The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-02-17
CAN
THINK TEACH
THEM HOW TO.
Keynote of Address by DR..
H. w. Cox of Univer-
sity of Florida.
200 TEACHERS
AT INSTITUTE
Concluding Session VIII
Begin at 10 o'clock
This Morning.

Nearly two hundred teachers were
present at the first days session OK
the two-day institute Of the Escambia
County Teachers Association Friday
at the city hall. Ross Rogers, princi-
pal of the Pensacola high school,
made the welcoming address and ex-,
planned the purpose Of the Institute
The purpose, ne said, was to bringi
about the improvement Of the Escam !
bia county public schools and to give
the teachers a clearer vision of their
responsibility and the aim Of educa-i
ton. In short, he stated, the insti-i
tute is to be a round table discussionI
for the Improvement Of the publici
schools of Escambia county.
DR.. Harvey w. Cox, professor OF
PSYCHOLOGY and education, at the
University of Florida, was the princi-s
pal speaker of both the morning and
afternoon sessions, his afternoon adj
dress being a continuation Of the one
he began in the morning. DR.. Cox is,
one of the best known authorities on
child training and education, and the
subject of his address was mind and
It's Growth" In the morning he
traced the beginnings Of the minds
growth, and in the afternoon he took
up the minds later development.
The following is a synopsis Of Dr..
Cox's address:
Education is not matter of push,
but of pull, The teachers blsinessI
is to so attract and interest the child
in the work of leaEning, and so con-
meet the matter in the text books
with things in daily life that the
child sees and knows, that he will
work out his own salvation in educa-t
ton. The teacher must know more4
than the subject she teaches, she must
understand the mind of the child. The
average school is a grinding MAJ
where boys and girls are thro~ -
and ground up without ever a consul
Grafton of their individual minds and
personalities Too many schools to-
day are operated on the mill pIinci-s
pie. The teacher must study the in
dividual child, draw him out, and get
| him to work for himself
The education Of a child should be-
gin before his birth and a definitaI
schooling course should begin when.
/ he is in the cradle. fhe child learns.
more during the first three years.
than in any ten years in the rest of,
his life.
Teachers must cooperate with par
ents. The school belongs to the par.
ents, they pay for it, and they shouIdi
visit the school so often that they
win seem a part of it.
Afternoon Session: A Continuation Of
Morning Address.
There are three phases of mental.
life, the impression, organization and
expression. When you get the i'm :
preston side of child's mind con-.
nected up with his expression side.
then that child is we'll on his way to
education.
An educated man is one that can
adjust himself to his environment and
his environment to himself Many
teachers are too lazy to De educated.
/ Teachers should broaden out, keep
pace with the times and not waste all
their time and vitality over note
books and test papers. They must
always be learning. They should CO.
ordinate books with environment. The
main part of a teachers business is
to build up mental consultations for
the child.
Grammar schools must turn out
thinkers. Children can think and viii
think if allowed. Most parents and
teachers don't give them a chance.
The duty of the teacher is to develop
thinking human beings.
The emotional side Of a child is by
far his most important side to de-
yelop. If his emotional side is right
ly directed up until he is twelve OF.
fourteen years old he can be depended
upon to go right for the rest of his
life. Teachers should build for citi-
zenship and not merely to strive to
load the child's mind with facts from
books. Citizens are not built after