Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1906-05-04
Incentive in Education.

AS we grow old our sympaCnles na'
turally begin to part company Wild
the present and revert to the past.
| This tendency often leads us into false
opinions and unjust criticisms OF tne
present. Yet, feel sure that In some
| features our present methods OF educa-
tiOn are not so good as they were IN
the past. In many respects they are
far ahead, but not in all. One weak
point in schools today seems to be
lack of incentive. The pupils appear
not to possess that old-time ambition
to do something and be somebody.
Their ideals are not SO high. They
have far better opportunities for edu-
cation, but lack the zeal necessary to
obtain it. With good schools right at
their doors, most boys stop to clerk In
| the store or run Oh the railroad They
| are destitute of persistence and con.
tlnuity which are so necessary to great
achievement l remember we'll how
country boys used to sit up at nignt
working out hard problems. They
prided themselves on getting the cor
rect result without any assistance and
exulted over their success when at last
| it came. Studies we're not then made
| so easy as they are now. and, in pro-
portion as they have been rendered
easy, the less application the pupil has
exhibited, as it seems to me.
Now if all this be true, why is it 80 !?
Are the teachers of to day like those OF
the past? Do they dignity their posi-
tion and bring to bear the same ele.
waiting influence upon the pupils as
those of former days? The old teach
ers had not studied books so much,
but they had studied life more and felt
more its responsibilities and Opportu-
mites. The text books also were diff
ferent. They taught the value of time
and learning and the Importance of
seiziDg opportunity. 1t might not be
too much to say that pupils of that
day passed the time in constant dread
that youth would slip away before
they acquired the much longed-for
education. Some statements that our
teachers made then would hardly pass
muster today as, for example, that
where there is will there is a way
and that we boys could all become
President, if only We determined to do
so and stndied hard enough And yet
the effect of such enthusiastic teaching
was highly beneficial. 1t aroused asplra-
tion in the youthful breast and that is
more important than mere rOte learn
ing. The men who have done some.
thing in the world are those who dared
to do. who willed to be. If the teach
er only gives his pupils stout heart
and an eager desire to work and to
climb, he has done well. and more than
is done in most cases.-T. G. K.
THE WORK OF THE RURAL TEACHER.
The term rural when applied to
schools means those outside the cities
and larger towns. Conditions in the
country, small towns and villages ale
similar. In America the great men
have come almost entirely from the
rural districts and such will continue
to be the case for several generations at
least.
The bows with sOundest bodies, clear.
est minds and purest souls come under
the control of the teachers of the rural
school. This seems to be the material
God selects when a great work ls to be
done. His own Son Was born, reared.
lived and died among the common peo-
pie. He sought bis Apostles mainly
from among the working people and
when be went forth 10 teach and to
heal. he went mostly among the plain
people. He went into the fields aud
among the fishermen and He talked of
the vineyard, the labOrer and the SOW
er. The only people who seem to have
displeased him were the money chang
ers in the temple. If God could send His
own Son to teach among the rural peO
pie should you not. o. country scnool
teacher, esteem it privilege TO be
among them and uplift their children ?
The rural people of today are better
than they were when Christ taught
them and then He said, suffer little
children to come unto me.
TRADE SCHOOLS.
We prOphesy that the next great step
forward in education will be the gen
eraI establishment of trade schools.
Tue days of apprenticeship are gone
forever, and while we would not wish
them back we recognize that in their
passing they left practically no 0ppOr-
tunity for the young man to become
proficient in trade.
There is at the present time great
demand for skilled Workmen, and We
regret to say that the demand is being
largely supplied by the importation OF
| foreigners This cannot go on lnde-
tinitely without reducing the status OF
the American laborer. The only rem
edy is the trade school-the free pubic
trade school, open to all graduates OF
elementary schools Tue eagerness
with which the Slight opportunities
now offered by technical schools. such
as Cooper Institute, are seized, the
popularity of technical instruc lion Civ
en- by correspondence schools, tue crowd
ing of the evening trade schools re
Gently opened in New York aud other
large cities indicate the feeling of thu
people in regard to this matter. The!
will soon demand that the trade schoO
| oIisL h ad tho q haSis Ih