The Savannah morning news., 1902-03-16
TEACHING IN PHILIPPINES.
AMERICAN INSTRUCTORS FIND
MANY PROBLEMS.

The Spanish system Has Taken n
strong Hold Upon the FiIipinOs
and Confronts the Americans nj
Every Turn-They still Believe
Spain to BE the Largest Country
in the worId-UncIe Sans Teach
ers Are Doing Their Best to Yam
keeize the Little FiIipinOs, But
Find They Have a Difficult Job on
Their Hands.
Columbia, S. c., March 15.-Charles
D. Epps, a South Carolina College
graduate, now one of Uncle Sans
teachers of Filipino children, writing
from Binan, Laguna, gives some prac-
teal information about the difficulties
encounted in teaching the young ma
tive mind how to shoot. In some res
poets they much resemble the troubles
of white people among the negroes of
South Cardinals seacoast Islands. Mr..
Epps says:
To write intelligently of the Philip
pine. schools is out of the question at
this early day. have just been read
ing a little book which describes forty
seven distinct tribes who live in these
islands, and there are doubtless MANY
tribes that have never been visited by
a white man. Each tribe has it's own
dialect. its own customs, its own pecu-
Uartties hence schools adapted to the
needs of one section might be quite I'M
suitable in a town a comparatively few
miles away.
The schools started by the Spaniards
have in many instances been found a
little out Of line with new ideas
brought over by Americans The chill
dren are naturally disposed to be noisy
and II seems that those he taught them
formerly increased this tendency by
recurring them to study aloud, and just
as loud as lungs would permit. Any
one acquainted with the Filipino Will
agree that this was not such an un-
y, So method as it might seem, because
1t prevents whispering and at the same
TIME assures the teacher that the child
Is not trying to work a bluff by mere
" looking on the book while he is real
" wondering if a pin could penetrate
the calico trousers of his desk mate.
The children here are certainly full OF
mischief though l am told that in other
parts of the province they are easily
managed.
Kept Children in Pen.
One native teacher decided not to
worry about discipline, so she built a
large pen in the yard. In this pen she
confined all the children, allowing the
classes to crawl out trough crack
when she wanted them.
Many of the Biographies distributed
throughout the islands represented
Spain as the largest country on the
map, and it is almost impossible to
citauge The false suppression this made.
Many of the native teachers returned
the maps sent out by the Americans,
saying they were all wrong as the
United States was made to appear lar
ger than the Philippines or even Spain
itself.
In view of all this it might seem a
task to try and teach these poor peo-
pie cur language and our methods.
we'll, 1t Is a task but 1t Is already a
J. de- success. There are probably 20
young men and women in this town
who have learned already enough Eng
lish to carry on a fair conversation,
while hundreds of children have made
such progress that it is very little
trouble to make them understand and
answer questions to short sentences.
English pronunciation is very diff
ficult for those who have been taught
only Spanish. The children persist in
their own pronunciation and it requires
time, patience, skill and a fair amount
o. religion to be successful in over
coming this difficulty.
The native teachers are rather cruel
in their ways of punishment. The boys
are sometime made to kneel and
a tpeir arms horizontally in front
of the body until they are exhausted;
at other times they have their ears
+1,isted or get a flogging with a bam-
boo cane.
The female teacher usually punish
their pupils by pinching. And pinching
ie serious matter to the average girl
who wears absolutely nothing but one
thickness of gauze or mosquito netting,
and especially so when the pinch is APP
r'ied beneath even this slight protec-
tion.
a., course the Americans abolish such
r~ethods of torture-and invent new
ones.
1t remains to be seen whether we
can teach them to be honest and truth
full At present they do not possess
the virtues. 1 believe they really love
to lie. and they often do so without
any apparent reason.
1t has so far been impossible to have
regular attendance. There are no laws
to force it and the parents do not
seem to care anything about 1t. 1t is
a common thing to ask why some boy
was absent and be told HE fly de kits
and spin de top" We have not taught
the children any American games be-
cause they would be sure to stay at
home and play all day long.