The Iuka vidette. (Iuka, Miss.) 1894-1912, 1910-07-14
Knowing and Doing.

instruction, must of necessity
adapt itself to conditions and to
the individual, and must be high
ly practical to meet the required
wants. knowledge is not always
power, nor is all education bene-
fetal and practical. What we
need is power rather than know
ledge. The pupil that is forced
to carry frizzle appendages as
studies Cd along with reading,
spelling writing. arithmetic, draw
ing and expression, will emerge
not as a useful human being, but
as stuffed elephant, helpless as
a toad-frog in dry well. The
teacher who refuses to teach N
because the pupil has not yet
learned A. or is afraid to teach S
because 3 has not yet been learn
ed, is a weakling. The figure 5
contains two 2's and a /, and 8
cuts no figure; the word Not has
no A in it, then why not go on?
A is the first letter of the alpha
bet not because it has to be learn
ed first; the figure 3 is third in Or
der, but Tot because it must be
learned before S. The child is an
entity and is supposed 20 have
sense per Sc; has the elements of
education within its own soul; and
the sooner the teacher gets out of
the erroneous idea that he has to
educate the child, the better for
both teacher and pupil.
When pupil comes to me to
learn certain thing, I show him
how the thing is done until he
knows how and can do the thing
himself. For instance, he wants
to know how to work problems in
interest; then i teach him that
without asking him how and what
he has not gone over or studied
before. Suppose he has never
studied decimals and percentage,
there is no reason why he should
not study interest there and then.
| show him how the problems are
solved, and then have him do the
same until he knows how; then |
take him into the various transac-
tons in life-actual work, until
he knows where and how to use
this subject. 1t does not take a
lifetime to learn this, only a few
lessons, and he becomes master of
that much; and he is ready to go
out into the world to use and ap-
ply this for which he came to
school. Had l wasted my time
with him when he entered school,
by telling him he could not study
interest before he learns decimals,
percentage, etc., that he had to
study dozen other subjects be-
fore he could go into interest, and
then finally forced him into a GER
tain grade, and compelled him to
put on a Procrustean jacket, he
woul have become entangled in
the meshes of labyrinthian mys-
teries, his time and money con-
sumed, he would have issued forth
from the school stupefed weak
ling without power to do the thing
he wanted to do. 1t is doing what
we must have, and unless school
adapts itself this demand, it will
fail to meet the requirements in a
majority of cases.
The teacher must be unselfishly
and honestly interested in the SUBJ
ject to be taught, and must have
sincere unexplosive enthusiasm.
Noisy steam or escaping gas is no
good; because it does no work, it
strikes the air, makes disturbance
es, and is lost in space. Enthus- I
iasm means God within, and must
not be classed with demonstration
and noise. Confne the steam and |
it will show work when given an
opportunity; keep your enthusi-
asm within, be ready to show how,
and be a guide to your pupils, |
and they will go with you. This