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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (June 27, 1901)
'Cbe Conservative * BLESSEDNESS IN NATURE. A quiet hour. Behold the trees , Swayed Rently by the morning breeze ; Each leaf upturned to drink the dew , Or catch the light , and life renew. What charm all nature's movements show ! Life through her pulses doth o'erflow To leafi to tree , and so to all , Each throbbing thing , or great or small. The tree , the leaf , the breeze , the light ; The mysteries also of the night ; Help to complete the cosmic whole , Which rules my body and my soul. A blessing thus to feel and know From whence we came , and where we go , No futile quests our thoughts annoy ; Peace , peace is ours , without alloy 1 * Pit OF. E. EMERSON , SR. Haverford , Pa. , June 8,1901. THE DUTY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO DEMOCRACY. Written for THE CONSERVATIVE by Prof. Charles W. French. The public free school can justify its right to exist at the expense of the state only , by proving itself an efficient factor in the establishment and maintenance of a righteous and intelligent citizen ship. There are today , numerous indi cations in political and social circles , that the agencies now working in this direction , are failing , to a large extent , to accomplish the desired result. Relation of Schools to Democracy. A democratic form of government must be endowed with organic functions , which will inform and purify its political constituency , so that its effi ciency may not become impaired and its existence endangered by the presence of corruption and incompetence , and such agencies , if wisely directed , will per form the same services for the masses of the people , and make the social atmos phere , as well as the political , reasonably wholesome. When reform clubs , citizens' associa tions , civic federations , and similar or ganizations become necessary to protecl the public from political and civic dis honesty and inefficiency , there is some thing wrong in the machinery of state and measures looking toward a radical reconstruction are demanded. The Functions of Democracy. A democratic form of government has two distinct and well-defined functions one of which is governmental and admin istrative in its nature , and the other con structive. In other words , it must noi only govern the country over which i holds sway , but it must also build up by well-defined means an intelligent and righteous citizenship , which is the only sure foundation for a permanent and progressive government by the people This conserving power the American democracy has intrusted to the public school , and has thus placed in its hands the weal or woe of the future. That the public school has failed in part , to meet this obligation is not due X ) any lack of conscientious effort on the part of educators , nor can it be traced ; o any notable defect in either the or ganization or methods of the school. If ; here has been a failure it has come as ; he result of an imperfect adjustment of the educational system to the life conditions and demands of the world , and this has been caused by a failure to appreciate fully , the fact that education is life and not "preparation for life , " Something Apparently Wrong. At the present time there is a deep unrest among educators , a conviction that there is something wrong some where in the constitution of the schools. As a result of this , there has been be- [ jun an earnest search after the philoso pher's stone , which shall transmute this magnificent organization , with such wrong adjustments as it may have , into an invincible power for the regenera tion of the social , political , and com- PROP. CHARLES W. FRENCH. meroial institutions of the country , so far as there may be necessity for it , and the fact that there is such a necessity is daily becoming more obvious. This search after something better has already resulted in the organization of manual training schools , courses in do mestic arts , vacation schools , school de mocracies , etc. , many of which have easily proved their efficiency , while some will no doubt be relegated to the junk-shop of those educational excres cences which we are wont to call "fads. " From those which have been successful , it is possible to draw some deductions , which are of supreme inter est to all students of this problem , and surely it is one which is worthy of con sideration at the hands of every Ameri can citizen. Candid Inquiry Demanded. The attitude of such students should > e one of candid inquiry , and not of criticism only. In the past many citi zens , who have approached the question with honest intentions , have contented ihemselves with a superficial kind of 'ault-finding , which , however specious it may have been , has been essentially lostile and' destructive , and consequently quently has hindered rather than helped ; he cause. There has been much and bitter criticism of the expanding curric ula , and these critics have harked back to the days of the three R's with regret- full ongings for the good old times of the fathers. Yet we have outgrown cheer fully and without serious regret , nearly all other phases of the 18th century civilization , and it would be strange in deed if the 20th century school , alone , should cling to the narrow , old-time views and practices , and forget that the world is marching on. The increase and enrichment of courses of study is simply an effort to keep in line with ad vancing life and to minister to the ad vancing necessities of the child of the present day. The difference between the old and the new in this respect is simply that in the good old days the child was adapted to the necessities and pre-possessions of the school , while in these later , degenerate days we seek to adapt the school to the necessities of the child. The Child , the Center of Interest. The distinguishing characteristic of the present system is that all interest is concentrated in the child , while the school is becoming merely an agency for securing his greatest usefulness and hap piness. Mistakes are made , of course , but it is surely better to err a little in pursuit of a wise and just purpose than to run never so well if the goal is a mis taken one. This criticism in its various phases is the one which is most frequently passed upon the schools and there are few others of this nature which are worthy of serious attention. The charges of superficial scholarship , overwhelming social demands , and de generacy in language and methods of thought simply do not hold. For where they exist they are characteristic of the age and not of the schools alone. The average American school today is doing broader and more thorough work than any other similar institution in the world , not even excepting the much ad vertised German schools. If social functions are diverting the attention of young people from more serious things , the fault lies in the home and not in the schools , which are laboring earnestly , and with no small degree of success , to overcome this unfortunate tendency. Neither can the use of slang and the formation of superficial habits of think ing be traced back to the schools. Again , the home and the street must bear the blame. The school stands as
