The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-05-07
AMONG The EDITORS.
i7I70 -:
The; iN oir.nr,ais.

PtAtSs
sure 10 meet with opposition from
1.-The friends Of some Of the schools.
This policy looks toward an ult..
mate differentiation Of the Normais.
leaving some Of them only The
functions Of secondary schools, and
developing the others Into well
equipped institutions for the tech.
meal training Of teachers according
.,.to modern ,pedagogIc methods, ]
The probabilities are that the
Normals situated In the small towns
Will be more scared than hurt by
the Inauguration Of this new policy.
The board will not be able to take
away from any one Of them single
dollar appropriated for their sup.
port by the state. and there Is every
reason to believe that future legis.
latures will provide for suitable
continuance Of the education work
for which the environment OF these
schools best fits them. II Is not tho
fault OF the Normals in the small VII.
lages-nor is 1t the fault OF the
regents who control them nor OF the
men and women who teach in them
that. they are not doing the work
Of fully developed Normal schools.
They have had neither the material
nor the environment TO make such
I work possible.
A Normal school, in order to af.
ford opportunities for adequate
work In the technical training Of
men and women In the science and
art of teaching, must be situated in
a city or town large enough so that
It may have, as Il part of It's organl.
cation a model trimming school o,
some sort. The model training
school Is the laboratory of the Nor.
nal. What would be thought Of
law school, in this day and genera.
ton, which tried to turn ont lawyers
without giving them practice in
moot courts? What Of medical
school without clinic? What would
school Of mechanical engineering be
worth without workshop?
What the board of regents have
undertaken to do is probably some.
thing like this. They will try to DC
velop the department Of technical
training Of teachers in those Normal
SO situated as TO make such develop.
ment possible. They will empha-
size the work Of academic and second.
airy education, the culture side, in the
other schools. Every school man In
the state knows that the country Nor.
mails are simply academies at which
some courses in The theory of educa.
ton. are given. and some attempts ut
practical demonstrations along this
line are made. r
or course many excellent teachers
have come out Of the country Normals.
These schools may be justly proud OF
the influence they have exerted upon
! the educational establishment of the
slate. The Normals have had, AMI
have now, some able teachers-men
and women doing excellent work.
but they cannot do the work Of train.
ing teachers In a great school Of ped.
agogy where they have at hand only
the material, the equipment and the
environment Of an academy in a coun.
try village. $500. W.
The good teachers who have come
come from our Normals have gained
the technique Of their profession In
the SLOW school Of experience. Sum.
mer school work, institute work, the
literature Of pedagogy have helped
the brighter minds among Normal
graduates TO achieve success regard.
less of the handicap Of restricted op.
portunities In the way OF technical
training under Il practicel eye as I'M
Initial preparation for their work.
The time has come when the edu.
cational interests of the State Urgent
ly require better facilities for the tech.
meal training Of teachers. These ia.
cilities can be most economically pro.
vided In connection with those al.
ready established In considerable cen.
ters Of population, cities which have
well organized school system. With
the cooperation Of the local school
authorities and the Normal schools IN
Fairmont and Huntington. there
should be mutually advantageous ar.
ticulation of the work, so that the
Normals and the city schools might
both be strengthened for larger pub
lie service. ..
Meanwhile the Normals in the,
smaller towns will continue to fulfill
their important and honorable func.
ton us secondary schools. It would
probably be mistake to cut out the
work Of their senior year, though 1t
might perhaps be modified and reor.
ganized with good results. The state