Conservative.
year for the past five or six , pupils in
my own immediate neighborhood
have broken down from overwork in
the schools. My present public posi
tion compels me to know that one of
the great evils in our civilization in
this country is the early physical and
mental breakdown of many of our men
and women through the great strain
of modern society. It is a crying
shame that this great fault of over
work should reach as far back in life
as the school room , and thus early
cause the blighting of all hopes for
many of our most promising children.
The course of study in our gram
mar schools should not require the
children to take homo their books at
night to study in order to keep up
witli their classes. Such a system is
as barbarous for small children as the
factory system which Mrs. Browning
painted so vividly and pathetically
years ago.
Only second in importance to this
evil of overwork of the children is
the difficulty the teachers have in
doing successful work , handicapped
as they are by the number of studies
that must be taught.
With this intricate and complex
course of study attempting to lay
down a program for the entire course ,
particularizing as to everything that
should bo taken up by the teachers ,
how can wo expect them to be much
more than mere automatons. It will
surely follow that the teachers , with
the method and manner of teaching so
'
# fully set out , will give much less
thought to their work than they would
if some freedom of choice were given
them. The course of study in our gram
mar schools could be narrowed to the
great advantage of our pupils , and
without stopping to discuss the sub
jects that ought to be dropped , I must
earnestly insist that there can be no
question that our schools are attempt
ing to teach too many things. What
we want is more quality and less
quantity.
Wasted Time.
Too much time is still taken in
teaching facts that no one cares to
remember facts that can be of no in
terest to the child of his age or his
advancement facts that wo ourselves
will not remember unless we are es
pecially interested in them. This mis
take is not new to our age or time.
You will rememb er that Mr. Thomas
Gradgrind , in Dickon's story , "Hard
Times , ' ' laid down for the schools of
his time the following course of
study : "Now , what I want is Pacts.
Teach the boys and girls nothing but
Facts. In this life wo want nothing
but Facts , sir ; nothing but Facts. "
What benefit is it to the ordinary pu
pil to learn the area or population of
W countries ? It is very doubtful whether
n a scholar would be in any way bene
fited by attempting to learn the names
of all the vice-presidents or the mem
bers of former cabinets , or the present
cabinet oven. Of more doubtful value
is the learning of names and locations
of rivers and towns in Central Af
rica or Asia or even in our own coun
try. Suppose the child can tell us all
about Schulstadt , Telfar , Wapsipini-
con , Froschdorf , Mapocho , what prac
tical benefit is such information un
less it be as an exercise in memory ?
In that respect it is about as useful
as the following hotch potch , which
was taught mo while I was in school :
' ' So she went into the garden to cut
a cabbage leaf to make an apple pie ,
and a great she bear coming up the
street popped its head into the shop
What , no soap ! And she very im
prudently married the barber , and
there was present at the wedding the
pickaninnies , the job-lilies and the
Graiid-Pau-Jan-Dram himself , and
they all fell to playing catch-as-catch-
can till the gun powder ran out of the
heels of their boots. "
If wo wish to train the memory
only why can't we teach , uuderstaiid-
ingly of course , quotations from some
of our great authors something that
will be of a lasting benefit to every
pupil during all the future years of his
life ?
Text-Book Evils.
One of the great evils connected
with our public schools and one that
can be easily remedied is the experi
menting with text-books. I am not
sure that I understand who has the
choosing of these text-books or why
they are so frequently changed. My
own children have recently passed
through the grammar school , and I
have had my attention called to this
subject very frequently. What could
influence any person 6r set of persons
to allow let alone recommeu the
use of Green's English History as a
text-book in our grammar schools , to
bo studied by boys and girls from 12
to 15 years of age ! As to thorough
ness of researchaccuracy and arrange
ment , it is one of the best histories
ever written , but it is no more fit to
bo used as a text-book in our gram
mar schools than the Encyclopedia
Brittauica. It is a hopeful sign that
within the last two or three years a
much better book has been selected.
But such experiments ought not to be
permitted in a great school system
like ours. Those who have to do with
selecting books must not make such
mistakes ; they are too costly ; they
are almost criminal. In a somewhat
smaller way the arithmetics and geog
raphies used during the last few
years are subject to criticism. Here
is an example found in one of the
arithmetics , now in use , I believe :
' ' A and B engaged to do a piece of
work at $5 a day for every man they
employed ; A furnished 4 men 5 days ,
and B 5 men 6 days. How much shall
bo allowed A and B each ? "
I think I would bo safe in offering to
give a prize to as many of your read
ers as can give mo a correct answer to
that. It says "for every man they
employ. " Does it mean that they
both must unite in employing a man ?
Does A employ four men five days
each , or four men for a time equal to
five days for ono man ? Does B em
ploy five men six days each or five
men to the extent of six days work ?
Is the answer $25 and $80 , or is it $125
and $150 ? The book gives the an
swer as A $2 ; B $8. There is about
as much sense in that example , leav
ing out the answer , as there is in this
answer that is said to have been given
by a scholar in one of our schools :
' ' To find the number of square feet in
a room multiply the number of feet
by the room and the product is the
result. ' '
Many things of more or less import
ance have come under my observation
in the last few years in connection
with our schools which might be of
benefit to discuss in an article of this
kind , but the time is too short to give
only a passing notice to one or two ad
ditional points. We all know and feel
that partisan politics ought not to
have any place in our public school
system. During the last twelve or
thirteen years I feel confident that
the question as to whether a person
was a democrat or republican in na
tional politics has never had anything
to do with his appointment or promo
tion in school work. When a teacher
once obtains a position which he is
fitted to fill he has been able to retain
that position indefinitely. It is quite
possible that there has been an ex
ception to this general statement with
reference to school officers above the
grade of principal. Perhaps it may
be fairly said also that the question of
appointment or promotion has not
always been decided on the ground of
merit alone. On the whole , while
there is a chance for improvement , I
believe our schools in the teaching
department at least are as free from
and' ' wire ' '
political influence pulling'
as the schools in any of the large
cities in the country. I haven't the
same feeling with reference to the
other employees , but not having given
that subject anything like a careful
investigation , I am not in position to
criticise fairly. It has occurred to me
more than once that the engineers in
the various schools had too much au
thority over the care and management
of the buildings ; that it might be bet
ter if the principals had entire charge
of the buildings , and that the engin
eers were under the principals' con
trol. The principals would then beheld
held responsible not only for teach-