Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-02-08
The Newer Ed ucation.

in an Eastern city recently expressn
e himself as eminently dissatisfied wit
the educational attaiuments of tn
young people OF both sexes who com
to him from the public schools to b
fitted for business life. why is it,
he asked. that the graduates of ou
grammar and even of our high school
canuet spell the most common words
know little or nothing about punctua
ton. are scarcely able to do simple ex
amples in arithmetic. and have little
apprehension of matters of business
custom and etlQ uette p 1--WE have tc
b gin at the beginning and make then
AL over,' he continued, ard then went
on to berate the sO-cailed new educa
ton, which, he claimed, lays special
emphasis Oh lot of "fads,'' to the
pr &C tical exclusion of good, Old-fash-
ioned studies that are universally
needed as pi eparation for later duties.
Give US back 1.-THE three RS, and take
away your manual training and pa-
| ture study and what not. was the bur
den of this observers complaint.
A little later an intelligent business
man, the father of several sons and
daughters. complained that his chill
dren are allowed by their teachers to
use loud, harsh tones without reproof
or correction; that they are not taught
the phonetic sounds of the letters; and
that they cannot take a common pass
age from any good book and read 1t
with any suitable expression, showing
appreciation of its meaning. This man
frankly stated it as his opinion that
the reason for the existence of these de-
fects is that the teachers themselves
are in the same defective condition;
that they themselves use harsh tones
IN the schOolrOom; do not know the
phonetic sounds of the letters, and can
not Tor do not take the trouble toy read
lntelll llgently. These two witnesses
were apparently agreed that the time
given TO new subjects which have OF
late become popular in the common
school curric u um makes it necessary
to slight these other things which are
of practical import, and they express
ed Il common and emphatic protest
against the result.
These are serious criticisms, and if
well founded, need careful attention.
There is u new education - What is
it, and what does it seek to do? 1t is
the application Of the scientific, meth
cd 10 the whole subject of child train
ing By sort of laboratory process it
patiently seeks the facts at the basis
of all educational processes 1t studies
tae child himself, his body, and his
mind; it investigates his heredity and
bis environment it seeks to understand
his natural destiny, Its fnds par
allel to Ghe individual child's develop
ment in that of The race, and SO the
records of history become a fund of
information for the graduate of the
educator i'll his great work. The new
education seeks the best means of at
tanning the desired result in the full
development of the young human be-
ing. 1t believes that there are d vast
number of latent possibilities in the
body and mind of The CHILD that can
be brought out. AS the training of the
athlete develops host of nerves and
muscles that are unseen by ordinary
mortals, giving the will control over
them. and making the body deft and
supple and able, so it is the ideal and
aim of the Few education TO put the
whole body. mind, and spirit of the
young human being III tune with IN
talilgence; to brlDg out all Capacities
and powers in d harmonious and we H.
round developAleul; To DuIld up aeon
plste and efficient modern manhood
a lad WOlnanhUod. Certainly this is
high ann. aud these are right ideals
ID true and commendable spirit
Wnat net results have they produced
thus far ?
4 broad view, substituted for mar.
row vision, will not fail to satisfy an
Intelligent observer that the new edu-
cation is producing splendid results.
Never iii the history of the world has
10 Ill known 50 much or achieved 80
much as he now knows AID is achlsv.
ing. His vision penetrates every por-
tlJn OF The globe, and searches the stars
for their secrets. His swift ships and
swlfter locomotives carry him every
where. No mountain is mighty enough
to be barrier, no sea 80 deep or bois-
ferrous LnaL be cannot CROSS IL. The
lightning aud the other great forces OF
nature are his servants, aud his active
brain Is master everywhere. In all
this growth and achievement educa
tion ls the potent factor. 1t mas revu
lutionlzed human llfe. 1t has given US
our STRENUOUS age. It is mighty force
that is sweeping US onward and uu
Ward III a magnificent develop ulent
that Can no more be stopped or de-
tiected than the sun be stopped from
rising or the tides from moving the
waters of the ocean.
The defects spoken of in our earlier
paragraphs are merely incidental. We
doubt il they are greater or more com.
mon now than formerly, at least in
proportion to the population. The
great pace OF our nation along the path
of progress has become a spectacle to
the worlds peoples. and millions are
attracted to our shores to be asimllar.
ed, educated, trained for participation
in our splendid destiny. La the schools
we see the raw material in process OF
manufacture. There will .l l.,,. H.