The Oskaloosa herald., 1907-06-06
Random Thoughts
Of a
Busy Outsider

speech, especially IL he is Interested
in his subject. President Seerley Is
no exception to this rule and some or
his best remarks were not contained
in the printed copy of his address to
the high school graduates. For in
stance, he said that school children of
today are to be pitied because they
are required to learn so many things
that are of no value to them. "Of-
ten," he said, they come to you for
help in their arithmetic problems and
you find that you have, not time to
help them. There Is more than one
good reason for your not having
time"
President Seerley is right. There
are number of problems in the men
tai arithmetic in use in the eighth
grade of our own schools, that for
difficulty in solution aad utter useless.
ness stand at the head of the line.
Their only excuse for being is that
like the conundrum they may be con
sidered to develop mental acumen.
The Outsider is ready to confess that
even with the aid of pencil and paper
many of these problems reminded us
that there was something new even
in mathematics.
Nor is this a solitary example OF
the uselessness of the mental gymnas.
ties Of our modern students. To one
WHO reached the figures of rhetoric
only after long and tedious struggle
with grammar and composition, il
seemed queer to hear an eighth grade
pupil bemoaning the fact that she
might have mixed Synechioche with
Metonony in her final examination.
The fact is the studies of sclool
and the activities of life after school
Is finished bear little relation to each
other. AS president Seerley justly
observes, all are educated as If their
future pursuits were those of the
scholar-the scientist. The boy or
girl who goes through our schools
and enters shop or Office or store, has
to begin at the bottom and learn the
business just the same as his superior
who never took the time out of his
busy life to graduate. Which Of them
has the advantage?
The question of the utilitarian in
education is an old one. 1t was thor
oughly discussed by Huxley in the last
century, and Col Parker, the famous
teacher who founded the Illinois Nor
NAL school, never tired of discussing
the uselessness of part of what VIC
call culture
Perhaps one Of the most striking
examples of THIS is in the examina,
ton for teachers certificates. The
Outsider comes from a generation of
school teachers and is ready to back
up these statements by actual proof
In the time of grandfather and ia
Their, securing certificates to teach was
not difficult. You went to the ex
aminer any day in any week, showed
him a specimen of your handwriting,
answered some questions in Arithme.
tic, Grammar and Geography, read to
your examiner, and ne sat down and
wrote you out certificate.
When the Outsider reached teach
ing age it was more difficult You
must write your examination, and il
probably took you five or six hours to
do it. Gradually the tests grew hard.
er a1d Friday and Saturday were both
required. Now three days are given
to examinations, and they are long
and tedious, A teacher passes an ex
animation in a dozen branches before
he can be pronounced qualified to
teach kindergarten.
1t mas always seemed to the Out
slider that whenever the Iowa legisla.
ture was in session, it felt that teach.
er5'' qualifications ought to be legis.
lated upon, because it was safe sub.
ject.
The man who left home pledged to
vote for an anti-pass bill, or a Sunday
observance law, often found his reso.
lutiouo SndhSn Wy Tue luuuSlIlouS iOu-
byist, and compromised with his con.
science by voting to raise the stand.
ard Of teachers in Iowa" He had still
one hold on the admiration of his
virtue-loving constituents. He was
Safeguarding the interests of our
schools"
n N
This loving oversight of the legis.
lature has finally resulted in the pres.
elt wonderful law. Four times dur.
ing the year, for period of three
days, the embryo teacder may strug
gle with the questions as ingeniously
technical as can be written. Her pa,
pers are then sent away to Des
Moines, where conclave of the
consisting mostly of defeat
ed county superintendent and drop
ped city superintendent sit in
solemn inquiry over them. After
three or four weeks you learn whether
or not you have passed.
Meantime the applicant does not dare
to contract for school, and can only
sit in solemn patience aad thank the
powers that be for advancing tn;
standard of our schools"