South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-07-01


teacher. u j. next 20 impossible
for military instructors TO do
much To- cOuntcract the DegE-
geDce OF schools I'm this regard.
This again has cost many men
their commissions at camp. Three
months n too short n time in
which TO teach an incorriSiblc
.beater-a bout the-bush that there
is but one way 10 answer a qaes-
ton oral or written, and that is
positively. clearly and accurately.
our schools should be made an inn
pOrtant consideration OF instruc-
ton
Children Lack Discipline.
The cataiog OF faults in our
American education might be con-
siderably heightened, but believe
that the general word 'sloL chiness.
like charity, covers a multitude OF
sins. ! believe this defect is largely
due % want Of discipline in the
home from which the student
comes. Parental authority, as it is
understood in most other countries.
Is rarely discerned IN American
home life. As a result the typical
American child is thoroughly inde-
pendent in word and action. az
fectionate rather than obedient, and
amazingly good considering all that
is done 10 spoil him and render him
useless and worthless. ] sometimes
say that. whatever virtues or
American fathers may or may not
possess, they do show beautiful
obedience to their children
Now, it is not my purpose 10 dis
cuss this fault in the home. ! in
tend rather TO lament the teacher ;
acquiescence IN it in the class room.
There is no doubt at all but that
the Characteristic of American edu-
cation is q fabby inefficiency. For
tunately for the country, this de-
feet is corrected for business men
by the sharp discipline Of CONNER
cial life. Competition demands &C
cUracy in computation and in eX-
preston and in performance. II II
Is wanting in the business man he
suffers heavy loss: he must prompt
" correct the defect or go 10 de-
struction with il. 4 lawyer learns
the need of clear thinking and exact
expression when his case is thrown
out OF court for slouchiness. The
physician. whose mistakes are bur-
led six feet under the ground comes
10 realize the necessity Of accuracy
when he losses q case from slouchi-
ness in diagnosis or prescription.
But why are not these faults cor
rected in the SCHOOL, The Ameri-
can mind is keen and eager, the
American character IS full of energy
and action What then lies at the
root Of this elemental failure?
Scholarship Not American Essential.
First, there is among our people
no general belief IN the goodness
and value OF knowledge in itself.
This constitutes another serious in
diCtment against the American
school for if the earlier teachers
had done their duty thoroughly,
there would be a general apprecia-
ton OF the goodness of knowledge
IN and for itself. With hardly an
exception. whenever men or women
in this country express interest in
education il Is, not because they feel
it is necessary for making a life,
but only that il is necessary for
making a living. Hence, scholar
ship in itself is not greatly esteemed
in America: hence, in the mind OF
both parent and son. the school
room is a state of punishment where
some souls suffer for a time before
they can enter the factory or the
counting room. Hence. in America,
teaching is a genteel form OF star
vatiOn. The salary paid for this
work. in even the most richly en-
dOwed institutions is amazingly low
when compared with the wages paid
for the same quality of genius prep
aration and experience in industrial
work. for example. No one who is
not bitten with a divine madness.
such as our vocation supplies in
such sweet and holy abundance, has
any business taking up teaching for
a life work, for with Us. teaching,
like virtue, is very largely its own
reward.
Now this Is not true in countries
where scholarship is esteemed and
where education Is efficient In the
country which has most developed
the modern type Of university. for
example. the fact that Herr Profess
sor Doctor says a thing is true in
vests il with a special and peculiar
infallibility. The much praised eff
ficiency of that people is due in
large measure TO the fact that they
are Of all people in the world the
most consistent believers in the
value of knowledge. They have a
simple faith that if a thing is true
in the laboratory il is probably true
i'm life. and they proceed 10 make
il true in life. In our country all
that is necessary TO stigmatize and
discredit any proposal is the news
paper sneer. that il is brought for
ward by some long haired professor
in university. Naturally. this con-
tempt for the teacher spreads rap
idly 20 the less sophisticated ele-
ments Of our people. and as the
cynic in the newspaper Office de-
clares that the critic IS an author
who has failed go the simple toiler
expresses his philosophy by saying
Them a. can do does. them as can't