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EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT Oar Schools; Their Shortcomings- Suggestions for Improvement. Question 1. How can the length of the school term ln certain country districts be increased? 1. By leg'slation. 2. Thtough the Influence and advice of the county superintendent, by which a healthful public sentim nt could be aroused. 3. By statutory provisions by which the township trustee could, with the advice of the county superintendent, re arrange and consolidate districts. 4 By dlmin shing the num.er of schools in certain localities and providing tome meana for transporting the children long distances. This has been fjund a very economical measure in some sparsely settled districts of -lew England. Question 2. Concerning party servitude in nominating trustees. I am ln favor ot divorcing the school business from the buslne is of the civil townthip. I believe the psopie should elect three Bchool trustees or each school township on a nonpartisan basis who would be willing to serve for a small compensation.- • • "''".•'■. Question 3. The elementary branches not thoroughly taught. No remedy for this except better qualified teach ere, who should bs required to give mare attention to the elementary branches before taking up those which are more advanced. Question 4. Parents seldom visit schools. A wise t. acher can arouse an interest in the school on the part of the parents in very many ways. This subject has been often discussed at county institutes. County superintendents might lecture in the various distiicts on this subject. Question 5. Need ot closer supervision of district schools. Tho county'supeiinfendent" must have more timsin which to do his work. If the township is bo large that he cannot get around frequently he Blrould have an ass stant. Question 6 Should every township support a township high ichool? • I ihould say no, though I am very much in favor of township high schools, whicli shoold be encouraged and assisted in suitable localities. J H. S.*i__.T, Pres of lurdue. —President Smart does not compete for a premium, but simply favors un with his opinion, as per our request. He will please accept our thanks. lit Premium—Undoubtedly the greatest fault of our school system is that it fails to bring such a large per cent of the children of school age to schjol. There are far too many boys and girls who never see the inside of a school-home, from the opening of school to the close. Of the number whose names are on the school register, far too many are Irregular in attendance. The first class receives no benefit from our schools, and the second clats greatly hinders the progress of theni and receives scarcely more benefit than the flrst. In onr country schools, a single teacher in a single room with no other helps, aside from Ihe regular text than a rough woe'd blackboard, a map or two and probably a globe and a chart, must in the short term of four or five months, in many localities, try to teach 40 or 50 scholars, ranging f rom si_ to 21 years of age, the same branches taught in schools of four and five rooms by four and five teat here, with the help of all the latest appliances, during a term of nine or ten months. Then there is the great variety of fogy ideas—the result of the °ld school—about schools, school teaching and school management, which a great many unread' backwoods patrons hold, that keeps their own children in ignorance and also works a degenera. ting Influence upon the school Of course the result of the partisan's work, an uneducated school official, Is a great draw back. The fact that no one a» smart as the teacher looks npon the work of the school, ofttimes during an entire term, is not without its evil efTect. And not the least of the shortcomings of onr schools is the unqualified teacher. The ma, who is a cripple, the girl who is poor, the man of the same political faith as the trustee, the man who would if he could and the teacher who does the very best he can to keep up on the small s'l»ry received and fails on account of his small "laryjaii these are examples of the unqualified <«ach»r. a. compulsory education law which would bring that large per cent ont of school into •chool, ani make that long Hat of irregnlars regn- ™*s, and thereby give the earnest teacher an opportunity to interest those uninterested, would surely be a long step in the direction of perfection, letter school buildings and better apparatus in i08e localities where needed, longer terms where er *re less than six months, and a division of •grades where one teacher must now teach all ^•"J"'all this must come before the schools are , ^ "ther can be made. Toe placing of good ' ' ****d K»od papers in the hands of the children **0,e Parents do not furnikh them, would help t*"c'*'*e ">« Parents as welt as the children, and helni P ,he •"-h<wl ''om a quarter from which luth i"™"""" ladl-' nee'-ed* The passage of n »law aa will make it a requlrementfor school officials to be educated would be a move forward It would not be a bad plan to take the election of school trustees and superintendents out of the hands of the voters, and let them seenre their respective positions by virtue cf holding the best certificates of proficiency, as do those who secure government positions under