USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > Education in Indiana. An outline of the growth of the common school system, together with statements relating to the condition of secondary and higher education in the state and a brief history of the educational exhibit. Prepared for the Louisiana purchase exposition, held at Saint Louis, May 1 to November 30, 1904 > Part 2
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212-EDUCATION.
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EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
in the matter in all parts of the state. It was early determined to make an honest showing of the status of school work of the state under all economic and geographical conditions. The mate- rial for such exhibit must come from all the schools. It became necessary, therefore, to wage a campaign in behalf of the move- ment. It is to the credit of Mr. Cotton and the deputy superin- tendent, Mr. Lawrence MeTurnan, that sixty-nine counties out of ninety-two, one hundred and twenty-seven towns and cities, and practically all the colleges and libraries of Indiana contributed special exhibits. This labor involved the presentation of the question before county institutes, teachers' associations, and other educational meetings, conferences with county superintendents, a convention of city superintendents, the issue of a number of bulle- tins to school officials and a vast deal of correspondence. With this large preliminary work accomplished, upon the request of Superintendent Cotton , the commission appointed the under- signed, superintendent of schools of Crawfordsville, manager of the exhibit. The manager acts in the capacity of agent jointly of the commission and of the department of public instruction. He assumed the responsibility of collating and organizing the mate- rial of the exhibit in December, 1903, and has succeeded, with the co-operation of the department of public instruction and a number of prominent county and city school men, in submitting to the public the most general and faithful representation of all phases and conditions of educational effort in Indiana ever made.
Through the kindness of the educational committee it was made possible for the state department of public instruction to issue this special report on the schools of Indiana-a volume of more than six hundred pages.
W. A. MILLIS.
FIRST DIVISION.
THE SCHOOL SYSTEM.
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I. STATE SUPERVISION.
A. STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.
1. HISTORY.
In 1843, the treasurer of state was made superintendent of com- mon schools, ex-officio. The treasurer was chosen because the duties were financial rather than educational, the preservation and management of the school fund being the chief requirement of the office. It is true he was required to make annual reports to the general assembly, showing "the condition and amount of funds and property devoted to education ; the condition of colleges, acad- emies, county seminaries, common schools, public and private; estimates and accounts of school expenditures, and plans for the management and improvement of the common school fund, and for the better organization of the common schools," but his chief duty was to look after the finances of the schools.
The state treasurers who acted in this capacity were George H. Dunn, 1841 to 1844; Royal Mayhew, 1844 to 1847; Samuel Han- nah, 1847 to 1850; James P. Drake, 1850 to 1853. In 1852 the state treasurer was relieved of his school duties by the creation of the office of state superintendent of public instruction. It was made an elective office with a term of two years and an annual salary of $1,300. His duties were "to spend each term at least ten days in each of the ten judicial circuits; to recommend a list of books, and superintend the purchase and distribution of the township libraries ; to determine appeals from township trustees ; to have a watchful care of the educational funds; to prepare all blank forms for his office and receive funds from county auditors and treasurers, township trustees and clerks; to report to the gen- eral assembly and the governor; to examine all applicants for license ; to preside at all meetings of the state board of education
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and to address the board upon his induction into office, setting forth his views of the best method of giving efficiency to our educa- tional system, with such suggestions as he deemed worthy of their consideration." In the early years of the existence of the office the superintendent was really the sole educational official in the state department. Following is a complete list of the superintend- ents who have held the office up to the present time :
Names.
Term.
Beginning of Close of Term.
William Clark Larrabee.
Nov. 8, 1852. . Nov. 8, 1854. . Term expired.
Caleb Mills. Nov. 8, 1854. . Feb. 10, 1857 .. Term expired.
William Clark Larrabee. Feb. 10, 1857. . Feb. 10, 1859. . Died in May, 1859.
Samuel Lyman Rugg .Feb. 10, 1859. . Feb. 10, 1861 .. Term expired.
Miles Johnson Fletcher. Feb. 10, 1861. . May 11, 1862. . Killed on R. R.
Samuel Kleinfelder Hoshour May 15, 1862. . Nov. 25, 1962. . Resigned.
