USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Inaugural address of the mayor, with the annual report of the officers of the city of Quincy for the year 1900 > Part 19
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The material interest of the schools during the past year has been well cared for by liberal expenditure for school buildings.
The Cranch school, a brick building of nine rooms, has been erected on Whitwell street. This building, which will relieve for a time the crowded condition of the Coddington, John Han- cock and Lincoln schools, will be opened early in the new year with six rooms well filled. A simple bath room in its basement marks a new epoch in our school construction, and hints at gymnasiums, medical inspection and other sanitary improve- ments for the next century.
The Old High School has received such repairs as will ren- der it useful as an emergency building for many years and the Willard school has been connected with the sewer.
The grounds of the John Hancock school have been graded and improved so that they no longer depreciate the value of the neighboring estates. A right of way from the grounds to Water street has been obtained and the school lot will now com- pare favorably with other public property.
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An addition to the High School is urgently needed. About one hundred of its pupils are now housed outside the building. Within the next year with the expected rate of growth, not only will the Old High School be filled, but even this makeshift will not accommodate the pupils. To attempt to prove by argu- ment the necessity for larger quarters seems almost an insult to the intelligence of the citizens of Quincy. The necessity is a self-evident fact. A request for a building equal to the de- mands of the school for the next five years has been made to the City Council.
The Washington school has outlived its usefulness and a new building has been requested by the Committee. In view of the expected increase in the number of school children in the Quincy Point district, a twelve room building, with modern conveniences, has been suggested.
Of the twenty-three cities in the Commonwealth, required by law to maintain schools for manual training, Quincy, with four others, reported " delinquent " in 1899. Eighteen others, with whom the establishment of such schools was optional, re- ported that they had availed themselves of the permission to maintain them. The community is invited to share with the Committee in the consideration of the establishment of such a school. More than ever will its necessity be recognized when our community shall contain thousands of highly skilled work- ers in iron and wood, which its prospective industries will soon require.
The "revival of learning " in Quincy in 1875 was preceded by and accompanied with a revival of interest in the schools by the community and was made possible only by the willingness ·of the town to make large sacrifices to keep at a high plane our best New England heritage, the Public Schools.
In the annual reports of the State Board of Education the cities and towns of the Commonwealth are graded and ranked in a table according to the sum appropriated for schools for each child, between five and fifteen years of age. The position of Quincy in the table for 1875 to 1879 and from 1895 to 1899 in- clusive is here given.
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1875,
36,
1895,
177
1876,
49,
1896,
156
1877,
46,
1897,
156
1878,
52,
1898,
135
1879,
32,
1899,
130
Average,
43,
Average,
151
This table shows that in the years from 1875 to 1879, while Quincy was enjoying a national reputation for its schools, but forty-two cities and towns of the Commonwealth were appropri- ating more money per capita for its school children, while from 1895 to 1899, one hundred and fifty cities and towns are appro- priating more. To replace Quincy to its former rank in the list. would require an annual appropriation of $120,000.
The Superintendent is the educational adviser as well as the executive agent of the School Board. To him, in a large measure, the efficiency of the schools is due. Upon the resig- nation of Superintendent Lull, a special Committee appointed to nominate a suitable candidate as his successor, unanimously recommended Mr. Frank E. Parlin, of Natick. The choice has proved a wise one. Superintendent Parlin has fully justified the high commendation of those who knew his worth and his work, and the Committee entrust the important interests of the schools to his keeping, confident that they will suffer no loss. in his hands.
To his interesting report we ask your careful attention.
This report was presented by a special committee consist- ing of Messrs. Hallowell, Record, Hunting, and adopted as the Annual Report of the Board, Saturday, December twenty- second, 1900.
FRANK EDSON PARLIN, Secretary.
Report of the Superintendent.
To the School Committee of Quincy :
As required by custom and the rules of this Board I here- with submit my first annual report. In the series of annual reports by the Superintendent of public schools, it is the twenty-sixth and of the printed reports of the Quincy School Board, the fifty-first.
Having been in charge of your schools less than four months, it would be somewhat presumptuous for me to discuss their merits in detail; therefore, I present the following as a confession of educational faith and not as a criticism of the Quincy schools or of their past management. That the schools have defects their best friends would hardly deny but that they have many excellent features is obvious to all who visit them.
With the inauguration of a new administration a revolu- tion is often expected. Sometimes a revolution is so much needed it ought to take place, but there should be back of it better reasons than simply a desire to have things different from what they have been. Age alone does not disqualify nor novelty alone commend. What is, however, should not be continued merely "because it has always been so" any more
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than should the new be rejected because it is new. Otherwise the progress of the world would cease and all things would con- tinue as they are to the end of time. Alike dangerous to real progress is a too great regard for the past and an inordinate love of change. One produces stagnation, and the other revolution, alike unnatural and indicative of unhealthy conditions. Na- ture's method is always evolution-ever improving by discard- ing the inferior old and incorporating the superior new. Im- prove or die is the universal law. Progress is imperative every- where and nowhere more imperative than in education.
