sional preparation and training is demanded of all who can reasonably expect to succeed in the work of transforming the child into the man or woman by developing all the powers of body and mind. The day has gone by when every person who is conscious of his imbecility in other lines of work can hope to be counted competent to train the weakness of infancy into all the virtue, power and wisdom of mature years. What the teacher imperatively needs is a clear knowledge of the ends and principles of teaching. He must know his work. 46 The laws of culture and instruction, the relation of the different branches of knowledge to each other and to the mind, the methods by which the human powers may be called into being and trained, must all be understood and appreciated by those who would attempt to bring up the feeblest of creatures into a representative and interpreter of the Divine." Art of Teaching.-Another object of Normal instruction is to lead the young teacher slowly from the "science of teaching" into the "art of teaching." Some writers tell us that before students are able to understand practical pedagogics, and before they can appreciate and apply methods of teaching, they must have finished their education so far as the academic work is concerned. This is a fallacy. While it is important, as already stated, that students have a broad knowledge of all related subjects, yet those who are able to comprehend the theorems of algebra and the translation of languages, may be easily led to understand the principles of pedagogy. It not unfrequently happens that young ladies and gentlemen from the country are the quickest to perceive the truth of pedagogical principles, and will make better teachers than those "who have been kept in the atmosphere of schools till all spontaneity has been crushed out of them." Young people of practical minds, if given opportunity, will readily understand methods of teaching. The "art of teaching" involves a knowledge of a few fundamental principles. It has been shown in the experience of educators that many young teachers who have the requisite training can apply well a few principles of which they have a clear and definite knowledge. Teaching like everything else has to be learned. Doubtless a farmer might become a good lawyer; by entering the court-room and beginning the practice of law without any preparation, he might in course of time become a good lawyer; but who would want to be the victim of his blunders in order that by long and continuous practice he might become a lawyer? If there were no law against it, any man might open an office as a practicing physician and begin to administer medicine; but who would want to be his first patient, so that by practice he might become a good physician? How much more important is it that we do not sacrifice the children in order that young people without any preparation may become teachers! It is well to remember that teaching is a kind of work which cannot be accurately measured; that real power and skill in teaching are not born of uncertainty, but grow out of the teacher's knowledge of what is fundamental in the art of teaching. No educational problem should be more frequently discussed than the proper training of teachers who are to discipline and instruct the children of the land. There are two ways in which young people may gain the required training in the Normal Schools, namely, by observation and by practice, under the eye of the critic teacher. It is the purpose of the instructors in our Normal Schools to make their own teaching in each department a practical illustration of the proper methods to be used. Students receive instruction in the elements of pedagogics, and are given practice in the training department. They must be governed by the principles of the science and the observation of correct methods. Student-teachers are not however to become imitators of the training teacher, but to learn from him the applications; from him receive inspiration and encouragement for all good efforts. "A little child does not wear red because that is a favorite color worn by the teacher, but catches ideas of neatness of apparel from the teacher; she does not use the same accent or intonations of her teacher, but learns from the teacher to make her conversation life-like; she does not act like the teacher, but from the teacher she learns to develop her own personality. So the teacher by his presence inspires the student-teacher. Dr. Arnold was the greatest teacher England produced; not because he made boys understand quadratics best, or rendered them most capable in translating a difficult Latin text, but because he impressed upon their souls new and noble ideals of honor, of lofty and abiding attainments. His students went forth inspired by his instruction to be something and to do something. They felt the thrill of a restless ambition imparted from his mighty influence. So the teachers who are constantly under the guidance of those whose natures give out inspiration, by continual observation may by such training become efficient, honored, successful teachers. Practice Teaching.-The best professional training comes from practice under the direction of those who are competent to point out defects and suggest remedies. This is worth more to teachers than many years of experience when left to discover their own way out of them. There is nothing more commendable in the teacher, as in persons in other avocations, than knowing how to do his work well. This is illustrated in the event which took place in Lynn, Massachusetts. In one of the manufacturing establishments something went wrong with the machinery. It was necessary to stop the works, and thus throw 2000 persons out of employment, and this caused to the owners of the factory a heavy loss of several thousands of dollars because they were unable to fill the orders that arrived. Several men were called into the factory to discover the trouble, none of whom were able to solve the mystery. A machinist in New York was