The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1900-02-02
The Great Need of the Educational
System of Ohio.

VI UN6 OUdUo, not one Is U6VO-
led to the professional training of
jeachers, not one affords the opportuni-
~ of any thing like an adequate course
Of professional instruction for the
of the State.
Next May, thirty-fve pupils will
graduate from our high school. An ad
number will graduate from
village and township high schools in
the county. In all, it is fair estimate
to say that there will be sixty gradu-
ates from these schools in May, in this
and that half of them intend to
teach. If these would-be teachers came
to me and asked for information as to
the best school in the State to prepare
for wise and skillful teaching, the best
school for the professional training of
teachers, I would be under the painful
necessity of telling them that the great
and wealthy State of Ohio had no such
school; that they must go to Michigan,
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, or some
other normal school State for this
training, so vital to their highest Sue
cess. Is not an educational system vi
tally, radically, fundamentally defec-
tive that does not make liberal provis-
ion for the professional training of it's
teachers? What is true of this county
is equally true of every county of the
State. 1t is fair to say, and it is low
estimate, that of the students who
graduate in the public schools in this
section of the State, 600 intend to
teach, and that large majority of these
would attend a professional training
school if located conveniently, so that
such training could be secured at mini
mum cost; and what is true of this sec
tion of the State is true of every other
section.
FUNCTION OF THE STATE NORMAL
SCHOOLS.
The work of these schools would be
unique. They are not to teach Greek,
Latin, German, or French, but they are
to teach teachers how to teach with skill
and wisdom. They are not to educate
young people for the pursuit of law,
medicine or engineering, but to prepare
them for more direct and efficient serv-
ice to the State, for service in which
the State is more vitally concerned
than in any other work.
The establishment of series of five
normal schools will not materially in
terfere with the patronage of the pri-
NdU6 SCuOOlS Vi bue Oudue, IOF Uu6S0
schools are to be schools for the profes-
sional training of teachers, and will
cover field of work for which our pri-
vate schools have made no provision.
and will not, in the nature of things.
That this is the purpose of the school
men of Ohio is confirmed by the adop-
tion of resolution by the State Teach
ers' Association and its Legislative
ft<~,.o l., ,aL 1e, f11l
''The object of these schools is tC
raise the standard of excellence of the
teachers of our public schools by af
fording them courses of instruction ir
the history, science and art of educa
cation, and in methods of teaching the
various branches taught in our public
schools
A SYSTEM FOR ALL PEOPLE.
Two, more or less dinergent, pol
icies, always present themselves il
the discussion of the question
Shall these schools be devoted
to the service of the multitude
the rank and file, and prepare teachers
only; or shall they be devoted to the
select few to prepare them for educa
tional leadership in the more responsi
bic positions? There are advocates fol
both of these positions. The schoo
men of Ohio are striving to secure botf
of these aims. This is why they have
urgently and unitedly requested the
General Assembly to establish series
of five, one to be located at Columbus
whose aim will be to prepare for edu
cational leadership. The chief func
| ton of the other four, located in differ
ent sections of the State, will be th.
preparation of the multitude, the ranl
ana file. of the town and rural schools
These schools would be pre-eminentl,
| the peoples schools, to serve the poor
est and humblest teacher, as well as tn
well-to-do and highest. To establish
but one of high grade at the Stat
Capital for the preparation for educa
tional leadership in a State whose rura
schools system has no leaders, woul
be unfair, undemocratic and gross in
| Justice to the rural schools. We stan
and contend for policy, series c
State Normal Schools for the Who'll
State, for all classes and grades, for tn
many as we'll as the few.
STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS AS AN EDt
CATIONAL FORCE IN THE RURAL.
SCHOOLS.
| A series of five professional trainin
schools would affect every community
These schools would have an elemeT
tary course adapted to the needs an
conditions of rural teachers, who hav
not had the opportunities of higher e(
ucation. A course of professional trair
ing so arranged would make the rurt
membership in these schools large.
This is not theory, but a fact full
realized in the best normal schOt
States.
The Wisconsin report says: SIN th
other schOols"-those outside the Mi
waukee higher grade-''the rural men
bership is large and constitutes a mo:
valuable element in these schools.
The same report declares that 18th
country school get their chief benef
/, from the normal schools, through tn
|, greater body of undergraduates, p
, class of teachers who have not W
graduated, but have had the benef
, of a more or less extended training
these schools. This part of the repOl
closes with the statement that the il
, fuences of the Wisconsin norm;
schools is the most widely known, an
, effectively felt in the rural schoO
! through it's undergraduates. 1t is th
testimony of those who are in positio
to speak with authority, coming frOl
the States where they have the be.
type of normal schools, that "thes
schools have a marked effect upon tn
f growth of the educational sentiment
, the whole state" With this growt
of education sentiment so essential
advancement, what good results migf
, be achieved for the rural schools, |
, this State one of the great edecation,
: needs is the establishment of townshi
: high schools. If the lowest requir,
Al