Although the new education has some grave defects and the old education had some good parts not found in the new, on the whole, the new is decidedly better than the old. The "Little red schoolhouse upon the hill," has been much extolled. As a prophecy and beginning of better things it deserves our appreciation and honor. Nevertheless most of the virtues at- tributed to it were developed on the old rocky farms surround- ing it; where even children of tender years had a part in the struggle to win a not-too-luxurious living from an unwilling soil. Doing chores, cutting wood, planting and hoeing, going to market, making and mending tools, and facing frost and storm, were some of the special courses for boys upon those farms ; while the girls had much practice in sweeping, dusting and dish washing, in knitting, sewing and mending, in picking and preserving berries, and in making themselves generally useful in doors and out. These boys and girls were born into a "strenuous life." Duties and responsibilities came early and increased with years. Under such conditions children learned to overcome difficulties, to adapt means to ends and to apply themselves to their work.
There were not many books but there were physical exer- cise, nature study and manual training in abundance and all learned "by doing." The active, varied, responsible life was, the invaluable training. From such training have come men of fiber, of energy, of decision, of courage and common sense ; men of integrity of character ; and men of executive ability not afraid of work ; and all this in spite of their meager and miser- able schooling.
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The fact is those who extol unwarrantedly the "good old. schools" of their youth would soon rebel if such schools were established for their children. It is unfair for those persons to compare themselves with the immature and inexperienced grad- uates of today, forgetting how much the study and experience of years in practical life has added to their own knowledge and power. Few thoughtful persons would wish to have their chil- dren taught as they were taught.
To insist that the new education is superior to the old is not to claim the one faultless or the other meritless. During recent years the changes in educational theory and practice have been so rapid and radical it would be most remarkable if all that has been introduced were entirely sound and good, and all that has been thrown out were wholly unsound and bad. Time and experience winnow all things for the careful observ- er. In education doubtless there will be a readjustment and a change of emphasis. Some new elements will be abandoned and some old elements will be restored. These changes how- ever must not be made in blindness and prejudice but in the light of a better knowledge of the developing child. Sometime the course of study will be adapted to the child and the effort to adapt the child to the course of study will cease. We shall not try to force his development but to keep step with his nascent powers, having learned that nature's onesidedness is wiser than our studied symmetry.
There is a strong suspicion on the part of many intelligent parents and many excellent teachers that some of the results of school work are inadequate, that fundamentals are too often sacrificed to ornamentals, that there is a lack of thoroughness. and power of independent study, and that even the much abused three R's are not wholly unworthy of consideration. They feel that whatever else the grammar school graduate can do he should be able to read intelligently, write legibly, spell common words correctly, perform ordinary computations accurately and know the right construction of a simple English sentence. These results can and should be secured but they are not enough, - for one is not to live by bread alone but by many other things.
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which add richness and fulness of life. To live is first neces- sary however.
Administratlon of the Public Schools.
"The welfare of the child shall be the highest law, is the principle on which every school should be conducted. To it all other considerations must yield. The wisdom of the school laws, the merits of school officials, the efficiency of teachers, may ultimately be judged by the way in which the interests of the children are affected by them." The schools exist for the children. All other persons connected with them from janitor to school board are to serve the children and should be chosen solely because of their fitness for such service. Any person who is unable to appreciate the profound importance of the in- terests involved or who is willing to sacrifice them in any de- gree to his personal advantage or to the advantage of his friends is unworthy to be intrusted with matters so sacred to the home, so vital to the child, so important to the community. The people tax themselves freely and cheerfully to support the . schools so long as they feel that their children receive all pos- sible benefits from the money expended. They expect and have a right to expect that those having charge of the schools will study carefully their needs, will keep the educational wel- fare of the pupils constantly in view and will allow no appeal of patronage or personal interest to turn them from the plain path of duty. The people want the best schools that can be se- cured for their money and will heartily support those officers who insist on having such schools.
The Requisities of a Good Teacher.
The most important factor of a good school is a good teacher. The first requisite of a good teacher is character and personality ; sympathetic, firm, energetic, refined, honest, or- derly, sensible ; not negatively but positively good-the active expression of an intelligent and noble soul.