the civil service rulesa With such a law there would be better selections of teachert, and better school supervision. That the teacher might be better prepared for his duties, larger, better and freer training schools which teachers should be encouraged to attend* should be established; higher wages should be paid teachers; and a strict system of grading manuscripts should be employed by the State department With movements made along the lines herein indicated, wonld not our schools have their short-comings greatly lessened? F. A. B. Harrison Co. 2d Premium —Our schools are among the most important products of modern civilization. Though crippled by shortcomings, by defects and dangers, yet they contain more than any other organization, the wisdom of the past and the hope of the future. Destroy onr schools and the next generation would be plunged into a second period of the Dark Ages. What we want to appear In the Ufe of the nation, should be pnt into the schools, because they are the nursery of citizenship. While a student the pupil should be brought into touch with the life of the community, the State and the nation, as much as possible. One of the shoit-comings of the schools, is that too often pupils pass through the entire course and griduate from the high school, without seeing any connection between their school life and the life of the community or the country. As a people we consider the edu. cation of the coming citizens both a necessity and an obligation. What our nation needs and what it expects the school to accomplish, is a higher de. gree of intelligence among all classes of citizens, better morals end a. higher standard of patriotism. Another short-coming, is the lack of a definite aim in education.' Sometimes method ln school work comes before the end or aim, we should first know the end, what we hope the scliool to reach, and then decide the method to be used in reaching it. Our schools shonld empha* size "per cents'* and "promotion" less, and give more attention to the pupil's power to acquire, retain and use the world's wisdom; emphasize more the love of home and country and lessons in kindness; kindness toman and beait Some schools fail from too much organization, others from t:o little. Itis mnch easier to discover short comings in our schools than to Buggest improvements. Perhaps the greatest improvement in the schools would be best accomplished by enlarging the personality of the teacher Ko giddy girl cf 16 or untrained boy of 18 is fitted to teach; for in the hands of the common BChool teach r are com- mitted the destinies of this republic. Oh,- for teachers who have heart and head and sympathy to direct the pupils aright, who have in-right to appreciate and improve their splerdid opportunity. "The highest aim, is not alone the mind to fill, The heart, God's grandest work, has claim, Upon the teacher's loftiest skill." Having found able teachers, hearty co-operation on the part of parents is necessary for the best success. Some parents have unjustly criti cised our schools as unfitting boys and girls for practical life. All who think that schoiling has little to do with getting a position and keeping it, should remember what the master-mechanic of the Wabash railroad system said a few years ago He announced that no young men who had not satisfactorily passed the eight grade in our common schools would be employed in any of the departments ofthe company, because boys who have a good school or collegiate education are fitted with superior qualifications for learning a mechanical trade, they not only learn more rapidly any of the intricate details pertaining to their work, but are better workmen and are much less likely to be led oft into unreasonable Btrikes. Every school should supply more than teaching and governing force. If there is not breathed into the student the "soul-breath," a hunger for knowledge, an inspiration to be and to do, the school has in a great measure failed. The highest purpose of our schools is not instruction, is not skill in nsing knowledge, ian-LJo^flt for citizenship, sven, but itis to make worthy ****_!n and women who have tiie power to think, to do, to live, all the best way. Pupi s shoul4.not be taught *o study, merely,that they may pass, examinations with high grades, but they should feel tint, the end of study ls complete manhood and womanhood, and that each branch contributes to this end. The success of any school should be measured not by the number of studies taught, but by the number of| minds quickened into greater act vity. By means cf the common school branches the soul of the child should giow into greater truth, the eyes see more beauty and less evil, the ears hear more harmony and less discord; the hands toil more for others and less for self, the tongue utter more kind and fewer harsh words, and the heart swell with a deeper love for God and humanity. No State, in proportion to wealth and population has done more for education than Indiana. There is a district school for every square mile of erritory. May there ever be found ln our State an army of earnest teachers, "clear-eyed apostles of learning," who will "Scatter in their swift advance The darkness and the ignorance. A school honse plant on overy hill, Stretching in radiant nerve lines thence The quick wires ot intelligence." Parke Co. F-Rmkb'k Daughter. 