USA > Rhode Island > Annual report of the Board of Education : together with the Annual report of the Commissioner of Public Schools of Rhode Island, 1875 > Part 3
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It is at once apparent that such omissions very greatly alter the character of the tables and impair their accuracy and value. In order, therefore, to secure a greater degree of uniformity and accuracy in this respect, I would respect- fully suggest the following amendment to Chapter 53, Sec- tion 20, of the General Statutes, viz. :
That the words " a printed copy " be altered to read " at
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least two printed copies." Also, the following addition to the same section, " and they shall also transmit to the Commis- sioner, on or before July 1st, in each year, such statistical returns as shall be called for by the latter, and in case of failure to comply with this requirement, the Commissioner may refuse to draw his order for the town's annual quota of the public money."
I would also respectfully suggest that Chapter 47, Section 8, be amended by striking out the words " and from what sources it was derived." My reason for this change is that by the returns as now made out the information sought for in the words proposed to be omitted, is given more fully in another place, and therefore it need not be called for again.
SCHOOL SUPERVISION.
School Committees .- I am not aware that the office of school committee existed in Rhode Island, or, in fact, in any New England State, prior to the year 1826. Prior to that persons were appointed in some of the towns of some of the States, but the choice was optional under one name or another. This board of town supervision now exists. in all of the New England States, and in general the laws declare that they shall have the general charge and superintendence of all the public schools in the town. This great power has been interpreted by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, in that " there is no privity of contract between the parents of pupils and the teacher. His contract is with the town. He is responsible to the committee who represent the town. The general charge and superintendence of the schools in
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the absence of express legal provisions, includes the power of determining what pupils shall be received and what re- · jected. If children are suffering from a contagious disease, or so impure in morals, as to render association with them pernicious to others, the school committee may direct the teacher to exclude them, temporarily or permanently. In such cases, neither parent or pupil has a remedy against the teacher nor against the committee, unless they have acted corruptly or maliciously in the proceeding. But the law will not presume that the committee, who are invested with the power of superintendence and management will act arbitra- rily and unjustly in a matter submitted to their judgment. Where schools are graded, the committee, under the gene- ral power of superintendence, will decide how the schools shall be organized, how many shall be kept, and what shall be the qualifications, as to age and attainments, for admis- sion. The same powers also exist in regard to district schools, as far as they may be applicable. The law vests a plenary authority in the committee to arrange, classify and distribute pupils as they think best adapted to their general proficiency and welfare. In the absence of special legisla- lation on the subject the law has vested the power in the committee to regulate the system of distribution and classifi- cation, and when this power is reasonably exercised, without being abused or perverted by colorable pretences, the decis- ion of the committee will be deemed conclusive."
Paid School Officers .- In order to secure competent per- sons and retain them, the office of school committee should be for a term of not less than three years, and in order to
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hold them faithful to their duties they should receive a suit- able compensation for their services. Gratuitous labor is liable to be sparingly, if not grudgingly, performed, even in an age of noble missionary enterprise, but where much is given much may be required. There is no greater fault in our school management than this dependence upon the unpaid services of men whose business, professional, and otherwise, demands the whole of their time and strength.
Too Many School Officers .- One great fault of our present general supervision is, that it is entrusted to too many indi- viduals, so that direct, energetic, and systematic action is, to a great extent, lost. "What is everybody's business is nobody's," is true in school affairs as in other matters. From three to twenty-four superintendents in a cotton factory, in a shoe shop, or on a farm, would probably produce from one- third to one-twenty-fourth as much cloth, as many pairs of shoes, or as much grain and good butter and cheese, as one man over each of these establishments. In the State of Ver- mont the superintendent reports from fifty to sixty school officers in each town, making the whole number in the State something more than twelve thousand, or one school officer for every seven school children. In Rhode Island we have two thousand two hundred and sixteen school officers to look after the education of forty thousand children. As might be expected with such armies of supervisors, very little super- vision is accomplished, and that of a comparatively inferior quality.