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Thoughtful parents and educators are beginning to feel that the silent tuition of the school is quite as important as the formal instruction-that what the child unconsciously imbibes from the spirit and character of the teacher is quite as impor- tant as what he gathers from text books. Fortunate are the children who find in their teacher the embodiment of such qual- ities of mind and heart as will win their love and confidence and suggest to them ideals of manly or womanly excellence-a cheerful and unselfish disposition ; refinement of taste, language and manners; a high appreciation of truth, justice and moral worth ; together with abundant energy and soundness of judg- ment-a person who has acquired the wisdom and virtues of maturity without having lost the memories and sympathies of childhood. Such a teacher by winning the confidence and re- spect of his pupils not only greatly increases the efficiency of his instruction but stimulates the growth of their best qualities, fixes in their minds high standards of conduct and gives them a life-long inspiration.
Someone has said, "Give your son to your slave to be edu- cated and in the end you will have two slaves instead of one." That the disposition and character of the child are often greatly affected by the qualities of his teacher is a very important fact even if it is not fully appreciated.
The character of the discipline of a school is determined largely by the character of the teacher and the government of a school is as important as its instruction ; for manners, morals and good citizenship are all involved. The wise teacher con- trols his pupils by forces within themselves and so prepares them to become self-respecting, self-supporting and self-govern- ing men and women.
The second requisite of a good teacher is natural adapta- tion to the profession-without this all other qualifications are inadequate and real success impossible. Nature's veto is abso- lute. Daily observation furnishes ample proof of the folly of attempting to practice a profession for which one has no nat- ural fitness. There seems to be a popular notion that anyone having sufficient education is prepared to teach school. This
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often works great loss to the children by retaining as teachers persons of little or no adaptation to the work. Because one has the required education, it does not necessarily follow that he is adapted to teaching any more than it does that he is adapted to the practice of law or medicine. Educational qual- ifications are essential but natural qualifications are indispen- sable. Often the whole distance between failure and success is bridged by temperament alone. Without natural adaptation the teacher is apt to be mechanical and a mere imitator who of all poor teachers is about the poorest. Such a teacher goes through the program day after day in a formal, monotonous and spiritless manner, recognizing neither individual needs nor class differences-all that comes to his hand is material to be passed at a fixed rate through the same processes and for so many dollars a week. He lacks ingenuity, intuition and inspir- ation ; deficiences which no amount of training can supply.
The natural teacher recognizes the difficulties and needs of his pupils, instinctively adapts himself to each individual, with ready invention overcomes all obstacles and by his own enthusiasm secures the attention, interest and best effort of his school. Why is it that such contrasts are found in the mental atmosphere of schoolrooms ? one charged with life, industry and good will, another stagnant and oppressive with dulness and indifference ? The answer certainly is not found in the pupils.
In this connection should be mentioned that too rare gift, good common sense-that quick practical judgment which al- ways hits upon the appropriate action in emergencies and ex- ceptional cases-a ready adjustment to unusual conditions. Only ordinary senseis required to act according to rule but a sounder judgment to see clearly when the rule should be applied. Some teachers meet their regular duties in an intelligent and satisfac- tory manner but seem dull and helpless when discrimination and independent action are demanded. But often these are critical times, when either great good is secured or great harm done, when reputations are strengthened or impaired, when public confidence is confirmed or lost. Fortunate indeed is the person who at such times has the happy faculty of doing the sensible thing.
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The third requisite of a good teacher is a good, broad general education. The opinion that one can teach all he knows and that almost anyone can teach a primary school is a thing of the past in educational circles. A person needs to know many subjects in order to teach one and much of that one in order to teach a part of it well.
It is neither wise nor pleasant to drink from a pool con- taining just water enough to slake the thirst for it is shallow, stagnant, insipid and full of foreign matter-qualities charac- teristic of the instruction of those who assume to teach all they know. Every teacher should have an intelligent view of the whole course of study, should be able to discriminate between the essential and less important parts of his work and should be so familiar with each subject that he can make it attractive and inspire his pupils with a deep and lasting love of knowledge.
The fourth requisite of a good teacher is professional training. A good general education is not enough. At a time when special knowledge and skill are demanded of trainers of dogs and horses, when years of special training are required be- fore one is allowed to care for the child's teeth, it seems strange that one without professional preparation should be intrusted with the child's education. Are teeth more important than mind and character ? Are well trained colts and puppies really more valuable than well educated children ? Who would em - ploy a carpenter having as little knowledge of the material and tools involved in his work as some teachers have of children and the best means of promoting the growth and development of their powers ? Against the opinion that teachers of inferior ability will do for the primary schools all the facts most em- phatically protest. These schools require a rare combination of qualities. There is no place in the whole system where en- ergy, ingenuity, sympathy, insight, skill and thorough knowl- edge of children are so much needed as here. Let the child have his best teachers first and his next best one when he is between twelve and fourteen years of age-during that chaotic period when the new-born youth needs a wise and steady hand to point the way to useful manhood. A right beginning is a
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long step towards a right education. On entering school the child enters a new world. He is most susceptible and impres- sious are apt to be persistent. The primary teacher should have strong motherly instincts, a thoroughly trained mind and a deep appreciation of the responsibilities of her work. Hers is a field in which the richest endowments and the greatest skill can find ample scope even if they do not find ample reward. No teacher is more rare than a first class primary teacher and none is more deserving of the respect, confidence and generous support of the community.
