The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-01-04
ARE OUR SCHOOLS DOING
II BEST KIND OF WORK?
Chas. M. Sfaley
Chas. M. Sfaiey

common everyday duties of life. On
all sides is heard the criticism that
h schools are not thorough enough
in Il work they are doing. Business
men say that they a find among
high school graduates only a few VINO
are proficient in such essential sub
jects as spelling, writing, arithmetic,
and language. High school teacherS
complain that the pupils from the ele-
Tentary h cannot read intelll-
gently, have not been drilled thor
Oughly in spelling and writing, and
have not mastered the fundamental
operations in arithmetic. College pro-
1eSSOrS at times make some very un-
complimentary remarks about the
kind of work the high chools are do
ing in preparing students for college.
Even the sensational magazines, which
are quick to seize upon any general
feeling Of dissatisfaction, have raised
an Outcry, and are devOting pages
to a discussion of what is the mat
ter with our schools. These criti-
CiSnS have become so general and so
pronounced that thoughtful persons
everywhere are ~1nquiring into the
causes of this unsatisfactory condi
ton of affairs, and are considering
carefully what shall be done to i'm
prove matters. Some SuggeS as a
remedy an increase in the length of
the school term; others say that by
increasing the salaries of teachers bet
ter work will be done in the schools;
while still others say that improve
ment will be secured only by giving
the teachers special training in the
art of teaching. 1t is very evident
that something must be done. If it
be true that our high schools grad
uate pupils who cannot spell correctly
words in mmo use, who cannot
write an intelligent business letter, or
who cannot solve a problem in partial
payments or compound interest, then
there is something radically wrong
with our conception of what COnSti-
tutes a practical education. If it be
true that every year thousands of
children go out from our schools with
out having mastered the fundamental
principles of even the elementary
branches, then it is high time to go
to work to bring about q change.
During the last quarter of a century
a large increase has been mad in
the number Of subjects in the course
OF study in the elementary schools
and the numbe of text books required
to be taught has more than doubled.
The same is true of the work in the
high chOols This, perhaps, is one
of the principal causes of the u%nsatis-
factory work done in the schools. The
attempt has been made to teach too
many subjects, and the result has
been that none have been taught thor
tAiNAcC' "a oilSCiJL tCiIlllS
their efforts pom the essential sub
jects, teachers have wasted their time
and energy in trying to stress equally
all the subjects in the course of study.
The pupils nave acquired sfnattering
ideas about many things, but have
not mastered any one subject.
About fifteen years ago an insistent
demand was made by the men in
charge of the preparatory schools that
the colleges would raise their entrance
requirements. 1t may have been that
these men were actuated by selfish
motives, for it would be q financial
advantage to the academies and high
schools to have their pupils remain as
many years as possible. At any rate
the clamOr became So great that fl
nallv the colleges yielded to the pres
sure. Many subjects then taught in
the colleges nave been put in the high
school course OF study; and some SUBJ
jects then in the high school curri-
culum h ave been placed in the ele-
mentary schools
Men h entered college fifteen or
twenty years G know that plane
and solid geometry, ancient history,
rhetoric and literature, botany. Cicero
and Virgil, physics, German and
French, and chemistry were consid-
cred subjects belonging strictly to
college work. At that time English
grammar, arithmetic, advanced geog-
raphy, United States history, algebra,
Latin and Caesar, physi-
ology, and physical geography consti-
tuted, in the main, the work Of the
high school,. But now even the rural
high schools, those with but one teach
er. are expected to teach plane and
solid geometry, physics, English his
tory, ancient history, botany, Cicero
and VIRGIL. chemistry, rhetoric and lit
erature, German and French. While
such subjects as English
arithmetic, United States history, ad-
VanCed geography, North Carolina his
tory, and mythology have been relcgat-
ed, for the most part, to the elemen-
tary schools. Also in the present
scheme of work pupils in the ele-
mentary schools and in the high
schools have from five to seven recita-
tons a day. not less than twenty-five
q week. while students at college have