Town Superintendents .- The one office of highest value to our school system to-day is that of city and town superin-
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tendents. An army might as well be without a leader and commander, a railroad or a factory without a head to direct, as for a city or town to attempt to manage its schools with- out a good superintendent. While the other States of New England have much else to be proud of educationally, it is to the honor of Providence that over her schools the first city superintendent in New England was appointed. The Hon. Nathan Bishop, afterwards elected as the first super- intendent of the schools of Boston, has the honor of being the first to hold this office in Providence in the year 1838. Springfield, Mass., followed the example of Providence about six months later by the appointment of Samuel S. Greene, to the new trust, who succeeded Mr. Bishop as su- perintendent at Providence, after his removal to Boston. What a change has thirty-five years wrought in this matter, throughout the country ? To-day there is scarcely a village of one thousand children of school age that has not its salaried superintendent. And, with proper compensation, I know of no office so worthy the ambition of our most talented educators. The successful city superintendent must be many in one. He must possess the organizing power and execu- tive ability of the State officer. He must be among teachers, himself a skilled prince in the work ; to awaken enthusiasm he must possess the intellect-awakening power of a great leader. To correct faults in a system, and to inaugurate suc- cessfully new measures, he must possess the elements of a re- former and an advocate. To draw to himself the forces he would control, he must be the large-hearted sympathizer, and to command he must be the self-reliant, well-furnished, un- compromising man. He is the executive officer of the school
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board, and is at the same time clothed with all the power which they possess for the good management of the schools. While the board are his advisors, he should be untrammelled by rules in his individual action, and should adopt methods in instruction and government without dictation from supe- riors. As he is responsible for results in the improvement of the schools, his plans, with reference to all that relates to school work should be honored and carried out. His authority should be distinctly recognized and enforced, and as each teacher should be allowed the largest liberty consistent with a rightful supremacy of the employer over the employed, so the superintendent should be held responsible for the re- sults, and not for the details of his system. He should be a member of the examining board in the selection and promo- tion of teachers, in determining their qualifications, and in assigning their positions. Power, also, should be delegated to him to change and to remove teachers from their positions, but this grant is most wisely exercised in connection with a committee of qualifications with whom the responsibility may be divided. While in general it is better that special com- mittees should have the charge of school houses, grounds, furnishings, &c., &c., and the plan of new buildings, the superintendent should and will have a proper place and in- fluence in the management of all these concerns, and his re- ports to his superiors in authority will embrace all that re- lates to the material and spiritual life of the schools. These reports'should set forth the true condition of the educational work, avoid undue flattery on the one hand, and too severe fault-finding on the other. The real wants of the school should be made to appear, and the remedies for evils should
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be presented and urged. In the examinations of teacher and classes in schools, the main portions of the work should be in writing, in order that they may be preserved for refer- ence and comparison. The value of these tests for thorough- ness, comprehensiveness, and accuracy, will be to a certain extent, the measure of the teacher's and superintendent's work.
Principals as Local Superintendents .- In the larger towns the work of local inspection and examination should be com- mitted, in a measure, to the principals of the school-wards or districts. Where this is the case the principal may be properly held responsible for the character of the work done throughout the grades of his district. Instead of confining his labors to a single class, room, or building, he is, in a cer- tain sense, the teacher, examiner, and supervisor of all the schools tributary to his own, and upon which the success of his own so vitally depends. From the position of a mere drill-master in one school, he becomes an assistant superin- tendent in the improving and stimulating many others to higher excellence.
Teachers' Meetings .- I think the superintendent has a valuable agency for good in the frequent gathering of teach- ers for mutual consultation and advice. Added to larger in- telligence and professional spirit there comes the healthier tone, and the whole body is animated with the enthusiastic spirit of its leaders and its leading spirit. What of good belongs to the individual now forms the common stock of accumulated wealth, for the whole society, and from the con- 4
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tact and encouragement comes new zeal, new strength, and a nobler inspiration. It is condensed influence ; and the superintendent who can marshal his forces frequently, and infuse their hearts with a constant element of faith and love for the work, has done more, far more, than one who wearies by dry formulas of spelling, geography and school tactics. In fact, a school superintendent without this strong magnetic element is not properly the man for such work.
System of Supervision in Ireland .- The Irish system of national schools, as regards superintendence, is the best in ' the world. In no other system is there so thorough an in- spection of schools, teachers and pupils. The centre of edu- cation is Dublin; here the board of management meets weekly. In every county or shire there is a county inspector, who receives a salary of about $5,000 per annum, a gradu- ate of a college, whose duty it is to inspect the whole sys- tem ; and under him, in every county, a number of district inspectors who devote their whole time to the work, visiting every school once at least in each half year, or every quarter, if possible. The inspector's superintendence and examina- tion are very thorough. He comes to the school at any hour, generally at the hour of opening ; he has every class before him, examines every member of the class, finds out what each is doing, and writes the name of each scholar in a book, what class he is in, his standing and his studies, for transmission to Dublin ; and at the close of his visit, notes in a public book kept in the school, what he thinks of the school ; and if he finds any defects, they have to be reme- dicd. This keeps teachers constantly attentive, and draws
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out all their energies. The clever, capable teachers like it ; only the lazy ones dislike it. It keeps every teacher under the eye of the board, and the man who discharges faithfully the duties of his position is certain of promotion ; he has a chance to rise to the position of district or county inspector, or a professorship in Dublin. This system must in some form be introduced into all countries. Of the teachers, nine-tenths like it, the other one-tenth are not fit for teach- ers, and such a system has the effect of gradually lopping them off. Both England and Scotland are far behind Ireland in this matter of inspection of schools. The schools of Rhode Island need just such watch-care to make them more worthy and successful. A superintendent of town and city, thus watchful over the interests of pupils, wise in practical knowledge and expedients, possessing tact and skill to adapt means to ends, versed in the most advanced methods of the day, progressive in spirit, but conservative in action, ever alert to encourage meritorious acts and to frown upon evil influences, is invaluable to a community ; yea, his price is far above rubies. Another has said that there are three indis- pensable requisites to the success of our school system. The first -- intelligent supervision ; the second-energetic super- vision ; and the third-enthusiastic supervision. With all of these, our advancement is sure and steadfast.
