USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Braintree > Town annual report of Braintree, Massachusetts for the year 1888-1889 > Part 8
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While the year has had its failures yet the sum total of school work shows a gratifying advance over that of the previous year. The waste in school force through poor methods and the lack of system have been materially lessened. Striving to avoid what is merely machine-like I have sought to reduce indefiniteness to a minimum and to concentrate effort upon the main essential lines. Ideas of the educational body differ so much as to what are the essentials that it often becomes a perplexing question what to teach and what not to teach. The meetings of the teachers and myself have been devoted to this and kindred questions. When the profession and public opinion shall have settled the point as to essentials in common school education, we may hope to see a large gain in labor and time now spent in unfruitful directions.
The illustrative teaching exercises, begun last year in the teachers' meetings, have been continued at intervals. These exercises have helped to improve methods and produce a larger degree of correspondence in the work. Methods of teaching reading to beginners have been bettered. The use of toys, so successfully employed in the schools of Chelsea, has been introduced and has proved a decided advance. The interest of the children is at once enlisted by the toys and their attention easily held. The name of the toy is written on the board and learned in connection with the object itself. Some simple act is performed with the. toy, which the children describe. The sentence describing the act is written on the board, and this also is learned. Some simple fact about the toy is called for and the describing sentence is written upon the board. The words are combined and recombined in a variety of ways, and the sentences presented and re-presented until they become familiar to the child. Thus, by word and sentence, learning to read is made easy, pleasant and rapid. During the three first months of the first term some of our Primary teachers accomplished the same amount of word teaching as is laid out for the schools of Chelsea for that period. Under the present organization, which necessi-
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tates three grades or divisions in the lower Primary school, it is impossible to keep up this standard through the year. After a working vocabulary from the script has been learned the transition to print is made and the charts brought into use. These are followed by easy reading primers and first readers. A half dozen first readers are read through in the second grades. The New England idea of teaching by a variety of reading, in the upper as well as the lower grades, is quite fully carried out. Six sets of different series of readers, some twenty-five books in a set, together with considerable supplementary reading, are used, the different sets being changed at regular intervals. By this method the power to grasp thought from the printed page and give it fitting vocal expression-the prime object in teaching reading-is acquired. This method has a great advantage over the old one of keeping one reader in a single grade until it had been read and re-read and all freshness and interest worn out of it. Children could doubtless read their one book better than they can the variety now supplied, for the reason that the contents of the single reader were learned by heart from constant repetition. The ability to read at sight any reading of his grade and the development of self-reliance in the child are far more valuable qualities than anything acquired by imitation and repetition.
The practical side of language has been more attended to. In the upper Primary and the Intermediate grades the work consists in the use of language in letters, short compositions, abstracts of lessons, bills, orders, etc. The instruction is oral, from outlines and text-books furnished the teacher. In many schools the language work, just preceding technical grammar, is done by a text-book in the hands of the pupil, supplemented by oral work by the teacher. I would recommend that some simple text-book on language be furnished the pupils of the fifth and sixth grades. The language charts, put into the schools in the early fall, have met with general favor as real practical helps.
Penmanship, particularly in the Primary grade, has received a good deal of attention. The progress in this direction is very marked. The work has been carefully laid out with a definite proportion of letter-practice for each term and grade. In the first and second year the slate and lead pencils are used. The
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pen is introduced in the third year. At intervals specimens, not alone in penmanship, but in drawing, language, etc., are. sent to the Superintendent for reference and comparison.
A fair progress in music in the past year is to be noted. Work in this subject must be somewhat slow since but little time' can be given to instruction by the teachers and the direction of it depends upon what time the Superintendent can spare from his other duties. As in other branches, a plan of the work has been laid out for the teachers. For help and suggestions in this respect the courtesy of teachers and directors in neighboring towns is gratefully acknowledged. At intervals we have had the services of specialists in music to give talks upon aims and methods and to illustrate the same by practical work in the school-room. Although our accomplishment in music calls for no eulogy, yet I think few towns in the State having no music director, will show better proficiency proportionately to con- ditions. To the teachers belongs the credit; theirs the labor, theirs the honor.
