The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1906-08-31
The Ideal superintendent of City
Schools.

III. OCO. W. O1dDLld0, Oup6Tlnt6l-
dent OF the Paris City Schools, was OH
the program for an address before the
meeting of the State Educational AS
ISOLATION at Bowling Green, KY, but
was unavoidably kept from being
present. His address was to have been
on The Ideal Superintendent of City
Schools, and to let our people see the
idea of their new Superintendent on
running the City Schools, the Professor
kindly let us have the manuscript of
the address he was to have delivered at
Bowling Green and we take pleasure in
publishing it in full. viz:
The ideal is of the greatest impor-
lance because it must precede the real.
The ideal is the pattern of the real, and
should be perfect in its conception.
The ideal superintendent is purely i'm
aginary, fanciful, mental, intellectual,
Utopian. But this should render him
none the less valuable, for every thing
that has ever been made was first ideal.
Every work of art or sculpture, every
building and piece of architecture, aye,
the Universe itself. first existed in
some mind or was purely ideal. So the
superintendent can exist in perfection
only IN the ideal. But if the real is to
be tolerable, the ideal must be high !;
the pattern must possess many ele-
ments of perfection. What constitutes
the ideal superintendent of the city
schools? In attempting to answer this
question, we shall omit the larger cities
where the executive and supervisory
work are vested in different officers
on %
cities and towns that are not able to
pay two men to control and supervise
their schools, but must combine the
work in one man.
There are but few vocations or call
ings that demand so great and so varied
qualifications. The superintendent
must possess ability along more lines
than almost any other business de-
mands. What a multiplicity of powers
to be centered in one fallable mortal.
No wonder so many of US are failures.
AS before stated, the ideal superinten-
dent must possess varied qualifica-
ton. He must know books, he must
know things, he must know humanity.
He must have high ideas, sound princi-
Piles, good judgment, energy, and a
wonderful capacity for hard labor. He
must have love for children. sympathy
for his teachers, patience and forbear-
ance with his patrons and power with
his Board. He must be able to do all
kinds of things he must make reports,
form plans, write courses of study, act
as rep1 sentative of the Board of Edu-
cation, hear complaints and suggestions
from parents and be able to satisfy
most of them, encourage and help his
teachers and pupils, assume the educa-
tional leadership in the community and
his school abroad To be able
to do all these things requires much
learning, tact, knowledge of men,
pedagogical knowledge and skill and
great executive ability. Besides all
this, he must be man who can win
the confidence of others and arouse in
terest and enthusiasm in them. Not
only this, but he must be able to draw
about him the support of his Board, his
teachers and patrons. and direct them
in carrying forward his we'll formed
plans. AS the successful general does
not lead his army into action, but plans
the battle, selects his division leaders
and directs the whole fight, so it must
be with the superintendent. He must
not only be able to plan and direct the
efforts of others, but he must he able
to draw from his corps of teachers all
they know. He must secure their aid
in working out the details of his course
of study, and methods of discipline and
instruction. The ideal superintendent
will not require his teachers to conform
SO rigidly to his own plans as to deprive
them of all originality and individuality
but will leave each teacher free to
manifest her own personality and thus
inject her own life and Municipalities
into her pupils. Besides being able to
perform all the executive acts and
work laid down in the
printed rules and regulations of the
schools, he must be able to act with
precision and judgment in the thous-
ands and one little details that can not
be laid Gown in any code of rules. This
is the supreme test of the executive
ability and skill of the superintendent.
Likewise, he must give more time and
thought to supervisory work than to
executive. The superintendent who
confines his activity to his office, who
fails to keep in touch with the actual
work of the school room by frequent
visits, will lose sight of his most i'm
portant function. He will be out of
sympathy with his teahers, with his
pupils and genuine and practical edu-
cational activities. This is, in my
judgment, where many superintendent
fail. In this supervision. he makes his
power felt, he corrects faults in
methods, establishes right spirit be-
tween teacher ard pupils, inject new
life and enthusiasm into the work and
pemiates the whole atmosphere Of the
school with his good will and interest
and thus keep all encouraged and put
ting forth their best efforts. The ideal
superintendent does not enter the school
room with book and pencil in hand and
sit Gown as quietas sphinx and write