The record-union., 1899-07-09

LOS ANGELES, July S-Although
the opening of the annual convention
of the National Educational Association
is still three days away the number OF
delegates who have already arrived i'll
the city from all parts of the United
States is enough to support the state,
attended. Two thousand or more dele
gates arrived to-day, and a rush of
visitors is anticipated for tomorrow
and Monday and Tuesday.
Among the arrivals to-day were E.
Dram Lyte, President of the National
Educational Association, I. c. Mitchell,
Treasurer; Albert G. Lane, Chairman
of the Board of Trustees, and William
T. Harris, United States Commissioner
of Education. They came in a private
car, and were accompanied by their
families.
The National Council of Education,
which is composed of sixty of the fore
most educators of the country, held it's
first meeting Of a three days session
this afternoon. The meeting was de-
voted to listening to a paper read by
Mrs. Lucie Stickney of the Hughes
High School of Cincinnati Mrs Stick
ney's paper began with sketch of ten
families. numbering from four to f1f-
teen, living in two rooms Of tenement
houses. She said:
These families have little practical
knowledge of buying or cooking whole
some food. The one absorbing thought
is how to get living, and the aim in
rearing children is to get them to work
so that they can pay back what has
h0A g. NJ -.
kept in school by the truant officer until
they are IA, or large enough to be then
graduated into the factory. They arc
without any domestic education, and
seldom become house servants. These
people have abundant church privileges
and often are church goers. Their So
cial opportunity is the all-night ball
which many girls attend twice a week.
With SO large a number of tenement
dwellers, the settlement and free kim
dergarten can only serve as an object
lesson. 1t is through the avenues OF
the public school-with domestic train
ing, a greater intimacy between home
and school-that improvement is to be
sought
At : o'clock tonight the second meet
Ing of the council was held At this
per by Hon. w. T. Harris, United States
Commissioners of Education, on 1.-THE
Future of the Normal Schools"
Mr.. Harris devoted the principal part
of his paper to the new educational
methods which the study of the art of
educating is bringing out 1.-The move
ment known as child study" he said,
(which devotes itself to learning the
OF Of i,,fa
and youth, will discover the laws OF
development. Besides child study
there is progress in the invention of de-
vices of instruction. They will make
the child more self-active in the process
of learning, and not so dependent upon
the teachers power of illustration.
"A good teacher requires the ref1ecs
tive habit fully formed. The Normal
School must make it's pupils observant
of the methods. The fact that the
standard of admission by age into the
Normal School is higher by two years,
three years or even four years, makes
great difference in the work Of study
ing branches constructively Nothing is
more important than age in the prepar-
alton for reflective habit of mind.
Hence the Normal School finds it pos.
sible to conduct all of it's lessons with
special attention to method. While the
pupil of an elementary school learns a
lesson in arithmetic, geography or
grammar only with the object in view
of clearly understanding it, the Normal
School pupil is always to think of the
method of explaining this and making
it clear to boys and girls. He not only
masters the branch of study as pre-
sented in the text book or by the pro-
fessor, but he studies critically the
method of presentation of book and
teacher, and thus acquires a critical
point of view.
..The class work and recitations of the
Normal School therefore take the stu
dent by surprise at first. He supposed
himself to understand already the sim.
pie branches - geography grammar.
arithmetic-but he discovers now that
there were a thousand phases of each
lesson which he had not before noticed.
He sees the Importance Of full prep
aration on the part of the teacher, if he
is to be able to take advantage of the
opportunities which the class exercise
will give him to correct wrong views
and bad methods of preparing the les,
son.
HE therefore studies his second les
son with many side questions in view.
He improves from day to day, and in
the course of a year he has formed a
new ideal of the best method of study
He has passed from the method of fol-
lowing the lead of the text book, and
committing it to memory to the better
method of critical investigation. For
merly he would have been well salts
fed with pupil who repeated verbatim
the words of the book, and would have
done little to probe the understanding
Now he would go directly behind the
words of the book into the pupils un-
derstanding, and teach him how to
think, how to investigate for himself;
for the teacher has acquired in the
Normal School the habit Of comparing
one statement with another, and with
the results of his actual experience. He
penetrates the plan of construction of
the book itself. This makes him q
shining light for his pupils.'
In concluding his remarks Mr.. Har-
ris said ties on the other and the fu-
ture history of the Normal School will
show the gradual adoption of the Kul.
tur-Geschichte standpoint-the discus.
sion of all educational questions in the
light OF the history Of civilization as
I court Of last resort.
The opening Of the general session Of