Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1909-04-08
MANUAL TRAINING.

No subject connected With popular edu-
cation is receiving more attention at pres
emit than manual training in the public
schools. This is as true OF Vermont as OF
other parts of the country, though we are
somewhat behind the populous centers in
adopting the innovation and giving it the
trial that alone can determine its worth.
Whether it is passing fad that ought to
be sternly frUwned upon until the craze is
over and the established system OF CEN
tury reasserts itself, or whether that sys-
tenn is so vitality defective that it deserves
the fundamental reform now proposed,
time and experience alone can demon
strste. That there is an insistent de-
mand for fair trial cannot be gainsaid.
Education in the past, and generally
up to the present, has consisted of book
instruction and little else. The pupil en-
tiers the primary grade and as soon as his
mind can grasp the idea OF letters and
words his book learning begins. Year
after year this continues-always books,
books, until the scholar comes to associ-
ate the two inseparably, and education
means to him the process Of dumping
npon his more or less fertile mind the
contents Of myriads Of printed pages, for
such absorption as it may find there.
Then he goes out into the world educated
and supposedly acquainted with its tasks
and obligations. In reality, he is about
as well fitted for them as a young man OF
equal years dropped from another planet
would be. 1t takes him a long, long
time to catch on to the ways OF the
world, to unlearn much that has been
taught him, to relearn great deal more
and to forget the balance. In the course
Of time, he fits in mewhere, but he oft
en- feels that in his early years he missed
that which would have been most helpful
20 him, could it have been impaired at
school, instead of acquired at great time
and cost in the uphill journey OF later
life.
very great majority of scholars leave
school before high school graduation.
This results from a variety Of causes. but
generally through a conviction, shared
alike by pupils, parents and teachers,
that school education is Of doubtful value
to them because OF their inability to
grasp that the books and the teachers
would impart in the old way. So they
are turned adrift, with small results to
show for years of sometimes patient
effort. Quite frequently these school dull
lards surprise their mates in later years,
developing along lines that the world,
with its different theatre, opens. But for
this outcome the school itself can claim
little real credit.
The fine book pupils, OF keen inteIlec-
tual minds, find present day education
well suited to them. They revel in " hat
they read and study, their ideas ami
ideals are raised, and many Of them re-
spond in ways that prove the value Of
their instruction. But not all Of these,
even, find their true inches in the world.
A portion Of them never acquire the abiI-
ity to apply their book learning to adj
vantage, while others are impractical in
all ways and i'll fitted for stern burdens
such as life brings.
SO we find that while present day edu-
cation, mostly of g cultural nature,
yields certain results in the case of a rela-
lively few, the results in other directions
are uncertain or even negative. 1t is fair
question to raise, Are we pursuing the
best methods, all considered, in the pub
lie education of the young3 Is the scope
Of cur present system sufficiently broad
to reach and answer the needs Of enough
Of our children and youth to warrant
making it public charger Ought we