River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-02-15

some practice in his special line
under the direction of the head oil
the department, materially broad
ening the scope of training in the
institution.
8. Enlarging the duties of the
one at the head of the training
school. and also the duties of train
ing teachers.
4. A more vital connection be-
tween the training school and the
other departments of the Institution.
S. Certain fundamental princi-
Piles Of psychology and history of
education should, through the de-
partment of education, have a more
direct bearing on the work of the
training school and the training
school should help to determine
what is presented in the department
of education.
6. Positive arrangements should
be made preventing student prac-
tice teacher from having charge of
class daily under whom the chill
dren are not making fair degree
of progress. There is too much of
a tendency, not so much in our own
school possibly as in most other
normal schools, to look upon the
training school as a laboratory and
upon the children as commonplace
apparatus. In this case, however,
neither student nor training teacher
is held responsible for the break
ages"
The report shows that due en-.
phasis is to be placed on scholar
ship and that no student will be al
lowed to remain in school unless he
is getting value received out of the
work On this point he says: I'm
order not to waste the states money
on unworthy and unpromising ma
terial our faculty has made rule
to the effect that student failing
in half his work thereby sewers his
connection with the school. This
rule is made on the theory that one
ought not to be permitted to re-
main in school who is not getting
value received out of his work. We
construe value received to mean
making passing grades in at least
ten hours work. This rule means
that we will have very few students
in attendance at any one time who
are not working and working hard
on their lessons every day."
He recommends laying greater
stress on manual training, domestic
science, and agriculture, urging the
immediate purchase of land and the
establishment of thoroughly
equipped department of agriculture.
In part he says: "Our beautiful
campus is ample for all necessary
buildings; but it fails to provide
plots of ground for the work in
agriculture, or room for the ath-
letic grounds. II is impossible to
find place for even lawn tennis
courts without greatly marring the
appearance of the campus. There
is in the present campus four blocks
space, just enough room around the
buildings for flowers, shrubbery,
trees and grass plots, but not enough
to use for any other purpose. The
school is in great need of diamond
and a gridiron. 1t should by all
means possess few acres of land
to be used for garden and field
work in agriculture, botany and
nature study"
I'm conclusion" he says, per
nit me to say that the reports |
have received from graduates and
from state school inspectors as we'll
as the conditions that | find in the
school itself indicate that there has
been the most conscientious and
thorough work on the part of the
faculty and a most effective form of
administrator on the part of the
president for many years, and so
far as | am able to sense conditions
there is at River Falls at present
an enterprising and progressive
school spirit such as is seldom
found in any institution. We are
striving this year not to make the
instruction more thorough SO much
as to make it more pointed and
practical, and not to equip our
graduates with more knowledge but
with knowledge if possible of a
more serviceable and marketable
value"