At a recent meeting in Boston a gentleman well-known for his rich scholarship and warm interest in education, spoke so elo- quently of music as an educator that I am constrained to quote a passage from his address : "I have come through observation and experience to have a high regard for music as a means of moral, mental and religious development and culture, and I am more and more interested in music in that aspect. I know the power of music in the home, upon the family circle, in times of trouble, of sorrow, of bereavement, as well as in times of joy and of gladness ; I know the power of music in society, when it is pure and good, and when the player and the singer are also pure and good. And I know the power of music in the common schools, in the academy, in the college, in the university and especially in the Sunday school, and in the devotional meetings, and in the church, when the aim is high, the motive is pure, the consecration is entire, and the lofty words we have are set to noble music. I believe the noblest office of the musician is that of the teacher spreading the knowledge and transmitting the skill from one to another, until the whole country with its homes and schools and churches shall be ringing with good, hearty, aspiring music."
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In the history of the schools, which the annual reports form, it is worthy to be noticed, that this year has marked the raising of the salaries of teachers in the grades below the High School and the arrangement of them upon an equable scale, and also the new basis for admission to the High School. The old system of basing admission to the High School upon the results of one examination under all the unfavorable circumstances attending such a test was wrong in principle and pernicious in practice. The plan making the basis of admission the average of four written examinations, conducted by the teacher, in familiar con- ditions, is a step forward. Undoubtedly the most competent judge of a pupil's fitness to take up the work of the next higher grade is the intelligent, conscientious teacher. From her daily contact with the child's work and capacity she should know just what he is capable of and what he is incapable of. Of course the teacher is ambitious to promote as many as possible of her pupils, but should she advise an improper promotion, her judgment and integrity are called in question whenever a pupil so promoted fails in the work of the grade above. Some data as to a child's work should be taken from time to time and kept for reference when the question of promotion comes up. These data are best taken in the course of the regular school work. Such tests should be short and form a part of the daily business of the schoolroom. Stated, set exam- inations tend to cramming, more or less, inevitably, and are, moreover, too much apt to break up the order and sequence of school work. In the schools of Cincinnati, regular examinations, as a set and periodic thing, are dispensed with. From time to time the teachers give short tests, which do not interfere with the regular work, but are really a part of it. These tests occur, perhaps, once a month. From the results of these exercises the teacher makes up her judgment as to promotion and standing. This plan, or something closely resembling it, is in successful operation in many places. When school examinations become an end rather than a means, it is time to change.
Drawing is receiving more attention than formerly. The admirable lectures and suggestions of Mr. Henry T. Bailey, agent of the State Board, have given point and stimulus to this branch. The practical side of the subject, its application to
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the illustration of geography and history, and other work, is kept in view.
The equipment of the schools as regards books, apparatus, etc., is good and sufficient. In this respect the schools of the town are as fortunate as the majority of towns throughout the State. The liberal spirit of the Committee is to be thanked for this satisfactory feature.
With one exception the seating capacity of the schoolrooms has answered the demand. The Middle Street School has now more pupils than there are seats for. A temporary relief is made by putting in a few extra seats in the needed floor space in the front part of the room. If the number of pupils continues as large as at present, some alterations in the room will have to be made to meet the need of more seats.
The attendance has improved over that recorded in the last report. The teachers are to be commended for their efforts and vigilance in securing good attendance. In the attendance for the year the High School is, of course, first. For the month of October the East Grammar School had 100 per cent. in attend- ance, the first perfect monthly record yet noted.
The season of contagious disease in the Iron Works district in the fall broke in upon the school work lamentably. This inroad it will be hard to repair. Regular attendance is vital to the efficiency of the schools. As a rule the children are sent to school punctually.
To keep open the way between the school and the home, and as a kind of substitute for the old-time custom of school visiting, a plan of special days, designed for visitation by parents and friends, has been arranged. It is not the purpose to get up an elaborate show or entertainment, but so to change the regular work as to afford visitors some knowledge of the daily business of the schools with pleasing variety. A special day was held upon the last day before the Christmas recess. Two others are to be held, one just before the April recess and another before the long vacation.