Samuel Lyman Rugg
Nov. 25, 1862. . Mar. 15, 1865. . Term expired.
George Washington Hoss Mar. 15, 1865. . Oct. 13, 1868. . Resigned.
Barnabas Coffin Hobbs. Oct. 13, 1868. . Mar. 15, 1871. . Term expired.
Milton Bledsoe Hopkins Mar. 15, 1871. . Aug. 16, 1874. . Died Aug. 16,
1874.
Alexander Campbell Hopkins. . Aug. 16, 1874. . Mar. 15, 1875. Term expired. James Henry Smart. Mar. 15, 1875 . Mar. 15, 1881. . Term expired.
John MeKnight Bloss. Mar. 15, 1881. . Mar. 15, 1883. . Term expired.
John Walker Holcomb Mar. 15, 1883. . Mar. 15, 1887 .. Term expired. Harvey Marion LaFollette Mar. 15, 1887. . Mar. 15, 1891 .. Term expired.
Hervey Daniel Vories
Mar. 15, 1891. . Mar. 15, 1895. . Term expired.
David M. Geeting. Mar. 15, 1895. . Mar. 15, 1899. . Term expired.
Frank L. Jones. Mar. 15, 1899. . Mar. 15, 1903 .. Term expired.
Fassett A. Cotton. Mar. 15, 1903 . .
The office has always commanded the respect of the people and has generally had capable men as incumbents. The student will notice that nearly every man who has filled the office has stood for some distinct advance in the educational affairs of the state. Su- perintendent Larrabee, the first incumbent, was the pioneer for much of the work in the West. He organized the system and began the great work of the department. Superintendent Mills was really the inspiration of the whole system. It was he who moulded public opinion and directed the legislation that made the office and the system possible. He was particularly interested in libra- ries, and was instrumental in the establishment of township libraries. Superintendent Rugg reorganized and placed upon a substantial basis the state school finances. Superintendent Fletcher
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EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
corrected the evil arising from the anticipation of revenues, and made institutes more efficient. Superintendent Hoshour turned his attention to examiners and examinations and used his influence toward securing a larger per cent. of women teachers in the State. Superintendent Hoss was instrumental in adding history and physiology to the list of common school branches, in securing state aid to county institutes, the in- corporation of the state normal school, and the reenactment of the law allowing local taxation in cities and townships for tuition purposes. Superintendent Hobbs, one of the best remembered of the superintendents, saw German made op- tional in the public schools, an aet for the education of negroes passed, the girls' reformatory planned, and Purdue university founded. Superintendent Hopkins' chief work lay in the estab- lishment of the county superintendency, raising the standard of examinations, reclaiming school monies, and improving school finances. To Superintendent Smart more than to any other man is dne the extended reputation of the Indiana system, brought about by his splendid organization of an educational exhibit at the Cen- tennial exposition. He also made the first complete codification of our school laws. Superintendent Bloss reorganized the work of the office, reformed the school census, put examinations upon a higher plane, and introduced better methods in teaching. Superin- tendent Holcomb established a uniform course of study for country schools, suggested the plan of graduation in them, started the Arbor-day custom, and organized the teachers' reading circle. Superintendent La Follette has the credit of adding $450,000 to the school fund, and of making the reading circle one of the most fruitful factors in improving the profession. Superintendent Vories raised the standard of examinations, insisted upon profes- sional training for teachers and issued one of the best volumes of school laws vet published. Superintendent Geeting is remembered for the compulsory education law, the township high school law, the law providing for state examination of common school teachers, and for rural consolidation. Superintendent Jones emphasized the necessity for better school architecture, with more perfect sanita- tion and decoration, extended rural school consolidation, and was largely responsible for the minimum wage law for teachers. The
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EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
present incumbent has set for himself the large task of maintain- ing all that has been accomplished by his predecessors and in addition to this of making better the work in every way possible. He hopes to place teaching upon a higher professional plane, and to this end he is urging better preparation on the part of the teachers in every grade of work. He is placing special stress upon the work in the rural schools, and believes that equal privileges ought to be seenred to the children of country and town. The problems of consolidation, improved township high schools, longer tenure, better salaries are all receiving his attention. One of the plans that he has inaugurated for accomplishing his work is the annual conference of county superintendents in each congressional district. Since there are only about seven counties in each dis- triet, it is possible to consider carefully the problems of each county. The following questions will serve to show the nature of the problems considered at these meetings :
1. What should characterize the work of the superintendent?
a. Should a superintendent criticise his teachers while visiting them, or later?
b. Should criticisms be offered unless accompanied by helpful sug- gestions?