telegraphed for, who arrived and with a little hammer tapped along the machinery until he found the difficulty. In a very few minutes the trouble was remedied and the wheels were again in motion. His bill was $50.50. The owners said they were willing to pay it, or even twice that sum, but requested that he tell them why his bill was such a peculiar amount. His reply is worthy of permanent record, "I charge you fifty cents for the work, and fifty dollars for knowing how." Normal Schools are measured largely by the success of their graduates in knowing how to teach. If the graduates prove successful the public says, The school which sends out such teachers is worthy of recognition." If the graduates prove unsuccessful the school is condemned; and while Normal Schools have done much toward elevating the profession, yet there is still needed that unity in the training which will lift them to higher planes. As the philosophy and methods of teaching are the same for all grades of school exercises, and as the different grades are so related one to another that the teacher of one grade must teach with some reference to all others, every professional school for the training of teachers to teach in a complete system of schools should be complete in itself. If our Normal Schools should provide this complete training for teachers who enter the Normal classes, there would be established in our system of public instruction that unity in school work which has never yet been known in our country." Prof. Noetling: We are told in some educational journals that the Normal schools are forever "harping upon methods." There may be such schools, but ours is not of them; we "harp" upon principles, and develop the teachers' ability to adapt methods for themselves as their pupils grow day by day-no two alike, any more than are two stalks of corn. Principal Welsh: I agree that people cannot teach what they do not know, and am in sympathy with the requirement. for higher scholarship in graduates; but how about the academical work? I suppose it is the experience of all of us that pupils of intelligence come to the schools who, on examination for scholarship, are found deficient in particular directions. How is this to be corrected, if we may not do academical work? I believe we must and ought to do that kind of work. Dr. Schaeffer: One of our Pennsylvania Normal Principals made a tour of inspection of the Normal schools of the Empire State. As he went from school to school he found everywhere the same complaint -that the Normal schools were required by law to accept the Regents' Certificate as evidence of scholarship, and therefore the scholarship of graduates was often unsatisfactory. So we must not be too ready to agree to a priori theories. It is true that Normal schools are professional schools, and should not waste time on the what at the expense of the how; but it is also true that the teacher wants the what before the how, and must get it somewhere. We want to differentiate High school and Normal school work-neither can do the work of the other and continue to be a good school: and why? Because the High school is satisfied if at each step in knowledge the pupil's progress is adequate to take the next step; while if he is to teach, his knowledge must be more exhaustive than that. Helen Schaeffer's power resulted from her clear sight of the relation of every formula to what came after it. We must have some glimpse of what lies beyond, or we waste much time. The demand that Normal schools shall be "strictly professional" will soon cease. The older professions make no such demand of their schools, and why should we? There exists no such strictly professional" school on the face of the earth; the thing is an impossibility. We shall simplify the whole question when we differentiate between the proper work of High and Normal schools, and recognize that the exhaustive knowledge required for teaching is not what the average pupil needs, but something far broader. ་་ Dr. Philips: It is not wise to require the acceptance of certain certificates as conclusive on scholarship. I wish to commend Mr. Morrow's suggestion of thinning out the classes at the lower end. Most of that can and should be done before the Junior year. Prof. A. T. Smith: We sent out to the Normal schools of different States a circular letter on this question of professional and academic work. The replies are not ready to tabulate, but what we have are interesting. There is a remarkable similarity in Normal work throughout the country. Dr. G. W. Hull: After experience in Normal teaching classes for about a quar ter of a century, I am not sure that classes do not need the sifting process even toward the end. With all my sympathy for the weak sister, I fear there are some whom we cannot afford to have understand that admission to the Senior class necessarily means graduation. Some will take advantage of that, and you will have a product turned out that will do no credit to themselves or their school. Dr. Philips: You may have to sift your Senior class sometimes, but I would not leave it till the graduation dress is on the way. The bell for general exercises cut off the discussion. EVENING CONCERT. The Chautauqua management gave a concert by the Swedish Lady Quartette, whose music was very enjoyable, particularly the contralto voice. There were also impersonations by Prof. Lincoln Kirk. The audience was very large. Though the evening was quite cool, the auditorium was filled. The audience remained to the end of the programme, and were well repaid by the "Rock-a-by" melody at the close. THURSDAY MORNING. THE of session were led by Supt. B. F. PATTERSON, of Pottsville, who read a selection of Scripture and offered prayer. The paper of Supt. C. A. BABCOCK, of Oil City, was now read, on THE IDEAL COURSE OF STUDY FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL. The answer which one will give to the question, "What should constitute the course of study of the High School?" will depend upon what he believes