The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1913-03-28

see the so-called industrial education
is education in a real sense. Educa-
ton is the development of the powers
of the individual to the limit Of his
capacity that he may best meet all
the duties, opportunities and privi-
ieges of work, leisure and friendship.
1t is not so much a matter of what
meant are used to educate a man so
long as his full capacities and power
are developed that he may meet all
the duties and privileges of work, of
leisure and of friendship. For some
this development may be greatly
helped by tools and shops; for others
it may be done by laboratories; for
others by fields and woods, for still
others by books, libraries, travel and
the like. Now We want the content
Of education to contain all the ele-
ments of our civilization from art,
literature and science, to those of
the shop, the business establishment,
the farm and the home. For only in
this way may all the different capaci-
ties of all the people be developed.
Let us turn next to the dead hand
in methods of education and take an
example in the methods of teaching
reading. The old idea of teaching
the alphabet and a bare system of
vowel phonetics has long since been
shown a poor stick as compared with
the word and sentence methods; yet
you will find in many a school-room
today the old McGuffey's chart, or a
substitute, and other inadequate de-
vices that were used before the better
methods were tried and proven.
This condition, indicated by the ex-
ample in special method, obtains in
many directions in general method. ]
shall not take time to indicate in
detail the need here Of u shaking
loose from the "dead-hands" of the
past. Many of you know of school
rooms where teachers are so thor
oughly harnessed to Herbartian gen.
eral method AS to allow no chance
for the individuality of the child and
no opportunity for the teacher him
self to exercise his own originality
in adapting instruction to the needs
Of the pupils and the community. Sc
conservatively bound are we, that
when a Col. Parker comes along and
is successful in breaking away from
traditional methods, we hail him as
a wise man from the East and flock
to his school to see the thing that
is come to pass. The fact is, If many
of us dared sit down and study out
our own school problems on our own
initiative and if many of us tried to
use the methods which would fit the
conditions of our own particular
school and our community, we would
often discover methods and princi.
Mos as valuable as those discovered
nv Col. Parker or any other pioneer
of progress in educational methods.
Let us give our attention. now, t
the question Of educational organi
zation and see II there is not some
"dead-hand" in that phase of educa
tion which is binding us too closely
to the past. 7 shall here confine my
attention to the common schools o.
our own country and particularly a.
they are being developed in thu
South.
When Our Country was being set
tied. the idea Of a district school II
each school division of the TOWNSHIP
with one or two teachers, who gath
cred the children Of that particula,
neighborhood, was thought to be al
ideal plan for CARRYING the founda
tons of COMMON school education Il
all the peoDle in the towns and TIL
raj districts. A second idea which
went along with the district schoo
conception, was one which grew on
of the m%onitorial system of school or
ganization and management, so large
ly develoDed by Bell and his follow
ers. AS you know, this plan proposes
that children can be developed will
one teacher being able to properl!
discipline and = instruct anywher'
from IS to $50 children. These twt
IDEAS. varying a little here and ther'
because of local conditions, came t.
be the orthodox opinion. When diff