2. What a new superintendent is doing for his schools.
3. What an experienced superintendent is doing for his schools.
4. What can be done in classifying and grading rural schools; the object of such work.
5. What can county superintendents do to encourage their teachers to attend colleges and normal schools?
6. What can county superintendents do to encourage graduates from the Sth grade to attend high school?
7. What can county superintendents do to create interest in general reading among pupils and patrons?
8. How can we secure more money for rural schools?
9. Educational exhibit.
10. Miscellaneous.
City and town superintendents are invited to attend these meet- ings and to participate in the discussions. Another plan which the present superintendent has adopted for the purpose of getting in closer touch with the teachers is that of issuing monthly bulletins during the school term. These bear upon various phases of school work, and he has reason to believe that they are proving very helpful. Nos. 5 and 6 of the present year in the form in which they were sent to the teachers are submitted here :
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EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
STATE OF INDIANA.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. FASSETT A. COTTON, State Sup't. LAWRENCE MOTURNAN, Deputy.
BULLETIN No. 5.
ISSUED MONTIILY TO THE TEACHERS OF INDIANA. INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, JANUARY, 1904. THE SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.
You have now been at work for some months in your present position. It may be that this is not your first year in the community in which you are teaching. There are some relations existing between your school and your community that are worth thinking about, and this is a good time to think about them. Doubtless you are by this time thoroughly ac- quainted with your school district. You know its bounds; you know its hills and valleys and streams; you know its soil, its trees, its vegetation, its riches in stone, coal, clay, gas or oil. Doubtless you have used all this knowledge to an advantage in awakening your boys and girls to life's truth and beauty and in giving them correct notions of simple earth facts. I trust that in trying to use God's out-of-doors in your teaching you have not been hampered by narrow public opinion. A student told me recently that in his boyhood he dwelt upon the banks of the Ohio river; and that there in sight of splendid hills and streams and islands he studied geography from a book and got poor, starved, inadequate notions of things which nature had placed at his very door.
SOCIAL LIFE.
So much in regard to your knowledge of what nature has done for your community. Now what do you know of the social life of your dis- trict? How many homes are there? How many parents? How many children of school age? In what kinds of houses do the families dwell? What has been done to beautify these dwellings without and within? What is the spirit that dwells within each home? Doubtless you know the conditions of industry. You know what phases of agriculture and stock raising are prosperous and profitable. You are acquainted with any railroads, pikes, blacksmith shops, groceries or mills that may be in the district. You know of any clubs, societies, orders that may exist for improvement and amusement. You know about the postoffice, the rural routes and offices of any kind that exist. You are, of course, acquainted and identified with the churches and Sunday-schools and their work.
THE TEACHER'S ATTITUDE.
I have taken it for granted that you know all these things in your community. Now what have you done about it? In the first place, of course, you reside in the community. In no other way is it possible to
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catch and live in its spirit. In the second place I trust that you know that not one of these things happened. Every fact that you have come upon in your community has reasons for its existence and you can explain this existence if you are a student of life. You are there to make the condi- tions of life better. How many of these homes have you visited? I read somewhere the other day that the teacher is no missionary. Aye, but he is. He comes into the community to minister and not to be ministered to. How many parents have you asked to help you in your work? Have you found out just what children ought to be in your school, and have you exhausted the full resources of your manhood or womanhood in bringing them in before you have taken advantage of the truancy law?
The school bears the very closest relation to every phase of community life. It has been said often that the school is the other institutions in miniature. I wonder if you have realized just what that means. It means that the school lives the life of the community. It thinks its thoughts, feels its emotions, and bases its conduct upon the same princi- ples exactly. The school ought to be so life-like that the transition from its life to actual life will be attended by no shocks or surprises. What can you do towards bringing this about?
