Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-01-25

a genuine interest in true child life
for children are the most sublime
thought Of God
1t is claimed by some that State
Normal schools will diminish tie at
tendance upon our colleges. Accord
ing to the best evidence we can OBJ
tain, this has not been the experience
of states having both Normal schools
and colleges. The alma OF the college
and the Normal school arc so radical.
ly different that neither can do the
work Of both. They may be supple
mental, but they are not identical. The
one in its training is academic, the
other is professional.
Indeed, our unusual number of ex-
cellent academic schools makes unus-
ual provision for the fundamental
qualifications of the teaching service
"A high type OF liberal learning. Few
states are able to make such adequate
provision. and by reason of this. Ohio
is ready to give the professional ped
agogical school a larger and higher
function than almost any other state.
While we recognize scholarly at
tainmenr and the scholarly spirit as
tira oI IN,
must also recognize the distinction be-
tween the teacher and the mere schoi-
ar. That which differentiates the one
from the other, or rather that which
projects the one into the other, is that
special and specific knowledge which
can come only from the professional
school.
VIII not every Board of Education
in Ohio stand with the teachers of the
state in urging the General Assembly
to pass the bill recently introduced
by Mr.. Scese?. TO provide for the es-
tablishment and organization of n SER
les of state normal schools, including
one normal college, for the purpose
of better qualifying and training
teachers for the public schools of the
state"
The normal school idea has arisen
almost within the memory of living
man, and has spread itself almost
over our modern system of education.
Every state in the Union except three,
all point with pride TO the efficiency
of their normal schools, and not a
single state that has established
normal schools has ever given them
up after having them fairly tried. As
has been said, the normal school idea
is not by any means new in Ohio. The
first official Recommendation made in
this country for normal schools, came
in 1917 from Governor Worthington
Horace Mann, the founder of normal
schools in Massachusetts, was not in
sympathy with the idea that teachers
should have special training, more
than was Ohio's first School Commits
sioner, Samuel Lewis. In speech
made to the General Assembly he
said:
1T may now be considered settled
question that there is something pc
culiar in the art of governing and
teaching school, which may be
taught or learned as any other art OF
profession. There are, to be sure,
many excellent self-made teachers,
who have become so by long expert
epce and labor, as there are many
self-made men who are eminent in all
the professions, and in neither case
can it be pretended that the success
OF one man, without superior advan-
tagcs, would justify lis in abolishing
luosc ihStiuSiiuus Which dEc litcuuSu
10 aid students in such professions, or
that because few succeed in spite
of their disadvantages, therefore all
men can do so. If one man has learn
ed to govern large school with very
little corporal punishment, lie can
teach another with ordinary capacity
the same art. If one man has learned
n mode Of approaching each mind, in
such q manner as to wake it up and
secure at once n love for himself and
the study; If he has found the art of
making children reason at an early
age; these, as well as other important
acquisitions, in the business of teach
ing, can be impaired TO others OF or
dinary capacity. Heretofore, teachers
have all acted without associated ef-
fort, each sought his own and no other
interest, his experience died with him,
and no record was preserved OF i'm
provement, as in other professions. I
To this cause may be attributed the
lack of Improvement In Il profession
so important to all our Interests, in
aud collectively. With the
experience Of other uatons and other
~