At the close of the school year all the old teachers were re-engaged, their positions being made more attractive to them by the improvement in salaries. The condition of the schools at this time is a sufficient proof of the wisdom of making the
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salaries such as to command and hold the services of good teachers. The plan adopted recognizes experience and faithful service, and insures stability to the school standing.
Finally, it may be said that the schools generally are in a more encouraging condition than a year ago. While not as near the ideal efficiency as all friends and patrons could wish them, there are yet satisfactory proofs that they are moving steadily forward. A nearer approach to that ideal will be made each year, as experience widens and system improves.
FOR WHAT ARE THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ?
A collection of opinions from all classes of people upon this subject would be both curious and interesting. Put the question to a business man, and the answer is that the public schools should teach accuracy in figures, alertness and shrewdness in trade ; he would have the child taught figures and penmanship, the banker's method in reckoning interest, rapidity and accuracy in discount. Another man insists that the power to use language with facility and appropriateness is the proper function of the schools. Still another maintains that the training of the hand to skillful manipulation of tools, dexterity in the mechanic and industrial arts, with the view to gaining a livelihood, are the business of the schools. " A practical education " is a phrase very frequently used. The expression lacks point, from the fact that there is so little agreement as to what constitutes a practical education.
If we look at the more intelligent nations of ancient times we shall see great diversity of notions as to what went to make up " an education."
The Jews, with their supreme reverence for paternal govern- ment, placed obedience to the head of the family as the chief object of education. Entire submission to the priests and kings was the highest duty. Instruction in the Law and the Prophets was second only to obedience.
Among the Greeks an entirely different idea prevailed. The Spartan boy was taken from his parents at the age of seven as a ward of the State, which thereafter charged itself with his " education." This had for its supreme end the making a good
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soldier of the child and toward this all training and discipline were shaped. In the days of their highest prosperity the Greeks aimed at intellectual acumen as the highest educational value.
The Romans sought after virtue in the improvement of man- ners. and 'morals rather than a general diffusion of knowledge among the people. Rome taught the world government and the "idea of dominion was prominent in the education of the Roman youth. -
Among none of the ancient nations was there what could be called a system of popular education. A favored few .received training in some department of art or politics or religion, while the masses were ignorant and superstitious. Gradually the idea of the education of the people took root and grew and strengthened, until today it 'is recognized as at the foundation of all good society and government. With all that was good and worthy in ancient notions and systems the modern idea of systematically developing the whole human being, with all its powers and capaci- ties, was unknown. . Today this idea of complete and harmonious development dominates educational thought and shapes educa- 'tional forces. The true teacher has in view as the fit. result of his training, the ideal man and woman; not merely an artisan, a soldier, a business or professional man, but a being trained in all his powers of mind and body and heart, true, intelligent, loyal and virtuous. Such a result it is the highest duty of the home and the school to produce.
It has been truly said that the most practical men in the world are those who have the largest and most symmetrical develop- ment of their active powers. A true system of education, then, should first provide for the general training of the individual as a human being, after which his activities may be turned into special channels, with larger prospects of success and usefulness.
MANUAL TRAINING.
With the above principles in mind we can more justly, and intelligently consider the question of manual training in the public schools. It is claimed by some critics that present methods train the capacities of the children, but neglect: their
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faculties. The criticism is to some degree true, and the schools must remedy the defect. Outside of city schools no considerable attention can be given to special manual training, but much may be done along general lines. The discipline of the mind through the eye and hand is of high educational value. In fact, to train the mind to observe and think correctly, and the tongue and hand to express truthfully is the essence of the school. All practical means to this end should be employed. For this purpose drawing is most valuable, the mind and eye and hand being brought into action. The use of tools as a discipline, while in many respects desirable, is not generally practicable, at least in the smaller towns. Sewing and cooking are also admir- able training, and a great benefit to those children who cannot receive home instruction in these matters. In all these things the higher object of the` enlargement of the powers ought never to be lost sight of. Says Gladstone : "There is much value in that kind of training in which the subjects learned have for their chief aim, not to inure the hand to the use of tools in some particular art, but to operate on the mind itself, and by making it flexible, manifold and strong, to endue it with a general aptitude for the duties and exigencies of life." The workman of intelligent and disciplined mind will far surpass the laborer who has mere knack or imitative talent. "To the instructed man,", said Theodore Parker, " his trade is his study, the tools of his craft are books."
PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER.
The most important factor of the school is the teacher. It is a well proven maxim, "As is the teacher so is the school." The' character of the teacher to a degree becomes that of the pupil.
Such and so many are the qualities necessary to make a good teacher that it might be said the true teacher is born, not made. Certain it is that there are some qualities which are indispensable as fundamental preparation for teaching. The office of the teacher is to waken dormant energies, and it is mind only that can quicken mind. If the teacher is to infuse heart, vitality, inspiration into a system, he must possess within himself the necessary resources.
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One of the first 'requisites for success as a teacher is a genuine interest in one's work. As a general principle we do best what we like best, and that but ill for which we have little regard. "A willing spirit, a hearty interest, reinforce the work and steer clear of discontent and failure.
Another necessary quality is sympathy with children. No spirit of fidelity, no painstaking devotion, no scholarship can be substituted for this. In hearty accord with her children the sympathetic teacher easily leads her pupils to be interested in those things in which she has an enthusiastic interest. Work is then pleasure, duties become light, and the schoolroom is cheery and attractive.
Self-control is another prime requisite in the teacher's fitness. A person must have his powers under command if others are to have the full benefit of them. This is true of all the relations of life, especially 'so in one who would teach and govern large numbers. The daily trials and conflicting interests of school life severely test the teacher's hold upon herself. Lapses from self-control soon unsettle the foundation of school dis- cipline.
As to acquired preparation, the teacher should have adequate knowledge of child nature, its powers, its needs, its conditions of growth. The teacher's function deals largely with mind, hence some knowledge of its laws and principles is indispensable. It is by study and observation that a comprehension of the child's activities is acquired.
Again, the teacher must know something of the technicalities of his business. No longer a hap-hazard occupation, teaching, . like the other professions, requires for its successful prosecution; discipline in principles and practice. While the professional training of the Normal school is very valuable, yet what is acquired through study, observation and experiment is also quite pertinent.
Beside this general equipment, the live, progressive teacher makes daily preparation for his work. Our mental, no less than our bodily, strength needs to be constantly renewed. The moment a person ceases to be a systematic student, he ceases to be an effective tcacher. The best teachers, although it may be
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teachers of the same subject for many years, make daily prepara- tion for their work. The famous Rugby master, Thomas Arnold, when asked why he gave so much study to a familiar subject, said : " I prefer to have my pupils drink from a running stream, rather than a stagnant pool." Garfield's injunction to a young teacher was : " Do not feed your pupils on cold victuals. Take the lesson into your mind anew, rethink it and then serve it hot and steaming, and your pupils will have an appetite for your instruction." -
Finally, it must be remembered that the qualities of mind and character which are desired in the pupil must be in the teacher.
SCHOOL CRITICISM.
Perhaps no public institution is so much criticised as the common schools. The remark is frequently made, "children don't know anything, all the schools do now is to cram the memory or keep the pupils busy with play-work." People who have not stepped inside a schoolroom for years and whose knowledge of what is being done in the schools is next to nothing are frequently the severest critics, .by reason of their ignorance and assumptions. Judgments from superficial knowledge of school work are very frequently made and given currency. People who are generally honest and upright in motives and action and who would, in other matters, be slow to pass an opinion that was not well grounded are guilty of criticising schools with almost no thought of investigation of them. Criticism rightly employed is a great power for good, perverted it becomes an equal force for evil. Just and intelligent criticism 110 true teacher or, school officer will shrink from, but rather welcome as a most efficient ally.
