Year: 1874

AT regular meeting of teachers
held on the lst inst, this subject
being under consideration, Judge
Gates presented the following:


THOUGHTS ON SCHOOL GOVERNMENT.


Government in school is absolutely neces-
sary, and order must be maintained in some
way, or a school would be worse than useless.
To lay down any rule as to the way and man
ner in which good order is to be maintained
in school is impossible, for experience has
taught US, that the means which are emf
nently successful in the hands of one teacher,
utterly fail in the hands of another. To
some extent every teacher must be his, or
her own judge respecting the exact method
to be pursued.


The time has been, when the inhiction of
some kind of corporeal punishment was re-
garded by nearly every teacher as the princi-
pal means of maintaining good discipline in
school, but within the past few years, this
opinion has been gradually yielding to the
feeling, that in most cases there is better
wav, and this method should be held in re-
serve as last resort, when other methods
fail


1t is very evident, that to store the mind
with knowledge, and train it so as to increase
its power of thought and reasoning, without
having it brought under the proper control
ling power, can result in no good. 1t will be
which passes off in vapor, diffusing itself all
through the atmosphere; there is power
but it is all wasted; to become useful, it
must be governed, controlled, brought within
the cylinder, and made to press and expend
its force upon the piston.


Governing the world has always been a
difficult matter, because such vast ma jority
of mankind grow up without any principle of
selfgovernment. If the world, and especially
respect than it is now, it must be through
the influence of parents and teachers. We
cannot expect much Improvement from ma
jority Of parents in this matter, for their
view is taken from very low stand point,
and therefore great responsibility is thrown
upon the teacher. If you and | engage in
the profession We certainly do assume great
responsibility, and while we occupy these
situations, we can in no way shift this re-
sponsibilty, it rests upon US, and its burden
must be borne, and its duties discharged
The generation now growing up will carry
the marks of the impress made upon them by
the teachers who have them in charge in our
present schools.


Much has been done BY teachers, authors
and publishers, to arrange and present in the
best possible form, the principles of many of
the branches of education, so that to obtain
a good knowledge of them is, comparatively,
an easy task, but the art of sef-government,
which is of the highest Importance, has as
yet received very little attention


We do not esteem that form of family gov
ernment the nearest perfection, where obedi-
ence is secured only by the fear of punish
ment. prompt obedience from the love of
doing right, seeking only that reward, which
the consciousness of doing right brings, is,
perhaps the highest point, which we can
hope to gain, and just in proportion as we
approach that point government becomes
easy. We have long known, that, in theory,
the teacher for time takes the place of the
parent, vet how little have teachers aimed to
make their schools parental institutions.