him to think in
thin gs when he ought to be thinking in
symbols.
To insist that we must always pass from
the idea to the word. woulI Danish the
best use of the dictionary from the school
room. namely, that in " lich pupil looks
up the meaning of words.
The flag is the symbol Of our national
life The cross is the symbol of the Chris
tians faith and hope. When these are
rightly used they become helps IN mpart-
ing patriotism and Christianity and in fix
ing these potent factors in the hearts
and lives of the rising generation.