Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1909-11-18
EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
AND TENDENCIES
City Superintendent Gotham Ex-
presses Some More Advanced
Views on Education

Views on Education
Under the above heading and by the
courtesy of the publisher, the under
signed desires, from time to time, to
call the attention of the readers of
this paper to certain phases of school
| work, and of the work of education in
general, that appear to him to indicate
the general tendencies in such work or
to demand consideration by those who
would keep abreast of the times in ed
ucation.
There is strong feeling on the part
of educators and others connected with
education that all is not we'll with our
schools.
Itmust be admitted by every thought
full person that there is no more i'm
portant duty devolving upon those of
the present generation than is the duty
Of educating their children. The vast
sums of money that are spent annually
for this purpose, and the freedom with
which it is spent, indicate that the
people in general are alive to this duty.
But, on the other hand, it must also be
admitted that the results obtained from
the direct efforts toward education are
often far from satisfactory.
The present unrest and dissatisfac-
tion with results are indicated by the
frequent agitations for changes in the
curriculum. 1t is proposed to eliminate
large portions of arithmetic and to
spend much less time on that subject;
it is strongly advocated that formal
grammar be dropped altogether in the
grades, and that the subject matter of
geography be largely reduced. The
warning is being sounded, that unless
better results are Forthcoming in high
school algebra, geometry, and physics,
these subjects must be dropped from
the course.
That there is ground for such argu-
ment cannot be denied, when the real
understanding of these subjects, or
rather lack of understanding, on the
part of the average students who have
pursued them is taken into account.
The writer is of the opinion that the
remedy lies, not in elimination nor even
primarily in the readjustment of the
course of study, though the latter
should be in condition of continuous
modification as to subject matter with
in each branch so as to keep close the
relations of school and life. But the
great need of today in education is the
establishment of more rational basis
or view point from which the work of
education is to be carried on
The burden here lies primarily with
the teacher, though right public SEN
timent back of it all is imperative.
h Teachers must give up the idea that
they are teaching arithmetic, grammar,
geography, etc., and awake to the
realization that they are teaching chill
dren-real, live, Individual children of
the present age and environment, pre-
pairing them for citizenship and society,
as these exist today, and that whatever
matter is used for this work of educa-
tion must be made to contribute to
this end.
There are various causes that have
led to the teaching of subjects as such
instead of the teaching of children. In
the first place, it is much easier to pre-
pare a lesson or lecture on some phase
of arithmetic and present it in the class
room than it is to take class of boys
and girls and make them better by the
use of arithmetic.
Again, it is absolutely impossible for
any teacher to teach 60 or IS children
at the same time. When she does this
she does the only thing possible to do,
viz: teach the various subjects as such
to 60 or 65 children at the same time,
with but little regard to the effect of
such teaching on the development of
manhood and womanhood in the boys
and girls under her charge.
One great need of today, then, is
that teaching force be supplied suffice
lent to take charge of and to teach
children, making use of such subjects
as are now in the curriculum in so far
as their subject matter can be made to
connect with present life and it's inter-
ests. And second, that the teachers
then break away from the dead, use
less, and traditional matter that is to
be found in all subjects and devote
themselves to the education of the live
individual children.