Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-10-11

a school community ought to insist up
on this as condition. but urge it rs
a wise thing on the part of the teacher
The teacher who ignores in his de-
nnands and expectations the environment
out of which the scholar comes, must
meet with constant disappointment.
The ill-trained. underfed. improperly
clothed scholar is handicapped Inc
teacher must reckon with home den-
ciences. Is culture, refinement, cour-
tesy neglected. is deciicacy of thought.
word or act omitted in the home? These
the teacher must remedy for 1t Is
through these channels that the scholar
is lead into life.
THE atmosphere of the moral senti-
rnent is region of grandeur winch re-
duces ell material mangnificience 10
toys. yet opens to every wreck that mas
reason the doors Of the universe. Can
this be accomplished by our educa-
tionaI system? l know not. 1t Will
take a wiser man than / am to an
swer that. But the interest taken by
our teachers and educators in new
methods and the higher education point
to its speedy solution. Our methods
ought to reach to this height. And /
am sure we shall never be content I'M
I'll they compass the development of
the whole nature and complete a char
acter that shall have both strength
ard beauty. In this work morality
will be the chief cornerstone. When
we are once inspired with this lofty
ideal, I feel sure that all pupils from
the infant to the. full grown and ma
ture man will respond.
so nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man.
When duty whispers, 'Lo. thou must
The youth replies. I can
The afternoon session opened at 2
O'Clock. President DuttOn in the chair.
The first paper was by Supt. e. T.
Wyman of Waterville. Mr.. Wyman in
part said:
The answer to the query prOpounded
in the topic assigned me for brief and
superficial uiscussion-like the answer
to many other questions-depends
largely upon the circumstances in the
case. And instead of attempting to an
swer the question definitely and specifi-
full to set forth the matter in a general
way by tracing briefly the history of
the movement that has given us the
system according to which the pupil
in the schools receives aid from the
teacher of today. You can then draw
your own conclusions better than | can
draw them for you.
There used to prevail the notion that
the teacher was employed to keep
school rather than to teach school. and
that her principal business was to as
sign lessons-often without single
word of explanation-and then see to it
that her pupils kept busy trying to
learn them. Most of the old-time teach
ers were quite satisfied with this sort
of thing-sOme of them because there
seemed to be no easier way, and others
because they really believed in it. They
knew. as everybody who has ever
stopped to think about it knows, that
il is what the pupil does for himself
and not what somebody else does for
him that aids him, and in living up to
their convictions in the matter they
managed to secure with few pupils
some wonderfully fine results. To
seif-reliant. this old way furnished just
the stimulus needed to bring out the
best there was in him. There was al
ways some time wasted, to be sure, but
the generations OF those days furnished
some fine examples of young men and
women WHO were excellently educated.
but practically self-educated.
The chief trouble with this system,
however. lay in the fact that its bene-
fits were for the few instead of for the
man. For a small minority of pupils
it worked all right, but for the great
majority it was a dismal failure. Some
of us are old enough to remember the
instruction and the instructors OF the
old days. I recall one teacher who al
WAYS had in his classes few Drllllant
students in whom his heart delighted,
hut who had along with them an ab-
s,Irdly large crop of what he regarded
az ounces, VINO were indeed not ounces
at all. hut simply pupils who needed
little of the aid that wiser teacher
would have been glad to give them.
But after many years of this sort or
thing there came the dawn of bright
or day. The preachers of a new gospel
of educa ton gained hearing and the
work Of reform began. The primary
teachers Of America were the first TO
see and welcome the new light, ana
under its benign rays they proceeded
at once to revolutioniZe practically the
education of young children. Under
the old regime the school room had