3d Premium. To one win has closely watched the progress of the public schools for the past quarter of a century, and seen their rapid advance ment from their primitive condition, when every teacher managed his own sch'ol to suit himtalf, to the preient time when, all the schools in the State work in close harmony with a unirorm gradation and excellent supervision,rt would seem thatthe educational world Is kseptng ptce with the other advancements of the time. "Yet. a c.ossr study re veals to us many polnta in which the-e might be great improvement. First, I would suggest a more complete separation of the schools from their present political environments. By thia I do not mean that the tchools thenuelves arepolftlcal,but that the township tiustee and the connty superintendent are too much at the mercy ot the political machine for the best interests of the schools I would favor placing the schools in charge of one or more school trustees, whose sole duty would be to look afie: the schools, and who should donate their services, or work for a nominal sum. thus taking the tchools entirely out of the handaof the man who has charge of the roals the dogs, and the poor. The objection to the present method of electing a superintendent of schools is tbat no qualifications are demanded of him, aud lt often occurs that a county superintendent is a better politician than a school officer. A bill now pending before the General Assembly, inmyopinim, covers man- detects of the present system. It was prepared by the State Board of Education, and endorsed by ths State Teachers' Asiociatlon, and the Association of City Fchool Superintend, ents of the State of Indiana. It riquires the connty superintendent to either hold a State license or a license called a "superintendents' licenee," itsued by the State Board, thus as-urlng that a man be qua'ified for the position. It gives him his office for four years, thus making him farther removed from the p.liticians' influence. The bill also provides for tie election of city rchool superintendents for four years This ls an excellent feature of the bill, and cannot help but work greatly to the advantage of city schools. It takes a superintendent a year to get his schools organised, and it is the greatest of folly to subject his annual employment to the whims of a board. Another excellent feature is that it is made compulsory that every district school in the State continue not lets than six months, thus assuring a respectable school term to every pupil in the State. Another feature of the bill I admire is that all manuscripts of applicants for teachers' licenses are graded by the State Board of education, and each license ist ued is good ln any county in the State. This will be found quite convenient for teachers changing localities, and at the same time add greatly to the uniform'ty of qualification throughout the State. There are many other minor changes suggested, all of which, I think, would add to the efficiency of our Bchools, and I hope to see the bill pass. Tliere is one otlier measure, that, in my opinion, would do more real good to tbe masses than any otlier one thing, and that is a compulsory educational law. I am aware there are many obstae'es in the way, such as books and clothing for the poor, and depriving widowed mothers in some ln stances of their only suppor*. But let every person have a rudimentary education at whatever cost Let the State make the necessary provisions to carry it out, even though it be binding only for three months each year for five ycara. These are some of the things that would greatly add to the efficiency of our schools in the mind of AnKx TKintER This is a subject which appeals to me very forcibly. Having been an instructor in the public sohools of Indiana,! can discuss tbe subject from personal experience. As to the short-comings of our present system, they are many and of various sorts. Among them maybe cited: 1st. The Inexperience of the instructor. 2d. The lack of interest among patrons. 3d. The lack of higher privileges for pupils. 4th. Lack of government on the part of the teacher. 5th. Irregular attendance of pupils. 6th.' Lack of enthusiaBm among teachers. Theae are only a few of them, and yet they cover mest of the stumbling ground in onr tchools. Now how can these difficulties be overcome? The folio* ing suggestions may be useful: 1st, the salary of the instructors shou*d be such that it could be made a profession in more esses than it is. As it is, the teacher ln the public schools, in the majority of casea, nses the vacation only as a stepping ttone to something more remncerative, and as aconsequence newteachera, with no experience and no method are constantly taking their places. Hence the work done in the district schools Is even often unsatisfactory. 