STUDIES IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
An examination of our schools shows that reading, spell- ing, penmanship, arithmetic (mental and written,) and geog- raphy are taught in all the schools of the State of an inter- mediate and grammar grade. United States history and
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English grammar are taught in most of our grammar schools. Vocal music is practised in many of our schools, and taught in a few, particularly in those of all grades in Provi- dence and Newport. Drawing is taught in the intermediate and grammar grades of Providence and Newport. Sewing is taught in a few of the schools in Providence.
In the high schools we find the pupils pursuing the studies of natural philosophy, chemistry, astronomy, botany, alge- bra, geometry, trigonometry, book-keeping, general history, mental and moral philosophy, English literature, Latin and Greek.
All of these studies are practical in the highest sense, useful so far as pursued with reference to the various kinds · of business and professions of life to which they point, and important in a course of instruction which embraces the two-fold object of discipline and utility. The only questions which can arise with reference to the course of study in our common schools are not with regard to the number of branches taught, but with reference to their relative value, the age of pupils when each should be taught, the method of teaching each branch, and the proper amount of time to be devoted to each, for its intelligent acquisition by the ordi- nary pupil. As the great majority of our pupils, probably nine-tenths of them, leave school as early as the fourteenth year, it seems to us that primary instruction in a few branches should be thoroughly secured, and the studies so taught should have special reference to the development of the pupils' powers of perception, observation and judgment. To this end the natural sciences should be early taught, and the time now so largely occupied in the blind or useless rou-
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tine of mathematical and grammatical drill, would be most profitably spent in the study of those forms and phenomena of nature, which awaken the interest, chain the attention, and cultivate the reasoning faculties. In this connection, it becomes the province of the teacher to educate the descrip- tive faculties, and to cultivate the powers of language, not by technical grammar, which, if introduced at all in the school course, should be at a late period in the grammar school department, but by the constant use, by speaking and writing, of the correct forms of expression of the English tongue.
The attention of school officers and teachers should be especially directed to the thorough revision of the courses of study in our public schools, so as to adjust the forms and methods of study to the mental needs and growth of the pupil, and to see to it that the work of instruction is placed in the hands of those only who comprehend the true laws of teaching and of mental development.
Attention is called to a single branch of instruction which demands an important place in the course of studies in our common schools, not only for the reason that it is a subject of great practical value to the various State industries, but on account of its influence in educating the mental faculties. Like mathematics or language the acquisition of the several departments of drawing has an influence upon the easier re- ception of all knowledge, and in that sense has a relation to every sphere of labor, and every field of thought. Not only do the best educators of the State and country so regard it in its influence as an intellectual stimulus, but the business
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men of the community so regard it as practical in a double sense for its utility and its discipline.
DRAWING ESSENTIAL TO THE PROSPERITY OF RHODE ISLAND.
The population of no State is so generally engaged in manufactures as that of Rhode Island. Her manufactures are varied in kind and in quality, they demand all grades of skill not only in those who take the general charge, but in the workmen. Every one who has studied the subject knows that it is not enough to have intelligent, skillful, reli- able supervision of labor, the best, and therefore the cheap. est results can be secured only when the laborers are also intelligent, skillful and reliable. Ignorant labor is always costly labor. It is generally conceded, and all Europe is acting upon the belief, that a knowledge of drawing, since it deals with the representation of forms, which all objects possess, is the most essential element of skilled labor. This explains the action which Massachusetts has recently taken for the art-education of her whole people. Rhode Island must not hesitate to follow the example of Massachusetts, unless she is content to see herself out-stripped in all the more skilled and profitable manufactures.
