The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-03-15
THE DECLINE OF TEACHING.


The recent death of Miss Porter, who
for half a century conducted we'll
known school for young women at Far
mington, Conn, calls attention to one of
those far-reaching changes which have
done so much in these fifty years to
! transform American education. 1t is
at least curious coincidence that the
development Of the modern science of
pedagogy, with its array of physiology
cal and psychological data, should have
| been accompanied by q distinct decline
In the prominence Of t aacher No
one, we suppose, will q that the
number of great teache decidedly
less now than it once was, and that the
depleted ranks are not being adequately
/ filled up.
While this dearth of teaching power,
Notwithstanding the persistent efforts
to overcome it, Is characteristic of all
departments Of education, 1t is especial
ly noticeable in the college and univer-
stiles. Perhaps, in no single respect, in
deed, does the average college of the
present day contrast more sharply with
the college Of generation or two ago.
The histories Of most of our older in
stitutlons record the names of many
distinguished men who, over and above
their additions to knowledge in their
RESPECTIVE fields, left upon their students
marked individual Impressions as teach
ers The names Of Mott at Union col
lege, Hopkins at Williams, Wayland at
Brown Tyler at Amherst, during the
period when all these were small col
leges, are enough to cite. That the
equipment of such men for their specific
duties was sufficient was, for the most
part, assumed without question; but 1t
is as instructors, rather than as schol-
ars that they are most fondly remeIn-
bered, In the minds of the older grad
yates, their figures assume, with the
lapse Of years, somewhat of heroic pro-
portions, and their determining influ-
ence upon thought and life is constant
~ recalled
That such conditions no longer gen
orally prevailsis, We suppose, matter Of
common observation. With all the ex-
cellence of their work, comparatively
few instructors to-day get much hold Of
individuals in their classes To be sure,
the average college or university teach
er Is immensely Industrious, and ex-
ceedingly learned. His students acquire
a much greater body of positive facts
than formerly. and their knowledge is
commonly Of a more practical sort.
But somehow he rarely succeeds in
awakening the personal affection which
marks the work Of the great teacher, or
in making for himself a name as other
than sound scholar, or d good lectur-
err, or an attractive writer IT Is by the
knowledge he has impaired, or the
stores of erudition he has made avail
able, that he is most remembered, rath-
err than by his skill In Stimulating an in
terest in intellectual things, or by the
large and inspiring qualities of his
mind and heart
The causes Of this change are, doubt
less, to be found in the same forces
which have, in recent years, given to
higher education so great a lift. The
rise of the university, with its empha-
sis on specialized learning as the only
learning worth having, has set a pre-
MUM on intensity rather than breadth
VI a''u'iiiie'. Nut"itHstaHuiis Hh7
praise"orthy knowledge, INDUSTRY ana
ueVotioh' the modern university lnstruc-
ter especlaliy II ne mas peen trained
withlh the Iast twenty years, rarely
has much of the broad outlook upon
things which was so noticeably charac-
teristlc OF the oluer culture In lntei-
iectual matters ne Is ilKely TO feel NM
SELF tyrannlzed by men oder ana more
learned than himself ana TO De amor
MANY sensitive ABOUT Sight oelclencles'
Inc drudsery OF the Classroom, the
SLOW ana paiHstahihs ueailng Win lhul-
Viduals, are TOO otten regarded as pur-
den' TO De shirted as much as possible
upon the shoulders OF younger men.
Inc new view OF the teachefs rune
tons seems 10 nave, aiso, the stamp OF.
olIHial approval broauiy speaking
pronounced AFFINITY as teaohef' uhac-
companied by the production or at least
one learned work. Is not passport TO
distinction IL very rarefy leads 10
prnmotlon III other WORDS, the higher
the standards or the lnstltution the less
place IL seems 10 nave Tor men ana wo-
men whose ehler power is their ABILITY
TO teach, 1t is the making OF DOCKS ana
not the training or the young IN haplts
or thought ana WORK, that DOGS out 10
the teacher OF t0-Q1V the main promise