2d. Patrons shonld take more interest in their schools. It woull materially Ihelp tha schools. They sh-.uld know the work done in the scheol room—work tbat is to mold tbeir children for success or failure in life. They ahou d know their in- atructora and ute care and judgement in selecting them. They Bhould work with the teacher in making the school a snecess, and not expect the teacher to do It all alone, and much less to expect the teacher to improve children morally and Intellectually when they are taught tbe idea of rebellion at home. 3d. The passage of the present pending school law requiring trustets to furnish an opportunity of higher education tograduates of country schools, won d do much to secure better work in that de. partment. Too many students have no higher ambition in an educational way than the comp e- tlon of the district school work. This wonld enlarge their field of amMtion. Besides it would materially aid that class who are anxious for higher education and do not poaaeas the meana for procuring it. 4th. Patrons should appreciate the work done by a truly good teacher by requesting his re-acceptation of the position. A teacher that lacks government ln the school room should not be reinstated, because his ability in that line determines to a great degree bis usefulness. Sth. A compulsory scbool law would be a good thing for cur schools. Many times parents keep their children at home in the fall and spring, thos spoiling their interest ln their school work, and lessening by more than one-half the chances of a pupil's liking his studies, npon which so much depends. The idea of a pat on's comparing the day laborer wages which his children receive or earn out of the school to the everlasting good which they would there receive is a poor one. 6th. Teachers should be given the preference, who are in love with their profession, and give' their whole energy to the work. An Indolent instructor ls to be dlspised. Our schools are far fronTperfect, yei as an educational State, we rank among the first in the Nation. Upon the success of our schools depends the success of our country, and I heartily applaud any movement which has their improvement as itB prime object. De.vmor K. Shake. The general management of our district schools is not abreast with the times. They have not, like the city and town schools, improved their management, as experience and progress in edncation would naturally dictate. The town school board consists of three trustees, while the surrounding township may have a great many more school children enrolled, thiee or four times as many teachers to hire and direct, yet one trustee, with political ambi tions sufficient 13 maintain bread and meat aa his sole desire, has unlimited control. He may be a local politician whose turn for party support demands payment for past favors by having the pleasnre of drawing the trustees salary. The Bchoola are at the mercy of unprincipled men, with few ideas of education and progress. The teachers selected are too often members of the "machine." A teacher will obtain a icense because he demauda a favor of the trustee, who in turn has good fonndation for asking the superintendent to grant such license. Often times the only qualification of a coonty superintendent is that he is a good political worker for his connty organization. Have three trustees with a term of office lasting three years, so elected that a new member assnmes the duties of oflice every year. This would check radical changea and influences, due to party victory, and continued steady progress when once inaugurated. This would prevent political bosses of parties from becoming superintendents of county schools, as the electing trustees in most counties would not all belong to one political party. It would bring grievances nearer to the people. Introduce concrete knowledge to bring before the pupil the more difficult and abstract. The practical concrete problem oftentimes gives the desired mental activity and training. With the farmer boy the estimates for a barn, house, capacity of cistern, crib or wagon bed; wall papering a house, or laying out a farm, are of the greatest interest if he is required to make them from home observations. The parents become interested, often helping them in obtaining their data, because they are practical problems that they themselves have pondered over. Like problems may be chosen for the girls.. So many opportunities present themselves by which the teacher may, throngh his pupils enlist the interest of the parent, often giving valuable instruction to the entire locality. II the grading of common schools were more rigidly enforced and educational training madea necessary qualification for a county superintendent, and a compulsory education law passed by our Legislature, the district schools would certainly receive great benefit. . w. B. A. The greatest evil, and the one moat difficult of solution in our country tchools is the amount of work required, and vast numbers of recitations or grades, constituting the daily grist the teacher must grind out. Many classes have but ten minutes time Schools here average from SS to 40 pu- Conclitdcd on Oth page.
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1897, v. 32, no. 09 (Feb. 27) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA3209 |
Date of Original | 1897 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or not-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 2011-01-19 |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or non-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Digitization Information | Orignal scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Transcript |
EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT
Oar Schools; Their Shortcomings-
Suggestions for Improvement.
