Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1909-12-02
the usual order of exercises is deslr-
able for the purpose of relieving monot-
Ony
TUESDAYS SESSIONS.

out "a good attendance, II teachers, all
but one employed in the county. being
present. The subjects discussed by the
instructors were practical in their ma
ture and were clearly presented. The
music was feature that was much
enjoyed
The chapel exercises Tuesday morn
ing were conducted by the Rev. James
Wollaston Kirk, pastor of Mahoning
Presbyterian church. The first period
was occupied by DR.. Omwake ON the
"Three Fields of Pedagogy" 1t was
most excellent talk The following
points are noted:
DR.. Omwake stated that he had TAX
en- the measure of the rank and file of
teachers and that he did not think he
was mistaken in believing that there
is an earnest desire among them to in
crease their store of learning and ad-
vance in their profession. Teachers, he
said. should be specialists, first of all
i'll the things fundamental to their
own particular line of work. In other
words, it becomes necessary that they
should be master of the science of
their profession. just as a physician is,
or should be, the master of the science
of medicine. Teachers also should have
an accurate knowledge of the sciences
lying at the bottom of their profes-
sion. twenty-five years ago this would
have been relatively an easy matter
because the science of education in
those days was not to be compared to
that of the present, The speaker COM
mented on the wonderful strides made
educationally during the last quarter
of century. Owing to the growth of
colleges and universities there is now
an enormous amount of matter avail
able relating to subjects that lie at the
bottom of the teachers profession.
Time was when one could cover all
subjects of education without much of
an effort Mt present, however, the
subjects embraced are many and the
list of popular volumes relating to
education would constitute fair sized
! library.
With the average teacher, actually
employed in teaching, the day is past
when he or she may leave school work
and spend three or four years at some
! college or university i'll pursuit of
knowledge relating to the science of
teaching. Teachers, however, ut the
present time, may avail themselves of
| the many works written, reading up
and improving themselves, even for
! the highest grade of school work
while actually engaged IN teaching.
DR.. Omwake said, in his opinion, the
| profession of teaching is one, the
! knowledge of which include the things
| that are to be taught, but that at the
same time the teachers mental range
/ should run far beyond that limit and
grasp the whole field of human knowl-
! edge and experience. Briefly, the
/ speakers purpose in the morning ad-
dress was to lay bare what seemed to
be the legitimate field for teachers to
labor in while prosecuting their stud
| les and Investigations in order to i'm.
prove themselves as instructors of the
young.
| The secord period of the forenoon
was occupied by DR.. Pearson. He
dwcltaespecially on Pronunciation, -"
! prefacing his address with some very
! common-sense observations. He stated
that an over precise person can be just
rs vulgar i'll speech as an over dressed
person is in clothes. Such person may
be said to be one who has Just a
little knowledge. In IA general way he
prcnounces his words in such man
ner rs to call attention to himself you
| feel that he is very precise" and
thus he attracts attention just as the
loudly" dressed person does TO him
self.
As matter Of fact, Dr. Pearson
says, we really mispIououncc only y
few words At the same time correct
: pun iuI'IdN4'll - ds Ilhll'Itt'uN ANU a.
necessary as correct grammar
DR.. Pearson gave drill in the diff
ferent sounds of the vowcls, 800" or
"a, " Sc. He conducted q useful cx-
orcise for getting strength of tone and
| described a breathing exercise to be
used in the school room with windows
/ down, He also conducted test in pro-
nuuciatiou, in which it was revealed
that q large number Of familiar words
are habitually misprouounccd.
In the afternoon DR. Omwake spoke
ON THE Mind of the Teacher. " He
/ deplored that the object sought in
school is too often the mere disciplin-
ing of the mind of the pupil and that
not enough attention is paid to the
acquisition Of accurate and definite
knowledge. He does not deny that
mental discipline is important, but
his view is that education snould also
be a means of acquiring knowledge
that will be of value to the pupil
! through life.
Boys and girls are taught to think
that they are going to school merely
to get their minds disciplined. 1t is
hard to get that idea ont of their heads.
As result there is II woeful lack of
/ raliahle inflammation ,p,o,,, tI, ,,,,,,;I l.,