The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-12-09
.CRITICISING The
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
SOME FOOLIsHNESs OF THE PEDA-
GOGICAL MIND. II
A Columbia University Professor Who
Proposes Radical Changes in the Cur
riculum-He Would Exclude Whatever
Will Not Directly Affect the Lives of
the Pupils. -
Hartford Times.

haTCIOTQ ,l1m0S.
An address calculated to make great
delivered at the Brooklyn institute by
Frank Morton McMurry, professor of
the theory and practice of teaching at
Columbia university. He said in general
that the crowding of the school curri-
culum had become unbearable, and then
be left out and what should be done
with the remainder. Thus in arithmetic
he would - omit apothecary's weight,
square root, cube root, greatest common
divisor as a separate topic, compound
and complex fractions, percentage as a
separate topic, most problems in com
est, profit and loss, equations and COM
mon fractions except those with low de-
nominators: But he would drill pupils
in the application Of the parts they will
all need In later life until they are per-
can work easily and accurately.
He said there must be some spelling
just as it is sometimes necessary to give
medicine. Of algebra, he said that even
those who advocate it cannot tell why
they teach it. Grammar; he said, has
driven more pupils out Of the sixth, sew
enth and eighth grades than any other
and natural that it should. The science
Of grammar seems to his mind to belong
to a later period Of study, and to be Of
actual service to very small portion of
those in q grammar school.
Two subjects he touched in such a
way that some quotation is worth WHILE
The first was history, and Of this he
said:
'In history we learn too many ex-
plorers, too many dates, and especially
too many wars. Thank heaven, they
don It teach those four colonial wars
| 4 r D,,%
we could proftably leave out the study
Of the civil war in detail.
The causes Of the civil war, the results
of the civil war, those should be taught
the child thoroly. He will grasp them
and remember them. But why burden
his mind with dates Of battles and de-
tails of car eampaigns? Every one Of you 20,
And there is all that time wasted.
H. War takes up share Of our
time in studying history out of all pro-
portion to it's relation to history. If
| we cut out lot Of useless United
States history we could teach the child
a little useful world history, not names
Of q; battles and genealogies Of kings:
the feudal system, for instance, or the
Reforma tion-those things have i'm
mense influence on our life today. I'm
derstanding them throws a flood Of
light on modern life. ~
In much the same fashion he spoke Of
the study Of physics as now carried on
in the schools, especially as to the mass
of unimportant detail with which the
subject is usually loaded:
GAS to civics, l am prepared to say
that you can study all the civics taught
in all the schools of America today and
not understand your duties as citizen
one iota the better. How does it help
a child to know his duties as a citizen
to learn by heart the salary, Of the con,
salary Of the controller have in his fu;
ture 1ife9 What mental discipline has il
afforded him to memorize it. Civlcs as
taught in our schools today is practic
ally worthless, and the time spent on il
is wasted. Teach the things in history
and civics that light up and explain
our modern life, and let the rest CO.
In a word, the clue to his whole con
ception is to exclude whatever does MOI
bear directly on the lives of the pupils
Except as to some fundamental things
he would leave positive information tina
does not affect pupils at the time tx
be acquired later in life if it is needed
We do not eat today for a year ahead
he said in substance. But he finds il
! scribed as fads the suggestion of prope
I instruction, however much he may con
4 denim the particular form in which it i
4 given now. Rob the instruction of use
4 less details that will only be forgotten
I and give that in which children ca?
feel real interest, as was indicated b.
f the remark about teaching concernin
the civil war as quoted above.
It is not fair to ask readers to accep
/ on these few suggestions from q lon
+ address the Inference that it is in tn
T main based on some Of the best conceH
I tions Of education that are known, bu
I those who see it in full will find thi
\ to be the fact. And it certainly had tn
I merit of being expressed in way t
\ arouse attention.