San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-03
Outworn Procedures Should
Be Dropped From In
struction, Speaker Says.
BUSINESS In TEACHING
Mass Assembly Held at
Bib S. Opening With
Reading of 23rd Psalm.

Nearly 1000 teachers who have been
selected to instruct the school children
of twenty Texas counties assembled at
Breckenridge High School for the
opening day of the Southwest Texas
institute, Monday morning. Leading
figures in the educational world have
been brought to San Antonio TO con-
stitute the faculty which will conduct
the institute during the week.
Mass assembly was held in the high
school auditorium at 0 o'clock Monday
morning. Following the reading of
the Twenty-third Psalm led by DR..
Jeremiah Rhodes. superintendent of
San Antonio public schools, the first
by DR.. Fl. Il. Wilson, superintendent
of schools of Berkeley, Cal. DIR. Will
son will speak each morning at D
o'clock.
Cites Modern Business.
Outworn methods. procedures. and
forms of organization sh be fear
lessly discarded or placed in secon-
dairy relationship when modern and eff
ficient methods, procedur and forms
of organization have been developed.
DIR. Wilson brought out during the
course of his Introductory address. "A
Progressive Educational Program"
Scholasticism. he maintained. should
not be bound by tradition when such
encumbrances are obviously anti
quated.
The fact that certain methods have
worked efficiently in the past, he CON
tinued, is not proof that the methods
of former years can be used to advan-
tage in this day. As a parallel. he
cited the example of SUI ,essful bust
ness institutions and manufacturing
concerns that have advantageously
adopted radical changes in methods
and processes within the last two de-
cades. Every successful business and
manufacturing institution, he asserted.
has as its directing force. brain that
has been trained to discard old methods
when it has been possible to substitute
newer and better methods.
OF Anticipated eMthOds.
One of the most noteworthy changes
of method in the scholastic world, DR.
Wilson believes. has been the change
in the method of teaching spelling. Not
SO many years ago, he told the As
A sembly, textbooks containing between
$1,000 and 1900 words were used
throughout the country. These text
books used diacritical markings. anC
taught derivations and uses of words
The list of words were composed OF
those words that were selected fol
their difficulty in spelling rather than
for their use as everyday words.
Children were so busy becoming
acquainted with $1,000 words thar
they had no time to learn to Spell the
words in every day use." DIR. Wilson
said. Business men complained that
high school graduates whom they took
into their offices were unable to cor
rectly spell the simplest words. This
was not the fault of the teachers nor
that of the pupils. 1t was the fault
of the method.
Use Common Sense Now.
To-day. we have textbooks con
| tanning lists of words compiled by rea'
son of their utility. Instead of having
1000 or 1900 words, spelling books
now contain 5000 or 1000 words that
the pupils in the course of everyday
life will have occasion to use"
One of the features of the institute
is the daily demonstration school had
each morning from 1905 to 1O.5J
o'clock. In the several rooms of the
Breckenridge High School buildings
teachers who are admittedly efficient
along various lines, such as English
mathematics, physical education, mu
sic. storytelling, supervised study
rural education, community ciyics
and in fact every subject with which
the teacher has to deal, conduct classe;
for the benefit of visiting teachers. A,
the request of the superintendent oil
schools, scores of school children have
volunteered their services for these
demonstration classes.
The peakers of the Southwest Texas
Institute will be honored by an in.
formal dinner in the patio of the Men.
ger Hotel at s O'Clock Wednesday