Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-21
NEW TRAINING
is POSITIVE,
. SAYS SPEAKER
SUPT. HUGHES OF TORONTO
MAKES ADDRESS
"oLp METHODS AND NEW" Is
HIS TOPIC
Nine. Bertha Vaughn Renders "chan-
son Provencal del Aqua" Before
Southern California Teach
ers' Association


THE chief word in the old training
was don't The chief word in the new
training Is do" said Superintendent
James l.. Hughes of Toronto before the
Southern California Teachers associa-
ton yesterday afternoon at its session
in Temple auditorium.
Superintendent A. j. Adrian, president
of the association, introduced Mime. Ber-
tha Vaughn, who rendered 'Chanson
Provencal del Augua."
Superintendent Hughes was the first
speaker. His topic was '"The Old Train
ing and the New" He said in part:
EVERY child has three great central
tendencies as soon as 1t is able to walk.
1t loves to do things, to do things 1t plans
itself and to do things in cooperation with
others These are the greatest elements In
human character; they are the elements
that have enabled mankind to achieve
a progressive civilization. These three
tendencies should be the dominant eie-
ments in the life of every man at ma
turity The old training robbed every
man of these tendencies. The more
Thoroughly boy was trained under the
old ideal the less Initiative and force
and originality and Transforming power
and achieving tendency he had. Inere
is little use in preaching from the text
BE ye doers of the word and not hearers
only so long as men and women are
trained to be donter The word training
is used three times in the Bible, ana
the derivative meaning of the word In
each case is to clear away difficulties.
The old training has degraded training
so as to make it mean some form or
adult interference.
Old ldee' Negative
1.-THE ideal of self control under the old
training was the power of keeping away
from wrong. This is merely negative
ideal. The old training dealt with mega
tive characteristics, the new training
deals with tine positive elements OF char
acter The old training was engaged
most of the time in stopping the child's
doing, the new training aims continuous
ly TO develop the child's tendency to do.
Achieving tendency and power are the
ends most desired by the new training.
A man may possess the self control that
keeps him away from every form OF
evil, and yet be of no more service to
God and. his fellowmen than a grass
hopper True self control, positive self
control, the self control of the new train
ing. means the control that each man
should have over his physical, intellec-
tual and spiritual powers to enable him
to achieve his best work for humanity
and God
1.-The old training regarded self-con-
sciousness as weakness in character.
There are two kinds of self-conscious-
/ness-the one of weakness and the other
of strength The old training made the
child conscious of weakness, the new
training makes him conscious of his
highest power.
Responsibility for Good
"The old ideal of responsibility was
negative; the new ideal is positive. The
old training taught our responsibility for
the wrong that we do; the new training
teaches our responsibility for the achieve
ment of the good we have special power
to do. There is no vitality in sense
of responsibility for the wrong that we
do. A consciousness of individual power
and of responsibility for its use is the
strongest propelling moral element in
character.
1.-THE old ideal of law was negative;
the new ideal is positive. The old train
ing made law restrictive, the new train
ing makes law directive. All children
naturally reverence law and they would
continue to reverence it if 1t was adj
ministered directively and not restrictive
ly. The child formerly found law to be
in opposition to the achievement OF his
plans. whereas under true training law
is the child'sl guiding friend, enabling
him to produce greater results by MS
efforts Law aids the child to greater
achievement under the new training; un-
der the old training, its chief function
was to restrict his efforts. The supreme
aim of the trainer of a child in regard
to law should be to develop his natural
reverence for the laws of game into
a related progressive sequence of rev.
erence for law in, the home, for law In
the school, for law in the state and be-
yond this to a reverence for the laws
of his owh life and for the laws of God.
The new training tries to develop rever-
ence for law and not mere submission
to any individual
Elders TyrannicaI
''The old ideal of obedience was mega
tive: the new ideal is positive. The old
training, when it demanded obedience
really meant conscious subordination,
Children are naturally obedient and they
would continue to be comparatively obe-
dent if parents and teachers were not
tyrannical. If men ordered each other
to do things in the same tone and man
ner used by adults in ordering children
to do things, what sensation would
be caused!
1.-The old training in courtesy was neg
atiye, the new training aims to be posi-
tive The old training said, Children
should be seen and not heard and Chill
dren should speak when they are spoken
to- 1t is surely as unmannerly for
father to interrupt his child when he is
speaking as for the child to interrupt
his father. 1t is strange that adulthood
should claim monopoly of the right to
be discourteous. Courtesy begets cour-
tesy.
s.srhe old criticism made the child con-
scious of failure; the new criticism makes
the child conscious of his success.
1.-THE motive of the old training was
the negative motive-fear; the motive of
the new training is the positive motive
of genuine sympathy.
God Uset as Threat
Gwen God himself was used negatively
by the old training. Audacious adult
hood said to the child, God won't love
YOU If you do that, or God will be very
angry with you If you do that One
happy child said when told that God
would not love her: oh, we'll Moses