The Glenwood post., 1909-07-17
Saturday. July II. 1909.
WHO'S TO BLAME7

Well, the N. L. A. has come anil
gone and while Denver was for
whole week running over with intelli-
gence it might not be amiss for the
teachers who attended and the teach
ers and other folks who. did not attend
the annual convention OF the National
Educational association to make an in
ventory as to the gain.
OF course Denver was mighty glad
to see the band of from 1000 to 10000
teachers from all over the country, but
that s business plain, coldblooded
business with dollars and cents ring
to it. Denver, business Denver vel
coined the teachers as so many tour
lists and as nothing more. OF course
they were a bright pleasant and genial
.lot-the kind it always does one good
to meet and to that extent they were
very desirable lot of tourists, indeed. L.
No doubt there were many good
things said and much valuable instruc-
tion given which, like bread cast upon
the waters, will return after many days
'to bless and strengthen many of the
schools of the land but we heard so
little of these meritorious features
while the papers made so much of the
doleful pessimistic utterances of Bishop
Matz and Dean Hart and some of tho
attacking and critical educators who
seemed to delight in criticising the
syatem in the building of which they
themselves have had so prominent a
part that one is almost discouraged in
contemplating the net results for good
No doubt there are some conditions
and some phases of modern educational
work that are justly subject to crit
icism but for the most part these un-
satisfactory and unfortunate condi-
tions are traceable, in large measure
at least, to these very educator who
are the most free with their critici sm.
To be sure there is needed q greater
bond of sympathy between parent and
teacher and we must also admit that
there is yet much work to be done in
the home before the work of the school
room will be the success 1t should be
but with the intimation that our edu-
cational system is on the down grade
and that we are drifting back toward
the dark ages the Post has no sym
pathy.
Occasionally some new fad is adopt
ed or some educational cureall springs
into existence only to be discarded by
the profession after its impraeticability
has been thoroughly demonstrated.
Methods are something but methods
are by no means everything and we
are more and more placing our trust
in that old truism "There is no royal
road to learning" Systems and theor-
les may facilitate the work but the
real effort must be made by the pu-
pill today just as in the days of our
grandfathers.
That boys and girls by the hundreds
are every year being crowded through
our high schools and given diplomas
which they never earned is n lamen-
table fact; that there is woeful lack
of thoroughness and an absence of
mind dicipline and studious, purpose
full application in some of our schools
cannot be denied by those at all Oh
servant of our present system; that
there is abundant room for much earn
est, kindly criticism hardly admits of
argument and yet we think the rabid,
hammer and tongs methods of attack
adopted by some of the speakers at
the Denver meeting last week will
meet with but scant approval at the
hands of the general public.