To enumerate the industries of Rhode Island is to enu- merate nearly all the industries of the whole country. There are her manufactures of cotton and wool, of machinery, lo- comotives, firc-arms, stoves and iron castings generally, her manufactures of wood, cloth and leather, her silver-ware, jewelry, and a hundred other things in metal. Then there is her building-construction and her quarrying. To give de- tails would be to make a lengthy catalogue indeed.
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Now, into the products of all these industries enters the element of design, usually in its relation both to form and to decoration. Of all the things that Rhode Island manufac- tures, there is scarcely one that will not command a better price for being beautiful. Many of her products, as machinery, locomotives, involve also a knowledge of working-drawings in their construction. When we consider that nearly every- thing is now made from a drawing, that a beautiful object- cannot be made by a person lacking in taste, that one can- not work from a working-drawing without previous instruc- tion, unless he works under the direct supervision of a second person, it is evident that there is good reason for the decla- ration that a knowledge of drawing will add, on an average, one-third to the daily wages of the workmen, and increase the profits of him who employs.
According to the census of 1870, the total population of Rhode Island was 217,353. The number of persons engaged in all occupations was 88,574. Of this number, 11,780 were engaged in agriculture ; 19,679 in professional and personal services ; 10,108 in trade and transportation ; 47,007 in mechanical and mining industries. As every teacher would be directly helped by knowing how to draw, and as good taste is a thing of direct commercial value to all engaged in trade as well as to all engaged in manufactures, it is clear that nearly the whole occupied population of Rhode Island, and so all dependent on them, can be directly benefited by drawing, while there is no one whose interests will not be indirectly subserved. Indeed, of all the States, Rhode Island is the last which should neglect the art-education of her people.
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Drawing as a School Study .- Since it is pretty well settled that drawing should be taught as a regular study in the pub- lic schools, the main question now is to make a right begin- ning. This cannot be done without careful consideration of what drawing is, and of what should be aimed at in the public schools as a final result.
Drawing is the representation of form. As form is rep- resented in different ways, drawing necessarily consists of several distinct departments. Its purpose is also to teach the principles of design and to develop the taste.
The different departments may be separated, according to the means employed, into two general divisions : free hand and instrumental. Out of the different departments should be constructed three courses : one compulsory course, (con- sisting of two or three sub-divisions, as primary and gram- mar), to be pursued alike by all pupils below the high school; two elective courses, the one mainly artistic, the other mainly industrial, for the high school. For several years, however, the instruction not only in high schools, but also in the upper classes of grammar schools, and of un- graded schools must be provisional. The pupils must do work that should have been done at an earlier age.
Flat Outline Drawing and Designing .- One department consists of drawing in outline from flat copies, and design- ing. This involves length and breadth. If objects having length, breadth and thickness are represented, the drawings are simply diagrams. There is no pictorial effect. In this department are taught nearly all the principles of design, which must be observed in designing the forms of objects, if
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they are to be beautiful, and in designing the applied deco- ration. At the same time are also taught those features which distinguish different decorative styles, as Egyptian, Greek, Gothic. The drawings are executed with the free- hand. The copies should be as beautiful as possible, in order to develop the taste of the pupil; and, in order to teach style, many of them must necessarily represent historic forms. This is the most important of all the departments of drawing for public schools, and with it the instruction should begin.
In all matters relating to drawing and art the French are the best authorities. When they undertook, a few years ago, to improve the drawing schools in Paris, the first thing they did was to supply these schools with beautiful drawing- copies and models instead of the ones previously used, which were " generally of a very mediocre character, suggesting to the pupils a detestable past of commonplace." All good teachers of drawing now recognize the fact that the copies and models should be as beautiful as possible.
Drawing Problems in Plane Geometry .- Another depart- ment consists of drawing, with instruments, such problems in plane geometry as are of special service to the designer, and to every class of mechanics. This involves only two dimensions. It is the easiest of all the departments both to learn and to teach. The problems should not be drawn on a small scale, if they are to be executed with ease and rapid- ity. If the drawings are done with a lead pencil, which is sufficient for public school purposes, instruments enough for the work and of the very best quality can be had for about
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one dollar and a half. Both for its discipline and its prac- tical use this department should find a place in grammar schools at an early day.
In 1865 a report was made by a distinguished French Im- perial Commission, after carefully investigating the subject of technical and art education, from which the following is taken :
" The commission attaches great importance to extending the teaching of geometrical drawing as well in primary (common schools) as in establishments devoted to technical instruction. It regards geometrical drawing as a most use- ful training for the practice of various trades, and as an ex- cellent means of direct demonstration."
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