What is your attitude toward your community? Are you willing to do more than you get paid for? A man told me this story recently: He had a boy employed in his offices. One morning he found this boy shiver- ing in the cold office. In reply to his inquiry as to why he was working in the cold, the boy said the janitor had built no fire yet. He was asked if he could not build a fire, and he replied that he could, but that he didn't intend to; that he was not paid for making fires. This boy was not in line for promotion and never will be. "People who never do any more than they get paid for seldom get paid for any more than they do." This is just as true of school teachers as of persons in other professions. Now, what have you done toward making your school an attractive place? You haven't left it all to your trustee, have you? I hope that you have taken some pride in seeing that everything is as neat as it can be. I know a young man who put in several days mowing the school yard, repairing the fences and the out-houses, and even in scrubbing the floor, for which he received no pay in money. But he was paid. And after that community had increased his salary as much as it could he was called to a higher position. Again, have you learned yet to take the con- ditions as you find them and to make the very best of them? This is a test of your leadership.
SCHOOL AND HOME.
To get a little closer to the every-day practical problem with which you have to deal, let us see what you can do to bring your school and your community into eloser relation. And first, what can you and your school do for the home? Well, do you know what the abiding principle of the home is? It is love so full of affection and sympathy that it would shield from harm, save from suffering, and smooth life's rough places. You are said to stand in the place of the parent. But have you realized that many children will come to you hungry for this love and sympathy and that it may be your privilege to minister to them? Life in
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EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
some homes is hard and scant fare brings bitterness to children. Every home ought to do certain things for every child. It ought to give him a sound mind in a sound body. It ought to teach him to use good English. It ought to make him neat and orderly. It should teach him habits of industry. It should teach him to be honest, to respect law, to revere sacred things and to work toward lofty aims. If the home be wanting in these duties, what can you do in your school? You can speak good English and require it spoken. You can provide soap and water and towels and combs and have them used. You can by life and precept teach the life and dignity of labor, honesty, respect for law, and reverence, and you can inspire in every child an ambition to do his best. But you can do more than this. In many of these homes the conditions that exist are merely the results of ignorance. I remember an experience like this: I was visiting a district school and noticed two boys who were insutli- ciently clad. They looked pinched and poorly nourished, and they con- stantly breathed through their mouths. 1 supposed they belonged to some poor family unable to provide for them. But on inquiry I was told they were the children of a prosperous farmer, and that they had kindly parents who simply didn't know what to feed them or how to clothe them. What could you do in a case of this kind? With tact you may do some- thing directly. But suppose you could get the parents of your district together to discuss some simple questions pertaining to the health of children. If you are skillful you may bring it about that the parents who do know will teach those who do not. And the work need not be confined to the health problem, but may be extended to others upon which there is a vast deal of ignorance.
SCHOOL AND INDUSTRY.
Second, what can you do for the industry of the community? You can make your school a busy workshop, where the hum of industry is the standard of order, and where each pupil respects the rights of every other pupil. But you can do more than this. You can teach the nobility of honest toil. The greatest thing that yon could possibly do for your boys and girls and for your community would be to build into them the habit of doing good work. The world is full of slip-shod mechanics who slight their work. You can teach the children that any task worth doing is worth doing well; that success lies in the here and now and not in the far off; in the little duties of today instead of the big things one is going to do tomorrow. And you can teach them to stay on the farm and to work out its problems. It will be a sad day for our national life when all our young farmers come to town; when the small, well-cultivated homesteads give way to landed estates. The boys on the farms wield the nation's destiny. Emerson says: "The city is recruited from the country. In the year 1805, it is said, every legitimate monarch in Europe was imbecile. The city would have died out, rotted and exploded long ago, but that it was reinforced from the fields. It is only country which came to town day before yesterday that is city and court today." The problem of getting this thought before your boys and girls and before your community is worthy of the best there is in you. The friction between capital and labor, the almost universal lack of respect for property rights, ought to
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serve as great stimuli towards the intelligent study of agriculture to which it would seem constantly increasing numbers must turn.
