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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 1901)
fr * f ? ' 0 gv ttoe Conservative * 3 n A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [ By Orrln N. Carter , Judge of Cook County , Chicago , Illinois. ] We believe in our public schools. The American people , without regard to religion , locality or nativity , are practically unanimous in their sup port , and listen usually with impa tience to anyone who may criticise them. Many things in connection with our school system deserve com mendation , but there are some things that may be fairly criticised. Criti cism in order to be beneficial must be conservative must be based upon facts. It is a very easy thing to at tract attention to a question by mak ing extreme statements. A superficial study of any subject may give an en tirely wrong idea as to its merits or defects. It is quite possible that some of the conclusions I have drawn with reference to the work of our schools come from not being fully informed and that a more thorough investiga tion would show that the criticisms are without foundation. But there may be wenk spots in the methods of teaching and managing the schools that those who are continually in the work have overlooked. What I shall say will be said as a friend of the schools as one who has had years of experience in them , both as a pupil and teacher. The importance of any fair discus sion of our public schools cannot be overestimated. The amount of money spent in their support would alone justify a thoughtful study of school problems , not only by the teachers , but by citizens as well. In these days when the burdens of taxation in our large cities are so great , and when the opportunities in municipal govern ment for expending public moneys ad vantageously are continually increas ing , ten or eleven millions of dollars annually ought , not to be spent with out careful supervision. But when we add to the financial interests all of the great moral , social and politi cal problems which our schools have been and will be foremost in solving , then we can easily appreciate that the best thought and energy of all the people will not be used amiss when used for the advancement of our pub lic sc'.iools. As a people we have al ways believed what was written in 1825 in the preamble to the first l establishing free schools in this state ' ' No nation ever continued long in the enjoyment of civil and political free dom which was not both virtuous am enlightened , that to enjoy the rights and liberties of freedom the people must understand them. ' ' I appreciate fully that it is much more easy to criticise than it is to suggest a better way. Doubtless some of the things that willjbe touched up JM ; on in this discussion have often been given serious consideration by our ; eaohors and had there been any prac- iical way under existing conditions of doing away with these delects , the changes would long since have been made. ' To know thy bent and then pursue , Why , that is genius , nothing less ; But ho who knows what not to do Holds half the secret of success. ' ' What will strike one who has never liad anything to do with the schools in a large city most forcibly upon a casual investigation , is the great num ber of studies that are taken up dur ing the course. I have gone over with some care the outline of study for the school years in the grammar grades , separating in my own way the different topics that are suggested to be taught in the various grades , and while my division may not be logical or one that would be made by others , I think it is approximately fair. I find that in the first year at least one hundred different topics are suggested to be taught ; that in the eighth vear approximately 180 differ ent tr is are to be studied by the pu pils during that year. The othei grades will vary as to he number of topics taught between the numbei taught in the first and in the eighth grade. In the eighth grade in the grammar school each scholar is com pelled to use between fifty and sixty different text-books. Isn't that a pret ty strong course of study for the aver age child ? Wouldn't the ordinary layman in looking over this intricate and complex course conclude that our schools make an attempt to teach too many subjects ? In demanding that every scholar , in order to pass through the grammar schools , shall study such a great variety of subjects , we render the schools liable to be fairly charged with following a system of cramming. If we have too many subjects taught , the result must necessarily be that the pupils will only have a smatter ing a surface understanding of the subjects , studied. A young person low in the high school , who gradu ated a short time since from the grammar - mar school , said to mo recently : They attempt to teach us everything and wo remember nothing. " This statement is perliaps too extreme in its character , but is there not much truth in it ? Old-Fashioned Ideas. When I have attended some of the many banquets that are held in Ohi- cago. and have noticed the numerous and costly courses brought to the ban quet table , I have frequently longed for the old-fashioned cooking ; one or two plain courses of pork and beans , ham and eggs , or corned beef and cab bage ; and when I have seen this long and extended course of study for the primary and grammar grades in our public schools , I have often wondered if the old-fashioned teaching of the Three B's might not bring better re sults than these new methods. "Young folks are smart , but all ain't good thet's new , I guess the gran'thers , they knowed sun thin1 tu. " Is not the temptation today to try new things in our schools very strong and too frequently yielded to ? Some educator has accomplished very great results in teaching a certain thine : ; naturally he thinks every one can ob tain the same results , and more than that , ho believes they ought to try to obtain the so results. He suggests to the school authorities that his ideas be tried ; he is enthusiastic , and by his enthusiasm often succeeds in hav ing the school management adopt his plan. People of one idea are very necessary to progress in the world , but they are very unsafe advisers as to what ought to be taucrht in our public schools. The man who teaches a hobby in our schools , like a boy on a hobby horse , never gets anywhere. There is still too much judging by marks in examina tions , by immediate results ; too much straining for novelties because they seem to give immediate results. Our common schools are not for the pur pose of turning out specialists ; even thougli I am strongly in favor of manual training schools as separate institutions , I have felt that it was quite doubtful whether the attempt to teach manual train ing in our grammar schools was a success. The Present Defective System. Thus far this discussion has been carried on only from the standpoint of the pupil having too many studies. I have not touched upon the perhaps greater evil growing out of this se vere course of study in the danger of a nervous breakdown for our ambi tious boys and girls. Almost every " V * " * ' , < ( , r ' 4,4 f-AAf' ft
