Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-03-21
KENNEbEC COUNTY
TEACHERS MEETING
Day of Speaking at Congregational Church
In Gardiner==H. II. Stuart of Augusta
Presides=Address by ii. {.
Morrison DIN. II. Is Feature

/ the value of individual work but of
team work as well. We have had re-
| markable industrial development in re-
| cent years and this has depended
| largely in the number of leaders who
have been pulling their fellows for
ward. The time has arrived when the
gifted class must be taken care of ed
ucationally, and already some of the
| higher education institutions are so
| doing. The speaker closed with quo
| tation from Geo. p. Brown of ILL., Our
schools will never be one-half as good
as they should be until they cost twice
as much
"chansine Conceptions of Rural Ed
ucation," by r. w. Wright, Cam
bridge, Mass.
marks Frank w. Wright of Cam
bridge, Mass, spoke upon The
Changing Conceptions of Rural Edu-
cation" Starting with the assertion
that every school should turn its fin
ished product back into its own COM
munity he said that the rural school
problem was one of the great educa-
tional problems that remain unsolved
today. There are 10000 one-room
schools in this country being taught
by people who are giving their lives
for little reward. The rural schools
are the one phase of life which has
not kept pace with the advancement
made in all other rural affairs The
agitation on this subject has but just
begun but more people are thinking
about the matter and inevitably
something will result from their
thinking. This problem is a weighty
one for Maine for there are $780, $40
people living in the rural sections of
Maine and this is As and clio per cent.
of the total population. OF the chill
dren attending school there are 81
06S in the rural schools and 5000 in
urban schools.
Mr.. Wright referred to the recent
tests made by the Russell Sage foun-
dation in New Hampshire and said
the following had been the questions
formed as result of such an inves-
tigation. First, does the school recog
nize the ability and environment of
the various pupils? Second, do they
recognize the present and future needs
of these children? Third, are the
their knowledge so that they can use
it? Fourth, insofar as the state aids
it's schools should it not aid them uni
formily?
The only way to enrich the school
is to begin with the teacher and
Maine is paying but II cents per day
per pupil. to its teachers; 523,2l0
teachers are working today in the
United States; 100000 will stop at the
end Of the year and 115,227 are now
taking training; $4,000 will be grad
uated this year and go to work. How
many of this number win go to the
rural schools. Is it not time that
something should be done?
Afternoon Session
The departmental sessions began at
100 o'clock, the secondary school
teachers meeting at the High School
building. William C.. Cowing of Win
throp presided and called upon Prof.
]. L. MeConaughy to speak on Three
Popular High School Palaces" Prof.
McConaughy said in part
The three falacies popular in High
school work today are that the High
school is college preparatory school,
that its studies must be made attrac-
tive and that it's aim is to prepare pu-
pills to make a living. One out of
every six High school pupils enters
college, and theother five enter life;
only one out of every two will grad
uate. But High school teachers,
studies and methods are ofteh plan
ned for the one college preparatory
student, while the other five are neg
lected.
High school education is being sug-
ar-coated, made easy to the pupil. If
a course is not interesting to the pu-
pills, the fault is the teachers. All
learning is being crammed onto a
five-foot shelf or in predigested pack
ages The rod, thank God, is gone,
but God forbid the Montessori system
should ever come. We are doing
everything for, boys and girls, giving
them Fairgrounds, teaching them
games, making learning easy, attrac-
tive and accordingly spineless.
Our High schools recommend only
two hours of home study, and 80 per
cent efficiency on report wins the
pupils praise No wonder many a boy,
trained in such easy, lax methods,
fails before the exacting demands of
business life, where nine hours of
faithful accurate work and 100 per
cent. efficiency are required. Farm
chores, five-mile tramps to the little
red schoolhouse, with taskmaster
and his ready rod, study by log fire.
light-these made the men whom New
England calls her great sons. Does
the modern splendidly equipped High
school teach the same persistency?
Vocational schools will lead to
stratification of education. America
will be like Germany, where each boy
learns his fathers trade and follows
his position in life. Creators and lead
ers must be trained as we'll as fol-
lowers; head power is worth more to
nation than hand agility. French
business men were chagrined at the
failure of their employees, well trained
vocationally. but lacking in mental
power; they asked to have Latin re-
introduced into their schools. Our
High schools must prepare for life
as well as living.
At 1.30 the teachers of the elemen-
tary schools met at the Congregation
al church where Miss Mallian Reed