Question 1. How can the length of the school
term ln certain country districts be increased?
1. By leg'slation.
2. Thtough the Influence and advice of the
county superintendent, by which a healthful public sentim nt could be aroused.
3. By statutory provisions by which the township trustee could, with the advice of the county
superintendent, re arrange and consolidate districts.
4 By dlmin shing the num.er of schools in certain localities and providing tome meana for
transporting the children long distances. This
has been fjund a very economical measure in some
sparsely settled districts of -lew England.
Question 2. Concerning party servitude in nominating trustees.
I am ln favor ot divorcing the school business
from the buslne is of the civil townthip. I believe
the psopie should elect three Bchool trustees or
each school township on a nonpartisan basis who
would be willing to serve for a small compensation.- • • "''".•'■.
Question 3. The elementary branches not thoroughly taught.
No remedy for this except better qualified teach
ere, who should bs required to give mare attention
to the elementary branches before taking up those
which are more advanced.
Question 4. Parents seldom visit schools.
A wise t. acher can arouse an interest in the
school on the part of the parents in very many
ways. This subject has been often discussed at
county institutes. County superintendents might
lecture in the various distiicts on this subject.
Question 5. Need ot closer supervision of district schools.
Tho county'supeiinfendent" must have more
timsin which to do his work. If the township is
bo large that he cannot get around frequently he
Blrould have an ass stant.
Question 6 Should every township support a
township high ichool? •
I ihould say no, though I am very much in favor
of township high schools, whicli shoold be encouraged and assisted in suitable localities.
J H. S.*i__.T,
Pres of lurdue.
—President Smart does not compete for a premium, but simply favors un with his opinion, as per
our request. He will please accept our thanks.
lit Premium—Undoubtedly the greatest fault of
our school system is that it fails to bring such a
large per cent of the children of school age to
schjol. There are far too many boys and girls who
never see the inside of a school-home, from the
opening of school to the close. Of the number
whose names are on the school register, far too
many are Irregular in attendance. The first class
receives no benefit from our schools, and the second clats greatly hinders the progress of theni and
receives scarcely more benefit than the flrst. In
onr country schools, a single teacher in a single
room with no other helps, aside from Ihe regular
text than a rough woe'd blackboard, a map or two
and probably a globe and a chart, must in the
short term of four or five months, in many localities, try to teach 40 or 50 scholars, ranging f rom
si_ to 21 years of age, the same branches taught in
schools of four and five rooms by four and five
teat here, with the help of all the latest appliances,
during a term of nine or ten months. Then there
is the great variety of fogy ideas—the result of the
°ld school—about schools, school teaching and
school management, which a great many unread'
backwoods patrons hold, that keeps their own
children in ignorance and also works a degenera.
ting Influence upon the school Of course the result of the partisan's work, an uneducated school
official, Is a great draw back. The fact that no one
a» smart as the teacher looks npon the work of the
school, ofttimes during an entire term, is not without its evil efTect. And not the least of the shortcomings of onr schools is the unqualified teacher.
The ma, who is a cripple, the girl who is poor, the
man of the same political faith as the trustee, the
man who would if he could and the teacher who
does the very best he can to keep up on the small
s'l»ry received and fails on account of his small
"laryjaii these are examples of the unqualified
<«ach»r. a. compulsory education law which
would bring that large per cent ont of school into
•chool, ani make that long Hat of irregnlars regn-
™*s, and thereby give the earnest teacher an opportunity to interest those uninterested, would
surely be a long step in the direction of perfection,
letter school buildings and better apparatus in
i08e localities where needed, longer terms where
er *re less than six months, and a division of
•grades where one teacher must now teach all
^•"J"'all this must come before the schools are
, ^ "ther can be made. Toe placing of good
' ' ****d K»od papers in the hands of the children
**0,e Parents do not furnikh them, would help
t*"c'*'*e ">« Parents as welt as the children, and
helni P ,he •"-h |
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