Appointment of Teachers.
The selection and appointment of teachers is one of the most important functions of the school board in the proper ex- ercise of which the eye should be kept open to the interests of the schools; the ear closed to the demands of selfishness and the vote free to select the best available talent, for in the teacher lies the hope of the school. The ability of the teacher is the measure of its highest attainment. Therefore, whoever would improve the schools must begin by improving the teachers.
The appointment of teachers is not a question of residence, relationship, friendship or charity, but of fitness and business. Is it right to select with less care a teacher for the children of other people than for one's own, or to depart farther from business principles in the choice of them than in the selection of private help ?
Local candidates should be measured as others are, by their merits. To appoint a local candidate whose qualifications would not be acceptable in a non-resident is indefensible. Other things being equal the local candidate may properly receive the preference, but the other things must be equal when measured by the same standards. So long as local candidates are chosen or retained solely on their merits there is little danger but, if their appointment is dictated by such motives as charity, friend- ship, family or political influence, it is a menace to the schools and an abuse of the appointive power.
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For a candidate to assume that he has a valid claim upon a position or to demand appointment as his right is mere pre- sumption and for him or his friends to attempt to influence offi- cial action by promises or threats is insolence which amply proves his unfitness. If the candidate possesses the requisite qualifications, all will be glad to secure his services but the school funds should not be used to pension favorites nor the children's rights be sacrificed to individual convenience. It is the function of the board not of the candidate, to determine what qualifications are necessary to render one eligible to elec- tion. The applicant's own estimate of his fitness cannot al- ways be accepted, although honestly made.
In this as in all other matters the people desire and rightfully ex - pect honest, rational, impartial and businesslike action. Under such a policy any system may be improved; under any other, deterioration is inevitable.
Queries.
The opinions expressed in answer to the following queries are not presented as the fiat of infallible wisdom but as conclu- sions based upon the best knowledge we have of the nature and development of the child.
The welfare of the child being the chief consideration, is it not a mistake to send him to school at the age of five years ?
At this age the child is far from being prepared for the us- ual school work and his development will be much more natural and satisfactory if, for a year or two longer he is sent to play in the open air and sunshine instead of to school and to books. At the very time nature is saying to the child, "taste, smell, see, hear, feel and move-use your senses and muscles," we shut him up in a schoolroom for four or five hours a day with paper and pencil, books and busy work and tell him to keep still and study. It would be better to send him with his teacher to romp in the fields. At the age of five years the child should be free. It is too early to impose upon him the restraints and instructions of the schoolroom. He is then preeminently a pupil of natur e
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and of action. To him the world is new and wonderful and each day he essays with all his might to know and conquer it. From dawn to dusk he investigates, questions, imitates and works until his whole being-bone, muscle, brain and mind- has been fully exercised. He plays a hundred parts-dog, horse, locomotive, merchant, doctor, prince and beggar-and acts each completely as he sees it. The senses are busy gathering new ideas which the imagination weaves into a web of life to be acted and lived out. For him noise is more appropriate than silence and movement than thought. By his observations and play he is learning more things than we can teach him at school, and, at the same time he is being prepared in the best possible way for our instruction.
At the age of five the child's brain is growing very rapid- ly and continues to grow rapidly up to the age of seven, then more slowly, attaining its maximum weight at the age of four- teen or fifteen, while development and organization are not completed before the age of thirty.
We do not say that a child of five cannot do the work of the primary school. The fact is he does do it every year but his- development has not prepared him for much of it, and therefore it is premature and accomplished at unnecessary cost of time and energy. The result is that, although his progress may seem very satisfactory in the lower grades, there is a distinct loss in mental grasp and rational power in the upper grades. His- development is arrested or rendered defective by our attempt- ing to ignore the lower and fundamental powers and to appeal prematurely to the higher and accessory, and the child pays for our impatience.
As long as children are admitted at the age of five, is it not a mistake to keep them in school as many hours a day as . older pupils ? Are not two hours a day enough for children of five or six ? By reducing the number in attendance at one time and by making some desirable changes in the primary work, this reduction of time can be made not only with great physical benefit to the children but without any loss in scholar- ship. The average membership of the first grade rooms in the
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