is the purpose of education. Many, perhaps the great majority, will say that education is to enable its possessor to get a living, and that, there fore, it should be practical, should be limited to the study of those subjects which will be of immediate use in the practice of some craft, or to the knowledge that is essential to the carrying on of trade and busi ness. Arithmetic, reading, writing and geography are necessary to the world's commerce; for without these it must cease. Astronomy and the Higher Mathematics, for their application to navigation and the measurement of land, and the physical sciences, for their utility in manufacturing, are also recognized as needed branches of knowledge. Further examination might prove the value for use of many, if not of most of the subjects of study. The trouble with the argument from utility is that it can never conclude. It is an induction from an indefinite number of particulars, and leaves its advocates at different points of the ascent, but each with his theory limited to his own immediate range of vision. What he cannot see to be of use he does not think worth acquiring. It thus begets an economical habit of feeling in regard to knowledge. Economy is in many respects a shining virtue, but there are things in which it is not well to economize. Honesty is one, reverence is another, and knowledge, we believe, is still another. This feeling is sure to arise among utilitarians of all classes, from the neighbors of Sir Isaac Newton, who thought him demented because he spent so much time blowing soap-bubbles in a tub, to Herbert Spencer, with his question of What knowledge is of most worth? We once knew a good old Baptist preacher, who expressed his dislike of an eminent naturalist by saying, "I don't think much of a man who spends his time chasing butterflies with a bag, and looking at bugs with a microscope.' To determine what knowledge is useful would require the possession of all knowledge, and an intimate acquaintance with the history of human development; that is, would require that a condition exist in order to determine whether it ought to exist—a logical suicide. But on the other hand, suppose it be found that the knowledge which has been pursued the most vigorously-as if its attainment were the only end in view, its mere possession the sole reward of the effort, is the most useful, produces more power than that acquired for some special application, would it not appear, even from the utilitarian point of view itself, that the utilitarian argument vanishes? It has been said that the common branches are for use in the affairs of life, and that the higher branches are for culture or liberal education-liberal, in the sense of being free from practical matters. This is far from the truth. The most "common" branches, as arithmetic and geography, are most practical when studied most exhaustively, when their consideration is pressed out into their universal relations; and this is also liberal education as truly, though not in the same degree, as the study of the calculus or of fluxious. But it is only by means of the higher branches that the universal relations of the lower may be found. A good illustration of how the practical use of knowledge involves the use of higher and broader knowledge is found in the recent marveleous applications of electricity, a development so rapid that its years are equivalent to whole generations in other fields, and its method of growth is therefore more easily observed. At first, the demand was for practical electricians, who could do some things by "rule of thumb," then for mechanical engineers who possessed some knowledge of the laws of electricity and of the construction of machines. These demands were soon satisfied. Finally it is for electrical manipulators and inventors, who have not only practical acquaintance with electrical devices, but who possess the knowledge and the creative imagination necessary to remedy defects and to make improvements, and who must consequently be first-class mathematicians, first-class scientists, and thorough linguists. Is it not fair then to consider the utilitarian idea as a kind of tinker's philosophy which considers the man of less importance than his job? Regarding the man as of more importance than any special work he may do, it follows that the one object of all school courses, is culture. Only as the child becomes acquainted with the objects around him, and begins to think them, does he begin to live. Only as the man discerns the thought underlying the objects of the material world, and is able to represent them in terms of his own thought, does he acquire any power over them, or do they have any meaning for him. The world of the present, or of history, has no existence for him who does not rethink it. Every advance in knowledge is thus the realization of a higher self. Culture is not simply a preparation for livingit is itself life. Over against every human soul is the unknown world. It is the aim of the course of study, as a whole, to enable the mind to comprehend that world, and to put it into possession of the best results of the world's thought. The course is thus an organic unit-from the primary school to the University-and should be determined not only by the nature of the knowledge to be taught, but especially by the adaptation of the intensity of the work to the varying capacities of the students at different periods of their growth. The primary school should therefore contain as many lines of work as the High school or even the University-as language, history, natural science, philosophy, mathematics. The difference will consist, as an advance is made, in more intensive work, rather than in more lines of thought. The futility of limiting the lower schools to a few subjects, as the "three R's," is found in the fact that the pupil soon reaches the limit of his power, and must go tediously over the same ground again and again, or get into a state of chronic muddle by attempting work that is too abstract, and beyond