Much of the unjust criticism upon schools comes from expect- ing too much of children. To require a child to define a subject as accurately and fully as an adult would is manifestly unreason- able. We grown up children are apt to forget the time and labor and processes by which we have come to what power we possess. A degree of fullness and accuracy of knowledge commensurate
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with childish growth should be insisted upon. Yet when we come to the fine point what adult can define a topic or state his knowledge of a subject, fully, accurately and concisely ? . A child can learn a certain amount. He will retain only a part of this. To expect him to retain all he learns is unreasonable. Not a little of what he learns is disciplinary and should be dropped as soon as it has served its purpose. The person of strong mental and moral character has developed his power by degrees, dropping, as useless hindrances to his progress, many of the things by which he climbed. Yet in the face of these open truths children are not infrequently expected to keep on hand all their educational stock and produce it as occasion or authority demands.
People that take the narrow and material view of the function of the schools demand that they shall teach the children such things only as will help them to get a living. This class of people forget, or disregard the fact that the child has a soul, capacities and powers capable of indefinite expansion and im- provement, that these form the noble, immortal part, and are ยท of infinitely more value than mere knack or acquired faculty. Could the true view of the province of the public schools become universally accepted, much that is now lost in conflict- ing aims, varying interests and false standards, would be saved, to the enlargement and greater power of our system of public education.
Respectfully submitted,
C. L. HUNT.
Braintree, February, 1889.
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REPORT OF SCHOOL STOCK.
Total number of books and pamphlets in the schools,
Feb. 1, 1889, 4,955
Total number of books and pamphlets on hand, Feb. 1,
1889, 727
Total number of slates in the schools on hand Feb. 1,
1889, 600
Total number of slates on hand, Feb. 1, 1889, 56
Maps, charts and apparatus to the estimated value of . $325 00
Supplies on hand to the estimated value of $60. 00
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BRAINTREE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION EXERCISES.
THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1888.
Motto : " Nulla Vestigia Retrorsum."
PROGRAMME.
SINGING: "Come to the Fair."
DECLAMATION : " Eloquence " GEORGE T. FALLON
READING : " Useless Women " MINNIE E. DONOVAN
READING : " The Ancient Pedagogue " ANNA M. PENNIMAN
SINGING: ALICE A. HOLBROOK.
ESSAY: "Music " MABEL S. MORRISON
READING: "The Last Hymn " H. MAY WILKINS
DECLAMATION: "Eulogy of Conkling."
SINGING: "A Prayer."
ESSAY: "Judge Kindly "
. FANNIE G. DREW
RECITATION : " Lasca " ANNIE L. HOLBROOK
RECITATION : " Extract from Virgil" .EMMA M. KANE
MUSIC: HELEN R. F. ALLEN.
RECITATION : "Speech of Zenobia " CORA F. KEITII
RECITATION : " The Courtship " SARAH SHAW
ESSAY: "Class Prophecy " FANNIE A. MERRILL
SINGING : " Land of Our Fathers."
DECLAMATION : " The First Predicted Eclipse " FRED F. CONVERSE
ESSAY: Life is a Web; Weave it Well" LUCIA E. HOLLIS
Presentation of Diplomas.
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NAMES OF THE GRADUATING CLASS.
HELEN R. F. ALLEN,
FANNIE A. MERRILL, -
MARY E. BESTICK,
MABEL S. MORRISON,
AGNES Z. BRANLEY,
ADDIE L. CALL,
DELIA E. CONNORS,
MINNIE E. DONOVAN,
FANNIE G. DREW,
ANNA M. PENNIMAN, E. MARY SANBORN, SARAH SHAW, H. MAY WILKINS, RALPH R. ARNOLD, FRED, F. CONVERSE,
ALICE A. HOLBROOK,
ANNIE L. HOLBROOK,
GEORGE T. FALLON,
LUCIA E. HOLLIS,
WILLIAM T. MCCORMIC,
EMMA M. KANE,
CORA F. KEITH,
JOHN W. SHERMAN, PETER SMITH.
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