The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-03-23
NORMAL SCHOOLS.


On Friday evening representatives OF the
Richmond Education Association appear
ed before the State Committee on Pub
lie Institutions and the House Commit
tee on Education, in joint session, and
urged that an appropriation be made for
additional normal schools in Virginia for
the training Of public-school teachers. In
the Educational Department Of The Times
this morning will be found an interest
ing and instructive communication on this
sister of Mrs. Mary Howard Bruce of
Richmond and teacher in the Indiana
Normal School Of Pennsylvania
First of all, Miss Howard calls atten-
ton to the fact that, while Virginia has
only one normal school, New York mas
ten and Pennsylvania has thirteen She
says that schools have been located at
convenient points in Pennsylvania and
that pupils can attend the school Which
suits them best These schools are State
institutions and derive their support from
the public revenue She declares that
hardly be overcstimated, and she speaks
as one who knows. She tells us that
the aim has been not to prepare pupils
for high positions, but by training teach
crs to raise the general tone Of the public
schools throughout the State. The per-
son who holds a certificate of a normal
school has the right to teach for two
years in any public school of the State
without further examination: whereas
the holder of a college certificate must
stand the examination required by the
county board at the end of each year.
There is little knowledge in Virginia,
we fear, as to what a normal school
really Is. Many people have an idea
that person who has taken a course
at college is prepared to teach school,
Such people seem to think that if a man
or woman knows anything, that man or
woman is capable of teaching; but teach
ing Is profession, as truly so as law
or medicine or Journalism or any other.
X is not enough that person shall
have taken literary course at college.
L
must understand the art of imparting
knowledge This implies great DEAL
1T implies a. knowledge of human nature;
it implies a knowledge of children and
their ways and disposition; it implies the
art of pleasing, the art of gaining the
confidence Of the child. II teacher
can once gain the confidence and affec-
uon of their pupils the rest will be easy.
Without such confidence and affection
teachers have a hard and irksome task.
In the normal schools men and women
are trained to teach. Miss Howard
SAYS that in the Pennsylvania schools
the pupil must take charge of class,
and, under close supervision ana lndl-
yidual and general criticism, do the best
work he can. If the work under the
trained teachers Of the institute is not
satisfactory the pupil, no matter how
ACCOMPLISHED in other respects he may be,
will not receive certificate. In short
the school will not graduate a teacher
until the applicant has shown that he has
the ability and qualifications of a
teacher. There are poor teachers, as
sure as there are poor lawyers and doc
tors and professors and mechanics. There
are some men and women who would
never learn the art of teaching. no mat
Ter how long they should study; and that
brings us to the last point of this ar
ticle.
These normal schools not only train
men and women to teach, but they pre-
vent men and women who have not the
ability to teach from getting into the
schools 1t has been time and again
pointed out to the readers OF The Times
| by the correspondents that there is much
| fayoritism throughout Virginia IN the Sc
| lection of teachers; that the merit sys-
| TEN does not always prevail; that good
| teachers are turned aside and poor teach
ers selected, because the poor teachers
have some peculiar pull upon the powers
| that be- The way to remedy this is
for the State to train a certain number
| of men and women to teach school aid
| to permit none who has not been prop
I erly trained in this profession to teach.
We do not permit men to practice med
| icine until they have been trained in some
medical school: NE do not permit men to
practice law until they have learned the
law; yet we seem to think that anybody
who has smattering of education is
GOOD enough to train our children; and
there is no standard. It is true that
we have form OF examination, but it
Is not required that teachers shall have
sbeen trained in a teachers school; and
under our system OF examination ANYBODY
that the county superintendent takes 9