SCHOOL AND STATE.
Third, what can you do towards bringing the school in closer touch with the state? You have it in your hands to make good citizens out of these boys and girls. But you can only make them good citizens by making them good men and women. Patriotism is one of the qualities of good citizenship. But patriotism is grounded in a wholesome respect for law, in a trained sense of justice. As a teacher, there are two things that you can do and that you must do if you succeed here. First, you can be just yourself. If by sincere living you make every pupil realize that no matter what happens he will find you just, that he will find in you a friend, you will so prepare the way for wielding the largest influence. Second, you can lead every pupil to see that what he does he does to him- self; that he and not the teacher is the punisher and the rewarder; that the consequences of one's deeds, whether good or bad, must be visited upon one's self. This is the very essence of good citizenship. In no other way can one come finally to realize that we, the people, are the state. There is no better place than the public school to teach this respect for law and order, and there never was a time when it needed to be empha- sized more than it does now. Every boy should realize early his responsi- bility for manhood, every girl for womanhood-both for citizenship. But in bringing about this realization what are you doing? Simply leading your boys and girls to live the principles which they are to live in the larger world.
SCHOOL AND CHURCH.
Fourth, has the school any relation to the church? I think that it has. The church has an abiding principle which can not be disregarded, because it belongs to life. Every soul is religious. Mercy must touch and temper love in the home, regard for property rights, mere justice, and when it does it glorifies them. Service takes the place of selfishness and the spirit of humanism is born. This is the essence of religion, and you can not teach school an hour nor a minute without it in your lives.
Finally, I have tried to say to you that in your community you have nature and social life as factors to deal with. They are your materials. You are to use them. The social life of your community is merely an expression of conscious life. The institutions are real. They are built on principles of life. Your pupils must live in them. It is yours to direct so that they shall come more fully into the real spirit of the institutions. Study the conditions in your community and find there your problem and its solution.
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EDUCATION IN INDIANA.
STATE OF INDIANA.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. FASSETT A. COTTON, State Sup't. LAWRENCE McTURNAN, Deputy.
BULLETIN No. 6. ISSUED MONTIILY TO THE TEACHERS OF INDIANA. INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, FEBRUARY, 1904. THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL.
ON THE HOME STRETCH.
You have already put the larger portion of this school year behind you and are looking forward to the close of school. There are some things that may be said just here by way of caution, suggestion and encourage- ment. In the first place, this is a good time for you to examine yourself and determine what manner of school teacher you are. Ask yourself seri- ously why you are teaching. What is your attitude toward the profes- sion? Does your remaining in the work depend upon your failure to secure more money at something else? Do you know that the essential factors of the school are the child, the teacher and the eternal fire that comes from soul contact? That while the school exists for the child, the teacher is the determining factor. We may build fine buildings, equip them with the best material, centralize, systematize and supervise, and the teacher will remain the central figure in the school. The school will never be any better than the teacher. His problem has always been and always will be how to touch and awaken every child in his presence. And he will succeed just in the degree in which he does this. Great armies of un- taught children sit day by day in the presence of teachers and never re- ceive a message. No fire is struck out, no life is awakened into new being; for them it is as if there had been no teacher. I hope you have in the months that are gone always made the child supreme; that you have made constant daily preparation; that in every recitation you have had at least one clear-cut truth to present; that you have kept your lines of organization closely drawn; and that you have made your work so inter- esting that no shadow of indifference has fallen across your school. If you have had this attitude nothing can keep you from succeeding. If for any reason you have permitted your interest to languish, now is the time to renew your energy. Indeed, this is the crucial time. It really doesn't take much ability to conduct a school the first few weeks or up to the holidays. Indeed, a school which is well organized and conducted to a successful close one year will almost run itself till the holidays the suc- ceeding year. The real test of the teacher comes in the reorganization of demoralized forces and in directing and conducting these forces to a suc- cessful close of the year's work, after the holidays. It is the teacher who can keep the self-activity of every child to the highest notch who can meet the test. Let me suggest some things that may contribute to this end.
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