his comprehension. The pupil before he enters school has already learned considerable natural science-some astronomy, botany, zoology, natural philosophy, and geography, even some metaphysics. Why should he stop learning these simply because he begins to go to school? The Kindergarten has recognized the force of this principle, and is, we believe, right in introducing so many subjects into its work. The attention now given to nature study, and to the study of children, in our primary and grammar schools is also a step in the right direction. The enrichment, and consequent shortening of the course of the study, is another needed blessing. Some natural science and algebra and geometry are much simpler and less abstract than some arithmetic. These should, therefore, change places in the course. Some French and Latin are also simpler and easier than much of the work in English and English grammar; and these should be changed, beginning the languages when the pupil's verbal memory is strongest, and postponing much of the study of English grammar until the abstract reasoning powers of the learner are more fully developed, or even later than this-let it come after the Judgment. If these and other similar changes were made, much weariness of mind would be avoided, the work would be avoided, the work would be done better and easier, and the course would be shortened as well as enriched. The Ideal High School Course may be considered then as a section of some length, cut across all the lines of thought which begin in the primary, and extend through the student's life. It carries on in a broader and more general way the work of the lower schools, and is introductory to the University. It is not our purpose to specify the particular studies of which it should consist-witness the reception of the report of the Committee of Ten-further than to indicate the belief that it occupies a distinct place in a general course of education whose aim is to put the learner in the way of possessing the treasuries of thought-thus to a certain extent endowing the individual with the powers of the race culturing him. The High school should find the pupil after eight years of the primary and intermediate course capable of doing independent work-the teacher at this point guiding and testing the pupil's work. If the lower schools have not produced this condition in the pupils, they have failed. The remedy has already been partly indicated in what has been said concerning shortening and enriching the course, and thus increasing the pupil's interest in it. But the cure will not be complete till the practice of work takes the place of much of the everlasting preaching of methods of work. "I perceive that in all things ye are superstitious," said Paul to the men of Athens. Just before that, we are told, that the Athenians were always inquiring concerning some new thing." We know of a city which every year for the last fourteen years, has announced that it has just completed the greatest improvement in its schools in all their history. Is that city not cultivating quite a crop of superstitions? The High School ought in four years to fit its students to enter the best colleges in the country, or do a full equivalent in other lines of work. Less than this would make it an ideal untrue to its idea as an integral part of our system of education. It should be noted that this ideal course does not increase in the number of lines of thought pursued, but rather decreases, or the lines converge, and the study becomes more intense along each. Or, to state it conversely, each subject is pursued more and more to its limits, its relations to the world of thought are discovered, and there is thus achieved that correlation, which we still have faith to believe was recommended by the Committee of Fifteen. Finally, it seems evident that a course of study which makes culture its ideal from the primary school to the end, is the best preparation for life that those students can get who do not complete it, but who are compelled to drop out at different stages of advancement; their faces are set in the right direction, and they have been guided awhile along the true path. DR. WICKERSHAM MEMORIAL. Col. John A. M. Passmore, made the following report from the Committee on Memorial to Dr. Wickersham : As Treasurer of the Wickersham Pedagogical Library Fund Committee, I beg leave to report as follows: I have in the Western Savings Fund Association, one of the strongest Associations of the kind in our city, deposited $1070, which is drawing 3 per cent. interest. I have a complete list of all the contributors to this Fund. There are quite a number of counties in the State, in fact more than half of them, that have never contributed anything whatever to this Fund. It seems to me it would be a mistake to close up with this amount, as I believe if it is properly presented to the counties where no contributions have been made, at the next Annual Institute, we could raise five or six hundred dollars more, but that will be for the Association to decide. I have not had an opportunity to converse, quite recently with the Chairman, Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh, who is now in Europe, but at the last interview I had with him, that seemed to be his idea. He added that Dr. Schaeffer and himself had called upon the Appropriation Committee and asked for $1000 for this Fund; but there was a good deal of trouble just then about the general appropriation, and they did not think it wise to press the matter. Afterwards Mr. Marshall, of the Library Committee, accompanied him on a visit to Dr. Egle, State Librarian, who agreed to set apart for this section of the Library an amount from the appropriation equal to what the A. G. C. Smith, expenses Ex. Com. . . J. A. M. Passmore, Memorial Fund. A. G. C. Smith, badges for officers. Total receipts. Total expenditures. Balance on hand $444 38 24 00 1350 4 00 460 00 2. 00 $947 88 Signed: Jos. S. Walton, R. M. McNeal, L. E. McGinnes, Auditing Committee. |