Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-09
THE NEW EDUCATION,
How It Applies to Study Of Geography.

Il saw two classes of Japanese chill
dren from a country school who had
walked three miles through a pouring
rain to visit museum at TOXIC" said
Miss Zonia Baber Of Chicago, to a
Tribune representative.
Miss Baber was one of the delegates
to the eighth International Geographic
Congress. She had charge of the
geography in the Cook County Normal
School when it was made famous by
Colonel Parker. For the last four
years she held the same position in the
School of Education. one of the col
leges of Chicago University. Miss
Baber's favorite method of teaching
geography is to take the children on
excursions which will illustrate to
them the things they have been study
ing about. All people learn more
through observation, she thinks. than
in any other way and this is especial
ly true Of children. who have not a
basis of past observation to enable
them to understand the facts taught
them i'm textbooks and classrooms.
SO strongly does she feel the i'm
portance of thees excursions for school
tldl slit WOulu IdNC StIio'l
boards everywhere appropriate funds
for the purpose.
Switzerland does that" she said.
MANY of the cantons make regular
appropriations every year for the pur-
pose of taking the school children 70
points of historical and physiograpLir
interest. l found it done in Japan
also. / went with a class of sixty
pupils from a school in Toxic to visit
the temples at Nikko. and in the
museum at Toxic I saw these country
children, who had been brought in by
their teachers. who explained the con-
tents of the museum. There was no
means of transportation from the sec
ton from which they came. except
private cOnveyances. so they had
walked in, which took them three
hours"
Miss BaEer took a trip around
the world few years ago. for the pur-
pose of illustrating her own knowledge
of geography at first hand. and also for
the purpose of visiting schools all over
the world She noticed two examples
of British methods of popular educa-
ton which struck her sense of humOr
I'm India ! found the government
schools teaching the children just about
the same things. in just about the same
way. and with just about the same
books, as in the board schools Of Eng
land. No conception that these Indian
children had a different heredity and
environment. and might need different
methods and mental pabulum. seemed
to have entered the minds of the edu
Gators. ON a small scale we are all
doing the same thing. In our city
schools we give exactly the same
course and methods to children of the
foreign quarter, who never see a tree
or a blade of grass. AS we do to Ameri-
can children in the suburbs, who live
almost in the country.
A peculiar illustration of this I no.
tic"d in the island of Jamaica. l went
there for the purpose Of studying trOpi-
cal botany. Visiting one Of the schools.
1 asked the teacher what they were do
ing in botany. Oh said she. we don't
go in for botany why not?' / asked.
Oh she said. we tried it one year. and
the children failed in their examina-
tons because we couldn't get the Eng
lish flowers
Gould anything be more ridiculous?
There they We're. surrounded by the
most magnificent botanical environ
ment. and because they could not get
the English flowers used for illustra-
ton in English textbooks they were
not studying botany. That represents
in special way the stubborness of
British conservatism; but, more or less,
it is the way teaching is done all over
the world. Education lags far behind
all other sciences. 1t is more antiquat-
ed, more irrational in it's methods, than
any other science. The new education
has made a tremendous leap forward.
But the ma jority of all educators to not
yet even know what the new educa-
ton is.
1.-The new education seeks to develop