The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-29
THOMAS J SIMMONS. A M, LL D., President

knowIedge of arithmetic grammar or geography. We need teachers who realize that the subjects of the common | schools are taught for the purpose of making the child good and usefu. citizen of the State. We need teachers who will be true to themselves, their i country and their God, and will set an | example in right and large living with God rutegu cotlate oriymo uthim which may be followed by their pupils who will not say "Go and do in thii wise" outcome let us do" We need teachers who will teach their pupilf to fear nothing that the world can do, and to be slaves to nothing the world can offer. We want teachers of chill dren, rather than subjects; who teach for. eternity rather than for the mo-
 ment; teachers who hear more than is spoken, who observe more than is seen, and whose insight pierces the in-
 nermost nature of the child. and per- ceives the eternal rather than the tenn
 porary' effect upon his character.
 The trained teacher is a product of
 civilization, but today he is one of it's greatest makers The state cannot nur-
 ture too closely It's institutions whose
 business it Is to prepare teachers for its children The Normal Schools have
 done great deal for America in the
 sixty-seven years of their existence
 Their history is ablaze with the light
 of an unselfish service. What they have
 done has been accepted by the people
 and has made an ipress upon every grade of school work. It has driven
 out the amateur and the stepping stone men, and has introduced professional teachers. The multiplication and the growth in influence of these Schools have been so great as to challenge the
 wonder even of their promoters. Near ly every University in the land has recognized their influence by the estab- lishment of Normal Departments. Alabama has four Normal Schools for whites. a Normal Department at Monte vallo and one at the University of Ala bama. These schools collectively send
 into the State about 1000 teachers an-
 nually who have at least beginning of Normal training. The four Normals
 receive in the aggregate S40.0o0.00 per
 annum from the State. This, if added
 to the amount now appropriated to the
 public schools. would add to the length
 of these schools but little over one day
 It is a contribution of less than si1
 cents per capita by the children of the
 State The good that comes to then
 through these schools must be many
 thousand fold.
 Period of Organization.
 Teaching up to thls time has not
 been a profession Tn this country 1t
 has not been universally accepted that
 pedagogical training should be required of every teacher as Is the case in Ger
 many, but great progress towards this point has been made in recent years. 1 The sixty seven years of Normal School history in Americaf has been. period
 of organization and experiment.. but the
 great things accomplished for educa- tion and progress during this short time. are but prophecy of the rich
 fruition of the future. Many of the "fads" of yesterday, introduced through l the influence of these schools. are ac- cepted and necessary parts of up-to-
 date school curricuia of today. Teach | ing has not become a fixed science. but
 neither has English grammar There is change, perfection has not been
 reached. progress is the watch word.
 indeed 1t differs from no science. or profession in this respect. Medicine, law. and even theology are progr essive. The doctor of today who depends upon and applies the good old methods" oi the past and does not keep up with his profession loses his patients; the lawyer
 who depends upon them looses his cl- ents. the preacher finds himself with out A pulpit: the business man loses his customers. and the inefficient teacher
 who knows and applies only the methods
 of the past, who does not seek to learn
 the latest truths of his profession will
 soon lind himself without pupils. The inefHeient in every walk of life must
 20. he must make room for the efficient.
 fate has decreed 1t so, the inexorable law of the survival or tne nttest pro-
 claims 1t so. The inefheient teacher